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One change to side that lost in Visakhapatnam, with Rehan visa issue resolved

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2024Mark Wood has been recalled to England’s attack at the expense of the offspinner Shoaib Bashir, as England confirmed their team for the third Test against India, which gets underway in Rajkot on Thursday.Wood played as a lone seamer in England’s victory in the first Test at Hyderabad but went wicketless on a surface that did not suit his express pace. However, he has been recalled to partner James Anderson, who impressed with five wickets at Visakhapatnam last week, on a surface that had been more green-tinged in the lead-up to the match.He is the only change to the starting XI, with Bashir sitting out after claiming four wickets on debut in the second Test. It means that England will be playing two seamers for the first time in the series, after fielding a spin-dominant attack in each of the last two matches.Related

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• Kuldeep: Bazball has made bowlers plan how to restrict runs

• Rahul ruled out of third Test; Padikkal called up

• Crawley seeks his series-defining moment

• England wait on Rehan availability for third Test

Rehan Ahmed’s participation in this match had been in some doubt after he encountered visa issues on his return to India, following the team’s mid-series break in Abu Dhabi. However, that issue has been resolved.Stokes confirmed England were under no doubt that Rehan’s paperwork would be authorised in time for the third Test, and has backed the 19-year-old legspinner to pick up where he left off from the first two.Rehan Ahmed’s visa issue has been resolved•Associated Press

“It’s always an anxious period but thankfully we’ve got it through this morning. First of all, the guys at the airport did a great job at giving him his visa initially to get through and then everyone at the BCCI and the government to get the visa through quickly. We don’t have to worry about any more of those issues.”We were very confident we would get the visa for Rehan before the game started. There was no thoughts around not playing him this week. The great thing about youth is they just take everything in their stride and I thought he handled a situation that could have affected quite a lot of people in a different way very, very well for such a young kid.”The Test matches he’s played so far, he’s done very, very well and everything we’ve asked of him he’s gone out and tried to deliver. I’m looking forward to him getting another game this week.”Having gone into Wednesday with 12 names, Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum decided on the extra seamer in Wood after one last look at the pitch. They were swayed by cracks in the pitch which they believe will lead to uneven bounce as the Test goes on.Otherwise, they anticipate a surface not too dissimilar to the one that resulted in a high-scoring draw in the 2016 series.”I know it was a very long time ago when we played here, but it looks a good wicket,” Stokes said. “Yesterday it actually looked quite English. It’s a little bit different today. We weren’t quite sure what we were going to do with the team but today made us realise that we are definitely going to go with two seamers.”It just looks a good wicket. It’s a bit platey. Over the five days, those plates might become a little but uneven. There might be some reverse swing which brings Woody into the game – and Jimmy as well.”England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Tom Hartley, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James Anderson

While India are the most recent winners of the tournament in 2023, it was played in ODI format

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Sep-20252:05

Jaffer: Hasaranga’s return big boost for SL

As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, they are defending champions at this year’s Asia Cup. The case they are making is that the ODI version of the Asia Cup – which India last won in 2023 – is a different tournament entirely.The tournament alternates between the two white-ball formats based on which World Cup is around the corner. In 2023, it was the 50-over World Cup. In 2025, it is the T20 World Cup. And as far as the T20I version of the Asia Cup goes, Sri Lanka are the most-recent victors, having taken the title in 2022.”Mentally, the fact that we are defending champions is a really good thing,” Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said ahead of his team’s first Asia Cup game, against Bangladesh on Saturday. “It was a lot of these players that played in that last tournament here [in UAE] as well. We know that because we are champions we can go far. The players are using that as motivation.”Related

• Familiar foes Bangladesh and Sri Lanka meet in high-stakes contest

• Hridoy hits back at critics as Bangladesh opt for safety over speed

• Why are Sri Lanka and Bangladesh so poor at T20I batting?

