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South Africa coach Ottis Gibson insisted that while they asked for surfaces that would assist their pace attack, the exaggerated bounce and lateral movement was unexpected

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg26-Jan-2018South Africa insisted that the uneven and excessive bounce and seam movement at the Wanderers in the third Test was not part of their request for helpful pitches. Though South Africa admitted to asking for surfaces that would assist their attack, they maintained that all they wanted was pace and bounce, and not the lateral movement or exaggerated bounce that this surface provided.”Everybody is making a big issue of grass but we’ve never asked for grass, we asked for pace and bounce. If you’re a groundsman and we ask you to make a wicket with pace and bounce, and you feel that the best way to do that is leave grass on the wicket, that’s it. Then we get on and play with it,” Ottis Gibson, South Africa’s coach said. “The Test in Cape Town only went three days, but we thought it was a good wicket. We asked for a similar wicket in Centurion, and it was more like Mumbai than anywhere else, and it was a great Test match as well. With this one, the wicket has unfortunately got worse as the match has gone on.”Asked whether the pitch may have been a result of extra pressure placed on the groundsman by the knowledge that South Africa would not settle for anything less than bowler-friendly conditions, Gibson did not think that was the case. “I can’t speak for groundsman. We asked for a certain type of pitch and then the groundsmen have a month to try and get it right,” he said.But there is some expectation within the home camp that the scrutiny on the surface will not let up, even after play resumes on day four. “There is no doubt that questions are going to be asked about the preparations of the pitch, Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager said. “When we got here on day one, it looked like a sporty wicket, and from a South Africa perspective, all we wanted was a wicket with pace and bounce. Obviously, the ICC will rate it and there will be some form of repercussion.”South Africa stopped short of criticising the Wanderers surface and reiterated their willingness to play on. But between the two sides, they placed more emphasis on safety after Dean Elgar was struck on the grille of the helmet in the ninth over of South Africa’s chase. The incident caused play to called off 19 minutes before the scheduled close.Initially, it appeared that the ball had veered up off a crack, but television replays showed that it had pitched at a back of a length, and Elgar had gone forward fairly far, which may have made it look worse than it actually was.”Dean went forward and the ball took off from a length. Whether it was 8m or not, even on a third-day pitch, you are not expecting the ball that pitches at 8m to take off and hit the batsman on the head without the batsman even having the time to take evasive action” Gibson said. “At the end of the day, the umpires will make a decision, which they did. Before you go on about India batting twice on the same pitch, yes they did. And there were balls that were taking off from a length, and our captain was saying that, ‘I’m not sure that this is fair either.’ So it’s not like we are sour grapes or anything. We felt this morning that when balls were taking off off a length, it was obviously a little bit tricky and a decision would have to be made.”Elgar was the only batsmen to be hit above the throat in the match, but players on both sides copped body blows. Hashim Amla was hit on the ribs, Ajinkya Rahane on the elbow, M Vijay on the hip, and several others on the gloves. South Africa’s concerns appeared to have begun then, especially because they felt batsmen did not have time to defend themselves.”When I spoke to Faf at lunch, he said that if a ball is going to hit you on the finger and the bowlers are bowling at 140 and you haven’t got time to react or respond or take evasive action, then the umpires have to think that they have to look after player safety,” Gibson said. “If you think it’s getting a bit dangerous – and the umpires in the middle were saying that before lunch – Faf said, ‘A couple on the fingers, we can get away with, but when the ball rears up and hits you on the face then it’s a different situation.”And after all that, Gibson said the team are “absolutely not” making excuses for the position they find themselves in now on an increasingly difficult pitch.”Throughout the whole game on both sides, we saw batsmen wearing a few on the body, and we are not complaining. I hope you are not sitting here thinking we are complaining. But obviously Dean got hit in the face when he wasn’t able to take evasive action, and there was one before that that he went forward to that he was going to leave that bounced up and hit him on the hand. But again he wasn’t able to take evasive action. Once they (the match officials) tell us what the decision is, we’ll get on with it.”And on the fourth morning, they will have to.

