Meanwhile, Matt Short is unavailable for Victoria’s clash against Queensland at the MCG due to a family wedding, but Jake Fraser-McGurk is in line for a recall to South Australia’s Shield side after being named in the XII to face Tasmania in Hobart, having not been selected this season despite being available for three of the previous five games. But Spencer Johnson has been ruled out of playing back-to-back Shield…
India opt to bat vs Australia Titas Sadhu and Georgia Voll will make their ODI debuts as India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in the series-opener at Allan Border Field. India have made changes from their recent series victory against New Zealand with quick bowler Sadhu included, while Priya Punia will open with Smriti Mandhana. Shafali Verma has been dropped. Harleen Deol will…
Barcley’s tenure came to an end on December 1 when Jay Shah took over at the ICC and as part of a wide-ranging interview with the UK’s Daily Telegraph he took aim at boards who have suspended playing Afghanistan outside of global tournaments. “If you really want to make a political statement, don’t play them in a World Cup,” Barclay said. “Sure, it might cost you a semi-final place, but…
Plenty has been spoken about the last time New Zealand entertained England at Wellington ahead of Friday’s second Test. And it is fair to say the players are bored of it. “The only chats I’ve had about it are speaking to you guys [the media],” Ben Stokes said when 2023’s one-run thriller was brought up on Thursday. This time around, public entertainment is not a priority: “Any win, any way,…
Incoming Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has warned that cricket faces the greatest headwinds of domestic sports in the country but also has huge opportunities for growth and believes the game remains at the heart of Australian society. Greenberg was appointed as the successor to Nick Hockley earlier this week and will take up the role in March. The current Australian Cricketers’ Association CEO and former CEO of the…
Big picture: Back to Baz-ics? How on earth do you follow that? New Zealand’s 3-0 Test series win in India may not have been the greatest result in their country’s cricketing history, but it was surely in the top one. Three deeply contrasting matches, in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai, were united by a single unquenchable spirit, as Tom Latham’s men blended moments of virtuoso skill with down-and-dirty grit and tenacity,…
A decade ago (allow us the leniency of three weeks because it was actually Boxing Day 2014), a young Temba Bavuma made his Test debut at St George’s Park to mark one of the most significant full circle moments in South Africa cricket. Bavuma, who traces his roots back to the Eastern Cape, was the first black African specialist batter for the national men’s team and represented hope and change;…
A fast bowler who has 25 Test wickets at 22.68 for the year (Lahiru Kumara), a left-arm swing bowler who averages 24.12 in South Africa (Vishwa Fernando), a skiddy right-arm quick with 68 career wickets at 25.97 (Asitha Fernando), and more good options on the bench. Sri Lanka have likely had better quicks than they have now – Chaminda Vaas took 355 Test wickets, and Lasith Malinga burned hot until…
Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, the biggest names in Afghanistan cricket, have come out strongly against the Taliban’s reported closure of institutes for women training as nurses and midwives. The closures are a new setback for women’s rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. The Taliban has banned secondary and higher education for girls and women, though exemptions had till now existed in the medical sector. With…
It wasn’t all bad for Sri Lanka, with Kamindu Mendis moving up two spots among batters despite a poor show in Durban. He scored 13 in the first innings (the only Sri Lanka batter to get into double-digits) and 10 in the second, but it was still enough for him to jump past Steven Smith and Saud Shakeel to seventh place. Dinesh Chandimal, meanwhile, rose two places to 17th as…