Brendon McCullum, England’s coach, said that Ben Stokes is “hurting” after struggling to make an impact in their 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan, but has backed his “tough bugger” captain to return to his best in New Zealand next month. Stokes returned from two months on the sidelines with a torn hamstring ahead of England’s second Test in Multan last week but failed to contribute as Pakistan staged their comeback….
Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah all return to the national team for the ODI and T20I series against Australia next month. The trio, who were omitted from Pakistan’s last two Tests against England, make a return in both white-ball formats. None of them, however, will feature in the ODI or T20I series in Zimbabwe that immediately follow. No captain was announced in PCB’s statement. It read that…
The revised central contracts for the Pakistan men’s cricket team have been announced, nearly four months after they were due. Shan Masood, who captained Pakistan’s Test side to their first series win since July 2023 this week, keeps his spot in Category B. Whether he lasts the full year in that position, though, is uncertain, with a media release from the PCB stating his retention in the category was “subject…
Toss New Zealand chose to bat vs India New Zealand captain Sophie Devine opted to bat first in the second ODI against India in Ahmedabad. The visitors made two changes to the side which had lost the first ODI on Thursday, although one of them was forced. Spin-bowling allrounder Amelia Kerr, who was ruled out of the remaining two matches of the series and most of the upcoming WBBL due…
Brisbane Heat 134 for 6 (Knott 44*) beat Adelaide Strikers 133 for 5 (McGrath 51*) by four wickets Brisbane Heat earned a modicum of revenge for their defeat in last season’s WBBL final by toppling defending champions Adelaide Strikers by four wickets in the opening game of the season. Having restricted Strikers to 133 for 5, Charli Knott controlled the chase with a crisp 44 off 30 balls although there…
Andrew McDonald, the Australia head coach, has said 19-year-old Sam Konstas would not be held back from a Test debut against India due to his lack of first-class experience if the selectors believe he is the best option. Konstas, who will play for Australia A against India A in Mackay from Thursday, is in the mix to open in the Test series after making back-to-back hundreds in the first Sheffield…
Before 2024, New Zealand visited India 12 times across 69 years from 1955 to play Test cricket, but they had never managed to win a series. On Saturday, in his first stint as full-time New Zealand captain, Tom Latham did an Edmund Hillary, leading New Zealand to their first-ever Test series win in India. Latham was part of the New Zealand team that won the inaugural World Test Championship after…
India are unfazed by the recent form of their senior spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, their captain Rohit Sharma has said. On a slow, dry Pune pitch, India’s spin trio, which included Washington Sundar, was outbowled by New Zealand’s as India suffered their first Test series defeat at home since 2012. “I mean, see look, there is too much expectation on those two guys,” Rohit said of Ashwin and…
Months after they’d hit the reset button, Pakistan were ready to burn it all down again. Aleem Dar, freshly announced as a member on Pakistan’s latest selection panel, glowered at the Multan surface. It had played host to a game where England racked up the fourth-highest total in Test history before dispensing swiftly with Pakistan. The curators believed it would have started taking spin sometime on day four. Pakistan’s specialist…
England are unlikely to change their batting line-up ahead of their tour to New Zealand next month despite two heavy defeats to Pakistan. They were bowled out for 112 in Rawalpindi on Saturday, but their captain Ben Stokes insisted: “There’s no doubt in my mind that we have got the best top six batsmen in England.” After they racked up 823 for 7 in the first Test in Multan, England…