© Associated Press Big Picture Just how far this Sri Lanka top order has to go in ODIs could not have been made more clear in the first match on Sunday. Batting coach Thilan Samaraweera said his team had spoken about seeing out the likes of Kagiso Rabada in the first 10 overs, before taking more risks against the less experienced South Africa bowlers later in the innings, but the…
9:22 AM ET Andrew Fidel Fernando He’s ranked ninth in the world. He’s s regarded as one of the best in any format. But maybe because he is about to play only his 50th ODI that Kagiso Rabada is yet to feel like a leader. So sharp has Rabada’s rise in world cricket been, that it is easy to feel as if he’s been around for years. But although only…
3:00 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff England have named Adil Rashid as their lone spinner for the first Test against India, which begins on Wednesday at Edgbaston. It will be his first Test since the fifth Test against India in Chennai in December 2016. England: 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Keaton Jennings, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dawid Malan, 5 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler, 8 Adil Rashid,…
6:18 AM ET In the build-up to the first Test at Edgbaston, Alastair Cook admitted England are going into the Test series against India are “a fair bit” away from the standards that took them to No. 1 in the world earlier in the decade. As a member of that England side that replaced India at the top of the Test rankings in 2011, Cook has a good idea of…
© Randy Brooks – CPL T20 / Getty The CPL is set to undergo two major changes in its playing conditions this year. Slow over rates – a cause for delayed matches – will be dealt with severely, as teams failing to bowl their overs within the allotted time frame will be given a net run rate penalty, affecting their chances of progressing in the league. The stipulated time to…
3:58 AM ET Andrew Fidel Fernando Sri Lanka’s Test cricketers will be out of the country for almost three months between December and late February, with three back-to-back Test tours scheduled for the Southern Hemisphere summer. These away tours will also come close on the heels of England’s full tour of the island in October and November, which will end on November 27, so long as the SSC Test runs…
3:30 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand Cricket has turned down a request from the PCB to tour Pakistan later this year for a T20I series because of security concerns. New Zealand are set to travel to the UAE to play Pakistan for a full tour that is likely to comprise three Tests, three ODIs and as many T20Is in October-November, even though the fixtures are not announced yet. The…
3:18 AM ET Brendan Taylor has all but made himself available for national selection after the ICC released funds to Zimbabwe Cricket to ensure outstanding player and staff payments can be made. Taylor was one of five senior players – others being Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams – who sat out of the T20I tri-series involving Australia and Pakistan and the subsequent ODI series against Pakistan…
3:00 AM ET Big Picture After a chastening defeat in the ODIs, West Indies would look to bounce back in the three-match T20I series, a format in which they are known to play with more flamboyance. Bangladesh would be at the other end of the confidence spectrum, having just won an ODI series away from home for the first time since 2009. West Indies have plenty of firepower to call…
12:57 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand are set to play hosts to Asian teams Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh during their 2018-19 home season from December to March. The India tour will be particularly significant given both the men’s and women’s teams will feature in three T20I double-headers in early February after they complete their respective ODI series. Versus Sri Lanka: 1st Test: December 15-19, Wellington 2nd Test: December…