Jayasuriya may not play for Worcester's final 2 matches

WORCESTERSHIRE Royals could go into Sunday’s final Friends Provident t20 North Group match without an overseas player after they revealed Shakib Al Hasan will not be arriving until next week.

It was hoped that the Bangladesh vice-captain would join the New Road outfit for the final two games - Warwickshire Bears away on Friday night and Lancashire Lightning at home on Sunday.

However, he will remain with his national side until next Tuesday night before joining up with the rest of his new team-mates in Derby for the LV= County Championship Division Two clash with Derbyshire the following day.

New Road chief executive Mark Newton said Sri Lankan star Sanath Jayasuriya may be released prior to the clash with Lancashire should the Royals’ quarter-final hopes be over.

The Bangladeshi cricket authorities told Newton today that the world’s leading one-day all-rounder will play their two one-day internationals in Ireland before heading north to play Scotland on Monday and the Netherlands, in which County batsman Alexei Kervezee will feature, on the Tuesday before making the near 300-mile trip from Glasgow to Derby.

It is a bitter blow for the Royals as the news comes after Australian opener Phil Jaques headed back home to New South Wales.

“We understand the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s stance,” Newton said. “Of course, we are disappointed, but they regard all their matches as important and they have picked up a number of injuries.

“But when you sign international players this can happen as their boards have first rights, so it’s a great shame that Shakib will miss our Twenty20 campaign.”

Newton said the County will talk to Jayasuriya this week about his involvement in the final two matches of the Royals t20 campaign.

Worcestershire need to win their remaining two games to stand a chance to progression, but the New Road chief executive admits all hopes of a place in the last eight would be all but over should Derbyshire Falcons beat Durham Dynamos tomorrow night.

If the Falcons win in the north-east it would mean, should they lose their final two matches, that progression would go down to run-rate and Derbyshire have a vastly superior one to Worcestershire.

“Sanath will be in the squad on Friday, but we will talk to him this week about the final match if we are no longer in contention,” Newton said.

“The key match is tomorrow’s meeting between Derbyshire and Durham. If Derbyshire win then it could go down to run-rate and we are a long, long way behind.”

[VIDEO] Sanath Jayasuriya - 54 off 29 balls vs Lancashire

Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 54 runs off 29 balls, playing for Worcestershire Royals vs Lancashire in the Friends Provident T20 County Tournament 2010 which included 4 sixes and 4 fours.


Scorecard: http://www.cricinfo.com/countycricket2010/engine/match/435780.html

Worcs fall four runs short after Jayasuriya fireworks

WORCESTERSHIRE Royals' hopes of reaching the Friends Provident t20 quarter-finals are all but over after a nervy three-run defeat to Durham Dynamos.

Set 145 to win at New Road, Steve Rhodes' side took the match to the last ball but, having slumped from 51-1 to 67-4, were always behind the run-rate and lost cheap wickets chasing the target.

Despite 45 from Sanath Jayasuriya, it was a disappointing effort with the bat from a promising position and the Royals now go into tomorrow's match with Leicestershire Foxes at HQ bottom of the North Group.

It had all looked so good for Worcestershire after their decision to bowl upon winning the toss saw Durham openers Phil Mustard and Mark Stoneman stifled by Moeen Ali and Imran Arif before Jack Shantry bowled Mustard in the third over.

There were, though, a few nervy moments with Shaaiq Choudhry, making his Twenty20 debut, letting a Mark Stoneman drive slip through his fingers.

Choudhry also put down Stokes on 36 off Moeen as he juggled what seemed a certain catch before allowing it to squirm from his grasp.

Stokes was finally dismissed for 44, following a second-wicket stand of 85 with Stoneman, to a fine catch by a Moeen at long-on.

Stoneman was stumped by teenager Ben Cox off returning skipper Vikram Solanki for 46, but Durham's progress remained pedestrian. From there, the visitors lost the wickets of Dale Benkenstein, Albie Morkel and Gordon Muchall for 12 runs as they closed on 144-6.

In reply, Jayasuriya was quickly into his stride and plundered two successive sixes off Morkel in the fifth over.With Phil Jaques, the pair eased passed 50 but the Australian was soon on his way as he skied Ben Harmison to Gareth Breese.

The Royals then lost two wickets in the eighth over to Breese, Moeen chipping to Will Smith and Jayasuriya going leg-before five short of his half-century.

Having made such a prom-ising start, the Royals had only reached 67 at half-way and things got worse when Alexei Kervezee was well caught at mid-wicket by Stoneman, again off Breese, who finished with 3-14.

