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The eight South African players involved in both IPL 2025 and the World Test Championship (WTC) final are expected to leave India by May 25, as per the initial NOCs issued to them.Kagiso Rabada (GT), Lungi Ngidi (RCB), Tristan Stubbs (DC), Aiden Markram (LSG), Ryan Rickelton, Corbin Bosch (both MI), Marco Jansen (PBKS) and Wiaan Mulder (SRH) will return home to South Africa before leaving for the United Kingdom on May 30 with the rest of the squad. That will rule them out of the rescheduled IPL playoffs which is an issue currently under discussion between CSA and the BCCI.ESPNcricinfo understands that given the importance of the WTC final, CSA is hopeful the BCCI will understand their decision to not extend NOCs for those players to June 3 but concerned that it will create tension in the relationship between the two boards. National coach Shukri Conrad and director of national teams and high performance Enoch Nkwe both said they understood that the May 25 deadline was still in place.Related

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“The initial agreement with IPL-BCCI was, with the final being on the 25th, our players would return on the 26th, so that it allows them ample time before we fly out on the 30th,” Conrad said in Johannesburg after South Africa announced their WTC final squad. “That is the ongoing conversations that are being had between people in a higher pay grade than I am – the director of cricket [Nkwe] and Pholetsi [Moselki, the CSA chief executive]. They’re dealing with that. We want our players back on the 26th and hopefully that comes to fruition.”Nkwe, at the same engagement, indicated talks were ongoing and CSA was hopeful the players would prioritise the WTC.”It is an individual decision, obviously, to return or to play or continue,” Nkwe said. “But one thing we’ve made it clear, and we are finalising that with IPL and BCCI, is sticking to our original plan when it comes to the WTC preparations, obviously with May 26 being the latest for the Test guys to come back.”South Africa will arrive in England on May 31 and then play Zimbabwe in a four-day warm-up match in Arundel from June 3, the day of the final of the IPL. The WTC final runs from June 11 to 15.GT, RCB, PBKS and MI are well-placed to finish in the top four in the IPL 2025 points table with DC also having a chance to make the playoffs. SRH are already knocked out of the race to the playoffs while LSG are on the brink of elimination.GT might miss Rabada for the playoffs while PBKS might be without Jansen, if CSA sticks to its initial agreement with the IPL.

Matheesha Pathirana was one of Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) great success stories in 2023, when he picked up 19 wickets in 12 games with an economy rate of 8.01. A hamstring injury curtailed his participation in 2024. In IPL 2025, it’s been nine wickets in eight games, a high economy rate of 10.40, and an average of 33.11.Part of the reason for the lack of success, kind of mirroring the season CSK have had, is a changed action.”I think it’s been pretty well documented that there was a bit of [an] action change,” Eric Simons, CSK bowling consultant, said after CSK lost to Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday to be eliminated from the playoffs race. “But I think he’s pretty much back to where he was, just in terms of the height of his arm on a reasonably consistent basis.”Related

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Stephen Fleming, CSK’s head coach, had seemed to suggest after CSK’s previous match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), that the action change had become evident in South Africa during the SA20 earlier this year and that Sri Lanka Cricket were possibly responsible for it.”Pathirana, in South Africa, he was way off. And yes, there was an issue with his action and that might be a question for Sri Lanka Cricket,” Fleming had said in a press conference. “But we’ll certainly look to try and get him back into form and get him back to what we think is his best action and his best opportunity at performing well.”He’s not far away. He’s made a massive improvement in the two months since South Africa. And we just hope he keeps making that improvement part of his evolution; he is going to try things, and be asked to try things, and he’ll settle at some point on an action that will give him the best results.”Pathirana’s worst day in office was against Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 20 at the Wankhede Stadium, when he came on to bowl the 14th over, conceded 14 runs chiefly to Rohit Sharma, and then got tonked for three sixes by Suryakumar Yadav in his next over, finishing with 1.4-0-34-0.2:10

Is CSK losing five times at home IPL’s biggest shocker?

