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Lionel Mendis, popularly known as the father figure of cricket coaching in Sri Lanka, died on Friday, at the age of 80, after a long illness.It was on September 15 that Mendis, who was being treated for throat cancer at a private hospital in Colombo, celebrated his 80th birthday. The same month he had retired from coaching, bringing to an end a distinguished 29-year stint at Nondescripts CC where he ran his coaching school.Mendis was a key figure in the Sri Lanka cricket coaching arena and coached several former Sri Lanka cricketers, notably the country’s World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga and Mahela Jayawardene.The hallmark of Mendis’ coaching was the discipline he brought to ensure that each of his products ended up as a complete cricketer not only on the field but off it as well. At a recent felicitation ceremony given by former cricketers, Ranatunga said that Mendis had introduced a new sporting culture with his brand of coaching. “The specialty in him is his attitude to build a complete cricketer,” Ranatunga said. “He taught us how to dress, eat and how to behave in the ground. He respects the tradition and culture of our country and expects his students to follow good manners.”He never thought of earning money but spent his money on poor students. Every time he gave his students very important tips not just on cricket but also on life.”The ICC rewarded Mendis for his outstanding services to Sri Lanka cricket with an award during its centenary in 2009. Mendis’ brother Nelson Mendis is also a renowned cricket coach and at one time they were rival coaches of the two leading Buddhist schools in the country, Ananda College and Nalanda College.

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club are ready to proceed with an £8.2million redevelopment project at Trent Bridge this autumn, thanks to funding from East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and three local authorities: Rushcliffe Borough Council, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.The scheme will involve the creation of a new stand on the Bridgford Road side of the ground, which will replace West Wing and Parr Stand and increase the ground capacity to more than 17,000. The county also plans to install permanent floodlights and create a new office and administration block, which will be the base for match officials and will incorporate a replay screen and electronic scoreboard.Derek Brewer, Nottinghamshire’s chief executive, said, “As a sporting venue of world renown, it [Trent Bridge] is hugely important to the local economy and our partners recognise the need to help us do all we can to retain Test-match status in the face of stiff competition from other parts of the country.”With the funding package in place and planning permission confirmed, we are delighted that we are now able to go ahead as planned, starting on August 28,” Brewer added. It is planned that the redevelopment will be completed in time for next year’s Trent Bridge Test against New Zealand.Jeff Moore, the chief executive of emda – who are investing £2.5million in the project, said, ” It is estimated that every time a Test Match is played at the ground an additional £1million is generated for the Nottingham economy. Our investment will ensure that Trent Bridge remains in a position to compete for high profile tournaments, and help maintain the East Midlands as a region with a strong sporting heritage.”The support from the three councils amounts to £3.7million, split equally. It is provided in the form of a loan at a discounted rate of interest in recognition of community benefits from the club. Leaders of Nottingham City Council, Coun Jon Collins, Nottinghamshire County Council, Coun David Kirkham and Rushcliffe Borough Council, Coun Neil Clarke said: “We are all delighted to be able to support the ambitions of the cricket club.”They said the redevelopment would keep Nottingham and Nottinghamshire on the world map and help the club to expand its community and youth development work across the region.

The news that Michael Vaughan will, almost certainly, be unavailable for the Ashes this winter has dented England’s defence of the urn markedly. But before the Ashes, there is the small matter of facing Pakistan for a four-Test series and in the next week the selectors will choose Vaughan’s replacement as captain.Andrew Flintoff filled in for Vaughan during England’s tour of India in the winter, as well as the Sri Lanka Test series. He too, however, was forced out of the current one-day series against Sri Lanka and will almost certainly miss the first Test against Pakistan. Andrew Strauss has had the unenviable job of leading a depleted and confidence-shot England side in the one-dayers, which Sri Lanka lead 4-0 with one to play.”From my point of view I just want the best person for the team and we’ll be deciding that before the first Test,” Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, commented.The other alternative could be Marcus Trescothick, who has filled in on occasions, but he has only just re-established himself back in the side after flying back from India with personal problems. On Wednesday, he flat-batted suggestions that he was the man in waiting but said he has “done it in the past – and if they offer it to me again then I’ll think about it.”We won’t be making any quick decisions about who is going to captain the side in the winter because at the moment we don’t know,” explained David Graveney, chairman of selectors.”Until the situation becomes a little clearer later in the summer we won’t be looking at that issue. We need to get as much information as possible about the injured players before we consider things.”I have been ringing him every day during this period and he has been battling really hard to recover from this injury, working long hours on his own in the gym so we all feel for him.”He is a human being so he’s bound to have got down during this period,” he said. “He is desperate to play for England and has been hearing how England can’t play without Michael Vaughan so you can just imagine how that has made him feel.”

