Month: September 2020

2:31 PM IST Matt Roller Close Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @mroller98 West Indies women have arrived in the UK ahead of their five-match T20I series against England at the end of this month, with captain Stafanie Taylor hailing the imminent return of top-level women’s cricket as a “great feeling”. The 18-member West Indies squad left Antigua on a charter flight on Sunday night…

1:38 PM IST Edited PTI copy The Australian government has appointed former opening batsman Matthew Hayden trade envoy for advancing business ties with India. His appointment to the board of the Australia-India Council was announced on Monday. Hayden was one of three new appointees to the council, the others being Lisa Singh, a former Labor Party senator from Tasmania, and former Victoria premier Ted Baillieu. The council plays an important…

Sourav Ganguly: “Very soon you will see there will be 30% people in the ground with social distancing”  12:04 PM IST ESPNcricinfo staff BCCI president Sourav Ganguly expects the IPL’s TV viewership to hit all-time highs in 2020, and has indicated that spectators will be allowed to return to the stadiums later in the tournament in the UAE. “Crowds will watch it on television… They [broadcasters] are actually expecting the…

Matthew Hayden – RCB too reliant on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers (0:38) Hayden on the Royal Challneger Bangalore’s struggles over the years in the IPL (0:38) 11:27 AM IST ESPNcricinfo staff Virat Kohli didn’t miss cricket as much as he thought he might after the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt, as he returned to the nets for Royal Challengers Bangalore to prepare for IPL 2020….

10:53 AM IST The eight IPL franchises are counting the Covid-19 cost on their finances, but having gotten past the possibility of the tournament being scrapped this year, they are taking a glass-half-full view of the situation. The IPL’s original March start was scuppered by the first wave of the virus, and the BCCI had to pull out all the stops to rescue the tournament, which has an estimated $6.8…

Newsroom: Optimistic, introverted players likely to perform better (11:38) Paddy Upton and Dr Samir Parikh talk about the mental fitness of players going into IPL 2020 (11:38) 9:30 AM IST Hemant Brar Mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton feels players who thrive on external motivation and pressure are “really going to struggle” in IPL 2020, while some of the “mid-range” players will outperform the big names. Upton also said there might be…

9:13 AM IST ESPNcricinfo staff After a lengthy contract embargo, clubs are now free to sign and re-sign players for the 2020-21 BBL season. Keep track of who is staying, who is going and who is coming Adelaide Strikers Last season Knockout Coach Jason Gillespie Squad Travis Head, Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jon Wells InOut Brisbane Heat Last season 7th…

Everybody must contribute to keep the game running – Finch (1:28) Aaron Finch discusses the challenges of scheduling for the next Australian cricket season. (1:28) 8:46 AM IST The Big Bash contract embargo has been lifted with clubs now set for a hectic period of completing their lists ahead of a season full of uncertainty and with the league facing significant pressure from broadcasters amid concerns over a lack of…

Cricket Australia is currently trying to forge a path through a grants dispute with New South Wales and Queensland  7:05 AM IST ESPNcricinfo staff The prospect of Earl Eddings being challenged as Cricket Australia chairman has receded following the outcome of the Cricket Victoria board elections. Former Dandenong Cricket Cub president Ross Hepburn and the women’s Premier panel chair Penelope Cleghorn took the two seats ahead of Essendon Cricket Club…