• Hasaranga fit for Sri Lanka's Asia Cup campaign

At home, both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh tend to play on slower tracks not especially suited to batting. But Asalanka expected the Abu Dhabi surface to be different.”When you’re rating these conditions with other venues in the UAE, I think Abu Dhabi is the best pitch for batters. Once the ball gets softer it’s much easier to bat here, and the outfield is very nice. Every batsman wants to play in Abu Dhabi.”Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are very familiar with each other, having played three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests since the start of the year. Sri Lanka won the ODI and the Test series but Bangladesh took the T20I series.

None of Konstas, Bancroft and Harris could make a significant score as Australia A chased 225

Andrew McGlashan02-Nov-2024It may partly be a case of last-man standing, but Ricky Ponting has endorsed Nathan McSweeney to fill the vacancy at the top of Australia’s Test line-up on a day where he impressed again in Mackay, while the specialist opening contenders continued to falter against India A.Sam Konstas, Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris all made starts in a chase of 225 on a tricky pitch, but couldn’t convert them into big scores to leave plenty of uncertainty for the senior side heading into the second match in Melbourne next week. McSweeney, meanwhile, played positively from No. 4 at the start of his innings, and was unbeaten on 47 at the close, with Australia A just 86 runs away from their target while having seven wickets in hand.Konstas played some neat shots through the off side before shouldering arms to a delivery from Mukesh Kumar that nipped back sharply, and sent the off stump cartwheeling. As Australia coach Andrew McDonald had mentioned last week, Ponting referenced Konstas’ lack of experience of the Test venues in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, where he has never played first-class cricket, in explaining why he had changed his view, having previously backed a call-up for Konstas.Related

• Australia's opening gamble: Is Sam Konstas ready for Test cricket?

• 'My game's ready' – No. 3 McSweeney confident of opening vs India

“I thought a bit more about it, and he is so young and he has probably not even played on grounds like Optus Stadium or at the Gabba,” Ponting told the show. “He wouldn’t have played a pink-ball [match] at Adelaide Oval either. So there’s a lot of things that stack up against the young guy, although there’s no doubt that he’s got talent.”Another thing that I’d said then was that I don’t think they’d go back to a [Cameron] Bancroft or [Marcus] Harris – because if they’re willing to do that, they would’ve done it the last year.”So the only name left for me more or less is Nathan McSweeney… he got the most out of any of those guys from the A game in Australia at the moment. And he’s more experienced. He has captained Australia A in the past, and he’s captaining them now. So I’m leaning towards McSweeney now for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer.”Ahead of the ongoing game against India A, McSweeney had said he felt his game could adapt to opening, and heading into the fourth day, he has now faced over 200 deliveries in a contest where the ball has held sway for long periods.After batting conditions eased against an older ball on Friday, bowlers again dominated at the Great Barrier Reef Arena. India A lost their last eight wickets for 86 runs following a stand of 196 between Sai Sudharsan, who made his seventh first-class hundred, and Devdutt Padikkal.Sai Sudharsan brought up his seventh first-class century early on day three•Getty Images

The new ball was a threat when Australia A set out on their chase. Bancroft, who had received a rough decision in the first innings when he was given caught off the thigh pad, had a huge stroke of fortune when he was taken at slip on 4 off Navdeep Saini, but it turned out to be a no-ball. Bancroft, though, couldn’t make the most of it even as he reached double figures for the first time in six innings in first-class cricket this season.However, the delivery which Bancroft received to be eventually dismissed by Prasidh Krishna was an excellent one – a sharp lifter which he fended into gully. It was the sort of delivery which suggested Prasidh could be a threat during the Test series on pitches that are likely to have more pace than Mackay.Harris, meanwhile, had shaped up promisingly in testing conditions with a brace of drives off Saini suggesting he was gaining in confidence. But playing forward to left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, who was finding some turn, he got a thin outside edge to one which went straight on.Earlier in the day, it had been offspinner Todd Murphy who broke the game open for Australia A. He had Sudharsan dragging on shortly just after he reached a stylish century, and then added Padikkal for 88 lbw with a slider shortly before the new ball.The hosts were a fast bowler down due a side strain picked up by Jordan Buckingham, but the remaining quicks carried the extra burden. Fergus O’Neill collected three more wickets on day three after one on day two, including the crucial one of Ishan Kishan, who poked to second slip the ball after hooking him for six.Beau Webster took a sharp return catch to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy from a full toss, and Murphy closed out the innings with a deserving third wicket.

