All posts by n8rngtd.top

The allrounder could come into contention for the semi-final in Dubai where India have played all their games

Andrew McGlashan02-Mar-20252:06

Should India stick with four spinners for the semi-final?

Cooper Connolly has been called into Australia’s Champions Trophy squad after Matt Short was ruled out through injury as they prepare for what could be a trial by spin in their semi-final against India.Short picked up a quad injury against Afghanistan and would not have had time to recover for the knockout matches.Connolly, the 21-year-old left-hand batter and left-arm spinner, has been a traveling reserve with the squad so will be available immediately. He has played just three ODIs but could come straight into selection consideration given Australia have lost Short’s offspin.Related

• Favourites India enter Australia's territory in semi-final

• Australia seal semi-finals spot after rain spoils Head's party

• India to face Australia in Dubai semi-final; NZ to meet SA in Lahore semi-final

• Varun takes five as India top group and set up Australia showdown

If the selectors opt for a like-for-like switch of opening batters then Jake Fraser-McGurk is the spare batter while if they wanted another specialist spin bowler they could consider rejigging the balance of the attack and including Tanveer Sangha.Fraser-McGurk, who himself was a replacement for Mitchell Marsh, has struggled in his seven ODIs to date with 98 runs at 14.00, looking vulnerable when the new ball moves, but the selectors still see him as a player who can take on the powerplay.If Fraser-McGurk isn’t the route taken by the selectors it will require someone from the middle order moving up to the top to fill Short’s role, potentially the in-form Josh Inglis.Australia learnt their opponents for the semi-final will be India in Dubai on Tuesday when New Zealand were beaten in the final group game.Both Group B sides who qualified – Australia and South Africa – traveled to Dubai so that the team who faced India would have time to prepare. South Africa will now head straight back to Lahore for their semi-final against New Zealand.”We’ve obviously had a bit of a hectic schedule, playing a couple of games in Pakistan, back and forth in between cities, but I think with the nature of this tournament,” legspinner Adam Zampa said.In the selection frame: Cooper Connolly could feature against India•Getty Images

Zampa shapes as a pivotal figure for Australia in the semi-final at a ground that has aided the spinners. Against New Zealand, India used 37.3 overs of spin with Varun Chakravarthy taking 5 for 42 although there had also been some early assistance for the quicks as Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson troubled India’s top order.Australia were troubled by Sri Lanka’s spinners in their two ODIs in Colombo prior to the Champions Trophy.”It changes a little bit,” Zampa said of the conditions between Pakistan and Dubai. “Potentially slower lower wickets, so there might be an opportunity to create a few more chances, we’ll see.”Zampa added he felt there was room for improvement in his own bowling after returns of 2 for 64 against England and 2 for 48 against Afghanistan.”Personally, I don’t think I’m bowling quite at my best, but I like to think the beauty about me is when I’m not quite at my best and not feeling that great out there is my ability to still contribute and take those big wickets,” he said.”I’m obviously working on some stuff at the moment to hopefully get back to my best, but as I said, the ability to still do a job for the team and get those big wickets is still there, which to me is really important.”The last time Australia faced India in an ODI was the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. If they win this time they will return to Lahore for the final otherwise it will be staged in Dubai.

Pakistan’s spinners were the difference between the two sides as they derailed the West Indies chase of 179

Danyal Rasool01-Aug-2025In a game which wasn’t as close as the final scorecard would suggest, Pakistan’s spinners were the difference between the two sides as they derailed the West Indies chase of 179 in the middle overs to ease to a 14-run victory in the first T20I in Lauderhill.That target was put up thanks to a brisk half-century from Saim Ayub up top and contributions through the order. West Indies’ bowling had the discipline to never truly let the batters cut loose on a surface that rewarded pace off the ball, but the flow of runs remained steady, if not explosive. Pakistan backloading some of their power hitters would come in handy when Jason Holder trapped Ayub in front for 57; cameos from Hasan Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf, as well as a six off the only ball Mohammad Haris faced helped Pakistan fetch 58 off their last 31 balls.West Indies knew it was chaseable and batted like it up front. But there was an uneasy fragility to that line-up in the face of a multitude of Pakistan spinners, as well as a standout bowling performance from Shaheen Shah Afridi, the standout Pakistan seamer on the day. It left the hosts with too few overs to target as the asking rate climbed, and too few wickets to play with as Mohammad Nawaz, Sufiyan Muqeem and Ayub wreaked havoc.WI last 19 T20Is•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Holder reminded his side how easy big hitting can sometimes be with a blistering late attack as he helped himself to an unbeaten 30 off 12 with four sixes. It ensured West Indies finished strongly with 38 runs in the final two overs, but of all the things it threatened to do, changing the outcome at that stage wasn’t one of them.

