Cricket

The onus is on Test players outside of the Big Three countries to play an attractive brand of cricket to keep the format alive, according to South African quick Kagiso Rabada, who is in his tenth year of international cricket. Rabada has played 62 Tests, fewer than his number of ODIs (101) and T20Is (65),

Before heading to the UAE, though, South Africa have two Tests and three T20Is lined up in the Caribbean against West Indies, which starts August 7. For Afghanistan, the South Africa games will provide another chance to impress against a Test-playing nation and will be played less than a week after their maiden Test against

“That didn’t interest me because the team is flying,” Brendon McCullum told New Zealand’s SENZ radio back in May 2022 after being appointed as England Men’s Test coach. “I wasn’t interested in a cushy kind of gig.” The “gig” in question was the England white-ball job, one McCullum was touted for but neither applied for

Waqar Younis is set to sign on for another stint with Pakistan cricket, this time effectively as the board’s cricketing supremo. Waqar met with PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Monday in Lahore to go through finalising the appointment, though it is believed a few issues still need resolving. One of those might center on the

Manchester Originals 137 for 6 (Jones 34, Bryce 32, Graham 2-31) beat Trent Rockets 136 for 4 (Sciver-Brunt 56*, Gardner 36, Filer 2-26) by one run Manchester Originals held their nerve with ball in hand to defy a record partnership between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ash Gardner and take the victory at Emirates Old Trafford in

Trent Rockets 145 for 7 beat Manchester Originals 144 for 8 by one run Jordan Thompson stole the show and the match at Emirates Old Trafford, defending two runs from the final three balls of the game to secure Trent Rockets an improbable victory over Manchester Originals. Sikandar Raza scored 21 from 12 balls to

India will host the next edition of the Men’s Asia Cup cricket tournament in the T20 format in 2025 as a precursor to the T20 World Cup scheduled in the country in 2026, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) stated in its Invitation for Expression of Interest (IEOI). Since 2016, when the tournament was first played

Washington Freedom 207 for 5 (Smith 88, Maxwell 40) beat San Francisco Unicorns 111 (Ravindra 3-23, Jansen 3-28) by 96 runs The result cemented Freedom’s standing as the team of the season having secured five wins in the group stage before progressing direct to the final with victory over Unicorns in the Qualifier. This contest

Oval Invincibles 113 for 9 (Ferreira 30, Ball 3-24) beat Welsh Fire 103 for 8 (Payne 28, Zampa 3-24) by 10 runs In a match dominated by the ball, the Oval Invincibles made it two from two, beating the Welsh Fire by 10 runs in an exciting encounter in Cardiff. Although they only posted 113

England 376 (Smith 95, Root 87, Woakes 62, Stokes 54, A Joseph 4-122, Seales 3-79) and 87 for 0 (Stokes 57*, Duckett 25*) beat West Indies 282 (Brathwaite 61, Holder 59, Atkinson 4-67, Woakes 3-69) and 175 (Louis 57, Hodge 55, Wood 5-40) by ten wickets Mark Wood‘s breathtaking post-lunch spell netted him a five-wicket

Charith Asalanka, Sri Lanka’s new T20I captain, won the toss and put India into bat in the first T20I in Pallekele. Asalanka stressed on the need to create the right environment for his young squad, while targeting “more wins than what we’ve had recently.” Sri Lanka went in with three frontline fast bowlers, with Maheesh

Birmingham Phoenix 131 for 7 (Bethell 43, Stone 2-14) beat London Spirit 127 for 7 (Russell 37*, Abbott 4-14) by three wickets Sean Abbott produced a memorable performance with the ball to inspire Birmingham Phoenix to a three-wicket victory over London Spirit in a low-scoring thriller at Lord’s. Abbott claimed 4 for 14 from his

Will Rhodes will join Durham next season after deciding to leave Warwickshire, the side he captained to the County Championship title in 2021. Rhodes, whose contract at Warwickshire expires at the end of the season, was offered an extension but turned it down, feeling that the time was right for a move after seven seasons

“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