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Shadab Nazar, a corporal in the Air Force, routed UP for 134 on the way to his third five-for in his debut first-class season

Abhishek Purohit in Indore06-Jan-2013″We don’t want star players. We want performers,” Wing commander Deepak Bhaskar, the Services manager, had said before the start of their quarter-final against Uttar Pradesh, when asked about the big-name players in the opposition. Performance was what he got from his players on day one. Leading them was fast bowler Shadab Nazar, a corporal in the Air Force, who routed UP for 134 on the way to his third five-for in his debut first-class season.Nazar, 25, ironically hails from UP and played age-group cricket for the state. He was part of the same sports hostel set-up in Lucknow where Suresh Raina and RP Singh come from, before he was recruited by Bhaskar into the Air Force. Today, he showed no mercy to his former state-mates as he bustled in with a run-up full of energy and found generous bounce from the Holkar Stadium pitch to claim 5 for 51.Nazar’s been with Services for six years now, but broke into their first-class side only this season, though he played a couple of one-dayers in early 2010. He’s already become a potent part of the side’s fast-bowling attack, along with Suraj Yadav and Nishan Singh, and has played all their nine games so far in the season to pick up 30 wickets at an average of 23.56.”It doesn’t matter how big the batsman’s reputation is. In the end, it is all about putting the ball in the right areas,” Nazar said. He added more zip to the Services attack as soon as he was introduced first change and dismissed three of the top six UP batsmen. “My approach was to just keep it on a tight length,” he said.Nazar felt the pitch had eased out slightly after the morning session in which UP lost seven wickets but it was still not easy for the batsmen. Bhaskar said the deliveries that zipped through had decreased in number but were still enough of a threat.The UP attack has delivered four outright wins in the season and it was quite an achievement for Services to earn a lead of 20 runs by stumps with five wickets in hand. Even more so, considering they had to redo their batting order following the unavailability of the captain Soumik Chatterjee, who hurt his knee while fielding in the deep. Chatterjee was taken for an MRI scan, the results of which were awaited. The seriousness of his injury was evident when, unable to walk, he was carried from the dressing room to the team bus by his team-mates.What part, if any, Chatterjee will be able to play in the remainder of the match was unclear but for a determined Services side, it is just one of the several odds they have to tackle.

A round-up of the action from the HRV Cup 2011-12 matches

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2012Rapid half-centuries from Azhar Mahmood and Martin Guptill, backed up by a tidy, incisive spell from Ronnie Hira, helped hosts Auckland to a 30-run win against Otago that keeps them safely at the top of the HRV Cup points table. Otago chose to bowl and while Nathan McCullum and Dimitri Mascarenhas produced disciplined spells, the rest of their bowlers were very expensive – Auckland finished with 187 for 2, with Guptill making 65 off 45 and Mahmood providing the late thrust with an unbeaten 79 off49.The Otago batsmen just could not get the required momentum going in the chase. Barring Michael Bates the Auckland bowlers were tight and Hira finished with the pick of the figures: he took 3 for 17 in four, including a double-strike in the eighth over. McCullum and Mascarenhas completed fine all-round showings with rapid cameos towards the end, but the lethargic start meant that was not enough to propel their side home.Rob Nicol picked up four wickets to carve up Wellington‘s middle order and help Canterbury to a 61-run win at the Basin Reserve. Wellington chose to field and after solid second-wicket stand between George Worker and Peter Fulton – both players made scores in the 40s – they struck with regularity to keep Canterbury to 151 for 8. Spinner Jeetan Patel, with 3 for 18, was their most effective bowler.However, they fumbled badly in the chase – no batsman other than James Franklin managed to get into double figures, as they folded for 90 in the 17th over. Nicol, the destroyer-in-chief, ran through the middle order and Wellington could not recover, conceding an easy win to Canterbury.

