Nick Hockley has announced he will step down as Cricket Australia chief executive in March 2025 after five years in the job. Hockley, who has worked in the Australian game in various positions for 13 years, initially came into the role in an interim capacity early in the Covid-19 pandemic after Kevin Roberts resigned following
Month: August 2024
Melbourne Renegades have signed New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert on two-year deal as a pre-draft BBL signing. Seifert, 29, will have full availability across those two seasons as Renegades look to improve on last season’s seventh place finish. His BBL deal means he will miss at least part of the Super Smash, New Zealand’s domestic
Andrew Flintoff believed he “should not be here” and that he was given “a second go” at life when he escaped a high-speed car crash alive – though expects he will have to deal with its physical and psychological effects “for the rest of my life”. Flintoff, the former England allrounder, underwent a series of
The UAE, India and Sri Lanka are in the shortlist to be back-up venues in case the ICC is forced to shift the women’s T20 World Cup later this year out of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been rocked by anti-government agitations over the last few weeks, leading to several deaths. On Monday, prime minister Sheikh Hasina
Tristan Stubbs will be backed as South Africa’s Test No. 3 for both his batting approach and intimidating presence, according to Test coach Shukri Conrad. As the sole selector of both the squad and the playing XI, Conrad has made the decision to give Stubbs a “good run” in the position despite his inexperience, because
Pretoria Capitals have signed Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz for SA20 2025. Gurbaz will reunite with Jonathan Trott, under whom Afghanistan had reached their maiden World Cup semi-final in June earlier this year. More recently, Trott was announced as Capitals’ new head coach, taking over from Graham Ford who had left the role last month. At
Graham Thorpe, the former England and Surrey batter, has died aged 55, the ECB has announced. Thorpe, who played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005 and went on to work as batting coach for the senior men’s team, was taken “seriously ill” in 2022, shortly after being named as Afghanistan’s head coach. During
The start to Dragons’ 130-run chase was a bit frantic, with both the openers being dismissed in 15 balls. But Ashwin and B Indrajith (32 off 35) brought a sense of calmness. Ashwin hit one four and three sixes in his stay. They added a run-a-ball 65 for the third wicket to all but seal
Imraan Khan, one-time Test cap in 2009 and Dolphins coach for the last five years, has been appointed the new batting lead at Cricket South Africa. Imraan is currently with the Test team in the West Indies, where he will work under national red-ball coach Shukri Conrad. He replaced Ashwell Prince, who was unavailable for
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed the introduction of three new competitions for the upcoming domestic season, which will now run for almost a year – starting in September 2024 and ending in August 2025. A five-team Champions tournament – as reported by ESPNcricinfo in June – will be played across formats aiming to
Dropping a match to this Sri Lanka was a surprise, sure. But the conditions also made for fickle cricket. Abhishek Nayar, India’s assistant coach, has, like the rest of us, not watched Sri Lanka take many games off India lately. But these were his takeaways from the second ODI, which India lost by 32 runs.
