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A depleted home attack, led by Mitch Perry, struck back strongly with the second new ball

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2023A century from Tom Bruce and a late new-ball surge from an illness-hit Australia A set up a potentially fascinating final day of the pink-ball match in Mackay.Bruce, the New Zealand A captain, reached a 148-ball century deep in the final session during which he passed 5000 first-class runs. By the close, the visitors held a lead of 299 and were seemingly set for a declaration in the morning.For much of the day the tempo was sedate with New Zealand A, who were a batter down in the absence of injured wicketkeeper Mitch Hay due to a fractured wrist, rarely looking to the increase the scoring rate.But things came to life when Australia A took the second ball during the final session. Mitch Perry, who was among those under the weather, produced a superb swinging yorker to trap Nick Kelly lbw, breaking a stand of 69 in 22 overs, then removed Scott Kuggeleijn first ball with what looked a more borderline decision.Liam Hatcher joined in when he pinned Adithya Ashok for a pair, at which point Bruce was still short of his century. He opened his shoulders, whipping Hatcher over the leg side for a four and six, then reached his hundred in the next over.Australia A had a depleted attack for much of the day with Ben Dwarshuis (back) and Nathan McAndrew (illness) becoming unavailable. It meant an increased workload for Perry and Hatcher who shouldered it impressively, taking their combined match tally to 14 wickets.”Ben came off with some back soreness and we certainly hope it’s nothing too serious,” Australia A coach Adam Voges said. “[It] puts a big load into the rest of the bowlers and thought they all did a great job. We had guys who really stepped up and did a great job. Mitch Perry got some late rewards.”The game had resumed with New Zealand A holding a narrow lead and they built cautiously. Sean Solia continued his excellent series with another half-century before being lbw in Nathan McSweeney’s first over.Dean Foxcroft also reached fifty before edging a wide one from Perry and Muhammad Abbas fell to Hatcher’s short ball the delivery after surviving what appeared a very adjacent lbw appeal.

“I still have ambitions to play T20 cricket for Australia but it is a lot of water to go under the bridge”

Andrew McGlashan20-Nov-2022Mitchell Starc has hinted strongly at his frustration at being omitted from what became Australia’s final match of the T20 World Cup against Afghanistan but he retains ambitions to be part of the 2024 squad in West Indies and USA.Starc was benched for the crucial game in Adelaide earlier this month in favour of Kane Richardson having previously been demoted from his traditional new-ball role in what had been described as a change of tactics.Related

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Australia won the match by just four runs which meant they needed Sri Lanka to beat England in order to progress to the semi-finals which did not happen. The decision around Starc became a focal point for the post-tournament fallout.After his four-wicket haul in the second ODI against England, which included a devastating swinging delivery to remove Dawid Malan, Starc confirmed he had held forthright talks with chair of selectors George Bailey although did not elaborate on what was discussed.”George and I have spoken and that is where it will stay,” he said. “I had strong opinions on it and had a conversation, and that’s where it is. I spoke to George at length, it was a good conversation. Many different things were floated there.”With Australia not set to play another T20 until August in South Africa, Starc added the next World Cup in the format was down the list of his immediate thoughts but it remained on the radar.”I still have ambitions to play T20 cricket for Australia but it is a long time to the next one and a lot of water to go under the bridge,” he said. “So we will face that when we get to that.”Starc made a pointed reference about having the new ball in his hands in the one-day series against England. His biggest impact at the T20 World Cup came when he claimed two wickets in his first over against Ireland, which was the fifth of the innings, when the ball surprisingly shaped at the Gabba before he went on to concede 43 in his next three overs.”The white ball doesn’t swing much after a couple of overs,” he said. “It’s nice to take a new one and swing it. Obviously it is a role I have played for a very long time, so nice to have that role again tonight. If I do open the bowling, I bowl fast and swing it and try and hit the stumps.”It swung at the Gabba in the fifth over which is pretty rare for a white ball at the moment. It doesn’t mean that in a different role it won’t swing. I was given a different role for the World Cup and apart from probably the first over of the first game and a couple of balls here and there I probably played it pretty well.”However, Starc’s T20 numbers in recent years have slid. All his appearances in the format since 2015 have been at international level due to the schedule making in tough to play BBL and his decision to opt out of the IPL. He admits not playing in India could have hindered the development of his game but is at ease with the route he has taken.”It may have [hampered T20 bowling] but if I’d gone there, having no break and playing 12 months of the year, what does that affect? Do I break down? Does it affect my red-ball cricket? You can’t just sit there and go ‘he should go to the IPL’ because he’d be a better T20 bowler. What’s the downside of that? Do I give away a format of the game because I’m playing 12 months of the year? In my mind I don’t regret any of those decisions not to go. I wouldn’t change it.”I feel like particularly last year, if I take my Test cricket from the last 12-18 months, and how that’s benefited from the break that I’ve had through IPL periods, that’s paid for itself I guess. It’s always been my decision, and that is part of the reason that I do it, to give myself that break physically and mentally. And the other side of it is to see and spend time with my wife [Alysaa Healy] away from cricket. It’s hard enough juggling one cricket schedule, let alone two.”

