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England captain confirms absence of senior spinner but confident that rookie can step up

Vithushan Ehantharajah31-Jan-2024Ben Stokes has confirmed that Jack Leach will not be available for the second Test in Visakhapatnam after failing to recover from a knee injury sustained during the first Test.Leach hurt his knee fielding on the first day of the Test in Hyderabad, before exacerbating the issue on the second morning. Though restricted to short spells for the rest of the match, Leach managed to bowl 10 overs in the second innings and dismissed Shreyas Iyer as England sealed a famous 28-run win.It was hoped the issue – a deep bruise – would settle down, but constant swelling meant Leach was unable to take part in the training session on Wednesday at the ACA-VDCA cricket ground. Wearing compression tights, he was still laboured in his movements.Stokes will wait until Thursday to name his XI, with a decision to make on whether England go with an extra seamer after one final look at the pitch. On Wednesday, however, he confirmed Leach, having just returned from a lay-off due to a back stress fracture, would miss out.”He’s ruled out of the second Test,” Stokes said. “Unfortunately, the knock he took resulted in a haematoma in his leg. It’s a big shame for us, a big shame for Jack, obviously after a long time out of the game with his back.”To sustain that injury, first game back, obviously it’s frustrating. But it’s something we’re assessing every day. The medical team have taken over that, and hopefully, it’s not something that’s too serious and keeps him out for longer in the series.”Waiting in the wings is Leach’s Somerset team-mate, Shoaib Bashir. The uncapped offspinner arrived in India during the first Test after a delay in his entry visa. Now back among the group and training, Stokes urged Bashir to seize the opportunity, in what would be only his seventh first-class match.”If he was to play on this tour, then the great thing he has on his side is, what is there to lose?” Stokes said. “That is how I will be thinking about it, if he gets the chance to play: just to make sure I can give him the best experience I possibly can. Because you only play your first Test match once. If he does play, then I will be trying to make it as enjoyable and fun for him as I can.Bashir looks on from the England corner after his late arrival in India•AFP/Getty Images

“Myself, Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Popey [vice-captain Ollie Pope] will probably have a longer think about it. We looked at the wicket; I gave it a tap, and a play-around to make it look like I knew what I was doing. Bash is in the squad, we haven’t brought him here to have an experience. If we feel we want to turn to him, we will.”Having returned to London from the UAE to get his visa resolved, Bashir landed in Hyderabad at 8.25am last Sunday – day four of the first Test – before showering and heading straight to the ground. Stokes was buoyed by his enthusiasm to get back among the squad.”I mentioned to Wayne [Bentley, the England team manager] that Bash doesn’t have to stay here if he doesn’t want to. But he was like, ‘no, no, I’m staying for this.'” Bashir was rewarded with a thrilling finale, as fellow newbie spinner Tom Hartley took 7 for 62 to bowl India out for 202 in pursuit of a target of 231.Related

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• Who should replace Leach?

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“It was great for him to see that on his first day back in the camp and to see what Test cricket can bring out, and what it is like,” said Stokes. “He would have seen it on TV before but to be in the dressing room and see the emotion as well I think was great for him. He knows what it is like and hopefully it wants to make him do it even more.”Stokes also revealed his first exposure to Bashir came about through social media, bowling an impressive spell to Alastair Cook on his first-class debut for Somerset against Essex. Though Bashir would only take one wicket across 49 overs in the match, Stokes was already hooked, and sent it on to McCullum and managing director Rob Key.Jack Leach and Ben Stokes take a breather•Getty Images

