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The left-arm quick spent the last two months on the road, playing in the ILT20 and the PSL

Matt Roller20-Mar-2024David Willey will miss the start of IPL 2024, where he was due to play for Lucknow Super Giants, due to personal reasons. The English left-arm seamer spent the last two IPL seasons with Royal Challengers Bangalore and was due to play for LSG this year after he was signed at his base price of INR 2 crore (£190,000 approx) in December’s auction in Dubai.But Justin Langer, LSG’s new head coach, revealed on Wednesday that Willey would not be available for the start of the season, after spending the last two months on the road, representing Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Multan Sultans in the ILT20 and the PSL respectively.Related

• Shamar joins LSG after ECB pulls Mark Wood out

• Spotlight on Rahul's batting position as LSG start afresh under Langer

ESPNcricinfo understands that Willey has not yet been replaced in the squad and could yet travel to India at some stage in the tournament. But he has been away from home for most of the English winter, having played at the World Cup in India, and he returned to the UK after playing in Monday’s PSL final.Willey is the second Englishman who is unavailable for the start of LSG’s season, after Mark Wood was pulled out by the ECB for the whole campaign to manage his workload ahead of the T20 World Cup. Wood has been replaced by Shamar Joseph, the West Indies fast bowler, while Willey has not yet been replaced.”With Mark Wood pulling out of the tournament and also David Willey won’t be coming now either, that means we lack some experience,” Langer said, when asked about LSG’s pace attack. “But what I’ve also seen in the last couple of days is that we have enormous talent. Some of our guys have had some injuries but they all look very fit at the moment.”They look fit and healthy and they’re very hungry, so we’ll just have to manage them well so that we can get them through and work through the whole tournament, not just the start of the tournament. We’ve got one overseas player up our sleeve if required, where we might be able to add some experience.”Langer also name-checked the 21-year-old Delhi seamer Mayank Yadav as a genuine fast bowler who could provide some pace in Wood’s absence. “Mark Wood is a world-class bowler, isn’t he? And he pulled out after the auction, which is disappointing but this is the world we live in,” Langer said.”We also have Shamar Joseph, we have Mayank who bowls with very good pace. Hopefully we can replace, not [Wood’s] experience, but his pace with Shamar Joseph and Mayank. He’ll be missed – of course he’ll be missed, he’s a world-class bowler – but this is the world we live in and we will adapt and we will be okay.”LSG will travel to Jaipur this week ahead of their opening match of IPL 2024, against Rajasthan Royals in an afternoon game on Sunday.

India will face the winner of Thursday’s clash between Bangladesh and Pakistan, while Sri Lanka are out of contention now

Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Sep-20251:20

Chopra: Very little the bowlers could do against Abhishek

India are in the final of Asia Cup 2025, where they will meet the winner of Thursday’s Super Fours clash between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Sri Lanka are out of contention, and their game against India on Friday is now a dead rubber.India sealed their place in the final with a 41-run win over Bangladesh that was, for the victors, both comfortable and discomfiting. Bangladesh never really looked in contention at any point during their chase of 169, with their limitations as a T20 side exposed by the depth and variety of India’s bowling. But they would feel they should have made a much better fist of that target, after their bowlers had done brilliantly to haul India back when Abhishek Sharma had seemingly put them on course for 200 and beyond.Related

• The relentlessness of Abhishek and the ruthlessness of Bumrah

• Aaron: 'Axar ahead of Samson? I do not understand it'

• Abhishek Sharma is on his way to becoming an elite six-hitter

• Shaheen Afridi brushes off criticism as Pakistan eye Asia Cup final

Abhishek continued his magnificent tournament, following up his 39-ball 74 against Pakistan with a 37-ball 75, but India struggled when he wasn’t at the crease.Their innings followed a pattern not unlike Pakistan’s against their bowlers on Sunday: a strong start followed by a dramatic slowdown when the ball became older and harder to time. India scored 95 runs in overs 3-11, when Abhishek ran rampant, and just 73 runs in the 12 overs either side of that stretch.In the end, Abhishek’s innings proved the difference between the teams. Bangladesh didn’t have anyone in their line-up with that level of relentless boundary-hitting ability, even if Saif Hassan showed the promise in their ranks, hitting five sixes in a 51-ball 69.