Harry Tector’s career-best innings goes in vain as Ireland fall to final-over defeat

Mohammad Isam12-May-2023Bangladesh aced a 320-run chase against Ireland in the second ODI in Chelmsford, winning with three balls to spare in dramatic circumstances. Veteran Mushfiqur Rahim kept his cool in the death overs, shepherding the last part of the chase with the tail. With four runs required off four balls, Mushfiqur played a double-handed scoop shot that eventually ran to the deep third boundary. Mark Adair bowled a no-ball off the previous ball, leaving him to try to contain the rampant Bangladeshis off a free-hit.In front of a 4,000 partisan fan, Najmul Hossain Shanto’s sublime hundred set up the “visitors” at the Cloud County Ground. He made 117 off 93 balls with a dozen fours and three sixes, raising the team from a difficult start, adding 61 with Shakib Al Hasan and 131 with Towhid Hridoy, who made an important 68.But the match went down to Mushfiqur needing to bat with Bangladesh’s long tail, particularly when Mehidy Hasan Miraz got out in the 40th over. Taijul Islam batted manfully at one end, but there were two hairy moments. Mushfiqur was nearly run out in the 42nd over when George Dockrell broke the stumps a split second after he had reached the non-striker’s end. A ball later, a Taijul edge smashed into Paul Stirling’s right cheek, counting as a dropped catch.Taijul fell lbw to Josh Little in the penultimate over, bringing Shoriful Islam to the crease. To everyone’s surprise, he plonked Little down the ground for a boundary, before Mushfiqur carefully managed to keep the strike in the last over. Adair bowled two fantastic full balls, before a full toss that was caught on the deep square-leg boundary. But Mushfiqur got the no-ball as the ball was over his waist, before nailing the free hit with a paddle scoop.Bangladesh got off to a poor start when captain Tamim Iqbal chipped Adair to square leg in the fourth over. Litton Das, after hitting two fours and a six, edged Graham Hume to leave the side on 40 for 2 in the tenth over.Shanto went after Hume with a four and a big six over long-on, before Shakib struck Andy McBrine for three fours in a row in the following over. It looked like a partnership that could salvage things for Bangladesh, but Curtis Campher nipped it in the bud, Shakib chipping him to point in the 17th over.After Shanto reached his fifty in the 20th over, he pulled Little for two consecutive fours, before lifting him down the ground for his second six in Little’s next over.At the other end, Hridoy was quietly doing his job. He was mostly feeding Shanto the strike by working the ball around with plenty of back-foot punches and dabs through the leg side. Soon though, Hridoy picked up two sixes, lashing Adair over midwicket first, and then flicking Hume over the same region. He repeated the dose in Hume’s next over, but after Shanto reached his century in the 34th over, Hridoy fell trying to pull Dockrell in the same over. His 68 came off 58 balls, including five fours and three sixes.Shanto got out next ball after striking Campher for a brutal straight six. Dockrell removed Mehidy Hasan Miraz with an lbw decision that was marginal, going on the umpire’s call upon review. But Mushfiqur held his nerve in the big chase, winning the game in some style.Harry Tector celebrates his century•Andrew Miller/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The start had felt like ages ago. The match was delayed by two hours and 15 minutes due to rain, but Ireland posted 319 for 6 in their 45 overs. Harry Tector made a superb 140 off 113 balls with a team record ten sixes and seven fours. Dockrell supported him brilliantly with an unbeaten 74.Hasan Mahmud initially vindicated Tamim’s decision to bowl first, as he removed both Ireland openers Paul Stirling and Stephen Doheny early on. Stirling was caught behind off an inside edge in the first over before Doheny gave Mehidy a catch at point.Coming to bat at No. 4, Tector added 98 runs for the third wicket with captain Andrew Balbirnie, himself experiencing a dip in form. Tector latched on to the short balls quite well, lofting Shoriful for his first six in the 12th over. But it was the three sixes in a Taijul over that properly launched Tector’s innings.After Balbirnie made 42, Lorcan Tucker and Campher also fell cheaply. But Tector remained his belligerent self, aided by a marauding Dockrell. After Tector struck his sixth six in the 28th over, Dockrell smashed Shakib over his head, before pasting Shoriful for three more in the 38th over – twice straight and once over cover.Tector added four more sixes, breaking the Ireland record in the process. His ten sixes is an Ireland record, bettering Balbirnie’s eight sixes against Afghanistan in 2019. Ireland finished on 16 sixes in the innings, a team record too.Tector fell for 140 in the 42nd over when Ebadot Hossain knocked back his stumps, but by then most of the damage was done. He and Dockrell added the fastest century stand for an Ireland pair in ODIs. Dockrell struck a few more blows to take his score to 74 not out, while Adair scooped in an eight-ball unbeaten 20.Only Mahmud stood out with his accuracy among the Bangladesh bowlers. Shoriful went for 83 in his nine over, although he took two wickets. Taijul also got hammered properly, while Shakib, mostly tight, went wicketless against Ireland for a change. Bangladesh’s fielding was ragged at times, with Tamim dropping Tector on 23, and Shakib shelling a simple chance at cover from Dockrell on 59.

