Sri Lanka have a problem of plenty. This is not something that has been true for Sri Lanka Test sides in recent years. Even stranger, the kind of players they have too many are seam bowlers. In their most recent Test at The Oval, Sri Lanka’s quartet of quicks decked England for 156 in the third innings and swung the whole match around. Now, at Galle, one of the most…
Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mushfiqur Rahim are expected to shoulder significant responsibility for Bangladesh as they look to build on an uptick in Test match performances away from home. Although they’ve only won eight of 67 matches on tour, four of them have come since 2021 and the most recent two were the stuff of legend. “[The win in Pakistan] certainly gives us a lot of confidence…
New Zealand might not have played a Test since March but they will have little time to get up to speed ahead of a packed Test schedule to close out the year. September’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka will be followed by a three-Test tour of India in October and November, before they head back home to host England in November and December for three more Tests. All eight of…
India are coming off a break of more than a month without any cricket – “We are starting after a long time actually”, the captain Rohit Sharma said – but they are also aware of the strain that their schedule over the next few months can place on their players, particularly their fast bowlers. India begin the first of ten Tests in 15 weeks against Bangladesh on Thursday, and they…
The winners of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup that begins on October 3 in the UAE will receive USD 2.34 million in prize money, an increase of 134% over the USD 1 million Australia were awarded for winning the tournament in 2023. The overall prize pot of USD 7.95 million is also 225% more than the USD 2.45 million on offer in 2023, the ICC announced on Tuesday. The…
Big picture: Shades of 2019 in 2024 A lot has happened since New Zealand last toured Sri Lanka. Back then, in 2019, the world was yet to be introduced to Covid-19, while the Lankans were only just recovering from Rangana Herath‘s retirement. Fast forward to the present, the pandemic is firmly in the rearview while Herath is gearing up to for duty as New Zealand’s spin-bowling coach. That said, similarities…
Chris Guest, head coach of The Blaze, has been appointed as England Women’s U19 Performance Lead. Guest, 40, spent three years as head coach of Loughborough Lightning, and latterly The Blaze following the region’s move to Nottinghamshire in 2022, and guided the team to victory in this season’s Charlotte Edwards Cup. Alongside his regional commitments, he also led the England Women U19 World Cup programme as head coach in 2023,…
Three-time defending women’s T20 World Cup champions Australia are hoping to shake out the rust and do some heat acclimation ahead next month’s tournament in the UAE in their warm-up series against New Zealand starting on Thursday in Mackay. Australia’s women have had a rare lengthy break between international assignments having not played since the limited overs tour of Bangladesh in March and April. Several of Australia’s squad played in…
Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann has abruptly resigned from his roles as a Brisbane Heat and Queensland men’s assistant to take up a full-time radio commentary job with ABC Sport for the upcoming summer of cricket in Australia. Lehmann, 54, had a year to run on his contract as an assistant coach with Heat and Queensland having been part of the Heat coaching group that won the BBL title…
Usman Khawaja will open the batting for Queensland in the opening three Sheffield Shield rounds, having previously batted at No. 4 while being the Test opener, as new coach Johan Botha looks to create more stability in the Bulls’ middle-order following a disappointing season last summer. Despite being the Test opener, Khawaja had batted at No.4 in his last eight Shield games since last opening in February 2022 just after…