Peter Siddle was Australia’s everywhere man, including a brief stint as a self-appointed on-field spokesman, as the hosts tried but failed to stay in touch with England at the MCG

Peter English at the MCG27-Dec-2010Peter Siddle was Australia’s everywhere man, including a brief stint as a self-appointed on-field spokesman, as the hosts tried but failed to stay in touch with England at the MCG. He was part of all five dismissals on the second day, gaining three wickets and collecting two catches, and was initially the lead protagonist in an argument with Aleem Dar over whether Kevin Pietersen should have been given out caught behind.Siddle assumed the role of senior pro instead of 21-Test student in the initial negotiations with Dar after Australia’s referral for an inside edge had been dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Having over-reacted in the middle, with a series of arm waving and arguing with Dar before Ponting took over the debate, Siddle hid behind a series of “no comments” after play, looking equally as silly as he did during the original incident occurred. He briefly expanded to say of the exchange that “it’s just cricket”.It was an eventful day for the earthy resident Victorian, who appeals more to the punters in Bay 13 than the Melbourne Cricket Club members. Siddle knows his audience too, turning to the general admission seats and his team-mates to celebrate his successes with his wild roars and over-played gestures.An hour after stumps Siddle would not explain why there was confusion over the Pietersen decision, with a Cricket Australia official saying they did not want to jeopardise a potential hearing. Brad Haddin was the only fielder to hear the nick and he convinced Ponting to contest the appeal. It looked obvious to everyone with a television replay that there was no inside edge, but Siddle and Ponting sensed injustice after watching the same footage on the big screen. Ponting received a fine of 40% of his match fee for his protests.Siddle’s logic during his press conference became so muddled that he said the players should look to Ponting for inspiration as they try to save the match over the next three days. Ponting has scored 93 runs in four Tests, has a broken finger, and finally cracked publicly under the pressure to avoid losing an Ashes series for the third time. He argued with Dar over two overs during the Pietersen episode and also had grumpy exchanges with the batsman and Tony Hill, the other umpire.”He is the same man, a strong character,” Siddle said of Ponting. “He always works hard, backs you up to the hilt and leads by example. That is what we go by.”A better example of how to play at the moment would come from taking an interest in England, who lead by 346 runs and still have five first-innings wickets in hand. Without Siddle, who performed extremely well whenever he had the ball, the situation would be even worse. His 3 for 58 from 26 overs provided the side with penetration and a crucial element of control, but despite all of the heroics Australia are still a speck in England’s rear-view mirror.Siddle provided a spark on the second morning by removing Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss within 13 runs of the resumption. The delivery to dismiss Strauss was a brute, with the batsman edging the rising ball to gully after trying to steer to the legside. Australia’s problem was that the wickets didn’t come on the opening afternoon, when England had already careered past their first-innings 98.Siddle wasn’t bowling at the time of the Pietersen controversy so Ponting cleverly redirected his fire and was rewarded almost immediately. Bowling around 140 kph, he got one to stay low and had Pietersen lbw for 51. While the delivery provided some much-needed cheer, it also caused more doubts for the batsmen who will be charged with the second-innings rescue.At fine-leg Siddle was also highly effective. Instead of regaining his breath in between overs he caught Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell when they hooked carelessly at Mitchell Johnson before tea. The lunging, low take of Bell was particularly athletic and Siddle’s string of useful contributions showed his value to the side. He just has to stay involved in the right way, instead of jumping into arguments on behalf of his team-mates.

The second ODI of South Africa’s India tour, on February 24, has been shifted to Gwalior

Cricinfo staff05-Feb-2010The second one-day international of South Africa’s India tour, on February 24, has been shifted to Gwalior.The Indian board (BCCI) confirmed the shift via a media release but did not specify the reason. However, it is reportedly believed that a section of the Green Park stadium, allotted for students, was not in good condition and thus the officials did not want to risk hosting an international match. The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has apparently decidedly to rebuild the stand in question.The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association was quick to offer its support to the BCCI by hosting the match. South Africa’s touring security unit will travel to Gwalior to inspect the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, which last hosted an ODI in November 2007 when Pakistan toured.Kanpur was the venue for India’s series-squaring Test win over South Africa
in April 2008, where the visitors lost the final match by eight wickets after their batting line-up crumbled on an under-prepared surface. Kanpur last hosted a Test between India and Sri Lanka late in 2009, and an ODI between the hosts and England in November 2008.The first ODI will be played in Jaipur on February 21 and the third and final game will be held in Ahmedabad on February 27.