Water under covers forces hasty abandonment with England eyeing batting records in Bristol

Vithushan Ehantharajah26-Sep-2023England 280 for 4 (Duckett 107*, Salt 61, Crawley 51) vs Ireland – Match abandonedEngland claimed a 1-0 ODI series win against Ireland in farcical circumstances after the third ODI at Bristol was abandoned 31 overs into the first innings due to rain, with water also getting onto the pitch.England had reached 280 for 4, with Ben Duckett striking a maiden ODI to build on a fast start by Phil Salt, who blitzed 61 off 28 at the top of the order, before the rain arrived during the drinks break at 2.48pm. After a brief pause to see if it would pass, the umpires decided to call on the groundstaff.There was a further issue when the covers were caught in the wind leaving the pitch exposed, before the three mobile covers came on from Ashley Down Road End. The tractor dragging the covers ended up driving down what would have been just outside off stump for a right-hander batting from the Pavilion End. There was also a delay in closing the gaps between the covers allowing the rain to get onto the playing surface.Members of the groundstaff then had to squeeze under the covers where they were passed mats to towel down the damaged areas at both ends. Standing umpire Paul Reiffel and third umpire Rod Tucker emerged with reserve umpire David Millns at around 3.15pm to survey the damage. After looking under the covers, and assessing the standing water on the square, the decision was made to call off the match at 3.21pm. The rain relented five minutes later.An overnight deluge had saturated the outfield, but although play did get underway on time at 12.30pm, fears the ground could not take any more rain were eventually realised.”It caught everyone by surprise,” Zak Crawley, England’s captain for this series, said. “The ground was already a bit wet this morning after the rain that happened last night, so it didn’t need a lot more rain to get abandoned like that. And obviously a lot of rain fell in not a long space of time.”I went on the outfield just now and it was soaking wet as well. I think it was all unfit.”Ireland skipper Paul Stirling echoed those sentiments, having initially hoped the delay would allow his side to turn their fortunes around after a chastening start in the field.”I think we were all pretty happy when the rain came, but we weren’t quite expecting it to end the game,” he said. “We thought we might get a bit of a break or a bit of a rest and try and regroup and come out there and change it up a little bit. But no, we weren’t expecting the game to be called off.Heavy rain forced an abrupt abandonment•Getty Images

