The second edition of the BBL draft provided some interesting tactics and themes on Sunday night and teams appeared to have a better handle on the draft mechanics and their own strategies after the novelty and unknowns of last year’s inaugural draft. Here are six of the key takeaways. Availability wasn’t a major worry All

Glenn Maxwell says he is going to have to carefully manage his preparation ahead of the ODI World Cup and may not play all of the lead-in series against India after he was ruled out of the recent T20I series in South Africa due to soreness in his ankle stemming from his previously broken leg.

Quinton de Kock is set to make his debut in the BBL this season after being selected by Melbourne Renegades in the overseas draft while Melbourne Stars took England star Harry Brook but not before trying to poach Rashid Khan from Adelaide Strikers for the second year running. The second edition of the BBL’s overseas

Marizanne Kapp was unsurprisingly selected by Sydney Thunder with pick one in the inaugural WBBL overseas draft and Perth Scorchers elected not to retain South Africa’s star allrounder, instead choosing to retain their current captain, Sophie Devine. Scorchers were always set to shape the draft with their retention pick as they had to decide between

Nathan Ellis has admitted his sporadic appearances in international colours have been a challenge, even as he forges an outstanding T20I record. Ellis claimed 3 for 25 in the second match against South Africa in Durban, including a double-wicket maiden in his opening over, to take his T20I tally to 18 in seven outings at

The final match of that tournament, against Afghanistan in Adelaide, was their last in the format until this tour of South Africa with 2023 having been dominated by their Test endeavours in India and England. Even now the focus is on the build-up to the ODI World Cup next month. Partly due to that, with

Australia chose to bowl v South Africa South Africa have been asked to chase in the second T20I at Kingsmead after slight drizzle delayed the toss by two minutes. The match is set to get underway as scheduled. After suffering their worst T20I defeat against Australia two nights ago, the hosts resisted the urge to

Shane Watson and Michael Bevan have been called in as coaching consultants to help turn around New South Wales’ on-field woes as the state attempts to rebound from its lowest ebb in 84 years. Winless in the Sheffield Shield last season for the first time since 1938-39, Cricket NSW unveiled a raft of changes and

Tim David has been added to Australia’s ODI squad in South Africa to provide them with an extra middle-order option. David has only played 16 List A matches in his career but averages 82.77 with a strike-rate of 123.14. Just one of those games has come in the Australian domestic scene with the others for

Ashton Agar is fit and raring to play a key role in Australia’s ODI World Cup tilt in India after recovering from a recent calf injury that was the latest chapter of a rollercoaster year which included an aborted return to the Test side. Agar suffered a minor calf tear in an innocuous incident while

Australia A 263 and 31 for 1 (Ward 11, Jewell 9*) need 322 more runs to beat New Zealand A 147 and 468 (Kuggeleijn 101*, Solia 91, Abbas 55, Perry 4-77, Steketee 4-100) Scott Kuggeleijn struck a rollicking 85-ball century at No. 8 to leave Australia A an imposing target of 353 in the first

Australia have confirmed three debutants for the opening T20I against South Africa in Durban with Spencer Johnson, Aaron Hardie and Matt Short all set to play their first international match under new captain Mitchell Marsh. Australia named their XI for the first of three T20Is on Wednesday with Johnson, Hardie and Short headlining a completely

Matthew Wade has been called up to Australia’s T20I squad in South Africa to replace Glenn Maxwell, who picked up an ankle injury during the team’s first training session in Durban. Maxwell’s injury has been termed “a minor aggravation to his left ankle”, and a conservative route has been taken with an eye on the

One of the most interesting aspects of the upcoming Australian cricket season is the identity of David Warner‘s successor at the top of the order in the Test team. It remains to be seen whether that vacancy will need filling against Pakistan in mid-December or against West Indies a month later. Warner wants to retire

Having been on the comeback trail, thanks in part to working with the Australian Ballet to strengthen her feet, she will now miss another WBBL campaign with Melbourne Renegades, having not played a game for them since returning to Renegades in 2022 after spending the previous two seasons with Hobart Hurricanes. Since making her WBBL

