Month: December 2023

A high-energy group led by a proactive captain. Experienced cricketers putting together important partnerships. A mature bowler growing tactically strong. These are the ingredients that Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe found in the Sylhet Test and wants to work with going forward. He said last month that his real work begins after the World Cup, and a 150-run win against New Zealand is the best possible start. Hathurusinghe noted the…

Big picture: Bangladesh seek Sylhet repeat Bangladesh will look for another all-round performance, in the second Test in Dhaka, as they chase their first-ever series victory over New Zealand. They beat the visitors by 150 runs in Sylhet, and while Taijul Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto stood apart with their individual performances, it felt like a comprehensive team effort. They batted and bowled in partnerships, with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy…

A new-look BBL will begin on Thursday with a reduced 40-game regular season although the squeeze on marquee talent continues to be a challenge. We run the rule over how each side could go. Part two will be published on Wednesday. Brisbane Heat Squad Usman Khawaja, Xavier Bartlett, Sam Billings, Josh Brown, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Will Prestwidge,…

Pakistan Women 137 for 6 (Muneeba 35, Riaz 32*, Penfold 2-17, Jonas 2-21) beat New Zealand Women 127 for 7 (Rowe 33, Plimmer 28, Sana 3-22, Sadia 2-29) by 10 runs Having beaten New Zealand for the first time in a T20I to start the series, Pakistan went one better in the second game in Dunedin, where Fatima Sana picked up her second successive three-wicket haul to lead her side…

Khawaja was asked about the concept of Labuschagne being shifted up to open the batting when Warner vacates the role later this summer when his Test career ends, which is likely to be after the third Test against Pakistan in Sydney in the new year. The idea was floated by Australia coach Andrew McDonald last week as a way of getting allrounder Cameron Green back into the side to play…

Mitchell Johnson says he had received a “pretty bad” text message from David Warner earlier in the year which in part prompted his attack on Australia’s Test opener in his column while he called chairman of selectors George Bailey‘s response “quite disgusting”. Bailey was asked to respond to Johnson’s article during a press conference after Australia’s Test squad for the first Test against Pakistan was announced on Sunday and said…

Dunkley didn’t play as big a role in that campaign as planned, however, and that took its toll. It is only now, after resting for the latter part of the home international summer and finding some late form in the WBBL, that Dunkley is back, ready to pull on her England shirt again feeling good about her game. “On the whole, I’m quite disappointed with how I performed over the…

The ECB has announced the launch of the Cricket Regulator, a new independent body responsible for monitoring compliance with the game’s regulations and enforcing adherence to those regulations, as well as providing relevant information and education. The 317-page document published, entitled “Holding Up a Mirror to Cricket”, was critical of the ECB’s dual roles as promoter and regulator of the game, concluding potential conflicts of interest were “irreconcilable”. This, the…

For more than a decade, the pièce de Rashistance of England’s white-ball set-up has been Adil‘s wristspin. Filling the shoes of any world-class performer is almost always a doomed task. And those anointed to do so rarely appreciate the burden of expectation that is lumped on their growing shoulders. But nevertheless, step forward Rehan Ahmed. Rehan was the pick of England’s bowlers during defeat to West Indies in the first…

New York Strikers 98 for 4 (Gurbaz 49*, Smith 25*, Akram 2-15) beat Delhi Bulls 31 (Bopara 16, Karunaratne 3-6, Hosein 3-7) by 67 runs Delhi Bulls sank to the lowest total in the Abu Dhabi T10‘s seven-year history, folding for just 31 despite having Quinton de Kock, Johnson Charles, James Vince, Rilee Rossouw, Rovman Powell, Ravi Bopara and Dwayne Bravo in their ranks, to give New York Strikers their…