Big picture: Back at it after a break When New Zealand last played Afghanistan, during the T20 World Cup in June, they suffered a defeat so catastrophic it precipitated a rare group-stage exit from an ICC tournament. That match was in Providence, Guyana, on the other side of the planet from where the teams are
Month: September 2024
Sri Lanka 263 (Dhananjaya 69, Kamindu 64, Nissanka 64) and 94 for 1 (Nissanka 53*) need 125 more runs to beat England 325 and 156 (Smith 67, Kumara 4-21, Vishwa 3-40) In a match as changeable as the weather in south London, Sri Lanka took control of the third and final Test against England on
Rishabh Pant is back in the Test side for the first time since his car accident in December 2022 as India announced the squad for their first match against Bangladesh. There was no return for Mohammed Shami, though, who is recovering from an ankle surgery. Meanwhile, left-arm seamer Yash Dayal has received his maiden Test
Moeen Ali believes that Brendon McCullum is “100 percent” the right man to revive England’s flagging white-ball fortunes, and backs him to bring out the best in his captain Jos Buttler too, after confirming that he is calling time on his own international career at the age of 37. Moeen, who played 138 ODIs and
Rahul Dravid says Indian cricket has evolved into an “extremely powerful” force, thanks to the growing talent pool that now extends to even the remotest corners of the country. Dravid, who coached India to the T20 World Cup triumph in June, said a strong club cricket culture has a lot to do with bucking the
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has appeared to confirm that the entirety of Pakistan’s three-Test series against England in October will take place in Pakistan. Speaking to reporters after inspecting development work at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, he was reported as saying Multan and Rawalpindi would host all three Tests. Naqvi’s spokesperson Mohammad Rafiullah confirmed
Moeen Ali, the England allrounder, has announced his retirement from all internationals. “I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Moeen said in a Daily Mail interview. “I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the
Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s interim head coach, said that his team’s success in frustrating Harry Brook had been integral to their fightback on the second day at the Kia Oval, as they reached the close on 211 for 5 in their first innings, trailing by just 114 after bowling England out for 325 in the
Sri Lanka 211 for 5 (Dhananjaya 64*, Nissanka 64, Kamindu 54*) trail England 325 (Pope 154, Duckett 86, Rathnayake 3-56, Dhananjaya 2-18) by 114 runs Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis rebuilt Sri Lanka on a see-sawing second day that closed early due to bad light yet again, but this time the tourists could claim
Durham have signed West Indies fast bowler Chemar Holder for their final three games of the County Championship season. Holder, who has played a Test and an ODI for his country, will be available for the round of Championship games starting on Monday, when Durham host Lancashire at Chester-le-Street. He replaces Neil Wagner, the New
After an opening day dominated by a lengthy delay for bad light, the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval plumbed farcical new depths on the second afternoon, when Chris Woakes was forced to bowl spin midway through an over, due to the on-field umpires’ concerns about the deteriorating conditions. The
Australia 153 for 4 (Green 62*, Marsh 31, Currie 2-20) beat Scotland 149 for 9 (McMullen 56, Green 3-35, Hardie 2-18) by six wickets An all-round display from Cameron Green, coupled with some excellent fielding, helped Australia complete a 3-0 sweep against Scotland at Edinburgh. Green first registered his career-best figures to help restrict the
England 211 for 6 (Armitage 44, Cross 38*) beat Ireland 210 (Prendergast 76, Cross 6-30) by four wickets Kate Cross claimed career-best figures with bat and ball on her captaincy debut to lead England to a four-wicket win over Ireland in the first ODI at Stormont. Cross, leading a side featuring five ODI debutants in
Andrew Flintoff’s rise through the coaching ranks continues after he was announced as the new England men’s Lions head coach. Flintoff, who played 79 Tests for England, will begin his new role in October, leading the Lions to South Africa before Christmas, then to Australia in January for a red-ball tour that will act as
Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali and Ihsanullah have all suffered long-term injuries of late, and the PCB’s medical department has come under great scrutiny. Earlier this year, an internal review was blisteringly critical about the management of Ihsanullah’s injury and the quality of his treatment, with chief medical officer Dr