England were bundled out for sub-200 scores in both innings and end the series with a lot to ponder

Alex Malcolm01-Feb-2025These will forever be known as Alana King’s Ashes. Australia’s legspinner delivered another spellbinding performance at the MCG to ensure England were whitewashed 16 points to nil for the first time in the multi-format era after an innings and 122 rout inside three days.King took her maiden Test five-wicket haul, nine for the match and 23 for the series at a 11.17 to equal Ash Gardner’s record haul of 23 scalps in the 2023 Ashes and finish as Player of the Series.Gardner took 4 for 39 to cap a wonderful series. The spin duo bowled 47.4 overs together unchanged to claim the last nine wickets of the match and allow England to start their recriminations a day early.It was a day of celebration for Australia with Beth Mooney earlier becoming just the fourth female and the first Australian to score international centuries in all three formats, making 106 as the hosts piled up 440 and a first innings lead of 270, their second-highest such lead in a women’s Test. Annabel Sutherland was Player of the Match for her 163.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Despite taking four wickets in the first innings, and having multiple chances missed, captain Alyssa Healy oddly waited 22 overs in England’s second innings before throwing King the ball. England had shown some resilience with Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight compiling a half-century stand and looking relatively untroubled after Maia Bouchier had her middle stump flattened by Darcie Brown in the first over to end a miserable tour.But when King and Gardner were finally locked in tandem, they created carnage just as they had done throughout the ODI series. With England 79 for 1, Knight bunted a catch to short leg where Phoebe Litchfield held her second sharp close catch of the match.King then bamboozled Nat Sciver-Brunt for the second time in the match and the fourth time in the series. Sciver-Brunt had spoken after her first innings half-century about wanting to play King off the back foot despite twice being bowled playing back, including on day one for 51.She changed tack in the second, instead pushing forward at every opportunity and sweeping anything pitching outside leg. King forced a leading edge that landed just wide of silly mid-off and then fizzed another past the outside edge, but Sciver-Brunt did well to hold the line.With that set-up, she played for turn on the front foot trying to defend and King got one to skid into her front pad and trap her lbw. Sciver-Brunt took a review with her to underscore how deceived she was.Sophia Dunkley was bowled by a ripping Alana King legbreak•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

King then delivered the ball of the series to Sophia Dunkley. She drifted one outside leg at 72.1kph, ala Shane Warne to Mike Gatting, it dipped and pitched and spun sharply past Dunkley’s forward defence and crashed into the top of off. There was an audible gasp from the 11,804 in attendance when the replay came up on the big screens. It meant Dunkley was in no doubt as to what had happened, unlike Gatting.Danni Wyatt-Hodge avoided falling to King for a fourth time as Sciver-Brunt, instead meekly sweeping Gardner straight to short fine.King’s third and fourth scalps were from arguably her two worst balls. Beaumont dragged on from a non-committal jab at a shorter legbreak wide of off for 47.Ryana MacDonald-Gay had been strangely upbeat in the press conference on the second night, but her mood would surely have shifted after hitting a rank full toss from King straight to deep midwicket.In the midst of those two dismissals, Mooney took an excellent catch off Gardner via a thick deflection from Amy Jones’ outside edge.
Sophie Ecclestone’s bizarre Test match concluded when she top-edged a long-hop from Gardner to midwicket.With both spinners on four wickets each, the race to join Peggy Antonio on Australia’s bowling honours board at the MCG was comical as skied balls and edges somehow evaded fielders hands. Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer faced the most balls ever for a 10th wicket pair in women’s Tests before Filer finally chipped one to catching mid-on.Beth Mooney became the fourth woman to score a century in all three forms•Getty Images