Bangladesh begin brightly

Bangladesh could have dismissed Abhishek for 7 off 8 in the third over, had the wicketkeeper held on to an edge off Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who came into an XI with as many as four changes, and bowled brilliantly with the new ball, swinging it prodigiously while also hitting the deck hard.The wicketkeeper who shelled that chance – and Bangladesh’s captain on the night – was Jaker Ali, standing in for Litton Das who was ruled out with a side strain.That moment ended the first chapter of this match, which Bangladesh dominated without quite being able to separate Abhishek and Shubman Gill. Tanzim had beaten Gill’s bat twice in the first over, and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed had used his swinging arm ball cleverly to take the ball away from Abhishek’s hitting arc in the second. By the end of the third over, India were still going at less than a run a ball.

Abhishek and Gill take over

Gill began the counterattack by stepping out to the first two balls of the fourth over and hitting Nasum for four and six. That began a torrent of boundary-hitting that Bangladesh seemed powerless to stop. Abhishek looked unstoppable once he got to grips with the conditions, hitting Mustafizur Rahman for two sixes in the fifth over, peppering the off-side boundary with four fours off Mohammad Saifuddin in the sixth, and carrying on in similar vein beyond the powerplay.In all, Abhishek hit five sixes and jumped to joint No. 7 on India’s all-time T20I six-hitting charts. He has now hit 58 sixes in just 21 innings; Suresh Raina, with whom he drew level, hit 58 in 66 innings.2:57

Chopra questions India’s batting order logic

Experimental India slow down

India were 112 for 2 at the start of the 12th over, and Bangladesh seemed powerless to stop Abhishek. But they did, via a run out manufactured by Rishad Hossain’s brilliance at backward point. He dived to his left to stop a dab from Suryakumar Yadav and sprang up, ready to throw in one motion, leaving Abhishek with little chance of regaining his ground at the non-striker’s end.That moment changed the complexion of the game, exposing India’s middle order to an issue that has troubled every line-up in these conditions in the UAE – the difficulty of starting innings against the old ball. Bangladesh’s bowlers did their bit too, with Mustafizur, Tanzim and Saifuddin finding plenty of purchase with their slower cutters and with Nasum varying his pace cleverly, and India only scored 56 runs across their last nine overs. Hardik Pandya, who was out off the last ball of the innings for 38 off 29, did the bulk of the scoring.India’s slide looked worse for coming against the backdrop of batting-order changes that didn’t come off on the day. India promoted Shivam Dube to No. 3, and sent in Hardik, Tilak Varma and Axar Patel above Sanju Samson, who did not get to bat at all.Handshakes all around after India completed an easy win•AFP/Getty Images

Saif wages lone fight as Bangladesh fade away

Bangladesh seemed in with a real chance at the halfway mark, but the required rate kept slipping further and further away from their reach. Jasprit Bumrah, once again bowling three overs in the powerplay, struck in his first over, and looked close to unhittable with the new ball, finding prodigious swing and at one stage beating Parvez Hossain Emon’s bat six times in eight balls.And then, just as Emon had seemed to shrug off that early struggle with a six off Bumrah and a pair of swept fours off Varun Chakravarthy, he fell while miscuing a slog-sweep in Kuldeep Yadav’s first over, the seventh of the innings.Then it became a game of two ends. At one end, Saif showed off his hitting range, particularly off Axar whom he hit for three sixes. At the other, batters came and went, with Jaker’s run-out dismissal in the 13th over, while trying to steal a quick single to get Saif to his fifty, effectively bringing Bangladesh’s challenge to an end.All that remained was for Kuldeep to pull off his customary two-wickets-in-two-balls trick, for India’s fielders to shell a series of catches to extend Saif’s innings into the 18th over, for Bumrah to come back and pick up a second wicket, and finally for part-timer Tilak to roll his arm over and end the match with three balls to spare.

