Will Young to bat at No. 3 after showing strong County Championship form for Durham

Matt Roller09-Jun-2021Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, has been ruled out of the second Test against England at Edgbaston because of a persistent elbow injury.Williamson had to miss an ODI series against Bangladesh earlier this year because of the same problem, which also caused him to miss the start of the 2021 IPL for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Tom Latham, the regular vice-captain, will lead the team in Williamson’s absence, as he did against Australia at the SCG in January 2020 and West Indies in Wellington in December.Related

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“It’s not an easy decision for Kane to have to miss a Test, but we think it’s the right one,” Gary Stead, New Zealand’s head coach, said. “He’s had an injection in his elbow to relieve the irritation he’s been experiencing when he bats and a period of rest and rehabilitation will help maximise his recovery.”The injury is not expected to rule him out of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India, which starts on June 18 at the Ageas Bowl. “The decision has been made very much with the ICC World Test Championship final at Southampton in mind and we are confident he will be ready for that match,” Stead added.”I’m sure he’ll be back [for the final],” Latham said. “From our point of view, it’s a precautionary thing. We’d love him to be available for this game but obviously we’ve got the eye on the final in a week’s time, so for Kane, it’s about giving himself the best opportunity to be fully fit and available for that game. The decision was made for him to rest and get that right for what we have coming up.”He’s fantastic as a captain. It’s well-documented how his personality and his calm nature out in the middle has been vital to this group. He’s very relaxed – doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low which I think has been great for this side in recent years. He’s obviously a wonderful leader and we’ve seen that throughout his captaincy career.”Williamson will be replaced in the New Zealand side by Will Young, the top-order batter who won both of his Test caps to date in the home series against West Indies in December.Young prepared for the series by playing four County Championship matches for Durham, scoring hundreds in two of his three most recent innings. He will bat at No. 3, with Latham and Devon Conway continuing to open the batting.”He’s been here a few weeks earlier [than the rest of the squad] and was playing cricket,” Latham said. “He had an opportunity back in our home summer and is coming off runs for Durham which is always nice when you get selected, especially in these conditions, so it’s another exciting opportunity for Will to put his hand up and try to put that performance on the board.”Trent Boult is set to play in the second Test•Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Latham also confirmed that Trent Boult will return to the side, with Mitchell Santner missing through injury, though he was yet to reach a final decision on the side before training on Wednesday afternoon. Ajaz Patel and the uncapped allrounder Rachin Ravindra are the two candidates to replace Santner, while Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell and Jacob Duffy will also be considered as New Zealand look to manage their seamers’ workloads ahead of the WTC final.”It’s a case-by-case situation,” he said. “There is an eye to what we have coming up in a week’s time but on the other hand this is obviously such an important game for us. We’ve got training now and then we’ll have a look at the wicket and have those conversations around what best suits the playing XI tomorrow. We’ve got a big squad to pick from.”While New Zealand’s thinking has clearly been influenced by the proximity of the WTC final, Latham said that the squad were not taking the opportunity to win a series in England for the first time since 1999 for granted.”Beating England is higher on our priority list [than the WTC final],” he said. “We’ve got such a great opportunity to come here and try to play our brand of cricket and put on a performance that we’re proud of. Yes, there is an eye to the final in a week’s time, but our focus is solely on this game and the next five days.”To win away from home is not an easy thing around the world nowadays, and if we can put the performance on the board that we know we’re capable off, fingers crossed that will give us a good chance to be successful after the five days.”Joe Root, England’s captain, acknowledged that Williamson’s absence was a big loss for New Zealand, but insisted that his team would be “respectful” of a side that has demonstrated its depth by qualifying for the WTC final.”He’s a big gun, No.1 in the world,” Root said. “He’s one of those players you spend a lot of time thinking about how you’re going to keep him quiet and get rid of him early. It will be a huge loss for them but we’re also very respectful that New Zealand have a strong squad and are involved in the WTC final because they have strength in depth.”We saw last week a debutant coming in and getting a double hundred. We’ve got to make sure we’re clear on our plans, clued up on whoever replaces him so we can find ways of keeping him quiet and dismissing him.”