“To be perfectly honest, Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash,” Stokes said. “The first time I saw him was on Twitter. I think the County Championship [account] put a little clip together of him bowling against Sir Alastair.”I’m in a WhatsApp group with Keysy and Baz. I actually did forward the clip on and said, ‘have a look at this, this could be something we could work with on our India tour’ and it just progressed from there. He got selected on the Lions tour and obviously the coaches on that tour fed back everything to us.”Should Bashir make the XI, it would be an even bolder call than Hartley’s inclusion for the series opener considering the Lancashire spinner had 14 more first-class matches under his belt before receiving his maiden cap. Bashir’s overall record is a modest 10 wickets at 67 from six appearances.But Stokes, having led his third debutant spinner to a five-wicket haul, after Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed’s hauls in Pakistan last winter, believes Bashir has the tools to achieve similar success in these conditions.”I just saw something,” he said. “The height he bowled from, it was very obvious that he put a lot of action, a lot of revolutions on the ball. It was something I looked at and thought, this could be pretty good for India. I’ve played a lot of games out here. As a batter you know what is hard to face, especially from a spin point of view.”When it came to selection, there wasn’t too much thought around him to be honest, because everyone was very, very impressed with what Bash showed. And everything we wanted in our spin group was answered by Bashir.”

Imam-Ul-Haq century impresses but Liam Dawson emerges on top with List A career highlight of 142

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay31-Aug-2025Hampshire are through to next month’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup final after a rain-affected semi-final win over Yorkshire at Scarborough, the visitors defending a revised 41-over target of 254 following Liam Dawson’s stunning List A best 142 off 116 balls.Hampshire, winners of this competition in 2018, will face Worcestershire at Trent Bridge on September 20 after the Rapids beat Somerset at home and the visitors won here by 18 runs on Duckworth Lewis Stern.In reply to Hampshire’s 304 for 6, which saw England Test all-rounder Dawson brilliantly recover his side from 78 for 4 inside 20 overs, Pakistani opener Imam-Ul-Haq impressed for 105.And Yorkshire were well placed at 171 for 3 in the 31st over chasing a revised 254-target in 41 overs following rain.But they lost two wickets in a Scott Currie over, including Imam run out, and Hampshire squeezed impressively, with the hosts 235 for 8.Currie, who struck twice with his seam, had earlier contributed his own List A best 61 not out off 40 balls. Dawson’s left-arm spin also accounted for two wickets, and Yorkshire have now lost 19 of their last 22 List A finals.Yorkshire started well, Matt Milnes dominating as Hampshire slipped having been inserted.Seamer Milnes, having claimed a career-best 7 for 38 in last Sunday’s group-stage win over Sussex at Hove, claimed the first three here, including forcing visiting captain Nick Gubbins to play on with his third ball in the day’s second over.He then removed Fletcha Middleton and Ali Orr before George Hill’s seam also forced Ben Brown to play on.Dawson came in at 53 for 3 in the 12th over and offered a sharp return catch to Ben Cliff on six, clearly a key moment.The 35-year-old was the glue which held the innings together before exploding late on.He shared 89 for the fifth wicket with 17-year-old Ben Mayes, whose 37 helped to turn the tide, before sixth-wicket partner Currie pressed the accelerator.Shortly after Dawson reached his fourth List A century off 103 balls, Currie’s maiden List A fifty came in 35 as Hampshire pushed on from 180 for 5 after 40 overs.Dawson finished with seven sixes and hit strongly down the ground and over cover and long-on, while both he and Currie improvised as they shared 136 inside the last 13 overs of the innings – 75 runs coming off the last five overs.Kyle Abbott and Brad Wheal then bowled very tidily with the new ball, restricting Adam Lyth and Imam to 43 for 0 in the 13th over when the rain arrived.A half-hour delay through to 4.25pm was followed by Lyth edging the second ball back behind off Eddie Jack.Imam, leaving for national commitments after this game, then calmly advanced the hosts to 98 for 1 after 20 overs with a 52-ball fifty.Strong off his legs, the left-hander then united with Will Luxton to share 99.Luxton pulled a couple of sixes, including one the first ball back after the second half-hour rain break. But he chopped on to Jack with the second, falling for 30.James Wharton holed out to Currie shortly afterwards before Imam reached his fourth ton of this season’s campaign off 96 balls.But Wharton and Imam fell, alongside Fin Bean, as Yorkshire lost a defining three wickets for 10 inside two overs to slip to 171 for 5 in the 32nd, still needing 83.Imam was run out by a combination of Jack from midwicket and bowler Currie after Bean pulled and non-striker Imam slipped.Yorkshire then lost Hill and Harry Duke in successive balls to Wheal and Dawson and, seven wickets down, needed 47 off 4.5 overs.From there, they subsided, with Dawson striking again.

