Month: July 2019

4:14 PM ET Melinda Farrell Close Melinda Farrell is a presenter with ESPNcricinfo David Warner and Jonny Bairstow may have formed a blistering opening partnership in this year’s IPL but Bairstow expects that will all be forgotten on the field once the pair line up on opposite sides for the first Specsavers Ashes Test, which begins on Thursday at Edgbaston. The pair combined for an IPL opening partnership record when…

1:16 PM ET Danyal Rasool Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur termed Mohammad Amir‘s decision to retire from Test cricket “unsurprising”, saying the bowler had been thinking about it for over a year. Arthur revealed the management had tried to ease Amir’s workload over the past year, and experimented with the possibility of making him an overseas-only bowler. Ultimately, however, Arthur said he respected Amir’s decision, and hoped it would give…

‘Stokes the heartbeat of England’ – Giles (1:37) Ashley Giles discussed the process behind reinstating Ben Stokes as Vice Captain ahead of the 2019 Ashes, and admitted that more must be done for Test cricket. (1:37) 1:01 PM ET England may use the New Zealand tour later this year to rest players and coaching staff as they seek to reduce the dangers of “burn out”. That could raise the possibility…

12:59 PM ET English cricket will “redress the balance” between red and white-ball cricket over the next few years. Ashley Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, accepts that white-ball cricket took priority in the previous four-year cycle and he accepts the strategy, put in place by his predecessor, Andrew Strauss, paid off. England went from also-rans at the 2015 World Cup to champions in 2019. But he also…

12:04 PM ET A day before the window for the applications for India’s coaching staff closes, captain Virat Kohli has endorsed Ravi Shastri for continuing as the head coach. Shastri and the rest of the coaching staff’s tenure was originally until the World Cup, but the BCCI extended that till the end of India’s tour of the West Indies, which is scheduled to finish on September 3. “With Ravi bhai,…

12:04 PM ET It is a measure of what a close Ashes series we have in prospect that even Glenn McGrath has chosen to “sit on the fence” instead of offering up his traditional “5-0 to Australia” prediction. However, McGrath believes that the key to the series is held by James Anderson, the man who recently overhauled his all-time record for Test wickets by a fast bowler, as Australia bid…

10:23 AM ET Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai India captain Virat Kohli is “baffled” about media reports that have surfaced recently about fights or rifts between him and ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma. Kohli also said it was “absolutely ridiculous” and “disrespectful” to bring players’ personal lives into the picture when the team’s focus has been on taking Indian cricket to the top. “In my opinion, it’s baffling, to be honest. It’s…

9:20 AM ET Match referees will take the final call on concussion substitutes under new ICC regulations, giving them the power to rule out a replacement player entirely if the referee deems there is no appropriate “like for like” player available. The concussion substitute rule will make its start in Test cricket in the first Ashes match between England and Australia at Edgbaston from Thursday, also the opening contest of…

8:08 AM ET The ICC officially launched the inaugural World Test Championship on Monday. It begins on August 1 with the first Ashes Test. Here’s everything you need to know about the tournament that is set to bring new meaning and context to bilateral Test cricket What is this World Test Championship all about? Essentially, it is a league, like the zillions of T20 leagues out there, but this one…

7:53 AM ET Matt Roller Close Matt Roller is a freelance cricket journalist. @mroller98 After winning just twice in 2018, Middlesex have already bettered their record from last season, and are now third-favourites with the bookies to win the Vitality Blast – not to be sniffed at, given they have reached the knockouts just once since their 2008 success. They have managed that despite the absence of AB de Villiers,…