Solanki hit the first six of the innings in the 13th over but, when he was caught by Muchall for 25, his team's chances deteriorated.

There was a late moment of controversy as a wayward Steve Harmison delivery was given as a wide despite the ball appearing to slip out of the seamer's grasp.

Clearly riled, the former England paceman sent Daryl Mitchell's stumps cart-wheeling with next ball and with it went any realistic chance of a Royals victory.

Jayasuriya & Worcester Royals facing do-or-die time

WORCESTERSHIRE Royals head to Leicestershire Foxes this evening (5.40 pm) requiring snookers if they are to stand a chance of qualification for the quarter-finals of the Friends Provident t20.

While the New Road side can overhaul everyone in the North Group except leaders Nottinghamshire Outlaws, most teams have four matches remaining, meaning a 100 per cent record in the five remaining games for Steve Rhodes’ outfit might not be enough.

The Royals are looking to bounce back from their crushing 46-run defeat at Lancashire Lightning on Monday night.

Worcestershire’s failure to come to grips with the 20-over game has not been made any easier due to injuries to some of Rhodes’ key performers.

Skipper Vikram Solanki has been missing since the third match of the competition with a pelvis problem and is unlikely to be fit until late next week when the Royals could be just playing for pride.

Seamer Chris Whelan, a bowler Rhodes says would be first on his teamsheet, has not featured at all due to a number of injuries.

Alan Richardson has only been able to play twice due to an on-going elbow complaint, while fellow paceman Matt Mason pulled up injured two balls into his second over at Old Trafford with a groin strain. He is facing at least a fortnight in the treatment room.

“It has been hard — but you have to get on with it,” Rhodes said. “We have given some good opportunities to some young guys to try and gain experience.”

But injuries have only been one of the problems with the County’s t20 campaign.

Dropped catches, miss-fields, loose bowling and batsmen crumbling under pressure have been the story of another disappointing 20-over campaign. The positives have been few and far between.

Worcestershire will welcome back seamer Richard Jones for the trip to Grace Road after the quick bowler missed the visit to Lancashire through illness.

But the 23-year-old has gone at 10.5-an-over in the five matches he has played, picking up just two wickets.

However, the other seam options, Imran Arif and Chris Russell, are either more expensive or yet to be tested.

Worcestershire Royals: (from): Jaques, Jayasuriya, Moeen, Kervezee, Mitchell (capt), Manuel, Cameron, Cox (wkt), Andrew, Jones, Shantry, Choudhry.

Worcester lose despite Jayasuriya's 54 of 29 balls

Lancashire Lightning moved up to third in the Friends Provident Twenty20 North Division with a convincing 46-run win over Worcestershire Royals at Old Trafford today.

A blistering 54 off just 29 balls from Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya gave the Royals a great start, but Glen Chapple claimed three wickets in four balls and Stephen Parry took three for 19 as they lost seven wickets for just 20 runs.

Jayasuriya, who had a short spell at Old Trafford in 2007, hit four of the first 13 balls he faced for six and was dropped by Simon Kerrigan, who failed to hold onto an easy chance off Daren Powell's bowling as Worcestershire started their reply well.

At one point the Sri Lankan was 30 off ten balls but Kerrigan made amends in the ninth over as he claimed the catch to dismiss the opener off the bowling of Parry.

The Royals were still ahead of the rate at the halfway stage, but then fell foul of some devastating Lightning bowling as Chapple - who accounted for Daryl Mitchell, Jack Manuel and Ben Cox in a four-ball spell - Smith and Parry blasted through the Worcestershire middle and lower order.

Jayasuriya played an unbelievable innings - Andrew Hall

Just days after Sanath Jayasuriya blasted his way to 87 as Worcester eased their way to a nine-wicket win over Northamptonshire Steelbacks to end their run of six successive defeats, the Steelbacks captain Andrew Hall praised the Sri Lankan Legend.


"On Friday night Sanath Jayasuriya played an unbelievable innings against us, the world-class player that he is," said Hall.

"He took that game away from us and we really didn't have an answer to the way he was hitting the ball.


Jayasuriya mainly contributed in the Royals win smashing 87 off 45 balls which saw him hit 10 fours and five sixes.

Sanath Jayasuriya smashes 87 leading Worcester to a comprehensive win

IN A SPIN: Sanath Jayasuriya shows his value with the ball before leading Worcestershire to a convincing nine-wicket victory over Northamptonshire with 87 at New Road.

