Cricket

Fanos Hira has retired as chair of Worcestershire and stepped down from the board after nine years at the county. Hira’s involvement at New Road initially began as part of a subgroup of the board in 2014, and the main board in 2016 before becoming chair in 2018. Having replaced Stephen Taylor in the role

Ten millimetres of grass has been left on the Optus Stadium pitch two days ahead of the first Test between Australia and Pakistan, but more is expected to be shaven off with head curator Isaac McDonald tipping a “hard, fast and bouncy” surface. Pressure has been on the ground staff after a sedate pitch in

Big picture – T20 World Cup countdown begins And now for something completely different. Or at least a slight change of pace after three months solid of ODI cricket. England have had their fill for 2023 and even if West Indies’ appetite for the 50-over format has been sharpened by a 2-1 series win, having

The schedule of the 2024 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League will clash, to varying extents, with those of five other T20 leagues in the January-February window. The BCB announced the schedule of the tournament – January 19 to March 1 – on Monday. The ILT20 in the UAE will be on from January 19

Travis Head believes that opening the batting in Test cricket was a “specialist job” as he ruled himself out of contention to replace David Warner. Having powered Australia to an ODI World Cup triumph with spectacular batting at the top of the order, Head presented a potentially intriguing option to succeed Warner who is set

India 130 for 5 (Mandhana 48, Rodrigues 29, Kemp 2-24) beat England 126 (Knight 52, Patil 3-19, Ishaque 3-22) by five wickets India’s new spin pair of Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque and an improved batting performance led them to a consolation victory in the third and final T20I against England at the Wankhede Stadium.

The second edition of the Women’s Premier League will take place in “one state” of India, starting from the “second or third week” of February. BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed as much on Saturday, talking to journalists after the WPL auction in Mumbai. “It is decided that we will have the tournament in February,” he

New Zealand allrounder Glenn Phillips said that he shared his batting mantra with Mitchell Santner before their crucial seventh-wicket partnership took shape in the Dhaka Test. The visitors had slumped to 69 for 6 chasing 137 runs on the fourth afternoon against Bangladesh before Santner and Phillips got together to rescue the side. The pair

A batting-friendly Wankhede surface. Shorter boundaries. At the pitch report, the broadcasters said it should be a “belter”. But a great display of control and adaptability from England’s bowlers – and misjudgements from India’s batters – took all of that out of equation. It was a case of India’s batters being indecisive on a pitch

The uncapped Indian pair of Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh walked away with top honours at the WPL auction in Mumbai, attracting bids of INR 2 crore (Gujarat Giants) and INR 1.3 crore (UP Warriorz) respectively. Australia allrounder Annabel Sutherland was the most expensive overseas player, attracting the auction’s joint-highest bid at INR 2 crore,

Adam Zampa is still feeling the physical effects of Australia’s World Cup campaign but hopes a slightly more forgiving BBL schedule will help him get back into top shape. Zampa battled injuries and illness early in the World Cup before bouncing back in emphatic style with three consecutive four-wicket hauls and a tournament record-equaling tally

Big picture – Final throes for 50-overs in 2023 Ding and then dong. Punch and then counterpunch. The series set up for a decider in Bridgetown. England found their feet after being wobbled in the first game but West Indies can still come back off the ropes with the aim of landing a knockout blow

Defending 121, Strikers’ left-arm spinner picked up a hat-trick in the first over of the innings, dismissing Andries Gous, Dewald Brevis and Ibrahim Zadran, to leave Samp Army reeling at 1 for 3. In his second over, he removed the opposition captain Faf du Plessis and Najibullah Zadran in space of three balls to further

Alyssa Healy has declared herself a near-certain starter for Australia’s Test against India in Mumbai. The star wicketkeeper-batter missed all-but one match of the WBBL after badly hurting her finger while trying to break up a fight between her two dogs. Healy has returned to training and is preparing to face India at the famous

Zimbabwe chose to bowl against Ireland Zimbabwe asked Ireland to bat in the first T20I in Harare as they look to bounce back after failing to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Middle-order batter Brian Bennett and fast bowler Trevor Gwandu, who earned maiden call-ups for the series, have been handed their debuts. Allrounder

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club have confirmed they are exploring the possibility of selling their historic home ground in Bristol, and moving to a bespoke stadium outside of the city. The Nevil Road Ground in central Bristol has been Gloucestershire’s base since 1889, when the land was gifted to the club by WG Grace, and has

Matthew Short, last season’s player of the tournament in the BBL, has been named Adelaide Strikers’ new captain. Short takes over permanently from Travis Head having stood in for him last season. He scored 458 runs and claimed 11 wickets in the 2022-23 edition of the tournament and has since made his T20I and ODIs

England 197 for 6 (Sciver-Brunt 77, Wyatt 75, Renuka 3-27) beat India 159 for 6 (Shafali 52, Ecclestone 3-15) by 38 runs Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt pulled England from the peril of 2 for 2 to give their side a 1-0 lead in the T20I series against India. Both scored rapid half-centuries in a