Heather Knight believes England are refreshed and ready to go in the World Cup Heather Knight, England’s captain, believes her squad has successfully “parked” the disappointment of the recent Ashes loss, and is ready to embrace the ebbs and flows of the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand, where they will be defending the title they won on home soil in 2017. The England players emerged from their mandatory…
News Australians will play for Kent and Northants respectively in April and May Jackson Bird and Matt Kelly will both play in the early rounds of the County Championship in 2022 after signing deals with Kent and Northamptonshire respectively. Bird, 35, has previously featured for Hampshire and Nottinghamshire and was ruled out of a planned stint at Lancashire last season through injury. He was the second-highest wicket-taker in the Sheffield…
News Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay has also been included in the squad, which is without the injured Ramesh Mendis Lahiru Thirimanne is set to resume his partnershup with Dimuth Karunaratne at the top of the order The series will be the first in the longest format for Mendis and Dickwella following the lifting of their bans, which were handed down for breaching curfew and bio-bubble protocol during Sri Lanka’s tour…
Big picture With both India and Sri Lanka missing many of their first-choice players, it was going to be a battle of bench strengths. Few countries enjoy the depth India have and that was evident during the first T20I in Lucknow. The 62-run win margin, huge in itself, looks even more crushing when you glance at India’s bowling card. Their four frontline bowlers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel…
Firefighters work at a damaged residential building in a suburb of Kyiv, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, February 25, 2022 In the early hours of Friday, with Ukraine’s army desperately trying to repel a full-scale Russian invasion on the outskirts of the country’s capital Kyiv, Kobus Olivier sprung into self-preservation mode in his seventh-floor apartment close to the city’s centre. “I’ve put a mattress with some cushions on top…
News Irish batter can play friday’s second eliminator and potentially the final Paul Stirling is set to become Islamabad United’s second high-profile surprise return in two days, this time for tonight’s eliminator against Lahore Qalandars. If Islamabad win tonight, they will have brought back the opening pair that lit up the opening stages of the season, for the PSL final on Sunday. A tweak in the PCB’s Covid policy for…
News Seamer Binura Fernando is fit and available for selection while the uncapped Shiran Fernando is also ruled out Maheesh Theekshana’s unavailablity is a major blow to Sri Lanka’s bowling plans Spinner Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against India with a hamstring injury, but hope remains that Kusal Mendis – who has also sustained a hamstring niggle – can at least recover in…
News Group A will be led by five-time champions Mumbai Indians, while four-time winners Chennai Super Kings will be on top in Group B In a new format for IPL 2022, the 10 teams have been given seedings based on the number of times they have won the IPL or made the finals and, accordingly, been divided into two “virtual” groups for the league phase. Group A will be led…
News He is ready to be “creative” and “brave” depending on what conditions emerge Pat Cummins is prepared for a different tempo of Test cricket on the tour of Pakistan as his captaincy is given its first challenge overseas and is eyeing reverse swing as a key element with the ball. A combination of England’s weak batting, some well-grassed pitches and Australia’s bowling strength led to some brief stints in…
News “It’s the toughest call I’ve made as a cricketer,” the left hander said Usman Khawaja is leaving BBL franchise Sydney Thunder so he can be closer to his family in Brisbane next summer. Khawaja said seeking a release from his contract with the Thunder was the toughest decision of his cricket career. His wife Rachel is expecting their second child, due in April this year. The 35-year-old, who was…