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Off spinner says England’s Urdu-speaking spinners were fooled into bringing the field up during his 48 not out

Danyal Rasool25-Oct-2024Pakistan offspinner Sajid Khan has found a number of ways of getting under England’s skin, from the moustache twirling to the thigh thumping that accompany borderline invasion of personal space. Much of it has involved bamboozling them with the angle of his spin or the flight of his deliveries, but on Friday, he found another avenue for English befuddlement: their spin bowlers’ bilingualism.After the fourth ball of the 86th over, once Saud Shakeel had flicked Shoaib Bashir away to turn the strike over to Sajid, the pair met to discuss how to manage the strike, and didn’t appear to bother if the stump mic picked them up. Sajid, presumably, was to see off the final two balls, but he danced down the wicket and launched Bashir over midwicket into the Javed Miandad stand.It could hardly have been the plan, but according to Sajid, the intended audience for the conversation wasn’t each other but Pakistani-origin spinners Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir.”We were only doing that [speaking loudly in Urdu] to deceive the bowlers. Rehan and Shoaib understand Urdu, so to fool them, we wanted them to hear we were only looking for the single. When we did that, they brought the field up and the bowlers flighted it. Saud told me once they do, no half measures: just go for the big shot as hard as you can.”And Sajid did. The next over Bashir bowled, Sajid plundered two sixes and a boundary in much the same way, swinging towards the midwicket boundary, finding the middle of the bat with regularity. 19 came off that over, and though Rehan kept him quieter, he was stung once when he spread the field out. Sajid took the men at long-off and long-on, comfortably clearing the rope. The wheels, by now, had begun to come off England’s bowling effort, and Pakistan’s lead had ballooned.Rehan acknowledged the quality of the innings, but was having none of Sajid’s claims. “He didn’t fool me at all, he just said it for the media,” he laughed “I didn’t even hear him. He said something like he’s going to run down this ball and I knew he was going to try and scoop me, and it didn’t really work. I think he batted well, and he hit some big blows, but he didn’t really fool me or Bash.”

Ireland succumb to 48-run loss as rookie England prove too strong in the end

Andrew Miller23-Sep-2023England 334 for 8 (Jacks 94, Hain 89, Dockrell 3-43) beat Ireland 286 (Dockrell 43, Young 40, Rehan 4-54) by 48 runsWill Jacks and Sam Hain provided the ballast with the bat, before Rehan Ahmed served up a touch of class with the ball, as England’s rookies overcame their collective nerves – and George Scrimshaw’s in particular – to seal a comfortable 48-run victory in the second ODI against Ireland at Trent Bridge.With England’s World Cup-bound 15 all absent from this contest – including Joe Root, who had been lined up to play in Wednesday’s wash-out at Headingley but is now resting up with the rest of the squad – the XI that took the field boasted a skinny tally of 48 caps all told, including four debutants. And of those, two in particular will have emerged with indelible memories … most of them good, in the end.For Hain, it was an occasion he must have thought would never come. At the age of 28, his towering List A average – 57.96 across a ten-year career – had for so long seemed inversely proportional to his prospects of breaking into a generationally strong England white-ball set-up. But with the big guns away, he latched onto his chance with a sturdy knock of 89 from 82 balls, as did Jacks at the top of the order, who reinforced the sense that he could be Jason Roy’s long-term heir with a fluent knock of 94 from 88.Between them, the pair topped and tailed a total of 334 for 8 that, while imposing, understandably lacked a degree of cohesion, with no-one quite cutting loose except while Jacks and Phil Salt were briefly running riot in the powerplay.In the end it was ample – and it would have been a vastly more emphatic margin had it not been for a feisty tenth-wicket stand of 55 between Craig Young and Josh Little that again highlighted their opponents’ unavoidable naivety. But, for four agonising overs at the start of their reply, Ireland looked on course to exceed their successful 329-run chase at the Ageas Bowl in 2020, as Scrimshaw endured a bout of stage fright that brought to mind Scott Boswell’s attack of the yips in the 2001 C&G Trophy final.Scrimshaw’s troubles started from his very first delivery. Though he used his 6’7″ frame to pound out a tidy length with a hint of shape away from Andrew Balbirnie, he was pinged by the third umpire for a front-foot no-ball, then overstepped again with his third attempt, with Balbirnie crashing the resultant free hit hard over the covers for four.An anomaly was starting to look like a problem when Scrimshaw overstepped for the third time in the over, and matters reached crisis point when, having thought he’d escaped with no further damage, he was dragged back to bowl a tenth delivery having already taken his cap. Paul Stirling duly belted the ball back past his head for another four to leave Scrimshaw nursing a 17-run debut over, and Zak Crawley, England’s rookie captain, had a significant man-management issue on his hands.George Scrimshaw bagged his second as Lorcan Tucker holed out to midwicket•AFP/Getty Images