“We were having a bit of a joke up there [in the dressing room], I think we’re more used to it in Ireland because there is more rain probably. We haven’t really come across that in England where it was so sudden. We wanted to get out there.”This was the fourth consecutive men’s ODI abandoned at Bristol, following a 2021 no-result against Sri Lanka and two of their three 2019 World Cup matches (Pakistan versus Sri Lanka and Bangladesh versus Sri Lanka) washed out without a ball being bowled. Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown lamented what he regarded as an unavoidable situation given the volume of rain in the last 24 hours.”We always had the sense that if we had something similar to last night, 20-30 minutes of rain could be what killed it off. You can see all along the bottom of the square the water is running off in big puddles.”It is just gutting. We’ve had our fair share of rain offs such as in World Cups and you wonder if we give it a bit longer maybe it can dry out, but it is what it is. The umpires and the match ref know what they are doing, the groundstaff are working their backsides off to get it right.”Brown defended the response from the groundstaff, who struggled to fully cover the pitch and surrounding areas in challenging conditions.”It was hard conditions for them. You could see by how the covers were moving that it was pretty tough for them. It is one thing getting the covers on speedily, but in those conditions it is a different ball game altogether. They were certainly heavy and wet from this morning.”No one wants to see a match end in that way and we are just collectively gutted for a season-ender for English cricket like that and a season-ender for Gloucestershire in Bristol.”The conditions last night were shocking. The covers were heavy and wet, and they were trying to move them in tough conditions. It was blowing a hooley, which makes it a lot harder to move. I think they did and admirable job in difficult circumstances.”In what play was possible, England had been given a bumper start by Salt on his way to his country’s fourth-fastest half-century in the format, from 22 deliveries. He crashed three fours and a six off Mark Adair in the first four balls of the match, with 19 off the first over and, thanks to his 87-run stand with Will Jacks, 100 up after eight overs – both England records in this format.Duckett had brought up three figures with a six over wide long-off from his 72nd delivery, the penultimate ball of the 30th over. And though Sam Hain fell to Craig Young – the most impressive Irish bowler on show with 3 for 31 – at the end of the next over, Duckett had a shot at becoming England’s first double-centurion and, in turn, the team an outside chance of beating their world-record ODI score of 498 for 8, made against Netherlands last year. Neither got the chance to play out.It was a tough debut for Ireland’s left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom, who conceded 47 runs in his four overs. That included having his last four balls hit for 16 by Duckett to bring up England’s 250 after 27 overs. Van Woerkom did at least emerge from the wreckage with a maiden wicket when Crawley scythed a wide delivery to third after bringing up his maiden ODI fifty.However, for the second time in the series the rain curtailed any prospects of a result. With more than 30 overs of play achieved, spectators were not entitled to a refund.”It worries me greatly that this is a sign of things to come,” Brown said, looking ahead to next summer with Bristol due to host an ODI between England and Australia on September 29.”We’ve got a lot of cricket being played in September next year and with climate change we’ve seen heavy rain in June and July, and I think the game needs to be thinking innovatively about how we get games on or prepare pitches and surfaces using different things to get cricket away.”

