The New Zealand opener turned down a central contract last week, and will appear in the BBL

Andrew McGlashan17-Aug-2024New Zealand opener Finn Allen will join Perth Scorchers on a two-year deal after turning down a national central contract.It was announced earlier this week that Allen had become the latest New Zealand player to opt out of a contract to open up franchise opportunities, and ESPNcricinfo understands the Scorchers move will be confirmed in the coming days.Scorchers were one of only three BBL clubs – alongside Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Sixers – who had yet to announce a pre-draft signing under the new mechanism that allows multi-year deals, even as West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein has been linked to Sixers.Related

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Allen had originally been included in the NZC contract list announced last month, and it’s understood the Scorchers interest only came recently. It means he won’t be available for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka which starts in late December.Allen’s T20 strike rate of 168.60 is the second highest for any batter with at least 3000 runs in the format, behind only Andre Russell. At the international level, Allen has scored two T20I centuries, while he also made a significant impact against Australia at the 2022 T20 World Cup, when he flayed 42 off 16 balls against Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to set the tone for New Zealand’s huge victory. But Allen had a lean T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA earlier this year, with just 35 runs in four innings.He will be the third New Zealand player confirmed for the BBL, after Colin Munro (Brisbane Heat) and Tim Seifert (Melbourne Renegades). Seifert turned down a domestic contract with Northern Districts, while Munro officially retired from international cricket earlier this year after missing the T20 World Cup squad.Scorchers struggled to fill the opening role vacated by Cameron Bancroft’s move to Sydney Thunder last season. England’s Zak Crawley made two half-centuries in six innings, but there were slim pickings for the others used, including an unsuccessful move of promoting Cooper Connolly.Signing Allen ahead of the draft means it is uncertain if Scorchers will bring Laurie Evans back after he was outstanding last season, with 292 runs at 58.40 and a strike rate of 189.61, before leaving for the ILT20. It’s understood Scorchers did explore the possibility of Evans being the pre-draft signing, but availability was an issue with him having an ongoing deal in the UAE with Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.Scorchers could still take Evans in the draft – and would have retention rights for him – but he is expected to be limited to around seven matches. The ILT20 has advanced next year due to the Champions Trophy taking place in February. It means a much greater overlap with the BBL, while the SA20 is also taking place at the same time.The BBL draft will be held on September 1, and Scorchers have picks 7, 15, 18 and 31.

While he feels there are a few positives to playing at different venues, he took the example of how England and Australia have fixed Test centres

Alagappan Muthu01-Oct-20243:50

Ashwin: ‘I see Gill and Jaiswal as future pillars of Indian cricket’

In the aftermath of a match that forced India to play an extreme kind of Test cricket – scoring their first-innings runs at almost nine an over and declaring after 34.4 – to secure the result they wanted because of days lost to rain and poor drainage in Kanpur, there has been a heightened focus on whether Test match cricket in India needs to be held at only the major centres. R Ashwin weighed in on that debate on Monday at the end of play.”Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers has attained by having so many Test centres is you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country,” he said. “It is a huge country and it has triggered that sort of urgency and that sort of passion amongst cricketers to be able to come and play for this country. That is a big positive.”The second is there are certain requisite ingredients that goes into making a Test match happen, like for the weather and the kind of drainage that we need to be able to invest on. These are no-brainers.Related

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“But having said all this, does it help a player if you have just a few Test centres? Most certainly it does. Because when we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don’t play us at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. They don’t play us at any of the other venues where they won’t be very familiar with the conditions. So do England. They have certain select Test centres and that’s where they play. Some of those are only white-ball centres. Can we do it here? That’s above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that.”What Ashwin had strong words on was the quality of India’s bowling attack. No one took more than three wickets in either of the innings, but collectively, they bowled Bangladesh out in just 121.2 overs.”Each one of those bowlers that bowled along with me, alongside me, have the ability to hold on to a game, bowl with discipline and yet produce wicket-taking balls,” he said. “When we talk things like this, we have to be able to understand the finer nuances of the game to get what I am saying. It is not just their ability alone, it is also the belief of the entire team.R Ashwin finished the Test series with 11 wickets•BCCI

