Month: January 2024

Mitchell Starc is congratulated on reaching 350 Test wickets  •  AFP/Getty Images Mitchell Starc acknowledged that it was “humbling” to pass 350 wickets as a summer of landmarks continued for Australia’s Test attack, but he will only really sit back and reflect on personal achievements when he hangs up his boots. After Nathan Lyon’s 500th Test wicket along with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood crossing 250 this season, it was Starc’s turn…

Rashid Khan has withdrawn from the Pakistan Super League as he continues to take a cautious approach in his return from back surgery. Rashid has played for Lahore Qalandars in each of the last three PSL seasons, winning titles in 2022 and 2023. He was retained by the franchise in the ‘silver’ salary bracket ahead of December’s draft, on the understanding that he was unlikely to be available for the…

England were not expecting Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma, India’s openers, to play with the attacking intent that they did on the first evening of the first Test in Hyderabad. That is according to Ben Duckett, who insisted that England’s total of 246 was “an above-par score” after nine wickets fell to spin across the opening day of the five-match series. “It’s spinning quite a lot on day one,” Duckett…

India 119 for 1 (Jaiswal 76*, Gill 14*) trail England 246 (Stokes 70, Bairstow 37, Ashwin 3-68) by 127 runs The newest gimmick in Test cricket arrived in spurts – not always from the team credited with it – but the oldest truth of the oldest format was reinforced on day one of the series: a batting approach can have a say only when the quality of bowling of the…

Allrounders Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta have been banned from all cricket for four months by Zimbabwe Cricket for recreational drug use. They have also been fined 50% of their salaries for three months with effect from January 2024. Batter Kevin Kasuza, who played last of his seven Tests in 2021, has also been suspended from all cricket activities with immediate effect after he tested positive for a banned recreational…

West Indies won the toss and decided to bat first against Australia West Indies have opted to bat first against Australia in the second Test at the Gabba with Guyana offspinning allrounder Kevin Sinclair named to make his Test debut in place of Gudakesh Motie. Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed he would have also batted first if he had won the toss as Australia go in unchanged. Sinclair received his…

The best defending side in the BBL, Sixers have made an art form of setting targets of close to 155 and restricting chasing teams at the SCG this season. Data in the lead-up to Wednesday’s final showed Sixers have defended 77 percent of scores less than 160 when batting first across the past five years, compared with the competition-wide mark of 32 percent. Related Finch raises prospect of relocating BBL…

Shakib Al Hasan has been diagnosed with a retinal condition in his left eye. It is understood the condition is unlikely to stop him from playing competitive cricket, as he is set to appear for Rangpur Riders in their BPL match against Khulna Tigers on January 26. A BCB press release said that Shakib had reported issues with his vision, and the allrounder visited an eye specialist in Singapore earlier…

In a major coup for the Bangladesh Premier League, Brisbane Heat batter Josh Brown has signed up with the Chattogram Challengers. The franchise announced that Brown will arrive in Bangladesh on January 26, in time for their matches in Sylhet. Chattogram have won two out of their three outings in the tournament so far, beating Sylhet Strikers and Durdanto Dhaka. Their next match is on Saturday when they take on…

Sri Lanka 133 (Waduge 56*, van Vuuren 4-23, de Villiers 3-19) beat Namibia 56 (Blignaut 18*, Perera 3-3, Lahiru 3-19) by 77 runs A collective effort by Sri Lanka’s bowlers flattened Namibia for 56 in a chase of 134 in Kimberley. Left-arm spinner Vishwa Lahiru and medium-pacer Ruvishan Perera took three each as all of Namibia’s top eight batters fell for single-digit scores. After being put in, Sri Lanka got…