Former batter also opens up about how the pandemic and the split IPL in 2021 took a toll on him

Edited PTI version04-Jan-2022He isn’t sure what the future holds in store for him but former South Africa captain AB de Villiers is confident that he will have a role to play in the national team and his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore’s future set-up.One of contemporary cricket’s greatest batters, de Villiers had retired from all forms of the game in November last year.”I still believe that I have a role to play in SA cricket and also over there in the IPL with the Royal Challengers Bangalore,” he was quoted as saying by .Besides a staggering 20,014 international runs across formats under his belt, de Villiers also holds the record for the fastest fifty, century and 150 in ODIs. He also played 157 matches for Royal Challengers and scored 4522 runs.”I have no idea what will come next but I will take it one day at a time and see,” he said.de Villiers, 37, said he has been “looking after and mentoring some youngsters with potential and ability for the last few years.””No one knows about it and hopefully I can look back one day in the future knowing that I have made a big difference in the lives of a few players.”That is my focus for now and I don’t know if it’s going to be professional or on a casual basis, but we will see where we go with that.”de Villiers, who had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2018, opened up about the personal challenges that he faced in the last couple of years with the Covid-19 pandemic also taking a toll.”Having to go to the IPL twice last year where we had to deal with a lot of travelling restrictions, Covid-19 testing, missed and cancelled flights, and having to organise school for the kids was very challenging,” he said.”I decided over the past few years that I am not going to travel without my kids anymore and the split IPL really made it very complicated. Probably the biggest challenge was to stay sane, motivated and keeping the energy.”I also picked up Covid-19 at some stage and I was really sick for 10 to 12 days and luckily I got through it. Those were the challenges and there were basic stresses of life with the pandemic floating around.”The IPL was suspended in May 2020 after multiple Covid cases were detected inside the bio-bubble in India. It was completed later in the year after being shifted to the UAE.”By a long way, the travelling arrangements and the IPL have been the biggest challenge this year (2021) and finding that energy to still want to be the best in the world was difficult,” de Villiers said.He said the game has “always been about enjoyment” for him.”And the minute where I felt the difficulty of travelling and being there at the IPL for two-and-half to three months a year, specifically with this one that was spilt into two, bubbles and this and that made things very complicated with regards to cricket and the enjoyment thereof.”I found myself on the park where scoring runs and doing well for the team didn’t really match with everything that goes with it any more and that’s where the balance started leading towards hanging my gloves up.He only moved on when he knew that enjoyment was gone.”I have never been the guy who is going to push every single bit of energy of my ability and my cricketing skill, I have always played for the enjoyment of the game. And the minute that sort of started going down, I knew it was time for me to move on.”

Assistant coach Andrew McDonald believes the squad are well prepared for the first Test

Alex Malcolm29-Nov-2021Australia are likely to abandon plans for a three-day intrasquad practice match in Brisbane due to the continued bad weather but have confidence in the Ashes preparation they are putting together.Australia had selected 24 players, minus the absent Tim Paine, to hold a three-day match at Redlands in Brisbane starting on Wednesday (Australia A will then play England Lions) but Queensland’s weather has ruined best-laid plans with up to 100 millimetres of rain expected to fall on Tuesday and Wednesday as heavy thunderstorms are forecast. There is also a further thunderstorm forecast for Thursday.The Australia hierarchy are confident the players who had returned from the T20 World Cup have received adequate centre-wicket practice during their 14 days quarantine with only one session lost to rain, while the remainder of the Test specialists have been able to play anywhere between two and five Sheffield Shield fixtures in the lead-up to the first Test.Despite Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Steve Smith having not played a first-class fixture since last summer, assistant coach Andrew McDonald believed the prolonged three-week training block coming from the T20 World Cup will have those players well prepared for a change in format.Related

