BJ Watling drives through the covers © AFP Lunch Pakistan 0 for 1 (Imam 0*, Boult 1-0) v New Zealand 274 (Williamson 89, Watling 77*, Bilal 5-65, Yasir 3-75) Having faced 180 balls for 42 on the first day, BJ Watling would have slept rather soundly. He can look forward to another good rest tonight, already having earned it this morning with a continuation of the pluck and fortitude that…
2:43 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni‘s decision to skip India’s domestic tournaments has not gone down too well with Sunil Gavaskar. The former India captain has questioned the selectors for allowing this practice even as India gears up for a hectic next six months, culminating with the World Cup in May-June 2019. “We shouldn’t ask Dhawan and Dhoni ‘Why you are not playing domestic cricket?’. We…
12:12 AM ET Alex Malcolm The Sydney Sixers have signed England pacer Tom Curran to a one-year deal for the upcoming Big Bash League. The 23-year-old has been added to the Sixers squad, after John Hastings was forced to retire prematurely due a health concern. Curran made his Test debut in Australia during the 2017-18 Ashes series and took career-best One-Day International figures of 5 for 35 in Perth at…
© Ryan Pierse/Getty Images Memories of batting with the banned former captain Steven Smith during last summer’s Ashes will be at the forefront of Mitchell Marsh‘s mind. This as he seeks to quieten a vociferous lobby of critics while making the No. 6 berth and the Australian vice-captaincy his own during the Test series against India. It’s been a little less than a year since Marsh was recalled to the…
© Robert Cianflone/Getty Images Usman Khawaja has requested privacy for himself and his family after his brother Arsalan was charged by police and refused bail over a fake terror plot to kill senior Australian politicians, allegedly concocted as part of a dispute with another man over a woman. News of Arsalan Khawaja’s arrest and charges broke on Tuesday morning as Usman Khawaja was batting in the nets ahead of Australia’s…
2:43 PM ET English cricket could be forgiven for feeling as if the Ghost of Christmas Past was visiting over the next few days. Events that the game may well have wanted to put behind it – notably, the late-night brawl involving Ben Stokes and Alex Hales in Bristol in September 2017 – will be dragged up once again as the ECB’s Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) considers whether Hales and…
1:26 PM ET Liam Brickhill Chris Gayle said it was “good to be back” in South Africa, having jetted back to the country and into Jozi Stars’ Mzansi Super League squad after missing the last five matches while he was away playing for Kerala Knights in the T10 League. Gayle was in Sharjah in October for the Afghanistan Premier League, and had played in Jozi Stars’ Mzansi Super League opener…
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and coach Ramesh Powar at the pre-departure press meet 11:56 AM ET Derbyshire have signed New Zealand all-rounder Logan van Beek as overseas player for the 2019 season. The 28-year-old, who is currently representing New Zealand A, will be available for all forms for the entire summer, subject to final approval. Van Beek has also appeared for the Netherlands in Twenty20 international cricket, including at the…
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and coach Ramesh Powar at the pre-departure press meet 10:50 AM ET Days after BCCI put out an advertisement to hire a new head coach for the Indian women’s team, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, two of the senior-most players in India women’s cricket, have strongly urged the board to stick with Ramesh Powar who was the coach till November 30. In an e-mail sent on…
9:20 AM ET Not picking a frontline pace bowler in the Dhaka Test does not signal an the end of fast bowling in Bangladesh, bowling coach Courtney Walsh has said. “It is just one Test match that no fast bowler played,” Walsh said. “This was a Test to try to win the series. For me, it is not sending the wrong message. Tactically we felt it was the best for…