A 106-run stand between India’s openers handed South Africa a nine-wicket drubbing in East London

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2018India openers Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana walk out to bat•Getty Images

A century opening stand, underpinned by fifties from Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana, handed South Africa a nine-wicket drubbing in East London and helped India go 2-0 up in the five-match T20I series with five balls to spare.Steering the 143 chase, Raj became the first woman to score four consecutive T20I half-centuries – it was also her third straight unbeaten fifty – as she closed out the chase in captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s company with 76 not out, her highest score in the format. They reprimanded a sloppy South African fielding unit that dropped both batsmen twice each before they reached their half-centuries. While Raj was put down by Mignon du Preez and Nadine de Klerk, Mandhana brought up her fifty with consecutive sixes after being reprieved twice in the same over that was Raisibe Ntozakhe’s first.Mandhana followed her 15-ball 28 in the first T20I with a 42-ball 57, before being trapped in front by Moseline Daniels while trying to play one across the line. Earlier, wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee had failed to snaffle a tough chance when Mandhana’s outside edge went to Lee’s left. Subsequently, Mandhana’s 106-run partnership in 14.2 overs set India on course for a comfortable chase as Raj hit the winnings runs – a four off Shabnim Ismail – while Harmanpreet finished unbeaten on a 12-ball 7.Put in to bat again, South Africa’s 142 for 7, however, had played out much in the manner of an antithesis to India’s. Propped up by a back-arch-and-leap take by Harmanpreet at mid-off that sent back her opposite number Dane van Niekerk for 15, and coupled with Veda Krishnamurthy’s three catches at the long-on boundary off spinners, India mustered a strong fielding performance with only one blemish that came in the final over. An Ismail slog-sweep to deep midwicket ended up being parried over the rope for a six by Radha Yadav, only in her second international game, and led to the offspinner Anuja Patil conceding 16 runs off the 20th over, including a free hit and a four.Earlier, as opposed to India’s 43 for 0 in the Powerplay, South Africa had lost the wicket of Lee for their 39 during the same period. Top-scorer Sune Luus’ 32-ball 33 and de Klerk’s 26, aided by Ismail’s unbeaten 16 off nine deliveries later on, marshalled much of the hosts’ innings but it wasn’t enough. Legspinner Poonam Yadav returned 2 for 18, while Anuja bagged a couple for 37.

Chris Woakes was not beating himself up about the last over which got away in Hamilton, realising that the margin between hero and villain can be the matter of a few inches

Andrew McGlashan in Mount Maunganui27-Feb-2018Chris Woakes was not beating himself up about the last over which got away in Hamilton, realising that the margin between hero and villain can be the matter of a few inches.Double-figures is what Woakes ideally likes to have up his sleeve when he begins a final over, but backed himself with nine in the first ODI – Mark Wood defended seven against South Africa at the Ageas Bowl last year – but what he termed the “crucial” first couple of deliveries went New Zealand’s way to make the result all-but assured.He would not, however, have done anything differently with the first delivery, a yorker at leg stump, which was deflected to fine leg to make it five needed off five. A wide followed, then the final blow from Mitchell Santner over midwicket when Woakes erred in length.”There have been times when you come through it and you bowl that last over and you’re the hero,” Woakes said. “There are other times when it goes against you. Unfortunately, it did.”Woakes, who claimed his 100th wicket when he removed Colin Munro, is becoming a go-to man at the death for Eoin Morgan, which is why it was a surprise that he was not given the chance to bowl is full allocation. In hindsight he should have replaced Adil Rashid the over after Ross Taylor departed, instead Santner clubbed Rashid for two sixes.”You try to put yourself in that mindset where it has gone well before and try and visualise it,” he said. “But we aren’t machines and sometimes you are going to slightly get it wrong. You do need a little bit of luck in those last overs. Had that first ball [of the last over] been dug out for a single or a dot, it completely changes the outlook on the rest of the over. It’s just the way it goes.”Jos Buttler previously spoke about bowlers trying to stay one step ahead of batsmen, in reference to Tim Southee’s use of pace-off against him, and as part of Woakes’ development he is working on his range of slower deliveries and how to disguise them from the batsmen. He cited Southee as an example of a bowler who will double-bluff – hide the ball as if to bowl a slower delivery then send down at full pace – and said that he had picked up a lot of skills from the IPL, working with Lakshmipathy Balaji at Kolkata Knight Riders.”I’ve tried to hide it a little bit for a while,” Woakes said. “It’s something I learned from the IPL, they hid it and from facing guys I always felt the more they hide it the harder it is to see those slower balls or changes of pace. That’s something I’ve slowly worked on over time. I still have a lot to learn but I feel like I have got better.”[Balaji] was very good at hiding the ball and he bowled in the nets off a few paces and you literally couldn’t pick him. Sometimes you’ll hide it and bowl a quicker one and sometimes a slower ball. It’s all mind games.”Woakes’ next IPL stint will take him to Royal Challengers Bangalore, along with team-mate Moeen Ali, after he was bought for more than GDP800,000. He’ll be in a side that includes Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Brendon McCullum”It will be interesting to see how Kohli goes about his business,” Woakes said. “He’s a world-class player, one of the best if not the best in the white-ball game so that will be exciting to see how he goes about it. Obviously, you get a perception of a guy playing against them so to be in the same dressing-room as him, de Villiers – all these guys – it will be great to learn from them.”The learning never stops and if some of Kohli and de Villiers’ batting knowledge can rub off on Woakes, England probably won’t mind.