Chris Hartley, Queensland’s reserve wicketkeeper, will captain the Queensland Academy of Sport 2nd XI for the first time against Tasmania, starting on Monday.Hartley, 23, was one of the finds of last summer after scoring a century on debut and playing in the ING Cup and Pura Cup finals when Wade Seccombe was on international duty.Seccombe has returned to the Bulls line-up for Sunday’s opening ING Cup game against NSW at the Gabba.The 2nd XI team for the four-day game includes two leg-spinners in the Norths wrist-spinner Greg Chiesa and Ryan Leloux, who is currently at the Cricket Academy.Queensland Academy of Sport 2nd XI Chris Hartley (c), Ryan Broad, Greg Chiesa, Joe Dawes, Steve Farrell, Ryan Leloux, Damien Mackenzie, Brendan Nash, Steve Paulsen, Daniel Payne, Lachlan Stevens, Chris Swan.

Bryan Strang’s attempted comeback has hit a brick wall in the shape of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU).Strang, who played 26 Tests and 46 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1995 and 2001, was looking to return from a career-threatening injury by playing in the Logan Cup, Zimbabwe’s domestic first-class competition.But the ZCU, which repeatedly stresses that it is a non-political organisation, slapped a ban on Strang playing in the competition after objecting to comments made by him last year. Strang was one of a group of players who argued that Zimbabwe should not be allowed to host matches during the 2003 World Cup on moral grounds.The relationship was further strained when Strang wrote to The Wisden Cricketer earlier this year alleging racism against a ZCU official. He said: “A union which promotes racial division and does nothing about hate speech should not be given the courtesy of touring democratic countries.”

The last time these two sides met, Zimbabwe were humiliated byseven wickets, allowing Kenya a passage to the World Cup semi-final.It was revenge time for Zimbabwe under lights at Sharjah, as theysurvived a minor hiccup and ran away winners by five wickets, gettingtheir first points of this tournament.The star of the day for Zimbabwe was Doug Marillier, who cracked asplendid 100 – the first century of his one-day career. His knock wasmagnificently paced, and allowed Zimbabwe to make light of achallenging target of 226, especially after they had struggled at the startof their innings. Marillier’s 130-run stand for the third wicket with GrantFlower (59) turned the tide, and ensured that Collins Obuya’s excellentspell – 2 for 31 from 10 overs – didn’t translate into a Kenyan victory.Kenya began their defence of the target with their usual enthusiasmand discipline. Martin Suji and Thomas Odoyo frustrated Marillier andCraig Wishart, bowling consecutive maidens and allowing just 55 runsin the first 15 overs.Collins Obuya then came on and struck twice in quick succession, firsthaving Wishart caught by Steve Tikolo at slip (56 for 1), and then takinga return catch off Gavin Rennie (68 for 2). Flighting the ball and gettingappreciable turn, Obuya consistently pitched on good length andtroubled all the batsmen. However, the Marillier-Flower partnershipgradually turned things around.Marillier, circumspect at the start, played none of the audacious slogswhich have characterised his batting in ODIs. His first fifty took all of82 balls – compared to 57 for his next – and though it included a fewpowerful drives and pulls, there were plenty of dot-balls too.None of this bothered Marillier, though. With Flower timing the ballsweetly and rotating the strike, Zimbabwe’s innings soon got amove-on. Flower completed 6000 runs in ODIs, and then proceeded tosweep Maurice Odumbe and Tikolo to distraction. Marillier struck bothof them for six, and an asking rate which had climbed to more than arun a ball quickly descended.But Kenya weren’t finished. Flower and Marillier were both snared byTony Suji – who was introduced in the 45th over of the innings – ineight balls, and when Andy Blignaut hoicked Odoyo straight to JosephAngara at midwicket, Zimbabwe needed 18 from 15 balls.Heath Streak, aided by some uncharacteristically sloppy work in thefield – Jimmy Kamande twice misfielded at long-off – made sure thatZimbabwe didn’t mess it up. The end came when Streak tonked TonySuji for six over long-off.Earlier, Zimbabwe had put in a disciplined performance in the field torestrict Kenya to 225. Kenya’s innings was characterised by plenty ofbatsmen getting starts, but no-one going on to convert that intoanything substantial.David Obuya clunked his way to 57 – his first fifty in one-dayinternationals – while Odoyo held the innings together at the end with aworkmanlike 46, but the rest of the batting fell away after promising alot. Kenya reached the four-an-over mark in the 26th over, with Tikoloand David Obuya going strong, but then lost three wickets in the next 12overs, and never quite regained the momentum.David Obuya and Brijal Patel put together 52 for the second wicket afterKennedy Obuya was nailed early on by Streak, but the best phase ofKenya’s innings came when Tikolo joined David Obuya in a 59-runstand.Obuya swished and missed plenty of times, but also connected with afew meaty blows, including an effortless six over backward square legoff Douglas Hondo. Tikolo’s was a classy knock. He struck only twofours in his 37, but rotated the strike superbly with deft flicks andfluent drives. However, the Kenyan innings began to unravel when DavidObuya hoicked Raymond Price to Gavin Rennie at long-off (114 for 3).Tikolo was dismissed against the run of play, top-edging a sweep offPrice to Marillier at square leg (131 for 5), while Odumbe – coming offan excellent World Cup – popped a return catch to Rennie.Odoyo and Hitesh Modi put the innings back on track with a sensiblepartnership, eschewing strokeplay and working the singles around toensure that Kenya batted through their 50 overs. But ultimately, the totalof 225 turned out to be about 15 too few.S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com in India.