Afghanistan lost their last six wickets for only 21 runs, crumbling swiftly on a slow and used Sharjah surface

Himanshu Agrawal09-Nov-2024First, Afghanistan’s spin quartet ended with combined figures of 38-0-144-7. Bangladesh’s trio replied with 21.3-2-72-5. But where Afghanistan’s quicks bowled 12 overs for 108 runs without a single wicket, Bangladesh’s fast bowlers were more incisive with four wickets in 22 overs, which went for only 111. That was the difference in the end as Afghanistan fell 68 short in their pursuit of 253 and Bangladesh levelled the three-match series with one game to play.Bangladesh’s win was set up by captain Najmul Hossain Shanto’s 76. When Shanto fell on his 119th ball in the 41st over of the first innings, his innings appeared to be too slow. But the value of his runs was visible when the Afghanistan batters struggled to get going, justifying that batting wasn’t easy on a slow and used Sharjah surface. Six of Afghanistan’s top eight scored at least 14, but only one could go on to score a half-century. Rahmat Shah’s 76-ball 52 remained the highest.Afghanistan’s chase of 253 began in sedate fashion. The Bangladesh quicks started with tight lines and lengths with the new ball swinging, but their first two breakthroughs were down to some fantastic catches. Soumya Sarkar anticipated a ball rushing onto him at wide slip to have Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught off Taskin Ahmed, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz – at square leg – leapt and plucked one to send Sediqullah Atal back off Nasum Ahmed’s first ball.Atal departed for 39, ending a 52-run second-wicket partnership with Rahmat, but his dismissal started a sequence where Nasum and Mahmudullah kept a check on Afghanistan, conceding only 19 runs across the next seven overs.Mehidy took over captaincy duties after Shanto had to leave the field with a hand injury, and brought himself back to bowl in the 24th over. One over past the halfway mark, Afghanistan’s required rate had crossed six runs an over, and the slide began in the 29th.Mustafizur Rahman had Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi caught at fine leg for a 40-ball 17 and then Nasum bowled Azmatullah Omarzai for his second duck of the series with a beautiful ball which turned away to hit off stump.Three balls later, Rahmat paid the price for a mix-up with Gulbadin Naib, who pushed one to cover and called. With Naib watching the fielder, Rahmat was halfway down the pitch, and ultimately both ended up running towards Jaker Ali, the debutant wicketkeeper. Jaker, playing in place of the injured Mushfiqur Rahim, threw the ball to Nasum at the other end and Rahmat was well short.Thus, Afghanistan lost three wickets in the space of six deliveries, and although Naib swung his bat around for an entertaining 26, and added 44 for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi, his dismissal left the rest with too much to do. They lost their last five wickets for only 21 runs and folded for 184 in 43.4 overs.That batting performance made Shanto’s half-century and Jaker’s death-overs batting cameo look even better. Bangladesh had lost Tanzid Hasan early in the afternoon, but Shanto and Soumya accelerated. Despite a Shanto slowdown after the powerplay, Bangladesh made 82 in 14 overs.However, it took a further 23 overs to get another 82 for Bangladesh, despite losing only two more wickets in that period. All four of Afghanistan’s spinners – Rashid, Nabi, Nangeyalia Kharote and AM Ghazanfar – operated during that phase, and conceded just two fours and a six.Rashid broke the 71-run second-wicket partnership between Shanto and Soumya when he trapped the latter lbw. Soumya, on 35, didn’t review despite a consultation, and later saw the replays show the ball had pitched outside the line.In all, Shanto took 75 balls to get to his half-century, which he completed halfway into the 28th over. Both Mehidy and Shanto struggled to put the Afghanistan spinners away, and had to rely on their running between the wickets amid a plethora of dots. In the 32nd over, Shanto was given out lbw on 55 off Ghazanfar, but he reviewed and overturned the decision.But Rashid broke the 53-run stand when he cleaned Mehidy up with a googly next over. With 12 overs to go and Bangladesh on 174, Bangladesh were on course for a strong finish but with Shanto slow but Kharote struck three times in the next three overs to dent their cause. Towhid Hridoy, Shanto and Mahmudullah all departed in quick succession.But Jaker and Nasum ensured Bangladesh would post a competitive score. The last six overs were taken for 60 runs, as Nasum started the fun with a slog sweep for six off Kharote. When Afghanistan switched to pace in the 47th over, Jaker bashed Fazalhaq Farooqi for back-to-back sixes, with one landing over the roof beyond deep midwicket. Nasum hit 25 at just better than a run a ball, while Jaker put the finishing touch. The debutant ensured Bangladesh crossed 250.