The second-wicket pair added 161 to propel Scotland to 322 for 6, their fourth-highest ODI total, which ended up proving well beyond UAE’s reach

The Report by Liam Brickhill in Bulawayo15-Mar-2018Getty Images

Scotland continued their unbeaten run in the World Cup qualifiers with a 75-run win over UAE in their Super Six match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Opting to bat first, Scotland racked up an imposing 322 for 6, their fourth-highest total in ODIs, with Matthew Cross contributing a career-best 114. Cross’ effort was backed up by 78 from Calum MacLeod, with whom he shared a 161-run stand for the second wicket. Scotland then bowled UAE out for 249 in the 48th over, with seamer Chris Sole taking 4 for 68.It was Cross’ opening partner, Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer, who led the early charge for Scotland, as he has done more often than not in this competition. He took 16 runs off medium-pacer Zahoor Khan’s second over, and he had raced into the 40s at better than a run a ball when he chipped a simple return catch to Imran Haider in the legspinner’s first over.That wicket snapped the opening stand at 68, but there was no relief for UAE as it only brought Cross and MacLeod together. Initially, the pair focussed on risk-free batting and subsisted almost entirely on singles pushed in the ‘V’ down the ground. UAE captain Rohan Mustafa cycled through four spinners as he spread the field, and although that allowed UAE some measure of containment, it also meant that a single to turn the strike over was never far away.No boundaries were hit between the 11th and the 29th over, but the quick start and the availability of singles meant Scotland were still able to tick along at four an over. After Cross reached an 89-ball fifty, MacLeod broke free of the spin stranglehold with three fours in an over from Haider.Taking his cue, Cross also began to accelerate. Shaiman Anwar’s part-time legspin was dispatched over wide long-on, and Cross added a second six off Zahoor, slugging the bowler straight back over his head. Cross’s third six came from a slog sweep, the ball landing in the trees beyond midwicket, while MacLeod too passed fifty, the pair taking 19 runs from Haider’s last over to ruin his figures.UAE finally had some relief when MacLeod, looking to scoop the ball up and over fine leg, moved too far across and had his stumps rearranged by Zahoor. But the respite was not to last long. Cross reached a 125-ball hundred in the 42nd over – his second in ODIs, and his second against UAE after his maiden ODI ton against them in January. After he was gone, just failing to get his bat down on time as Mustafa fired in a quick arm-ball, George Munsey cracked four fours and one towering six over square leg in a 14-ball 30. Richie Berrington, who became the most capped player in Scottish cricket history, contributed a quickfire unbeaten 37 that included a six that landed on the roof of the stands beyond midwicket to boost the score beyond 300.UAE’s record chase in ODIs is 300, scored against Scotland in January, and their openers set about the chase as if they were determined to set a new landmark. Mustafa and Ashfaq Ahmed were particularly severe on anything short. Ashfaq rushed into the 20s with a pull for six that went in front of square, while Mustafa took 16 runs from Chris Sole’s first over, including a remarkable swipe at a short ball that flew high and straight back over the bowler’s head for six.But Sole, playing his first match of the tournament after missing the group stage with a hamstring injury, soon had his revenge as Mustafa picked out Michael Leask at long-off with one big shot too many. For UAE, 62 for 0 quickly became 64 for 3, and where the short ball had brought runs, it now brought wickets. Ashfaq pulled Sole tamely to Craig Wallace at square leg while Chirag Suri, rushed for pace, gloved a short one to be caught behind for a duck. Before their chase had reached the 20-over mark, six of UAE’s batsmen had been dismissed, and the match seemed a foregone conclusion.Mohammad Usman and Ahmed Raza at least ensured that they went down fighting, with Usman particularly confident on the attack. Both players reached career-best scores, Usman registering his second ODI fifty and moving on to 80 before he toe-ended an attempted paddle scoop off Sole to give him his fourth wicket. Raza then reached a maiden ODI fifty of his own, but was trapped lbw by Brad Wheal immediately afterwards, and UAE quickly folded.”Very pleased for the guys, and very pleased for everyone back home who has contributed to get us to where we are at the moment,” said Scotland captain Coetzer. “We’ve enjoyed this performance, as we have every one thus far.”Still not quite that full performance we’re looking for, but we’re getting there. The batting was hugely exciting today.”The win means Scotland now top the Super Six tables with five points. Their next match is against Ireland on Sunday at Harare Sports Club.