Batter says continuity of white-ball roles is crucial if England are to win T20 World Cup

Andrew Miller21-Jun-2021Jos Buttler insists that his ambition is still to be “the best player I can, no matter what colour the ball is”, but says he has no qualms about missing England’s last five Test matches as part of the ECB’s rest-and-rotation policy, warning that if you treat the global schedule as “an endless piece of string, then at some point you are going to burn out”.Buttler has been named in England’s T20I squad for the series against Sri Lanka, beginning in Cardiff on Wednesday, and he expects once again to open the batting alongside Jason Roy, despite having batted at No. 4 for Lancashire during his recent return to action in the T20 Blast.But it was his absence from the Test series against New Zealand earlier this month that raised eyebrows, particularly in the wake of the postponement of this year’s IPL, the original reason why he had been expected to miss the two matches at Lord’s and Edgbaston.Although New Zealand’s IPL players all made themselves available for the series – including Trent Boult, who had to miss the Lord’s Test while undergoing quarantine – Buttler remained sidelined even after Ben Foakes, his understudy, was ruled out with a hamstring tear. In the absence of their established wicketkeepers, James Bracey made an uncomfortable debut behind the stumps, as England slumped to a 1-0 series loss, their first on home soil since 2014.Buttler, however, played down any suggestion that the Test team is in crisis after four losses in five in his absence, included three on the bounce in India following a memorable victory at Chennai in his most recent appearance.”Generally, things are never as good as you think they are and never as bad as you think they are,” Buttler said. “We played three fantastic games in the subcontinent and then hit some extremely tough conditions. India are a formidable force at home and went on to win that series. Any time you lose at home is disappointing – we’re a proud nation with a proud record at home and it was Rooty’s first series loss at home.”It’s disappointing whenever you don’t play cricket you know what you’re capable of as a side. But in the past 18 months, two years, there have been some strides and I think the side is going in the right direction. Things are still in a good place. Any time you lose, there are question marks but I think some great things have been put in place and I’d still back everyone in that side to have a great summer against India.”He also reiterated the importance of the ECB managing players’ workloads, even in an England home season – which is now very much an extension of the touring lifestyle, given the need for Covid-secure environments and the consequent long periods away from friends and family.Jos Buttler’s return for Lancashire this month was his first game since September 2018•Barry Mitchell/Lancashire Cricket

Buttler has a two-year-old daughter, Georgia, born on the eve of the 2019 World Cup, and he said that it was vital for England’s top cricketers to retain a work-life balance, especially given their packed itinerary for 2021 – which still has a home Test series against India to come, followed by the T20 World Cup and the Ashes in quick succession.”It’s always disappointing when you miss cricket,” Buttler said. “I was feeling in good touch and things were going well but I will retain that confidence if I get another chance. At the same time, what has been helpful as a player are the open discussions you have with the coaches and captains. Those rest periods are there because it probably allows you to throw yourself into everything when you are involved. If it’s an endless piece of string, then at some point you are going to burn out.”I don’t think there’s any perfect answers,” he added. “In England we’re playing a lot of cricket, more than most, so it’s important for everyone to be looked after really well, and I think the ECB do a good job of that. We understand it’s a short career and you want to be available and play as much as you can, but in the current climate, with all the complications of Covid etc, I do think we have to look after our people.”Simple things like playing in England, it used to be very easy to bring your family in, and get out and go home, and do those normal things. But the stresses and strains of the environments at the moment are different to what it used to be.”I know there’s been some criticism from outside, but I think it’s a day and age where we’ve got to look after people and applaud the fact that the guys are trying to be forward-thinking and look after people. Is it perfect? No, of course it’s not, but I’d rather we look after our guys.”Related