Josh Hull also included in development squad that will play unofficial Test against South Africa A

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2024Andrew Flintoff will oversee a 19-man squad in South Africa next month in his first assignment as the new England Lions head coach, with Jafer Chohan – the Yorkshire legspinner who was this week named in his first senior white-ball squad – among six new inclusions in the set-up.The tour, which comprises a training camp and a four-day unofficial Test against South Africa A in Western Province, will run from November 20 to December 14, and will be an opportunity for a clutch of promising players to replicate the training methods of the senior men’s squad, who will playing a Test series in New Zealand during the same timeframe.Josh Hull, who was an original inclusion for the ongoing Test tour of Pakistan but withdrew with a quad injury, has been named in the Lions party, having played his only Test to date against Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval last month.He is one of four players with prior experience of the senior men’s set-up, the others being Dan Mousley and Dillon Pennington, who were non-playing squad members in the summer just gone, and Pat Brown, the Derbyshire and former Worcestershire seamer who played the last of his four T20Is in 2019.Chohan, the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy to be named in an England squad, is set to play a limited role in the South Africa tour due to his prior Big Bash League commitments, as is Matt Hurst, the Lancashire wicketkeeper-batter who is also making his first Lions tour.The squad also includes a number of recent graduates from England’s Under-19 set-up, among them Harry Moore, a highly-rated 17-year-old Derbyshire fast bowler, and Freddie McCann, the Nottinghamshire opener whose century in last week’s final round of the County Championship helped to preserve his team’s top-flight status.Related

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• Josh Hull ruled out of Pakistan Test tour with quad injury

Flintoff, who is also the head coach of Northern Superchargers in the Men’s Hundred, said: “We’re delighted to have such a high-potential group of players heading to South Africa. In selecting these players, we have a mix of well-established performers who’ve been in the England setup and excelled in the domestic game, through to some of the most exciting young talent coming through.”The camp will support and accelerate the players’ development, provide insight into various aspects of the international setup and aid their transition into future performance set-ups”.England Men’s performance director, Ed Barney, added: “Selection aligns with England’s short and long-term needs across all formats, and we will continue supporting a group of exciting pace bowlers. Over half the squad consists of seamers, reflecting our continued focus on supporting these players to achieve their potential.”We are also excited about the competitive match opportunities, with a four-day fixture against South Africa A offering the opportunity for the squad to enjoy putting their skills on show against strong opposition.”The full coaching and support staff will be announced shortly.England Lions squad: Farhan Ahmed (Nottinghamshire), Zaman Akhtar (Gloucestershire), Kasey Aldridge (Somerset), Pat Brown (Derbyshire), Jafer Chohan (Yorkshire), James Coles (Sussex), Henry Crocombe (Sussex), Josh Hull (Leicestershire), Matt Hurst (Lancashire), Tom Lawes (Surrey), Freddie McCann (Nottinghamshire), Ben McKinney (Durham), Harry Moore (Derbyshire), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Dillon Pennington (Nottinghamshire), James Rew (Somerset), Hamza Shaikh (Warwickshire), Mitch Stanley (Lancashire), John Turner (Hampshire)

