Cricket

11:17 PM GMT A bristling Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey insisted he has the squad to win the Big Bash League for the first time in the club’s nine attempts, and declared his team would be more decisive and entertaining in their second and final chance at getting to the decider after an abject batting

3:52 PM GMT Sidharth Monga When Manish Pandey first made a name in top-flight cricket, he was, in all the glorious irony, a top-order batsman in a team where Virat Kohli batted at No. 6. The year was 2009, and Pandey became the first Indian to score a century in the IPL. Eleven years on,

11:15 AM GMT Paul Stirling, the Ireland top-order batsman, has joined Northamptonshire for part of the T20 Blast as an overseas player, despite the fact he is a British passport-holder and was born in Belfast. He will provide cover for Kieron Pollard, who will play eight games for Northants in the middle of their campaign,

1:39 AM GMT He has been compared to Michael Bevan. There are growing calls for him to be given a spot in Australia’s T20I middle order. But Jonathan Wells is focused on the here and now, continuing his prolific form in “one of the toughest roles” in T20 cricket and helping the Adelaide Strikers towards

5:23 PM GMT South Africa’s Under-19 program could be in line for an overhaul after the team’s failure to progress out of the quarter-finals at the age-group World Cup, which they are hosting. South Africa advanced second from their group, following defeat in the opening match to Afghanistan. The team also came into the tournament

11:12 AM GMT South Africa are considering a short tour to Pakistan to play three T20Is in late March, immediately after their ODIs in India which finishes on March 18. ESPNcricinfo understands that South Africa will send a security delegation to Pakistan next month, either during the Test against Bangladesh or during the PSL, to

2:42 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The uncapped pace bowler Kyle Jamieson has been named in New Zealand’s ODI squad to face India alongside Scott Kuggeleijn and Hamish Bennett as injuries force a reshaping of the attack. Jamieson’s call-up was flagged when he was left out of the New Zealand A squad and follows his addition

8:00 AM GMT New Zealand Under-19 239 for 8 (Clarke 46*, Field 38*, Need 3-33) beat West Indies Under-19 238 (McKenzie 99, Clarke 4-25) by two wickets New Zealand’s No. 9 Joey Field and No. 10 Kristian Clarke put on an unbeaten 86-run ninth-wicket stand to take New Zealand through to the semi-finals of the

8:00 AM GMT Sri Lanka 226 for 5 (Mathews 53*, Raza 4-85) trail Zimbabwe 406 (Williams 107, Raza 72, Taylor 62, Embuldeniya 4-182) by 180 runs Angelo Mathews’ 35th Test fifty rescued Sri Lanka from a precarious position in the first hour of play as Sri Lanka added 104 runs for the loss of three

2:57 AM GMT Will Pucovski will make his return to representative ranks after taking his most recent mental-health break ahead of the Test summer against Pakistan and New Zealand, as captain of a Cricket Australia XI. The side will face the England Lions in a three-match 50-over series to begin their developmental tour of Australia

6:03 PM GMT Ollie Pope has said he is ready for the step-up in scrutiny following his breakthrough series in South Africa, and believes that the positive influence of Joe Root and Ben Stokes will help him to translate his impressive form in South Africa on to the slower, spinning decks of Sri Lanka in

8:00 AM GMT Lunch Sri Lanka 6 for 0 (Fernando 4*, Karunaratne 2*) trail Zimbabwe 406 (Williams 107, Raza 72, Taylor 62, Embuldeniya 4-182) by 400 runs Zimbabwe found it slow going on the second morning as Sri Lanka managed to remove the four remaining batsmen for just 54 runs. Lasith Embuldeniya, who had picked

1:49 AM GMT Marcus Stoinis believes he can still break into Australia’s T20 World Cup team as an allrounder despite being recast as a non-bowling opening batsman for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League, a role in which he is all but assured of finishing as the tournament’s top scorer this season. In

6:34 PM GMT Joe Root believes England have found a template that can help them win the 2021-22 Ashes in Australia. While delighted by the 3-1 victory over South Africa, Root was also encouraged that his team had found a method that could serve them well in future challenges. In particular, England’s captain was thrilled