Brendon McCullum, England’s Test coach, has said that he has no idea what ‘Bazball’ means and suggested that the phrase has missed the nuances of his side’s new approach. ‘Bazball’ was termed by Andrew Miller, ESPNcricinfo’s UK editor, on an episode of the Switch Hit podcast recorded before the start of England’s series against New Zealand last month to describe the positive style of play that McCullum’s old side had…
Big picture Pity the poor put-upon ground staff at Edgbaston. Barely four days have elapsed since they were watering down the wicket at the end of England’s thrilling chase in the long-delayed fifth Test – and here we are again, back to Brum as the England-India one-day roadshow gathers pace. What’s more, the change of livery around the stadium has happened not once this week, but twice, following Thursday’s shoehorned…
The Afghanistan Cricket Board is seeking a replacement for their head coach Graham Thorpe, who remains seriously ill and is not expected to return to work in the short term. ACB has opened a recruitment process, and it is understood the team will have a new head coach for the upcoming season. In his absence, Afghanistan have operated with local coach Raees Khan Ahmadzai at the helm on an interim…
Former USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins is set to receive a $300,000 payment from the USA Cricket board as part of an agreement to avoid more legal action against the governing body, according to documents obtained by ESPNcricinfo. In an email from outgoing USA Cricket board chairman Paraag Marathe to fellow board members sent on June 27, the payment is in relation to “unpaid bonuses” and treated as an urgent…
South Africa batter Lizelle Lee has announced her retirement from all forms of international cricket with immediate effect. In a statement shared by Cricket South Africa, she said she will continue to play domestic T20 cricket around the world. “It is with a lot of mixed emotions that I announce my retirement from international cricket,” Lee said on Friday. “From a very young age, I have lived cricket, and wanted…
Mickey Arthur has condemned the failure to ring fence the Vitality Blast knockout stages and give them their own place in the cricket calendar as a decision that shows “disrespect” to the county game. Arthur, one of the most respected international coaches of the past 20 years, has guided Derbyshire to the Blast quarter-finals in his first season coaching at county level. He is mystified by the fact that the…
Spectators have been barred completely from the ramparts of the Galle Fort, which overlooks the cricket stadium where the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia is being played. This, after anti-government protesters had been forcibly removed from the area during the first Test between these teams. Police officers guarding access to the ramparts told ESPNcricinfo that even the ICC has asked for spectators be kept away. However, not only…
Litton Das feels that Bangladesh’s lack of power-hitting skills could be a problem going into this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for October-November. It was one of the main reasons, he said, for the team’s five-wicket loss in the third T20I, which gave West Indies a 2-0 series win. “No one in our team is as powerful as [Kyle] Mayers – they [West Indies batters] can clear big…
Nicholas Pooran might have won the Player-of-the-Match award for his unbeaten 39-ball 74 in the final T20I against Bangladesh, but he feels Kyle Mayers‘ 55 off 38 balls at the top of the West Indies chase made his job simpler than it might have been otherwise. Set 170 to win the three-match series, West Indies were 43 for 3 just after the powerplay, and Mayers, who had opened the batting,…
Very few players have experienced the burden of expectation that Cameron Green currently has on his broad shoulders, but former Australia allrounder Shane Watson has carried that load, and he is full of praise for how Green is maturing at such a rapid rate in Test match cricket at the age of just 23. Watson watched Green’s match-winning innings in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle and was…