Dean Elgar leads way for visitors but Essex unable to avoid back-to-back defeats

ECB Reporters Network31-May-2024Tom Abell and Lewis Gregory staged a whirlwind stand of 60 in 30 balls as Somerset launched the defence of their Vitality T20 Blast title with a thrilling four-wicket victory over Essex at the Cooper Associates Ground.Abell top-scored with 55 from 36 balls and Gregory smashed 44 from 22 deliveries as Somerset reached their target of 194 with five balls to spare in a repeat of last year’s final. Tom Banton, Will Smeed and Sean Dickson also made useful contributions in front of the Sky TV cameras to give a sellout crowd an evening to remember under the Taunton floodlights.Playing against his former county, Dean Elgar top-scored with 77 from 51 balls on his return to the West Country, accruing eight fours and two sixes and sharing in stands of 67 and 58 with Adam Rossington and Jordan Cox for the first and third wickets respectively as Essex posted 193 for 6. Rossington contributed 32 and Cox 30, while Gregory returned figures of 3 for 42 off four overs in what was an excellent individual performance with bat and ball.It was the perfect start for the defending champions, who have now won their last nine matches in the short format, while Essex have work to do after losing their opening two matches.Determined to make a better fist of batting first following defeat to Gloucestershire at Bristol in their opening fixture 24 hours earlier, Essex made a reassuringly solid start on this occasion, Rossington and Elgar staging a stand of 67 in 7.3 overs.With big shoes to fill after replacing Matt Henry as overseas pace spearhead, Australian Riley Meredith at least managed to keep things tight during three overs from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End that cost 16 runs. But Craig Overton proved significantly more expensive at the other end, the former England bowler conceding five fours and a six in going for 32 in three overs as the visitors raised 56 without loss from the powerplay, big-hitting Rossington proving especially destructive.Having already harvested five fours, Rossington greeted Roelof van der Merwe with a towering six hit straight back over the spinner’s head, only to then lose his off stump to Gregory in the act of swinging in the next over. His swashbuckling innings of 32, made from 24 balls, at least afforded the visitors a platform from which to launch.Michael Pepper came and went quickly, attempting to reverse sweep van der Merwe and offering a straightforward catch to Ben Green at short third man with the score on 74 in the ninth. If home supporters sensed an opportunity to turn the tide, they were quickly disabused of the idea as Cox went on the attack, lifting Jake Ball over deep backward point for a maximum and then pulling the next ball for four as the 11th over yielded 14 runs to propel Essex into three figures.Dean Elgar made his first T20 half-century in five years•Getty Images

Setting himself to bat through, the redoubtable Elgar found acceleration at the right time to go to 50 via 35 balls, reaching that landmark courtesy of his fifth four, a flowing off drive at the expense of Green. Somerset needed a break and it arrived in the fifteenth over, Cox miscuing to extra cover off the bowling of Gregory and departing for a 23-ball 30. He and Elgar had added 58 in 5.5 overs and set the stage for the big-hitting Paul Walter, who announced himself with a brace of fours and a six in the same Gregory over.Back came the home side, Ball bowling Walter for 18 and Green making a mess of Daniel Sams’ stumps to partially redress the balance. But Elgar was not finished, the veteran South African campaigner plundering 15 runs off the 18th to spoil Green’s figures on his way to a superb 77, and only succumbing to Gregory in the final over.Somerset required a flying start and Banton displayed aggressive intent by driving Aaron Beard over long-on for six and then collecting sumptuous cover-driven fours at the expense of Sams and Ben Allison. Not wanting to appear tardy in comparison, Will Smeed pulled Allison to the boundary and then mustered a brace of sixes in plundering 20 from Walter’s first over to bring a packed audience to life.Beard afforded Essex some relief, having Banton held at midwicket for a 14-ball 21 with the score on 49 in the fifth, but Smeed continued to trade in boundaries, smiting Sams for two successive maximums. His mercurial innings came to an abrupt halt when he drove the very next ball to cover and departed for a 16-ball 39, having mustered three fours and a quartet of sixes as the home side reached 64 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.Tom Kohler-Cadmore fell to Matt Critchley in the next over, brilliantly caught by the diving Simon Harmer at mid-off, as Essex deployed spin at both ends in an attempt to apply pressure. Somerset reached halfway on 90 for 3, requiring a further 104 runs at 10.4 an over.Dickson brought up three figures with a straight-driven six off Critchley, while Abell found the boundary often enough to keep the chase on track during the middle overs. Abell smashed two fours and a six off the 13th , sent down by Luc Benkenstein, to bring up the 50 partnership in 36 balls. But Beard returned to have Dickson caught in the deep for a 19-ball 26 as an enthralling contest took another twist.New batter Gregory injected immediate excitement, pulling Allison for a huge six, at which point the home side required a further 54 runs from 30 balls. Crucially, the fifth wicket pair were able to keep the rate at around ten an over, Abell going to 50 via 31 balls with his first six.Somerset needed a big over and Gregory provided it by smashing three sixes off the 17th, bowled by Critchley, to bring the rate under a run a ball for the first time. Abell contributed five fours and a six before being caught at the wicket off the bowling of Walter, while Gregory mustered four sixes and a brace of fours to put the outcome beyond doubt as Somerset’s renowned batting line-up came good at the death.

