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Stokes, Babar and Buttler named captains of ICC teams of 2022

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Smriti Mandhana, Beth Mooney, Sophie Ecclestone and Renuka Singh figure in both women’s white-ball XIs for the year gone by

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2023The annual ICC teams for 2022 are out, in five categories: men’s Tests, ODIs and T20Is, and women’s ODIs and T20Is. Some of the usual suspects, the cream of the crop in each format, are there, of course, but there are a few names in each XI that might make you want to turn to the ESPNcricinfo stats pages for a quick double-check.

Test XI: Ben Stokes to lead four Australians

Men’s Test XI: Usman Khawaja, Kraigg Brathwaite, Marnus Labuschagne, Babar Azam, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Rishabh Pant (wk), Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, James Anderson.It was the year of Bazball, and it’s no surprise that Ben Stokes will captain the team, even if it has four Australians – Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon – in it. That’s to be expected, after all, Australia are on top of the World Test Championship table.Second on that table are India, but after a year in which they played just seven Tests, only Rishabh Pant finds a place in the XI.Stokes’ team-mates Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson figure in the line-up, which also includes one player each from West Indies (Kraigg Brathwaite), Pakistan (Babar Azam) and South Africa (Kagiso Rabada).

Babar Azam named captain of men’s ODI XI

Men’s ODI XI: Babar Azam (capt), Travis Head, Shai Hope, Shreyas Iyer, Tom Latham (wk), Sikandar Raza, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj, Trent Boult, Adam Zampa.Babar is as lonely in the men’s ODI XI where, again, he is the only one from Pakistan. But he will lead the side, which has two Indians in Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Siraj.It’s a solid-looking side, with Bangladesh represented by Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza rewarded for a remarkable year in both white-ball formats. That aside, there are two players each from Australia (Travis Head and Adam Zampa), New Zealand (Tom Latham and Trent Boult), and West Indies (Shai Hope and Alzarri Joseph).But 2022 was a T20 World Cup year, unlike 2023, an ODI World Cup year where the teams will be playing a lot more 50-overs cricket. So we might have a better idea about the ODI worth of the best players in the world around this time next year.

Virat Kohli among three Indians in men’s T20I XI

Men’s T20I XI: Jos Buttler (capt, wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Sikandar Raza, Hardik Pandya, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Haris Rauf, Josh Little.Raza is in this XI too, as are Josh Little from Ireland and Wanindu Hasaranga from Sri Lanka, all big performers through the year and especially at the T20 World Cup.England won that tournament. Jos Buttler led them there and will lead the team here. Sam Curran was the performer of the tournament for England, and is here too. India are well represented by Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, perhaps the most talked-about player in the format last year. And, to round things off, there are Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Rauf from Pakistan and Glenn Phillips from New Zealand.

Alyssa Healy and Smriti Mandhana to open in women’s ODI XI

Women’s ODI XI: Alyssa Healy (wk), Smriti Mandhana, Laura Wolvaardt, Nat Sciver, Beth Mooney, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Amelia Kerr, Sophie Ecclestone, Ayabonga Khaka, Renuka Singh, Shabnim Ismail.If the men played a T20 World Cup in 2022, the women played their ODI World Cup. Australia won. Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney, two of their best batters in the competition, made this XI. The team they beat in the final, England, also have two representatives – Nat Sciver and Sophie Ecclestone, the bowler of the year, arguably.India, who failed to make the final four, actually have three star performers here: Smriti Mandhana, in a mouth-watering opening combination with Healy, Harmanpreet Kaur, also the captain, and Renuka Singh, the swing bowler who had such an impressive year.The best represented team is, incidentally, South Africa, with Laura Wolvaardt, Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail. And there can’t be a world XI without Amelia Kerr, who rounds off the 11.

Sophie Devine to lead power-packed women’s T20I XI

Women’s T20I XI: Smriti Mandhana, Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine (capt), Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Nida Dar, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Inoka Ranaweera, Renuka Singh.If Mandhana is marked to open with Healy in ODIs, she had Mooney for company in T20Is, where Renuka features as well, along with two other Indians: Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh, the young wicketkeeper who is currently playing in the Under-19 World Cup.Mooney aside, the T20I XI has two other Australians, Ashleigh Gardner and Tahlia McGrath, another player who made rapid strides in 2022 across formats.The captain of the side, however, is neither Australian nor Indian, but Sophie Devine, the New Zealand allrounder. Two other Asians complete the XI: Nida Dar of Pakistan and Inoka Ranaweera of Sri Lanka.