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There has been criticism too, that amid all the need for compromise, it is the England Test team that appears to have taken the hit on availability, with the white-ball squad at close to full strength, in spite of the injury absences of key players such as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer.And though Buttler is adamant he wants to be in the frame for both the India Tests and the Ashes, he also believes that in another World Cup year, the importance of getting the white-ball players used to their specific roles is paramount if England are to emulate their feat in 2019 and add the 20-over title to their list of global ICC trophies.”It’s really important to get the squad nailed down,” he said. “Role clarity for people and the familiarity of playing together, I think that’s a marker of successful teams – they are ones that know each other well and are playing good cricket going into the tournament.”That was something that helped us in the 50-over World Cup – going in confident, having played good cricket. So we need to focus hard on these next few T20s to make sure we put ourselves in as good a position as we can be when we get to the World T20.”Naturally I am a better white-ball player than I am a red-ball player but I want to be the best cricketer I can be in all formats,” he added. “In terms of my own ambitions, I want to be the best player I can, no matter what colour the ball is.”

Back-to-back Cardiff matches a stern test of leadership and a gauge of where SL are as a T20 side

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Jun-2021

Big picture

Since the start of 2019, England have won 16 T20 internationals to the eight they have lost. In the same period, Sri Lanka have lost 14, winning just five. England are the top-ranked T20I side, while Sri Lanka are eighth. And while England had been runners-up at the most-recent T20 world event, Sri Lanka are required to qualify for the main draw of the next major tournament. There would, in short, seem to be a gulf between these teams.Partly this is down to leadership. Eoin Morgan has been England’s most successful white-ball captain, and has done the job since 2015. Although Sri Lanka won the World T20 in 2014, they have rifled through leaders in the last five years, with Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera (none of whom are even in this current squad), and Dasun Shanaka having led. Now they line up behind Kusal Perera, who is the only surviving member of that World T20 champion side.Although he has not been consistently impressive himself in the past few years, he has a daunting assignment ahead of him now. The back-to-back matches at Cardiff will not only be a stern test of his leadership, but an indication of where Sri Lanka are as a T20 side. A full-strength Sri Lanka side has not played since before the pandemic.Related

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England narrowly lost their last T20I series, going down 3-2 to India, but it’s unlikely they begin this series with serious trepidation. This is despite the fact they do not have Jofra Archer (who was their top wicket-taker in India) or Ben Stokes, due to injury. On top of everything else, many of their cricketers have also been primed in the T20 Blast, while Sri Lanka have merely had a couple of low-key intra-squad games. Such is the volatility Sri Lanka bring, they cannot be ruled out altogether. But if they are to make a fist of this series, they will have to spring a series of surprises.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)England LLWLWSri Lanka LWLLL

In the spotlight

Not only was Jos Buttler England’s highest run-scorer in the series in India, he also has a spectacular record against Sri Lanka, striking at 158 and averaging 47 in six innings against them. Although his Blast form for Lancashire has been somewhat patchy, he had had an excellent finish to the (curtailed) IPL, where he had hit 124 off 64 in early May. Sri Lanka’s inexperienced attack will be especially wary.Kusal Perera, meanwhile, has a spectacularly poor T20 record against England, striking at 84 and averaging less than 10. He has also not played the format in over a year – his last T20 international having been in March 2020. Although there are several players vying for positions at the top of the order, Perera has said he will either open the batting, or come in at No. 3. This is a captaincy that is yet to really earn its stripes. Runs in this series will immeasurably assist his leadership.

Pitch and conditions

Cardiff is the second lowest-scoring ground in the T20 Blast this season, with an average of 7.59 runs an over, and is one of the few English grounds where spinners are more expensive than seamers in T20. The weather is expected to be good, though the temperatures are forecast to dip to the mid teens.

Team news

Morgan has said that both Bairstow (who is recovering from an ankle injury) and Dawid Malan (who’s coming back from an achilles complaint) are both available. Moeen Ali will likely be the allrounder in place of Stokes.England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 David Willey/Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark WoodAvishka Fernando’s return (he had been left out of the two previous series due to poor fitness) will strengthen the top three. There is some competition for middle-order spots, however, with Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, and Oshada Fernando all vying for places.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Perera (capt/wk), 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Oshada Fernando, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Stats and trivia

• England have won each of the six T20 internationals played at Sophia Gardens.
• Sri Lanka have lost their last three T20 internationals against England. Their last victory was back in 2014, at The Oval.
• Dawid Malan has 1003 T20 international runs. He was the fastest to 1000 runs, making the milestone in 24 innings to beat Babar Azam, who got their in 26 innings.

