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Azhar Mahmood, the former Pakistan allrounder and debuting in the IPL as a British citizen, breathed life into a stuttering Kings XI Punjab innings which had once again been let down by its batsmen

The Report by Abhishek Purohit20-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAB de Villiers was involved in a match-winning stand with Chris Gayle•AFP

For a while, Kings XI Punjab showed some fight. Azhar Mahmood turned a middling total into a seemingly challenging one. Parvinder Awana jolted Royal Challengers Bangalore with three early strikes. But the visitors had Chris Gayle. And AB de Villiers. A nearly risk-free partnership of 131 at more than ten runs an over followed, shutting Kings XI out totally.At 25 for 3 facing an asking-rate touching nine-and-a-half, Royal Challengers should have been pushed much more than they were. That they were not was down to the class of Gayle and de Villiers and the lack of depth in the Kings XI attack.When they needed someone to increase the pressure after Awana’s initial burst, Kings XI instead had Harmeet Singh delivering innocuous legbreaks from a long run-up on a greenish pitch. They were also confronted with two batsmen who were so much in control of the situation that they did not even bother to attack as much as they usually do.Gayle kept the big strokes away as long as he could rein himself in but that did not deter him from scoring boundaries at will. Awana had just taken out Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli in the space of five deliveries. Gayle responded with consecutive fours off Praveen Kumar in the next over.Awana had Saurabh Tiwary top-edging to the wicketkeeper off the first ball of the sixth over. Gayle responded with another pair of boundaries. He softly turned deliveries through square leg for runs while de Villiers found his timing as soon as he arrived.De Villiers, in fact, went along at a faster clip than Gayle initially, tapering off towards the end as the latter finally decided to display his range with some huge straight hits.The game went to the last over only because Gayle and de Villiers fell on the brink of victory. In the end, Royal Challengers had just too much power for a ragged Kings XI unit. That Kings XI even set the visitors a reasonable chase was down to Mahmood, the former Pakistan allrounder debuting in the IPL as a British citizen. He breathed life into a stuttering innings after Kings XI had once again been let down by their batsmen. Coming in at No. 7 in the 16th over, Mahmood smashed 33 off 14 deliveries as Kings XI posted their highest total of the season.Despite three of five bowlers used going for around six runs an over, Royal Challengers discovered there were still enough weak links in their attack for even a shaky Kings XI line-up to exploit. Harshal Patel disappeared for 44 and Vinay Kumar for 40 as Kings XI took 51 off the final four overs.Kings XI had sleepwalked to 105 by the 15th over, and the departure of David Hussey off the last ball of that over had further dented their hopes of posting a decent total. Mahmood walked in and completely changed the tempo of the innings. Harshal was thumped over mid-off and midwicket for consecutive boundaries; Vinay was calmly dabbed between the wicketkeeper and wide slip for four.Royal Challengers had been on top till Mahmood’s arrival. Only Shaun Marsh and Hussey had dominated them in a three-over span. Even that partnership had been terminated before it could cause much damage. After playing some pleasing cover drives, Marsh was bowled for 26 as he tried to late-cut Andrew McDonald.Marsh’s fall came after Zaheer Khan, enjoying the bounce on the Mohali pitch and bowling with control from both sides of the wicket, had removed the Kings XI openers early. Stand-in captain Hussey, leading in place of the injured Adam Gilchrist, kept the home side going steadily but fell when they were in need of a late boost. It was to come from Mahmood, and gave their medium-pacers some leeway to exploit a favourable pitch. Awana did that, but Gayle and de Villiers were unstoppable.

