The ICC Board has finalised Lord’s as the venue for the next two World Test Championship finals, scheduled for 2023 and 2025 respectively. The inaugural WTC final was held in Southampton in 2021 when New Zealand got the better of India in four days. That match was originally scheduled for Lord’s, too, but it had to be shifted to the Ageas Bowl due to the Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the…
India were dealt a big blow ahead of their Commonwealth Games opener against Australia on July 29, with allrounder Pooja Vastrakar testing positive for Covid-19. Vastrakar and opener S Meghana are currently quarantining in Bengaluru, where the women’s team went through a 10-day camp prior to their departure to the UK. Last week, without revealing the identity of the player, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed one Covid-19 case within the…
“It’s a new responsibility and I will give my best like I did when I used to play for Bengal,” Shukla, 41, was quoted as saying in a Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) release on Tuesday. “I like taking new challenges. All the past coaches for Bengal did a superb job for the team. We have come close to winning trophies in the past but we’ll have to climb all…
India will host the 2025 women’s World Cup. Bangladesh and England, meanwhile, will host T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026 respectively, while Sri Lanka, subject to their qualifying for the tournament, will host the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in 2027. The venues for the four marquee women’s global events, which are part of the next cycle of the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, were ratified by the ICC Board on…
Big picture Right, we are on to the stuff that matters. After an ODI series that not even the weather wanted to be completed, we are entering the T20I season with all eyes on the World Cup. England have a whopping 13 fixtures before the tournament; South Africa have only eight matches, the bulk of which are in the next ten days, and without regular captain Temba Bavuma. You may…
Big picture India are on the cusp of their second successive ODI series sweep against West Indies. This is a team without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah, to name just a few. Mohammed Siraj’s economical outings coupled with Shardul Thakur’s knack of picking up wickets have ensured India haven’t missed Bumrah or Bhuvneshwar Kumar. While Siraj’s accuracy in the last over denied West Indies in the…
India have roped in mental conditioning expert Paddy Upton as part of their support staff group under head coach Rahul Dravid. Upton brings to the table a rich volume of work. Between 2008 and 2011, he was part of India’s support staff as assistant to Gary Kirsten, a stint that culminated in India’s World Cup win under MS Dhoni. Upton then teamed up with Kirsten with the South Africa team…
When Gustav McKeon took a single off medium-pacer Ashwin Vinod to get to a 58-ball century in Vantaa on Monday, he entered the record books as the youngest man to score a T20I century. McKeon, the teenaged France opening batter, got to the milestone in a 2024 T20 World Cup Europe Sub-Regional Qualifier Group B match against Switzerland. ESPNcricinfo Ltd At 18 years and 280 days, McKeon is more than…
Three of South Africa’s batters made progress. Laura Wolvaardt jumped five places to take the 14th spot, Tazmin Brits went up 14 places to 24th, and Anneke Bosch, the series’ leading run-scorer, progressed 26 places to reach 21st spot. Among bowlers, Ayabonga Khaka rose to the top 10 with her four wickets in the series and Nonkululeko Mlaba’s three wickets took her to 24th. Source: ESPN Crickinfo
Former Australia chairman of selectors and Western Australia opening batter Laurie Sawle has passed away at the age of 96. Sawle played a significant role in shaping Australia’s great teams of the 1990s and 2000s having been a national selector for 13 years between 1982 and 1995, acting as chairman for 11 of those years. He played a part in the recruitment of Bob Simpson as national coach in 1986…