Earlier, Mooney joined Sutherland on the MCG honours board as the second century maker in the Australia’s innings.Having spent the night unbeaten on 98, Mooney looked a bundle of nerves through the first five balls of the day. Ecclestone beat her twice and she nearly caused a mix-up trying to invent a non-existent single. But off the last ball of the over she breathed a huge sigh of relief as Ecclestone dropped short to allow her to punch two off the back foot through point and raise her arms aloft.Thereafter, England finally had a decent hour as they held their catches to reward their bowlers. Ecclestone gave Tahlia McGrath nothing to hit before she skipped out to the wrong line and dragged a catch to mid-on.Filer then cranked up the pace despite having delivered 21 overs on day two. She had Kim Garth caught behind for a third-ball duck and could have easily had Mooney lbw from around the wicket in the next over. Mooney was initially given not out and DRS showed it was umpire’s call on impact in line with off but it was crashing into middle.Mooney’s luck continued five balls later when she gloved down the legside but Amy Jones caught it while part of the ball brushed the ground as it entered her gloves. Filer was finally rewarded when she clattered Mooney’s off stump with the left-hander playing down the wrong line.In between, Ecclestone pinned King lbw for 3 which brought Ellyse Perry to the crease at No.10 for the first time in her career. It was odd that Perry was fit to bat but came in behind Garth and King. But the moment she ran her first runs, a two to wide long-off, it was clear she was in a lot of discomfort with her corked left hip. She chipped a return catch back to Ecclestone to end the innings and unjustly dent her extraordinary Test average.Australia had bizarrely lost 5 for 9 despite their extraordinary batting depth and handed Ecclestone her third Test five-wicket haul, albeit her most expensive ahead of the 5 for 129 she took in the last Ashes Test in Nottingham.

To qualify for Super Eight, Netherlands need to beat Sri Lanka by a big margin and hope Nepal beat Bangladesh

Madushka Balasuriya16-Jun-20241:21

Maharoof: Sri Lanka need to unleash Chameera

Match details

Netherlands vs Sri Lanka
Gros Islet, 8.30pm local

Big picture

Well, where do you go from here? For Sri Lanka, safe to say, this is nowhere near where they would have wanted to be, as yet another major ICC tournament goes by with them toiling with little more than pride to play for.This turn of events might rankle even more considering that coming into this tournament there had been a quiet confidence in the Sri Lankan camp, particularly of positive results against one or both of South Africa and Bangladesh – certainly the latter whom they recently beat in T20Is – as well a deep run in the tournament. But things didn’t quite work out that way, and following a washout against Nepal, they are now faced with the very real prospect/ignominy of ending at the bottom of their group with not even a win to their name.It’s also their final ICC tournament until their home T20 World Cup in 2026 – there’s a Champions Trophy next year but they missed out on qualification – so regardless of the result, there will no doubt be an inquisition back home into the state of white-ball cricket.Related

• Mathews on Sri Lanka's exit: 'We've let the entire nation down'

• Bangladesh favourites to make Super Eight, but Nepal could ask difficult questions

As for the Netherlands, there is still a chance to qualify for Super Eight, but it requires a dominant win against Sri Lanka, as well as Nepal beating Bangladesh.If this scenario had been posited a couple of years ago, it’s safe to say Bangladesh would have been pretty relaxed, but such has been the upward trajectory of the Associate members, especially at this tournament, such upsets are not nearly as surprising as they once might have been.Nepal’s agonising defeat to South Africa allied with Sri Lanka’s dismal showing so far in this tournament has lent itself further to these unlikely scenarios, but there’s more to it. While Sri Lanka have Test tours of England and South Africa scheduled for the year following this campaign, the failure to qualify for the Dutch means their cricket for the foreseeable future is done, so they’re certainly not in want of added motivation. With them playing after Bangladesh and Nepal, they will go in knowing exactly what’s needed of them.In terms of head-to-head records, Sri Lanka have never lost to Netherlands, but the more recent encounters haven’t been as one-sided as the scorecards might suggest.