To Crawley’s credit, he trusted his bowler to go again, but Ireland sensed a weakness and set about probing it without mercy. With Scrimshaw’s legs turning to jelly, Stirling spanked two fours from his first four legal balls, then butchered an uppercut over extra cover for six as he overstepped for a sixth time in what should have been 11 balls.In between whiles, however, Scrimshaw’s natural attributes continued to pose awkward questions, and finally he got it all just right – a perfect off-stump line with extra bounce to Balbirnie which Ben Duckett scooped up low at slip, a position that a less attack-minded captain than Crawley might have already abandoned.Still there was an anxious wait for confirmation that the delivery was legal, but eventually the all-clear came from on high, and Scrimshaw looked as though he was about to vomit with relief, as even umpire Rod Tucker stepped across to England’s huddle for a congratulatory pat of his shoulder.Either way, his first two overs had still disappeared for 35 to give Ireland a flying start to their chase, but one ball later, Matthew Potts – exuding the air of an old sweat – produced an unplayable nipbacker to ping the top of Stirling’s middle stump, then followed up soon afterwards with the key scalp of Curtis Campher, Ireland’s new No.3.After a short break to collect his thoughts, Scrimshaw returned in the 11th over for a vastly more self-assured spell. He duly bagged his second of an eventful hour, courtesy of Duckett’s flying grab at midwicket as Lorcan Tucker mistimed a pull, and at 103 for 4, Ireland’s innings was on the slide.Thereafter it was over to Rehan, with a mesmeric mid-innings burst of googlies. Cunningly, he had held the delivery back during his wicketless first three overs, but the floodgates opened when Harry Tector miscued the first wrong’un he encountered and Jacks, at mid-off, clung onto a brilliant sprawling catch, running back towards the boundary.Andy McBrine was then done all ends up by a Rehan googly that straightened into his off stump from round the wicket, and one over later Mark Adair had no read on the delivery either, as Rehan pinned him on the knee-roll. Dockrell took some lumps out of his analysis with a brace of lusty sixes, but he too succumbed to the googly for a doughty 43 from 54, as Phil Salt swooped at long-on to make Rehan, at 19 years and 41 days, the youngest England bowler to claim four wickets in an ODI.Rehan Ahmed celebrates with his team-mates after dismissing Andy McBrine•AFP/Getty Images

Rehan’s performance was a reminder of the true value of this contest to England – a chance for the coming men to gain experience, and make their mark ahead of the inevitable rebuild that is looming after the likes of Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid have had their last dance at next month’s World Cup.And from the moment they were asked to bat first, England’s opening exchanges were dominated by two openers with clear designs on a more permanent ODI berth. Salt, somewhat outspoken last week about his place in the pecking order, opened his account with two fours in his first three balls; Jacks trumped that with three in his first four, and for a time thereafter, Ireland looked like being overwhelmed in a typical Trent Bridge-style blizzard of strokeplay.Young’s introduction, however, offered some much-needed order. After signs of swing in his first over, he lured Salt into a loose drive to short cover with the first ball of his second, then nipped one back into Crawley’s pads to trap him for a two-ball duck, the only dampener on his captaincy debut.Jacks then had a life on 44, when Tector at backward point couldn’t cling onto a low chance off McCarthy, but he quickly made Ireland pay with a magnificent launch for six over extra cover off the spin of McBrine, to bring up his fifty from 44 balls.Ireland seemed little more than passive observers as England sauntered through their middle overs at a run a ball, with Jacks and Duckett barely breaking sweat in a stand of 102. But Duckett then knelt into a trademark paddle over fine leg off Dockrell to lob a simple chance to backward square for 48, before Jacks – with a century at his mercy – tried to reach it with one mighty blow and instead found Balbirnie lurking inside the rope to traipse off for 94 from 88.And so it was over to Hain to guide England to the formidable total that their platform had promised. Having waited so long to make an impression, his opening gambit arguably reinforced the reasons why the selectors had tended to look elsewhere. He even played out a maiden from Adair in reaching 1 from his first 11 balls, and was then dropped at point while scuffing a cut off McCarthy.But finally he landed a solid thump for four through long-on to settle his nerves, and thereafter Hain was into his stride, more confident in his interception points as he skittered out of his crease for another pair of meaty blows down the ground, while rocking back for an authoritative cut through point.Brydon Carse, loftily placed at No. 7, kept Hain company in a 63-run stand for the sixth wicket that included a thump for six that sent an elderly gent sprawling for the crowd-catch, and after accelerating with purpose into the closing moments of his innings, a century was just about in Hain’s sights as he lined up for the last six balls of the innings from McCarthy, only for a leading edge to mid-off to end his hopes.Still, he had done the needful to put a hefty score on the board. And despite their stutters, England’s bowlers duly closed out the job – with Scrimshaw, perhaps fittingly putting the seal on the deal with his third wicket of the day, as Little’s run-a-ball 29 ended with a launch to long-on.