“I’m not sure that he is less accurate. I think batsmen are playing him a lot better. We can certainly see a trend the way batsmen are playing against him. Particularly against Mumbai the other day, the technique they are using, they understand what his plans are [and] what he does,” Simons said. “So the evolution might just be: what’s next for him? Tactically, what he needs to do to keep evolving. Batsmen need to keep evolving. Bowlers need to keep evolving.”Again, tonight, his channels were quite good. His lines were quite good, obviously he got his lengths… you prefer a fuller length. But the batsmen are treating him differently this year. So it’s about the evolution of him, but if you check his accuracy, it’s not a reflection of the runs that were scored [off him].”He picked up the wickets of Nehal Wadhera and Shreyas Iyer against PBKS, but gave away 45 runs in his four overs.”It’s a feel thing for him,” Simons said, “much more than the conversation around his technique. We feel he’s pretty much back there.”

Shreyas Iyer called correctly as an unchanged Punjab Kings (PBKS) elected to bat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in IPL 2025.”The mindset has been to be aggressive from ball one,” he said. “We’ve seen that we don’t have a fantastic record in the powerplay, we have to see to it that we don’t have that at the back of the mind and play the ball on the merit.”We just need to stay in the present, be brave and bold with our approach and our attitude has to be top-notch. We have a fantastic few matches recently and need to repeat that.”PBKS are sitting pretty with three wins in four. SRH are seeking to overturn a string of four straight losses after opening the tournament with 286, the second-highest T20 total of all time.Fresh off a five-day break, SRH have handed a debut to Eshan Malinga in place of the ambidextrous allrounder Kamindu Mendis. A death bowler, like the OG Malinga, Eshan made his ODI debut for Sri Lanka earlier this year, and also impressed for Paarl Royals at the SA20. Harshal Patel was fit again and back in the bowling XI, having missed the last game because of an illness. Jaydev Unadkat had played on that occasion and goes out for today.”We feel like we can chase down anything,” Pat Cummins said. “It’s not been an ideal start but we’re training well and are in a good place. We try and destress, but it’s a long season. Things can turn quickly in T20s.”Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Pat Cummins (capt), 8 Eshan Malinga, 9 Zeeshan Ansari, 10 Harshal Patel, 11 Mohammed Shami
Impact player options: Abhinav Manohar, Sachin Baby, Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan MulderPunjab Kings: 1 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 2 Priyansh Arya, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nehal Wadhera, 5 Shashank Singh, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Lockie Ferguson
Impact player options: Suryansh Shedge, Pravin Dubey, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak

Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor, currently serving a three-and-half-year ban for breaching the ICC’s anti-corruption code, is eyeing an international comeback when his sanction ends in July.Taylor, 39, had initially considered a move into coaching but has been convinced to resume his playing career by Zimbabwe Cricket’s MD Givemore Makoni, with a view to playing the 2027 ODI World Cup, which Zimbabwe will co-host. Taylor will be eligible to play again on July 25 this year.”I still want to play and I believe I could make an impact as a player,” Taylor told ESPNcricinfo. “I look at where I’m at physically and mentally and if I didn’t feel I could do it, I wouldn’t bother. Givemore has really supported me on this. He sort of shut down the coaching role for now and said, ‘Can you play and try to push yourself up until the 2027 World Cup?’ Granted I’ll be 41 then but with sobriety, I’m living my truest form.”Related

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Taylor admitted to drug and alcohol addiction problem at the same time he revealed an approach by match-fixers to spot fix after they filmed him using cocaine. He was threatened with the video being made public if he did not cooperate with them. Instead of going through with the fix, Taylor abruptly retired from international cricket in September 2021 and did not reveal the reasons. He only reported the incident to the ICC four months later and made the story public in January 2022.At that point, Taylor also checked himself into a rehabilitation centre in Zimbabwe’s Nyanga region on the Mozambique border. He spent 90 days there, with one other patient and a sponsor who “showed me a new way to live”. He has since been clean and has started a private coaching facility at his home as well as, more recently, a gradual return to training.The conditions of his sanction mean Taylor cannot play any officially recognised cricket or train with domestic or international sides. Instead, he has been using facilities at an elite independent school, St John’s College in Harare, often twice a day.Brendan Taylor feels inspired by the likes of Sean Williams•Getty Images