The left-arm wristspinner bowled a game-changing over for Delhi Capitals at the death

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-20243:14

‘Kuldeep and Axar out-bowled Chahal and Ashwin’

Kuldeep Yadav proved to be the difference for Delhi Capitals in a high-scoring contest against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi, his spell of 2 for 25 taking his team to No. 5 in the points table and earning him the Player-of-the-Match award.Chasing 222, RR were in with a chance at the start of the 18th over, needing 41 off 18 balls, but Kuldeep took two wickets and conceded only four runs to swing the game decisively DC’s way.”It’s very important to bowl in good length. That is the challenge when you bowl in the death overs, especially when you know they have got power-hitters coming up,” Kuldeep said after the match. “I have seen [Donovan] Ferreira, having played against him in South Africa. I knew he is a back-foot player, so I just tried to push it further up. That was my plan to him, [and] I got him first ball. Then I was just varying the pace and the length.”After successfully reviewing the not-out lbw decision against Ferreira off the first ball of the 18th, Kuldeep had R Ashwin caught with his last delivery. He had also conceded only 21 runs in his first three overs, to interrupt RR’s growing momentum in the chase.DC captain Rishabh Pant said the plan was to keep one over of Kuldeep for RR’s right-handers – Ferreira and Rovman Powell – at the death.”The thought was always there because for Rovman and Ferreira we wanted to keep that over,” Pant said. “We wanted to take that chance because with Kuldeep, we knew that these players are going to have problems. And as always, Kuldeep delivered – great to see that!”After Kuldeep left RR with a huge ask in the last two overs, Pant said DC’s fast bowlers were spot on in landing their yorkers. Rasikh Salam bowled four in the 19th over – three of them dot balls to Powell – while Mukesh Kumar delivered two in the final over.”Especially in the back end, the way fast bowlers executed the yorkers [was the turning point],” Pant said. “I think that was a positive, because the way our fast bowling has been going and the way the tournament is progressing, each and every day the bowlers are coming on the positive side, and that’s good to see.”Delhi has been a difficult venue for bowlers this season, with all four matches having first-innings totals in excess of 220. DC’s 221 against RR was the lowest of the four. “There is always pressure on you as a bowler. You try to mix your length and line,” Kuldeep said. “There is a lot of chance to pick wickets, and that’s what I did. You have to be smart enough to bowl and read the batter. It’s better to back your strengths, and just keep believing.”DC’s win on Tuesday took them to fifth place in the points table, level on 12 points with CSK in third place, SRH in fourth and LSG in sixth.