The ECB’s new city-based T20 competition could be set to be a 100-balls-a-side affair, according to a radical proposal released today

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-20182:58

Faulkner: There’s a danger in getting too funky

The ECB’s new city-based competition is set to be a 100-balls-a-side affair, according to a radical proposal released today.The concept proposes two eight-team competitions – for men’s and women’s teams – consisting of 15 traditional six-ball overs, and a final 10-ball over, a 20-delivery shortfall on traditional T20 matches.The proposed approach was presented by the ECB to the chairmen and chief executives of the first-class counties and MCC on Thursday, and has been unanimously supported by the board of the new competition.The ECB have also confirmed that Southampton, Birmingham, Leeds, London, Manchester, Cardiff and Nottingham will be the host cities for the five-week competition, with Lord’s and The Oval each playing host to a London-based team.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“This is a fresh and exciting idea which will appeal to a younger audience and attract new fans to the game,” said Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive. “Throughout its development, we have shown leadership, provided challenge and followed a process. We will continue to do that as the concept evolves.”Our game has a history of innovation and we have a duty to look for future growth for the health and sustainability of the whole game.”There are 18 first-class counties, playing red and white ball cricket, at our core and these counties and competitions will be supported, promoted and benefit from the game’s growth.”The radical proposals are an attempt to differentiate the ECB’s tournament from the T20 franchise competitions that have already taken root globally – including the IPL in India, Australia’s Big Bash, and the Caribbean Premier League – as well as the existing Vitality Blast competition, featuring all 18 counties, which will continue concurrently.The loss of 20 balls per innings will help to ensure that the competition fits comfortably into a three-hour window, with all matches expected to finish by 9pm.However, the proposed 10-ball final over may require buy-in from MCC’s law-makers, seeing as Law 17.1 currently states: “The ball shall be bowled from each end alternately in overs of 6 balls.”Sanjay Patel, the ECB’s chief commercial officer, and MD for the new competition, said: “The development team has had strong support and encouragement in its conversations to date and it’s time to take the concept wider as we build the detail.”This is 100-ball cricket, a simple approach to reach a new generation. Based on 15 traditional six-ball overs, the other ten balls will add a fresh tactical dimension.”Crucially, this will also help differentiate this competition from Vitality Blast and other T20 competitions worldwide, maintaining our game’s history of successful innovation.”The players and our valuable broadcast partners under the new TV partnerships from 2020-24 are vital to the success of this competition and they will see the energy, excitement and simplicity of this approach.”The five-week competition will feature both men’s and women’s team in concurrent competitions, as the ECB seek to build on the explosion of interest in women’s cricket since the World Cup win in 2017.”Our World Cup win at Lord’s last July showed what’s possible in terms of our sport reaching a new, younger and more diverse audience,” said Clare Connor, the ECB’s Director of Women’s Cricket.”Kia Super League has had a huge impact on participation, player development and the profile of our game. It was a big investment and a bold decision by the Board and paved the way for this next stage of growth.”To build the women’s and men’s competitions and identities together, side by side, is a prospect that few sports ever have and will give us greater reach, scale and prominence.”It will attract more women and girls to the game, ensure that cricket reaches and entertains more families and give our players an exciting stage upon which to display their talent.”The proposals represent the biggest shake-up to English cricket since the launch of the original Twenty20 Cup in 2003.

