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The rain-hit affair was the last league match of GSL 2025 with Riders already in the final and Stags knocked out

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-2025Match abandoned The last league match of the Global Super League (GSL) 2025 was replete with rain interruptions, and eventually inclement weather had the final say.A downpour in Guyana in the morning delayed toss by 45 minutes. Nurul Hasan called right and Rangpur Riders opted to bat – despite the weather around – but had to wait more because rain returned. The game began 90 minutes later than scheduled time as a 17-over contest.Central Stags opened their bowling with spinners from both ends and pegged back Riders twice inside the powerplay: Soumya Sarkar holing out off offspinner Angus Schaw second ball and Ibrahim Zadran falling to left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox. The heavens opened up again and this latest stoppage meant the game was further reduced to 14-overs-a-side affair.Upon resumption, fast bowler Blair Tickner broke the back of the Riders middle order. He accounted for Mahidul Islam Ankon, Iftikhar Ahmed and Nurul Hasan to leave Riders reeling at 66 for 6. Schaw and Lennox returned to mop up the tail as the Bangladesh Premier League side folded for a mere 79. Which was when another spell of heavy rain forced abandonment.Riders are already in the final with Stags finishing third in the season.

“That’s an approach that can work if the conditions are really docile like it was in Pakistan”

Firdose Moonda08-Dec-2022Batting in Test cricket is not all fun and games, even if England are making it look that way. That’s the word from returning South Africa batter Rassie van der Dussen, who favours a balance of powers in the red-ball game rather than the run-dominant approach England have taken since Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes took over in May.In the Bazball era, England have scored runs quicker than anyone else, at 4.77 to the over, and won seven of the eight Tests they have played. Their most recent triumph over Pakistan in Rawalpindi was built on the back of four first-innings centuries, a brave second-innings declaration and speedy scoring – at 6.50 and 7.36 runs in the two innings – and is being spoken as a victory that could change the way Test cricket is played. But van der Dussen is not that convinced.”If there’s ever a place to play like that it’s probably Pakistan,” he said, quickly remembering that South Africa did not bat like that when they toured there in early 2021. “And then you are going to follow up with a question of why didn’t we play like that when we were there. But if you look at the English side, they have been very vocal in terms of they are going to back their guys, even through a few failures. They are out of the World Test Championship (WTC) for this run so it’s almost a nothing-to-lose type of game that they can play.”Related

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South Africa, on the other hand, are second on the WTC points table and need to win at least one Test on the Australia tour to stay in the final race. While they plan on approaching the series in a similar way to how they have always played – steady with the bat and sensational with the ball – van der Dussen also hopes conditions will support a “good balance between bat and ball,” something South Africa have not had in the WTC cycle so far.They have played on slow surfaces in the West Indies, and seamer-friendly pitches at home, in New Zealand and in England, where they suffered their only series loss. The 2-1 defeat is where van der Dussen believes his point was best proved: England’s ultra-aggressive approach only works if the quick bowlers can’t get into the game.”To an extent, they [the England batters] tried it against us and it didn’t really work, even though we lost the series at the end,” he said. “That’s an approach that can work if the conditions are really docile like it was in Pakistan. As soon as the bowlers are a bit more into it, like we saw at Lord’s, it’s a very fine line between going out and playing aggressively and then getting out, as opposed to being more disciplined.”All that said, van der Dussen conceded that South Africa have not been the model line-up either. With only two centuries in their current WTC campaign and six from their last 19 games, they are lagging behind the other WTC contenders and know that more is expected of them.”We are not looking for excuses. We want to get more hundreds and more partnerships and score a lot more runs individually,” he said. “But if we can bat as a unit, and get our team across the line, that’s the main thing.”Scraping together small individual scores got South Africa a victory at Lord’s but it quickly proved not enough. They were bowled out for under 200 in each of their next four innings in England, where all three Tests in England ended in three days. That spoke as much to the quality of and assistance for the bowlers, as to the weakness in both batting line-ups. There were only two centuries in the series and in the final Test at The Oval, wickets fell every 4.2 overs – more frequently than ever before in a Test match. In the complete opposite to what took place in Pakistan earlier this week, bat dominated ball which is also not exactly what van der Dussen is advocating for. He punts for Test cricket that is “supposed to be a fair battle between bat and ball.”But what about the entertainment value?McCullum and Stokes have taken the approach that more proactive batting will put bums on seats and eyeballs on screens. Asked if he thinks that is the case, van der Dussen stuck to his stoicism.”I prefer the cat and mouse,” he said. “We played against the England Lions in Kent and they played the same way. It was a very flat and tame wicket that they prepared and the guys came out swinging. At the end of the day, you say well played but this is not the Test wickets we are used to. A week later we were at Lord’s and it was going around and the bowlers were much more in the game. That’s where the real quality batters will come to the fore – the guys who are disciplined in that fourth-stump channel, who can judge the length, who can play the short ball – short ball that can actually come up to head height and not just shoulder height. There needs to be some sort of risk element involved in batting.”And he hopes fans will agree. “People like seeing that – a lot of shots and a lot of runs – but the purist and the real Test fan likes it when the balance is even between bat and ball and the bowlers are in the game as much as the batters.”