Kieran Powell gave the West Indians an important boost ahead of the first Test with a composed hundred against England Lions to take the visitors into a 66-run lead on the third day

Andrew McGlashan at Northampton12-May-2012
ScorecardKieran Powell was put down in the slips but went on to make a century•Getty Images

Although competition is slim for the honour, this was far and away the West Indians’ best day on tour as Kieran Powell led a determined batting effort to keep England Lions in the field and facing the prospect of a tricky final-day run chase. Powell, who hit just his second first-class hundred, put on century partnerships with Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the visitors closed 183 ahead.There were low expectations when they resumed on 28 for 3, still 166 behind, but the batsmen started to learn from their mistakes of the first innings in a performance that offered hope for a competitive Test series when coupled with their strong bowling attack. If Kemar Roach, Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul can be given decent totals to bowl at West Indies could provide stern opposition and at least now a few of their batsmen will enter the series with runs under the belt.Powell, a tall left-hander from Nevis who has played six Tests and lived in the UK for two years while attending Millfield School, was given a life early in the day on 17 when he edged low to a wide third slip where Nick Compton put down a tough chance to his right. He often kept the slips interested but batsmen deserve a little luck when they show application in a season where the ball has dominated. His scoring rate increased during the second half of his innings as he milked the spinners, especially Samit Patel whose reputation was not enhanced during his 20 overs, ahead of the second new ball.Powell also used his feet to drive Joe Root for a straight six and reached his hundred from 217 balls with a slog-sweep off Patel. However, it was spin that ended his stay when he tried to force Patel off the back foot through the off side shortly before the new ball became available. It had been an innings that assured him an opening berth for the Lord’s Test and means at least one of West Indies’ top three will go into the match with a substantial score to their name.The Lions had opportunities to make earlier inroads but were not at their best in the field. Along with Powell’s let-off, Bravo was missed twice; a regulation chance in the gully on 19 by Root and a tougher chance to Ian Bell at slip against Patel on 51. However, between the lives both batsmen played some pleasing shots especially through their favoured off side and Bravo went to his second fifty of the match with a lofted straight drive off Patel.Jack Brooks, who has impressed throughout, broke the fourth-wicket stand when he bowled Bravo round his legs with a helping hand from the batsman, who got an edge into his thigh pad. Chanderpaul, though, rarely fails twice in a match and helped Powell take their team into a lead that had appeared an unlikely prospect at the start of the innings. Brooks tested him with a hard-working spell but Chanderpaul, like Powell, did not find many problems against the overs of spin leaving James Taylor to perhaps rue the absence of a specialist slow bowler for the first time in the game.Chanderpaul went to his half-century from 106 balls and was becoming increasingly fluent during the evening session as he regularly pierced the off side between mid-off and cover. His innings came to a surprising end with a piece of misjudgement when he padded up to Stuart Meaker, who had earlier bowled a good spell of reverse swing, at which stage the lead was still under 100.However, unlike in the first innings the Lions could not hustle through the lower order. Marlon Samuels, who regularly alternates between periods of extreme slow and brisk scoring at the crease, started by reaching 3 off 28 balls before cutting loose with four boundaries in quick succession off Matt Coles and then an onslaught against Jade Dernbach. Samuels and Dernbach had shared a few words on the second day and it was battle rejoined when Samuels took him for 15 in an over including a monstrous stand-and-deliver six over deep midwicket.Samuels fell to a top-edged pull – not the first West Indian batsman to go in such fashion during the game – when Coles replaced Dernbach and Shane Shillingford gloved a hook down the leg side, but the visitors will have ended the day feeling much better about life even if they are not feeling a great degree warmer just yet.

Mitchell Johnson was never in danger of losing his Cricket Australia contract for 2012-13 because he already had one

