Jofra Archer will play an international match in England for the first time in nearly four years on Wednesday night, ending a 382-day wait since his most recent professional appearance. Jos Buttler, England’s captain, said that Archer is “desperate” to return after such a long injury lay-off and confirmed he will feature against Pakistan at
Month: May 2024
Big picture The last time England played Pakistan in this format, nearly 90,000 people turned up to watch, with a global audience potentially in the hundreds of millions. It came at the MCG in the 2022 T20 World Cup final, and as the Pakistani tears and wild English celebrations demonstrated, what was on the line
USA chose to bowl vs Bangladesh USA captain Monank Patel chose to bowl in the first T20I against Bangladesh in Texas as both sides build-up to the 2024 T20 World Cup that begins on June 1 in the USA and the Caribbean. Bangladesh made two changes to the XI that played the last T20I against
Jos Buttler has defended the ECB’s decision to pull players out of the IPL playoffs in order to feature in England’s T20I series against Pakistan – but believes that no international cricket should clash with the world’s premier franchise league. Buttler is one of eight members of England’s provisional T20 World Cup squad who left
Hampshire have signed Ottniel Baartman, the South Africa seamer, for the second half of their Vitality Blast campaign. Baartman replaces Afghanistan’s Naveen-ul-Haq, who has pulled out for personal reasons. Baartman, 31, has yet to be capped by his country but was named in South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad and could make his debut in
Bravo, part of the two-time T20 World Cup-winning West Indies side, called time on his international career after the 2021 T20 World Cup but continues to play in T20 leagues around the world. Earlier this year, he featured in the ILT20, where he played for the eventual champions MI Emirates. He is currently the leading
Gautam Gambhir has said that “creating hype” around young Indian players based on specific criteria such as bowling speeds can “backfire” and “deviate” them from hard work. The Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, who’s also one of the frontrunners to take up the India coach job, said team selection in T20Is should be based on IPL
The new women’s domestic T20 competition in Australia will now be aligned to the eight WBBL clubs, alongside an ACT side, rather than state teams after pressure from Victoria and New South Wales over the proposed structure. The tournament, designed to make up for the reduced WBBL which has been trimmed to a 40-game regular
Jake Fraser-McGurk‘s stunning IPL made Australia’s selectors ponder a change to their T20 World Cup planning before it was decided they could not find room for him in the 15-player squad which will travel to the Caribbean. Despite an impressive home summer which included an ODI debut against West Indies he had been a long
For the first time, a women’s franchise game will be running side by side with a men’s international, after Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced the fixtures of this year’s Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) to be held in August in Trinidad. Three WCPL matches will be a part of double-headers along with West Indies men’s
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
Although Bangladesh will play against the USA in international cricket for the first time on Tuesday, they know Corey Anderson, who made his USA debut last month, very well. Seven years ago, Anderson, playing for New Zealand, struck ten sixes in his unbeaten 41-ball 94 against Bangladesh in Mount Maunganui. It is the most sixes
Glenn Maxwell had one of his worst IPL’s ever to the point where he dropped himself midway through the tournament to save coach Andy Flower and captain Faf du Plessis having to make a difficult call that they ultimately might have made anyway. He was later recalled and dropped again having registered scores of 0,
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
Brandon King will lead West Indies in the T20I series against South Africa which acts as preparation for the World Cup in the absence of full-time captain Rovman Powell who remains at the IPL with Rajasthan Royals. Powell is one of a group of players who will miss the three matches on May 23, 25
England 176 (Wyatt 87, Baig 3-26) beat Pakistan 142 for 4 (Dar 35*, Ecclestone 1-19) by 34 runs Danni Wyatt blazed her way into form with 87 from 48 balls to set England on their way to a 3-0 sweep against Pakistan. Wyatt made the most of being dropped on 12, 79 and 81 to
Pat Cummins‘ key role in the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s which ignited last year’s Ashes series has been revealed while team-mates have admitted they were concerned for Alex Carey‘s well-being in the aftermath. The incident, on the fourth day of the second Test, is a major theme in season three of The
Yorkshire have signed Sri Lanka quick Vishwa Fernando for their next three County Championship matches. The left-arm seamer, who has 64 Test wickets at 33.09 in 23 caps, is due to be available for fixtures against Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire and Derbyshire. Fernando played two matches for Durham last season, taking seven wickets at 22.42 for the
Toss England chose to bat vs Pakistan England have won the toss in Northampton and will bat first on a surface with a tinge of grass. After comfortably defending a total in the first T20I in Birmingham, England captain Heather Knight said she expected the ball “to skid on nicely”, but had opted to bat
Former India batter Gautam Gambhir is on top of the BCCI’s wishlist to take up the position of India men’s head coach after Rahul Dravid‘s term ends at the conclusion of the 2024 T20 World Cup in June. ESPNcricinfo has learned Gambhir, who is currently the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, has
The PSL will get two new franchises from 2026, making it an eight-team league. This was officially confirmed in a media release by the PCB, who called the upcoming season in 2025 – the tenth edition – the “last six-team event”. While this had been likely from the day the PCB and the PSL franchises
Greater challenges lie in store, ideally in the Caribbean next month, but Jofra Archer gave the impression that he’ll be ready to make his England comeback against Pakistan next week with a lively six-over display for Sussex’s second XI against Kent in Beckenham. It was a low-key outing, overseen by a handful of spectators and
England allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt has revealed that she missed the first T20I against Pakistan after having her eggs frozen with a view to having a family. “In the period between getting back from New Zealand [where England toured in April] and this [series], I thought it was a great time to go through the egg-freezing
Newly appointed Pakistan white-ball coach Gary Kirsten may not have joined the Pakistan camp in person yet, but appears to be preparing for the magnitude of the challenge already. Speaking to talkSPORT about his appointment, Kirsten said there was little doubt about the talent of the Pakistan squad, but also hinted at problems he had
Lauren Bell has vowed to “attack the stumps” as a default approach, both against Pakistan for the remainder of England’s T20I series, and as a means to combat Bangladesh’s slow, low wickets in this winter’s T20 World Cup, after coming through a rusty first spell at Edgbaston on Saturday to help seal her side’s 53-run
New Zealand are banking on mixed fortunes from the IPL, their recent tour of Pakistan and experience of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to ensure they are prepared for their T20 World Cup campaign in the absence of official warm-up matches. Warm-up matches were offered by ICC, but amid the logistical challenges of getting the
After suffering their fourth consecutive defeat, against Punjab Kings in Guwahati, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has admitted his team is “going through failures” that need to be rectified at the earliest. Royals set the pace early in the tournament by winning eight of their first nine matches, but had lost three on the bounce
Litton’s T20I form had dipped so much that he lost his place in the side after scoring 1, 23 and 12 in the first three T20Is of the five-match series against Zimbabwe. His last innings ended when he missed with three consecutive attempts at scooping Blessing Muzarabani, dragging the ball on to the stumps off
Sophia Dunkley will have to wait in line for a return to international action, according to England Women’s assistant coach Gareth Breese, despite an impressive return to form for South East Stars in the opening rounds of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Dunkley, who is currently leading the tournament run-charts with 293 at 97.66 in
Match details Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab KingsGuwahati, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT) Big picture: Who will replace Buttler for RR? From being fairly well-placed to top the points table, Rajasthan Royals now run the risk of slipping out of the top two after suffering three successive defeats at the pointy end of the tournament. Lucknow Super