Month: May 2020

3:11 PM IST Valkerie Baynes She may be the youngest woman to take 50 T20I wickets, but Sophie Ecclestone holds loftier ambitions. Having just celebrated her 21st birthday – in socially distant fashion, of course – left-arm spinner Ecclestone has enjoyed spending time since the Covid-19 enforced lockdown working on a different aspect of her game, which she hopes will help her achieve her goals. Largely confined to a general…

11:59 AM IST The BCCI has filed a second petition in the Supreme Court of India, following the one in December last year, seeking approval for several radical amendments recommended at its annual general meeting last year. Among them is a proposal to allow president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah to continue in their posts until 2025, effectively bypassing the mandated cooling-off period. The petition was filed on April…

8:12 AM IST Harbhajan Singh will be turning 40 in July, but he believes he is fit and “ready” to play for India in T20Is. Having featured in four IPL finals with the two most successful sides in the tournament – Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings – Singh said he had the experience and skill to add value for India in the shortest format. “I’m ready,” Singh told ESPNcricinfo…

May 22, 2020 West Indies are on the verge of embarking on an unprecedented trip – full of challenges and unknowns, most of them outside the field of play. Yet it is a risk worth taking, feels Johnny Grave, the Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive. Grave, who has been busy sorting the risk assessment with his counterparts at the ECB over the past six weeks, is optimistic West Indies…

Stuart Broad enjoys first day back at Trent Bridge (0:56) Stuart Broad shared the different steps he has needed to take to return to training on his Instagram (0:56) 4:28 PM IST ESPNcricinfo staff Stuart Broad has described thoroughly enjoying his return to bowling for the first time in more than two months, despite pulling up weary afterwards. England seamer Broad was one of 18 bowlers to return to individual…

Faf du Plessis: I’m used to taking a bit of spit on my fingers in the slips (0:42) Brett Lee believes it will be very hard to implement the ‘no saliva’ rule (0:42) 10:02 PM IST Even though the ICC has set guidelines for cricket in the pandemic period, Shakib Al Hasan, one of the game’s most experienced exponents, is hesitant about how cricket will be played in this new…

5:41 PM IST ESPNcricinfo staff Kyle Coetzer has expressed concern that with no cricket in Scotland until at least August, the sport could well “start to be forgotten in some ways”, and cricketers who are not getting a chance to do what they do best might just move away from the game. “Any sport that isn’t getting any headlines will slowly but surely start to be forgotten in some ways,”…

Ball management will be a key part of cricket in the post Covid-19 era, but umpires may be wearing gloves to do it  11:06 PM IST Players and umpires will need to keep to “social distancing” norms on and off the field. Players will not hand over personal items such as caps, sunglasses and sweaters to the umpires any more. Players should use a hand sanitiser regularly once they have…