Dan Lawrence is set to open the batting in England’s three-match Test series against Sri Lanka after Zak Crawley was ruled out with a fractured finger. Jordan Cox, who is uncapped across formats, has been added to the squad as the spare batter, while Olly Stone has replaced Dillon Pennington after he sustained a hamstring
Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat vs India Aiming to go one better after tying the first ODI in dramatic circumstances, Sri Lanka chose to bat in the second match of the series. Charith Asalanka, their captain, had no hesitation in making the decision: the pitch at the R Premadasa Stadium is expected to play
Big picture – More grip and turn at the Khettarama? Where do ODIs sit on world cricket’s priority list? The answer sits right there in India’s schedule: they only have one more ODI series lined up between their current tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in February-March 2025. It’s a weird time for
Athapaththu, who was named Player of the Tournament in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024, will no doubt be a considerable miss for Sri Lanka, but it will also serve as an opportunity for the younger members of the squad to show that they can step up in her absence. Harshitha Samarawickrama was the last designated vice-captain, though
Jos Buttler has been ruled out of the Hundred with a calf injury, after missing Manchester Originals’ first three matches. Buttler, who has been backed to continue as England’s white-ball captain by managing director Rob Key, took a short break from the game after the T20 World Cup and is understood to have sustained the
Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma, Ayush Badoni and Harshit Rana were among the key picks at the player draft of the inaugural Delhi Premier League (DPL) on Friday. The draft featured 270 players from across Delhi including those who played for India’s senior and Under-19 teams and the IPL. A notable absentee in the player draft
Dunith Wellalage, all of 21, produced an exemplary all-round performance on a tough pitch at Khettarama. Batting at No. 7, he played Sri Lanka’s best innings, hitting 67 not out off 65, in a total of 230 for 8 in the first ODI. When defending, the left-arm spinner took 2 for 39 off nine overs,
Kemar Roach is set to return to West Indies’ Test side for their home series against South Africa. A knee injury picked up during the County Championship had forced Roach to miss West Indies’ recently concluded tour of England. Fellow fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, meanwhile, has been rested, with wicketkeeper-batter Joshua Da Silva taking over
Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat vs India Charith Asalanka won the toss in his first match as Sri Lanka’s ODI captain and opted to bat against India in the first ODI at the Khettarama. Having been ravaged by injury and illness – no less than five of Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers are unavailable –
The IPL franchises have recommended a two-year ban on overseas players should they make themselves unavailable for the season after being bought at the auction without legitimate cause. They have also told the IPL to make it mandatory for overseas players to register for the mega auction and not just enter mini-auctions anticipating potentially large
Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s interim coach, wants his team to channel the criticism they have received after the T20I series loss to India to turn things around during the 50-overs leg of the tour. “I tell them that I have been at this place too during my 20 years as a player,” Jayasuriya said ahead
Perhaps it is tempting to see it primarily as an opportunity to experiment, but India feel it is a series worth winning on its own merits. In fact, so embedded is this competitive spirit for Rohit, that even though he has retired from T20Is and was unavailable for selection for the series that was just
Could MS Dhoni be retained as an uncapped player by Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2025? It’s an avenue the franchise is exploring by suggesting that the IPL bring back an old rule that was in place for more than a decade. During the meeting between the IPL and the ten franchises in Mumbai on
Big picture: SL hit by injuries and illness Sri Lanka just can’t catch a break. While still reeling from the almost comical nature of the defeat in the final T20I, one which handed India a 3-0 series sweep – and possibly a multitude of nervous breakdowns to those watching, their preparations for the ODI leg
Captain David Miller, Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo are among a list of ten South African players retained by Paarl Royals for the new season of the SA20 in 2025. Kwena Maphaka and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, rookie signings from the 2024 edition, have also been retained by the Royals ahead of the auction. Dane Vilas, Evan
Discarded Test captain Neil Brand, who led a second-string South African side in New Zealand in February, has been tasked with leading a South Africa A side against Sri Lanka A next month. Brand will take charge of a home series that includes two four-day matches aimed at preparing players considered to be on the
MS Dhoni has resorted to a wait-and-watch approach before deciding on his IPL future. As the IPL chalks out the auction and retention plans ahead of the 2025 season, Dhoni wants to see what rule changes come into effect, especially with regard to player retention, before he makes a decision on whether to play another
“Matheesha has jarred his shoulder, and because it is the same issue that he had during the World Cup last year, they have chosen not to risk it,” Halangoda said. Pathirana had picked up the injury while fielding in the third T20I in Pallekele, and had left the field soon after, before he had bowled
Fresh off their Asia Cup triumph, the Sri Lankan women’s side will be heading to Ireland for two T20Is and three ODIs from August 11-20, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced. The team will depart for Ireland on August 6. This will be Sri Lanka’s first bilateral tour of Ireland, while it will be Ireland’s third