Category Archives: World Cup 2019

June 29, 2019 · 3:34 am

Lord’s Cricket Ground mourns the Departure of “The Pipe Man”

Nagraj Gollapudi, in The Cricket Monthly, where the title runs thus “Pipe Man, Lord’s will feel empty without you”

June 24: Lord’s felt empty last weekend. Because Keith van Anderson had left the ground to talk cricket with the Lord. Keith van Anderson, you were baffling. When I heard about your death last month, on Twitter, I felt a dryness in my mouth, followed by the kind of emptiness that engulfs one on losing someone close. You and I were not related in any way – blood, friendship, profession – but we knew each other through cricket, over many meetings at Lord’s.

Lord’s regular the Pipe Man, in his MCC hat © Clayton Murzello

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Filed under cricketing icons, unusual people, West Indian Cricket, World Cup 2019

June 22, 2019 · 3:36 pm

Cricket World Cup: State of Play after Sri Lanka’s Upset Win, TODAY 23 June

ESPNcricinfo staff

Sri Lanka’s 20-run win over England must count as the most unexpected result of the World Cup so far. More than that, it’s upset, or at least changed, some calculations. Just how much, we try and figure out.

**Sri Lanka celebrate after stunning England, winning the match by 20 runs Getty Images**

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Filed under close finsihes, cricket and life, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, World Cup 2019

June 21, 2019 · 6:11 am

Sri Lanka’s Plans for the England Encounter

Ava Gardner, at ESPNcricinfo, 21 June 2019, with this title “ Sri Lanka banking on ‘out of the box’ methods to stop England’s batsmen”

So far in this World Cup, Sri Lanka have been following the English blueprint. Unfortunately, it is not the one that has made the host nation one of the favourites to lift the trophy; rather, they appear to have channelled the spirit of various England campaigns between 1996 and 2015, in which last-minute changes to captaincy and personnel paved the way for predictably underwhelming results.

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Filed under Lasith Malinga, player selections, Sri Lanka Cricket, World Cup 2019

June 17, 2019 · 11:31 am

Sri Lankan Players wary of The Glare

Sa’adi Thawfeeq, in Daily News, 17 June 2019, with this title “Manager defends players’ no-show at media conference”

Sri Lanka manager Ashantha de Mel has defended his players for not turning up for the official post-match press conference after their World Cup defeat against Australia at the Oval here on Saturday. It is the norm at all ICC conducted tournaments for a player to be present for the pre and post match media conferences, but after Sri Lanka had thrown away a golden chance of beating world champs Australia no member of the team presented himself at the conference which reflected badly on the losing side.

“What can you do when no one wanted to go to the press conference? The players were so deflated after letting go off such a golden opportunity to post a win they were not prepared to go and face further questions and be humiliated,” said De Mel.

Angelo Mathews the second most capped Sri Lanka ODI player in the current team after Lasith Malinga has been having a dreadful run in the ongoing World Cup unable to reach double figures in any of his three innings played so far. He is dismissed for 9 against Australia at the Oval on Saturday. – AFP

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Filed under Angelo Mathews, Australian cricket, cricket and life, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, World Cup 2019

June 15, 2019 · 11:56 pm

Sri Lanka’s Cricket Dissected

Sidharth Monga, in ESPNcricinfo, 16 June 2019, where the title reads “Dysfunction, hope, more dysfunction; Sri Lanka’s World Cup rolls on”

The wife of Sri Lanka’s once-captain has accused – on Facebook – one of their players of being a political appointment made by the sports minister of the country. That captain – one of the seven ODI captains tried by Sri Lanka since the last World Cup – is not the captain anymore. He has been accused of picking and choosing games, and has been forced to switch between IPL and domestic cricket in Sri Lanka, and is eventually here at the World Cup. Barely.

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Filed under Angelo Mathews, Australian cricket, cricket and life, cricket governance, Hathurusingha, Lasith Malinga, Mahela Jayawardene, memorable moments, player selections, Sangakkara, Sidharth Monga, World Cup 2019

June 7, 2019 · 1:57 pm

Umpiring Howlers help Aussies down Windies

Melinda Farrell in ESPNcricinfo, 6 June 2019, where the title is “West Indies’ fury at ‘dodgy’ decisions as Australia get rub of the green”

Michael Holding has slammed the umpiring during West Indies’ loss to Australia as “atrocious”, while Carlos Brathwaite described some decisions as “frustrating” and “dodgy” and suggested that West Indies players are on the wrong end of decisions more often than their opponents. He denied, however, that the decisions had cost them the match in a hard-fought 15-run defeat to Australia at Trent Bridge.

The umpires, Chris Gaffaney and Ruchira Palliyaguruge, had four decisions overturned between them and Gaffaney also missed a blatant front foot no-ball from Mitchell Starc that preceded the delivery that claimed the wicket of Chris Gayle. If the no-ball had been called, Gayle would have had a free hit on what was ultimately the wicket-ball.

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Filed under Australian cricket, cricket and life, taking the piss, verbal intimidation, West Indian Cricket, World Cup 2019

June 5, 2019 · 2:14 pm

Sania Mirza applauds Pakistan’s Defeat of Favourites England

Item in TimesNowNews, 4 June 2019, with this title “‘World Cup just got interesting,’ Sania Mirza lauds Pakistan’s comeback against Eoin Morgan-led England”

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza congratulated Pakistan cricket team after their well-fought victory over favourites England in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019 on Monday. Pakistan, who are being touted as one of the dark horses in the showpiece event, bounced back in a terrific manner to prove why they are one of the most unpredictable sides in world cricket. Sarfaraz Ahmed’s men stunned the hosts in a close contest to win the game by 14 runs after both the batsmen and the bowlers produced a combined effort to outclass Eoin Morgan & Co.

ICC World Cup 2019: Sania Mirza was impressed by the strong comeback from ‘unpredictable’ Pakistan, as the Men in Green defeated hosts and favourites England by 14 runs in their second game on Tuesday.

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Filed under memorable moments, performance, player selections, unusual people, World Cup 2019

June 5, 2019 · 12:02 am

Three Different Headlines for Sri Lanka-Afghanistan Match

“Madness beats joy as Afghanistan miss their big chance against Sri Lanka” — Jarrod Kimber, ESPN staff

Mohammad Nabi celebrates a wicket Getty Images

“Lasith Malinga grabs the limelight but Nuwan Pradeep turns the Game — Sharda UgraSenior editor, ESPNcricinfo

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Filed under Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, memorable moments, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, unusual statistics, World Cup 2019

June 4, 2019 · 8:27 am

Even-Stevens between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka?

Ankur Dhawan, in ESPNcricnfo, 3 June 2019, where the title is “Can improving Afghanistan exploit Sri Lanka’s vulnerabilities?”

Bookmakers are offering near-equal odds on the Sri Lanka-Afghanistan contest in Cardiff, and although there was no way of calling this four years ago, when Sri Lanka were contenders until being blown away by South Africa in Sydney, things are a little different now, especially after their walloping at New Zealand’s hands last week. And don’t forget what happened last year, when Afghanistan knocked Sri Lanka out of the Asia Cup.