Nat Sciver-Brunt: 'England have exceeded the public's expectations'

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Trip to Taunton and Dunkley’s birthday cake helps team to process disappointment of Ashes loss

Andrew Miller17-Jul-2023Nat Sciver-Brunt believes that England’s women have “exceeded the public’s expectations” throughout a gripping tussle with Australia, adding that a bus trip to Taunton and a slice of Sophia Dunkley’s birthday cake had helped the team to process their mixed emotions after her own outstanding innings of 111 not out from 99 balls had fallen agonisingly short of salvaging their Ashes hopes in the second ODI at the Ageas Bowl.It was Sciver-Brunt’s third unbeaten hundred in the space of four ODIs against Australia, and just like those previous efforts – including her formidable 148 not out in the World Cup final in Christchurch last year – she finished on the losing side, as Australia’s ruthless winning machine found just enough resolve to close out another tense encounter.”What a game we had,” Sciver-Brunt said on the eve of the series finale in Taunton, where England’s aim will be to square the Ashes points battle at eight apiece, while securing a notable sweep of the white-ball legs, following their 2-1 win in the T20Is earlier this month.Related

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  • The nerveless, box-office cricketer that is Nat Sciver-Brunt

“I’m not really sure how to respond to it, because obviously when you get a good score and you end up on the losing side, it’s a bit of a weird feeling,” she added. “Obviously, we were pretty disappointed as a side to get so close and not quite be able to do it, and not being able to retake the Ashes is another layer of that.”But we’ve recognised that, and had conversations about that after the game, and we’re really trying to focus on tomorrow’s game, because to potentially get another series win against them would be huge.”Asked what the team had done to process their frustrations, after coming so close to their fourth win on the bounce against an Australian team that, prior to this campaign, hadn’t lost a single international fixture since September 2021, Sciver-Brunt responded: “Well, we went on a bus to Taunton. So had plenty of time to think about it.”We put some music on and just tried to enjoy the moment a little bit,” she added. “It was Sophia’s birthday as well, so we had a little cake on the bus and didn’t want anyone to dwell on things too much, because we’ve obviously got an important game tomorrow.”It’s all about pride really, and knowing that what we’ve done in this series so far has been quite successful. We’ve been positive with the bat, and always looked for wickets with the ball, so our mindset doesn’t change too much from that. But it’s about making sure that we’re in a good place tomorrow, where we’ve parked our feelings about yesterday, and using that ODI series win potentially as a motivator.”Sciver-Brunt ‘was in the moment’ throughout her nerveless century•PA Photos/Getty Images

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the second ODI, Australia’s player-of-the-match Alana King insisted that she didn’t see the gap between the teams “closing anytime soon”, despite acknowledging that England had pushed her side close in each of their three victories across the multi-format series.Sciver-Brunt, however, took a different view. While she acknowledged that Australia were more versed in the art of victory, she was adamant that England are closing fast on a team that has swept all before it for the past five years.”I’d say that we’re not that far apart, really,” she said. “So long as we keep our intent and the way that we play, there’s not too much of a gap.”When the pressure moments are on, they’ve probably still got the edge on us a little bit. We’ve obviously got over the line in some close games, but probably not done it as convincingly as we’d like to.”But we’re still on that learning curve, so I guess we’re not at the end of our journey with that. We’re still looking to improve and looking to fine-tune things a little bit as well. It’s been back and forth, two highly competitive teams going at each other in all formats.”Given that a solitary boundary separated the teams at the end of the second ODI, arguably the key moment of the contest came in the final over of Australia’s innings, when Georgia Wareham clubbed Lauren Bell for three sixes and two fours in a momentum-seizing over that cost 26 runs. Sciver-Brunt, however, refused to single out her team-mate out for explicit blame.”That’s one moment isn’t it? We missed a few chances in the field in our bowling innings as well. Out of 600 balls, it can’t really come down to one or two in the whole day. Little moments always lead up to it, don’t they? Suddenly, five [to win] might become two or three off the last ball. But there’s obviously places where we could have done better as a side and executed our skill a bit better.”On a personal level, however, Sciver-Brunt could hardly be in a better technical or temperamental space. Like Ben Stokes in his two stand-out innings of the men’s Ashes, Sciver-Brunt’s performance was notable for an absence of fear, and a relentless focus on an end-goal that proved, on this occasion, to be just out of her reach.”Yesterday while I was playing, I looked up at the scoreboard and I was suddenly on 40,” she said. “I was just in the moment. It all seemed to pass me by until probably the last 10-12 overs when I really needed to switch on to the scoreboard a little bit more. In high-pressure moments, that’s where we want to be able to perform and be at our best. So I was happy, in that context, to be able to put a performance on like that in such a big moment.”Sciver-Brunt credited the influence of England’s coach, Jon Lewis, for changing her mindset in the big moments, and encouraging the squad as a whole to redefine their definition of success. And after a series that has been played in front of packed and enthusiastic crowds, with another sell-out at Taunton anticipated for Tuesday, she added that there’s plenty more pride to play for, even with the Ashes themselves out of reach.”I think we’ve exceeded the public’s expectations,” she said. “Testing ourselves against the best team in the world, in big-pressure moments, in sold-out crowds in the biggest Ashes series we’ve had. We want to win games for England but, for us, it’s about how we want to play, and using that to inspire and entertain the nation and people who want to watch.”For the series to be drawn on points, it would bring some pride to our performances and the way that we’ve gone about things. We’ve already got that at the moment, through the amount of people that have come to watch us and are really excited about our games. But yeah, another series win would certainly have a nice ring to it.”