Rohit Sharma is not being consumed by regret over being dropped for the Afghanistan Test – or not making it big in Test cricket. Instead, he just wants to enjoy the time he has left in the game

PTI29-May-2018India’s limited-overs run-machine Rohit Sharma says there is no point fretting over his start-stop Test career as “half” of his playing days are over. Rohit now just wants to enjoy the remainder of his playing career.”There’s limited time you have as a player and I have finished almost half of it. There’s no point in spending the remaining half thinking whether I’ll be picked or not. I am going forward with the theory of ‘whatever time I have, make it count’,” Rohit told PTI, referring to his below-par record in international red-ball cricket.Despite possessing an impressive record in limited-overs cricket, including three ODI double-hundreds, Rohit has failed to click in the longest format of the game, scoring just 1479 runs at an average of 39.97 from the 25 Tests he has played. Following an inconsistent show in South Africa at the start of 2018, Rohit was left out of India’s squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru, starting June 14. He doesn’t have any complaints, saying he is at a stage of his career where he can’t think about selection.”For me, I am not at a stage to worry about whether I’ll be picked or not. I need to enjoy my game. The first five-six years of my career, it was all about ‘oh, will I be picked? Will I play?’ Now it’s all about enjoying the game. These things keeps adding pressure on you. Instead it’s best to enjoy yourself in what you do and give your best.”I got into the national team when I was 20 and I made my Test debut when I was 26. I had an opportunity to make my debut in 2010, but I missed that [due to a freak injury while warming up on the morning of the match]. After that, it made me realise that the more you want, your attitude changes. I have realised there’s a time for everything.”There has to be time and a slot available for it. The seniors – Sachin [Tendulkar], Rahul [Dravid], VVS [Laxman] and Sourav [Ganguly] – were all playing then, so we had to wait. After a point, I realised there’s no point thinking about it. No point in thinking about what the selectors are doing and all.”Asked whether he was surprised by his axing from the Test squad for the Afghanistan match, he replied: “I was not. As I said, I can only keep enjoying my game. There’s no time to regret anything. I’ve had enough time to regret in the past. We have got big events coming up, so best to focus on it.”Rohit also didn’t have the best IPL this season while leading Mumbai Indians, failing to take his side to the playoffs.And the flamboyant right-hander admitted that he failed to live up to his own expectations with the bat.”A disappointing campaign without a doubt. I said many a times during the season that this team was much, much better. I think we had a much better squad than most of the other teams who went on to qualify also. But again, we have ourselves to blame for it. We made too many mistakes,” he said.”And personally for me, it was not a great season. I expected a lot from the standards I have set for myself and the kind of performance I have had lately. I gave myself full chance to go out there and do what I could. I started off well with a few innings and then towards the end when it was needed the most, it didn’t happen, so that was disappointing,” he said.He was particularly critical about his shot selection.”Shot selection,” said Rohit when asked about his area of concern with his batting in the IPL. “But again, shot selection is something that will be talked about when the results are not going your way. But those shots when I play in the first over of the match and it goes out of the stadium, it gets you that momentum the team is looking for.”You have to back yourself to do that. I backed myself but it didn’t come off. When it comes off, you win games; when it doesn’t, you lose. I have been in that situation too often,” he added.Rohit refused to buy the theory that he is a white-ball specialist.”By no means. As a child, all I dreamt of was to play Test cricket and that dream will never be over. Nobody can take away my game or what I think about the game,” Rohit said.”Selectors can do what is best in their control, players will do what is in their control. It’s important to keep focus. When I started playing cricket, there was no white ball cricket. We used to play in school, in age-group cricket with red ball. White ball came much later. As a child, you only saw red ball cricket.”Rohit termed Mumbai Indians’ performance this season as “inconsistent” and said it’s time to reflect upon the year and come out stronger in the next edition.”I thought we were a little inconsistent in whatever we did as a team. We should have put out hands up when needed, including myself, but that didn’t happen, so that was disappointing,” he said. “But again, these things can happen and all you can do is to learn from it and be better at when you are thrown into that situation again.”