Ayub sets himself apart

Asked to bat first, each of Pakistan’s top-order batters chipped in, but the runs never came at the dynamic strike rate Pakistan have repeatedly promised they would. Sahibzada Farhan was trapped in front early by Shamar Joseph, who would also account for Fakhar Zaman after a stodgy 24-ball 28. Five of the top six saw their innings conclude with strike rates between 110 and 133.33. And this would have been a problem, but for Ayub.For the first 25 balls of his innings, he found himself ambling along at the same pace as his team-mates. However, Ayub burst into life with a boundary off the final ball of the ninth over, and for a tiny, match-turning window, the fog lifted for him. Romario Shepherd was smashed for four in the following over, before two sixes in a 20-run Jediah Blades over flew Ayub past 50. His last 28 runs came in 13 balls, and by this time, Pakistan’s run rate was well above nine.That, when thrown the ball for a couple of overs, picking up a wicket in each was merely the icing on the cake.Saim Ayub scored a quick half-century•Associated Press

The platform, and its dismantling

For all of Pakistan’s late surge, a chase of 179 wasn’t near insurmountable, and West Indies would set about demonstrating that in a mature powerplay that balanced intent with calculated risk-taking. The hosts showed deference to Afridi, content to see off his two powerplay overs for five runs, but pounced on the others. Pakistan tried to sneak in a cheeky second over of the innings from Nawaz, only to watch it go for 11, while Johnson Charles took another ten off Haris Rauf’s first.But even without wickets falling, Pakistan began to rein West Indies in. Before the powerplay had ended, Rauf sneaked in an over for just seven, and as the field spread out, West Indies’ scoring ability nosedived in the face of some superbly accurate lines from Nawaz and Muqeem. The eight overs following the end of the powerplay produced just 37 runs and yielded four wickets, gutting West Indies before the final launch.

Nawaz’s triple strike guts the hosts

West Indies had begun to fall behind the asking rate following the powerplay, and that pressure brought a glut of wickets in dramatic fashion in Nawaz’s final over. Accurate without being menacing, until then, Nawaz provided Pakistan their first breakthrough by breaking West Indies’ 72-run opening stand when debutant Jewel Andrew holed out to long-off. Johnson Charles appeared to have cleared cow corner two balls later with an on-side heave, only for a brilliant effort on the boundary from Shaheen Afridi to parry it back and save his side four runs.Things got better for Pakistan when Charles top-edged the very next ball to the wicketkeeper, before West Indies slid further into the mire as Gudakesh Motie biffed one to deep midwicket. Nawaz, once famously termed a “match-winner” by Babar Azam, had indeed lived up to Babar’s estimation on this occasion.

Weatherley was accompanied by India batter Tilak Varma as Hampshire chased down 286

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 07-Aug-2025Hampshire 288 for 5 (Weatherley 116*, Varma 54) beat Essex 285 (Allison 80, Neal 2-44) by 5 wicketsJoe Weatherley classily struck his third Metro Bank One-Day Cup men’s competition hundred as Hampshire beat Essex at Utilita Bowl.Weatherley provided the backbone to a well-managed chase of 286 – after Charlie Allison, Tom Westley and Robin Das all posted half-centuries for Essex.Tilak Varma also reached the landmark, but it was Weatherley’s personal best unbeaten 116 – his first century in two years – that made sure Hampshire made it two wins from two, while Essex remain winless.Hampshire stuck Essex into bat and almost immediately struck as Kyle Abbott drew an outside edge out of Matt Critchley.Robin Das and Tom Westley set the innings into place with a 99-run stand in double-quick time, the pair peppering the boundary in their better-than-a-run-a-ball half-centuries.But a middle-over squeeze slowed the run-rate and brought a succession of regular wickets.Left-arm spinner Andrew Neal broke the Das/Westley alliance when Das clipped off-balance to midwicket, before Westley followed when Tilak Varma brilliantly caught him at short fine leg.Luc Benkenstein slashed to short cover, Noah Thain powered to midwicket, and Nick Browne drove to first slip to hand Abbott his second.At 189 for 6 in the 35th over, the visitors were in danger of a seriously under-par score but Allison and Simon Fernandes revved things back into life with a no thrills partnership.Allison has had a stand-out 2025 having scored three centuries in the Rothesay County Championship, and continued that form with an unhurried 80.Fernandes had begun his One-Day Cup campaign with an unbeaten 46, and followed that with 41. But as the pair looked to accelerate Essex suffered their second slump to get bowled out for 285.Both fell in back-to-back deliveries, both caught trying to go big, while Shane Snater was bowled and Jamie Porter was caught behind.The hosts needed to go at under a run-a-ball and they stuck to that mission like a limpet.Ali Orr and Nick Gubbins eased through the new ball until the former fell to the final ball of the powerplay when Charlie Bennett bowled a snorter to get a tickle behind.Gubbins followed his century against Glamorgan with 40 but top-edged a sweep to short fine but Hampshire gained control through Tilak Varma and Weatherley.The pair put on 98 to take a huge bite into the target. Indian Varma was mostly circumspect apart from crisp shots down the ground and an incredible reverse six.He was bowled trying to charge Westley having reached a fifty before Tom Prest gifted Westley his third wicket – he returned three for 39.Weatherley had a strong Vitality Blast before a successful return to the Championship side, and oozed class throughout his innings.He dominated a 47-run partnership with Ben Mayes and then joined with Felix Organ to rush to the winning line.Weatherley reached three figures with a luscious strike through long on as part of three boundaries in a row which took the runs required to single figures. A six in the following over secured the points.