Form guide

Netherlands LLWLL (Last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LLWLW

In the spotlight – Aryan Dutt and Angelo Mathews

Aryan Dutt had impressed with a three-wicket haul in the last encounter between these two sides – at last year’s ODI World Cup. While he was overlooked in the more seamer-friendly conditions of Dallas and New York, he found his way back into the side against Bangladesh in Kingstown. With spin set to play a key role in Gros Islet, Dutt’s control and variation could prove pivotal in the powerplay to expose Sri Lanka’s soft middle order.Angelo Mathews’ last T20I at Gros Islet was all the way back in 2010•ICC/Getty Images

When Angelo Mathews last played at Gros Islet, his career was in its infancy. Then too it was during a T20 World Cup, but Sri Lanka Cricket – at least on the field – was in a better place. Now 14 years later, he is back as an ageing stalwart with his team having been eliminated at the first hurdle. He has also struggled to keep up with the more aggressive approach T20 cricket demands – his career strike rate stalling at 119.48, well below the standard bearers of the format. With Sri Lanka’s power-hitters currently restricted to their top three and an out-of-form Dasun Shanaka, they need Mathews to show he’s capable of adapting to the times.

Team news – spin to win?

Spin-bowling allrounder Saqib Zulfiqar could come into the XI should the Netherlands opt for an extra spinner.Netherlands (probable XI): 1 Michael Levitt, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Vikramjit Singh, 4 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 5 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 6 Bas de Leede, 7 Logan van Beek, 8 Tim Pringle/Saqib Zulfiqar, 9 Aryan Dutt, 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Vivian KingmaIf Sri Lanka want an extra spinner, they could hand allrounder Dunith Wellalage a T20I debut.Sri Lanka (probable XI): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kamindu Mendis, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga (capt), 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Nuwan Thushara

Pitch and conditions

There were runs aplenty in the Australia-Scotland game, which will be encouraging for both sets of batters but Australia’s deployment of three spinners might provide some indication as to the most effective tactic on this Gros Islet pitch. As for the weather, there is a possibility of rain later in the night.

Stats that matter

• Sri Lanka have a 9-0 win-loss record against the Netherlands in limited-overs cricket.
• Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka are the only Sri Lankan batters to average above 25 and have a strike rate of above 130 in T20Is since January 2023.
• The average first-innings score at Gros Islet is 161.

Quotes

“They gave us great support, no matter where we play. Whether it was in Sri Lanka or even here, there were a lot supporting us. And I feel very sorry as we couldn’t do anything for them. I want to apologise for that.”
“For our guys, it’s an awesome opportunity to play cricket in different parts of the world. It’s something we thrive off. We love playing in different conditions in different parts of the world. Obviously, it’s short breaks between games but that’s just part of how these World Cups go and our guys love that.”

Fiery burst wrecks hosts’ hopes of taking lead, before Gubbins’ fifty builds for visitors