Daniel Brettig in Belfast22-Jun-2012Mitchell Johnson was never in danger of losing his Cricket Australia contract for 2012-13 because he already had one. On the day the players and the board said farewell to the old system of contracts and its various flaws, the last vestige of the Andrew Hilditch era was revealed to be a two-year deal for Johnson that carried over into the current period.Johnson’s appearance on a tight list of 17 players that featured neither the current Twenty20 captain George Bailey, nor the Test opener Ed Cowan, was considered a surprise to many, given his indifferent Test displays leading up to a serious injury that scuppered his home summer.However the team performance manager, Pat Howard, explained that a primary reason behind Johnson’s retention as a contract-holder was that in 2011 he had been granted two years by the former chairman of selectors Hilditch, his panel disbanded as part of the Argus review that also served as the genesis of the recalibrated contracts system.”First off he was on a two-year contract, so he was already contracted, that gets around that issue,” Howard said when asked about why Johnson had made it onto the far tighter CA contract list. “But he did play all the Tests in the lead-up to that period before his injury, and he did play across all three forms. So the reality is he got some ranking in all three forms.”Without giving the opportunity to speak too largely without having the opportunity to sit down with the players individually, the selectors have gone through a fairly rigorous process in reviewing both where the player was and where they think the players will be.”John Inverarity, the national selector, indicated that Johnson may have been re-contracted anyway. “Look I think he would have,” he said. “We have very high expectations that he will come back and come back extremely well. His record is very good. The consideration was that he already had a contract for this period. That was a given.”We know how well he can bowl. That Test match against England in Perth when he got his action just right. It is in there somewhere, if we can provide the support and he can deliver than he is an outstanding player. Mitch has x-factor and of course he is also a very good No. 8 batsman. He is a talented cricketer. Now he has to perform. He is in the 17, he will need to perform and we hope he does.”As a mature-bodied fast bowler with a strong record of durability up to last November’s unusual foot injury, Inverarity said that Johnson will also provide useful squad cover for a fast bowling ensemble that has grown increasingly deep, varied and skilful.”The younger guys can’t stand the workload of those that are 27, 28 years of age,” Inverarity said. “With Pat Cummins, he is not going to play lots of consecutive Test matches. We need depth there and we want to bring on carefully James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. I think last summer for Mitchell [Starc] was about perfect.”Though seldom widely publicised, CA has for some years offered contracts of two or more years to their most bankable assets, commonly going to the likes of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Shane Watson. Howard said that four players, including Johnson, had held multi-year deals that carried over into the next 12 months, but he indicated that the clause represented a part of the previous regime.”It’s obviously become far tighter, far more difficult to get a contract, and that was the whole point of the Argus review to make it a little bit more stringent,” Howard said. “But there’s plenty of room to upgrade as they have in the past and from memory 13 players got upgraded last year, and we equally expect that sort of thing to occur in the next year, not just the Test players but ODI and T20 players as well.”

Aakash Chopra, the former India opener, will switch from Rajasthan to Himachal Pradesh for the upcoming domestic season

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2012Aakash Chopra, the former India opener, will switch from Rajasthan to Himachal Pradesh for the upcoming domestic season. Chopra is originally from Delhi but played the previous two seasons for Rajasthan, helping them to the Ranji title on both occasions.
Chopra, on Twitter, looked back with pride at his time with Rajasthan. “Thoroughly enjoyed my time with Rajasthan and I will miss the team camaraderie the most. The happiest dressing room I’ve been a part of,” he tweeted. “It was a tough decision but had to be taken…nothing excites me more than getting out of my comfort zone! New challenges…new beginnings!”Chopra was the linchpin of Rajasthan’s batting during their sterling march from the Plate to Elite division in 2010-11. He scored 539 runs at 89.83 in the Plate games. That run included an unbeaten triple-century against Maharashtra, his highest first-class score to date. In the semi-final against Elite team Tamil Nadu, he scored a century, helping set up Rajasthan’s victory through the first-innings lead. Chopra chronicled their unlikely triumph in his book, . The following season, as Rajasthan successfully defended their title, Chopra put in another solid showing, with 615 runs at 43.92 from nine games.

Only 11.2 overs were bowled on the second day of the County Championship Division Two match between Gloucestershire and Kent at Bristol before a torrential downpour left the outfield resembling a lake.

