England’s fast-bowling stocks have been dealt another blow after Jamie Overton was diagnosed with a lower-back stress fracture which will rule him out of their Test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer. Overton played his only Test at Headingley in June 2022, taking two wickets against New Zealand and scoring 97 from No. 8. But a stress fracture ruled him out of the Ashes last summer and,…
Cox hundred, Critchley 99* complete Essex pursuit of victory
Essex 162 and 224 for 4 (Cox 77*, Critchley 46*) need another 106 runs to beat Warwickshire 397 and 94 (Yates 28, Critchley 4-24, Harmer 3-28) Jordan Cox led Essex to one of the more unlikely successful run chase with a swashbuckling century as Warwickshire were beaten by four wickets at Chelmsford. Cox, who hit 112 from 192 balls, was joined in a record fifth-wicket partnership against Warwickshire of 176…
Batting powerhouses collide as KKR, SRH set their eyes on IPL final spot
Match details Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Qualifier 1Ahmedabad, 1930 IST (1400 GMT) Big picture: Two batting powerhouses collide Two of the quickest-scoring teams in this IPL could produce another run-fest in the first qualifier in Ahmedabad, especially if it serves up a bouncy, red-soil track. Phil Salt has left the IPL but Kolkata Knight Riders still have enough power in the form of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and…
Middleton, Fuller chalk off runs to put Hampshire on the board
Hampshire 276 (Dawson 95, Barker 74, Stone 4-62) and 171 for 5 (Fuller 77*, Middleton 59*) beat Nottinghamshire 235 (James 106*, Abbas 4-49) and 209 (Haynes 59, Clarke 57, Organ 3-38, Abbott 3-41) by five wickets Hampshire needed just 80 minutes of the final day to complete a five-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire in the Vitality County Championship at Trent Bridge. Five down overnight – and with Tom Prest likely to…
IPL 2024 playoffs: KKR take on SRH in Qualifier 1, RCB-RR clash in Eliminator
Here come the IPL 2024 playoffs. It took a thriller on Saturday to decide which of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) or Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would complete the playoffs line-up, and till the very last league game – a washout in Guwahati last night – to know who would play whom exactly, but now we know. And it’s a completely different playoff line-up from last season, with none of 2023’s…
Colin Graves: Private ownership at Yorkshire 'essential for club's future'
Colin Graves has given the strongest indication yet that Yorkshire’s traditional member-owned status is no longer viable given their dire financial situation, saying that a process of demutualisation – the conversion of the club to a private structure model, thereby unlocking the potential for outside investment – “appears at this point essential for the club’s future”. Graves, who was re-elected as Yorkshire’s chairman for a second stint in February, helped…
Phil Simmons joins PNG as 'specialist coach' for T20 World Cup
Phil Simmons, who coached West Indies to the 2016 T20 World Cup title, has joined Papua New Guinea as a ‘specialist coach’ ahead of the 2024 edition of the tournament in June. Simmons’ second stint as West Indies coach ended soon after their group-stage elimination at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia and he has worked extensively in franchise cricket since, coaching Trinbago Knight Riders, LA Knight Riders and…
Bangladesh, USA face off to fine-tune for T20I World Cup
Bangladesh and USA have a chance to fine-tune their T20 World Cup preparations when they face off in a three-match T20I series from May 21. This is the first time these two teams will play a T20I against each other. Here are the main talking points for the series. Tuning up for the T20 World Cup Thunderstorms with hurricane-forced winds welcomed Bangladesh in Texas last week. The weather cleared up…
Aussies at the IPL: Who starred, who chipped in, who flopped across the regular season?
The IPL playoffs have arrived and five Australians will be involved following the home and away season. Ahead of the playoffs and only weeks out from the T20 World Cup, here is how the Australians fared overall in the IPL regular season. Top performers Travis Head has been Australia’s stand-out performer at the IPL this season even with his first-ball duck in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s final regular season game against Punjab…
Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short set to be Australia's T20 World Cup travelling reserves
Australia are set to take two travelling reserves to the T20 World Cup with Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short likely to be named as the 16th and 17th squad members who will join as cover in case of a tournament-ending injury to one of the first-choice 15. Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey had suggested that Australia would carry just one reserve to the Caribbean when the provisional squad was…