Australia captain Michael Clarke says he expects to face Kevin Pietersen in this winter’s Ashes series against England.
Clarke and Pietersen will be teammates in the Big Bash league for the Melbourne Stars, of which Clarke will also be the captain.
Although the Aussie expects Pietersen to be picked for England, he hopes it doesn’t happen.
Pietersen was axed by the England and Wales Cricket Board following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in 2013-14, but will make his county cricket return for Surrey this weekend in a bid to return for his adopted county.
The 34-year-old negotiated his way out of his IPL contract to return to Surrey and scored 170 against Oxford in the county’s final warm-up game, showing glimpses of the form that propelled him to become England’s all-time leading run-scorer.
‘Yeah, I do think he could be at the Ashes,’ Clarke said when asked whether his Ashes rival could line up for England this winter.
‘He’s scoring enough runs, he’s made it very clear he wants to play and now it will come down to England selectors and the England board making their decision.
‘At the moment from the Australians’ perspective I’m happy he’s not playing because he’s a wonderful player.’ – cricket.com.au
ENGLAND IN POLE POSITION
England worked themselves into a winning position despite strong West Indies resistance in their second innings on the fourth day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Thursday.
Set an improbable 438 for victory after the tourists declared their second innings at 333 for seven in the afternoon session, the home side reached the close of play at 98 for two with opening batsman Devon Smith leading the way with an unbeaten 59. – AFP
SRI LANKAN CRICKET DEALT FINANCIAL BLOW
The ICC has said that it will withhold its next financial distribution due to Sri Lanka Cricket pending an investigation into possible government interference in Sri Lanka cricket. SLC’s board had been dissolved by the government last month and, on March 31, Sri Lanka’s sports minister Navin Dissanayake appointed a nine-member interim committee, headed by Sidath Wettimuny, to run Sri Lanka cricket.
The ICC board met on Thursday to discuss whether the appointment was a breach of the ICC’s constitution, “which requires free and fair elections for office-bearers within Member boards”.
The board supported an ICC governance review committee recommendation that it write to the sports ministry, ‘seeking a full and proper explanation of its intervention that prima facie puts SLC in breach of the ICC’s constitution.’ – ESPNCricinfo.com
