On Thursday, the second day of the ongoing fifth round of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, Shami piqued significant interest, after going wicketless across ten overs on the opening day. Was he fully fit? Was his ankle troubling him? Was he bowling within himself? Was he able to bowl with full intensity? He may have cleared some of those doubts after returning figures of 4 for 54 to help Bengal take…
Big picture: The year India embraced T20 In a fickle, unpredictable format, India have had arguably the greatest year for a team, winning 23 of their 25 T20Is in 2024. It was also the year where they truly embraced the format, shedding their safety-first approach with the bat to play attacking, modern-day T20 cricket. The results could not have been better. They whitewashed Afghanistan and Bangladesh at home and did…
Kusal Mendis took home the post-game accolades for a career-best 143 as Sri Lanka won the first ODI against New Zealand on Wednesday by 45 runs via DLS method. However, it might have all been for nought if not for an exemplary effort by the bowlers. New Zealand’s openers Will Young and Tim Robinson had given the visitors an ideal start in pursuit of an adjusted target of 221 in…
Australia opener Usman Khawaja feels that Jasprit Bumrah‘s unique action makes him awkward to face at first, but batting against the India fast bowler gets better once you get used to it. “I mean, when you first face him, it’s just his action. It’s a different, bizarre kind of action as his release point is very different than other bowlers,” Khawaja told Fox Cricket. “It’s just a bit further up….
New Zealand may have lost the first ODI in Dambulla on Wednesday by a fairly comprehensive 45-run margin, but for a youthful outfit with no less than three debutants in the playing XI, it was an opportunity to grab the “best seat in the house” in terms of learning how to play in unfamiliar conditions. “I think the experiences that you get in this part of the world, they’re obviously…
Toss Pakistan chose to bowl vs Australia Pakistan opted to field first in the first of three T20Is at the Gabba. A match that lightning and persistent rain delayed in Brisbane for the best part of three hours got underway as a seven-over contest. Pakistan will field a batting-heavy line-up, with left-arm fast bowler Jahandad Khan omitted at the last minute for wicketkeeper-batter Sahibzada Farhan. Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi…
Courtney Winfield-Hill will join the England Women’s set-up as an assistant coach for the upcoming tour of South Africa and the Women’s Ashes. Winfield-Hill, a 37-year-old former cricket and rugby league professional who was part of England’s backroom staff on the tour of Ireland in September, will be reunited with the squad in South Africa once she has finished her second-year stint as an assistant coach with WBBL side Brisbane…
South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka, as well as the all-format tour against Pakistan, due to a groin injury. Ngidi, who has not played any cricket since the ODI series against Ireland in Abu Dhabi last month, underwent a medical assessment as part of his structured conditioning period, during which scans revealed bilateral proximal adductor tendinopathy. He will…
The BBL and WBBL have introduced a new trade window which will allow clubs to sign players and swap draft picks for a brief period after the conclusion of both competitions. There has also been a change to the contracting embargo period – where no players can be signed – which will now begin after the home-and-away part of each tournament rather than after the final. The new 10-day trade…
South Africa’s players want to play more matches in bilateral series in order to build a competitive edge and momentum as a national side, according to middle-order batter Heinrich Klaasen. Asked how the team will approach the fourth and final T20 against India on Friday, given that they can no longer win the series, (and have not won a bilateral series in two years), Klaasen said they just wish they…