The Australia opener hit a 98-ball 116 but NSW’s chase fell short after a powerful display from the home side

AAP13-Feb-2025Sam Konstas overcame leg cramps to score his first domestic one-day century, but couldn’t prevent Queensland beating New South Wales.Despite Konstas’s impressive 116, NSW were dismissed for 256 chasing Queensland’s 310 for 9 on Thursday at Allan Border Field.Konstas was sent home early from the Sri Lanka tour without playing in either Test and only made 3 and 22 in the Sheffield Shield match earlier this week against Queensland. But the 19-year-old, whose Boxing Day Test debut was one of the highlights of the summer, reminded everyone of his vast potential as he anchored the NSW innings in his second domestic one dayer.While Konstas was still in, NSW had a glimmer of hope that they could pull off the win. Play was held up for five minutes after he cramped badly in his left hamstring and dropped to the turf, but after treatment he was able to keep batting.His 98-ball knock featured 13 fours and three sixes. He brought up the century with an outstanding square cut for six.But NSW, who started Thursday’s games as the top side in the one-day competition, paid dearly for a mid-innings collapse after Lachlan Hearne set up the sizeable Queensland total with his ton.After the start of play was delayed by rain and the match shortened to 45 overs per side, the bowler-friendly conditions meant it was a good toss for NSW to win. They reduced the home side to 54 for 4, before Hearne and Max Bryant steadied the innings with their 100-run stand from 78 balls.Lachlan Hearne celebrates his century•Getty Images

Once Bryant was dismissed for 34, Jack Wildermuth was the senior partner in his 120-run stand with Hearne as the conditions became much easier for batting.Wildermuth belted 83 from 56 balls with six fours and five sixes. Hearne also opened up, with four successive sixes to hit Moises Henriques out of the attack.He was dismissed at the end of the 42nd over for 107 from 91 balls, with four fours and seven sixes.Gurinder Sandhu scored a valuable, unbeaten 21 to take the score past 300, while opening bowler Jack Nisbet took 4 for 49 from his nine overs..NSW made a solid start, reaching 113 for 1 in the 18th over, before they crucially lost 3 for 5. After Mitch Swepson dismissed Matthew Gilkes for 34, Callum Vidler snared two wickets in three balls, with Henriques and Oliver Davies departing for ducks.That left NSW 118 for 4 at the end of the 19th over and they never quite recovered. A 50-run stand between Konstas and Hayden Kerr for the eighth wicket raised NSW hopes of chasing down the formidable Queensland total.But when Liam Guthrie snared Kerr for 14, NSW were 233 for 8 at the start of the 38th over. Sandhu claimed Konstas’ wicket in the 40th over to confirm Queensland would win and the only interest remained whether the home side could claim the bonus point, by dismissing NSW for less than 247. But the visitors passed that target and their last wicket fell at 42.2 overs.

His father, Gary, said that when Green was born there were concerns over his life expectancy

Alex Malcolm14-Dec-2023Australia allrounder Cameron Green has revealed he was born with chronic kidney disease and at one stage had a life expectancy of just 12 but has been able to manage the issues throughout his professional cricketing career.Green, 24, was left out of Australia’s XI for the opening Test of the summer against Pakistan in Perth with Mitchell Marsh usurping him as the incumbent allrounder in the side during the Ashes series in England earlier this year.But Green, who is by nature a very shy and reserved person, revealed to Channel 7 that he has been dealing with the disease for his entire life, having hardly made it known to even team-mates or friends.”My parents got told when I was born that I had chronic kidney disease,” Green told Channel 7. “Basically, there’s no symptoms, it was just picked up through ultrasounds.”Chronic kidney disease is basically a progressive disease of your kidney’s health function. Unfortunately, mine doesn’t filter the blood as well as other kidneys. They’re at about 60% at the moment which is stage two.”I consider myself very lucky that I’m not as affected physically by chronic kidney disease as other people who are affected by the same thing.”With chronic kidney disease there’s five stages, with stage one being the least severe, and stage five being transplant or dialysis. Fortunately, I’m stage two, but if you don’t look after them enough, it goes back down.”Kidneys can’t get better. It’s irreversible. So anything you can do to slow the progression, you basically try and do.”Green’s disease was picked up when his mother Bee Tracey had her 19-week pregnancy scan. His father Gary, who has been hugely influential on Green’s cricket career, said there were initial fears he may not live past the age of 12. “At the time it was unchartered territory as such, the prognosis wasn’t great,” Gary Green said. “There were life expectancy issues that he might not expect to live past twelve years of age.”Green said he has managed the issue reasonably well throughout his career to date and has only had one concerning episode while playing for Australia in an ODI against New Zealand in Cairns last year. He made 89 not out in a successful run chase after bowling five overs and fielding the full 50 but experienced severe cramping while he batted.”I think it was pretty well documented that I had a pretty long day of bowling and a pretty long bat as well, and then had a cramping episode,” Green said. “It took me a long time to realise that it was probably my kidney function that was affecting my cramping.”I always thought I didn’t drink enough, didn’t eat enough, didn’t look after myself during the game as well as I could have, but I think over time I realised that I was doing absolutely everything right, but I was still cramping, unfortunately.”Green said it took him awhile to reveal it to his team-mates, who had wondered about his capacity to handle the all-round workload.”I have told a few guys in the cricket world. The coaching staff are all over it,” Green said. “I think all the guys in the Aussie cricket team, I’ve told. After a few cramping episodes, I probably had to come off and tell them that it’s probably more than not being professional enough because I knew in the background I was eating and drinking as much as I could to give myself the best chance.”

