Month: January 2025

WPL 2025 will begin on February 14, a week later than earlier planned, with Gujarat Giants hosting defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the newly built BCA stadium in Vadodara. As ESPNcricinfo had reported earlier, Lucknow is the other new venue for the upcoming season, with Mumbai and Bengaluru to host matches as well. After the first six games in Vadodara, the tournament will move to Bengaluru for the next…

Big picture: Expect plenty of turn in Multan The timing of this series does not exactly help raise its profile. It comes after the top two World Test Championship (WTC) berths have been decided at the tail-end of the cycle. West Indies are at the bottom of the standings, Pakistan only fractionally ahead of them. This series was originally due to be held in January 2024 and would have carried…

Hobart Hurricanes 207 for 5 (Jewell 76, Owen 44, Johnson 3-26) beat Brisbane Heat 201 for 6 (Labuschagne 77, Renshaw 40, Ellis 3-42) by five wickets Matthew Wade hit a six off the final ball as Hobart Hurricanes unleashed their considerable firepower in a superb chase of 202 to defeat Brisbane Heat in a pivotal result that kept alive the BBL finals hopes of three teams. Openers Caleb Jewell and…

Stephen Fleming has stepped down as Southern Brave’s head coach in the men’s Hundred, citing family reasons. Fleming replaced Mahela Jayawardene in the role ahead of the 2023 season and twice led the Brave to the knockout stages, losing the eliminator in his first year in charge and the final last season. Birrell will become the first county head coach also taking charge of a men’s Hundred team, though several…

Former Saurashtra captain and batter Sitanshu Kotak is set to join the India men’s set-up as batting coach. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Kotak, who is 52, will start with the five-match home T20I series against England which starts from January 22. Kotak, who retired in 2013 after a first-class career spanning more than 20 years, has been the batting coach at the National Cricket Academy since 2019. Kotak also was…

Blair Tickner will return to Derbyshire for the 2025 season on an all-format deal. The New Zealand fast bowler played seven matches for the county last summer across the Vitality County Championship and Vitality Blast, before returning home early after his wife Sarah was diagnosed with leukemia. Now with Sarah on the road to recovery, Tickner returns to Derby for the duration of the season, subject to international commitments. He…

Players wanting to stake claim or to regain form for India’s tour of England will get three four-day matches against England Lions between the end of the IPL on May 25 and the start of the Tests on June 20. India’s batters playing hardly any multi-day cricket outside Test matches has emerged as a point of contention in the fallout of a disastrous season. In 2024-25, India ended their dominant…

Daryl Mitchell has been promoted to become chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) after filling the role on an interim basis for the last six months. Mitchell, who scored 39 first-class hundreds and captained Worcestershire, spent four years as PCA chair from 2017-21 before becoming director of cricket operations and then chief operating officer. He has served as interim chief executive since Rob Lynch stepped down to join…

Cricket Australia XI 176 (Hearne 106, Cook 4-15) and 261 for 3 (Ward 115, Handscomb 57) beat England Lions 223 (Davies 54, Gannon 5-27) and 213 (McKinney 94, Bell 3-32) by six wickets A Tim Ward century led a Cricket Australia XI to a six-wicket win over England Lions in their opening tour match at the Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane. Ward struck 115 before he retired out, while captain…

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have called up England’s spin-bowling allrounder Charlie Dean to replace the injured Sophie Molineux in their squad for the upcoming WPL 2025. Molineux, the Australian left-arm spinner, was ruled out of their home Ashes series against England after picking up a knee injury that will require surgery. She had managed the knee issue through the WBBL in October-November last year. She captained Melbourne Renegades to the…