“When Rohit [Sharma] says that you make 400 [to the batters], try and make a game out of it, it tells you that the captain believes the bowlers will get the job done. I believe in my bowlers. These bowlers have done it day in and day out. And they have the ability to pick 20 wickets. So, having that as one, you will encounter situations where batters do dominate against our bowling attack as well. It is only given in this game. But the bowling attack is quite special. And I really do hope that this legacy of bowling is taken forward.”India have the comfort of playing both Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in Test matches at home. In less than two months, they’ll be flying to Australia where it is very likely that they’ll have to choose between the two of them. How do they cope with that situation?”It is very simple for me. If he plays, I will bad mouth him all day, all night,” Ashwin joked. “I have repeated this again and again. It doesn’t cross my head anymore at all. If he is the one that has to play, he is the one that has to play. I have complete faith and I have got his back when he goes out there to play. Going to another country, especially a country like Australia or England, and your team putting in an extraordinary performance and you winning a Test match, makes me an incredibly proud Indian. So, for me, [it’s about] putting a larger cause in front.”He is the second left-arm spinner to 300 wickets. I think he has got 3000 runs. These are no mean achievements. It is just that sometimes when you miss out, you feel you are missing out. And nobody likes missing out. But the fact is, India is blessed to have two bowlers who can play in the same spot and are good enough. So, it doesn’t cross my mind. It used to once upon a time. I might be lying if I said I didn’t because we all want to play. But it doesn’t anymore. Because the larger goal is at the forefront of my mind.”

She welcomes stiff competition ahead of captaincy debut at a World Cup

Shashank Kishore02-Oct-2024Since losing the T20 World Cup crown to West Indies in India in 2016, Australia have gone on a bull run to win three titles back-to-back. As they return to Asia to try to hunt down a fourth straight title, questions have been raised about their invincibility.They whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series at home last month, razed down Bangladesh on some tough wickets in Mirpur in April and overturned a ten-wicket hammering to beat India 2-1 at the start of the year. Upon arrival in Dubai for the T20 World Cup, they beat West Indies and England in the warm-ups.But there have been occasional blips too, like the T20I series loss to England, a defeat each against South Africa and West Indies on away tours on either side of the women’s Ashes.Related

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On Wednesday, at the captains’ pre-tournament media session, Alyssa Healy, the Australia captain, wasn’t going to understate their achievements but also gave a peek into the way the players have trained themselves to think.”You don’t come here to defend the title, that’s not what the World Cup is about, you come here to win it,” she said. “So we are here with that approach. Our pool [Group A with India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka] is quite a tricky one. We’ve got to get past these teams to have a chance of lifting the trophy. So it’s a challenge I’m very excited for.”This will be Alyssa Healy’s first World Cup as a full-time captain•Getty Images

That no team has played a lot of cricket in the UAE – they will all be playing in Dubai for the first time – adds to the allure of what could be the closest-ever women’s T20 World Cup.Healy stressed adaptability, even though it has not all been about training and matches. While Healy had to accommodate media commitments, the rest of the Australian team spent a day at the water park to cool off in conditions that would test the players’ fitness.”The whole tournament, in general, is about adapting the quickest,” Healy said. “That seems to be the way. If you look at the warm-up games, [it showed] you’ve got to adapt pretty quickly to what you’re given. Probably the team that does the best throughout the tournament will get the job done. We feel like we’re well placed to do that and hopefully, we can do it.”This will be Healy’s first T20 World Cup as full-time captain; she was given the role last December after Meg Lanning announced her international retirement. This was preceded by a small period where Healy had filled in for Lanning, including at last year’s Ashes, without fully knowing if Lanning would return.Did that make her feel like she didn’t have full control as captain?”I wouldn’t say I still have full control,” she said, tongue-in-cheek. “I think I approached it like I do every day in life. You take each day as it comes. Obviously, when she [Lanning] decided to step away from the game officially, there was a process in place. I put up my hand for it and got the job, and it’s been really enjoyable so far.””I’m very grateful at this point in my career to have an opportunity to learn more about myself and probably more my team-mates, and as a squad on the whole as well, So it’s been good.”Healy also addressed quite candidly the challenges of matching Lanning’s legacy as a leader. She admitted it wouldn’t be easy to fill the “pretty big shoes” but it was also a matter of not overcomplicating it.”Everyone in this room knows the legacy of Meg Lanning, so there’s pretty big shoes to fill,” Healy said. “But I’m not Meg, I’m Alyssa Healy and I’ve brought that approach into this Australian team.”I’m going to do the job the way that I know how to do it and to the best of my ability and hopefully that does the job for Australia. At the moment, I’m just really enjoying the challenge of that.”In saying she has embraced the challenges of the job, Healy also welcomed stiff competition from the rest of the pack.”It feels like, without being disrespectful, we have been hunted for a long period of time,” she said. “We’re constantly being asked about that, and we’re used to it now. Teams are coming really hard at us to put us under the pump which we love.”This World Cup is going to be no different. We know what the other nine are going to throw at us given the opportunity. We see it as a challenge and an opportunity to showcase a brand of cricket we like playing.”Australia open their campaign on October 6 with an afternoon game against Sri Lanka in Sharjah. They next play New Zealand before meeting Pakistan in Dubai. They round off their league engagements with a high-voltage clash against India in Sharjah on October 13.

