Big picture The sun has set on Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2022 campaign. And there are far too many questions than answers at present. Did they spend wisely at the auction? In breaking the bank for Jofra Archer, who wasn’t going to be fit this season, did they shoot themselves in the foot? Having put the kind of exorbitant bid for Tim David, why haven’t shown faith in him? Is there…
Luke Georgeson, the former New Zealand Under-19 player who signed a two-year central contract with Cricket Ireland (CI) earlier this month, has now withdrawn from the full-time agreement and will no longer be in contention for an Ireland call-up. In a statement on Friday, CI said that the contract had been terminated “by mutual consent”. “Georgeson has informed Cricket Ireland that he will be withdrawing from the full-time contract after…
Kieron Pollard is weighing up offers to play in the T20 Blast following his retirement from international cricket. Pollard, who turns 35 next month, stepped back from his position as West Indies’ limited-overs captain last week after two-and-a-half years in the role but will continue to play domestic T20 cricket around the world. He was the first pick in the men’s Hundred draft earlier this month and will now be…
Abhishek Sharma came into the game against Gujarat Titans as the third-highest run-scorer (138) in the powerplay in IPL 2022. But couple that with his strike rate in that phase (120) and you get a clearer picture. He’s just managing not to get out early. He needed to do more. Earlier this season, Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody insisted that people were being too quick to judge the 21-year-old…
Big Picture Looking at their team composition after the IPL auction in 2018, Chennai Super Kings were dubbed as the “Dad’s Army” and few gave them a chance of making the playoffs, let alone winning the title. After the mega auction earlier this year, despite having a clean slate to form a team, Gujarat Titans seemed to have messed it up by being thin on resources. But eight games down,…
Cricket South Africa has announced the launch of a new franchise-based T20 tournament in association with SuperSport. The first edition of the competition is scheduled to be played in January 2023, immediately after South Africa’s tour to Australia. For subsequent editions, January will be the dedicated window for the tournament. According to a CSA release, the league will feature overseas players as well alongside South African nationals. Each XI will…
Matt Renshaw‘s newfound versatility is making him an attractive option for Australia’s selectors as they begin to plan for life beyond David Warner and Usman Khawaja in the coming years. Renshaw, 26, made a sparkling century for Somerset on day one of their division one LV= County Championship clash against Warwickshire, just a day prior to being named in the Australia A squad to tour Sri Lanka. The former Test…
Australia is a resource-rich country. Minerals and fast bowlers are in rich abundance. But the Pakistan Test tour, as successful as it was for Australia, exposed a scarcity of spin resources moving forward towards six Tests in Sri Lanka and India over the next 12 months. With senior spinner Nathan Lyon, who bowled beautifully in Lahore to help Australia close out the series 1-0, turning 35 this November, Australia named…
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer gave “no excuses” for his side’s below-par batting performance against Delhi Capitals, admitting not being able to find the right opening combination has been a major concern. He urged his team-mates to play “fearless cricket” and shed their conservative mindset after their fifth consecutive loss this season. Knight Riders crumbled to 83 for 6 before Nitish Rana’s 34-ball 57 helped them to 146 for…
Australia have named four squads, including an Australia A team, to tour Sri Lanka in June with Test captain Pat Cummins to be rested from the T20 internationals while Adam Zampa will miss the tour due to the birth of his first child. Australia play three T20Is, five ODIs and two Test matches in Sri Lanka in June and July and have added an A tour with Australia A set…