The loss, by a huge 98-run margin, has pushed LSG out of the top four with the playoffs not far away

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-May-20242:49

Narine has joined Russell on the ride to success – McClenaghan

Sunil Narine crashed 81 off 39 deliveries and Ramandeep Singh got only six balls to face and smashed 25 in those. In addition, Phil Salt, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shreyas Iyer played aggressive innings. All of which meant that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) surged to 235 for 6 in their 20 overs, which in Lucknow – one of the lower-scoring venues in IPL 2024 – was always going to be incredibly difficult to surpass.The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) innings didn’t really take off. There was a 50-run second-wicket partnership between KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis, but even that went at too slow a pace (they took 33 balls) to cause serious problems for KKR. Once that stand was broken, the innings fell apart quickly, the last nine wickets falling for 67 runs, as the required rate ballooned out of control.Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana took three wickets each. Andre Russell took two. And Ramandeep claimed two catches, the first of which was one of the most spectacular of the season.Sunil Narine brought up his fifty in 27 balls•BCCI

Narine crushes it in the first 12 overs

Salt was the first aggressor, hitting 24 off the first nine balls he faced. But he was soon out for 32 off 14, and from then, it was the Narine show.Narine warmed up with five fours, then started getting the big hits going at the end of the fourth over, bludgeoning a Mohsin Khan short ball over deep square-leg, clubbing Krunal Pandya over deep midwicket not long after, and later thrashing Yash Thakur over the square-leg boundary. In the middle overs, he dealt almost exclusively in sixes, and by the end of his stay, he had walloped seven, to go with six fours. He holed out to long-off attempting another six off LSG’s best bowler Ravi Bishnoi, who was the only one to finish with an economy rate lower than 11.Ramandeep Singh celebrates after taking a back-tracking blinder•BCCI

Ramandeep plays a cameo to remember

LSG had a good period between overs 14 and 18, where they conceded only 45 while taking three wickets. Thanks to Narine, Salt and Raghuvanshi, with whom Narine shared a 79-run partnership, KKR were headed for a mammoth score. But the slight slowdown might have given LSG a foot in the door.Ramandeep pushed the total back into gargantuan territory in spectacular style. He took a two in front of square on the leg side to start with, bashed a six over cow corner second ball, bludgeoned one over long-on fourth ball, ramped a four over short third next, then thumped a full toss over midwicket to finish the innings. To recap, he went 2, 6, 1, 6, 4, 6.As if scoring at a strike rate of more than 400 wasn’t impressive enough, he also pulled off one of the catches of the season to get rid of Arshin Kulkarni. Speeding towards the boundary from point, he kept his eyes on a leading edge that had gone high into the air, and put in a spectacular dive to get his hands on a ball whose trajectory he did not seem like he would intersect. He took another catch at deep point later, to dismiss Rahul, the other LSG opener.Harshit Rana, on return from disciplinary suspension, sent back KL Rahul on his way to a three-for•Associated Press

And then LSG crumble

With a required rate of almost 12 set from the start of the innings, LSG were always going to struggle, given the quality in KKR’s attack. They scored 13 off the fourth over, bowled by Mitchell Starc, but then Narine came in with a four-run fifth over, and by the end of the powerplay, the required rate was up near 13.When LSG tried to hit out, wickets fell rapidly. At no point did they seem to have the measure of this chase. On a slow track, on which KKR’s slower bowlers were effective, Rahul’s wicket set off a collapse.

It’s the second-lengthiest ban handed out by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2024The ICC has banned Rizwan Javed, a UK-based club cricketer, for 17-and-a-half years – the second-longest sentence handed out by the ICC to date – after he was found guilty of five different breaches of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) anti-corruption code.Javed was among eight players and officials originally charged by the ICC in September 2023 over allegations of corruption at the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 league. The magnitude of the ban is only behind the 20-year ban given to Zimbabwe cricket official Rajan Nayar in 2018.Javed, as laid out by the ICC in a legal document, participated in matches for Cheadle Hulme Cricket Club in the Cheshire Cricket League until August 24, 2019, but in this case was under the scanner for his attempts to corrupt players in the T10 league, in particular within the Pune Devils franchise during the 2020-21 season.Last year, the ICC had said it had “disrupted” attempts to corrupt games, and charged eight people – including Bangladesh international Nasir Hossain – accordingly. While the ICC said that Nasir had co-operated with investigation and had received a two-year ban, in Javed’s case, the ICC said he did not respond to the charges or offer co-operation.Javed was found guilty of:

• Article 2.1.1 – Being party to an attempt to fix, contrive or influence improperly matches or aspects of matches in the Abu Dhabi T10 2021 (on three separate occasions).
• Article 2.1.3 – Offering a Reward to another Participant in exchange for that player engaging in Corrupt Conduct.
• Article 2.1.4 – Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally facilitating any Participant to breach Code Article 2.1 (on three separate occasions).
• Article 2.4.4 – Failing to disclose to the DACO full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in Corrupt Conduct under the Code.
• Article 2.4.6 – Failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation carried out by the DACO in relation to possible Corrupt Conduct under the Code.