Gaikwad and Abhimanyu failed with the bat again, but the Indians ended the second day 120 in front with eight wickets in hand

Tristan Lavalette01-Nov-2024Stumps After the first day’s spotlight shone firmly on Australia’s Test hopefuls, India Test squad member Abhimanyu Easwaran and reserve Mukesh Kumar had contrasting fortunes before B Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal led an India A fightback on day two in Mackay.Trailing by 88 runs on the first innings, India stared down the barrel at 30 for 2 after the wickets of skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhimanyu. But Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal steadied the ship with an unbroken 178-run partnership as batting became easier on a surface that flattened out as the day wore on.They learned the lessons from India A’s disastrous first innings of 107 when a number of batters nicked off. Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal demonstrated patience and judged the full lengths well as they closed in on centuries. They waited to pick off the bowling, which was more wayward than on the opening day.Both batters used their feet well to offspinner Todd Murphy, who did not threaten and had figures of none for 54 from 17 overs. His struggles reared just before stumps when a delivery slipped from his fingers and landed near the square leg umpire.Devdutt Padikkal scored 80 in an unbroken 178-run stand with B Sai Sudharsan•Getty Images

It was a terrific recovery from India A after the wickets of Gaikwad and Abhimanyu, who each had double failures for the match. Gaikwad could only tentatively poke at a length delivery from quick Fergus O’Neill and edged to second slip where Cameron Bancroft demonstrated why he is one of the country’s best fielders, with a sharp catch low to the ground.Abhimanyu is seen as a contender to play in the early part of the Test series given the uncertainty over Rohit Sharma. But he was all at sea against the new ball with O’Neill producing rampant movement.Abhimanyu was fortunate to have survived on 2 after edging quick Jordan Buckingham to third slip only for the delivery to be deemed a no-ball. The pressure was building on Abhimanyu, who attempted to play more positively and also scampered for tight singles on a couple of occasions. But he pushed his luck after dashing off for a quick run only for the athletic Buckingham at midwicket to throw down the stumps leaving the diving batter just short of his ground.India’s recovery appeared to have had a setback when Padikkal on 31 drove O’Neill straight to Nathan McSweeney at short extra-cover only for the delivery to be called a no-ball.Cooper Connolly played positively, hitting five fours in his 37•Getty Images