“They’ve got some great grass nets and I spend a lot of time in the indoor high-performance centre there. I get in there nice and early, and I come back in the afternoon and do it all again and push myself,” Taylor said. “There’s lots of work to do, but I feel like I’m there. I’m not far off. I’ve been doing some batting, and I need to incorporate some fielding and some keeping work because I’ve got four months to go.”Although “it would have been great to be able to”, Taylor will not be cleared to play by the time of Zimbabwe’s Test in England in May – their first against that opposition in more than two decades. But he hopes to be in the plans for a home series against New Zealand in August.That will be followed by Zimbabwe’s hosting of the Africa Regional Qualifiers for next year’s T20 World Cup in September, though Taylor feels he has some work to do on his T20 game, where he has a strike rate of 123.96. “I see myself definitely playing Tests and ODIs. With T20s, that’s probably something I would have to really try and sharpen myself up at. But I look forward to that.”Should his comeback be successful, Taylor will be the fourth player in the Zimbabwe side in his late 30s, after Test and ODI captain Craig Ervine (39), T20I captain Sikandar Raza (38), and long-serving allrounder Sean Williams (also 38). It’s in watching their performances that Taylor has found the belief that he has something more to contribute.”That’s been inspiring to me. If you look statistically, they’re at the top of the game. They’re still some of the biggest contributors in the national side, and that’s really given me that hope and belief that I can do this,” he said. “And it’s also about me just adding real service to the group. It’s not an egotistical individual coming back trying to steal any headlines or anything like that. I’ve been humbled properly. I look forward to really just adding value, which I probably didn’t do to the best of my ability when I was there before.”Ultimately it’s the feeling of having unfinished business that is calling Taylor back to playing. “I wish I had offered a bit more to Zimbabwe cricket. I’ve apologised and moved forward from that and I want to work with them.”Taylor is also motivated by the idea of the home World Cup, especially as Zimbabwe have missed out on the last two ODI showpieces and he considers the 2015 tournament, where he was the fourth-highest run-scorer, the peak of his career.”Having a home World Cup is quite special and we’ve had some heartache over these last few World Cups so hopefully we can turn that around,” he said. ” The balance in our group is, I think, the best it has ever been and there’s a huge drive from Zimbabwe Cricket to get this right and get things in place. For Givemore, this World Cup means the whole world to him. He just wants to get this right and put on a good show and I want to be reciprocal in that.”

Match abandoned due to rain Befitting the latest chapter in this budding rivalry, there were wicked swings of momentum while a hobbled Australia batter at the crease evoked the wildest match in the short history between these teams.But in a great shame, Lahore’s inclement weather cut short a high-stakes contest that felt like it still had several twists ahead. Australia had been well placed at 109 for 1 after 12.5 overs chasing 274 before a downpour hit the ground. Rain eventually stopped but parts of the field were soaked and the match had to be abandoned.The teams shared the points and that was enough for Australia to progress through to the semi-finals after their second consecutive match was negated by rain. But Afghanistan saw their hopes of progression wash away as only an unlikely hefty South Africa defeat at the hands of England can keep their tournament alive.Chasing a tricky total under lights, Matthew Short came to the crease limping after picking up a quad injury in the field. Unable to run, he was clearly laboured and one wondered why he was even out there.Perhaps his one-legged presence was to spook Afghanistan and revive memories of Glenn Maxwell’s astonishing double-century at the 2023 World Cup – the last ODI between the teams.Travis Head and Steven Smith put on 65 before having to go off for rain•ICC/Getty Images