“Rizwan Javed has received a lengthy ban from cricket for his repeated and serious attempts to corrupt professional cricketers,” Alex Marshall, ICC general manager – integrity, said. “He has shown no remorse and no respect for the rules that are in place to protect our sport. The sanction imposed should send a strong message to other corrupters trying to target cricket at any level and demonstrates that any attempt to corrupt cricket will be strongly dealt with.”The ban is backdated to September 19, 2023, the date Javed was provisionally suspended on. The decision was handed out by Michael J Beloff KC, chair of the ICC code of conduct committee.

Young allrounder Tess Flintoff has been added to the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2023Australia allrounder Heather Graham has been ruled out of the ODI series against Ireland and the Hundred after she suffered a right calf strain.Cricket Australia (CA) added young uncapped pace-bowling allrounder Tess Flintoff to the squad for the three ODIs that begin at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin on Sunday.Flintoff hogged the limelight in the WBBL last November when she smashed the record for the fastest half-century, off 16 balls, in the competition’s history for Melbourne Stars. Recently, she scored a 48-ball 70 at No. 7 for Australia A against England A in Loughborough.CA stated that Graham will remain with the team in Ireland to begin her rehabilitation before returning to Australia to continue this with Cricket Tasmania. Graham was supposed to play for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, which starts on August 1, after the tour of Ireland. In the 2022 edition, she played three matches and scored just 33 runs and picked up two wickets.Australia are coming off a 2-1 defeat in ODIs and T20Is against England, eventually drawing the Women’s Ashes in the multiformat series.

Manchester franchise hoping to challenge United and City as IPL investors arrive in “UK’s number one sporting city”

Matt Roller14-Feb-2025Lancashire officials have played down the idea that Manchester Originals could be seen as a consolation prize by the RPSG Group, who are finalising a deal for 70% stake in the franchise after missing out on a minority share in London Spirit.Lancashire shortlisted four bidders with links to IPL franchises, though Reliance, the owners of Mumbai Indians, were removed when they won the auction for a stake in Oval Invincibles. The RPSG Group – who run Lucknow Super Giants – eventually saw off competition from Kolkata Knight Riders and Amit Jain, whose bid involved a cricketing partnership with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.The auction for Originals took place three days after the RPSG Group had missed out on London Spirit, the Lord’s-based franchise, in a three-hour bidding war with a Silicon Valley tech consortium. They were the final bidders remaining as Spirit’s valuation reached an eye-watering £295 million, and instead secured Originals at a valuation of £116m.Related

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• Hundred teams lean on new IPL partners in recruitment for 2025 season

• Lancashire want IPL link for Manchester Originals

• Hundred sale explainer: Who has bought what and for how much?

Lancashire have stressed that the RPSG Group had been their preferred partner for a significant period of time, and RPSG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka has insisted his commitment to “developing a deep bond” with the club, saying he sees “huge potential” in the partnership.”Lord’s is Lord’s, but Manchester is Manchester,” Shashwat Goenka, Sanjiv’s son and the group’s vice-chairman, said at a launch event at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday. “While we did bid aggressively for Lord’s, we stopped at a point and I’m extremely happy with Manchester. We’ve been delighted with our interactions with Lancashire and I’m very excited with this partnership.”James Sheridan, Originals’ chair, played down the significance of the failed bids in London. “It doesn’t concern us,” he said. “We’ve had some amazing conversations… I was actually on the phone to one of Shashwat’s colleagues the minute after the auction finished in London. We’re not concerned. We’ve got 100 percent, total confidence that RPSG is in the right place.”ESPNcricinfo revealed last year that officials from the RPSG Group had visited Manchester during the Hundred, while Lancashire also sent a delegation to Kolkata – where RPSG is based – last year. “The team from Lucknow have just been exemplary from a partnership approach, right from day one,” Sheridan said. “We have got a fantastic partner that we can build something very special with.”Lancashire opted to sell part of their stake in Originals but will retain 30% and plan to include a reserved matters provision – effectively a set of veto rights – while drawing up contracts over the next six weeks. They will use their windfall of more than £30 million to pay down their debt and invest in infrastructure projects, including the development of a second home venue in Farington, near Preston.Daniel Gidney, Lancashire’s chief executive, believes that new investment will eventually help Originals compete with Manchester’s two Premier League football clubs. “We’ve talked about Manchester being probably the UK’s number one sporting city… We want the Manchester franchise in the Hundred to become the third-biggest sports team in Manchester and challenge those two [United and City].Sheridan and Gidney speak to the press•Lancashire CCC

