Month: July 2018

5:26 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Kuldeep Yadav‘s bowling repertoire will give him the capability to compete at Test level, believes Sachin Tendulkar. The former India batsman also reckons Kuldeep could benefit from the heat wave that has gripped England over the last few weeks. “I have always maintained that he’s ready for the longest version of the game and that will be the most challenging one,” Tendulkar told Reuters. “I…

3:05 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Mitchell Johnson will never again appear in an Australian ground in the capacity of a player after calling time on his career in the Big Bash League, his manager has revealed, primarily due to the extended nature of BBL 08. The tournament’s new format features 14 games in a home-and-away league system, which his manager Sam Halvorsen says “is just too much for someone who…

3:04 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Steven Smith is set to play his second T20 tournament after being axed from Australian cricket for ball-tampering. Smith has now signed with Barbados Tridents for the upcoming CPL season after he played the Global T20 Canada tournament earlier this month. Smith will replace Shakib Al Hasan in the Tridents squad for the CPL. “It is a huge blow to lose Shakib for the tournament…

2:50 AM ET More international firepower is needed to ensure the expanded Big Bash League can grow its audience after a recent downturn, while Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers must perform strongly enough to reignite interest in Australia’s two largest cities. These are the views of the new Seven network head of cricket, David Barham, who helmed Ten’s widely lauded BBL coverage for five years before being recruited to the…

1:37 AM ET Sreshth Shah Manoj Tiwary, the India and Bengal batsman, feels like he’s stuck in limbo. In a conversation with ESPNcricinfo, Tiwary expressed his disappointment at not being selected in any of the six squads named by BCCI last week for three upcoming competitions: the four-dayers against South Africa A, the three-team Duleep Trophy, and the quadrangular series involving Australia A and South Africa A, where India will…

12:04 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand have picked uncapped left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel among the three spinners for the three-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE in October. Ajaz, who has been the top wicket-taker in domestic first-class competitions for the last three seasons, was picked in place of Mitchell Santner who continues to recover from a long-term knee injury. New Zealand also named squads for the three ODI…

5:17 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff The ECB has moved quell mounting speculation around possible innovations for The Hundred by issuing a statement to say that “no final decisions have been made” about the new competition planned for 2020. Following a string of reports last week suggesting that the idea for a ten-ball final over had been ditched, Tuesday saw two national newspapers carry stories about the number of players in…

3:00 AM ET ECB Reporters Network Durham 275 (Latham 147, Higgins 3-41) and 35 for 0 need a further 305 to beat Gloucestershire 362 and 252 (Noema-Barnett 69*, Stokes 3-66)Scorecard Ben Stokes completed match figures of 8 for 118 as Gloucestershire set Durham 340 to win the Specsavers County Championship match at Cheltenham. The allrounder pressed claims for an England Test place against India with another lively contribution, looking in…

3:00 AM ET ECB Reporters Network Worcestershire 257 and 50 for 2 need a further 393 to beat Somerset 337 and 362 for 9 dec (Azhar 125, Trescothick 71, Moeen 5-107)Scorecard Azhar Ali scored a century on his Somerset debut – despite a five-wicket haul from England spinner Moeen Ali – as Worcestershire were set a daunting 443 target in the Specsavers County Championship clash at Blackfinch New Road. The…

3:00 AM ET ECB Reporters Network Northants 289 and 174 for 3 (Procter 68) need a further 140 to beat Derbyshire 260 and 342 (Madsen 116, Critchley 51, Prasanna 4-104)Scorecard Northamptonshire skipper Alex Wakely revived his team’s chances of pulling off a record-breaking run chase after another Wayne Madsen century set up the prospect of a thrilling finish to the Division Two match against Derbyshire at Chesterfield. Madsen made 116…