The allrounder has cited issues with the team environment as the reason for her decision, and looks forward to “playing domestic cricket around the world”

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2022Deandra Dottin, the scorer of the fastest century in Women’s T20Is, has announced her retirement from the West Indies team. The allrounder made the announcement via Twitter, citing reservations with the team environment as the reason behind her decision.Dottin has made no indication that she has retired from any other team barring West Indies. She is currently representing Barbados at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and said in her retirement announcement that she is “looking forward to playing domestic cricket around the world”.Related

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Whether this includes the inaugural Women’s CPL that begins on August 30 – she is set to captain Trinbago Knight Riders in the three-team tournament – remains to be seen, since the tournament will be played under the auspices of Cricket West Indies. She is, however, set to play for the Manchester Originals in the second season of The Hundred in the UK.”There have been many obstacles during my cricket career that I have had to overcome[.] [H]owever, the current climate and team environment has been non-conducive to my ability to thrive and reignite my passion,” Dottin wrote in her announcement.”I am appreciative of the opportunities afforded to me and I have ruminated on my decision over a period of time. Playing for the West Indies and representing the region has been an honour. During my 14 years of playing, I have trained at my best and grown as a player physically, mentally and emotionally. It is the combination of this growth that has assisted me in reflecting on what is truly important to me.”With much sadness but without regret, I realize that I am no longer able to adhere to team culture and team environment as it has undermined my ability to perform excellently.” Dottin is West Indies’ most-capped international cricketer, having played 124 T20Is (she has also played two for Barbados at the ongoing Commonwealth Games) and 143 ODIs since her debut in June 2008. She has scored 3727 ODI runs at an average of 30.54, including three hundreds, and 2697 T20I runs – 2681 for West Indies – at 25.93, with two hundreds. Among the 38 batters to have scored at least 1000 T20I runs, only four have a better strike rate than Dottin’s 122.98.The most memorable display of her spectacular hitting came at the T20 World Cup in 2010, where she smashed an unbeaten 112 off just 45 balls against South Africa in St Kitts. She reached her hundred in 38 balls – it remains the Women’s T20I record, and was the overall record in all T20Is until October 2017, when South Africa’s David Miller hit a 35-ball hundred against Bangladesh.With the ball, Dottin has picked up 72 wickets in ODIs and 62 in T20Is, including a career-best haul of 5 for 5 against Bangladesh in 2018 – the best bowling figures in Women’s T20 World Cup history. Injuries had limited her bowling workload in recent years, but she still made a contribution when she stepped up for the rare over of medium-pace. In the opening game of this year’s Women’s World Cup, she stepped up to bowl the final over when New Zealand needed six runs to win with three wickets in hand. Dottin, who had only bowled 11 overs in the preceding three years, won West Indies the match, conceding just two runs while picking up two wickets and completing the match-ending run-out.