Gill confirmed Bumrah will play at Lord’s next week as India left out Thakur and Sai Sudharsan

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2025

Ben Stokes and Shubman Gill at toss at Edgbaston•Getty Images

Ben Stokes has won the toss and opted to bowl first at Edgbaston, as England seek to exploit whatever movement there is on this Edgbaston surface to steal a march on India in the second Test, after taking a 1-0 lead at Headingley.The headline news is that Jasprit Bumrah sits out, ensuring he still has two Tests in the chamber to be used in the final three matches from Lord’s onwards. His resting is one of three changes for India, with Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar drafted into the XI.Those changes give India a decidedly different feel from the one that suffered the defeat at Headingley, with B Sai Sudharsan and Shadrul Thakur dropped. Karun Nair will bat at No.3.Explaining the decision to rest Bumrah, Shubman Gill revealed the India management felt Lord’s will offer Bumrah more than this track.”We did get a good break… but the third match of the series being at Lord’s, there might be a little bit more in the wicket so we thought we’d play him in the third one,” said Gill.While confirming he would have also opted to bowl first, Gill revealed Kuldeep Yadav came close to selection, only for Washington to get the nod because of his superior batting. Boosting the tail after numbers eight to 11 scored nine runs between them across both innings of the first Test was a priority.”We were very tempted to play him (Kuldeep). But looking at the last match, the lower order did not score many runs,” Gill said.All the intrigue over the last 48 hours was very much focussed on India after Stokes named an unchanged XI on Monday. The last time England fielded same XI across the first two Test matches of a home series was in 2017 against South Africa.Victory for the hosts would increase their superiority over India at Edgbaston. They have won seven out of eight meetings here, with one draw.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib BashirIndia: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Prasidh Krishna

“They were not too comfortable either” – Bangladesh’s century-maker points to India’s chase to underscore the sluggish nature of the Dubai pitch

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-20251:41

Manjrekar: Ton against India on global stage a big deal for Hridoy

Bangladesh chose to bat in their Champions Trophy opener against India in Dubai and were 35 for 5 inside nine overs – it could have been 35 for 6 if Rohit Sharma hadn’t dropped a dolly off Jaker Ali off Axar Patel’s hat-trick ball in that ninth over. Towhid Hridoy, who partnered Jaker in an impressive sixth-wicket stand of 154 and scored 100 off 118 balls to lead the way, said that the situation meant he had to “had to fight and find a way” to take the innings to a competitive place.”We were clear what we wanted to do if we won the toss. We wanted to bat. Yes, we lost some early wickets, which set us back. But despite that, the way we came back, Jaker and I, if one of us had done a bit more, we might have got to 260-270,” Hridoy said at the press interaction afterwards. “The match scenario would have been different then. We scored 30-40 runs too few. If you see, they took 46.3 overs to finish the chase, so it wasn’t easy.”The pitch was tricky. Look at their innings, they were not too comfortable either. But that’s not in our hands. Conditions are different everywhere – we have to play on the pitch we get. This is not an excuse. I am just saying that the pitch was tricky to bat on.”Related

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Hridoy had walked out at No. 5, with Bangladesh at 26 for 3, with Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana having picked up the wickets to fall. Then Axar took over, sending back Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim off back-to-back deliveries. With Jaker then, progress was slow but steady, perhaps not ideal, but Bangladesh couldn’t afford to lose more wickets at that stage. That said, it did look like the pitch had eased out and batting was comparatively easy.”It might have looked easy, but it wasn’t, since we had lost five wickets,” Hridoy said. “We talked a lot with each other and to ourselves. We had to fight and find a way. I played a lot of dot balls at the start, but I felt I would be able to catch up. But my cramps set me back. If such a situation crops up again, I might do even better. I hope we don’t make the same mistakes again.”I think my cramps hampered our innings. I might have been able to score 20-30 runs more if I hadn’t cramped up.”With just 228 to play with, against a strong India batting line-up, not many would have given Bangladesh a chance, but after a poor start with the ball – India scored 68 for 1 in the first ten compared to Bangladesh’s 39 for 5 – they kept things tight. Bangladesh were always behind, but the chase did get just a bit tricky, Shubman Gill’s 101 not out eventually the difference.”I did think we could fight with the runs we had. We bowled well and fought well. We gave away a few boundaries at the start, which didn’t help, but we fought back well,” Hridoy said. “If we had taken a couple more wickets at the start, the scenario could have been different.”

