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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

• Maxwell named for 50-over return for Victoria despite ODI retirement

• 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.”

She quits the sport as the most prolific wicketkeeper in women’s ODI history

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2023South Africa wicketkeeper Trisha Chetty has retired from all cricket, bringing the curtains down on a 21-year domestic and 16-year international career. Chetty retires because of a recurring back injury which also made her miss last month’s T20 World Cup at home.She finishes with a record 182 dismissals with the gloves in women’s ODIs, 46 more than the second woman on the list, Sarah Taylor.Chetty, 34, last played for South Africa in an ODI against England in July 2022. Having not represented the country in almost eight months, it was also unlikely that Chetty would have received a national contract that is set to be announced later this month.Related

• Dane van Niekerk confirms her international retirement

She made her international debut in 2007 and was among the generation of players who rose as women’s cricket transitioned from amateur to professional in South Africa. She finishes with 134 ODI caps, 82 T20I appearances and two Test outings. Chetty and Dane van Niekerk, who also retired recently but only from internationals, join Mignon du Preez and Lizelle Lee from the first generation of South African professional women’s players to retire.Chetty initially impressed in her early teenage years from 2002 after a stint with Kwa-Zulu Natal Cricket Union and Dolphins. She then broke into the national team as an 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, taking over from Daleen Terblanche. She struck 20 half-centuries in internationals with a high score of 95 against Ireland in an ODI in 2016.”I can still remember the incredible feeling I had back in 2007 as I walked over the boundary rope, dressed in green and gold for the first time,” Chetty said in a CSA statement. “For the past 16 years, it has been a privilege to represent my country and play for the Proteas, and that feeling has never gone away – each time I pulled on my South African kit I felt honoured to be doing so.”But now, due to a recurring back injury for the past 5 years, the time has come for me to hang up my boots and let the gloves catch dust. I have tried everything to keep playing and have pushed as hard as I can but my body is signalling that it has no more to give and it is time to retire from all forms of cricket.”This was not an easy decision for me, and even now, I can’t quite believe my career is over. However, my cricket career has been a life-changing experience and I look back with no regrets and a full heart.”I am extremely grateful to my mum and dad, family, and friends for being there for me through all the ups and downs, the successes, and the losses. Without my support system, I would never have been able to take this journey.”Cricket has taught me about life, being disciplined, what it means to be professional and how to be a team player. For this, I will always be grateful. And I choose to continue to be grateful for cricket as I retire and transition into the next chapter of my life. Lastly, thank you to the fans for all your undying support over the years. I will never forget it.”Chetty represented South Africa in four ODI World Cups (2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022) and all the T20 World Cups from 2009 to 2020, barring the one in 2018. She reached four semi-finals at the World Cup events across the two formats.She also holds the wicketkeeping records for most dismissals (23) in an ODI series, most catches and stumpings (joint record) in ODIs, a unique record of scoring a half-century and claiming five dismissals in an ODI, and with the second-most catches in T20Is, after Alyssa Healy.CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe hailed Chetty as “one of the greatest wicketkeepers to ever play the game.””Chetty’s commitment and dedication to the sport and towards the rise of women’s cricket throughout the years has been exemplary, and her legacy will be revered for many years to come as the next generation aspire to follow in her footsteps,” he said. “I trust Trisha will experience another fruitful voyage in her future endeavours as her impact and presence, on and off the field, will live long amongst the cricket fraternity.News of Chetty’s retirement comes one day after van Niekerk confirmed her own retirement. Unlike van Niekerk, though, Chetty is not expected to continue appearing in franchise competitions.

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

• India's battle is with themselves

• Miller: Bazball doubters, beware – England's truth is the only truth

• Who should replace Leach?

• McCullum floats possibility of all-spin England attack

• Ben Foakes embraces wicketkeeping's 'hardest challenge' on Indian pitches

“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.”

The match will be played on a different pitch to the one that hosted SRH vs Mumbai, but don’t bet against another run-fest

Shashank Kishore04-Apr-20241:29

Can Klaasen take down CSK’s bowlers in Hyderabad?

Match details

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Hyderabad, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big picture

The euphoria of watching their bat may have taken the sting out of their defeat to Delhi Capitals in Vizag three nights ago, but Chennai Super Kings will be the first to admit morale wins only count for so much. In Hyderabad, they will be up against one of the most explosive batting sides in the competition, in conditions where 277 didn’t seem safe enough, just over a week ago.They’ll potentially be without one of their gun bowlers, Mustafizur Rahman, who knows a thing or two about bowling on these tracks. In 2016, Mustafizur starred in Sunrisers’ march to their maiden IPL crown, picking up 17 wickets in his maiden IPL season. Eight years on, he continues to be just as effective despite a few run-ins with injuries.Related

• Mustafizur a doubt for CSK's game against Sunrisers on Friday

• How CSK put opposites together to become an IPL batting behemoth

However, if there’s a batting line-up capable of combating anything that is thrown at them, it’s the Sunrisers. Abhishek Sharma has set the tempo at the top and Travis Head has already shown how dangerous he can be in that game against Mumbai Indians. Then there’s Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen in unbelievable six-hitting form.CSK too have a prolific six-hitter in Shivam Dube, who has struck at 177.09 against spin since last year’s IPL while they also see Daryl Mitchell warming up to a similar role, one of the reasons why they broke the bank for him at the auction.One team likes data and match-ups, the other believes in gut feel and vibe. It’s a contest of contrasts in that sense, but what unites them is the thrill their power-hitters can generate.Can Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen set Hyderabad alight once more?•BCCI