Nawaz-Talat stand takes Pakistan over the line in first ODI

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One debutant and another playing only the second ODI of his career shepherded the visitors’ chase to give them a 1-0 lead

Danyal Rasool08-Aug-2025An unbeaten 104-run partnership between debutant Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Talat – playing his second game – helped a nervous Pakistan overcome a stutter to chase down 281 in the penultimate over and take a 1-0 lead in the ODI series with a five-wicket win.West Indies had put up 280 through three half-centuries in the first innings, but Pakistan’s spinners contained them to keep them to a below-par score with Shaheen Shah Afridi (4 for 51) and Naseem Shah (3-55) mopping the hosts up at the death.Pakistan’s pursuit was far from convincing, struggling to pace the innings too. Babar Azam (47) and Mohammad Rizwan (53) each fell after promising, if placid, starts, and West Indies found themselves burrowing into the lower order when Rizwan fell with 101 still to get. But Nawaz overcame early struggles and briefly rode his luck with a couple of dropped chances to turn the game around with 63 not out, eventually finishing it at a canter alongside the more solid Talat, who made an unbeaten 41 in 37 balls.Much of Pakistan’s ODI success over the past year depended on Saim Ayub getting them off to a flyer, so it felt significant West Indies neutralised that threat early, Jayden Seales extracting rubber-ball bounce that took his edge and flew on command into the keeper’s gloves. While Babar took his time to settle, Abdullah Shafique looked classically pretty through an even-paced knock, but found himself undone by slightly lower bounce that excited Shamar Joseph enough to force his captain’s hand into a successful review.Initially, it appeared the worst of Babar and Rizwan was on display in that third-wicket partnership. At one point early on, they would play sixteen successive dot balls as the asking rate crept above six. They began, as they so often do, to catch up, finding regular boundaries and running a few twos, and the asking rate gradually eased back down into the fives. Whether that redeemed their slow start or made them even more culpable is by now an intractable question to answer.But West Indies trusted their pace bowlers longer than Pakistan had, only delivering one over of spin until the 20th over. But that wasn’t a commentary on Gudakesh Motie’s skills, who began to trouble the pair, ultimately sending Babar packing when he ventured out for a slog and was deceived by the turn three runs short of his half-century.Salman Ali Agha was more proactive, but threw away a decent start when he scooped a ball that gripped right back into a grateful Roston Chase’s hands. The value of Rizwan’s wicket was growing with each passing wicket, and he’d eased himself past a half-century by once more, Joseph found a way to rap him in front of the pads, this time securing the on-field decision that put West Indies on top.Nawaz and Talat, one ODI in 2019 the sum total of their 50-over international experience, seemed unlikely saviours at that point. Hasan scored just three off his first 12 balls, and looked vulnerable against spin. Shai Hope dropped him early as a nick off an attempted slog couldn’t nestle into his gloves, and with the asking rate rising, he was the one Pakistan required out there until the very end.The tide began to turn in the 39th over by which time the dew was making the ball hard to grip. Talat smacked Chase for two boundaries, before a rare errant over from Joseph saw five wides and 17 runs scored which brought the asking rate to just above seven. It was the break Pakistan needed to pace the innings on their terms, with each player finding the boundary anytime the equation became uncomfortable.With four overs to go and Nawaz on 49, Motie put down an unforgivably easy chance at short third, and as Seales went down on his knees in disbelief, the fate of the game was sealed. Talat plundered 15 off the following over, and five balls later, Nawaz had sealed the win.Evin Lewis and Keacy Carty’s 77-run stand got West Indies flowing despite losing an early wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Earlier, West Indies were put in to bat partially because of the uncertainty of conditions both overhead and underfoot, and once they’d brushed off the customary first-over wicket Afridi tends to take so often, Evin Lewis and Keacy Carty began to set a platform in the powerplay. Shaheen and Naseem struggled to find bite with the new ball, and by the eighth over, Rizwan had turned to the spin of Ayub. On a surface that has seen just the one ODI played, no one really knew how successful that would be, but the next two and a half-hours answered that question.With the surface gripping, each of Pakistan’s three spinners – Ayub, Agha, and Sufiyan Muqim – were thrust in immediately. The following 27 overs saw just one over of seam bowled as West Indies found themselves bleeding the occasional wicket while the run-rate Lewis and Carty had helped keep around six dipped below five. It was telling that the one over of seam – from Faheem Ashraf, saw Lewis pillage a six and a four bringing up his half-century in the process.But Lewis – on 60 – felt Ayub was the spinner to target, and having dispatched him for a boundary, opted to heave the final ball of his third over into the air. Shaheen spun himself around a couple of times before improbably holding onto it. A tortured innings from Sherfane Rutherford then concluded when he spooned Agha to cover-point.Chase (53) and Hope (55) put together a stand for the fifth wicket, but with no break from the stifling spinners, the run-rate began to fall. The 64 they added came off 89 deliveries, and with just one ball after the 34th over, Shaheen and Naseem began to find reverse swing. It took them a couple of overs to find their accuracy, during which Chase brought up his half-century. But he holed out to Naseem almost immediately afterwards, and just as the ball began to reverse, West Indies’ tail was exposed.The yorkers began to land, and West Indies had no answer. Naseem and Shaheen found pinpoint accuracy, and any runs West Indies scored had luck attached to them. At one point, the matting for the stump-mic helped lift the ball over Rizwan for four byes, and the following over a 140kmph yorker from Naseem hit leg stump, but without dislodging the bails.Even so, the last three were cleaned up by Pakistan’s two frontline quicks hitting the base of the stumps, and bowling West Indies out with an over to spare. Later, Pakistan would achieve their own target with seven balls to go.