The series will be played from April 27 to May 11 in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2025Sri Lanka will host India and South Africa for a women’s ODI tri-series in April and May, the SLC announced on Thursday. This tri-series was not part of the Future Tours Programme originally.Each team will play the others twice – making it four matches per team – before the top two teams play the final. The series will start with hosts Sri Lanka taking on India. All of them will be day games, played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo from April 27 to May 11.Sri Lanka are currently on a white-ball tour of New Zealand, while most of India’s players are participating in the WPL at home. Some South African players are also at the WPL. Until this tri-series was announced, South Africa’s next international assignment was a tour of the West Indies in June.This tri-series will give the three teams extra prep time in the lead up to the ODI World Cup in October this year in India.Sri Lanka are currently the Asia Cup champions, while South Africa had reached the semi-finals of the last ODI World Cup, in 2022, after knocking India out in the league stages. India are, however, the highest-ranked of the three at third – South Africa are fourth and Sri Lanka seventh – in the ICC ODI rankings.

Sri Lanka women’s tri-series schedule

April 27, Sri Lanka vs India
April 29, India vs South Africa
May 1, Sri Lanka vs South Africa
May 4, Sri Lanka vs India
May 6, South Africa vs India
May 8, Sri Lanka vs South Africa
May 11, final

Scotland came close to making history, but the power and depth in Australia’s batting ultimately proved to be too much

Andrew McGlashan16-Jun-20244:16

Finch on Australia’s six drops: They were uncharacteristically sloppy

Scotland could almost touch a history-making moment. Australia’s asking rate was approaching 13 going into the final seven overs of their chase in what, until then, had been an underwhelming performance. But Marcus Stoinis, with help from Travis Head and later Tim David, shattered their dreams and in turn left England breathing a sigh of relief in Antigua, the result securing their Super Eight berth in the T20 World Cup 2024.Stoinis, who mixed deftness and power in another impressive performance in what is becoming an outstanding tournament for him, put it back in Australia’s favour with a 25-ball half-century while Head turned on the afterburners after compiling a somewhat sedate 45-ball fifty with three sixes off consecutive legitimate deliveries.Although both departed, Australia entered the last over needing just five but there was one final twist. With three needed off four balls, David was dropped at deep midwicket by Chris Sole and with that went Scotland’s last hope. The next ball was sent into the stands.For three-quarters of the contest, Scotland had been outstanding. Their platform was laid by a blistering display from Brandon McMullen on one of the better batting surfaces of the tournament so far. Australia, who shelled six chances in a poor fielding display, clawed it back in the second 10 overs but in their powerplay were held to 36 for 2 by some excellent bowling. However, ultimately the depth and power of their batting order was too much leaving a host of emotions across two islands.

Deftness and power from Stoinis

Australia could not get up or ahead of the asking rate through the first half of the innings. When Glenn Maxwell, who had struck one six over long-on, was defeated by a wonderful delivery from Mark Watt, which pitched on off stump and straightened, Scotland were buoyant and there was a sense that Australia could pay for being off the pace.However, Stoinis got away from his first ball with the help of a misfield, square cutting one of Watt’s 24-yard deliveries. So often known for sheer brute force, he then deftly reverse-swept Michael Leask from the first delivery of the next over and looked on his game. Still, the requirement had become a demanding 87 off 39 balls when Stoinis took down Leask with a reverse-hit six over point then another down the ground.When Head slammed three sixes off Safyaan Sharif the tide had firmly turned; at one stage a series of 12 legitimate deliveries brought 46 runs. Sharif did strike back to have Head taken at long-off, but Australia had given themselves breathing room.Brandon McMullen struck six sixes in his knock•ICC/Getty Images