Given the amount of rain that has fallen on Durban’s Kingsmead ground in the past week, Andrew Strauss would be forgiven for wishing that the heavens remain open for another day, so that his team can cement their 2-1 series lead

Cricinfo staff03-Dec-2009Given the amount of rain that has fallen on Durban’s Kingsmead ground in the past week, Andrew Strauss would be forgiven for wishing that the heavens remain open for another day, so that his team can cement their 2-1 series lead, and emerge victorious for the first time ever in an ODI series in South Africa. But such is the journey that Strauss and his charges have been on in recent months, such an anticlimactic conclusion would be far from fitting. The team has been accused of many things of late, but being boring is not one of them.For Strauss himself, the Durban contest marks a notable milestone. Weather permitting, it will be his 100th ODI cap, and seeing as he had been jettisoned from the set-up after the 2007 World Cup, and spent a full two years thinking he’d never play in that format again, it is an achievement of some note. “To come back in and be part of this side and feel like we’re going somewhere is quite motivating,” he told reporters at Kingsmead. “I’m really enjoying my one-day cricket.”Enjoyment has been central to England’s mini-revival. Back in September, when a listless and Ashes-sated squad were battered 6-1 in their home series against Australia, it didn’t seem possible to inject any urgency into their performances. But then came a relocation to South Africa for the Champions Trophy, and suddenly the results began to stack up – albeit with the odd hefty set-back, as inflicted by the Aussies once again in the semi-final of that tournament, and by South Africa in their record-breaking run-fest at Newlands last week.But Strauss’s England teams are becoming accustomed to fighting back from adversity – witness their spirited response to being bowled out for 51 in Jamaica in February, or the way they claimed the Ashes despite being routed in two-and-a-half days in the penultimate Test at Headingley in August. According to the captain, such bouncebackability requires a culture of honesty within the squad, and an absence of ego.”Players have probably opened their eyes to the fact we have a long way to go and we’ve all got to be prepared for hard work if we’re going to get somewhere,” said Strauss. “We want an environment where we all push each other very hard – and in order to do that, we need to be honest with each other first and foremost. The environment we’re trying to create is one everyone has kind of accepted.”South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith, is not noted for his chumminess with his English opposite numbers – having sparred with Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen in recent times – but even he could not find much of a bone to pick with Strauss, despite the lingering issue of his refused runner during the Champions Trophy.”Andrew is an intelligent guy, with a lot of common sense,” said Strauss. “He’s provided a lot of stability for England and has gone about it the way we have expected. We’ve managed to keep a little hold on him in terms of his batting – he still hasn’t scored a fifty against South Africa in one-day cricket, but he’s the guy we expected him to be.”But, as Smith went on to point out, it doubtless helps England’s rebuilding efforts that the go-to men of recent times – most notably Andrew Flintoff and Pietersen – have been out of the limelight, which has allowed new stars such as Eoin Morgan and Jonathan Trott to find their feet without being overshadowed. “We don’t want three or four senior players running the show,” said Strauss. “We want everyone feeling comfortable enough to contribute, and also that it’s expected of them to contribute.”In the sport we play, there are always going to be people who are bigger characters than others or have bigger egos,” he added.”But a good environment is able to take that into account and still let people express themselves and get the best out of themselves.”One of those players with a larger-than-average ego is Pietersen, who has struggled to reassert himself since returning to the squad following his Achilles injury, and produced a particularly frenetic six-ball performance at Port Elizabeth on Sunday. And true to form, Smith cranked up the psychological pressure by reminding him of the reasons why he is not the most universally popular cricketer on this tour.”He’s obviously got a history through things that he’s done and said, and people are still getting over those emotions,” said Smith. “The crowds have been quite vocal again towards him. Ultimately, I think it’s just his job to get on with it and deal with that. It happens round the world these days.”