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay31-Jul-2025 Hampshire 293 (Middleton 79, Weatherley 62, Taylor 5-55) and 139 for 2 (Gubbins 55*) lead Worcestershire 249 (Libby 100*, Hose 82, Baker 5-72) by 183 runsSonny Baker’s five-wicket haul and a Nick Gubbins half-century helped drive Hampshire into the ascendency on Day Three of the Rothesay County Championship clash against Worcestershire.Baker’s morning burst of three wickets saw him to figures of 5 for 72, as Jake Libby’s 100 not out could not see Worcestershire into the lead despite early promise, as his side were bowled out for 249.With a lead of 44, the visiting side batted through the day with relative comfort on a flattening wicket, as Joe Weatherley and Fletcha Middleton made early progress for their side.Gubbins then scored an unbeaten 55 to see his side to 139 for 2 at the close, with the away side well in the hunt for a third County Championship victory of the season.With a lengthy delay to the start of proceedings on the third morning of the match, Hampshire enjoyed an excellent start to the day as Baker produced an eye-catching three wicket burst to reduce Worcestershire to 189 for 5.The visitors welcomed a stroke of luck in the second over of the day when Adam Hose feathered a strangle down the leg-side, to depart without adding to his overnight score, before Baker picked up the wickets of Brett D’Oliveira (1) and Ethan Brookes (0) as the hosts reeled under the clouds at Visit Worcestershire New Road.Searching for their first Rothesay County Championship win since mid-May, Hampshire began the afternoon session in similar vein to the morning, with Libby watching his side fall behind in the contest.Matthew Waite helped add 34 with the Worcestershire opener, before he nicked off to James Fuller for a cautious 21 as the Division One strugglers watched another promising position fall away beneath them as they limped to 223 for 6.Part-timer Nick Gubbins was thrown the ball in the 80th over of the innings as the visitors looked to move things on before taking the new ball but were overjoyed when Tom Taylor was pinned LBW in an innocuous over as the home side slid further behind the eight-ball.Hampshire tightened their grip on the match, as Kyle Abbott (1 for 27) and Baker removed Ben Allison and Adam Finch, with Libby 98 not out and his side still trailing by 46 runs.Libby added the two runs required to reach a gritty century off 235 balls, registering the first century by a Worcestershire player at Visit Worcestershire New Road this summer.Baker capped a fine individual performance as he returned in the next over to secure his five-wicket haul and ensure his side took a healthy lead of 44 runs into their second innings, with Worcestershire all-out one run short of a batting bonus-point.Hampshire lost Joe Weatherley in the 11th over of their reply, when he was LBW to a full ball from Waite but marched on unfazed to pass fifty with comfort.Middleton got in and showed signs of extending his good form from the first innings but was unable to capitalise on his positive start as he was caught behind off an Adam Finch delivery, with his side 120 runs in front.Gubbins made his way to a comfortable half-century as the evening drew to a close, as he and Tilak Varma batted through to stumps with Hampshire in total control at 139 for 2, with a commanding 183-run lead heading into the final day.

No play possible on final day at Grace Road after heavy showers

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2024Frequent heavy showers killed off any prospect of a positive result from Sussex’s visit to Leicestershire in the Vitality County Championship, meaning no play was possible at all on the final scheduled day of their Division Two clash.Skipper John Simpson’s maiden double century had put Sussex in a strong position on day three, which ended with Leicestershire 270 in arrears at 86 for 1 in their second innings after Sussex had declared at 694 for 9 just after tea, a lead of 356 on first innings.But after a saturated outfield delayed the start on day four, the combination of more showers and the safety issues raised by trying to remove the covering sheets in winds gusting to gale force gave umpires James Middlebrook and Paul Pollard little option but to abandon the match as a draw shortly before 1pm.Related

• Johnson, Sadler question Kookaburra trial after high-scoring draw

• Simpson 205*, Lamb 134 as Sussex pile up 694

• Haines hundred leads strong Sussex response

• Sussex thwarted by bad light as Northants cling on for draw

“It’s disappointing, but looking at it another way, we’ve had three days of good cricket,” Paul Farbrace, Sussex’s coach, said. “The groundstaff did brilliantly to get us on considering the outfield is very soft and they’ve had a lot of rain here, like everywhere else… it was a shame for both sides that it couldn’t be finished in the way both sides would have wanted, but I guess that’s cricket in April.”We can take a lot of positives from the game. We played good cricket last week and couldn’t quite get over the line, and here we’ve bowled the opposition out for 330 and then batted ourselves into a position where there was only one side going to win the game. In both the first two games we’ve been in with a good chance of winning going into the last day, which is what we’ve talked about doing.”Alfonso Thomas, Leicestershire’s coach, said that his side’s bowling attack was “undercooked” with Josh Hull yet to return from injury, Rehan Ahmed on a pilgrimage and Chris Wright absent for “personal reasons”.Thomas said: “We knew it would be hard work for the bowlers. They stuck at it well for a long period of time but they were probably a little bit undercooked after the pre-season we have had, not the best of pre-seasons.He also called for the ECB to reconsider their decision to introduce the Kookaburra ball for four rounds of the Championship season. “There has been a lot said about wanting to get rid of average bowlers in the English game but what the Kookaburra has done when it has been in use here is make average batters look very good,” Thomas said. “Is that good for the game? Probably not.”Would you rather have a guy like [Chris] Rushworth taking 70 wickets with the Dukes, or average batters making hundreds? And in a Test match played in England in English conditions I would back a Rushworth to bowl a team out but I probably wouldn’t back a lot of the batters who’ve got runs against it here to go to Australia and score hundreds.It means both sides have two draws from two matches so far, with Sussex the more frustrated, having seen a winning position come to nothing against Northamptonshire at Hove last week, with weather again having the last word.Sussex take 14 points from this match, giving them 29 from two, with Leicestershire taking 12 to swell their early-season total to 25.

