Jos Buttler‘s return as England white-ball captain has been delayed by at least three more matches, after he was ruled out of next week’s ODI leg of their tour of the Caribbean due to his long-standing calf injury. Buttler, 34, has been plagued by the injury for four months, and has not played a competitive match since England’s elimination from the T20 World Cup, with their semi-final defeat to India…
Kagiso Rabada said he didn’t have his 300th Test wicket on his mind when the first Test against Bangladesh started on Monday, but was “really surprised at how the wicket played out” – 16 wickets fell on the day – and once the ball started seaming, he knew he was in business. “We thought it was going to turn, and not really nip, but with the new ball, there was…
Western Australia 219 for 4 (Inglis 72*, Cartwright 52 ret not out, Elliott 3-31) trail Tasmania 277 (Owen 69, Doran 66, Rocchiccioli 4-70) by 58 runs Opener Cameron Bancroft‘s bid for a Test recall took a hit after a third consecutive failure to start the Sheffield Shield season. But in-form Josh Inglis and Cooper Connolly rescued Western Australia out of trouble against Tasmania late on day two at the WACA….
Jack Leach believes that being dropped by England during their home summer enabled him to fall back in love with cricket, aided by an unexpected phone call from Ben Stokes in the aftermath of a Test win. Leach is the leading wicket-taker in England’s series in Pakistan with 14, but had only played two Tests in the 18 months before the tour and failed to complete either due to back…
A bald and slow turning pitch is in the making for the second India vs New Zealand Test, starting on Thursday in Pune. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the pitch, predominantly packed with black soil, will have lower bounce compared to the first Test in Bengaluru, and will be flatter and slower. Shaken by the Bengaluru setback, where India registered their lowest Test score at home – 46 all out in…
India fast bowler Mohammed Shami is now “100%” pain-free and wants to play one or two Ranji Trophy games to try and be fit for the tour of Australia that will start at the end of November. Shami is on the road to recovery after sustaining an ankle injury that has kept him out of action since the ODI World Cup final last year, and was seen bowling full tilt…
Pakistan have stepped up attempts to prepare a spinning pitch for their Test series decider against England, using industrial-sized fans, outdoor heaters and windbreakers in a bid to dry out the surface at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. After losing by an innings on a lifeless pitch in the first Test in Multan, Pakistan pulled an unprecedented move and opted to recycle the same strip for a second match in a row….
South Australia 314 (Hunt 136, McInerney 51, Whitney 5-57) and 0 for 1 lead Queensland 308 (Peirson 94, McDermott 52) by six runs Young quick Tom Whitney wrote himself in Queensland’s Sheffield Shield record books, before helping bat the Bulls back into their match against South Australia. Whitney created history on Monday, becoming the first Queenslander in 38 years to claim a five-wicket haul on debut with his 5 for…
Steven Smith has said Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne “hated” him opening the batting in the Test team, and believes it was a key driver behind his return to No. 4, but has insisted he did not request the move and would have continued to open if asked to. Australia’s chair selectors George Bailey confirmed last week that Smith would not be opening against India saying Smith “had expressed a…
MS Dhoni has not yet confirmed his availability for IPL 2025, according to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan, who is hopeful that Dhoni will be part of the upcoming season. “We have still no confirmation from him, though we will like him to continue playing for us,” Viswanathan told ESPNcricinfo. “Hope he will confirm before 31st [October].” October 31 is the deadline by which the ten franchises have…