Month: September 2023

Ben Stokes described himself as “very comfortable” with the idea that England men’s players could turn down central contracts in order to maximise their earning potential in franchise leagues, after Mark Wood hinted he could miss the Test tour to India next year to fulfil a lucrative contract to play in the ILT20 in the UAE. England’s central contracts are up for renewal next month, with ECB chief executive Richard…

Finn Allen looks set to miss out on selection for New Zealand’s provisional World Cup squad, with Will Young due to open the batting with Devon Conway during their four-match ODI series against England. New Zealand have used several different opening combinations in 50-over cricket since 2019, with Martin Guptill losing his place and negotiating a release from his central contract. Allen has become a regular in their T20I line-up,…

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh feels Suryakumar Yadav should be in the starting XI come the World Cup because he can do in his role what even Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma can’t. Harbhajan feels the selectors and team management were right to pick Suryakumar in the World Cup squad ahead of Sanju Samson, who was also in the running for a middle-order role for India. “I feel Suryakumar Yadav…

New Zealand A 277 (Kelly 64, Perry 4-41, Hatcher 4-77) and 299 (Bruce 105*, Solia 62, Foxcroft 53, Hatcher 4-92) beat Australia A 275 (Philippe 105, McSweeney 56, Dwarshuis 50) and 233 (Jewell 131, Kuggeleijn 3-50, O’Rourke 3-64) by 68 runs New Zealand A made it back-to-back victories in the four-day series despite a defiant century from Australia A opener Caleb Jewell on the final day of the pink-ball game…

Sri Lanka blew their hosts away by seven and eight wickets respectively to come back from 1-0 down and hand England their first T20I series defeat by a side other than Australia since 2010. Related Coach Warnapura hails ‘scintillating’ Athapaththu as SL seal famous win Sri Lanka stun England again to clinch historic series win England face up to spin concerns after Sri Lanka’s shock triumph Given that Sri Lanka…

Toss Australia chose to bowl v South Africa On what is expected to be a flat surface, Mitchell Marsh chose to chase in the first ODI and avoid a cold evening in the field later. With spring only just making its appearance, temperatures in Bloemfontein will be pleasant through the afternoon but will dip sharply from sunset, reaching single digits in Celsius by the time the match is set to…

Nottinghamshire have announced the departure of former England allrounder Samit Patel after two decades at the club. Patel, who turns 39 in November, is set to play on, with Derbyshire understood to be favourites for his signature. Patel made his first-team debut for Notts in 2002, going on to play more than 600 games across formats and collecting six major trophies, including the County Championship twice and the T20 Blast…

After linking up with the India squad in Colombo on Tuesday, KL Rahul had his first session at the Nondescripts Cricket Club indoor nets on Thursday. Heavy rain accompanied by winds lashed the Sri Lanka capital in the morning, forcing India to have their optional training indoors. Rahul was part of a select group – Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur were the others –…

South Africa-born batter Sybrand Engelbrecht was also named in the 15-member squad. Engelbrecht, who will turn 35 next week, first came into the limelight for electric fielding for South Africa during the 2008 Under-19 World Cup. He has played 58 List A games, scoring 1275 runs at an average of 45.53 and a strike rate of 78.89, and 54 first-class games and 45 T20s. His last competitive game, on the…

England Women will take a select group of batters to Mumbai for a training camp after their tied Ashes contest and more recent 2-1 T20I series defeat to Sri Lanka exposed weaknesses against spin that head coach Jon Lewis believes other teams will look to exploit. With a tour of India scheduled at the end of this year followed by the 2024 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and the 50-over…