His 90 underpins 361 first-innings as Glamorgan move to 12 without loss in reply

ECB Reporters Network17-Sep-2024Promotion-chasing Yorkshire worked their way into a strong position after the first day against Glamorgan, George Hill the mainstay with 90 as they finished on 361 all out.Second placed Yorkshire were chasing batting points and had to settle for three after being put in to bat first.Hill went on to get the big score, getting out with only a handful of overs left at the end of the day, while no fewer than four other batsmen got more than 40 without going on to make the most of their starts.Glamorgan’s top bowler was Andy Gorvin with 4 for 67 as he was able to extract some seam movement, Timm van der Gugten getting reward for his efforts with two wickets late in the day to keep the Yorkshire innings within reach. Glamorgan survived two overs before the close, 12 without loss.Yorkshire made steady progress with a bright day ahead and no terrors in the Sophia Gardens pitch after early cloud cover lifted.
The story of the early part of the day was batters who got in and then got out when seemingly set for a bigger score, a trend started by opening partnership Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean.Lyth passed 1,000 runs in the season for the fifth time of his career, as the pair put on 67 for the opening wicket before both departing in similar style.The unlikely Glamorgan spearhead was the medium-fast bowling of Gorvin, twice getting the ball to straighten to trap the left handers in front of the wicket to depart lbw.James Wharton looked assured on his way to 63, so much so that it came as quite a surprise when he hooked James Harris straight to long leg to be caught by van der Gugten.Jonny Bairstow was on Yorkshire duty having been left out of the England one-day squad, back at his home ground in The Hundred where he plays for Welsh Fire. He did not hang around and provided Gorvin with his third wicket, waving the ball to backward point from a loose drive, caught by Ben Kellaway.Glamorgan’s fifth wicket came with a substantial slice of luck. Leg-spinner Mason Crane sent a long hop down the leg side, which somehow went from the edge of Jonathan Tattersall’s bat to be clutched in his belly by home wicketkeeper Chris Cooke.The skipper was more than a little disappointed to have missed out on a bigger score, departing for 41.Crane was particularly expensive as Hill and Dom Bess eased any Yorkshire nerves with a century stand, before Bess was lbw trying to sweep Crane to depart just after reaching his half-century.Hill made the most of recent good form coming into the game despite falling narrowly short of a deserved century, van der Gugten getting his second wicket with the second new ball.Glamorgan openers Sam Northeast and Asa Tribe survived the last two overs of the day.

Seamer will bolster T20 squad after departures of Xavier Bartlett and Wes Agar

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2024Kent have signed Melbourne Renegades seamer Tom Rogers for the second block of Vitality T20 Blast group games.Rogers, 30, has several years’ experience in the Big Bash League with Renegades and Hobart Hurricanes but this will be his first stint in county cricket. In all T20 cricket, Rogers has taken 60 wickets at 24.78 with an economy of 8.38.”We’re pleased to have got Tom on board to sure-up our bowling options going into the ‘business end’ of this South Group stage,” Kent’s director of cricket, Simon Cook, said. “He has a lot of experience and has skills that will be useful to us with both the ball and the bat, too.”Rogers will reinforce Kent’s bowling in the Blast, with Xavier Bartlett having only been made available for the first eight group games and Wes Agar returning to Australia early due to a shoulder injury.Kent are currently second from bottom in the South Group, having won two games, but could still fight their way into contention for a top-four spot.”I’m grateful for the opportunity to play in the Vitality Blast and I’m excited to be joining Kent,” Rogers said. “We know that every game is vital for us now, and I want to do my part in getting results as a Spitfire in the near future.”