Padikkal had medical treatment on his legs late in the day, but fought through as India A eyed setting a tough target with the focus soon to shift once again to those Australia A batters hoping to partner Usman Khawaja in the first Test.India A’s revival was started by Mukesh. He bowled unwavering spells and nipped the ball both ways to finish with 6 for 46, while quick Prasidh Krishna unfurled canny changes of pace, which has served him well in white-ball cricket, to claim a three-wicket haul.Australia A resumed their first innings at 99 for 4, trailing by just eight runs, with skipper McSweeney having a golden opportunity to boost his bid for first Test selection. McSweeney had survived through to stumps on a madcap day one after the early dismissals of Test candidates Bancroft, Sam Konstas and Marcus Harris.He once again showcased dogged defence and good judgment to leave deliveries outside his off stump. After a slow start to the day’s play, it took 17 deliveries until the first runs were scored when Cooper Connolly flayed a boundary through the off side.Connolly, 21, decided to counter-attack and quickly passed McSweeney after smashing 22 runs in an eight-ball whirlwind. His ability to shift gears is a reason why Connolly has risen in the ranks quickly and is seen as a contender for the Test tour of Sri Lanka early next year.Mukesh Kumar finished with innings figures of 6 for 46•Getty Images

In a contrast to many batters so far in this match, Connolly drove with ease and underlined why in Western Australian cricket circles he has been compared favourably to former Test batter Shaun Marsh. He appeared set for his fourth half-century from six innings in his first-class career before a tame dismissal on 37 when he mistimed a delivery from Mukesh to square-leg.It led to the quick wickets of Josh Philippe and McSweeney, whose dedication to defence was finally broken when he was caught at gully after being lured into driving a full delivery from Nitish Kumar Reddy.Reddy was able to find late movement that deceived McSweeney to highlight an impressive performance of 1 for 14 from seven overs.Australia A led by just 29 runs at the fall of McSweeney’s wicket before Murphy hit a breezy 33 to frustrate India A. It was left to Mukesh to finally wrap up the innings as he clean bowled Brendan Doggett for his fifth wicket and then picked up Murphy – who was the fourth batter in the innings to fall in the 30s.

South Africa’s Test captain last was in action in early October and last played a Test in August

Firdose Moonda22-Nov-2024Temba Bavuma has opened up about battling “mental demons” as he has recovered from a second elbow injury, and a fourth major niggle, in the last two years – all of which kept him out of crucial international games.”It’s definitely has played in my mind. When you’re injured and you start in a rehab process, it’s always tough,” he said in Pretoria, where South Africa are involved in a preparation camp ahead of their home Test summer. “It’s just [about] trying to get over all those mental demons and get yourself into a space where you accept what it is that is happening and you try to deal with it. It has been a tricky couple of weeks.”Bavuma has not played competitive cricket in seven weeks since he fell awkwardly while completing a run in an ODI against Ireland in Abu Dhabi. He hurt the same elbow that he fractured in 2022 – his left one – and was out of action for three months. This time, it has only taken a little over half the time but in-between Bavuma has suffered injuries on both his right and left hamstrings. The former saw him play last year’s ODI World Cup semi-final without being fully fit, and the latter prevented him from batting in the Boxing Day Test against India and from playing in the New Year’s match that followed.Related

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Add to that that he missed South Africa’s Tests in New Zealand in February because of SA20 commitments and the matches in Bangladesh with the most recent elbow concern, and Bavuma has only played in three of the team’s eight World Test Championship (WTC) matches in this cycle. He has watched his team put themselves in contention for the WTC final mostly without him and admitted that hasn’t always been easy.Temba Bavuma: ‘It’s just [about] trying to get over all those mental demons and get yourself into a space where you accept what is happening and try to deal with it’•ICC via Getty Images