  Quotes

  “I think Moeen was unlucky not to play in India. The pitches that we played on didn’t turn at all in that series so actually a second spinner wasn’t the best option. We have to look at the balance of the side but you have to be a very, very good side to go in with only five bowlers and no allrounder.”
  England captain Eoin Morgan suggests Moeen will take Stokes’ place in the XI“It’s important to give our top-order batters consistent places in the team, so they know how to score runs in those positions.”
  Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera suggests his team’s top order could do with some faith through the series.

Nick Selman eases home side past paltry target after bowlers make light work of Notts

ECB Reporters Network08-Aug-2021Glamorgan cruised to their fourth win in seven matches in Group 1 in the Royal London Cup as they beat Notts Outlaws by eight wickets after easily chasing down a modest score of 73 in a weather-effected contest.It means they still lead their group and remain very much on course for a home semi-final in the knock-out stage. They host Yorkshire on Thursday while the Outlaws, now four points behind the leaders, welcome Northamptonshire.Umpires Ian Gould and Neil Mallender made three inspections of the Sophia Gardens pitch and outfield before finally declaring play could start at 3.00pm, with the game reduced from 50 to 23 overs. After winning the toss the Glamorgan skipper, Kiran Carlson, invited the visitors to bat first.Ben Slater took a boundary over the covers in the opening over before Michael Hogan, who had removed Surrey opener Mark Stoneman with his first ball five days earlier, struck with his second ball to take out Sol Budinger.Budinger skied a catch that wicketkeeper Tom Cullen comfortably dealt with and then fellow opener Ben Slater fell lbw to Lucas Carey in the next over. By the end of the first Powerplay, the Outlaws were 19 for 3 with Matt Montgomery also back in the hutch and the Glamorgan seamers very much on top.Lyndon James survived a sharp chance at point to Andrew Salter, but then took a nasty blow on the helmet from James Cooke. An over later, on the recommendation of the umpires, he retired hurt and was replaced by concussion sub Sam King.His departure brought Liam Patterson-White to the wicket, but he didn’t last long, sent back to the pavilion courtesy of a spectacular one-handed catch by Steve Reingold at short midwicket off Cooke. When Glamorgan turned to spin, Salter clean bowled Peter Trego for eight in the ninth over.Dan Schadendorf was caught in the deep trying to hook Cooke to leave the Outlaws reeling at 31 for 6 and when 17-year-old academy star Fateh Singh struck the returning Hogan to the boundary in the 14th over it was only the third four of the innings.Hogan’s response was to clean bowl Brett Hutton, but Singh brought up the 50 in the 16th over with the first of two successive boundaries before departing for a combative 21 in the 18th over. James Weighell then mopped up the tail to end with 3 for 7 as he removed King and Dane Paterson with successive balls in the 21st over.That left Glamorgan with a modest total to chase and they ended the first Powerplay on 26 for 0 before New Zealand’s Hamish Rutherford spooned back a catch to pace bowler Dane Paterson in the very next over.Nick Selman steered the home side through the 50 mark in the 12th over. Steve Reingold was trapped lbw to Patterson-White in the 16th over and that allowed Carlson to come in and hit the winning boundary two balls later. Aussie opener Selman remained unbeaten on 36.