CEO Richard Gould hopes tournament can follow trend in other UK women’s sports

Matt Roller16-Jun-2025Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, has set a target to sell out a women’s match in the Hundred as the governing body contemplates “de-coupling” some of the tournament’s double-headers.The Hundred’s existing double-header model sees midweek women’s fixtures played during working hours, with tickets valid for both games on a single day. There are no plans to increase the Hundred’s 27-day window, but some double-headers could be split across two separate days in future seasons to maximise revenue from ticket sales.The Hundred launched with a standalone women’s match between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals in 2021, with the men’s match played the following night. It has operated with a double-header model ever since, and every matchday this season will see a women’s fixture followed by the same men’s fixture at the same venue.”The double-headers have been working well,” Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “At some point, we would like to try and find a way that we can have standalone fixtures, perhaps, for men and women. Getting to a capacity crowd for a women’s Hundred fixture at some point in the next couple of years has to be a target for us.”The window is fixed, a 27-day, exclusive window… Within that window, if you get to the point where you can de-couple games, it’s really demonstrating the commercial growth of the women’s game, into which we’re investing a huge amount at the ECB. That’s definitely a potential target.”The double-header model was initially the result of logistical problems posed by the Covid pandemic, with the majority of women’s fixtures originally slated for smaller county grounds. However, it has proved successful across the Hundred’s first four years, with a record total attendance of 320,000 at women’s matches last season.Richard Gould remains confident that negotiations with the Hundred’s equity partners are ‘at a good state of play’•John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images

Splitting double-headers into separate matchdays without expanding the duration would create some scheduling complications. “We need to work through that, but that may be a thing depending on what the broadcaster wants and what days we’re playing on,” Gould said. “If you can have eight sell-outs, rather than four…”Ticket sales for women’s cricket in England and Wales have surged in recent years. England’s women have attracted total attendances in excess of 100,000 for the past two home summers, and next year’s T20 World Cup will be played at major international venues including Lord’s, The Oval, Edgbaston and Emirates Old Trafford.That growth reflects a similar trend in other sports. Arsenal’s women attracted an average attendance of nearly 30,000 in the Women’s Super League this year and will play all their home fixtures at the Emirates Stadium next season, while the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup in England will break attendance records.Gould also confirmed that the ECB intend to create “the cleanest windows we possibly can” for the Hundred in the next Future Tours Programme by minimising overlap with England’s fixture list. Avoiding direct clashes would enable better availability for England’s Test players, though a scheduling crunch looms in 2028 due to the T20 cricket events at the Los Angeles Olympics.Stakes in the eight Hundred teams are being sold to private investors, with the drawn-out process in its final stages. Gould conceded that it has taken “longer than we thought” to complete the relevant paperwork, but said that the delay has been “time really well spent” and has helped the ECB “understand the ambition” of the new investors.Related

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Investors need to sign shareholder agreements with their respective host clubs but the ‘participation agreement’ with the ECB has been the main source of the delay. “It is about the ‘what ifs’,” Gould said. “I hate to think how many sets of lawyers are in on this, but that’s what they’re paid to do: ‘What if this happens?’ and ‘What if that happens?'”It is a good state of play. The investors are investing heavily, and therefore they want clarity on all sorts of details… We’re doing it up front now so that when everything is signed, we will be off and running in a much better state, knowing where responsibility sits between stakeholders, investors, and the governing body.”Discussions have also taken place around future broadcast contracts for the Hundred, with UK rights currently ‘bundled’ with the rights to show England’s home international fixtures. “The expectation for the next cycle is that we will do that again,” Gould said. “There’s an opportunity to unbundle thereafter, but there will be really good grown-up conversations as to what’s best for the sport.”Gould insisted there is no immediate prospect of any investor walking away: “No, not at the moment,” he said. “But we don’t take anything for granted, because that’s not a clever place to be.”Sanjay Govil, the incoming co-owner of Welsh Fire, has already expressed his preference for the Hundred to become a T20 competition. “That’s a discussion that we’ve parked until their arrival,” Gould said. “It’s a decision that actually sits with the ECB board. There may be recommendations that come forward at some point but it’s not [being discussed] right now.”