Sanath Jayasuriya rolled back the years to guide Worcestershire Royals to their first Friends Provident t20 North Group victory in seven matches.

The 40-year-old Sri Lankan legend blasted his way to 87 as the New Road side eased their way to a nine-wicket win over Northamptonshire Steelbacks to end their run of six successive defeats.

While the County remain bottom of the group, the manner of the success, ach-ieved on a balmy night at headquarters, will have undoubtedly boosted their confidence ahead of Sunday’s clash with Derbyshire Falcons (2.30pm).

But this night belonged to the ‘Master Blaster,’ who in just four days will turn 41. Having only scored 21 runs in his three previous innings, Jayasuriya smashed his way to a 28-ball 50, which included hitting Jack Brookes for two fours and three sixes in one over before firing Elton Chigumbura for 30 in another.

His partnership with Australian Phil Jaques had, in previous matches, looked a shaky one, but having suffered their heaviest ever defeat in this competition on Tuesday night at Yorkshire Carnegie, Worcestershire bounced back in superb style.

Jayasuriya’s innings came to an end as he was caught on the boundary by David Willey off Nicky Boje for 87 off 45 balls which saw him hit 10 fours and five sixes, while Jaques hit a season’s Twenty20 best of 47 as he played the supporting role to his partner’s pyrotechnics.

The County had seemed to have been set a testing target of 141 after the Steelbacks 140-5, but Jayasuriya made a mockery of that and showed why Worcestershire brought him to New Road.

Moeen Ali and Jack Shantry shone with the ball for the Royals as they put in one of their better displays in the field.

Off-spinner Moeen was the pick of the County attack as he claimed career-best figures of 3-25 which included two wickets in two balls to remove opener Niall O’Brien for 34 and David Sales for five with a superb catch from youngster Jack Manuel.

But it was the miserly Shantry who had set the tone from the start. His opening three overs went for just six runs and included a maiden in the first.

His spell also saw former County star Chaminda Vaas run out for five by James Cameron, who had put the Sri Lankan down twice in the corresponding fixture.

However, director of cricket Steve Rhodes would have been concerned that his two senior seamers Gareth Andrew and Richard Jones saw their five overs go for 60 between them.

Zimbabawe international Chigumbura was the pick of the Steelbacks batting as he hit 39 off 20 balls including two fours and three sixes.

BBC Radio Northampton's Geoff Doyle:

We wondered whether the wicket was a bit sticky and doing a bit whilst Northants were batting as they didn't quite fire.

But Jayasuriya showed off his supreme class to prove that the wicket was just fine.

A masterclass from the veteran and Northants couldn't handle him. It was a pleasure to witness it.

Northants head coach David Capel told BBC Radio Northampton:

"We posted 140 and that was an inadequate total. Sanath Jayasuriya made it look inadequate. It was an exceptional display.

"There were quite a few dot balls in our first six overs, and we didn't score enough runs.

"Although Elton Chigumbura did well, it took us until the 17th over to get past 100. That's not our target. We want to get there after 12 overs."

[PIC] Jayasuriya in Worcestershire colours

Sanath Jayasuriya poses for a photograph wearing his Worcestershire Royals jersey. The 40 year old veteran is currently playing for Worcestershire in the Friends Provident T20 tournament.

Courtesy: www.islandcricket.lk

Another failure for Jayasuriya and Worcestershire

Sanath Jayasuriya bettered his two runs off three balls in his Worcestershire debut with nine runs off 12 balls against Derbyshire today.

The 40 year old veteran who was expected to reverse Worcestershire's fortunes could not prevent his side from slumping to their fifth consecutive defeat in the Friends Provident T20 - North Group.

Worcestershire finished their 20 overs with 127/7 which Derbyshire surpassed in the final over.

Jayasuriya picked up his first wicket of the tournament when Wes Durston hit the ball straight back to him. He finished with figures of 1/26 in four overs.

Scores:

Worcestershire innings: 127/7 (20overs) MM Ali 67, AN Kervezee 17.
Derbyshire bowling: CK Langeveldt 2/19, WJ Durston 2/18.

Derbyshire innings: 128/4 (19.2 overs) GT Park 41, LL Bosman 34.
Worcestershire bowling: MM Ali 2/14, ST Jayasuriya 1/26.

Jayasuriya is hoping to learn from short stay

Sanath Jayasuriya is looking to make the most of his County stint.

In a team that lacks experience, Worcestershire’s youngsters can turn to a man who has done it all in the world of cricket.