“Naturally you bowl a little shorter here but you don’t want to be drawn into bowling too short”

Tristan Lavalette02-Dec-2021It’s a question that dogs England ahead of every Ashes tour: can their attack master the Kookaburra ball like their favoured Dukes back home?The Kookaburra, which swings considerably less than the Dukes used in the UK, has unstuck England’s bowlers over the years on batting-friendly Australian pitches, which are generally harder and bouncier.England have not won a Test in Australia since their famous 2010-11 Ashes triumph, and to break that drought, they will need to crack open Australia’s top order led by Steven Smith and David Warner, who have put pedestrian bowling from the tourists to the sword over the years, and the latest star in Marnus Labuschagne.Allrounder Chris Woakes was one such quick, who struggled in England’s 4-0 thrashing in 2017-18, finishing with ten wickets at 49.50 from four Tests. He and some of England’s less experienced exponents of the Kookaburra are likely to counsel James Anderson and Stuart Broad – veterans of Ashes tours though with mixed success overall with the ball – ahead of the first Test at the Gabba on December 8.Related

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“The Kookaburra is very different to the Dukes and what we’re used to back home,” Woakes said on Thursday in Brisbane as England were finally able to get some time in the middle with the rain staying away. “We have a good amount of experience from guys who have been here before. We touch base with those guys to see what’s worked in the past.”The vagaries of the Kookaburra have traditionally been tough for England’s bowlers to grasp, exacerbated on this tour thus far by the lack of match practice due to Brisbane’s poor weather.”It’s about trying to experiment. Getting the ball to move sideways is probably the biggest challenge,” Woakes said. “Trying to work different things, like how we hold it. Trying to get the ball to move off the straight is quite important.”Woakes, who bowled superbly on his return to Test cricket against India at The Oval after an absence of a year, added that England’s quicks, excellent exponents of swing, had to be prepared to adapt with ball in hand amid conditions more conducive to bounce – traditionally a main characteristic of the Gabba. But a key, according to Woakes, would be not going overboard with short-pitched bowling, which has perennially undone overeager bowlers in Australia.”You have to be willing to change your game… different ball, different conditions [to England],” he said. “You do get good bounce here. Trying to extract that as much as possible. Naturally you bowl a little shorter here but you don’t want to be drawn into bowling too short. [It’s about] trying to utilise that bounce.”

Ireland captain rues the team’s lack of opportunities in the longest format and looks ahead to their USA, Caribbean tours

Matt Roller22-Dec-2021″Test cricket looks fun,” Andy Balbirnie, Ireland’s captain, tweeted on the second morning of the first Ashes Test. “Anyone want a game?? Seriously.”Ireland will head into the new year with the same, old problems: funding, facilities and fixtures. Their progress has been slow since they became Full Members of the ICC in 2017, highlighted by a first-round exit at the 2021 T20 World Cup after a humbling defeat to Namibia, and it is two-and-a-half years since they last played a Test.”We’re a Test member, or a Full Member, but at the moment it only really feels like a name,” Balbirnie said on Tuesday. “Nothing’s really showing for that. We’ve had our days out at Lord’s and Malahide but apart from that, all I can see is a name. It’ll be three years in the summer that we haven’t played a Test match.”Related

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Ireland’s ascent to Full-Member status means that, after a two-year grace period, their players no longer qualify as locals in county cricket, taking away a crucial breeding ground. “In my opinion, that was hugely detrimental to some of the young cricketers here,” Balbirnie said.”It’s massively disappointing, watching all of these brilliant Test series around the world – the Ashes particularly, staying up all night to watch such an historic series. I go back to that Lord’s Test because it was the highlight of a career. For the young guys coming through to maybe not have that experience again, that’s hugely disappointing.”The latest version of the Future Tours Programme sees Ireland pencilled in to play away Tests against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the next 18 months, but they are used to having fixtures cancelled at short notice, not least during the Covid era.Their long-term fixture list has been hit by the ICC’s decision to scrap the World Cup Super League after its inaugural edition – though Balbirnie admits there is an element of relief that the prospect of relegation for the next World Cup cycle is now off the table.”It’s a great thing for countries who aren’t in the Super League to strive towards,” Balbirnie said. “Certainly Holland had that opportunity in this [cycle] to play against the top teams, and they’re games that the countries below where we are need to play – to see how they can go against the top teams, and also to get kids to want to follow them.”The possibility of getting relegated from that league had some huge knock-on effects and some potentially damning years ahead, so without beating around the bush, there is a bit of a relief in that regard – but long-term, for the worldwide game, it’s a disappointing move but something we can’t control.””We were really disappointed about the T20 World Cup” – Andrew Balbirnie•Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images