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“We’ve had fantastic facilities up here,” McDonald said on Sunday. “The weather’s been challenging at times, but we’ve still been able to get on in the centre. I think we’ll be really well prepared.”And also these guys have got a lot of Test experience to draw upon. So changing formats is something that they’ve been able to do and deal with across their careers. This will be no different but I think the advantage in this one is that we’ve had two weeks of quarantine training to shift gears into Test mode and then we’ve got another eight days on the other side of that.”I don’t think there’s too many Australian teams that would have had potentially a month to build into a red-ball series. So I think that’s a real positive. I don’t think they’ll be too many excuses come that first session.”Cancelling the three-day game would mean the selectors wouldn’t have a full match scenario to make their final judgements, although that may not have a huge bearing.Travis Head and Usman Khawaja are fighting for the final batting spot in the middle order, but chairman of selectors George Bailey said two weeks ago that they were already leaning one way and that what happened ahead of the first Test would not have much of a bearing on the final decision. Bailey also noted that the three-day game was never designed to be a bat-off.The other choice Australia have to make is who will replace Tim Paine after he stepped away from cricket indefinitely for mental health reasons. Alex Carey and Josh Inglis appear to be neck and neck in the race to debut at the Gabba. Carey has played nine domestic matches, and five Shield games, this summer while Inglis has only played one back in September before he went to the T20 World Cup where he only played one practice game as a specialist batter and faced just three balls.Australia’s attack looks to be set heading into the first Test with Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Nathan Lyon likely to be the quartet again as they were last summer. Western Australia quick Jhye Richardson is putting pressure on Starc after taking 23 wickets in four Shield fixtures this year but Australia are keen to have the left-armer in the line-up for at least the Gabba and the day-night Test in Adelaide given Starc’s prowess with the pink ball.

India face prospect of surrendering their highest-ever chase in a Test but another twist seems inevitable

Osman Samiuddin04-Jul-20221:17

Vikram Rathour – ‘Batters didn’t execute shots well enough’

An “ordinary” day with the bat has left India facing the prospect of conceding their highest-ever chase in a Test, as well as denying them a first series win in England since 2007. There is still some cricket to be played; England need 119 runs, India seven wickets; England have Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow at the crease, embedded into a 150-run stand and Ben Stokes to come; India have Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, refreshed after a night’s rest.Given how the day played out – India on top, then England, then India, then England again – another twist seems inevitable. But it ended with control in England’s hands, with India’s batting coach, Vikram Rathour, conceding that a poor session with the bat in the morning had been at the root of their opponents’ fightback.India began the day 257 runs ahead, with seven wickets in hand and Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant settled at the crease. Soon after lunch they were all out for 245, a collapse of 7 for 92. That meant the 378 target, while still substantial – England have never chased a total this size – should have been much more.”The plans didn’t work out,” Rathour said. “I’ll agree that we had a pretty ordinary day as far as batting is concerned. We were ahead in the game. We were in a position where we really could’ve batted them out of the game. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. A lot of people got starts but really couldn’t convert. We were expecting one of them to play a big knock and have a big partnership but unfortunately it didn’t happen like that.”A month ago, at Trent Bridge, New Zealand had faltered similarly in their third innings, though their lead was far less substantial. New Zealand’s wickets that day were more self-inflicted but it allowed England a shot at a target.Shreyas Iyer looked least in control against England’s short-ball plan but Shardul Thakur, Shami and Bumrah all perished in similar fashion. That compounded the early dismissal of Pujara, playing one of those back-foot punches, except straight to backward point.Related

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“Yes, they used a short-ball plan against us in the field,” Rathour said. “We had to show a little better, not intent, but strategy. We could’ve handled it slightly differently. People tried to play shots but didn’t really convert or execute them well enough. They got out to that. We will have to rethink how we handle that next time in a similar situation, against similar bowlers who keep similar fields. We will need to have a better strategy against them.”There has already been a precedent for India’s potential defeat in this match, as recently as January in Cape Town. In a low-scoring series decider, India eked out a small lead only to lose that advantage in their second innings. Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shami and Bumrah fell to the short ball, India lost by seven wickets.”Of course, at this level you expect people to bowl short against us, and especially against the Indian team, people have been using short ball for quite some time,” Rathour said.”People have their own ways of dealing with that. As a batsman you have your own way to deal with that. We don’t really say you have to do this or do that. As a batter you need to decide, according to your game, what suits you in that situation and in those conditions. Unfortunately, today we couldn’t really execute whatever plans we had.”Today was the day we were ahead. We should have actually batted better and put them out of the game with our batting. But unfortunately we didn’t do that.”Rathour still retains hope that things change on Tuesday morning. It is, he said, the kind of pitch where one breakthrough might bring a few more – as happened either side of tea today when England lost three for two.”Two wickets in the morning early and again the game will open up,” he said. “We know that, we understand the game, it is a big target still. It’s still more than 100 runs. We take two wickets early and the game can still open up.”The kind of bowling Shami and Bumrah are doing, it’s not beyond them that they get one wicket, then one, two, three can fall. And that can bring us back in the game.”