Scotland’s Bazball

Having been put in, it took Scotland a couple of overs to size up conditions and midway through the third they were still to reach double figures. That changed when McMullen lofted Nathan Ellis stylishly over long off. Even better was to follow as he used his feet against Mitchell Starc and flayed him into the stands over cover.When Adam Zampa was introduced he showed excellent footwork to send him for six, then drive through the off side against a shorter delivery, with another brace of sixes coming off Ashton Agar in the eighth over as he brought up a 26-ball fifty.At the other end, George Munsey had laboured somewhat to 4 off 10 balls but then followed the lead of McMullen by taking on Glenn Maxwell’s over inside the powerplay with 14 off the last three balls. He swept Maxwell for another six before dragging a wider delivery into the hands of deep midwicket next ball. From 92 for 1 after 8.5 overs, Scotland will look back with some regret that the remaining 11.1 overs only brought 88 runs. A large amount of the credit for that has to go to a pair of skillful death overs from Ellis who continued to impress.

Australia’s hat-trick of drops

Australia had an uncharacteristically poor day in the field. None of the chances were simple, but in all they missed six catches – the most in a Men’s T20 World Cup match according to ESPNcricinfo data. At one stage, they put down three in consecutive balls: Zampa palming Matthew Cross’ pull over the fine leg rope, Mitchell Marsh spilling a low one at cover and then Matthew Wade being unable to take a glove down the leg side when Cross swept at Maxwell. Earlier, there had been two put down in Starc’s second over when Marsh couldn’t hold a chance above his head at mid-on and Head grassed a tough one at cover from McMullen.Mitchell Marsh wrings his hand after dropping a tough catch•Getty Images

Agar ends long wait

By the time the game ended, a lot had happened since Agar struck in the opening over of the contest to remove Michael Jones. He was playing his first T20I since the previous World Cup in October 2022 as Australia had one eye on potential match-ups in the Super Eight.”Deep in a tournament, when the same grounds are being used a lot, we’re starting to see some wickets that are starting to show a bit of fatigue in the West Indies,” national selector George Bailey told reporters. “A lot of the guys we’ve got in the group have got a bunch of cricket behind them, either through the IPL most recently or have played quite a bit in this team.”But Ash [Agar], just coming off his injuries and the way we’ve structured up when he has been available, he just hasn’t been able to get much game time, as much as he’d probably like…just getting that opportunity in the middle to be able to put that into place, for Mitch to be able to navigate what it’s like with a number of spinners in the team.”Australia ended up using 12 overs of spin with Agar, Maxwell and Zampa all bowling their full complement. They will be back in St Lucia to face India in their final Super Eight fixture. For a while it appeared Scotland would be joining them but that proved agonisingly out of reach.

India captain Shubman Gill was visibly upset with the ball they were given by the umpires after the second new ball had to be changed in the first hour

