Big picture: Can Sri Lanka test injury-hit England? And now we return to our regular programming… After three weeks of bright lights, big city action in the Hundred, England’s men resume Test commitments with a three-match series against Sri Lanka. Which is the bigger deal is arguable, of course. Test cricket might still be the main economic driver in this part of the world but the ECB’s hopes for a…
Bess Heath, England’s up-and-coming wicketkeeper-batter, has signed a three-year deal with Durham that will make her one of the mainstays of the Tier 1 outfit, based at Chester-le-Street, when it replaces the existing Northern Diamonds team in the new women’s county competition from 2025 onwards. Heath, 22, has scored more than 3000 runs in all formats since her professional debut four years ago, and made the first of her five…
Pakistan have picked Saim Ayub as an opener for the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi for continuity, according Shan Masood. The Pakistan captain also said that they were considering Muhammad Hurraira for selection but he will have to wait for his international debut. Hurraira, 22, has been a heavy scorer in domestic cricket and last month he scored 218 against a Bangladesh High Performance XI in a four-day game…
Bangladesh have just been through some political turmoil, which has saw their prime minister resign, and a caretaker government take charge of the country. The unrest has even cast a doubt on them hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in October. Bangladesh’s national side will be in action for the first time since those turbulences, as the men’s team is on a tour of Pakistan, their first fixture in two…
The pitches for the first two matches of the men’s T20 World Cup 2024 held at New York’s Nassau County Stadium, as well as the one for the semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba, have been rated “unsatisfactory” by the ICC. The verdict comes nearly two months after the tournament, which India won by beating South Africa in the final. In the second…
The PCB is confident that Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the National Stadium in Karachi will be ready in time to host the Champions Trophy next year, though ongoing work could continue to impact their bilateral commitments this season, including the Test against England in Karachi. The board has already moved the second Test against Bangladesh, originally scheduled in Karachi, to Rawalpindi. Speaking to reporters on Monday in Lahore, Mohsin…
Ollie Pope will become the 82nd man to captain England’s Test team when they face Sri Lanka on Wednesday, standing in for the injured Ben Stokes. Stokes is with the squad in Manchester and will remain with them throughout the three-match series, with Pope conceding on Tuesday that “it’s still Stokesy’s team” as he pledged to deliver “the same messages from a different voice”. Pope has only captained one match…
Big picture: Chance to make amends Pakistan are two places ahead of Bangladesh in the World Test Championship table but both teams are in the bottom half. And both are playing their first series since the T20 World Cup. Bangladesh exited from the Super Eight while Pakistan couldn’t even reach that stage, leaving both sets of fans disappointed with their performances. This Test series will be a chance to make…
Steven Smith has not ruled out the possibility of pushing to represent Australia at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles with T20 likely to be a format he keeps playing longer than others although he has no retirement plans in his mind. Smith has signed a new three-year deal with Sydney Sixers in the BBL, which means he will be playing professional cricket until at least 2026-27. But he would…
Samoa batter Darius Visser entered the record books after smashing six sixes in a 39-run over against Vanuatu in the T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Region Qualifier game in Apia on Tuesday. This is now the most runs scored in a single over in T20I history, going past the tally of 36 achieved five times before in the format. The record was achieved in the 15th over of the first…