Experienced batter strikes 46* as Invincibles rue missed chances in rain-hit match

ECB Media08-Aug-2024England star Danni Wyatt led Southern Brave to a breakthrough win and moved top of the women’s runscorers list in a seven-wicket rain-affected win against Oval Invincibles.Wyatt hit an unbeaten 46 from 37 balls, after twice being dropped, to guide the defending champions to a belated first win of this year’s competition with one ball to spare.Lauren Cheatle and Tilly Corteen-Coleman, two weeks shy of her 17th birthday, claimed two wickets apiece as the hosts were restricted to 79 for 4.Marizanne Kapp struck an unbeaten 26 from 17 balls for the hosts, whose innings was delayed for over an hour by rain.A revised target of 83 was therefore set and Invincibles had their chances to claim the key wicket of Wyatt, who was dropped on 4 and 14.Smriti Mandhana was run out cheaply and Maia Bouchier bowled by the impressive Ryana MacDonald-Gay, who claimed 1 for 7 from a maximum 15 balls.Wyatt went past Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 209 runs to become the leading run-scorer in this year’s women’s competition before Sophia Smale claimed Freya Kemp for 3.The 19-year-old left-arm spinner was then tasked with bowling the final five and initially held her never to restrict Wyatt to a dot and a single, before a smart stop kept Chloe Tryon to a single. But Wyatt’s experience told as she made room to shovel her over leg for the winning boundary.Cheatle earlier removed Chamari Athapaththu for a duck from the third ball, edging behind, and then had Alice Capsey caught in the deep after the England young gun had slapped her for six.Rain stopped the game with the home side 38 for 2 after 35 balls as the game was reduced to 65 balls per side.Corteen-Coleman had Invincibles skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill caught and the in-form Paige Scholfield caught in the deep from successive balls before Kapp added late firepower.

Tilly Corteen-Coleman and Prisha Thanawala shared seven wickets between them to bowl New Zealand out for 89

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2025England registered a comprehensive win over New Zealand to join India, Australia and South Africa in the semi-finals of the Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup.Fast bowler Tilly Corteen-Coleman (4-0-8-4) and offspinner Prisha Thanawala (4-1-19-3) shared seven wickets between them as they knocked New Zealand over for 89 in Kuching, Malaysia.Openers Davina Perrin and Jemima Spence – who have the best strike rates in the tournament – then ensured a comfortable chase, despite England losing four wickets.Related

• India seal semi-final spot with win over Bangladesh; Australia and South Africa also advance

It marked the end of a forgetful campaign for New Zealand, who managed just two wins from their five matches. Only two players got into double-digits on Monday.Opener Kate Irwin gave New Zealand a good start, making 35 off 26 before being dismissed by quick Trudy Johnson in the ninth over. Johnson struck again in her next over before Phoebe Brett had Emma McLeod stumped.That’s when Thanawala got in on the action. She dismissed Eve Wolland in the 15th over before taking two in her next. Corteen-Coleman cleaned up the rest of the line-up with a wicket off the last ball of the 18th over and then three in the final over.Perrin gave England a quick start, hammering two fours and a six in the first two overs. England were 34 for 1 in 3.2 overs when Sophie Court dismissed her. Perrin’s 15-ball 21 saw her go on top of the competition’s run charts.Even as England lost Johnson and captain Abi Norgrove in the space of ten balls, Spence ensured the scorecard kept ticking along. When she fell to Hannah Francis in the ninth over, England were only 16 runs away and Charlotte Stubbs and wicketkeeper Katie Jones took care of the rest to seal the win in 11.4 overs.