Punam Raut and Lara Goodall also gain in the rankings after impressive performances

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-20211:09

Wolvaardt – ‘To have the No. 1 batter in our side is absolutely amazing’

Lizelle Lee, the South Africa opening batter, has had a stellar run in the ongoing ODI series against India, and that has led to a steep rise in the women’s ODI rankings, where she is now the top batter, relegating England’s Tammy Beaumont to No. 2. Last week, after scoring 83* in the series opener, Lee had moved up from No. 11 to eighth, and since then, a run of 4, 132* and 69 has seen her zoom through even as South Africa have taken a winning 3-1 lead in the series.Lee, the only South African ever to top that table, had earlier been the best in the world in June 2018 after scoring 92* and 117 against England, though South Africa had lost that series 2-1.Though India have fallen short in three of the matches, their top-order batter Punam Raut has had a very good run, totalling 253 runs from four innings so far compared to Lee’s 288. Like Lee, she has also scored two half-centuries and a century, and that has led to a rise of eight spots to 18th. She is fourth-best Indian in the list after Smriti Mandhana (seventh), Mithali Raj (ninth) and Harmanpreet Kaur (15th).ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Among the other premier performers in the four matches so far in Lucknow, South Africa’s Lara Goodall (49 and 59* in the second and fourth games) has gained 27 places to reach the 48th position.Chasing teams have won all four games so far – South Africa won the third game on the DLS method while chasing – and that has been because of some impressive bowling performances, especially in the morning. Jhulan Goswami, with eight wickets in three games, is top of that chart, with Shabnim Ismail one behind after four games, followed by Rajeshwari Gayakwad with five wickets.That has meant a rise to No. 3, behind the Australian pair of Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt for Ismail, while Goswami has held on to her fifth place, while Gayakwad has gained four slots to No. 18.The final game of the series will be played on Wednesday.

The Australia captain’s words follow the allrounder’s match-winning display for Melbourne Stars against Sydney Thunder

Daniel Brettig09-Jan-2020Glenn Maxwell picked a typically opportune time to rattle the Melbourne Stars to a Big Bash League victory at the MCG, leaving his erstwhile Melbourne Renegades rival and now the Australia ODI captain Aaron Finch to explain why the allrounder wasn’t joining him on the plane to India.After a World Cup campaign that fell short of expectations, and a battle with mental-health issues that forced an extended break from the game in the first half of the season, Maxwell is a T20 concern only for the time being, meaning he is with the Stars for the duration of the BBL and will next play for Australia in their next bracket of T20Is ahead of the World Cup on home soil later this year.However, the fact that the next 50-overs World Cup is to be held in India in 2023, a part of the world that Maxwell knows intimately through his many IPL and international campaigns, means that Finch, the national coach Justin Langer and his senior assistant Andrew McDonald will be looking again in the 31-year-old’s direction before the time comes to name the Cup squad.”People look at [that innings] and they see the results and see all the sixes and all the big hitting, but the way he approached it last night was very clinical,” Finch said of Maxwell. “The way that he gave himself a bit of a chance early and then dominated late. Once he’s in, you can’t bowl to him anywhere. He’s got an answer to everything.”It’s never closed, but when you’re picking a side there has to be a spot there. It just comes down to being in the right place at the right time and having the right match-up. You can only pick so many top-three batters. Guys that have been a part of the squad, Shaun Marsh for example, was disappointed as well after playing some great cricket for the last couple of years, but anyone who misses out is disappointed.”For the time being, the selectors have chosen to take a closer look instead at this summer’s breakout Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne, who with his energy, part-time spin bowling and strong footwork against spin looks a useful addition to the white-ball squad, if not quite so explosive as Maxwell can be. Finch said Labuschagne’s burgeoning friendship with Steven Smith should ensure that by the time the team sets up for the first ODI against India he will be well and truly across the team’s plans.”We know that he’s not going to be overawed by the occasion,” Finch said. “He’s come back into Test cricket after missing out at the start of the Ashes and he’s been unbelievable, so hopefully he can continue that. The form that he showed in the one-day games was outstanding domestically.”He’s averaging up around 40 there batting at three, batting at four for Queensland on what’s been traditionally a little bit tougher batting conditions over the last couple of years in domestic cricket. Playing on some slower wickets that spin quite a bit, to be able to come in and do that role really well for Queensland is obviously what’s got him a place in the side, as well as his current form. I don’t see why it wouldn’t translate.”Marnus Labuschagne bowls in the nets•Getty Images