David Warner is expected to fulfil his commitments with Sydney Thunder before taking up a deal with Dubai Capitals in the ILT20, although Australia international duty could also be a factor in his availability. On Monday, Warner was unveiled among Capitals’ new batch of signings – which also included England quick Mark Wood – for

Mitchell Marsh, Australia’s new T20I captain and stand-in leader of the ODI side, has been “blown away” by his brief sightings of left-arm quick Spencer Johnson who will get his first taste of international cricket in South Africa. Marsh expects all the uncapped players heading on the tour – there are four overall including Matthew

Steven Smith has revealed that he carried his left wrist injury through the final three matches of the Ashes series after damaging it at Lord’s while fielding during the second Test. He is hopeful of being fit for Australia’s subsequent three-match ODI series in India which starts on September 22 in Chandigarh but it leaves

A bowling captain who plays all three formats, and leads in two of them. Pat Cummins has a lot on his plate, especially with an ODI World Cup in India coming up, but Matthew Hayden feels that with Steven Smith always “flapping around” on the field, “it’s a solution that Australia’s got covered” at the

Glenn Maxwell wants to play for Australia as long as possible and has declared his experience makes him a valuable proposition beyond the ODI World Cup. Among Maxwell’s contemporaries, former captain Aaron Finch retired from international cricket earlier this year and David Warner plans to finish his Test career this summer. More changes are likely

Australia opener Usman Khawaja says he will keep playing Test cricket just as long as he continues to tick three crucial boxes. It’s a case of so far, so good for the 36-year-old, who topped the Ashes batting aggregate across both sides in the recent 2-2 series draw in England that ensured Australia retained the

Steven Smith has been ruled out of Australia’s entire limited-overs tour of South Africa due to a wrist injury he sustained in the Ashes, but he is set to be available for the ODIs in India and the World Cup. Perth Scorchers’ captain Ashton Turner has been called in as his replacement for the T20Is

Australia were left “scratching the head” about how to combat Bazball as the Ashes series went on, according to Ricky Ponting who believed the final 2-2 scoreline was a fair result. Ponting although remained adamant that the controversial ball change at The Oval played a decisive hand. Two days of rain at Old Trafford enabled

Pat Cummins is targeting a return in the ODIs against India in late September ahead of the World Cup as he recovers from the fractured wrist he suffered in the final Ashes Test at The Oval. Cummins, Australia’s ODI captain, picked up the injury on the opening day of the Test but the severity of

It has been some week for Spencer Johnson. On Sunday, he was playing in the final of the Global T20 Canada. On Monday, he was called up by Australia for their T20I series in South Africa later this month. And on Wednesday night, he finished his debut for Oval Invincibles in the Hundred with ludicrous

Nine matches in the upcoming ODI World Cup have had their dates or start times changed, the ICC has finally confirmed, including the India-Pakistan fixture in Ahmedabad, which will now be played – as reported earlier by ESPNcricinfo – on October 14 instead of October 15. The changes were confirmed by the ICC with less

Mitchell Marsh, Australia captain. It’s a phrase that would have appeared very unlikely a couple of years ago, but now the allrounder is preparing to lead the team in the T20I series in South Africa. He might also be a frontrunner for the role permanently heading into next year’s T20 World Cup, and perhaps for

Cameron Bancroft will get a chance to stake a claim for David Warner’s soon-to-be vacant Australia Test opening spot after being named in Australia A’s four-day squad to face New Zealand A in Queensland later this month with fellow candidates Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris resting from the series. Bancroft has been named in the

Marnus Labuschagne‘s hopes of featuring in the ODI World Cup appear to be over after his omission from the squads to play in South Africa and India next month, but he will have a chance to push the selectors by lining up for Australia A against New Zealand A. “It is form based,” chair of

Mitchell Marsh has been named Australia’s T20 captain for the tour of South Africa, making him a frontrunner for the role on a permanent basis leading into next year’s World Cup. South Australia left-arm fast bowler Spencer Johnson has earned his first international call-up alongside allrounders Aaron Hardie and Matt Short for the three-match series