'Feet up for a bit and on to the next challenge' – Behardien calls time on career

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He hadn’t played internationally since November 2018 but was active in the South African domestic circuit till earlier this month

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2022Farhaan Behardien, the 39-year-old South African batter, has retired after an 18-year career at the professional level, which included 59 ODI and 38 T20I appearances.Behardien, who last played internationally in a T20I against Australia in November 2018, but was in action for Boland in the domestic circuit till earlier this month, said “feet up for a bit and onto the next challenge” in his retirement note on Twitter. He didn’t, however, make it clear if he would continue to play certain formats, at least domestically.

Behardien made his first-class and List A debuts in October 2004. The first-class debut came for Western Province against Eastern Province with Behardien coming out as a lower-middle-order batter and opening the bowling with his medium pace. Over time, though, Behardien did more with the bat and didn’t bowl as much.He was first noticed in a big way in the 2011-12 South African domestic season when he averaged 45.66 in the one-day competition and 66.50 in the T20 version. He was named the South African T20 player of the year at the 2012 CSA awards, which helped him get into the national side.Behardien had it tough in international cricket
The international debut came in a T20 game against India in Johannesburg in March that year, and he played his first World Cup – the T20I event – in Sri Lanka later that year. He made his ODI debut in January 2013, at home against New Zealand, and went on to be part of the South Africa set-up at two T20 and two ODI World Cups.Overall, he tallied 1074 runs at an average of 30.68 and strike rate of 97.90 in ODIs and 518 runs at an average of 32.37 and strike rate of 128.21 in T20Is, with the riches in the middle order usually forcing him to bat low in the order and perform the finisher’s role.In January 2017, Behardien was named South Africa’s T20I captain for a three-match series against Sri Lanka at home. This came on the back of strong performances for Titans in the domestic T20 tournament, where he finished as the third-highest run-scorer. The year before, he was part of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the IPL, and he later also turned out for Edmonton Royals in the 2018 Global T20 Canada league.

Bairstow, Root and Stokes back in action as England look to avenge T20I series loss

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India will keep a close eye on the bowling workload of Hardik Pandya, who is set to play his first ODI in nearly a year

Ashish Pant11-Jul-20223:14

Giles: ‘Teams need to start thinking about the 50-over World Cup’

Big picture

If the three T20Is were any indication, the ODI series promises to be a thrill-a-minute ride. England have built a reputation of going hard from the get-go in both white-ball formats, and India, who have traditionally been known to build their innings methodically before going big in the death overs, also took the all-out aggressive route in the T20I series. Whether or not they continue with this approach in the ODIs remains to be seen, but conditions should assist quick run-getting, with surfaces at The Oval usually among the flatter ones in England.Both sides head into the series on the back of excellent ODI track records. England have lost just one of their last 10 ODIs and are fresh from amassing the highest ODI total in history against Netherlands. India, meanwhile, have won six of their last 10 games in the format, which includes a 3-0 sweep of West Indies at home earlier this year.The last time India came to The Oval, they took a 2-1 lead in the Test series last year with Rohit Sharma scoring 127 in the second innings. Rohit will hope to create more happy memories here, as will his likely opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, who in five ODIs at this venue has scored 443 runs at an average of 110.75, with three centuries and a fifty. In a squad that is otherwise full of young up-and-comers who have also been in and around the T20 set-up, Dhawan is an established name who remains an important cog in India’s 50-overs plans.Jos Buttler’s T20I captaincy debut did not quite go as planned, but with Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root back, England’s batting line-up will be at full strength in the ODIs. But the bowling looks a little thin, particularly in the spin department. Matt Parkinson wasn’t at his best in the T20I series, nor was Moeen Ali, and Livingstone’s mix of offspin and legspin was carted for 74 runs in his five overs across the three games. If the ongoing heatwave in the UK causes the pitches to dry out, spin could play a significant role in the series – as could cutters and changes of pace from the quicker bowlers.