“That is the scale and level of the ambition of both of us as partners… This is something that is incredibly exciting for us and that is why we wanted to partner with an IPL team and we always have done. You’ve got a 1.4 billion population of people who adore cricket: why wouldn’t we want to inject a bit of that energy and passion into Manchester and Lancashire?”The two parties did not confirm as much but it is widely expected that the franchise will be renamed Manchester Super Giants from 2026, following the lead of the Lucknow and Durban teams in the IPL and SA20 respectively. The RPSG Group also own Mohun Bagan, the Kolkata-based football club who play in the Indian Super League.LSG reached the play-offs in their first two IPL seasons before missing out on net run-rate last year, and spent a record INR 27 crore (£2.54m approx.) on Rishabh Pant at November’s auction. The arrival of four IPL owners in the Hundred has led to speculation that Indian men’s players could feature in future, but that appears unlikely in the short term.”If you could get Rishabh Pant playing in the Hundred, you’d have a lot more eyeballs on what’s going on,” Sheridan said. “But we all know that the BCCI doesn’t allow that to happen at the moment… I don’t think that is likely to change anytime soon.” Goenka added: “Where Indian players play and don’t play is the prerogative of the BCCI.”Phil Salt and Beth Mooney, who have both been retained for 2025, said that the partnership will benefit Originals. “There’s definitely a new level for this tournament to find,” Salt said. “At the inception of the IPL, their ambition was to bring the world’s best tournament that we’ve ever seen… We sit here today knowing full well that our ambition is to bring the world’s best cricket to Manchester.”Mooney, speaking from Vadodara shortly before playing for Gujarat Giants, added: “The IPL changed the landscape of men’s cricket, and we’re seeing that starting to happen with the WPL heading into its third season… The exciting part of the Hundred is that it’s only going to get bigger and better.”

Limited play increases prospect of draw, but champions have a shot at pushing for victory

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Sep-2025Only 21.1 overs were possible on day three at the Kia Oval but title favourites Surrey still used that time profitably to score 95 more second-innings runs and boost their chances of being able to force championship victory against Warwickshire.Dodging the showers in the afternoon, in two mini-sessions, allowed Ben Foakes and Dan Lawrence to add an unbroken 57 for the third wicket as Surrey reached 276 for two – and a lead of 274 to take into the Division One game’s final day.Foakes batted beautifully for 41 not out from 66 balls, with six fours, while Lawrence drove Ethan Bamber majestically over extra cover for six and also struck three fours in an unbeaten 36-ball 29.Earlier, in nine overs’ play before the first rain of the day arrived at 11.09am, Ollie Pope went quickly from his overnight 56 to 78, from 103 balls, before being bowled off an inside edge as he gave Michael Booth’s fast-medium the charge and tried to hit him over mid off.Pope had included a six and eight fours in an impressive knock that did much to provide Surrey with much-needed second innings impetus.Surrey, nine points ahead of nearest challengers Nottinghamshire at the start of the match, are seeking a fourth successive Rothesay County Championship title and – particularly if Notts can chase a fourth innings target of 136 to beat Worcestershire at New Road – will feel they also need to win this match.On 181 for one overnight, after taking control of the contest on day two after Warwickshire had replied with 248 to Surrey’s own first innings 246, Rory Burns’s side saw Dom Sibley retire hurt on his overnight score of 64 due to a recurring groin injury.Foakes and Pope added 38 runs in the day’s first 39-minute session, and Lawrence had only faced three balls following Pope’s dismissal when bad weather intervened and prevented any more play until 1.50pm.Nine runs were then scored in four overs, with rain causing another seven-minute delay before a further 8.1 overs were bowled in which Foakes and Lawrence plundered 48 ahead of a 2.49pm downpour.The hard-working Oval groundstaff did twice try to get play on again when the rain eased off for two separate spells, but then yet more rain swept in from the West to force an abandonment of the day’s play at 5.25pm. On the final day, weather permitting, Surrey will surely be looking for 50 or so more quick runs before declaring and trying to bowl Warwickshire out a second time.

England’s Test tour of India in late January as well as the SA20 and ILT20 will have to be factored in by clubs

Alex Malcolm23-Aug-2023Ashes stars Harry Brook and Zak Crawley headline a host of English players unveiled as the latest nominations for the upcoming BBL draft but England’s Test tour of India in January, as well as clarity over the ILT20 dates means clubs will have some decisions to make as to whether to recruit the biggest names or those with the most availability.Brook, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Will Jacks and Dan Lawrence have all nominated for the draft which is set for September 3. However it remains to be seen how much of the BBL season they will be available for given all will be in line to tour India with England’s Test team in January 2024 with the first Test of a five-Test series starting on January 25 in Hyderabad.Exciting England tearaway Gus Atkinson has also nominated for the BBL draft. He is yet to be called up to England’s Test side but is poised to make his England limited-overs debut next month and is in their World Cup squad.Related