“As much as the guys played as well as they did against Bangladesh, it was quite frustrating from my side not being able to take part in that,” he said. “But obviously, I had a lot of joy in how the guys performed.”Bavuma was part of the traveling party in Bangladesh, where South Africa enjoyed their first Test and series victory in the subcontinent in a decade, and was close to playing the second match but felt some discomfort on impact while batting. He has since passed a fitness test – including a 90-minute batting session and has been given the all-clear to lead the side in the hope he will remain fully fit through the summer.”I don’t know what the next couple of weeks or months look like. I’m just happy that I’m able to speak to you guys at this point in time,” he said. “I’ll try to prepare as much as I can from a physical and mental point of view. And hopefully the gods can smile on me a little bit longer.”So far, Bavuma said his “elbow feels good”, the intensity of his training “has definitely ramped up” and he is mentally ready to go. “I feel quite fresh and excited as well to have the opportunity to be batting, to be putting on my pads, to be running on the field. From a skill point of view, it’s always just got to build it, just build that confidence – feel yourself hitting the ball out the middle and feel your movements are the way that you want them to be.”While Bavuma continues to regain his own sense of self-belief, South Africa’s is soaring, not only because they have not lost a Test series under Shukri Conrad but because their WTC fate is in their own hands. If they win all four of their remaining Tests (two each against Sri Lanka and Pakistan), they will be guaranteed a place in the final. Considering that South Africa have played fewer matches than anyone else and effectively forfeited a series in New Zealand, where they were without most of their first-choice players who were committed to the SA20, that they remain in contention itself is impressive, and they know it.”There’s lots of excitement,” Bavuma said. “Obviously, as a group, starting the WTC cycle, that’s one of the things that we spoke about in terms of what we’d like to achieve. Things became a bit tricky for us after the New Zealand trip but there was always a goal at the back of our minds. We understand that the expectation and the pressure will probably ramp up.”There is also renewed hope in South African cricket. After reaching three T20 World Cup finals in 18 months (twice by the women and once by the men) and the men’s ODI World Cup semi-final against expectations, there is a feeling something big (read: trophy) must be on the horizon. Whether that comes now or in the future, Bavuma can feel the positive shift and hopes his team will lean into it.”From a belief point of view, that’s definitely grown within the team,” he said. “We’re playing at home during festive times and playing in front of our home fans. Hopefully the stadiums will have a little bit more people than we are accustomed to. We’ve been putting in some good performances so from a confidence, belief point of view, it’s been good to see. As a team, we’ll ride that for as long as it lives within us.”

The visitors are 6-0 down after being whitewashed in the ODI series

Andrew McGlashan18-Jan-20251:25

Knight: England will ‘keep believing’ after Australia’s ODI sweep

Heather Knight believes that an injection of fresh faces and a return to England’s best format gives them hope of turning around the Ashes series around after they were trounced 3-0 in the ODIs.England have left themselves no option but to win every remaining match of the multiformat series – three T20Is and the day-night Test at the MCG – after falling 6-0 behind with their heavy defeat in Hobart as Australia secured an ODI whitewash. Even if it’s 6-6 heading into that game Australia would only need a draw to retain the Ashes.Related

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“The last Ashes series was 6-0 and we’re able to turn things around,” Knight said. “I think having a change of format will be really good for us. I think T20 cricket is one of our best formats. I think that little reset will do us some good.”We’ve got to keep believing, but we can’t look too far ahead. Back in the last Ashes, we kept it game by game and just got on a bit of a roll. We’re still alive, we’re still in it, and we’ve got to keep believing we can.”Bess Heath, Dani Gibson, Freya Kemp and Linsey Smith come into the squad for the T20Is have not been part of the one-day series.Both teams have points to prove in the format after England went out in the group stage of last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE and Australia exited in the semi-finals. The home side have not played a T20I since that tournament whereas England have had a tour of South Africa but Knight did not see that as a significant advantage.”I think they’re a team that play T20 cricket very well,” she said. “And as are we. We’ve played some brilliant T20 cricket recently in the last year. So hopefully it does [help] but I don’t think it will make a huge advantage them not playing too much.”England have left themselves needing to win all the remaining matches to take the Ashes•Getty Images

Meanwhile, Kate Cross will be among a handful of England players who will now switch their attention to preparing for the pink-ball Test at the MCG.Knight confirmed that Cross, who has been recovering from a back problem picked up in South Africa, was very close to playing the final ODI and that the bowler herself felt she could have featured.”Kate felt like she was pretty close and probably fit enough to play,” Knight said. “But we felt like it was too much of a risk really because she hasn’t had a huge amount of cricket. She’s still in a place where it is a bit grumbly and can flare up at any time.”The Test match girls will have a little bit of a camp away from us, training, so Tammy [Beaumont] and Ryana MacDonald-Gay will be a part of that. They’ll get a really good preparation. So, it’s moving in the right direction [for Cross].”Switching between formats is a challenge during this series in a condensed schedule. There are just two days between the end of the ODIs before the first T20I at the SCG, then a four-day gap for players to get ready for the pink-ball four-day encounter in Melbourne.Australia are expected to name their Test squad on Monday.