Form guide

England WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
India WWWLL

In the spotlight

Hardik Pandya last played an ODI nearly a year ago, and India will keep a close eye on how he manages his workload in the format. Injuries had minimised his bowling output for a significant length of time, but he seems to have turned a corner in the last few months, bowling regularly both in the IPL and in his T20I appearances. Most recently, he played a crucial role in the first T20I against England, taking four wickets and scoring a 33-ball 51. But while he’s shown he can pull of his dual role with aplomb in T20 cricket, can he consistently bowl a full 10-over quota in ODIs?With scores of 0, 4 and 18, Jos Buttler had a T20I series to forget. But the England captain is coming off a superb run in the ODI series against Netherlands, where he made 162* in 70 balls and 86* off 64 balls in his two innings. The moving ball troubled him considerably during the T20I series, but it’s unlikely to be a factor when he resumes his middle-order role in the ODIs.Jos Buttler struggled during the T20Is, but he was in terrific form during England’s most recent ODI series against Netherlands•Getty Images

Team News

Suryakumar Yadav’s sensational century in the third T20I could get him the nod over Shreyas Iyer, if India opt for four frontline bowlers and two allrounders. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are likely to lead the pace unit, with a toss-up between Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj for the third seamer’s role. The former is likely to get the nod after a breakthrough series against the West Indies earlier this year. Yuzvendra Chahal will, in all probability, be the lone specialist spinner, with either Axar Patel or Ravindra Jadeja taking the spin-bowling allrounder’s mantle.India had an optional net session on the eve of the game, with only Ishan Kishan and Shikhar Dhawan as the specialist batters. Kishan had a long net session. Shardul Thakur, Siraj and Shami were the bowlers in attendance.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Axar Patel/Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.England’s batting is set to be at full strength with Bairstow, Root and Stokes back in the white-ball mix. The composition of the seam attack will be an interesting question, with three left-arm quicks in contention in Sam Curran, David Willey and Reece Topley, with Brydon Carse’s extra pace also in the mix.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 David Willey, 10 Brydon Carse/Reece Topley, 11 Matt Parkinson.

Pitch and conditions

There was a greenish tinge to the surface at The Oval on the eve of the match, but that might not translate to a lot of help for the seamers given the heatwave that’s going around. The temperature is expected to touch the 30-degree mark on the Celsius scale, but batting – and running between the wickets – might become easier later in the evening, under lights. There could be some assistance for the spinners too.

Stats and Trivia

  • David Willey and Sam Curran shared nine wickets in the last ODI played at The Oval, against Sri Lanka last year.
  • Joe Root has the most runs at the Oval among active cricketers. He has scored 548 runs in 10 innings here, at an average of 68.50 with five fifties and a ton.
  • Rohit Sharma has seven centuries in 24 ODI innings in England, the most by any visiting batter. He has scored 1335 runs at an average of 66.75 in the country.

Leus du Plooy replaces Billy Godleman as Derbyshire captain

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Godleman steps down after seven seasons in charge of club’s fortunes

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2022Derbyshire have appointed Leus du Plooy as club captain after Billy Godleman stepped down from the role.Godleman, 33, had led Derbyshire since taking over from Wayne Madsen ahead of the 2016 season, although he was not involved in the Blast side last season, Shan Masood taking over the captaincy with du Plooy as his deputy.Godleman endured a tough summer with the bat in the Championship, failing to pass 50 until the final innings of the campaign – his 158 against Leicestershire represented more than a third of his season’s runs – and agreed to the change after chatting to Derbyshire’s coach, Mickey Arthur.”I sat down with Mickey and we had a good catch-up about the season and my thoughts about captaincy, future leadership and my seven seasons as captain,” he said.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as captain but reflecting on this season I think that with Mickey coming in and giving the club new impetus, the time is now right for me to hand over the reins to a new leadership group as Wayne Madsen did to me in 2016.”Seven seasons as a captain is a long time and the highlights for me will always be the strong personal relationships I’ve built with players past and present both on and off the field, while I am particularly proud to have led the club to their first T20 Finals Day in 2019.”I very much hope that I can continue to be successful with Derbyshire, scoring lots of runs in all formats, and look forward to providing any support and insight I can to Leus.”Du Plooy, 27, joined Derbyshire in 2019 and is a regular in the side across formats, although involvement in the Hundred might limit his availability for the one-day cup. He was born in South Africa but qualifies as a local through a Hungarian passport.Arthur said: “Billy has led the team with great purpose and will continue to be a senior figure within our squad, but we both feel the time is right to make this change and restructure the leadership team ahead of the 2023 season.”For more than half-a-decade, Billy has been a dedicated Derbyshire captain, however now we have the opportunity for a new voice, in Leus, to lead the team and bring a fresh approach.”Billy can now focus on what he does best, scoring runs for Derbyshire, without having the pressure of captaincy. His record is one that most sides would love to have in their ranks, and I hope we can see more of his quality next season.”