The immediate outlook is more positive as Ireland look to rebuild following their early exit at the T20 World Cup and Graham Ford’s departure as head coach. They are in Florida over the Christmas period for two T20Is and three ODIs, becoming the first Full Member to play against USA on American soil in the process, and will then fly to Jamaica on New Year’s Eve for three Super League ODIs and a one-off T20I against West Indies.Their preparation has been hit by Covid, with several players returning positive tests in the build-up to the series, but David Ripley – the interim head coach – has a team that is nearly at full strength for Wednesday’s opening game.One positive on this tour is that Covid restrictions have been eased, after several series in bubbles. “It’s the way, in my opinion, it has to be going forward,” Balbirnie said. “That bit of freedom makes it a completely different tour with a lot less stress. I think all of us are double-jabbed; I’m not going to say everyone should be [but] the best thing to do, in my opinion, is to protect yourself and others around you.”Kevin O’Brien has been dropped, with the selectors bringing the curtain down on his fine international career. In his absence, Balbirnie, who had a disappointing T20 World Cup with 70 runs off 73 balls across three innings, will shift up to open the batting alongside Paul Stirling.Shane Getkate will bat at No. 5 as a finisher, with William McClintock also likely to slot into the middle order, and Curtis Campher is expected to fill the role as the “glue” batter, the role in which Alex Wakely thrived when Ripley coached Northamptonshire to two T20 Blast titles.”When we sat down after the World Cup and looked at the areas we stumbled in,” Balbirnie said. “Our boundary count in the middle [overs] hasn’t been good enough or consistent enough, and that’s something we need to address. We don’t want to put too much pressure on our batters but we understand that’s an area we need to improve.”Ireland will have to improve quickly, with the qualifiers for next year’s T20 World Cup due to be staged in Muscat in February. They will be the favourites to seal one of the two spots up for grabs in their half of the qualifying draw (a separate qualifier will be held in Zimbabwe in July) but will face competition from Oman, Nepal and UAE in particular.”We were really disappointed about the T20 World Cup,” Balbirnie added, “and this is just a chance to go out and try to play with a bit of freedom and give the guys confidence to go out and express themselves. It’s easy to say that but we’ve all got to go out and do it once we get over that line. I’ve seen a lot of good stuff in the period we have had here.”

There’s no lack of context in what is a World Cup year, but Lanning and Knight aren’t looking too far ahead as they face off in the ODI leg of the women’s Ashes

Andrew McGlashan02-Feb-2022The rest of this Ashes series will do well to match the drama of the Test that played out at Manuka Oval. It was a contest that may yet be pivotal in a sustained revival of the format in the women’s game.That is a longer-term ambition and one that the administrators need to take seriously (highlighted by the fact that there are currently no further Tests on the schedule), but in the immediate future there is an equally important challenge to focus the minds of Australia and England.Related

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• Highest fourth-innings total, and the narrowest draw

