Cricket

“Even if it’s difficult for you, crack a smile. Whatever else happens, that will shock people.” Outgoing India head coach Rahul Dravid did what many consider the unthinkable – he made Gautam Gambhir smile with the above message. Dravid sent out a touching message to the new head coach, who takes over with the T20I

Zimbabwe will become the first country to be paid a “touring fee” by the host board in bilateral cricket when they travel to England in the 2025 summer for a two-Test series. That development was confirmed by ECB chief executive Richard Gould on Friday during a chat on Sky Sports during the first day’s play

Big picture: New beginnings It will be the start of a new T20I era for both India and Sri Lanka when they come face-to-face in Pallekele on Saturday. For India, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from the format and Suryakumar Yadav has been named the new captain. Sri Lanka have moved

Ravi Shastri believes having Gautam Gambhir as the new India head coach is “refreshing” because he is “contemporary,” he has “fresh ideas,” and he has the “tools” and “experience” for the job. “He’s contemporary, he just had a great season in the IPL,” Shastri said on Gambhir on the ICC Review. “I think he’s the

Kevin Sinclair, West Indies’ offspinning allrounder, will be replaced by Gudakesh Motie for the third and final Test after sustaining a fractured left forearm courtesy of England’s Mark Wood on the final day of the second Test. Sinclair, the sixth man out as West Indies capitulated to 143 all out in Nottingham on Sunday, wore

Big picture: Can WI go to the well again? They were putting out the bunting ever so briefly at Trent Bridge last week. Roll up, roll up, free entry for the fifth and final day! Relive the glories of that first heady summer of Bazball in 2022… marvel at the chutzpah! Swoon at the strokeplay!

Australia’s multi-format stars have been handed their best red-ball preparation for a summer in five years, with players to have up to four Sheffield Shield matches to fine tune for the Test series against India. Cricket Australia announced the schedule for the domestic summer on Thursday, which includes the new women’s T20 competition before the

Southern Brave 139 for 3 (Vince 56, Hughes 45) beat London Spirit 138 for 9 (Dawson 45, Overton 3-16) by seven wickets A superb display from Southern Brave’s lethal seamers and a ruthless run-chase orchestrated by James Vince ensured the men’s competition’s inaugural winners prevailed against London Spirit at Utilita Bowl. Invited to field first,

Toss Thailand won the toss and chose to bat vs Sri Lanka Thailand captain Thipatcha Putthawong called correctly and had no hesitations in electing to bat in the final group game of the women’s Asia Cup 2024 against Sri Lanka. Thailand are fielding an unchanged side from their previous encounter against Bangladesh. “A par score

Is it wise or profitable to buy the minority (49%) stake being offered by ECB to own one of the eight franchises in the Hundred? That’s the question being asked by owners of almost all of the 10 IPL teams, most of whom are keen to buy teams in the Hundred but not in favour

Oval Invincibles 93 for 2 (Billings 31) beat Birmingham Phoenix 89 (Zampa 3-11) by eight wickets Defending champions Oval Invincibles romped to victory under the lights at The Kia Oval as the fourth year of The Hundred got underway with two wins out of two for the men’s and women’s South London team. The Invincibles

Toss Pakistan women chose to bowl vs United Arab Emirates women An unchanged Pakistan side won the toss and chose to bowl in their must-win encounter against United Arab Emirates in the women’s Asia Cup T20 tournament. Esha Oza, UAE’s captain, also wanted to bowl but was happy to take what came their way. UAE

Fireworks, live music and a sold-out Oval crowd will herald the Hundred’s return on Tuesday, but there will be just as much interest in what is happening in the hospitality suites as on the pitch. The ECB plan to use the competition’s fourth season as a shop window for potential investors into the eight teams

Bangladesh 100 for 3 (Murshida 50, Maya 1-8) beat Thailand 96 for 9 (Boochatham 40, Rabeya 4-14, Moni 2-10, Jesmin 2-28) by seven wickets Bangladesh ended their ten-match losing streak in T20Is and collected their first points in Women’s Asia Cup 2024. They bounced back from the opening game defeat to Sri Lanka with a

“You’ve come back from a huge setback, with that massive injury you had, put you out for a year and a bit,” Scotland captain Richie Berrington said when presenting Cassell with his cap before the game against Oman. “Just to see your resilience coming back, getting back on the park, and just love watching what

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, praised Shoaib Bashir for “showing the world what he’s about today”, after his five-wicket haul rushed West Indies to a 241-run defeat on the fourth afternoon at Trent Bridge. Bashir, 20, finished with figures of 5 for 41 for 11.1 overs as West Indies – chasing an unlikely 385 to square

Viv Richards and Carl Hooper have strongly hit back at former West Indies team-mate Brian Lara for “gross misrepresentations” in his book – Lara: The England Chronicles. In a joint statement released on Sunday, both former West Indies captains have rejected Lara’s “claim” that Richards made Hooper “cry once a week”, describing it as “categorically

England 416 and 348 for 6 (Brook 109, Root 81*, Duckett 76, Pope 51) lead West Indies 457 (Hodge 120, Da Silva 82*, Athanaze 82, Woakes 4-84) by 307 runs Harry Brook‘s century and Joe Root‘s unbeaten 81 extended England’s lead to 307 runs at lunch on the fourth day but three quick wickets kept