Defeat 'still bloody hurts' in Victoria's unexpected final but future bright

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Young batters Ashley Chandrasinghe and Campbell Kellaway face a winter of developing their skills

Tristan Lavalette26-Mar-2023On the resumption of the Sheffield Shield season last month, an inexperienced Victoria didn’t set outlandish goals or plot a barnstorming title run.Boasting just one win from their first six matches, Victoria were content with backing youth in a bid to mould together a talented core who could help build a foundation for sustained success.”When we came back after the BBL we spoke about how we’re on a journey. We didn’t talk about playing in the Shield final,” Victoria coach Chris Rogers said.Surprising their own modest expectations, with skipper Peter Handscomb and frontline spinner Todd Murphy on Australia’s Test tour of India, Victoria led by 23-year-old stand-in captain Will Sutherland got on a roll.Related

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They won four straight matches to leapfrog into second-place and book a spot in the final against defending champions Western Australia.In a rematch of last year’s decider at the WACA, Victoria had their moments in a see-saw but couldn’t quite get the job done in an eventual nine-wicket defeat.Rather than be battle-scarred, they are hoping to take heed of the adversity experienced amid the cauldron as Victoria aims to chip away at WA’s stranglehold of the domestic competition.”The challenge is to reach the top of the mountain and get past WA. That’s the challenge for everyone,” Rogers said. “With a bit more experience…[we] might have been able to hang in a bit longer. It’s a young group and I think they’ll learn a lot out of it.”As Victoria stared down the barrel heading into day four, Rogers had a frank conversation with 20-year-old batter Campbell Kellaway who had helped spark Victoria’s season turnaround with a half-century against New South Wales in a comeback 69-run victory.His breakout season has him on the radar of the national selectors with Kellaway selected in the Australia A tour of New Zealand next month. But promoted to No.3 in the final, Kellaway was particularly scratchy on a green-tinged surface against WA’s strong attack as he mustered 6 off 23 balls in the first innings before looking somewhat overwhelmed late on day three in a painstaking 7 off 63 balls.”I spent a good 45 minutes with him, talking about these experiences,” Rogers said. “He’s figuring out answers to questions. He tried too hard this game. He was fighting so hard that he wasn’t giving himself a chance to score. He’s going to be a really important player for us for a number of years.”Ashley Chandrasinghe carried his bat for 46 off 280 balls: ‘It’s an extraordinary effort and he’s got attributes to build on’•Getty Images

In similar fashion to Kellaway, 21-year-old opener Ashley Chandrasinghe carried his bat in the first innings in a remarkable 280-ball stonewall worth 46 runs.It was a rearguard that polarised the public but made more meritorious with Chandrasinghe, in his Shield debut season, only making the line-up after veteran opener Travis Dean suffered an injury on the day before the match.Chandrasinghe received little support from his more senior players and also copped mocking applause from the typically rowdy WACA faithful. But he remained unruffled to produce an indefatigable batting effort that he can build on in the off-season.”There’s room for improvement in his game,” Rogers said. “He doesn’t want to play that style of cricket, he wants to be scoring runs.”It’s a measure of the man that he can bat a whole day. It’s an extraordinary effort and he’s got attributes to build on. That determination and to never quit is something in-built. I’m so proud of him.”A gallant Victoria remained in the contest largely due to a lionhearted allround performance from Sutherland, who further enhanced his growing reputation with a five-wicket haul and an aggressive 83 in the second innings. But it ultimately wasn’t enough although there is the sense that something is percolating within this emerging team.”It still bloody hurts we lost another final. I don’t want that to be a habit but we’re heading in the right direction,” Rogers said. “To win five games on the bounce is quite exceptional. They’ve played with discipline beyond their years and they had a lot of fun doing it. We are going to get better.”

BBL multi-year overseas deals could see big-name moves

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The new contract structure is an attempt to prevent players leaving early for rival leagues but the drafts will remain

Alex Malcolm02-Apr-2024Cricket Australia has introduced the option of clubs signing one overseas player in the BBL and WBBL on a multi-year deal outside of the drafts, in an attempt to ward off the mass exodus of players to other leagues that has hit the men’s competition, but the player must be available for the entire tournament including finals after next season.The multi-year deals can be signed before the W/BBL drafts but clubs will still need to draft at least two more. However, in an intriguing twist, players who sign a contract before the draft, be it single year or up to three years, cannot be retained by their former club. It raises the prospect of a player like Rashid Khan being poached away from Adelaide Strikers after Melbourne Stars attempted to draft him at the last two overseas drafts only for Strikers to use their retention pick.Related

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Strikers would not have rights to Rashid at the draft if any other club signed him under the new contracting rules. If Rashid or another player who qualifies for a retention pick is not signed before the draft, they can be retained as per the previous rules.The new multi-year contracts can be negotiated at any price meaning in the BBL players can command a figure above the current overseas draft platinum contract of AUD$420,000. However, the club will still need to fit all 18 players in their squad under the AUD$3 million salary cap. In the WBBL the platinum level is AUD$110,000.Overseas players will be allowed to limit their playing availability for the upcoming season due to pre-existing contracts with other leagues but for the following W/BBL seasons starting in 2025-26, any player who signs a deal outside of the draft will have to be available to play the full season plus the finals.”We are excited to introduce this new contracting mechanism for the upcoming WBBL and BBL seasons,” BBL general manager Alistair Dobson said. “We have worked closely with clubs and the ACA to continue developing and enhancing the Big Bash, and a key focus has been ensuring the best players continue to compete in the Big Bash, and for longer periods.”The opportunity for international players to ink multi-year deals with teams not only strengthens the League’s global appeal but also provides clubs with greater stability and strategic planning capabilities.”