Capped 440 times by Sri Lanka in one-day internationals — only India’s Sachin Tendulkar has represented his country more — Sanath Jayasuriya has had a career most can only dream of.

The 40-year-old made his debut for his country way back in December 1989 — before New Road youngsters Jack Manuel and Ben Cox were even born.

But even in the twilight of his career and a surprise omission from the Sri Lanka squad for the on-going Asia Cup, Jayasuriya has not given up hope of returning to the international fold and is looking to impress during his short-stay at Worcestershire.

“This is an opportunity for me to get back into the side,” the 1996 World Cup-winner said. “I need to work hard on my game with both the ball and the bat, then hopefully I can get another opportunity with the Sri Lanka team.

“I didn’t play that well in the World Twenty20 tournament and that is why I missed out on the Asia Cup.

“There isn’t much time left in my cricket career — I just take it series by series — if I can do well in one then I hope that I can get another opportunity.”

Jayasuriya focuses on trying to earn a recall to his national side that he has represented a staggering 580 times in all forms of the sport.

With players in the Royals side barely able to walk when the ‘Master Blaster’ began his career, there is plenty of experience for the Worcestershire stars to tap into.

“I want to share my experience from playing a lot of one-day and Twenty20 cricket and go and enjoy our cricket,” Jayasuriya said.

“Twenty20 is an exciting game, but at the same time it is not easy. I have played enough and hopefully I can use that to help the players.”

Jayasuriya says that he has not spoken to his compatriots Chaminda Vaas or Dilhara Fernando, who also played for the New Road side, about his move to Worcestershire. But the veteran is hoping that he can take a lot from his short stay with the County.

“Hopefully I can take my experiences from playing here back to Sri Lanka,” he said.

“Everyday you learn something in this game — even now, playing with the youngsters here I will learn something.”

With his sporting career on the final straight, the explosive batsman, who also bowls tidy slow left-arm spin, has recently been elected as a member of the Sri Lankan parliament.

In February, Jayasuriya became the MP for his home town Matara standing for the United People’s Freedom Alliance party.

“The country’s president (Mahinda Rajapaksa) wanted me to go back to my home town and work for my people who live there,” Jayasuriya said.

“They needed someone from that area to help, I got that opportunity and I was elected.

“I must thank them for having faith in me and I have to look after them.”

Jayasuriya fails in his debut match for Worcestershire

SANATH Jayasuriya’s debut at New Road was rather like his new team’s performance — a damp squib.

The Sri Lankan legend faced only three balls in the first over for Worcestershire Royals and bowled four wicketless overs as they slumped to their fourth consecutive Friends Provident t20 North Group defeat in a half empty ground.

Rivals Warwickshire Bears eased their way to a nine-wicket victory with 22 balls to spare on a drizzly night at County headquarters.

But it was not just Jayasuriya who under performed last night — it was a disaster from start to finish for the Royals as they slumped to 10-3 by the end of the second over before limping through to 118-9 at the end.

Had it not been for the efforts of Phil Jaques and 19-year-old Jack Manuel things would have been a whole lot worse for Steve Rhodes’ side.

The Australian opener fired 29 off 23 balls to give the Royals a slight air of respectability before he was trapped lbw by the leg-breaks of Imran Tahir.

Manuel, who made his debut at Northamptonshire Steelbacks opening with Jaques, looked more assured coming in down the order and he hit the only six of the Royals' innings on his way to 31.

The Royals, desperate to boost their tally, tried some pointless runs that saw both Ben Scott, in his final home match for Worcestershire before returning to Middlesex next week, and Richard Jones run out in the last over.

Despite a blistering start from England star Jonathan Trott, Alan Richardson made the breakthrough against his former club in the third over as Neil Carter looked to drive him out the ground only to edge the 35-year-old to Jaques at first slip for one.

But Trott, left out of England’s World Twenty20 winning squad, continued the onslaught as he reached his 50 off just 35 balls and was unbeaten on 72 at the end with Darren Maddy 44 not out.

The great Sanath Jayasuriya : reaching the end of the road

Left out of the Sri Lankan squad for the Asian Cup, one of the greatest one day international careers could well have reached the end of the road. Andrew Hughes looks back at the career of Sanath Jayasuriya.

On Friday, less than a fortnight before his forty-first birthday, Sanath Jayasuriya will make his debut for Worcestershire in the Friends Provident T20. Whilst this is a boost for the hapless Royals (currently around 66.0 to win the competition) it is something of a come down for a man once regarded as the most dangerous one day batsman in the world. He joins Worcestershire as a replacement for Aussie youngster Steven Smith and is only available because he it seems he is no longer required by his country, having been left out of Sri Lanka's Asian Cup squad, a tournament for which they are 2.74 second favourites.

