Month: March 2018

7:03 AM ET Mohammad IsamESPN Before the Nidahas Trophy, Bangladesh never felt like they were playing consistently in a T20 tournament, according to Mushfiqur Rahim. Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka twice in final-over thrillers, which has given them confidence for the future. Mushfiqur said Bangladesh’s overall recovery in this tournament, after the poor home series against Sri Lanka, stood out. They were beaten 2-0 in the T20s in February, after they…

6:29 AM ET Madushka Balasuriya Chamari Atapattu, fresh from her excursion in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, will take over the captaincy from Inoka Ranaweera for Sri Lanka in the upcoming home series against Pakistan. Nipuni Hansika was named vice-captain. All eyes will be on 17-year old Kavisha Dilhari, who was discovered through an island-wide talent hunt. Dilhari was recently described by Sri Lanka’s high performance manager Simon…

6:10 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Former New Zealand quick Shane Bond has quit Brisbane Heat to take up the role of head coach with Sydney Thunder on a three-year contract. He has taken over the role from Paddy Upton, who ended his association with the team last month after four seasons. Bond, who worked with his former national team-mate Daniel Vettori at Heat, has held roles with reigning IPL champions…

4:43 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff The Plunket Shield match between Canterbury and Auckland was abandoned on the third day with the pitch in Rangiora ruled unsafe for batsmen. Auckland were 66 for 6, trailing by 419 runs, before umpires Ash Mehrotra and John Dempsey decided to call the match off. Just four balls before play was abandoned, Auckland’s Matt McEwan was struck on the helmet by a Will Williams delivery…

Mar 18, 2018 Dan Norcross South 347 (Gubbins 116, Rawlins 53, Bell-Drummond 52, Mahmood 5-60), beat North 284 (Mullaney 57) by 63 runs Getty Images Four times South has played North and four times they have emerged victorious. The latest victory even came with a record attached – an imposing total of 348 which was a List A record for all matches, domestic and international, played at the Kensington Oval….

3:38 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Mumbai Indians have picked New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan once again in their squad, as a like-for-like replacement for the injured Jason Behrendorff. The Australia quick is suffering from a back problem and will miss the entire IPL season. Mumbai had bought Behrendorff in the auction for INR 1.5 crore while McClenaghan went unsold. McClenaghan has now been picked at his base price of…

3:09 AM ET Madushka Balasuriya The enemy of my enemy is my friend. So goes the ancient Sanskrit proverb that for Sri Lankan cricket fans has probably, during the better part of the last two decades, been exhaustively internalised when it comes to drawing allegiances in neutral contests involving India. Exactly how that became the case though is unclear. Circa 1996 there was genuine camaraderie between the two sets of…

3:00 AM ET Cameron Bancroft expects Australia will use Vernon Philander‘s “hacked” tweet blaming Steven Smith for body contact with Kagiso Rabada as gamesmanship on the field in the third Test at Newlands, and doubts that a fractious series will get any quieter should Rabada’s two-match ban be upheld at an ICC appeal hearing. Philander explained he had been hacked the morning after his account featured a tweet suggesting Smith…

2:19 AM ET An untimely downpour put paid to Ben Stokes‘ plans for an outdoor bowl in Auckland on Monday, but he came through a five-over spell in the Eden Park indoor school and is on track to be able to bowl in the first Test against New Zealand. An ECB spokesman confirmed Stokes had come through his spell – his first serious bowl since the one-day series finished –…