• ILT20 Season 2 to be played in January 19 to February 18 window next year

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The BBL final will be held on January 24 and the final home and away game of the streamlined 10-game season finishes on January 17. The other key development for BBL clubs came with the announcement of the ILT20 dates for next year with that tournament to begin on January 19 in the UAE.With South Africa’s T20 league starting on January 10 clubs may favour drafting players who have also committed to the ILT20 as opposed to those who will go to South Africa given they are likely to be available for almost all of the home and away season.Englishmen Dawid Malan and Tom Banton and New Zealander Jimmy Neesham were among the latest names who have nominated for the BBL draft but have already committed to South Africa. Clubs are more likely to be interested in the likes of Sam Billings, Joe Clarke, James Vince, Tom Curran, David Willey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Martin Guptill and Atkinson who have all committed to the ILT20.A number of players will be available as retention picks including Crawley (Hurricanes), Billings (Heat), Clarke (Stars), Vince (Sixers), Curran (Sixers), Banton (Heat) and Willey (Thunder) even though he withdrew last year after being drafted. Players who were drafted last year but did not play are eligible to be retained by that club. Willey played 27 games for Perth Scorchers between 2015 and 2019 but is not eligible to be a retention pick for Scorchers as he was drafted by Thunder last year.Brook, Lawrence, Jacks, and Malan have all played in the BBL previously but do not fit the criteria to be retained as they did not play for a minimum of two seasons with a club previously after not playing last season.Marizanne Kapp is eligible to be retained by Perth Scorchers•Getty Images

In the WBBL, South Africa star Marizanne Kapp has confirmed she will return to the WBBL leaving Scorchers with a massive decision to make over their lone WBBL retention pick. Scorchers need to choose between two of the best allrounders in the world in Kapp and Sophie Devine.Kapp was outstanding for Scorchers in her last two seasons but Devine is a two-time WBBL player of the year and Scorchers captain. Devine has also been involved in Western Australia’s WNCL team which is closely linked to the Scorchers program, making the decision even more difficult.Laura Wolvaardt looks destined to be a retention pick for defending champions Adelaide Strikers but Dane van Niekerk is not eligible as a retention pick after missing last year’s tournament, having previously played for Strikers, Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Renegades.

WBBL nominations

England: Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Heather Knight, Emma Lamb, Katie Levick, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Mady Villiers, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Issy Wong, Danielle WyattIndia: Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Hurley Gala, Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha YadavNew Zealand: Sophie Devine, Kate Ebrahim, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Jess KerrPakistan: Fatima SanaSouth Africa: Suné Luus, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Laura Wolvaardt, Dane van Niekerk, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Anneke Bosch, Tazmin BritsSri Lanka: Chamari AthapaththuWest Indies: Hayley Matthews, Karishma Ramharack

BBL nominations

Afghanistan: Shafiqullah Ghafari, Izharulhaq Naveed, Mujeeb Ur RahmanEngland: Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Harry Brook, Joe Clarke, Zak Crawley, Tom Curran, Laurie Evans, Richard Gleeson, Alex Hales, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Dan Lawrence, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Callum Parkinson, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Pope, David Payne, Matt Potts, Olly Stone, Josh Tongue, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey, Luke Wood, Dan WorrallIreland: Josh LittleNew Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Jimmy NeeshamSouth Africa: Marchant de Lange, Faf du Plessis, Beuran Hendricks, Wayne Parnell, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran TahirSri Lanka: Lakshan SandakanWest Indies: Joshua Bishop, Sheldon Cottrell, Akeal Hosein, Nicholas Pooran, Jayden Seales, Ramon Simmonds

Both sides confirmed their XIs with Australia opting for three frontline quicks on a surface with a few unknowns

Alex Malcolm and Andrew McGlashan24-Jun-20252:57

Cummins: ‘Iconic’ Barbados, Konstas impressing, team reset

Big picture: Resets all-round in Barbados

The prevailing northeast trade winds are a constant in beautiful Barbados but the winds of change have swept through both the West Indies team and Australia as they begin a new World Test Championship cycle in Bridgetown.West Indies have not played Test cricket since January in Pakistan and begin the cycle under a new captain in Roston Chase after Kraigg Brathwaite stepped down. Extraordinarily, Chase has not played a Test match since March 2023, having not played in West Indies’ last 13.He leads a new-look squad which, for the opening Test, sees a debut for Brandon King and returns for John Campbell and Shai Hope – the latter as wicketkeeper – for the first time since 2022 and 2021 respectively.Related