New Zealand are about to embark on a period where they will play six Tests in two months. That’s rare, on two counts. First, that’s almost a whole year’s work for them – like in 2020 and 2021, when they went on to become the inaugural World Test Champions. And second, all of those matches
The franchises picked their icon and global superstars as direct signings ahead of the draft, which is set to take place on September 8. The 15-member squad will have an additional 16th player as their global icon. The squad will feature as many as six local Zimbabwe players; the icon and global star can also
As the booing sounded from a good-sized Oval crowd who felt they were being robbed when the umpires ushered players from the field for a second and final time on a weather-blighted day, Ben Duckett, for one, didn’t see the need to argue. He was already out, having scored a rapid-fire 86 in conditions that
Mark Wood, England’s fastest bowler, will miss the forthcoming Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand, after being ruled out for the rest of the year due to a bone-stress injury to his right elbow. Wood was withdrawn from the ongoing Sri Lanka series as a precaution, after suffering a right thigh strain while bowling
Imagine being a frontline spinner from a country that is known to produce world-class fast bowlers. Imagine then touring a tough place like India and grabbing a historic all-ten in only your 11th Test. Now imagine still not becoming a frontline spinner for your team and getting to feature in only five of the next
Australia 196 for 4 (Inglis 103, Green 36, Currie 3-37) beat Scotland 126 (McMullen 59, Stoinis 4-23, Green 2-16) by 70 runs In conditions where every other batter from both sides struggled for timing, Josh Inglis struck the ball with remarkable fluency on his way to the fastest T20I hundred by an Australia batter. He
James Anderson will carry on as England men’s bowling consultant on their upcoming winter tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. Anderson has been working in the role since retiring in June after the first Test of the summer, against West Indies. Both the 42-year-old and the England management decided upon an initial stint through the
India B 134 for 2 (Mayank 36, Parag 27*, Saini 2-36) trail India A 321 (Musheer 181, Saini 56, Akash Deep 4-60, Khaleel 2-54) by 187 runs Until last week, Navdeep Saini hadn’t touched a red ball for over seven months. He was hoping to ease himself into the season with a steady diet of
Rahul Dravid has been formally announced as Rajasthan Royals’ new head coach for a multi-year term, and he said it was the “ideal time” to “take on another challenge” after guiding India to the T20 World Cup title in June this year. “I am pleased to be returning to the franchise I have called ‘home’
A hamstring injury sustained in the Hundred has denied Nathan Ellis the opportunity to nail down a spot in Australia’s T20I side, ruling him out of the rest of their series against Scotland and the eight subsequent white-ball games in England. Ellis was targeting the Scotland series as a rare chance to lead Australia’s attack,
Each of the five sides at the Champions One-Day Cup – Pakistan’s newer, flashier version of the domestic 50-over competition – will be captained by Pakistan internationals. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Haris have been announced as captains of the sides they represent, taking charge of the Lions, Wolves,
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl vs England Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to bowl first under heavy skies in the third and final Test at The Kia Oval, where England are seeking a clean sweep of the series. After heavy showers in parts of London and Surrey early
On the domestic front, legspinner Nqabayomzi Peter who bowled the Lions to victory in the CSA T20 Cup and made his international debut in June was named the men’s Domestic Newcomer of the Season and T20 Challenge Player of the Season. Lions’ allrounder Wiaan Mulder, who was the third-highest run-scorer and took 16 wickets in
Rangana Herath and Vikram Rathour have linked up with the New Zealand Test squad, who are set to play six Tests in Asia over the next two months. Herath will be the spin-bowling coach for New Zealand’s next three Tests – one against Afghanistan and two in Sri Lanka – while Rathour will only be
Sarah Tsukigawa, the former New Zealand allrounder, has been appointed their new national selector for women’s cricket. She played 42 ODIs and 19 T20Is over a five-year international career which began in 2006 and ended in 2011. Tsukigawa will be working with the New Zealand’s head coach Ben Sawyer. Her role will include selecting players