Sidharth Monga11-Jul-20255:19

Kumble: There can’t be so many ball changes in a Test

The Dukes balls were at the centre of attention once again as India were unhappy with the replacement ball for the second new ball, incredibly just 10.3 overs into its life on the second morning of the Lord’s Test.The difference in results was stark. Jasprit Bumrah had wreaked havoc with the original ball, taking three wickets in his first 14 deliveries, but India went the rest of the first session without another wicket despite bowling to England’s Nos. 7 and 9. After plenty of remonstrations the ball was changed once again, 48 balls after the first ball change.The second new ball, which went out of shape in just 10.3 overs and didn’t pass through any of the rings on the gauge, had swung 1.869 degrees and seamed 0.579 degrees on average. The replacement ball swung 0.855 degrees an average and seamed 0.594 degrees. More than the data perhaps it was the softness and the age of the ball that irked India.Bumrah said he didn’t want to invite sanctions but also later said he didn’t remember having to ever get the ball changed on his previous two tours of England.Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad, who has been a critic of the balls used in England since 2020, said on the broadcast that the replacement ball looked like it was 18-20 overs old. He also expressed his displeasure on X.”The cricket ball should be like a fine wicketkeeper. Barely noticed,” Broad wrote on X. “We are having to talk about the ball too much because it is such an issue & being changed virtually every innings. Unacceptable. Feels like it’s been five years now. Dukes have a problem. They need to fix it. A ball should last 80 overs. Not 10.”Former England captain Nasser Hussain said there was a “serious issue with the Dukes ball” but felt they were also changed “too often” as players search for the perfect ball.”The first thing is that there’s a serious issue with the Dukes ball,” Hussain said on . “Both captains talked about it before the game. We’ve seen it in this game: in this session, it’s been changed twice. We’ve seen it in the last few years, really, the Dukes ball going out of shape.”The second point at play here is that I think the ball is changed too often. I think we’re getting a bit precious about cricket balls. In the history of the game, the cricket ball gets old, and the cricket ball gets soft. I think we’re getting a bit addicted to having the perfect cricket ball for 80 overs.”The third thing at play is that they got through in that first hour and Bumrah was unplayable … I looked up from my laptop at the back of comms box and went, ‘They’re changing the ball: why would you change the ball that is doing something to a random box of balls?’ You know nothing about that, you know everything about this … I get why they’re getting upset – it did look older, it did look softer — but why change? Why take the gamble? I thought that was a real bizarre thing to do when you’ve got something, especially in this time when the Dukes ball is so all over the place, when you’ve got something, stick to it. They didn’t.”The Dukes ball has been in the eye of a storm since 2020 as it has been going out of shape and soft too soon. The ECB’s decision to introduce Kookaburra balls for four rounds of County Championship matches has also brought the Dukes ball in focus.This series has featured regular complaints from the fielding captain – starting as early as the first session of a Test – and regular ball changes around the 43rd over. During this series, a combination of pitches and the balls has resulted in dramatic results. Wickets have come at an average of 86.09 between overs 31 to 80, the highest average in England since we have maintained ball-by-ball records. It is also marginally the third highest in all Test series we have ball-by-ball-records for, overwhelmingly behind Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan in 2008-09 and trailing Zimbabwe’s tour of New Zealand in 2000-01 by just 0.57.

Essex remain winless after 13-run loss in seesawing contest at Chelmsford

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay04-Jul-2025Jack Taylor’s second fifty in three matches made it three wins in a row for Gloucestershire to spark hopes of retaining the Men’s Vitality Blast.Gloucestershire had begun their defence with five straight defeats but victories over Kent Spitfires, Hampshire Hawks and now Essex have given hope they can sneak back to finals day via the back door.Captain Taylor had dragged his side to a par score of 184 with 50, to go with Ben Charlesworth’s 47 not out, before Josh Shaw’s three for 29 made sure the Eagles fell 13 runs short.The 2019 champions Essex remain winless, with their only points coming from a wash-out. They can now only get a maximum of 22 points with fourth placed Glamorgan already on 20 points.For the third home match in a row, Simon Harmer chose to bowl first but it was Gloucestershire who edged the powerplay.They managed 58 runs, par for the first six overs at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, but lost Miles Hammond just about caught at slip by a juggling Paul Walter and Cam Bancroft attempting back-to-back sixes.But Essex demonstrably won the middle overs by holding the visitors to just four boundaries from the end of the seventh over to the start of the 16th.Darcy Short failing to kick on from reaching 33 and Ollie Price barbequing himself didn’t help their cause, but tight bowling closed off their scoring options.Taylor’s hard running dragged Gloucestershire back into the innings before his hard-hitting got them closer to a defendable score.Firstly, he took Matt Critchley for three fours in an over and then he carted Luc Benkenstein for two huge sixes – one of which smashed a press box window.It helped the Gloucestershire skipper reach his seventh T20 fifty in 34 balls.A wicket in each of the last three overs kept the away side to 184, with Mohammad Amir taking two of them to return three for 33, while Charlesworth’s useful 31-ball cameo left him unbeaten on 47.In the two previous games at Chelmsford, Essex had been set targets of 221 and 220 and it had quickly been apparent the chase would be above them.On this occasion, they stayed in the fight despite losing regular wickets. Michael Pepper and Jordan Cox each went big then got out in the powerplay, while Dean Elgar suffered a tortured nine balls in a half-hour spell in the middle.Paul Walter threatened to be the man to put Essex in complete control with a spritely 39 but he and Benkenstein fell in the same Charlesworth over leaving the hosts needing 82 in eight overs.Critchley and Charlie Allison clubbed 21 and 17 off the 14th and 15th overs, but then Critchley was bowled by Shaw as the momentum swung like a Newton’s cradle.But Harmer clothed to point, Allison holed out, Noah Thain picked on long on, and Amir was run out as the game fell out of Essex’s grasp as Gloucestershire squeezed at the death.