Offspinner Ashmini Munisar and wicketkeeper Shunelle Sawh also earn maiden call-ups

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2023West Indies have named fit-again Chinelle Henry in their 16-member provisional squad for the first two ODIs of their three-match series against Ireland. The allrounder has fully recovered from the injury that kept her out of the recent Super50 Cup and T20 Blaze.Offspinner Ashmini Munisar and wicketkeeper Shunelle Sawh have also earned their maiden call-ups. Munisar, West Indies’ captain at the Under-19 T20 World Cup earlier this year, was the joint-third highest wicket-taker in the T20 Blaze with six scalps from five games. Her economy of 3.31 was the best among those who bowled at least ten overs in the tournament.Hayley Matthews will continue to lead the squad; Shemaine Campbelle will be her deputy. The official squad of 13 players will be named ahead of each match.Related

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“The ODI series against Ireland gives a good opportunity for batters to focus and to stay longer at the crease and build an innings,” Ann Browne-John, CWI’s lead selector for women’s cricket, said. “A number of the younger players would be transitioning from the shorter format to the 50-over format. They definitely have the potential, and it is important that the policy of identifying young players and developing the talent pool is continued.”The ODI series is part of the Women’s Championship, where West Indies and Ireland are the bottom-most teams. Both teams have played six games each so far; West Indies have one win while Ireland are yet to open their account.”The squad shows a great balance of batting coupled with a variety of bowling styles, which is something that has been lacking in the recent past,” Browne-John said. “Victory here will provide valuable points as the team attempts to move up in the rankings and qualify for the World Cup.”The ODI series from June 26, West Indies’ first ODI cricket since December 2022, will be followed by three T20Is. All six matches will be played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia, and for the first time, a full West Indies Women’s bilateral home series will be broadcast live on television.These are West Indies’ only home fixtures this year.Provisional squad for first two ODIs: Hayley Matthews (capt), Shemaine Campbelle (vice-capt), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Chinelle Henry, Afy Fletcher, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, Qiana Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Shunelle Sawh, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams

He is expected to travel out of Sri Lanka over the next week and consult doctors overseas about chronic pain in his left heel

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Mar-2024Wanindu Hasaranga is expected to be unavailable for Sunrisers Hyderabad for at least another week as he consults doctors overseas about chronic pain in his left heel.Although Hasaranga played in Sri Lanka’s limited-overs series against Bangladesh in March, ESPNcricinfo understands he did so through substantial pain. Sri Lanka Cricket’s medical staff have assessed him, and suspect the pain is down to musculo-skeletal apparatus in his left heel having become worn.SLC’s doctors have asked Hasaranga to seek further medical opinion on the exact nature of the injury, and how best to manage it. He is expected to travel out of Sri Lanka to do so next week.In any case, he has not joined the Sunrisers squad yet, and there is no set date on when he will do so. The target, for both SLC and Hasaranga himself, is likely to be the T20 World Cup in June, where he is set to captain his national team.If his condition requires further rest, treatment, or rehabilitation, his return to the IPL will likely be delayed further.Hasaranga had a spectacular 2022 IPL season for Royal Challengers Bangalore for whom he took 26 wickets at an economy rate of 7.54. Sunrisers had paid INR 1.5 crore (approx USD $181,000) for him at the most-recent auction.Earlier this month, Hasaranga was suspended from playing Sri Lanka’s ongoing Tests against Bangladesh, after racking up eight demerit points for breaching article 2.8 of the players’ code of conduct during the third ODI against Bangladesh. Had Hasaranga, who had just come out of Test retirement prior to the ban, been unavailable for the red-ball games, he would have missed the initial matches of Sri Lanka’s next international assignment: the T20 World Cup in June.SLC, however, dismissed claims that Hasaranga’s return from retirement was a ploy to make sure he was available for the T20 World Cup, stating that he had informed them in an email on March 16 of his desire to be considered for Test cricket selection going forward, citing his improved fitness levels.