January’s T20 crunch

The move has been made to avoid the situation the BBL suffered in recent seasons after an exodus of overseas players to the ILT20 and the SA20 saw clubs severely affected heading into the finals. The overseas players themselves blamed the fact that the September draft meant they had no certainty over their own schedule and many of them had signed guaranteed deals with ILT20 and SA20 clubs well before being drafted to the BBL.Laurie Evans did not want to leave Perth Scorchers last season but was contracted to ILT20•Getty Images

The decision from the BBL to allow multi-year contracts with the caveat of availability does partly mitigate against those exits from 2025 onwards although clubs can only sign one player to that deal. They must still draft two more at the draft later in the year, which does leave the BBL vulnerable to those players leaving the tournament early due to existing deals in other leagues.It is understood there are BBL clubs who would prefer to contract players for all three overseas slots without a draft, as was the case previously, but the competition has invested heavily in the draft and believes the jeopardy of it adds value to the competition.It will be interesting to see how many overseas players are lured via multi-year deals which will lock them into playing in the BBL. The scheduling of the BBL, ILT20, SA20 and the BPL in the same January window has incentivised players to hop from one league to another to maximise their earnings causing chaotic player movement across the four leagues.Whether the new type of contract, which does get taxed heavily in Australia, will be enough to keep players in the BBL for a full season compared to the money on offer in the UAE and South Africa remains to be seen.In the WBBL the new contract structure will replace the direct nomination route which was in place for the 2023-24 season, the first time the competition had used an overseas draft. That system meant only 17 players were signed at the draft itself.

BBL contract window opens

Australia’s Test players should be available for a period after the India series•Getty Images

CA announced their new contracting mechanism on Tuesday as the BBL’s official contracting window opened. Clubs can officially trade and sign players in the coming weeks. The BBL only allows clubs to retain 10 players on their 18-player list each season to try and promote player movement.There is an added element to their contracting this season with Australia’s Test players set to be available for a short window at the back end of the BBL. The competition dates are yet to be announced but it is likely to start just after the Adelaide Test between Australia and India, which finishes on December 10, and run through until roughly January 26.In another new element clubs are also able to sign any player holding a CA contract during the initial retention week, even if they have not previously played for the team.Australia’s Test players will finish their five-Test series against India on January 7 but the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka is due to start around January 31. Players involved in that are likely to only be available for the BBL until around January 20, which means those who make themselves available will only play a handful of matches and won’t be available for the finals.Meanwhile, the WBBL schedule is still to be determined with a reduction to a 10-game season, in line with the BBL, still on the cards. There is only a limited window available for the WBBL this season between the end of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in late October and the start of a three-match women’s ODI series between Australia and India on December 5.

Saifuddin three-for helps Bangladesh stave off Zimbabwe's challenge

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

For the third game in a row, Zimbabwe needed their lower-order batters to offer a fight

Mohammad Isam07-May-2024Bangladesh saw off some late batting fightback from Zimbabwe tailenders Faraz Akram and Blessing Muzarabani to clinch the T20I series in the third game in Chattogram. They won by nine runs on Tuesday, with two matches left to play in Dhaka.Akram, playing only his fifth T20I, struck an unbeaten 34 off 19 balls after the visitors had crashed to 91 for 8 chasing 166. The 54 runs he added with Wellington Masakadza was a new Zimbabwe record for the ninth wicket. Akram’s 34 was also Zimbabwe’s highest by a No. 10 batter.Muzarabani, who took career-best figures of 3 for 14 earlier, struck two fours when Zimbabwe needed 21 in the final over. But Saifuddin snuffed out the trouble with some accurate death-overs bowling.Zimbabwe produced lower-order runs for the third game in a row, especially when the rest sunk quickly. Bangladesh once again had Towhid Hridoy play a crucial hand in a win. Hridoy’s maiden T20I fifty came during an 87-run fourth wicket stand with Jaker Ali, who made 44. This pair had to lift Bangladesh after they lost three wickets in the first nine overs.

Bangladesh suffer for Litton’s scoops

Litton Das chose the strangest sequence of shots to get out in the fourth over. He missed two lap scoops against Muzarabani before his third successive attempt dragged the ball onto his stumps. It is unclear whether Litton, already showing poor form in white-ball cricket this year, will be in Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup squad. This innings is unlikely to help his case.Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto also got out cheaply, bowled by a bit of variation from his opposite number Sikandar Raza. Shanto’s lack of footwork would be concerning for the team. Those would be long-term concerns, but when Tanzid Hasan fell in the ninth over, trying to slog Faraz Akram, it caused immediate worry. Bangladesh were hovering around a mediocre run rate, having lost their set batter.