Brydon Carse to debut, Chris Woakes set for first overseas Test since 2022

Matt Roller05-Oct-2024Ben Stokes has been ruled out of England’s first Test against Pakistan in Multan, as he continues to recover from a torn hamstring. Stokes confirmed after training on Saturday that he is not yet fully recovered from the injury he sustained two months ago while playing in the Hundred.In Stokes’ absence, Chris Woakes will play his first overseas Test in two-and-a-half years and his first in Asia since 2016, while Brydon Carse will make his Test debut. Ollie Pope will captain England for a fourth successive match in Stokes’ absence, having led them to a 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka last month.”I tried my hardest to try and get myself fit for this first game but we’ve taken the call to miss this one. I’ve not quite managed to get game-ready,” Stokes said. “We got to a certain point, but just looking at the bigger picture around what we’ve got coming up and actually physically where I’m at with my rehab, I’m not quite ready to play.”Related

• Stokes finds his peace in home comforts after 'hardest trip' to Pakistan

• Jamal, Shaheen, Naseem return to Pakistan's XI for first Test against England

• Anderson's golfing absence highlights inexperience of England seamers

• The good news for Pakistan? England have problems. The bad news? Pakistan have bigger ones

Stokes spent the first 45 minutes of England’s training session doing shuttle runs with Peter Sim, the strength and conditioning coach. He later batted in the nets, facing spin from Rehan Ahmed and local net-bowlers as well as throwdowns from England’s coaching staff, but is taking a cautious approach to his comeback.He will now target the second Test in 10 days’ time. “I’ve pushed myself incredibly hard,” Stokes said. “I’ve worked really, really hard with the medical team to get to where I’m at now. I think I’m further ahead than what we expected today. Look, I’ll be working just as hard over the next 10 days to try and give myself a chance to be fit.”Whatever sports you play, you’re going to get injuries. I’m 33 now, so I’ve put my body through quite a lot. I’ve started working incredibly hard over the last two years: I know that I’m getting older, so it’s not through lack of effort. It’s just one of those things where, with what we do, you’re going to put yourself at risk every time you walk out on the field for injuries.”Brydon Carse has been confirmed for a Test debut•Getty Images

If Stokes is available for the second Test, it may only be as a specialist batter – though he said it was “too far away” to tell. “That’s in my 10-day plan from now to that next one, eking bowling back into my training. We’ve had a good plan put together by myself and the medical guys out here, so I’ll be working incredibly hard to try and give myself a good chance of being ready.”England confirmed their XI later on Saturday, two days out from the first Test. They have picked two specialist spinners, with Jack Leach returning to the side for the first time since January alongside his Somerset team-mate Shoaib Bashir. Gus Atkinson has shaken off a thigh niggle and will play his first overseas Test after impressing during the English summer.Carse pipped Olly Stone and his Durham team-mate Matthew Potts – who both featured against Sri Lanka last month – to the final spot in England’s seam attack. Carse, like Potts, impressed in England’s recent ODI series against Australia but his additional pace and superior batting have seen him win the battle to be England’s third fast bowler.Having missed most of the summer due to a gambling ban, Carse regularly hit 90mph/145kph during Australia’s tour and has impressed England’s players in the nets. “He’s a natural wicket-taker,” Joe Root said. “He’s got those balls in him that, out of nowhere, on the flattest of wickets, you can make something happen… He offers a huge amount to the squad.”Carse, 29, was born and raised in South Africa but qualified for England through his ancestry in 2019. He will become England’s sixth Test debutant of the year after Tom Hartley, Bashir, Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Josh Hull, and has been carded to bat at No. 9, just below Atkinson.England XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (capt), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir

This will be Sri Lanka’s first bilateral tour of Ireland, inclusive of two T20Is and three ODIs starting from August 11

