Month: August 2019

2:21 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff There is no set of players that dominate the world of franchise T20 like the West Indians. Every league in the world, from the IPL to the more recently sprouted Euro T20 slam, wants a piece of those larger than life superstars. But when they come together as a West Indies team, they haven’t always had a lot of success. Sure they are the reigning…

3:00 AM ET England 267 for 4 (Burns 125*, Stokes 38*) trail Australia 284 by 17 runs It didn’t quite have the backstory of Steven Smith’s century, but for the second day running the opening Ashes Test witnessed a hugely significant hundred as Rory Burns showed tremendous resilience to score his first for England. He finished unbeaten on 125, forming a substantial partnership with Joe Root of 132 and another…

1:16 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Boyd Rankin will become the first Irishman to play county cricket as an overseas player after signing for Derbyshire for the remainder of their Vitality Blast campaign. Irish players had previously counted as local players in county cricket, but after their ascent to Test status anyone playing international cricket and signing a new contract will count as an overseas player. Rankin, the 6ft 8in fast…

10:50 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Andre Russell has ruled himself out of West Indies’ first two T20Is against India in Florida. The allrounder had only just returned to action after knee surgery, but a CWI press release on Friday said he experienced “some discomfort” while playing in the Global T20 Canada and then expressed his unavailability to the West Indies selectors. Middle-order batsman Jason Mohammed has been named as replacement….

10:42 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Adil Rashid has withdrawn from Yorkshire’s Vitality Blast squads and been referred back to the ECB’s medical staff after advising the club’s medical staff that his shoulder injury is “the worst it has been this summer”. Rashid’s shoulder issue was first made public when England’s World Cup squad was announced, and was cited as a reason for the inclusion of Liam Dawson over Joe Denly….

6:59 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff West Indies’ T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite will lead St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League, taking over from Chris Gayle, who will turn out for Jamaica Tallawahs this season. The allrounder has been part of the franchise for four successive seasons, since the introduction of the team in the CPL, and has been among the side’s leading run-getters since then. He…