Month: January 2025

Bangladesh missed direct qualification for the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup after their eight-wicket defeat against West Indies in Basseterre on Friday. They finished on 21 points in the Women’s Championship table, level with New Zealand who had more wins – nine opposed to Bangladesh’s eight – and secured the sixth and final direct spot. New Zealand joined Australia, India, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka in getting automatic places…

Harry Brook, England’s vice-captain, says that his team’s hopes of combatting India’s spin bowlers in the first T20I were hampered by an unusual but familiar foe to English touring sides – a thick layer of smog hanging over the ground in Kolkata. Brook made 17 from 14 balls before being bowled by a wrong’un from India’s legspinner, Varun Chakravarthy, who then dismissed Liam Livingstone in near-identical fashion two balls later….

Hasan Ali, the Pakistan fast bowler, has agreed a return to Warwickshire to play all formats for the club in 2025. He is expected to be available from the start of the T20 Blast in May through to the end of September. Hasan, 30, has not played since suffering an elbow injury during his stint at Edgbaston last season, which ruled him out after taking 10 wickets in five Vitality…

India spinner Varun Chakravarthy has given a ringing endorsement of the country’s domestic system, more specifically the 20-overs Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, saying it is “almost on par” with the IPL and international cricket. “The level of cricket in the domestic [circuit] is extremely high,” Varun said on the eve of the second T20I against England in Chennai. “I would say [it is] almost on par with IPL and the…

Masekesa, 27, has played 15 first-class matches and taken 49 wickets, while Welch, nearly 27, has played 26 first-class games and scored 1216 runs at an average of 31. Allrounder Sikandar Raza was also not selected because he is playing for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20, which ends on February 9. “He had already committed to franchise cricket before the [Ireland] tour schedule was confirmed,” Zimbabwe Cricket said in a…

Jon Lewis, England Women’s head coach, has issued a robust defence of his team’s fitness levels, after they slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat of a troubled Ashes tour, but believes that cultural issues may be at the heart of Australia’s perceived edge in athleticism. Despite their best performance of the tour, England’s rain-affected loss in a closely fought second T20I in Canberra continued Australia’s dominance of a series in…

Big Picture: England vs spin England would have felt a sense of deja vu when they were skittled for 132 in the T20I series opener in Kolkata on Wednesday. In June 2024, in the T20 World Cup semi-final in Providence, they watched Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel return combined figures of 11-0-58-6. At Eden Gardens, they were trampled by Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel, who had…

Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed has launched an impassioned defence for the recent spin-friendly pitches for Test matches in the country. Ahead of the second Test against West Indies in Multan, Aaqib said that if the decision to prepare such wickets been taken sooner, Pakistan may have been closer to making the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Speaking publicly for the first time since assuming the role of interim coach…

Highlights from day two of the sixth round of matches Thakur Lords over J&K after Rohit misses out again Rohit Sharma briefly caused bursts of excitement among early-morning office-goers in Mumbai’s financial district with a typically attractive start. He hit three sixes and two fours as Mumbai began their second innings against Jammu & Kashmir with a half-century stand between Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair wiped out more than…

Big Picture It is not difficult to know what’s coming this Test match. It is an easy one to analyse, a straightforward one to predict. West Indies will have prepared studiously for the challenge Pakistan will pose, and Pakistan, themselves, have made no secret they will double down on the nature of the surfaces they prepare. The wicket might begin to break up when the two captains head out for…