Warwickshire made the most of a potential stalemate at Edgbaston by claiming the maximum eight bonus points with a career-best 186 not out by David Hemp.Whether they will now have the chance to boost their promotion prospects with 12 for a win will depend on what Worcestershire make of a 190-run lead on the last morning.To set a realistic target, they will need to build quickly on a sedate 113 for 1 in 38 overs in their second innings. The openers put on 49 before Anurag Singh fell to the second ball from off-spinner Neil Smith and there was a touch more spark as Philip Weston moved to an unbeaten 57The game has had two many unadventurous phases, but no one could blame Warwickshire for taking care when they resumed at 223 for 4, still needing 152 to avoid the follow-on.Hemp carried them through that period with a well-balanced innings and vibrant assistance from Dougie Brown, who was charging along after lunch until caught behind off Alamgir Sheriyar for 85.Hemp had then reached 152 – his best for Warwickshire – and then went past a personal-best of 157 for Glamorgan as a fifth batting point was secured in the 114th over.Thereafter the tactics became mystifying as Warwickshire added only 68 in 23 overs until Michael Powell declared 77 behind at 447 for 6.Keith Piper ticked along for 21 before he was bowled by David Leatherdale for 21 and there were no fireworks from Neil Smith in an unbeaten 11. Even Hemp became becalmed at the end of his 468-minute innings of 25 fours and two sixes in 368 balls.

After breaking the 22-year-old record of Javed Miandad to become Pakistan’s leading Test run-scorer, Younis Khan said he has the hunger to aim for the 10,000-run mark.Younis went past Miandad’s tally of 8832 runs in emphatic style when he lofted Moeen Ali over deep midwicket shortly after tea on the opening day in Abu Dhabi. Given the prolific 12 months he has had – averaging over 80 since last October – the expectation was of something significant but he was not at his most fluent and chipped Stuart Broad to short mid-on for 38.But Younis was relieved to have ticked off the milestone, saying that it had been on his mind since he moved within touching distance during the series against Sri Lanka earlier this year.”I kept on thinking about crossing Javed , the greatest batsman Pakistan had. I might not be as skilful as he was but I am feeling privileged to cross him. Due credit should also be given to him because he is the one whom I have been following and heeding his advice to make it possible.”Younis admitted he was nervous as the landmark approached, describing Miandad’s two decade-old record as like a “wall” in front of him that he had to “jump” to get across.”I had to push myself,” he said. “The last two weeks had been difficult because of fatigue, traveling and that’s the reason I just went with fast-forwarding mode and wanted to just do it at once.”With one weight lifted from his shoulders, Younis is now refocussing himself for a final push in the closing stages of his career although he said he felt he had at least two more years left in him at international level.”I am not satisfied yet and I don’t want to be complacent with these records. I feel I can do more than this,” he said. “Every day is a new day, every innings is a new one and every moment in the game is a new one so I think of all the advice from Javed . I don’t want to relax and want to carry on with my runs.”Someday I might be satisfied with my goals and achievements but I am pushing myself for more. I believe in next the two years if I remain in the same mode I see myself bigger than this and would like to score 10,000 runs.”Ahead of the first Test against England, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq paid tribute to Younis’ role as a fulcrum of the middle order.”It’s always an honour to share dressing room with players like Younis Khan,” he said. “He has always been the key man in the Pakistan sides, so important for our wins and has been doing well for the last few years. He is really performing well with an average of 54 which is great and we always love the way he plays and the way he helps every other player, especially the youngsters and it’s an honour to play with him.”The other player Younis overtook, Inzamam-ul-Haq, narrowly failed to take the record off Miandad in 2007 when he was stumped for 3 in his final Test innings against South Africa in Lahore.

ScorecardJackson Bird picked up 5 for 69 (file photo)•Getty Images

Jackson Bird’s first five-wicket haul in 18 months might help him regain the attention of Australia’s selectors, but it is unlikely to help Tasmania avoid defeat in their Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in Hobart. At stumps on the third day Tasmania were 3 for 42 in their second innings, chasing an unlikely target of 502, with Jake Doran on 22 and George Bailey on 6.The day had started with Tasmania on 4 for 240 in their first innings and Bailey, who began the morning on 93, went on to raise his 16th first-class hundred. However, he was out for 112 soon afterwards and the lower order struggled; the final six wickets fell for 44 runs on day three and the Tigers were dismissed for 284.South Australia, who had piled on 600 in the first innings, were dismissed for 185 in their second as Sam Rainbird claimed 4 for 50 and Bird picked up 5 for 69. It was the first five-wicket haul Bird had collected since March 2014, when he claimed 6 for 50, also against South Australia in Hobart.