Month: August 2019

6:04 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Ben Stokes‘s incredible unbeaten 135 and match haul of four wickets at Headingley have pitched him up 13 places to No. 13 in the rankings for batsmen and No. 2 for allrounders, while Jasprit Bumrah‘s remarkable 5 for 7 in North Sound have put him in the bowlers’ top ten. Both are career-best numbers for Stokes, though, technically, he was at No. 12 among batsmen…

5:55 AM ET Tony Irish has emerged as a leading candidate for the role of chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), the players’ union in England and Wales. Irish currently holds a similar role with the South African Cricketers’ Association and is executive chairman of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA). He is understood to be one of two candidates for the PCA job who have been…

Aug 26, 2019 The last time an Australian Test tour took on the trajectory of the current Ashes series, starting with a victory before beginning to fall away, the response of a tiring and weakening team desperate for victory was to resort to the infamous, obvious cheating of Newlands. With pressure compounding fatigue, a performance culture wearing away at weary minds and bodies, and anger at how circumstances and failings…

Ramesh Powar with fielding coach Biju George during his time with the India women’s team  2:26 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Ramesh Powar, the former India offspinner who was removed as head coach of the India women’s team after an event-filled four-and-a-half month stint from mid- to late 2018, has been appointed bowling coach of the India men’s ‘A’ team. For the time being, ESPNcricinfo understands, Powar’s appointment with the ‘A’…

2:04 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Jasprit Bumrah‘s 5 for 7 – the least expensive five-wicket haul by an Indian in Tests – helped hurry India towards a record 318-run win over West Indies in Antigua. That five-for also helped Bumrah become the first bowler from Asia to take five-wicket hauls in South Africa, England, Australia and West Indies. And beyond the numbers, he impressed two Antiguan fast-bowling greats – Andy…

Kane Williamson and Dimuth Karunaratne interact during the presentation ceremony  11:09 PM ET Rash strokes and poor decision-making cost Sri Lanka the P Sara Test. So says captain Dimuth Karunaratne. It is a difficult summary to argue against, given the nature of Sri Lanka’s demise on the fifth day in Colombo. Lahiru Thirimanne essentially ran himself out, attempting a single to midwicket off the fifth ball of the innings. Kusal…

2:55 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Lancashire have come to an agreement with Durham to host their Vitality Blast quarter-final at Chester-le-Street, due to a clash between the knockout stages and next week’s Old Trafford Ashes Test. Currently top of the North Group, Lancashire are guaranteed to finish in the top two spots and thereby gain the advantage of a home quarter-final. After exploring the possibility of using an outground, or…

Play 01:35 I don’t know how DRS showed 3 reds – Stokes Vishwa Fernando’s 6, Monty Panesar’s 7, Clive Eksteen’s 4… and now Jack Leach‘s 1. The list of the greatest unbeaten single-figure innings in Test history is not a prestigious one, but its members all share cult-hero status. In no other sport are players so prominently exposed for their inability in one facet of the game – Neymar wouldn’t…

Aug 24, 2019 Somerset 177 for 8 (Babar 63) beat Glamorgan 152 (Lloyd 63) by 25 runs Only one county, Derbyshire, has ever gone through a T20 season in England without a victory and Glamorgan now have two matches left to avoid the same outcome. They came to Taunton in the nick of time for Somerset’s quarter-final ambitions and obliged by conceding a 25-run victory that never looked in doubt….