It wasn’t quite Maxwell-like, but Short’s stand-and-deliver innings did help Australia get off to a flier as he put on 44 inside five overs with Travis Head.But they were aided by sloppy Afghanistan fielding with Head dropped by Rashid Khan on 6 at mid-on after miscuing a pull off quick Fazalhaq Farooqi. He then smashed a six off the next ball to rub salt in the wounds.Short on 19 was given a reprieve by substitute Nangialai Kharoti at deep square leg as Afghanistan were getting flashbacks of Mumbai. But Short could not capitalise and fell off his next delivery when he hit Azmatullah Omarzai towards mid-on where Gulbadin Naib took a good catch before showing off his muscles in celebration.Head quickly regained Australia’s ascendency and pounced on wayward bowling from Farooqi, reaching his half-century off 34 balls. Stand-in skipper Steven Smith donned the cap once Afghanistan’s spinners entered the attack but Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad did not threaten. Rashid had yet to bowl by the time rain spoiled the party in the 13th over with Head on 59 off 40 and Smith unbeaten on 19.It ended what had been a topsy-turvy match, with Afghanistan’s innings of 273 from 50 overs a rollercoaster. They started well with No. 3 Sediqullah Atal dominating the first half of the innings with 85 off 95 balls before Omarzai blazed 67 off 63 to power Afghanistan in the back end. But their total could have been greater if not for several rash dismissals which derailed momentum at crucial junctures.Australia’s performance with the ball was also a mishmash. Once again life without the big three quicks of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood proved tough and their 37 extras was Australia’s joint-fifth-most conceded in ODI cricket.Sediqullah Atal dominated the first half of Afghanistan’s innings with 85 off 95 balls•ICC/Getty Images

With heavy rain lashing Lahore ahead of the match, there had been fears that the match might be completely rained out much like Australia’s clash with South Africa earlier in the week.But the weather cleared in the nick of time and Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had no hesitation to bat first on what was expected to be a flat surface. However, the ball moved around considerably on a pitch that had spent plenty of time under the covers in the lead-up.Left-arm quick Spencer Johnson retained his spot in the team ahead of seam-bowling allrounder Sean Abbott despite being overlooked in the death overs against England.Having long drawn comparisons with Starc, Johnson would have made his mentor beam when he unfurled a deadly inswinging yorker that went through the defence of Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the opening over.Johnson isn’t a noted exponent of the full-pitch delivery, with back-of-a-length bowling more his prowess. But he was wayward after his initial breakthrough and a flustered Smith could not contain his annoyance as the extras leaked.All eyes were on Ibrahim Zadran after his record-breaking Champions Trophy knock of 177 against England. He and Atal were in survival mode early as the ball flew past the bat on numerous occasions, but they held firm in a 67-run partnership to see off the new-ball threat.After all that fight, Zadran didn’t kick on and he fell tamely on 22 when he whacked a short and wide delivery off legspinner Adam Zampa straight to backward point. Maxwell supported Zampa well and picked up Rahmat Shah after a sharp catch by Josh Inglis behind the stumps as Afghanistan slumped to 91 for 3.Azmatullah Omarzai kept Afghanistan going even as wickets fell at the other end•ICC/Getty Images

Atal was unperturbed by the predicament and decided to force the issue against the spinners, targeting deep midwicket to good effect as he smashed a six to reach his half-century in style off 64 balls.Atal was on a roll and successfully collared Zampa out of the attack. He did have luck on 74 when a big lbw shout from seamer Nathan Ellis was turned down. Australia did not review in the belief that the ball pitched outside leg stump, but replays confirmed otherwise.Australia were not made to pay after Smith made his latest successful bowling change by reverting back to Johnson, who ended Atal’s bid for a second ODI century when he hit straight to cover.With Atal’s free-flowing innings dashed, Afghanistan went through a lull in the middle overs with the culprit being Shahidi who dawdled to 20 off 48 before miscuing a sweep off Zampa to square leg. His strike rate of 40.81 was the third lowest by an Afghan batter in ODIs (min 40 balls faced) in this decade.Australia so far in this tournament have banked on batting depth, but they’ve had part-time spinners step up. Against England it was Marnus Labuschagne’s legspin, while Short stepped up here to concede just 21 runs from seven extremely handy overs.Afghanistan spiralled and lost Nabi to a comical run-out as they slid to 199 for 7 and seemed to be falling well short of a competitive score. But Omarzai took over by farming the strike and his power-hitting saw five mighty blows sail over the rope, three off Ellis who is normally so proficient at the death.There was an unusual incident late in the innings that could have blown up when Noor drifted from his crease believing the over was done only for Inglis to take the bails off after the throw came in from the deep. Inglis appealed for a run-out only for Smith to nip a potential controversial moment in the bud by telling the umpires not to consider the appeal.The moment proved a non-event to foreshadow what was ahead later in the night.