It looks as though this is the end of what has been an extraordinary international cricket career. He had expressed a desire to take part in next year's World Cup, but the writing was on the wall in January when Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss said Jayasuriya would no longer be selected as an opener and would have to earn his place as a spin bowling all-rounder. Those who have watched his struggles in the last two Twenty20 World Cups will have seen that the reflexes have gone, the hand-eye coordination has deserted him and by carrying on, he can only tarnish his considerable reputation.

So if this is the end of the international road, how will we look back on Jayasuriya's career? One aspect of his career that is often overlooked is just how effective a Test match player he was. He retired from Test cricket at the end of 2007, with an average of a little over forty and a top score of 340. It was after this innings, against India back in 1997, that Sachin Tendulkar was moved to say that he had not seen a better batsman in his career till that point. Compliments don't come much bigger than that.

Yet there is no doubt that Jayasuriya will be best remembered as a limited overs superstar. He has played more one day internationals than any other player in the history of the game and scored more runs in that format than anyone bar Tendulkar. Though he made a slow start, taking forty games to notch his first half-century, when he moved up to open the innings during the 1996 World Cup his career took off in spectacular fashion.

Jayasuriya is credited with revolutionising the way that teams played in the fifty over format. Taking advantage of the new fielding restrictions, he set about bowlers with hitherto unforeseen ferocity. But unlike many of the over-promoted sloggers who attempted to imitate him, he was a genuine batting talent. And he could bowl too. A Test match bowling average of 34.34 is pretty impressive and his nagging left arm spin stifled many a batsman. He remains the only player to score 10,000 runs and take 300 wickets in one day internationals.

But stats can't really communicate the full effect of watching Jayasuriya bat. Forget the Sanath of 2010, go back and watch him in his pomp at the 1996 World Cup. He destroyed bowling attacks, his quick hands and powerful forearms slamming through the ball with lacerating cut shots and brutal pulls. Any width at all was punished with ferocious relish. It didn't matter how many men were on the boundary, he would clear them. Like Virender Sehwag, he was an instinctive force of nature and he deserves to be considered amongst the most exciting batsmen who have ever played the game.

Jayasuriya out to lift County Twenty20 bid

SANATH JAYASURIYA: All set to make his Worcestershire debut against Warwickshire.

SANATH Jayasuriya has landed at New Road determined to use his 21-year international experience to kick-start Worcestershire Royals’ stuttering Friends Provident t20 North Group campaign.

The Sri Lankan legend goes straight into the side to face Warwickshire Bears this afternoon (4.40pm) at County headquarters.

The 40-year-old is likely to bat at the top of the order after skipper Vikram Solanki was ruled out with a pelvis injury.

Jayasuriya, who will play a minimum of seven matches for Steve Rhodes’ side, has a wealth of experience in limited over cricket.

With 1,785 Twenty20 runs to his name in 82 matches, Jayasuriya has played in all three World Twenty20 tournaments and in the Indian Premier League.

That experience will be vital for Worcestershire having suffered three successive defeats last week.

“Everyone wants to do well when you play your local rivals, it is going to be a tough game but one that we can enjoy,” said Jayasuriya.

“The big club games back home are really tough and it will be a similar against Warwickshire.

“Having played for more than 20 years I want to share my experiences with the youngsters in the dressing room and I’m looking forward to playing alongside them.”

With Solanki out injured, the veteran of 444 one-day internationals says the Royals team will have to work that little bit harder.

Solanki missed the final two games of last week with youngster Jack Manuel replacing the County captain.

Worcestershire have also seen Steve Smith join up with the Australia one-day side and had all-rounder Gareth Andrew ruled out for a week with a back injury.

“It is a big blow for the team that Vikram is out,” the Sri Lankan said.

Rhodes is likely to retain England Under 19 international Manuel in the starting XI given that the injuries to Solanki and Andrew mean the Royals will be missing vital runs at both ends of the innings. The 19-year-old, who went to New Zealand for last winter’s Under 19 World Cup, is expected to come in down the order with the County chief expected to name three seamers.

The Bears will be on a high after their five-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire Outlaws and have only lost one of their five group matches.

Worcestershire Royals (from): Jaques, Jayasuriya, Moeen, Kervezee, Mitchell (capt), Cameron, Manuel, Scott (wkt), Jones, Richardson, Shantry, Imran.