16-Aug-2012
ScorecardOnly 11.2 overs were bowled on the second day of the LV= County Championship Division Two match between Gloucestershire and Kent at Bristol before a torrential downpour left the outfield resembling a lake.Knt had progressed to 29 for 1 when the rain arrived at 11.45am. Umpires Neil Bainton and Martin Bodenham ruled out any further prospect of play at 1.15pm.After the first day washout, Gloucestershire won the toss and skipper Alex Gidman not surprisingly elected to field as the grey clouds began to gather. Play began on time in some sunshine and Kent had 12 on the board when Sam Northeast was given a life on 7, Rob Nicol spilling a relatively straightforward chance at second slip. The unlucky bowler was Will Gidman, back in the Gloucestershire side after a side injury, which had kept him out since June.Gidman, the club’s player-of-the-year last season after doing the allrounder’s double of 1,000 first class runs and 50 wickets, sent down 4.2 overs from the Ashley Down End, conceding 12 runs. But it was James Fuller who made the breakthrough from the Pavilion End, when, with the score on 20, Rob Key attempted to pull a short ball and got a thin edge through to wicketkeeper Jon Batty to depart for nine.With nine runs added the players were forced off and the heavens opened to end the day’s play.

Captain Jimmy Adams led the way as Hampshire chased down 326 with almost two overs to spare to beat Northamptonshire by eight wickets

18-Aug-2012
ScorecardJimmy Adams struck 149 as Hampshire won by eight wickets to boost their promotion chances•Getty Images

Captain Jimmy Adams led the way as Hampshire chased down 326 with almost two overs to spare to beat Northamptonshire by eight wickets in their Division Two promotion clash.Adams made 149 before departing with only 49 required as Hampshire eased to their fourth win of the season to maintain their strengthening challenge. The opener hit 23 fours and two sixes from 216 balls and after his departure, Simon Katich’s unbeaten 61 made sure of Hampshire’s victory.Northants left the south coast wondering how they had conceded a powerful position, put together over the previous three days. They went into the last day on 176 for 5 in their second innings, a healthy lead of 256 and with Hampshire struggling to avoid defeat.Chris Wood bowled James Middlebrook in the third over of the day and David Murphy was out one run later at 182, caught in the slips by Neil McKenzie off David Balcombe. Alex Wakely accelerated towards the declaration with an innings of 96 from 191 balls but, seeking the boundary to take him to his third first-class century, could only edge Kabir Ali to Liam Dawson at slip.With his dismissal at 245 for 8, Northants declared leaving Hampshire to score their runs in 72 overs on a wicket less helpful to the pace bowlers than it had been over the first three days. Hampshire responded positively with Adams and McKenzie putting on 150 for the first wicket in 39 overs with McKenzie using his experience to make 76 with 12 fours.Katich then joined Adams and, as Northants struggled for a further breakthrough, took the score to 277 before the latter lifted Luke Evans to Wakely in the covers. But there was plenty of time for Katich and Dawson to get on top of the tiring bowling to rush Hampshire home.Katich took Hampshire to their target with his sixth four while Dawson played a valuable supporting role with his 27 not out. Hampshire, who moved into second in Division Two, now have three matches left to regain the top-flight status they lost last season.

Brendan McCullum broke a few Twenty20 international records in New Zealand’s 59-run win over Bangladesh in the Group D opener in Pallekele

The Report by Mohammad Isam21-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrendon McCullum reached his second Twenty20 international century off 51 balls•Associated Press

Brendan McCullum broke a few Twenty20 international records in New Zealand’s 59-run win over Bangladesh in the Group D opener in Pallekele, but his spectacular 123 off just 58 balls more importantly gave his team the breathing space in the tournament’s toughest group. McCullum broke the record for the highest score in Twenty20 internationals when he went past Richard Levi’s 117 made earlier this year (which, coincidentally, came against New Zealand), and has also become the first batsman to score two hundreds in this format.The innings was more than enough to ward off any threat from the Bangladesh batsman, who were facing their second-highest chase. Kyle Mills gave them no chance of a quick recovery by removing Tamim Iqbal off the third ball, the left-hand batsman rigid at the crease and caught easily by Martin Guptill. In his next over, Mills took the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan, who continued his poor day by chipping one to Kane Williamson at cover. The same combination removed captain Mushfiqur Rahim, the catch taken at deep midwicket. Tim Southee continued his good form by also picking up three wickets, but it would be Mills’ performance that would be most encouraging for New Zealand, after he had crashed into McCullum in their last competitive Twenty20 just ten days ago.McCullum, too, looked well over the effects of that collision. In an hour and 12 minutes, he produced not only a scintillating display of big-hitting but also showed how to change gears in a 20-over innings without wasting too many deliveries. His knock is the prototype that all modern-day coaches would want batsmen to strive for, though some of McCullum’s shots can hardly be imitated without his energy, authority and imagination.Bangladesh lacked the authority because they were not the ones in command while fielding. Mushfiqur would be disappointed with his fielders letting him down. The number of fumbles and misfields from the beginning showed how stiff they were and it also meant that a costly overthrow (by Mashrafe Mortaza in the seventh over) or a dropped catch of McCullum (by Mashrafe in the 19th) was only a matter of time.