Form guide

Sunrisers LWL (most recent match first)
CSK LWW

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Sunrisers Hyderabad
There’s no Wanindu Hasaranga yet for the Sunrisers. The legspinning allrounder has consulted a podiatrist in Dubai for a heel problem that appears more severe than earlier thought to be. Sunrisers have largely based their Impact Player strategy on conditions with three different pairs engaged in the first three games.Head coach Daniel Vettori expects Friday to be high-scoring even though it’s a different surface to the one that hosted Sunrisers vs Mumbai Indians. Dube’s floating presence may just tempt Sunrisers to bring in Umran Malik’s pace to try and rough him up. If this happens, one of Mayank Agarwal or Abhishek Sharma could be subbed out when the team bowls.Likely XII: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Travis Head, 3 Abhishek Sharma, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Shahbaz Ahmed/Washington Sundar, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jaydev Unadkat, 12 Umran Malik.Chennai Super Kings
There’s a likelihood of Mustafizur arriving in Hyderabad on Friday afternoon after a quick trip home to sort out his USA visa issues. If he doesn’t play straight off a flight, CSK will likely bring in Mahesh Theekshana. If they bat first, expect them to play Shivam Dube and swap him out for Matheesha Pathirana in the second innings.Likely XII: 1 Rachin Ravindra, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Sameer Rivzi, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Mustafizur Rahman/Maheesh Theekshana, 12 Matheesha Pathirana.Shivam Dube has struck at 177.09 against spin since the start of IPL 2023•Associated Press

In the spotlight

For two straight games now, Mayank Agarwal has struggled to force the pace in the powerplay, scoring a total of 27 off 30 balls. There has also been a pattern to his dismissals in each of Sunrisers’ three games so far, with bowlers digging the ball into the pitch on a length or short of a length to tuck him up. In a batting line-up bursting at its seams with firepower, Agarwal needs to come good soon to ward off any imminent threat to his spot.Ravindra Jadeja won CSK last year’s final alright, but his overall batting returns have diminished since IPL 2022, with a strike rate of 133.90 and a highest score of 26* in 25 innings in the tournament. His numbers against spin have been particularly worrying, with 77 balls bringing him just 83 runs. His struggle against Capitals in Visakhapatnam, and Dhoni’s late fireworks, have raised the prospect of a batting-order shuffle, but CSK aren’t known to change things drastically. Can Jadeja repay their faith?

Stats that matter

• Klaasen’s strike rate of 200.00 against spin is the highest among those who have made 200 or more runs against spin since the start of IPL 2023.
• Ajinkya Rahane has been dismissed six times in 16 T20 innings by Bhuvneshwar Kumar while scoring 90 off 103 balls.
• Bhuvneshwar vs Dhoni has gone the batter’s way, though: 94 runs of 57 balls without being dismissed.
• Since the start of IPL 2023, Klaasen has ransacked left-arm orthodox spinners for 104 runs off 49 balls without being dismissed. Will this change CSK’s use of Jadeja in any way?

Pitch and conditions

A fresh pitch will be used for Friday’s fixture. It’s a black-soil pitch that Daniel Vettori, the Sunrisers head coach, believes will behave far differently to the red-soil pitch on which Sunrisers and Mumbai Indians played out a record run-fest. Michael Hussey, CSK’s batting coach, believes it looks “slightly dry” but expects it to be full of runs nonetheless.

Quotes

“Because scoring rates are so high, you can’t be timid. We understand we have to be aggressive. That’s been the messaging from Pat and me. To take on the bowlers, not be reckless but understand what sort of bowlers you can take down.”
“He’s still exactly the same person. That’s what I’ve been looking for, to see if it’s changed him as a person or character.”

There is a serious rain threat over the entire game, with bad weather forecast for the whole week

Ashish Pant15-Oct-2024Persistent and occasionally heavy rain in Bengaluru has forced the cancellation of India’s training session the day before the first Test against New Zealand at the city’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The session, originally slotted for 9.30am, was first postponed by an hour and then cancelled altogether with the rain showing no signs of relenting.New Zealand ‘s training session, slotted for 1.30pm, did take place*, but in the indoor facility at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy, also in the Chinnaswamy premises.The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast rains for the rest of the week, which could seriously affect the Test match. There is a 70% to 90% chance of rain on the first and second days of the Test, and a yellow alert has also been issued for many places in the state of Karnataka (of which Bengaluru is a part).Bengaluru has experienced a lot of rainfall for the past week. It rained on Monday as well, two days before the game, but both teams managed to finish their respective training sessions. India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma also had time to get a good look at the surface, which was followed by a long discussion with the pitch curator.There was rain in Bengaluru all through Monday night and Tuesday morning, and the covers at the Chinnaswamy stayed in place. There was some activity when the rain stopped for a bit around 1pm, and the covers were being moved a bit, but within half an hour the clouds opened up again and the covers were back in place.