Travis Head will replace Sam Konstas at the top of Australia’s batting order for the first Sri Lanka Test despite the teenager’s heroics in the triumphant India series.Captain Steven Smith would not rule out finding a place for Konstas elsewhere in the order for the match that begins in Galle on Wednesday, with a vacancy now open at No. 5.Related

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Konstas impressed in his first two Tests to help Australia secure a first series win over India in a decade. But Head’s supreme efforts as an opener on the previous subcontinent tour in 2023 were enough to win him the spot next to Usman Khawaja.Head averaged 55.75 runs across two-and-a-half Tests replacing David Warner on that India tour, two years ago.”He did really nicely in India against the new ball. He put spinners under pressure immediately and we know how well he hits the seam as well if they come with that,” Smith said. “It’s going to be good fun watching him.”Konstas’s inexperience appears to have worked against him in the selection conversation, with the 19-year-old embarking on his first subcontinent tour. Smith said Australia would have to select its XI with the conditions in mind.”Just playing what’s in front of us, it’s quite different to back home on the surfaces we’ve been playing on there where it’s very pace dominant,” he said. “We’d imagine this is going to be quite spin dominant.”Specialist opener Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Cooper Connolly and Josh Inglis appear to be fighting it out for the middle-order vacancy created by Head’s promotion.Travis Head prepares for the Test series in Galle•Getty Images

Inglis is uncapped at Test level but has averaged 72.60 across three matches for Western Australia this summer and would bring a similar positive intent to Head. McSweeney averaged only 14.40 on a tough assignment in his first three Test matches, facing Indian pace ace Jasprit Bumrah out of position as an opener.The South Australia captain batted in the middle order in his 30 Sheffield Shield appearances and made an unbeaten 127 earlier in the summer. Uncapped 21-year-old Connolly appears the longest odds with only four first-class games to his name but is rated highly within the Cricket Australia hierarchy.Connolly and McSweeney each provide part-time off-spin options – advantageous on a Galle wicket that could turn from day one.”We’ll have another look at the wicket and from there we’ll name the team at the toss,” Smith said. “We’ve got all the options available to us. We’ll see how we go.”Australia won’t rule out taking two front-line quicks and two spinners rather than three spinners, despite expectations of a turning wicket. Scott Boland and Sean Abbott are both pace options but Smith is equally confident in medium-pace allrounder Beau Webster taking the new ball alongside veteran quick Starc.”He stands the seam up really nicely, hits good areas. Whether it’s him opening the bowling with Mitchell Starc or a spinner opening, there’s always plenty of options there,” Smith said. “There’s lots of considerations: Two fast-bowlers, one fast-bowler. Couple of spinners, three spinners, two spinners, allrounders.”Left-arm offspinner Matthew Kuhnemann will be available for selection only two weeks after dislocating his thumb of his non-bowling hand in the Big Bash League.”We’re kind of a bit gobsmacked,” Smith said. “Either he’s a tremendous actor or he’s got great pain tolerance.”Smith won’t need strapping on his elbow after a minor BBL injury of his own healed “much better than expected”. But he will be unable to throw in the field.”Fortunately, this part of the world I’ll be parked in the slips for the entire time,” Smith said. “If I have to chase one to the boundary, hopefully one of my mates comes with me.”

Hitting the winning run in a Test match that takes you to a half-century on debut. Walking off alongside England’s all-time leading run-scorer, Joe Root. Sunday was just another of a series of bucket-list moments for Jacob Bethell.Since September, the 21-year-old has enjoyed life in England’s priority lane, ticking off T20I and ODI caps against Australia and West Indies, registering three white-ball half-centuries against the latter. This first against the red was right out of his limited-overs playbook, taking just 37 deliveries, as the tourists chased 104 inside 13 overs to beat New Zealand by eight wickets in Christchurch. They take a 1-0 lead to Wellington.”[It was] a hell of a lot of fun yeah,” Bethell said. “And to walk off with Rooty [who made 23 off 15] at the end there was pretty special.”To come out in the second innings and have a chance to walk off with an England win was at the forefront of my mind and luckily I was able to do that.”Related

