Ben Stokes has bemoaned the “culture” of English sport for what he perceives as unnecessary criticism of stand-in Test captain Ollie Pope. With Stokes recovering from a torn left hamstring, Pope, his vice-captain, has stepped in to lead the Test team for the ongoing Sri Lanka series. Having overseen comprehensive victories in the first two
Month: September 2024
The Test tsar watched on from a distance as a once-trailblazing outfit fell apart, culminating in two failed World Cup defences in the space of nine months. Matthew Mott lost his job as limited-overs coach as men’s managing director Rob Key sought a change of leadership, and Buttler was lucky to stay on as captain.
India B 202 for 7 (Musheer 105*, Jaiswal 30, Saini 29*, Akash 2-28, Khaleel 2-39, Avesh 2-42) vs India A From the characteristic crouch in his stance to the backlift and manner of defending, it’s hard to miss Musheer Khan‘s uncanny resemblance to older brother Sarfaraz. And the similarities don’t end there. Both have a
It’s the batters, batters, batters. Right through the series, Sri Lanka have emphasised that it was their batting order that was letting the side down. Four innings in, with Sri Lanka never having got close to 350, with none of their top seven having got to triple-figures, captain Dhananjaya de Silva has reiterated the importance
Big picture: Sri Lanka return to scene of 1998 triumph To The Oval, traditional venue for the final Test of the English summer – although not, by any means, the final international commitment for England’s men, who go straight into eight white-ball fixtures against Australia off the back of Sri Lanka’s visit (the first T20I
India C 91 for 4 (Porel 32*, Rana 2-13, Axar 2-16) trail India D 164 all out (Axar 86, Vyshak 3-19, Kamboj 2-47) by 73 runs Axar Patel bolstered his credentials as one of the country’s most important all-round players on the first day of the Duleep Trophy, scoring a remarkable half-century to carry India
Ongoing work at stadiums in Pakistan has forced the PCB to consider the possibility of moving one Test of the series against England offshore. Abu Dhabi, for so long one of Pakistan’s “home” venues during their decade-long exile, has been discussed as a potential alternative if required. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and the National Stadium in
Buttler, England’s limited-overs captain, sustained the in July while preparing for the men’s Hundred, which ruled him out of the tournament. He had subsequently targeted Lancashire’s Vitality Blast quarter-final against Sussex on Wednesday night for a comeback ahead of the white ball series, which begins at the Utilita Bowl on September 11. But having aggravated
Matthew Mott has joined Sydney Sixers in the BBL on a three-year deal as assistant coach following his departure as head coach of the England Men’s white-ball team. Mott, who was in charge of Australia Women for eight years before shifting to England, will link up with Greg Shipperd at Sixers as a replacement for
Towards the end of the opening T20I between Australia and Scotland in Edinburgh, talk switched from Travis Head’s pyrotechnics to the ‘long ball’ tactics of left-arm spinner Mark Watt and the grey areas of the Law that his innovation approach challenges. The ball after having Mitchell Marsh taken on the rope, Watt delivered one of
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, who had been depleted by injuries in the opening week of CPL 2024, have now been bolstered by the return of Wanindu Hasaranga* and signing of New Zealand’s big-hitting allrounder Josh Clarkson. Hasaranga had been ruled out of the tournament only last month because of a hamstring injury, and was
Ishan Kishan‘s return to the first-class fold is set to be delayed; he’s an unlikely starter for the Duleep Trophy opener. Kishan, who was named in the Shreyas Iyer-led India D, is believed to have complained of a hamstring niggle following his two outings for Jharkhand, his first set of multi-day games in over a
News of Josh Hull‘s Test debut will have felt like a fever dream to the 20-year-old, and not just because he was wearing multi-coloured briefs at the time. The left-arm quick was batting in the outdoor nets at the Kia Oval, decked out in rogue batting kecks over his shorts, which, at an imposing 6ft
Joe Root has scores of 42, 62 not out, 143, and 103 so far in this series. In general, he averages 67.55 against Sri Lanka, having hit 186 and a 228 in his last series against this opposition as well, those mammoth scores coming in Galle. He sweeps and reverse-sweeps well, tends to be proactive
Australia 156 for 3 (Head 80) beat Scotland 154 for 9 (Abbott 3-39) by seven wickets Travis Head produced a brutal display of hitting, scoring the most individual runs in a powerplay and hitting a record-equalling 17-ball fifty, as Australia raced to a seven-wicket victory with more than 10 overs to spare in the first