Smart stats

• Brendon McCullum is the only batsman to score two centuries in Twenty20 internationals. His 123 is the highest score in the format, while his strike rate of 212.06 is the second-best among the eight hundreds.

• McCullum reached his century in 51 balls, which is the fourth-fastest in Twenty20 internationals, after Richard Levi (45 balls), Chris Gayle and McCullum himself, when he scored his first century (50 balls each).

• McCullum scored 64.40% of his team’s runs, which is the second-highest percentage among the eight hundreds, next only to Levi’s 67.24% (117 out of 174).

• Bangladesh have lost each of their last nine matches in the World Twenty20. Their only win in this tournament was in their first match, against West Indies in 2007.

• Among teams that have played at least five matches in World Twenty20 tournaments, Bangladesh’s win-loss record is the worst.

• Teams batting first have won each of the four Twenty20 internationals played in Pallekele.

But Mushfiqur too was at fault by only sticking to Plan A, which was to rotate the left-arm spinners according to the phases of the Twenty20 innings. He didn’t actually rotate his bowlers according to who was at the crease or the acceleration of the batsmen. When McCullum was new at the crease and had trouble getting after Abdur Razzak, Mushfiqur Rahim took off the senior left-arm spinner so that his two overs could be used later. It was becoming quite obvious who would bowl when and, as a result, the batsmen could easily read what the bowler was about to dish out – after Razzak had bowled two good overs at the top, it was quite obvious that Mushfiqur would ask him to bowl the final over.Sometimes, though, a batting performance like McCullum’s doesn’t leave the captain with much choice. From the classic backfoot punch through the covers to finishing off the New Zealand innings with two pulled sixes, McCullum was the firestarter, anchor and finisher of the innings.He freed his arms for the first time when he slapped Shafiul Islam dutifully through the covers. In the next over came his first six, a typical smash over the covers, and he followed it up with his second an over later. More than those two sixes though it was how he deflated Bangladesh’s energy by going after their best bowler. With Shakib conceding 20 off his first two overs, including two big sixes, Bangladesh started to look less inspired as their best player was made to look pedestrian.McCullum unfurled three boundaries in the next two overs off Elias Sunny and Ziaur Rahman as he spread his range to almost all corners of the large field in Pallekele. He reached his fifty off 29 balls but remained wary of what was at stake as he went quiet in Razzak’s third over. That should’ve been Mushfiqur Rahim’s cue to give him another over to keep the run-rate down, but the next five overs went for 62 runs, which included McCullum pounding a flat-bat strike for six off a Mashrafe bouncer. He also rode out Franklin’s fall, and with captain Ross Taylor feeding him the strike at every opportunity, a century looked right around the corner.The next burst was against Shafiul, who was hit for fifteen in the 17th over; the next three overs went for 15, 17 and 16 as Bangladesh fell apart. McCullum, in the meantime, reached his century with a routine pull to the midwicket boundary off the 51st delivery he faced, racing from 50 to the century in just 22 balls.McCullum fell off the last ball of the innings to give Razzak his second wicket but he had damaged Bangladesh badly enough. Apart from having the highest individual innings score and being the highest run-getter in T20Is, McCullum also holds the record now for the most boundaries (150) and sixes (64) in this format.With Bangladesh struggling at 37 for four in the seventh over, Nasir Hossain took the opportunity to score his second Twenty20 international fifty, but was dismissed just one ball after he had reached the milestone. He gave a good account of his skills, crashing six boundaries and a six, but he is still far away from the sort of batsman who can create panic or change the course of the game.