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The second-innings speed run was in keeping with how England attack smaller targets. Barring a thick inside edge to get him off the mark, the other eight boundaries were real statements shots. Especially a pull for six on to the grass banks of the Hagley Oval off fellow debutant Nathan Smith.Smith did not take kindly to Bethell’s onslaught, having copped four boundaries off the left-hander in his first over, and went to bouncers. Bethell, however, is no stranger to short-pitched bowling. He was reared on it as a kid born in Barbados and later raised the UK – a scholarship to Rugby School brought him over aged 12 – as a regular target of the intimidatory tactics of bigger kids.”I was very small growing up so I didn’t really get a lot in my half up until I was about 16 or 17 when I got a bit bigger,” he said. “I never had as much power on it but I could still play it well. And now it’s just a decision on whether to hit it on the ground or hit it for six.”Such confidence, delivered with a mixed Bajan and Brummie accent that has a distinctly Welsh feel – which almost makes sense as the crow flies – is why England had no qualms placing him at No. 3. Even his first innings was met with something of a shrug.Conditions were tough, New Zealand’s seamers up and at them. Bethell backed himself, but managed just 10 from 34 balls – only getting off the mark with his 13th, still on one after 26 – before Smith snicked him off. Root’s dismissal then had England reeling on 45 for 3 at lunch on day two.”That’s part of the game, isn’t it?” Bethell said, like he’d been here before. “I saw it [as] if I got through to lunch, it looked like a different pitch after lunch. It does help when you’ve got Harry Brook batting, he makes it look quite easy.”I think it could have been a different story, I battled hard and unluckily didn’t make it through to lunch but another day you get through and go on to make a big one.”Ben Stokes singled out those 34 deliveries after the match rather than the half-century, clearly buoyed by the way someone so young owned his space during those first 49 minutes as a Test batter. “If he sticks to having that attitude, that swagger about him, I’m pretty sure he’s going to be alright,” Stokes said.Bethell’s selection for the tour outright was a huge show of faith, picked as the spare batter despite a first class average of 25.44 from 30 innings – none of which had come higher than No. 5. Not that he was worried.”Pretty much every time I’ve played against better people, I’ve played better,” he said. “Step up to the Hundred, played better. Straight into internationals, played better. I didn’t really have a doubt in my mind that coming into Test cricket that I’d have done well.”The strut, the talk, the arrogance, reinforced by what was only his sixth first-class fifty, could see Bethell retain this new spot for the series. It would require Ollie Pope to keep the gloves and stay at No. 6, meaning Durham wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson, who arrived on Saturday as Jordan Cox’s injury replacement, waiting his turn.England still regard Pope as their No. 3, and the man himself spoke forcefully that he still wants to make the position his own after his innings-saving 77 on day two. It is clear Pope wants that spot back for series against India and Australia next year.Bethell, however, is hopeful he gets a chance to show he can thrive up top, something he wants to do at Warwickshire but has not yet been able to make a solid case for.”I like batting up the order so, yeah, I was really happy that opportunity arose,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to bat in the top four so three is perfect.Bethell his eight fours and a six in his maiden Test fifty•AFP/Getty Images

“I think my game is fit to play any style. On Sunday we saw a bit more of an attacking style. I can also absorb a bit of pressure, so I’m sure at times in my career there will be times to do that as well.”As a multi-format batter already, inevitably there will come a time when Bethell is pulled a few different ways. It may already be happening.Following the conclusion of this Test series, he will head to Australia to fulfill his overseas commitments with Melbourne Renegades. And just last week, he was one of 12 English players picked up in the IPL mega auction, earning a maiden gig with Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a tidy sum of £245,000. It will also see him miss the first seven rounds of Warwickshire’s County Championship campaign.He will join England team-mates Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone at RCB. No surprises, though, for guessing who he is most looking forward to rubbing shoulders with.”It’s a bit of a given, isn’t it?” Bethell said, with a wry smile. “Virat! He’s a great of the game so… King Kohli.”Like all young players at the premier franchise competition, he wants to be a sponge. “Any kind of overseas player that’s gone over there has come back with a wealth of experience.”But this first taste of the longest format has him craving more. With an Ashes tour on the horizon – England’s successful 2010-11 tour was his formative series – this format, and this team, are where he wants to truly establish himself.”It’s everything I’ve dreamed of to be honest,” Bethell said of Test cricket. “Since I was a little kid I’ve always dreamed of playing Test cricket, I remember watching the Ashes, and just any England Tests on TV and wanting to be a part of it.”And then since Baz [Brendon McCullum] took over with Stokesy, I’ve always watched it on TV and gone ‘how fun that does that look’ and it lived up to expectation. It was so fun.”