India’s T20I captain is set to make her maiden appearance in the Kia Super league after missing 2017 with injury

Annesha Ghosh26-Jun-2018A year after missing out on playing for Surrey Stars due to injuries sustained during the World Cup, India T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur is set to play for Lancashire Thunder in the 2018 edition of the Kia Super League.While the announcement is yet to be made public, ESPNcricinfo understands Harmanpreet has signed a contract with Lancashire and is set is depart for the UK around July 15. This will make her the second Indian to feature in the KSL this season, alongside her deputy in the T20I side, Smriti Mandhana, who has been brought in by defending champions Western Storm.Harmanpreet will have her Sydney Thunder captain and former Australia vice-captain Alex Blackwell as coach at Lancashire. Blackwell is set to embark on her maiden coaching assignment at the tournament, having announced a surprise retirement from international cricket in February.Harmanpreet’s recruitment for a first KSL stint is testament to her established stature as one of the most popular and marketable exponents of power-hitting in the women’s game. Following her 171 not-out in the 2017 World Cup semi-final against Australia, she earned an extension to her contract with the Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League for another two seasons, having finished as Thunder’s Player of the Tournament in her debut stint in 2016 on the back of formidable all-round exploits.After her lukewarm second season at the WBBL, Harmanpreet finished as India’s third-highest run-getter in the ODI series in South Africa, and led the team to a 3-1 victory in the subsequent T20I series. Thereafter, however, she had a lean patch during the home season that followed where India lost to Australia 3-0 in ODIs, failed to make the final of a T20I tri-series featuring Australia and England, and laboured to a 2-1 ODI series victory against England in April.Harmanpreet, 29, marked her return to form in the Asia Cup, in Kuala Lumpur, earlier this month where she bagged the Player-of-the-Tournament award for her 156 runs in four innings at an average of 52. Her highest score since the World Cup came during the final of the tournament, where she compiled a gritty, unbeaten 56 and took 2 for 19 as six-time champions India lost to Bangladesh in a final-ball thriller. Upon the team’s return to the country, Harmanpreet was conferred with the BCCI’s Best-International-Cricketer-of-the-Year (Women) Award for the 2016-17 season.In May, she captained the IPL Supernovas to victory in the first-ever Women’s T20 Challenge exhibition match, at the Wankhede stadium, where Mandhana’s Trailblazers lost off the last ball of the game.Lancashire, who finished at the bottom of the table in the six-team KSL last year after losing all of their five games, are scheduled to kick off their campaign this season against Loughborough Lightning on July 22 at Southport.While both Harmanpreet and Mandhana will be away in UK, the other regulars of the India women’s team will assemble at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for a training camp around July 25 as part of the team’s preparations ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka in September. With the World T20 slated for November in the Caribbean, India could also potentially play a T20I series against West Indies in preparation for the tournament they are yet to win.

The legspinner has been put on probation with a one-year suspension sentence from all forms of international cricket and also fined 20% of his annual contract fee

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2018Sri Lanka legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay has been put on probation with a one-year suspended sentence from all forms of international cricket and also fined 20% of his annual contract fee. Vandersay was penalised by SLC for a misconduct reported over a night out in St Lucia during the recent West Indies tour. It means he can continue to play but will be suspended from all forms of cricket for a year if there is a breach of contractual obligation again within the next 12 months.”Vandersay was imposed with the above punishment, following the player’s admission of guilt over the incident,” an SLC statement noted. “SLC has also informed the player that during the period of serving the aforesaid suspended sentence, any breach of the contractual obligation shall be severely dealt with together with the suspension.”Vandersay had been sent home from the West Indies mid-tour following the second Test in St Lucia after the player had failed to report back to the team hotel following a night out. While Vandersay’s companions that evening had arrived back in time for the team’s departure the following morning, Vandersay himself is said to have missed the deadline. After the sanctions were announced, he apologised for his conduct on Twitter.
Sri Lanka’s particularly strong sentence is also thought to be down to the fact that Vandersay had been warned at least once prior by the team management over his conduct.