Virat Kohli has said there would be nothing unfair with making England play on spinner-friendly pitches in the Tests against India

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2012In wake of the criticism leveled at India over the absence of spinners in the A-team squad that will play England in a warm-up game, batsman Virat Kohli has said there would be nothing unfair with making England play on spinner-friendly pitches in the Tests. On India’s tour to England and Australia last year, he said, the conditions during the warm-up games and those in the Test matches were vastly different, which was not ‘fair’ to India.”Why not [turning pitches]? We were given flattest of tracks during practice matches in England and Australia and then suddenly presented with a green-top during the Tests,” Kohli told . “During practice matches, we would face those 120kmph bowlers … If they [England and Australia] wanted to be fair to us, they could have provided us with same kind of tracks for practice matches, like what were used in Tests.”Especially, when they knew that visiting teams get very less time to practice. Now they would be playing on turning tracks and definitely would know where they stand.”The tour of India marks the return of Kevin Pietersen to the England side, after a 10-week stand-off with the team. Kohli said he will be under a lot of pressure to perform, especially taking into account England’s traditional struggles against spin.”There will be huge pressure on KP as he has been playing in India for quite some time and considered to be a good batsman against spin.”You may say that the senior England cricketers have an understanding of these conditions but let me tell you, it’s not that easy. You might feel they would like to hit spinners but end up doing exactly opposite.”He pointed to England’s tour of the UAE, where they were whitewashed 3-0 by Pakistan in the Tests, as an example of England’s continuing issues with spin. “That particular series, there wasn’t much turn on offer but England couldn’t negotiate one quality spinner [Saeed Ajmal]; they lost the battle in their heads.”Kohli also defended his team-mates, saying the talk about them being poor against short-pitched bowling did not make sense. “I have never really understood this theory. Are people like Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag poor players of short-pitched bowling? Show me how many Indian players were out to short-pitched deliveries in Australia?”No batsman in world cricket is comfortable against a good bouncer. If you get a good bouncer, give credit to the bowler rather than finding chinks in batsman’s armoury.”Similarly, he backed MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher, saying any criticism directed at them for India’s recent poor overseas form was unfounded. “Under him [Dhoni], we have won the World Cup, been No. 1 in Tests … He has also encouraged the juniors.””Duncan is also a thorough professional. He would quietly stand in one corner and observe. If he needs to say something, he would come up and give a suggestion. He believes international cricketers know their jobs. If we have lost eight Test matches, blame us and not the coach.”

West Indies fast bowler Tino Best has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh because of a hamstring injury

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2012West Indies fast bowler Tino Best has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI series and the one-off Twenty20 against Bangladesh because of a hamstring injury. Jason Holder, an uncapped Barbados fast bowler, has been named as a replacement for Best.West Indies team physiotherapist CJ Clark said Best’s injury was a “Grade 1 lateral hamstring strain”.”Though being able to bowl in the second innings with pain-killing injections, he [Best] will need to return home to Barbados for ongoing treatment and rehabilitation,” Clark said. “It is expected that he will be back to full fitness for the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament in January.”Best was a key performer in West Indies’ 2-0 victory in the Test series. He took six wickets in Mirpur, including 5 for 24 in the second innings, and 6 for 40 in the second innings of the Khulna Test. He had been troubled by his hamstring on the first day of the second Test and bowled only ten overs in Bangladesh’s first innings. Best returned to bowl in the second innings, though, and despite his hamstring trouble he blew Bangladesh away to set up a ten-wicket win.West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said it was important to the team that Best regained his fitness for assignments next year. “It is unfortunate that Tino will be leaving, after he came back and bowled so well in the second innings of this game,” Gibson said. “There is a lot of cricket coming up next year and it will be important for us that he gets himself ready for that cricket.”Best’s replacement, Holder, has played 16 first-class matches and is expected to join the squad on Monday. “The selectors have started this policy of looking at giving some of our young players an opportunity at international level to see what they can do,” Gibson said. “Jason has done very well with the A-Team, so it’s a good opportunity for him to come here and get into the environment to see what it is like, and experience the work ethic required to be successful at this level.”

