Month: January 2020

11:21 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Stuart Broad has become the fifth player to be fined and handed a demerit point during the Test series between South Africa and England. Broad was found to have used an “audible obscenity” in an incident that saw Faf du Plessis and Jos Buttler briefly come together on the fourth afternoon in Johannesburg. Broad, who was fielding in the covers, appeared to become involved in…

Jan 26, 2020 Zimbabwe 352 for 6 (Williams 107, Raza 72, Taylor 62, Lakmal 2-31) v Sri Lanka Sean Williams produced a consummate captain’s knock, scoring his second Test century, and Zimbabwe, with cameos from Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza, seized control of proceedings on the first day of the second Harare Test. While Williams’ dismissal in the final hour of play gave a slightly more balanced look to proceedings,…

8:00 AM GMT Big picture New Zealand did most things right in the first T20I, and not too many in the second. On current form, India – they have five consecutive wins – were bound to pounce on even the tiniest of openings, and they have gone 2-0 ahead on a tour that they were talking about even before their last series was over. On last year’s tour, India lost…

3:40 AM GMT Alex Malcolm Season in nutshell The Renegades’ title defence was a disaster from the start. They lost their coach Andrew McDonald and overseas signings Usman Shinwari and Faheem Ashraf on the eve of the season. Michael Klinger was appointed just a month from the start but the Renegades blueprint from last year couldn’t be repeated. They lost two tight games to start the season against Sydney Thunder…

3:37 AM GMT Season in a nutshell A lot of hype, a lot of money spent and ultimately an even more acute case of the same old Brisbane Heat problems. When the Heat unveiled AB de Villiers after last year’s Ashes series, much to the delight of their new coach Darren Lehmann, many installed them as tournament favourites without a second thought. But in this case, some second thoughts would…

3:13 AM GMT For the first time a one-off all-star match will precede the IPL, comprising players from all the eight franchises. The match will be played three days before the IPL’s opening match which, as reported in December, is scheduled to begin on March 29. Both the opening match and the IPL final will be played in Mumbai, the home base of defending champions Mumbai Indians. ESPNcricinfo understands the…

1:49 AM GMT Marcus Stoinis believes he can still break into Australia’s T20 World Cup team as an allrounder despite being recast as a non-bowling opening batsman for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League, a role in which he is all but assured of finishing as the tournament’s top scorer this season. In a telling departure from the positions he has occupied for Australia, Stoinis has been used…

12:55 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand legspinner Todd Astle has quit first-class cricket to focus on the limited-overs formats. Astle, 33, played five Tests over a seven-year period, the most recent of them against Australia at the SCG earlier this month. However, he has started to find the demands of preparing for the red-ball formats a challenge while balancing his family and business life. “Playing Test cricket was always…

7:56 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Glamorgan will be led by Chris Cooke and David Lloyd next season after a captaincy reshuffles. Cooke continues as Championship captain while also taking charge of the T20 side, while Lloyd will step up for the Royal London Cup, when Cook will be absent at the Hundred. Cook, 33, oversaw Glamorgan’s best Championship campaign since 2015, as the club kept alive promotion hopes until the…