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Meanwhile, veteran Kemar Roach was left out of the squad entirely despite playing in each of West Indies’ last three series. Joshua da Silva could not earn a recall either on account of his Gabba heroics against Australia and a recent run spree in the West Indies Championship, with selectors holding firm after dropping him in Pakistan. There are only three survivors from West Indies’ previous Test: Brathwaite, Justin Greaves and Jomel Warrican.Australia’s “reset” is not quite as extreme following the disappointment of the WTC final loss to South Africa just two weeks ago, but it is significant by their standards. For the first time since December 2018, they will field an XI without either Marnus Labuschagne or Steven Smith on the team sheet.The selectors finally lost patience with Labuschagne and he has been dropped for first time in six years having been a mainstay of Australia’s top three for 53 consecutive Tests. Smith had played 51 in a row before his gruesome finger injury ruled him out of the first Test of this series. He is a chance to return for the second.It means Australia do not have a single batter in the squad remaining from the last Test Australia played in the Caribbean in 2015, when Smith made 199 and 54 not out. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are the only others to have played Test cricket in the Caribbean.Australia confirmed five days out that Sam Konstas and Josh Inglis will play in Barbados to change the age profile of the side. But they will still only field two players under 30.Australia rarely undertake full-scale reboots, and it is understandable they have not made sweeping changes following Lord’s given they have lost just one of their past seven Tests and did not lose a multi-Test series during the previous WTC cycle. But they cannot afford a slow start to the new cycle with an inexperienced top six and an aging attack, given they have away tours to South Africa and India in this WTC schedule as well as an Ashes series later in the year.

Form guide

West Indies: WLLWL
Australia: LWWWWShamar Joseph starred the last time the teams met in Test cricket•Getty Images

In the spotlight: Shamar Joseph and Sam Konstas

Shamar Joseph‘s star looked set to explode on the global stage after he carried West Indies to an astonishing Test victory at the Gabba last year. But with the exception of his 5 for 33 against South Africa in August, he has not quite reached the heights that were expected of him. He was named West Indies’ Test player of the year at an awards ceremony in Bridgetown on Sunday night but he has not played Test cricket since November and has hardly played at all due to injury and non-selection in West Indies’ white-ball teams. He bowled 31 overs and claimed just three wickets across two innings for West Indies A against South Africa A in early June. The arrival of Australia should give him a boost of confidence given the way he bowled to them 18 months ago.Similarly outlandish expectations have fallen on Sam Konstas‘ slender shoulders following his spectacular Test debut last Boxing Day against Jasprit Bumrah. But he has only played one Test since and his Sheffield Shield returns were lean at the back end of the summer, with his batting causing some consternation among coaches and selectors. He has not played a game of cricket at any level since March and has a first-class average of just 34.89 from 30 innings with only two centuries. Yet Australia’s selectors are convinced he is the man to walk out alongside Usman Khawaja in the hope that they can end the revolving door of openers Australia have had since David Warner retired. Konstas is expected to play all three Tests in the Caribbean no matter what, with a view to getting valuable experience ahead of the Ashes.

Team news: Hope to keep wicket, Kuhnemann misses out

The significant call made by West Indies was to make Shai Hope wicketkeeper on his return to the side which opens up a spot for another allrounder. Brandon King will make his debut at No. 4. The bowling attack is as expected.West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 John Campbell, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Brandon King, 5 Roston Chase (capt), 6 Shai Hope (wk), 7 Justin Greaves, 8 Jomel Warrican, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Shamar Joseph, 11 Jayden SealesAustralia opted to retain their traditional balance of three frontline quicks and a spinner supplemented by Beau Webster who can provide medium pace and offspin. Josh Inglis will cover for Smith at No. 4.Australia: 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Sam Konstas, 3 Cameron Green, 4 Josh Inglis, 5 Travis Head, 6 Beau Webster, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions: Dry grass, may turn later

Kensington Oval is an unknown for both sides in some respects given it has hosted just one Test in six years and none in the last three. In that game in 2022, Brathwaite batted for 710 minutes in a draw that arguably was a catalyst for England’s Bazball revolution. This surface looked an interesting one with a mixture of bare patches and areas of more grass, although it was dried out. In this season’s four-day Championship there were only two totals over 300 in 12 completed innings. After some rain in the build-up the forecast is promising for most of the game, with Saturday looking the mostly like to be hit by thunderstorms and showers. Chase termed it a “typical” Barbados surface and expected it to start slow before maybe gathering some pace.

Stats and trivia

• Roston Chase’s first Test as captain will be his 50th overall; Jomel Warrican will be playing his 100th first-class match
• Kraigg Brathwaite and Nathan Lyon are the only members of the two XIs that played in the last West Indies-Australia Bridgetown Test in 2012 which Australia won by three wickets.
• Australia have played 11 Tests in Bridgetown. They have won four overall including the last three.
• Despite the drought-breaking Gabba victory in 2024, West Indies have not won a home Test against Australia since the world-record fourth innings chase in 2003. They have not won a home series against Australia since 1991.