Matthew Wade has announced his retirement from international cricket and will immediately transition into a coaching role with Australia for the T20I series against Pakistan next month.Wade was part of Australia’s side at the T20 World Cup in June and it had been expected that tournament would mark the end of his international career after he was overlooked for the tour of the UK in September. In March he had retired from red-ball cricket after Tasmania’s run to the Sheffield Shield final.Related

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Wade will continue to play in the BBL for Hobart Hurricanes and some franchise tournaments around the world. He will also now work with what is a reasonably youthful Australia T20I squad which will be coached by Andre Borovec while Andrew McDonald and his other assistants preparing for the Test series against India. Wade will also spend time with Australia’s coaching group during the ODI series in an unofficial capacity.”I was fully aware my international days were most likely over at the end of the last T20 World Cup. My international retirement and coaching has been a constant conversation with George [Bailey] and Andrew [McDonald] over the past six months,” Wade said.”Coaching has been on my radar over the last few years and thankfully some great opportunities have come my way, for which I am very grateful and excited.”Overall, Wade played 36 Tests, 97 ODIs and 92 T20Is for Australia between 2011 and 2024. He was a key figure in their T20 World Cup title in the UAE in 2021 where he became a finisher, hitting an unbeaten 41 off 17 balls in the semi-final against Pakistan.Finest hour: Matthew Wade was a star of Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup title•ICC via Getty Images

“As my international career closes, I want to thank all of my Australian team-mates, staff and coaches,” he said. “I enjoyed the ride as challenging as it can be at international level. Without good people around me I would have never got as much out of myself as I did.”I also thank my family, mum, dad and sisters for the countless hours they put in over the years getting me to games and training.”Lastly to Julia and the kids. I can’t thank them enough for the sacrifices they have made for me to continue to pursue my dreams. No words can explain how grateful I am to them, none of this would have happened without their support.”Wade’s Test career ended in 2021, during India’s previous tour, after he had made a successful return to the side as a specialist batter for the 2019 Ashes where he scored two centuries. His last ODI also came in 2021 when he briefly returned to the team after a gap of four years during the tour of West Indies in the Covid period.”Congratulations to Matthew on what has been a wonderful international career during which his skill and versatility has made him an outstanding performer across all formats,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said.”I’m delighted he will add to his massive contribution by coaching the next generation of stars and also continuing to light up the Big Bash with the Hobart Hurricanes.”

Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie put on a record-breaking 119-run ninth-wicket stand, before Motie and Alzarri Joseph struck once apiece inside the powerplay. Aside from these stretches of dominance though, Sri Lanka ran away with the game.Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Asitha Fernando had sent West Indies crashing to 58 for 8, before that ninth-wicket resistance came. Then, after the loss of two early wickets, Sri Lanka recovered through a 62-run partnership between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Nishan Madushka, before the in-form Charith Asalanka came in to produce a fluent half-century, and take Sri Lanka to a substantial victory, and another series victory under his fledgling captaincy.Though the pitch for this 44-over match – drizzle had delayed the start by two hours – was exceedingly spin friendly (it was the same track used for Sunday’s game), 190 was always going to be a challenge to defend. Where Sri Lanka’s spinners were able to be consistently menacing, often getting significant turn even off faster deliveries, West Indies’ slow bowlers did not quite have the same impact.Motie was their best slow bowler, conceding only 18 from his nine overs, and taking the wicket of Kusal Mendis. But legspinner Hayden Walsh was underwhelming, guilty of pitching far too short and being picked off – he went for 41 runs off his five overs. Roston Chase was also only moderately effective. In fact it was seamer Alzarri Joseph who collected the innings’ best figures of 2 for 30.Although Hasaranga would go on to get more wickets, it was Theekshana who was the best of Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers, and Theekshana who set the collapse in motion with a gorgeous offbreak that beat the outside of left-hander Alick Athanaze’s bat and clip off stump. The offbreak turned big on this surface, and he threatened both right-handers and left-handers with it, going to the carrom ball only occasionally. The lines Theekshana bowled were mostly impeccable.Later, a big offbreak would sneak between Keacy Carty’s bat and pad and rattle his stumps as well, before a slider beat the wild reverse-swipe that Walsh attempted off Theekshana in the 15th over. He collected figures of 3 for 25 off nine overs.Hasaranga’s googlies were doing their usual damage, with Chase suckered in by one that was flighted beautifully. Hasaranga had to work less hard for the wickets of Romario Shepherd, and Alzarri Joseph, who didn’t fancy picking him. He’d take the final wicket of the innings too, getting Jayden Seales caught and bowled, and took home the game’s best figures of 4 for 40.Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie put on a record 119 runs for the ninth wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Fernando’s 3 for 35 was especially impressive on a track that did not favour him. He dismissed Brandon King with a surprise bouncer that King played at too early, before bowling Shai Hope with a slightly back of a length delivery that the batter dragged on to his stumps. That he broke the big Rutherford-Motie stand was also significant, even if the wicket of Rutherford came off a low full toss.In fact, Rutherford had been struggling terribly before Motie joined him at the crease in the 16th over and provided the early impetus for their partnership. The No. 10 struck important boundaries, off Hasaranga especially, and by the end of the 25th over had 35 runs to Rutherford’s 33, though Rutherford had been there longer and faced more balls.This is the point at which Rutherford began to attack however, having earlier seemed bewildered by every spinner Sri Lanka employed against him. There were suddenly sixes down the ground and on the legside from Rutherford – one hoick over deep square leg off Asalanka’s bowling taking him to his half century, off 57 balls. He continued to hit out until he was caught on the deep square leg boundary in the 35th over, having hit four sixes and seven fours. His 80 off 82 was the highest score in the game.Later, after Samarawickrama and Madushka – both of whom made 38 – had lifted Sri Lanka out of immediate danger, Asalanka’s entry into the game sent them smoothly off towards the five-wicket victory that would eventuate with 34 balls remaining.The hallmark of a good Asalanka innings is his early boundary-striking ability, and so it was here – spotting a full delivery outside off from the opposition’s best seamer second ball, Asalanka creamed it through point for four. In Joseph’s next over, Asalanka crashed him through square leg and drilled him through cover for two more fours, having also slog-swept Roston Chase for a boundary in between. In a flash he was on 20 off 14.Though the tempo slowed, he got to his half century off the 48th ball he faced, and went on to shepherd Sri Lanka home, remaining not out on 62 off 61 balls.

If five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) want, they can retain their former captain and talisman MS Dhoni as an uncapped player.This is because the IPL has decided to bring back a rule that it had started in 2008, allowing Indian players who had retired from international cricket at least five years before the relevant season to go into the auction as uncapped players. The rule was scrapped in 2021. However, during the broader discussion on uncapped players, the IPL informed the franchises that it was reviving the rule.In a media release on Saturday, the IPL said: “A capped Indian player will become uncapped if he has, in the five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant season is held, not played in the starting XI in international cricket and does not have a central contract with BCCI. This will be applicable for Indian players only.”Related

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Ahead of the 2022 mega auction, Dhoni was retained as the second player by CSK for INR 12 crore. Dhoni, who turned 43 in July, last played an international match at the 2019 ODI World Cup. In case, CSK want to retain him as an uncapped player, they can do so by spending just INR 4 crore.The question of whether Dhoni will continue to play in the IPL or not has been doing the rounds for the last few seasons. After a knee surgery in 2023, he handed over the CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of IPL 2024 and played a limited role with the bat, coming in late in the innings as a boundary-hitter. More recently, at an event, Dhoni said he and CSK would wait for the player retention rules to be finalised before taking a decision on his future as a player.