Month: December 2020

11:40 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Melbourne Stars have been forced to make a late change to their BBL squad signing West Indies batsman Andre Fletcher after Englishman Jonny Bairstow was ruled out due to international duty. Bairstow was expected to be available for the Stars after Christmas after completing the 14-day mandatory quarantine in Australia following England’s limited-overs tour of South Africa. However, he is expected to be recalled to…

Maxwell: The Carey run-out was 100% my fault (0:37) A disappointed Glenn Maxwell admits it was up to him to finish the game (0:37) 11:30 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Glenn Maxwell believes it is up to bowlers to evolve in an attempt to combat the ever-more outlandish strokeplay that is on display in limited-overs cricket after he produced a 100-metre switch hit in Canberra. Former Australia captain Ian Chappell reignited…

6:15 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Bruce Carnegie-Brown, the chairman of Lloyd’s of London and vice-chairman of Santander Banking Group, will become the sixth chairman of MCC next year, when he succeeds the current incumbent, Gerald Corbett. Carnegie-Brown has been a Full Member of MCC since 1997 and joined the club’s Finance committee in October 2019. His appointment is subject to approval by MCC Members at the 2021 Annual General Meeting,…

Jofra brings the best out in me – Wood (0:53) Mark Wood speaks about why he enjoys playing alongside fellow pace bowler Jofra Archer. (0:53) 2:10 PM GMT Valkerie Baynes Close Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo Mark Wood is in no doubt that he has done nothing wrong. His problem is that the England side as a whole seems to be doing almost everything right. A common…

1:53 PM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando A little over a week after he arrived in Sri Lanka to play in the Lanka Premier League, Shahid Afridi will leave to attend to a “personal emergency” in Pakistan. Afridi did not give details on how long he would be away for, but he did say he would return to his Galle Gladiators franchise “after the situation is handled”. Elsewhere at the LPL,…

12:51 PM GMT Cricket West Indies (CWI) officials, currently in Bangladesh to inspect the bio-security plans and health protocols in the country ahead of a proposed tour next month, are “very impressed” with the “concise and tight” arrangements. The three-format tour could yet be shortened, but question marks hanging over it might have been dispelled for the time being. Dr Akshai Mansingh, the CWI director, and security manager Paul Slowe…

12:04 PM GMT Valkerie Baynes Close Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo Lottery numbers, shoe sizes and dancing competition scorecards – England players and the ECB have been quick to make light of their use of coded signals sent from the dressing room to the field during their T20 series against South Africa. England team analyst Nathan Leamon could be seen placing cards on the dressing room balcony…

11:28 AM GMT Beximco Dhaka collected their first points in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup, beating Fortune Barishal by seven wickets. Dhaka made it a little tight towards the end of their 109-run chase, but Yasir Ali settled the conest with two sixes in the penultimate over to complete the win. Dhaka were put into a strong position after Robiul Islam Robi’s 4 for 20 helped them restrict Barishal to 108…

9:58 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Dawid Malan achieved the highest-ever points in the ICC T20I rankings for batsmen, getting to 915 at the end of the T20I series in South Africa. In the process, he also became the first batsman to cross the 900-point mark since Aaron Finch got there in July 2018, his 173 runs at a strike rate of 161.68 helping England to a 3-0 series sweep in…

9:28 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Kane Williamson has promised to “continue that awareness” about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement during New Zealand’s Test series against West Indies. The two teams will take a knee before the start of the two Tests, the first of those beginning on Thursday in Hamilton, as they had before the three T20Is, and Jason Holder was appreciative of the gesture on the part of…