Australia will now have more work to do then they would have anticipated in the last two days

Tristan Lavalette31-Jan-2025Australia’s menacing attack was left frustrated after the final two sessions of day three were washed out as Sri Lanka had respite from a Galle surface starting to play tricks.The day started amid sunny conditions and 27 overs were bowled before rain cascaded on the ground out of nowhere just before lunch. There was no further play for the remainder of the day, with stumps called more than two hours ahead of schedule.In response to Australia’s massive first-innings of 654 for 6 declared, Sri Lanka were 136 for 5 at stumps with Dinesh Chandimal playing a lone hand so far with an attractive 63 not out. Kusal Mendis is unbeaten on 10.Australia are still in the box seat to claim victory in the first Test after dominating the opening seven sessions of the match. But the wet weather has added intrigue and given Sri Lanka hope of escaping with a draw. Rain is forecast for Saturday, but clear weather is expected on the fifth day.The pitch had been mostly benign over the opening two days with sharp turn negated by the slowness of the surface. But it did start showing signs of wear in the morning session with several cracks notable and the ball occasionally exploded off the surface.After such a dismal performance by the top-order, where they lost three wickets within 10 overs late on day two, Sri Lanka resumed on 44 for 3 and still 410 runs away from the follow-on.Their hopes of chiselling into that target rested on Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis, who entered with an average of 74 from 10 Tests since debuting against Australia on the ground in 2022. In that match, Chandimal scored 206 not out in a big victory for Sri Lanka.They were confronted by the old guard of left-arm quick Mitchell Starc and offspinner Nathan Lyon starting in tandem having each claimed a wicket on the previous evening. Starc, attired in long sleeves, found some swing and also helped deepen the emerging footmarks.Chandimal was pinned down initially by Lyon. But perhaps having closely studied Australia’s first-innings playbook, Chandimal decided to go on the attack against Lyon who loomed as Australia’s talisman having had little to do in the pace-dominated home series against India.A fascinating battle emerged as Lyon bowled from around the wicket aiming at the developing footmarks. Chandimal was undaunted as he unfurled the sweep to good effect and clubbed Lyon to the boundary.He enjoyed luck on the next delivery when he edged past stand-in skipper Steven Smith’s outstretched left hand at first slip in the type of tough chance he has often snaffled in his career.A stubborn Dinesh Chandimal kept Australian bowlers at bay•AFP via Getty Images

Chandimal capped the most productive over of the innings when he reverse swept Lyon to the boundary. But Sri Lanka’s solid start was rocked when Kamindu fell in tame fashion on 15 when he was strangled down the leg side by Starc as Sri Lanka fell to 67 for 4.Chandimal remained unruffled despite copping a blow in the midriff by a shorter delivery from Starc. He continued to defy Lyon by backing his attacking instincts. Much like Australia’s batters on the opening two days, Chandimal danced down the wicket to good effect to club Lyon over cover.Chandimal had a productive partnership with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva to underline there were still plenty of runs on offer on this surface. But, once again, Sri Lanka were derailed by recklessness when de Silva was stumped by a mile after he ran down at left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann and missed a short and wide delivery.Having triggered Sri Lanka’s woes by dismissing opener Oshada Fernando, Kuhnemann continued his strong return in his first Test match since the India tour in early 2023.Chandimal reached his half-century off 91 balls before Sri Lanka, not for the first time in this match, were relieved by the sight of rain.

Imam-ul-Haq, who hasn’t played for Pakistan since December 2023, will link up with the team ahead of their next game, against India on February 23 in Dubai

Danyal Rasool20-Feb-2025Pakistan’s hopes of defending their Champions Trophy title have taken a significant dent with opener Fakhar Zaman ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with an oblique injury. Imam-ul-Haq has been approved by the ICC as Fakhar’s replacement.Fakhar picked up the injury off just the second ball of the tournament, when he hared off in pursuit of a cover drive from Will Young off Shaheen Shah Afridi. When he collected the ball, he appeared to be in some discomfort. After treatment on the field, he was take off, and remained out for more than two hours.