Josh Hull, a 6ft 7in left-arm seamer, will make his England debut in their third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval, which starts on Friday. He will replace Matthew Potts in England’s only change from the side that won by 190 runs at Lord’s to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Hull,
Shubman Gill has said working on his “defensive game” helped him turn his Test fortunes around against England earlier this year. Before heading into the home series against England, Gill’s average in Tests was 30.59. But batting at No. 3 across the five games, he hit 452 runs in nine innings, at an average of
Ben Stokes says the decision to enlist Brendon McCullum as England men’s new limited-overs coach is “an unbelievable move”, and believes his influence will be especially beneficial to the new generation of players who are set to come through the white-ball set-up in the coming months. The ECB announced on Tuesday that McCullum will combine
Rahul Dravid is set to return to Rajasthan Royals (RR) as head coach ahead of the 2025 IPL season, following the culmination of his tenure as India coach after the 2024 T20 World Cup win in June this year. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Dravid recently signed a deal with the franchise and has had initial
The club vs country issue is beginning to hurt New Zealand, with high-profile names opting out of central contracts. As they get ready for a burst of nine Test matches in the next few months, Test captain Tim Southee acknowledged the issue, but put it down to “the changing landscape of international cricket”. He recently
India’s red-ball players are scheduled to begin their training at Chepauk on September 12 ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19. Bangladesh, meanwhile, will start training at the same venue on September 15. The BCCI is yet to name the squad for the Two-Test series against Bangladesh. The announcement is likely to
Scotland pushed Australia hard at the T20 World Cup earlier this year – a victory would have dumped England out of the tournament – and have genuine belief they can go a step further in the three-match ODI series in Edinburgh. After Brandon McMullen’s 60 off 34 balls, the equation got down to Australia needing
Success in English cricket is evaluated by Ashes series and World Cups. The extensions to both Brendon McCullum‘s contract and his remit, announced on Tuesday, represent Rob Key quadrupling the size of his bet: McCullum will not only take charge of the 2025/26 Ashes, but now the 2026 T20 World Cup, 2027 Ashes and 2027
Pakistan’s performances in the Test series against Bangladesh have been difficult to justify, and their captain Shan Masood made little attempt to do so. Following the shock 2-0 defeat at home, he called for long-term solutions beyond superficial changes, emphasised the need for Pakistan to play more red-ball and Test cricket, and admitted his side
Ajay Ratra, the former India wicketkeeper, has been named as the fifth selector in the Ajit Agarkar-led India men’s selection committee. Ratra was one of four candidates, alongside Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Shakti Singh and Ajay Mehra, to be interviewed for the post by the BCCI’s cricket advisory committee. Ratra replaces Salil Ankola, the former India
South Africa have named 18-year-old uncapped legspinner Seshnie Naidu and 20-year-old seamer Ayanda Hlubi in an otherwise experienced 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE. Both players were part of the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup held in South Africa last year. Dillon du Preez will continue to coach the side
Brendon McCullum has been announced as England’s new men’s white-ball head coach, and will combine that role with his existing Test duties. McCullum has agreed a remarkable new three-year deal as part of what the ECB has termed a “strategic restructure” within the men’s set-up. The contract extension, announced on Tuesday, means that McCullum is
India and Australia are currently the top two teams on the points table with 68.52 and 62.50 percentage points respectively, but the identity of the finalists will not be known till next year. For India, who were the losing finalists in both the previous WTCs, there are ten Tests left to play in the cycle
There were useful contributions from across the XI, but Bangladesh’s win in the second Test against Pakistan was orchestrated by their youngsters. Especially Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana, 24 and 21 respectively, who picked up nine wickets between them in the second innings to set up the 185-run chase. “They wanted to win, that was
Former South Africa allrounder JP Duminy has been named head coach of International League T20 (ILT20) side Sharjah Warriorz. Duminy is currently also South Africa’s white-ball batting coach, having taken up the role in late 2023. Duminy’s white-ball international career had run from 2004 to 2019, and in between he was also part of the