Australia’s tour of India for three ODIs in the middle of January will see the BBL take centre-stage, while the players and broadcasters alike get used to being elsewhere during what is usually peak cricket time in the school holidays. Fox Sports has already made its displeasure known at the scheduling of a BBL match directly opposite one of Australia’s matches in India, and for Finch the scenario is not one he has previously contemplated.”It’s something we didn’t expect to come up even a few months ago,” he said. “But obviously there was a few games’ shortfall with India in the last couple of years, so it doesn’t make a difference to us to be honest, if you’re playing one-day cricket anywhere it’s exciting. Would’ve been nice to play a few more internationals at home during this period but it’s just not possible.”Instead, Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will be turning out in India, and Finch said that for the bowlers there will be the opportunity to reconnect with white-ball cricket after five Tests, while the batsmen need to make the most of their starts in conditions that ease markedly once the first 20 or so balls have been negotiated.”It’s a place where once you get in – it can be a really tough place to start your innings, the ball can swing early, can spin early. So once you get in it can be a beautiful place to bat, the outfields are obviously rapid, so you make the most of that. Any top-order player, once you get to 20 or 30, you really want to go on and cash in. That’ll be the task for our top four.”[The pace bowlers] were all keen to get on this tour and play as much as they could and keep developing their skills. Especially someone like Josh, who’s been out of the side for quite a while now through injury and workload management at different times. I think the fact they’re all so keen to get over there and do well is really exciting.”

England have announced their XI and Sri Lanka could also make a couple of changes as they seek a consolation win

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo22-Nov-2018In his fifth Test in charge, Suranga Lakmal has perhaps his greatest leadership challenge yet. When he led Sri Lanka to wins against West Indies and South Africa, he largely had his first-choice attack at his back, and was up against opposition that appeared seriously vulnerable.England, though, are a much sterner test. They know how to bat in spinning conditions – much better than Sri Lanka had imagined. They also have batting all the way down to No. 8, which presents a daunting challenge for any fielding captain.”The England batsmen are playing really well at the moment,” Lakmal said. “If you look at the world, the next best players of spin after India are England. Their batsmen don’t let our spinners bowl in one spot to them. They sweep in both directions – the normal sweep and the reverse. They do that from the first ball of their innings. That’s something we should learn from when we play in Sri Lanka in the future as well.”Among the weaknesses Lakmal must address in this Test is Sri Lanka’s propensity to give runs away to England’s lower order. The hosts had had the opposition at 103 for 5 and 134 for 5 in each of the first innings of the last two Tests, before going on to concede 342 and 285 (with five penalty runs added to the latter). In Pallekele, England’s last-wicket partnerships were worth 60 and 41.Sri Lanka’s best chance of curbing this trend, Lakmal hinted, was for him to bowl himself more often at England’s lower order batsmen.”Their top five are always trying to score runs quickly. After that they start to understand the pitch and start playing the spinners better. They also have a good batting line-up. But we can’t be making spinning pitches and letting their tail get runs. We have a plan to stop them. We gave the spinners a lot of overs at the tail in the previous games because the pitch suited them. But as a seam bowler, maybe there will be a change in this match.”Not making Lakmal’s job any easier are the non-performing members of the batting line up. Kaushal Silva has made four modest scores, and is likely to be replaced by Danushka Gunathilaka. Niroshan Dickwella has been skating by on shaky batting performances himself, but survives in the XI because of his wicketkeeping. Kusal Mendis has also been poor in the last five Tests, now having gone 10 innings without a fifty. As he is thought of as the man around whom Sri Lanka’s future top order may pivot, though, the selectors and captain appear happy to keep him around.”In the last little while when we’ve won Tests, he’s a player who has contributed to those performances in a big way,” Lakmal said. “As a captain, Kusal is definitely in my team. Dinesh Chandimal is out, and a lot of the batsmen don’t have a lot of experience. He was among the runs until recently – it’s only in the last six or seven games that he’s failed.”He’ll play in this game, because the next tours are important as well. We’re going to New Zealand soon. We can’t drop him for this match and bring him back for that game, because then he will fall even more mentally. What we’re looking to do is to try to carry the players who aren’t performing and try and get them into a better state. Mendis is a valuable player both now and into the future.”