Not that these ODIs, which will decide the Ashes, need any further context, but looming on the horizon is the World Cup in New Zealand. England are defending champions, Australia have long spoken of their drive to banish the memories of their semi-final exit in 2017, and their opening World Cup match is between each other on March 5. But Meg Lanning and Heather Knight are not looking further than these three outings.”We don’t want to think too far ahead because as soon as we do that it will come crashing down pretty quick,” Lanning said.”If we try and do the right things it will prepare us for the World Cup” Knight said. “We haven’t got our eye on that [the World Cup] at all, it’s all about that first game and trying to bring the good stuff we’ve done so far and polish a few things.”There was somewhat less raw emotion in Knight’s voice as she spoke on Wednesday compared to her post-Test interview with the BBC on Sunday evening. She knew how close her team had got to putting themselves ahead in the multi-format series and, in truth, knew they should have won.It could have been worse had those last 13 balls not been kept out by Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross because an Australia win would have finished the Ashes off there and then, but England now need to win the ODIs 3-0 to wrestle them back for the first time since 2013-14.That is a huge ask against a side that had a 26-match unbeaten run in the format until their most recent outing against India, but amid the agonising near-miss three days ago, Knight felt England had laid down a marker.”Felt like we were in a great position to win it and at the end there it felt a little bit like a loss, but the way we went at that chase was awesome,” she said. “I certainly think they were the most relieved with the draw. It’s shown that when we do go hard at them we can put them under pressure and create a few cracks.”Real character from the girls, to show that we can do that and want to go at the Australians. We’ve talked about it a lot before the series and so pleased that the girls put themselves out there and tried to chase it down.”England have won their three ODI series since cricket resumed in the pandemic – two against New Zealand and one against India – but their last meeting against Australia in the Ashes during the 2019 series was a 3-0 defeat.Those three matches were part of Australia’s winning streak – the third of them featuring Ellyse Perry’s 7 for 22 – and there remains understandable confidence in the one-day game. India pushed them harder than most earlier this season and, having narrowly seen victory slip away in the second match because of a waist-high full-toss, reset Australia’s counter to zero in the next game.There were some questions raised about Lanning’s captaincy when the pressure was on in the closing stages of the Test, although they were eventually able to pull a draw out of the fire with Annabel Sutherland and Alana King impressing in what effectively became one-day death bowling, albeit without wides and fielding restrictions.The Test at Manuka Oval was a contest that may yet be pivotal in a sustained revival of the format in the women’s game•Getty Images

So far the absence of Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham from the spin attack has been well covered, while quick Tayla Vlaeminck has since joined them in missing the World Cup, but it will be interesting to watch how Australia adapt in the 50-over game.Though Amanda-Jade Wellington is part of the World Cup squad as a second legspinner alongside King, Lanning indicated that she would not be drafted in for this series unless there was injury or illness, leaving the road clear for King to continue as first choice.”[The Test] turned into a bit of a one-day game and it does go to show that when you put partnerships together it’s pretty difficult to get wickets. So that’s a bit of a sign for the ODI series,” Lanning said. “From a bowling perspective, we need to be able to take wickets and put them under pressure, and from a batting point of view, when you get in you really need to make sure you are making the most of it.”We are really comfortable with our ODI game at the moment, feel like it’s in a good spot, but we need to make sure we bring our best to beat England.”Lanning confirmed that Megan Schutt would return, having been left out of the Test to manage her workload after Covid-19, while they could have either Ashleigh Gardner or Tahlia McGrath as low as No. 7. Knight said there were no injury concerns and a 12-player squad had already been narrowed down. It’s make or break for England.

He was the most expensive player the franchise bought in the IPL 2022 auctions, at INR 12.25 crore

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2022Kolkata Knight Riders have named Shreyas Iyer their new captain for the upcoming IPL season. Iyer was Knight Riders’ most expensive buy at the IPL 2022 auction last weekend – for INR 12.25 crore (USD 1.63 million approx.) – and became their highest-paid player by overtaking Andre Russell’s salary of INR 12 crore (USD 1.6 million approx.).Iyer takes over from Eoin Morgan, under whom Knight Riders had reached the IPL final last year and lost to Chennai Super Kings.”We are delighted firstly to have been able to successfully bid for Shreyas in the IPL auction and to have the opportunity for him to lead #TeamKKR,” Venky Mysore, CEO & MD of Knight Riders said in a statement. “He has impressed one and all as a quality batsman at the highest level and we are confident that he will excel as a leader of #TeamKKR.”Related