Madushka Balasuriya01-Aug-2024Fresh off their Asia Cup triumph, the Sri Lankan women’s side will be heading to Ireland for two T20Is and three ODIs from August 11-20, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced. The team will depart for Ireland on August 6.This will be Sri Lanka’s first bilateral tour of Ireland, while it will be Ireland’s third bilateral assignment this year – their first at home, having played both Zimbabwe and Thailand in Zimbabwe and the UAE respectively.Ireland are yet to lose a bilateral game this year, but this will be a far sterner test with Sri Lanka having won 18 of the 23 white-ball matches they’ve played in 2024. Sri Lanka also hold an unblemished record against Ireland, having won each of the three ODIs and three T20Is they’ve faced each other in.This however will be the first time these two sides will be meeting since the 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup Qualifier, where Sri Lanka registered a comprehensive victory. They were also due to face each other during the 2021 ODI World Cup Qualifier, but that game was cancelled after the entire tournament was called off as a result of significant travel restrictions imposed on the region due to the Covid-19 pandemic.The tour will begin with the first of two T20Is on August 11 in Dublin. Following the conclusion of the second T20I on August 13, also in Dublin, the action will move to Belfast for the ODIs. The three-match ODI series, which will be part of 2022-2025 ICC Women’s Championship cycle, will begin on August 16..

Derbyshire’s Alex Thomson continues impressive match to claim maiden ten-wicket haul

ECB Reporters Network13-Apr-2024Spin continued to dominate proceedings on the second day of the Vitality County Championship match between Glamorgan and Derbyshire in Cardiff.Mason Crane took four wickets on his Glamorgan debut as Derbyshire were bowled out for 198, 39 runs behind on first innings. Wayne Madsen top scored for Derbyshire with 63 but his departure brought about a collapse of five wickets for 33 runs.Alex Thomson was once again the star man with the ball for Derbyshire as he secured his first 10-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Glamorgan had reached 74 for 4 at the close, a lead of 113 with six second innings wickets in hand.With the pitch offering significant assistance to both seam and spin bowlers the destination of this game will depend on how well Glamorgan bat in the first session of day three.Having resumed on 46 for 1, Derbyshire while placed to get past Glamorgan’s total and they started the day with captain David Lloyd reaching fifty from 65 balls against his former county. He was the first wicket to fall on day two when he was trapped lbw by Crane for 60.Harry Came made a patient 25 from 113 balls but he never really found runs easy to come by on a pitch that is slow enough that batters had to take risks to score quickly. He was dismissed by James Harris for the second of his three wickets in Derbyshire’s innings. Harris conceded runs at less than 1.5 an over, conceding just three boundaries, one of which was an edge past the slips as he finished with figures of 3 for 28.As was the case in Glamorgan’s first innings, it was the spinner who was the most consistent threat with Crane starring with the ball on his Glamorgan debut. Figures 4 for 60 was his best return in first-class cricket since his five-wicket haul against Lancashire for Hampshire in 2021.While Crane was a consistent threat, it was the seamers who took the heart out of the Derbyshire batting line-up with Dan Douthwaite and Mir Hamza picking up wickets.While Madsen was at the crease it felt as is Derbyshire could claim a first-innings lead but when he was well caught in the covers by sub fielder Asa Tribe off Douthwaite it began the collapse that prevented Derbyshire eclipsing Glamorgan’s first innings total.Crane was brought back into the attack after a short break and claimed the last three Derbyshire wickets as scoring became increasingly difficult against the aging Kookaburra ball. When the last Derbyshire wicket fell on the stoke of the tea break Glamorgan had secured a 39-run lead.When their second innings got underway the Glamorgan openers once again found Thomson extremely difficult to face. Having claimed career-best figures of 7 for 65 in the first innings he opened the bowling and had two wickets in two balls. Both Zain-ul-Hassan and Sam Northeast were dismissed lbw, the latter for a golden duck.Thomson claimed his 10th wicket of the match when he bowled Kiran Carlson for 11 before Sam Conners bowled Billy Root for 32 to put this game into the balance heading into the third day.