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Sri Lanka recall Maharoof for Aussie tri-series
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's cricket selectors on Monday recalled Farveez Maharoof and Chanaka Welegedera for next month's triangular one-day series in Australia.
The four-man selection panel led by former player Asantha de Mel also named batsman Mahela Jayawardene as the new captain to replace Tillakaratne Dilshan, who quit on Monday.
All-rounder Maharoof and paceman Welegedera each played his last one-dayer in 2010.
Angelo Mathews was retained as vice-captain for the series, also featuring India.
Squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisira Perera, Farveez Maharoof, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayaka, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Chanaka Welegedera, Dhammika Prasad.
(AFP)
Hogg named in Australian T20 team to play IndiaLeft-arm spinner Brad Hogg will return to international cricket at the age of 40.
He was named Monday in the Australian Twenty20 squad to play two matches against India next month.
Hogg retired from international cricket in 2008 after playing seven tests and 123 one-day internationals, but mounted a comeback after an outstanding season for the Perth Scorchers who have reached the final of Australia s Big Bash Twenty20 league.
Hogg turns 41 on Feb. 6, a few day after the Twenty20 series against India which includes matches at Sydney on Feb. 1 and Melbourne on Feb. 3.
Tasmania s George Bailey will captain the Australian team in place of Cameron White, who has been dropped from the squad.
Bailey and White are Melbourne Stars teammates in the Big Bash League and neither has had an outstanding competition. White scored only 55 runs at an average of eight and Bailey 114 runs at an average of 19.
Bailey, who is one of five Melbourne Stars players in the Australian team, previously captained Australia A against New Zealand in Brisbane in November. He also captains Tasmania in one-day and first class matches.
"The National Selection Panel unanimously favored George Bailey as captain of the T20 team," chairman of selectors John Inverarity said. "George is a very good T20 player with a sound record.
"He is widely respected and regarded as an outstanding captain, having had sustained success in this role"
The squad features a number of changes to the one which played South Africa in South Africa late last year, mostly due to injuries.
Vice-captain Shane Watson and young bowlers Pat Cummins and James Pattinson are all injured.
"Shane Watson has yet to regain match fitness and was not considered for selection," Inverarity said. "The intention is for Shane to take however long it takes to become fully fit and then to declare himself available for selection.
"Brett Lee and Bradley Hogg are the veterans in the team and provide a pleasing blend of experience with the youth and relative inexperience in the squad. Brad Hogg s bowling has been outstanding and his case for inclusion was compelling. He has had a real impact in the BBL in recent weeks."
Jayawardene named captain after Dilshan quits
COLOMBO: Tillakaratne Dilshan resigned as Sri Lanka's cricket captain in all three forms of the game on Monday following the team's disastrous tour of South Africa, officials said.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) named former captain Mahela Jayawardene -- who led
the side to the World Cup final in 2007 -- as skipper for next month's triangular one-day series in Australia, also featuring India.
Dilshan, 35, took up the captaincy on a series-to-series basis after Kumar Sangakkara stepped down following Sri Lanka's defeat in the 2011 World Cup final against India.
Sri Lanka lost both the Test and one-day series in South Africa, though they recovered a measure of pride with victory in the final two limited-overs games, the last on Sunday.
Under Dilshan, Sri Lanka lost Test and one-day series against England, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa.
While Dilshan's own batting form suffered during his reign, he led the team to a historic Test win in Durban this year -- Sri Lanka's first on South African soil.
There was no immediate comment from Dilshan, who has so far scored 4,662 runs in 77 Tests and 5,896 runs in 224 one-day internationals.
His replacement is part of an ongoing shake-up after the national team's recent poor run abroad against South Africa and Pakistan.
Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage last week named a four-member selection panel headed by Asantha de Mel, a former national player, and gave them one year to put the team in order.
Australian coach Geoff Marsh and team manager Anura Tennakoon are also tipped to be replaced, local media reported over the weekend. Marsh was appointed in September 2011 for two years.
Former South Africa coach Graham Ford is due in the island on Tuesday to replace Marsh, the state-run Daily News said Monday. (AFP)
Tillakaratne Dilshan has stepped down as Sri Lanka captain in all three formats, a day after the ODI series against South Africa concluded.
Dilshan, who took over as captain From Kumar Sangakkara after the 2011 world cup, led his team on tours to England, the UAE and South Africa and at home against Australia. His captaincy came under severe criticism as Sri Lanka lost both the test and ODI series against all the four countries. Dilshan led Sri Lanka in 11 tests since May 2011, of which his team won one test and lost five. He captained his team in 21 ODIS, winning 8 and losing 13.
Britain fourth seed Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori of Japan have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open Tennis Tournament.
Murray breezed into quarter-finals after Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakistan retired due to injury in their third set. Murray was leading 6-1 6-1 1-nil when Kukushkin said he could not continue due to hip injury. Kei Nishikori defeated the French man Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6 and 6-3.
In the women's section, Czech second seed Petra Kvitova and Russian Ekaterina Makarova reached the quarter finals. Petra Kvitova beat Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-2 and 7-6 . Five-time champion Serena Williams of United States crashed to one of her worst ever grand slam defeats when Ekaterina Makarova beat her 6-2 and 6-3.
Sharapova fights back to reach quarters
MELBOURNE: Russia's Maria Sharapova battled back from a set down to beat Germany's Sabine Lisicki Monday and reach the Australian Open quarter-finals, her best performance since lifting the title in 2008.
The fourth seed won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in 2hr 15 min to set up a last-eight clash with fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who stunned Serena Williams earlier.
The 24-year-old Sharapova has now reached the quarter-finals or better in Melbourne five times, but this is the first time she has progressed so far since being crowned champion four years ago.
Sharapova started with a blaze of attacking shots and broke Lisicki's first two service games with a series of punishing ground strokes.
But the gritty German refused to give in and slowly fought her way back into the match.
Using clever changes of pace and some deceptive serving, Lisicki didn't allow the much taller Sharapova to find any rhythm and the Russian's game began to fall apart.
Lisicki won the next six games to claim the first set in 36 minutes before Sharapova could stop the rot. The fourth seed then took control of the second set, breaking Lisicki twice to win the set and send the match into a decider.
The turning point came in the third game of the third set when Lisicki had five break points but couldn't convert any of them. Three games later Sharapova broke the German to gain a crucial 4-2 advantage.
Sharapova saved another break point to go to a 5-2 lead and brought up her first match point on Lisicki's serve.
The German held and forced Sharapova to serve for the match, but she kept her nerve and claimed victory on her second match point courtesy of a swinging serve to Lisicki's backhand.
The victory means Sharapova retains a chance of finishing the Australian Open as world number one, along with current incumbent Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka, all of whom are in the quarter-finals. (AFP)
Ferrer beats Gasquet to reach quarters
MELBOURNE: Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals at the Australian Open on Monday.
Ferrer, last year's semi-finalist, defeated 17th seed Gasquet 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 and will play either top seed Novak Djokovic or Australian wild card Lleyton Hewitt in Wednesday's quarters. (AFP)