Quotes

“Coming over here with a few unknowns, that’s fine, you have to think on your feet. We feel like the three quicks are better suited for this wicket.”
“We’re looking to play with a bit more flair and bring back that Caribbean style to the game. And we’re just looking forward to making the Caribbean nation proud. I just want to ask the fans to just support the boys through and through.”

Aaron Hardie claimed two wickets in two balls while Josh Hazlewood also impressed on return

Andrew McGlashan21-Sep-2024Mitchell Starc made a dramatic entrance to the ODI series with a searing inswinging yorker to England captain Harry Brook, after Alex Carey had produced a match-changing innings as Australia, strengthened by the return of key names, went 2-0 up in the series with a convincing 68-run victory at Headingley.Starc’s brilliant set-up of Brook, which he capped off with a wicked delivery that thundered into his pad as he was beaten for pace, added to England’s early problems in a chase of 271 after Carey’s 74 provided crucial late runs to a curious Australia innings. A short while later the home side were 65 for 5 when Aaron Hardie claimed two wickets in two balls, including a brilliant caught-and-bowled to remove the in-form Ben Duckett, to leave them with a mountain to climb.Jamie Smith and Jacob Bethell stopped the bleeding with a stand of 55 before Bethell somehow managed to skew a short, wide long hop from Glenn Maxwell to backward point. The game was just about done when Smith clipped Josh Hazlewood to midwicket for a very neat 49 although England’s lower order showed there were few demons in the surface.Australia had been bowled out with more than five overs remaining, having been nine-down in the 37th over before a last-wicket stand of 49 between Carey, only playing due to Josh Inglis’ quad injury, and Hazlewood. But with the visitors having welcomed back Hazlewood and Starc from illness, it still felt as though it would be a considerable test of an England side still trying to reestablish their one-day credentials. The Test duo would finish with five between them.Hazlewood landed the ball on a handkerchief to give Phil Salt a working over – a tough chance was put down at second slip by Matt Short – and it was little surprise when Salt slashed an edge to Carey. In the next over Will Jacks drove expansively outside off stump against Starc and this time Short held on safely in the cordon.Starc, playing his first game since the T20 World Cup in June, then produced a classy over against Brook, barring a delivery on the pads that was clipped for four, probing away across the right-hander before going fuller, straighter and with sharp inswing to have Brook trapped in front of leg stump.Alex Carey pulls during his fighting half-century•AFP/Getty Images

Duckett had again played well, scooping Hazlewood over the keeper and sending a bottom-handed whip over the leg side for six, but toe-ended a slower ball to the left of Hardie who took a spectacular catch low to his left. Next ball Liam Livingstone glanced a leg-side delivery to Carey who took an excellent grab to his left and England’s frontline batting was nearly done.In the first half of the game, Australia were not as dominant with the bat as they had been at Trent Bridge. Mitchell Marsh and Marnus Labuschagne took them to 145 for 3 when Bethell and Adil Rashid, who claimed his 200th ODI wicket, took three quick wickets with another mini-collapse following a stand of 55 between Carey and Hardie.But Carey, who had been welcomed to the crease by a crowd needlessly reminding him of events last year, played smartly as he took singles late in an over to protect Hazlewood – who contributed just four to the stand – while exploiting boundary opportunities including handsome off-side sixes against Potts and Olly Stone.There had been movement for England’s new-ball attack, particularly Stone who was impressive after being recalled for the rested Jofra Archer, but Travis Head was just starting to move through his gears when he picked out deep backward square with a whip-pull off his hip. In his second spell, Potts nipped the ball both ways: movement away found Short’s edge then a peach of a delivery zipped back to take Smith’s off stump.Marsh and Labuschagne went about their task carefully and the run-rate slowed. They had to combat some sharp spin from Rashid, but Marsh flicked a switch with two sixes in three balls off the struggling Carse, the first a huge pull deep into the Western Terrace to take him to a 47-ball fifty and the second coming from a free hit after Carse overstepped.Adil Rashid claimed his 200th ODI wicket when he removed Glenn Maxwell•Getty Images

Then, much as it did for Australia two days ago, spin made an impact. Labuschagne spliced a pull against Bethell to mid-on and Marsh missed a sweep to give the left-armer his second. Maxwell pummeled his first ball from Bethell for six but picked out deep midwicket while attempting a repeat to hand Rashid his 200th ODI wicket.Carey and Hardie played positively as they took advantage of Brook’s decision to squeeze out some extra overs of spin, with Livingstone and Jacks going for 34 in three between them. A curious innings involved another twist when Carse’s day took a turn for the better. Recalled to the attack, he removed Hardie first ball with a pull spliced to midwicket and next delivery had Starc flicking into the leg side.When Adam Zampa carved Rashid to point it appeared the innings was on the brink of a very early finish but the final-wicket stand, coupled with Australia’s start with the ball, put a very different complexion on the game.