9:49 AM ET The Pakistan Cricket Board has invited Sri Lanka to play their upcoming two-match Test series in Pakistan. Pakistan are due to host Sri Lanka for two Tests later this year, and by default, the matches were scheduled in the UAE, where Pakistan have played almost all “home” Test matches since the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009. Sri Lanka Cricket, ESPNcricinfo understands,…
Solomon Mire retires from Zimbabwe Cricket
6:20 AM ET Liam Brickhill Zimbabwe allrounder Solomon Mire has announced his decision “to retire from Zimbabwe Cricket in all formats with immediate effect”. “It is unfortunate and untimely however to leave under the current circumstances that are out of my control but i have decided to take a step in a new direction,” Mire said in a statement released via his personal Instagram feed. “Representing my country at the…
'What was scaring me was if we lost, I didn't know how I'd play cricket again' – Buttler
Martin Guptill falls short of his crease as Jos Buttler runs him out to crown England champions 3:04 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Jos Buttler is a World Cup winner now but just days before the final against New Zealand at Lord’s, the fear of failure was haunting him. Thoughts of how he would ever play cricket again if England were to lose were creeping into his system. Confounded by those…
Afghanistan A's patient brand of cricket leaves Habibul Bashar surprised
12:34 AM ET The method of Afghanistan A’s dominance of their hosts Bangladesh has surprised selector Habibul Bashar, who said that their brand of cricket has been more patient. Currently, Afghanistan lead the five-match one-day series 2-0 after their four-wicket win in Chattogram on Sunday, having already won the two-match four-day series 1-0. Bashar said that he was impressed by the way they played mostly cricketing shots during their tricky…
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer smash fifties as India A wrap up 4-1 victory
3:00 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff India A 237 for 2 (Gaikwad 99, Gill 69, Iyer 61*) beat West Indies A 236 (Rutherford 65, Ambris 61 (Saini 2-31, Deepak Chahar 2-39, Rahul Chahar 2-53) by eight wickets Brisk fifties from the in-form trio of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer led India A to an eight-wicket win over West Indies A in the fifth and final unofficial ODI in Antigua….
Concussion subs test old tendencies for Australia
4:00 PM ET Australia are coached by a former batsman in Justin Langer who had to have a doorway physically blocked by his captain Ricky Ponting in order to prevent him re-entering the field after a serious blow to the head. In a famous episode, Langer was barred from coming out to bat at the end of a thrilling fourth innings chase against South Africa at the Wanderers in 2006,…
Gloucestershire batsmen put on a festival against Worcestershire
3:00 AM ET ECB Reporters Network Gloucestershire 339 for 7 (Smith 79*, Higgins 76, Dent 58) v Worcestershire Ryan Higgins smacked 13 fours in a sparkling 76 to delight a 2,500-strong Cheltenham Festival crowd on the opening day of Gloucestershire’s County Championship Division Two match with Worcestershire. And, with Tom Smith hitting an unbeaten 79, the hosts could feel well satisfied with a first-innings total of 339 for 7. Chris…
Fidel Edwards stuns Leicestershire in first over as Birmingham romp to victory
3:00 AM ET ECB Reporters Network Birmingham 117 for 3 (Agar 41*) beat Leicestershire 115 for 9 (Edwards 4-22) by seven wickets Fidel Edwards made one of the most spectacular starts in Vitality Blast memory to set Birmingham Bears motoring to a seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire in front of a bumper crowd at Edgbaston. The West Indian paceman, making his debut on loan from Hampshire, took wickets with his first,…
Glenn Maxwell tames England surface at last as Lancashire thrash Durham
3:00 AM ET Lancashire 189 for 3 (Croft 65* Maxwell 58) beat Durham 117 (Steel 58) by 72 runs It turns out that Glenn Maxwell, as far away from a synthetic cricketer as it is possible to get, just needed an artificial pitch to put his English summer to rights. Well, not an artificial pitch exactly, a hybrid pitch, used for the first time in English county cricket by Lancashire…
Alex Blake haunts Hampshire again as Kent seal two-wicket victory
3:00 AM ET ECB Reporters Network Kent 146 for 8 (Blake 57*) beat Hampshire 145 for 5 (Vince 51) by two wickets Alex Blake dragged Kent Spitfires to an incredible two-wicket Vitality Blast victory over Hampshire to replicate his 2015 heroics. Big-hitting Blake powered 57 off 38 balls to maintain the Spitfires’ 100 per cent record in the competition, having come to the crease with his side in dire straits….