Hridoy, Jaker to the rescue

The fourth-wicket pair struck a boundary in their first 3.3 overs before Jaker and Hridoy took on Raza for two sixes in the space of three balls. The first was a straight hit before Hridoy hit a bigger one into the mid-wicket stands.In the 15th over though, Zimbabwe handed Jaker a life when his slog-sweep off Luke Jongwe fell between Johnathan Campbell and Brian Bennett, both looking at each other. Hridoy deposited Masakadza for his second six in the 16th over before reaching his maiden T20I fifty in the 18th over. Jaker slammed Jongwe for a big six shortly afterwards.Hridoy’s scoop also connected in the penultimate over as Bangladesh approached 150. Litton attempted the same shot three times in a row, the third of which was his dismissal. It showed the gulf in confidence between Litton and Hridoy.

Muzarabani’s best keeps Zim in hunt

Muzarabani, however, caused a bit of an anti-climax when his yorker slammed into Hridoy’s leg-stump next ball. It was an excellent delivery that forced itself through Hridoy’s bat and pad as he looked to swing the ball towards the leg side.Jaker fell one ball after Hridoy got out, as another Muzarabani full delivery slammed into his stumps. Muzarabani’s three-for kept Zimbabwe within a decent score. It was also reward for a fast bowler who is accurate even when trying variations.Faraz Akram’s 19-ball 34* took Zimbabwe near but not over the line•AFP/Getty Images

A familiar top-order collapse

For the third game in a row, Zimbabwe lost their first four wickets for less than 50 runs. Joylord Gumbie mistimed one to third man in the third over before Tanzim Hasan Sakib had Bennett caught and bowled in the fifth over. Zimbabwe’s powerplay ended with Craig Ervine falling to Saifuddin for seven.Raza, who made five successive fifties since November 2023, also struggled to find form. He was caught behind by Rishad Hossain for 1 for his fifth consecutive low score.

Akram’s surprise from No. 10

Tadiwanashe Marumani fell for a 26-ball 31 before Clive Madande added 11. Campbell, who struck the ball cleanly in his debut in the last match, struck Tanvir Islam for two consecutive sixes before his attempt for the third in a row found Litton at the deep square-leg boundary.When Jongwe fell to Rishad in the 15th over, defeat for the visitors seemed imminent, but Akram struck Rishad for two sixes over midwicket later in the over, before he found two more fours off Saifuddin in the 17th over. Taskin then dropped a difficult chance from Masakadza in the 18th over, but he returned strongly to concede just six runs in the penultimate over.The 20th began with Saifuddin removing Masakadza first ball, but Muzarabani then slammed two consecutive fours. That brought the target down to 13 in three balls, but there was no more heroism left in the Zimbabwe tail. They fell nine short despite an admirable effort.

Kiran Carlson, Sam Northeast hand Glamorgan control

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Duo share 182-run stand with hosts five wickets down and 15 runs behind Leicestershire

ECB Reporters Network06-May-2022Glamorgan reached 305 for 5 at the end of the second day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Leicestershire, still 15 runs behind on first innings.The day started with Leicestershire still batting with two wickets in hand. A useful stand between Callum Parkinson and Chris Wright took them to 320 all out.The Glamorgan innings started with three early wickets but a fantastic partnership between Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast took them to the tea break in control of this match.Carlson made 91 and Northeast 84 but both were dismissed in the last session with this game very much in the balance as it heads into the third day.Having resumed on 285 for 8 Leicestershire successfully passed 300 for the first time this seasons thanks to a ninth-wicket partnership worth 43 runs between Parkinson and Wright. That partnership was broken when Wright edged behind off the bowling of Michael Hogan before a third run out of the innings brought the Leicestershire batting efforts to a close.Leicestershire got off to the perfect start with the ball when Wright had David Lloyd caught behind for just 6 but a stand of 52 between Marnus Labuschagne and Andrew Salter steadied things for Glamorgan.Labuschagne was given a chance early on when Harry Swindells put down a leg side catch off Wright but the wicketkeeper couldn’t hang on. The Australian did not make the most of his good fortune, he was out for 17 off the last ball before lunch, attempting to hook a short ball from Ben Mike.Salter also departed shortly after the resumption to leave Glamorgan at 63 for 3 to bring together Carlson and Northeast who batted beautifully through the afternoon session as they shared a partnership worth 182, comfortably the best of Glamorgan’s season thus far. Both batters raced along, scoring at nearly five an over. They were aided in their quick scoring by the Leicestershire bowlers sending down 15 no balls with all their seamers guilty of overstepping.Wright was comfortably the best bowler on show for Leicestershire and it was he who broke the stand when he trapped Carlson lbw nine runs short of a century. Northeast was also dismissed lbw with Ben Mike claiming the wicket. There is still no hundred for Northeast at his new county, he has now been dismissed for 81, 85 and 84 in his fledgling Glamorgan career.Debutant Andy Gorvin and Chris Cooke saw Glamorgan to the close with bad light ending proceedings two overs early. If these two can bat for a significant part of the morning session on day three Glamorgan are well placed to claim a significant first-innings lead.

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