Mahela Jayawardene will seriously re-assess his future as Sri Lanka’s captain and as an international cricketer at the end of the tour of Australia

Sa'adi Thawfeeq03-Dec-2012Mahela Jayawardene will seriously re-assess his future as Sri Lanka’s captain and as an international cricketer at the end of the tour of Australia.”I am going to take it one series at a time especially after the Australian tour I will have time to think,” he said. “I took on the responsibility to lead the team for one year and that will end after the Australian tour.”He was speaking before Sri Lanka left for Australia on a tour which includes a series of three Tests, five one-day internationals and twoTwenty20 internationals.”(After the tour) I can sit back and think what I want to achieve not just for myself but for the team as well. I have always said that I am not a guy who will just hang around for the sake of playing. If the youngsters take on the responsibility and do the job for Sri Lanka then I will be very happy to step aside and give them that opportunity but at the same time I don’t want the team in a situation where it will have a harmful effect.”I want to make that transition as smooth as possible. I don’t want to let go all the good things that’s been done all these years and just walk away from that. I will sit down and talk to a few people that I talk to usually when it comes to taking a decision and have a chat with the selectors as well especially with the captaincy position, then it will be much easier for me to make a call on what I want to do in my career.”Jayawardene is of the view that it would be the right time to hand over the captaincy to his deputy Angelo Mathews who has been groomed for the position over the past year or so. “Angelo hasn’t had the experience of leading the team at international level I agree but the way he led the provincial and SLPL teams to reach the final was most commendable.”As a deputy he has contributed on the field and off the field and that is something that the public and others don’t see. He is very mature. The other important thing is he’s earned the respect of all the players, the younger and older players.”In a way personally I feel that it would be better for him to be captain while there are some senior hands around in the team to help him rather than him taking over when there is no one. You can look at it in different ways.”You never know whether he can handle the situation unless you give him that opportunity. There were a few issues when I took over the captaincy and to a certain extent I’ve been able to settle them. The team is more focused on what they want to achieve now. It is a much settled set-up. It could be the right time to give Angelo the captaincy.”One of the priorities of the team is to win a Test in Australia. It is an achievement that has eluded many past Sri Lankan captains. Whether the present team has it in them to tame Australia at this moment of time seems questionable.”No one gave us a chance to win in South Africa they were the No. 1 team and to beat them on their home soil was a very big achievement,” Jayawardene said. “We have the capacity and the talent to go and win a match but how consistently we can do it is something we have to challenge ourselves, that’s where we lack. We are definitely in a position to go and beat Australia and put pressure on them.”When we played Australia in the last one-day series we actually handled their bowlers in their conditions. We do play much better when we are in that kind of situation when it is more challenging and the conditions tough. We’ve shown that in South Africa and in Australia in the ODI series when the Indians got bamboozled against the same attack we were beating. We didn’t perform against New Zealand when we had a bad Test match. We had a couple of sessions that we didn’t play well. It doesn’t mean that if we challenge their (Australian) bowling unit and if we adapt and play better cricket there we can’t hold them on level terms.”It’s very much a mental thing. You have to be mentally stronger to beat Australia. They will come at us. Everyone will know what you have to do in Australia so knowing how you tackle that situation is the most important thing. In a way it’s like when you know what going to happen you sometimes know too much about it and then you fall into a trap rather than just concentrate on your strengths. That would be the way to go.”Whether Sri Lanka wins a Test in Australia or not Jayawardene stated that there was no substitute to winning a fifty-over World Cup. “Ask any international cricketer, winning a 50-over World Cup will be one of their priorities. That would always be my disappointment if I don’t win a World Cup before I retire. Definitely winning a Test in Australia would be brilliant. We won a Test match in West Indies we’ve done that in South Africa, in New Zealand and in England. We haven’t won a Test in Australia and India so we must try and get those two opportunities before I hang up.”