Corteen-Coleman, MacDonald-Gay take command in death overs to edge a tight semi-final

ECB Reporters Network22-Jun-2024South East Stars 162 for 5 (Dunkley 49) beat Southern Vipers 157 for 9 (Dean 43, Corteen-Coleman 2-23) by five runsSouth East Stars held their nerve to win the chance to take on The Blaze in the final of the Charlotte Edwards Cup, beating holders Southern Vipers by five runs in a gripping semi-final that went down to the last over.Although seven wickets down, Vipers fancied that their experience would carry them through after needing 21 from the last three overs but two fine overs from Tilly Corteen-Coleman and Ryana MacDonald-Gay left them with a requirement of 10 off the final over, the key moment coming when Charlie Dean (43 from 29 balls) was run out off Tash Farrant’s second ball of that over.Sophia Dunkley (49 off 34) and Georgia Redmayne (39 off 38) had earlier shared a second-wicket stand of 74 to give the Stars a strong platform after losing skipper Bryony Smith earlier before Paige Scholfield cracked an unbeaten 34 off 22 balls to post 162 for five.Danni Wyatt struck 34 from 17 to get Vipers off to a flying start in reply but Corteen-Coleman (two for 23), Dani Gregory (two for 25) in particular bowled superbly to give Stars the edge.Having opted to bowl first, the Vipers dealt the Stars a big blow in the fourth over when Bryony Smith hauled Dean over the midwicket boundary for her second six but skewed the next delivery into the hands of extra cover, but the Stars made a bright start nonetheless, with Dunkley assuming the lead role and Redmayne offering solid support.They turned 48 for one after six overs to 92 for one after 12, giving themselves a platform to set the defending champions a testing chase.Vipers were concerned enough to turn to left-arm spinner Linsey Smith in mid-innings rather than keep her back for the death. It paid off, a flighted turning ball combined with some nifty glovework behind the stumps sending Dunkley on her way one short of a half-century. Freya Davies bowled Emma Jones in the next over to leave the Stars 109 for three with 34 balls remaining.Scholfield’s clean hitting advanced the total by 36 in three overs and though they were checked by a couple of good death overs by Charli Knott and Davies, Vipers knew they would need to bat well to win.Needing a tad over eight an over, Vipers scored at nines in the powerplay, although at a cost of two important wickets. England’s Maia Bouchier fell for two, bowled behind her legs to add to the growing list of big scalps acquired by 16-year-old left-arm spinner Corteen-Coleman. Australian all-rounder Knott hit 21 as she and Wyatt plundered 48 from 29 balls but the last ball of the opening six saw her bowled by Smith sweeping.An even bigger blow for the Vipers came as Wyatt, looking in ruthless mood and picking up her second six in the same over, hit Gregory’s leg spin down the throat of deep mid-wicket.At 84 for three at the halfway point, Vipers were still well in the chase but lost another wicket in an eventful 11th over that saw skipper Georgia Adams caught off a no-ball and dropped off a legitimate delivery before Freya Kemp was stumped as Gregory claimed a second success.When Adams then became another victim of Redmayne’s sharp hands behind the stumps off some more clever bowling by Corteen-Coleman, the balance was tilting in the Stars’ favour, an impression that was strengthened when Smith had Georgia Elwiss leg before and Rhianna Southby was run out by a brilliant throw by MacDonald-Gay running in from deep midwicket.Dean now held the key. She eased the pressure by hoisting Smith over the long-on boundary but a five-run final over from Corteen-Coleman left Vipers needing 16 from the last two overs, which became 10 from six balls after MacDonald-Gay’s last over restricted them to six singles.The decisive blow came with five balls left as Dean, at the bowler’s end after taking a single off Farrant, as non-striker, committed to running whatever Smith did at the other end but was left hopelessly out of her ground as Farrant picked up the ball in her follow through and turned to break the stumps, Vipers ultimately finishing six short of their target.