In all, 17 contracts were handed out, including to players like Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr and Lea Tahuhu

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2025Auckland left-arm seamer Bree Illing and Otago batter Bella James have been handed their first central contracts by New Zealand Cricket (NZC).The pair, who are currently touring England with New Zealand A, filled up the contract vacancies left by Hayley Jensen and Sophie Devine. While Jensen is recently retired, Devine has opted for a casual playing agreement, having announced her ODI retirement after the upcoming World Cup.Related

• Devine to retire from ODIs after the World Cup

Illing, the 21-year-old swing bowler, made her ODI and T20I debut this summer against Sri Lanka and was also Auckland’s highest wicket-taker in domestic cricket last season with an average of 21. James’ contract comes after her batting contributions powered Otago to another Hallyburton Johnstone (HBJ) Shield title. She made her ODI and T20I debuts against Australia in December 2024 and March 2025 respectively.”Bree had an outstanding series against Sri Lanka. To show up the way she did against a world-class batter like Chamari Athapaththu shows she’s ready for international cricket,” New Zealand women’s head coach Ben Sawyer said. “Bella’s been a consistent performer at the domestic level and had a great debut series against Australia last year. She’s got the competencies that we believe will succeed at the international level.”The full list of central contracts, 17 in all, include batters Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Georgia Plimmer, Izzy Gaze and Polly Inglis, allrounders Amelia Kerr and Hannah Rowe, and bowlers Eden Carson, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Molly Penfold and Lea Tahuhu.

India captain says the fast bowler “had a swelling in his knee”, which put him back in his recovery and bid to return to action

Ashish Pant15-Oct-20241:41

Will Shami be fit in time for the Australia Test series?

India captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that senior quick Mohammed Shami’s return to the international fold might get further delayed after he suffered another “recent setback”. Shami, who underwent surgery on his right Achilles tendon in February this year, has now developed a swelling on his knee which has “put him back a little bit in his recovery”, according to Rohit.”Right now, it is pretty difficult for us to make a call on whether he will be fit for this series or the Australia series,” Rohit said on the eve of India’s first Test against New Zealand, in Bengaluru. “He recently had a setback – he had a swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual.”He was in the process of getting fit – getting close to 100% – and he had a swelling in his knee. That put him back a little bit in his recovery, so he had to start again fresh.”Related

• Latham hopes cloudy Bengaluru brings NZ's seamers to life

• Shami not ready for New Zealand Tests; Bumrah named vice-captain

• 'If you play only one way, you don't grow' – Gambhir

• India's training session on eve of Bengaluru Test washed out

Shami’s previous game for India came in the final of the World Cup last November. He was India’s highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets in seven matches at an average of 10.70 and strike rate of 12.20 at the tournament. He played through pain during the World Cup, taking injections to treat his ankle.Shami then underwent surgery in London earlier this year and would have been in contention for the five-match Australia series which starts next month, but the latest blow has set him back further. While Shami is at the NCA working with the physios as things stand, Rohit also said India didn’t want to risk taking him to Australia when he isn’t fully fit.”Right now, he is at NCA – he is working with the physios, [and] the doctors at NCA,” Rohit said. “We are keeping our fingers crossed. We want him to be fit; we want him to be 100%. More than anything else, we don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That is not going to be the right decision for us.”Having not played international cricket for nearly a year, Rohit also suggested that it would be tough for Shami to get right back into the thick of things.”He has not played any cricket for over a year. It is quite tough for a fast bowler to have missed so much of cricket and then suddenly to come out and be at his best,” Rohit said. “It is not ideal. We will want to give him enough time to recover, and be 100% fit.”The physios, the trainers, [and] the doctors have set a roadmap for him. He is supposed to play a couple of games before he plays international cricket. We will see where he is at after this New Zealand series, and then take a call at what stage of Australia [series] he will be fit for us.”India have eight Tests left in the current WTC cycle. They play a three-match series against New Zealand after which they will travel to Australia for five Tests starting November 22.