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Iyer has had considerable success as captain in the IPL. He led Delhi Capitals, his last franchise, to the playoffs in consecutive years in 2019 (eliminator) and 2020 (final). He led them from 2018 to 2021 before a shoulder injury during the home series against England early last year had ruled him out of IPL 2021. But the IPL was then postponed in May because of the rising Covid-19 cases in India, and when he returned to the squad for the second leg in the UAE, the Capitals management decided to continue with Rishabh Pant as captain, who had taken over from Iyer in May.Overall, Iyer has led in 41 matches in the IPL, out of which he won 21, lost 18 and two ended in ties.”I am extremely honoured to have gotten the opportunity to lead a prestigious team like KKR,” Iyer said. “The IPL as a tournament brings the best players from different countries and cultures together and I look forward to leading this great group of very talented individuals.”Iyer will join head coach Brendon McCullum in the team management, which also includes a new member in Bharat Arun as their bowling coach.”I am very excited to have one of India’s brightest future leaders in Shreyas Iyer, take the reins at KKR,” McCullum said. “I’ve enjoyed Shreyas’ game and his captaincy skills from afar and now will look forward to working closely with him to drive forward the success and style of play we want at KKR.”After the last IPL, Iyer also made a scintillating Test debut with a century and half-century at No. 5 against New Zealand in Kanpur. When the time came for IPL retentions, Iyer opted to go into the mega auction instead of being retained by Capitals.Iyer was then bagged by Knight Riders as the third most expensive player at the auction, after Ishan Kishan (INR 15.25 crore by Mumbai Indians) and Deepak Chahar (INR 14.00 crore by Chennai Super Kings).

New Zealand will likely field an unchanged side with Gary Stead not expecting conditions to differ much

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2022Trent Boult will not be available for the second Test against South Africa with his lack of recent bowling deemed to be put him at too great of an injury risk.It means Boult has likely played his last home international cricket of the season with those having IPL deals expected to be unavailable for the ODI series against Netherlands at the end of March.Boult was not in the squad for the opening match of the series in Christchurch as his wife awaited the birth of their third child and though he will join team-mates to bowl in the nets around the second Test it was felt too much of an ask to put him through a game.Related

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“[He] is not in a position to be available with his loads and where he’s at,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “Since his wife has been having the baby he’s missed out on a lot of opportunities to play cricket and bowl. We just felt the risk of him playing was far too great at the moment.”New Zealand have retained an unchanged 15-player squad for the second Test which means no place for a specialist spinner. Ajaz Patel has yet to return to Plunket Shield action after injury and Stead did not expect conditions to alter much from the first Test where New Zealand’s quicks dominated by bowling out South Africa for 95 and 111. Allrounder Rachin Ravindra is part of the squad should a spin-bowling option be required.”We considered a [frontline] spin option but didn’t feel as though we needed it on this pitch, through history and the way it was looking after the last Test match,” Stead said.The absence of Boult and lack of changes to the squad means the same four-strong pace attack that dismantled South Africa first time around are set to get another chance together. Matt Henry was the leading light with a career-best 7 for 23 as part of a nine-wicket match haul.”He’s always been a good bowler and sometimes you need that opportunity to strike and make the most it,” Stead said. “He bowled beautifully throughout the Test but I thought the whole bowling unit bowled really well together and thought that was one of the reasons we were so convincing.”

Australia’s team physio also tests positive on the morning of the opening ODI; rest of the players test negative

Alex Malcolm29-Mar-2022Spinner Ashton Agar has become the second Australia player to test positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours, and has been ruled out of the entire ODI series against Pakistan in Lahore.Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Tuesday morning in Pakistan that Agar had tested positive, just 24 hours after Josh Inglis also tested positive. Australia team physiotherapist Brendan Wilson has also tested positive. All other players and staff returned negative tests.Australia will also be without Mitchell Marsh, who suffered a hip flexor injury at training on Monday. Australia have a very limited squad to choose from after Steven Smith was ruled out of the series with an elbow issue.The visitors were planning on playing two spinners in the opening ODI, which opens the door for Mitchell Swepson to possibly make his ODI debut alongside Adam Zampa.Queensland batter Matt Renshaw was flown into Lahore on Monday as extra batting cover but has to complete three days isolation before joining the team.Agar had most recently been a part of Australia’s T20I squad for the home series against Sri Lanka; he played three matches and picked up three wickets at an average of 15.66. Agar has not played an ODI since last July, against West Indies in Bridgetown.The three-match ODI series against Pakistan will be held entirely in Lahore, with the second match on March 31, and third on April 2.