The allrounder admits white-ball cricket has taken a backseat in the last 12 months but believes he can shine in the format

Andrew McGlashan15-Sep-2025Beau Webster is keen to push his credentials as a one-day cricketer ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup although concedes the white-ball formats have taken a backseat in recent times amid his rise to Test cricket.Webster will feature at the start of the One-Day Cup for Tasmania this week when they begin their campaign against New South Wales in Sydney on Tuesday before facing Victoria in Brisbane on Friday ahead of the Sheffield Shield early next month.Webster’s List A record with the bat is middling – an average of 30.31 and strike rate of 77.10 – with his only century coming back in 2017 for a Cricket Australia XI when they fielded a development side in the one-day competition.Related

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• Webster happy to scrap for Ashes spot with Green's return to bowling on track

• Doggett 'definitely ready' if Ashes reinforcements needed

Having made 315 runs at 52.50 in the 2023-24 season he managed just 31 in three innings last summer, although impressed with the ball as he claimed 16 wickets at 9.56 including a career-best 6 for 17 against Western Australia at the WACA when the home side suffered an astonishing collapse of 8 for 1.”I’d love to play white-ball cricket for Australia,” Webster told ESPNcricinfo. “Probably more so one-day cricket than T20 at this stage. It just feels a bit like I haven’t played it for a long time.”The last 12 months I’ve been solely focused on red-ball cricket and that’s in county cricket, Shield cricket and Test cricket. It feels like I’ve hardly hit a white ball and the things that go along with training for white-ball is a lot different than they are for red-ball.”I feel like my red-ball game’s in a really good place and I’ve got my preparation down to a tee. I suppose that I haven’t really thought too much about it [white-ball cricket] but obviously if the opportunity came and they needed what I do, I’d absolutely jump at it and love to represent the country in the colours.”The next men’s 50-over tournament is the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia which will be held in October and November of that year. Webster’s brisk medium pace and batting strength against pace bowling could be suited to conditions in Southern Africa.Australia’s 50-over side is going through something of a transition, especially in the batting, following the retirements of Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell. Aaron Hardie struggled in the No. 7 role in his recent opportunities against South Africa. Webster’s Tasmania team-mate Mitchell Owen had been due to feature in the series before suffering concussion.”I hope I’m in the conversation if I can continue to score runs in the One-Day Cup for Tasmania and Test level”•AFP/Getty Images

“I think if you’re scoring runs and taking wickets in Test cricket, you’re always going to be seen as an option,” Webster said. “If you’re doing it at that level…there are a lot of transferable skills across from Test cricket to one-day cricket. So I hope I’m in the conversation if I can continue to score runs in the One-Day Cup for Tasmania and Test level. I hope my name gets thrown around for a potential debut.”Webster plans to play most, if not all, of Tasmania’s cricket before the start of the Ashes – where he potentially faces a selection squeeze depending on how the team is balanced – although may have his bowling workload managed as the first part of the season progresses.”I think I’ll try and definitely play all four of them [the Shield matches] and try and get Tassie off to a good start and get us to the top end of the table,” he said. “Then the bowling side of things we just might have to manage a little bit if we end up bowling a little bit too much. Those last two games might be managed a little bit, but I’ll be at all four.”On the theme of white-ball cricket, Webster has moved home to defending champions Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL although if he is part of the Ashes series he may not feature until after the final Test and he’s realistic that it will be a challenge to get into the line-up.”I think it’s going to be a hard-fought top six to get into,” he said. “We’ve kept the majority of the list from the title-winning team there and everyone wants to bat at Bellerive. It’s a great place to bat and we’ve got some world-class batters in that XI. Hopefully I can be with the Ashes series for all five Tests and then come back to the Hurricanes and play a role if they need me.”