Rain curtails play with visitors on course for parity in match where draw should suffice

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2024Ryan Patel led a solid Surrey batting effort to defy nearest challengers Somerset on the second day of the top-of-the-table Vitality County Championship First Division clash at Taunton.The 26-year-old all-rounder was unbeaten on 61 in a first innings total of 169 for three when rain ended play for the day at 3pm, with a minimum of 26 overs remaining. Ben Geddes made 50, while all three wickets fell to 18-year-old off-spinner Archie Vaughan.Surrey trailed by 148, but with seven wickets in hand will be confident of at least getting close to Somerset’s first innings total of 317, knowing that a draw will be sufficient to make them red-hot title favourites with only two more games to play.The visitors went into the match 24 points clear of their second placed opponents and, with both sides having so far taken three bonus points, the advantage remains the same.The skies were heavily overcast as Surrey began their first innings at the start of the day. Somerset debutant Brett Randell opened up with a maiden from the River End and both the Kiwi seamer and Craig Overton beat the bat in their early overs.Rory Burns and Dom Sibley survived to be confronted by spin from the eighth over when Jack Leach was introduced into the attack, soon to be followed by Vaughan, operating from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End.Both were soon providing a tough examination for the Surrey openers, extracting turn from the second-day pitch. But Burns and Sibley proved up to the challenge and had put together a stand of 41 in 16.2 overs when they were parted.Sibley, on 16, went to slog-sweep a delivery from Vaughan and failed to clear mid-wicket where Tom Abell took a smart two-handed catch above his head.Burns appeared to survive a chance to wicketkeeper James Rew off Vaughan when on 21. But it mattered little as the left-hander departed without addition, lbw trying to sweep a delivery from the same bowler, which straightened from around the wicket.At 48 for two, Surrey were in a spot of bother. But the skies were clearing and Patel and Geddes rotated the strike intelligently while taking advantage of rare loose deliveries, particularly from Leach.By lunch, they had taken the total to 91 for two from 37 overs, with Geddes unbeaten on 27 and Patel 19 not out. Vaughan had figures of two for 17 from 12 overs, having been a model of accuracy in only his second first class game and gone past the outside edge on several occasions.A curtailed afternoon session saw Geddes bring up the half-century stand with a boundary off Vaughan, who bowled 19 overs unchanged either side of lunch before switching ends and sending down seven more.Geddes, making his first Championship appearance for Surrey since 2022, went to an impressive 93-ball fifty, with six fours, but fell soon afterwards with the total on 128, miscuing a sweep off Vaughan and lofting a simple catch to Lewis Goldsworthy at short fine leg.By then Patel was looking well set. He brought up his half-century having batted patiently for 130 balls and looked increasingly comfortable against the spinners. Ben Foakes was equally watchful as they strengthened Surrey’s position under darkening skies.With the score 168 for three, the umpires ordered the floodlights to be turned on. But soon afterwards, with Goldsworthy preparing to bowl his first over of the match, the rain, which had been forecast, started falling and the players made for the pavilion.It got heavier and persistent, leading to play being abandoned at just after 4.30pm.

The No. 3 is now the batter under scrutiny heading into the World Test Championship final and tour of West Indies

AAP10-Feb-2025Selectors will wait to make a call on Marnus Labuschagne’s Test future as Australia brace for a batting squeeze in the World Test Championship final and beyond.It comes as in-form Steven Smith urged selectors to keep the faith in Labuschagne, saying it was not long ago he was in a similar predicament to the faltering No. 3.Related

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Labuschagne’s lukewarm form continued in Australia’s 2-0 series defeat of Sri Lanka with scores of 20 and 4 in his first two knocks. He looked to be finding his feet as he made an unbeaten 26 in a 37-run stand with Usman Khawaja that sealed victory in the second Test in Galle on Sunday.But despite that effort and handy half-centuries in Melbourne during the recent India series, Labuschagne has only made one century in his past 51 Test innings. Since the beginning of 2023, Labuschagne has averaged 31.54, well down on the 62.29 he managed across the four calendar years before then.The timing looks unfortunate with a glut of batting options available for the WTC Final against South Africa at Lord’s in June.Cameron Green is set to return to the selection frame as a middle-order option following back surgery, while Josh Inglis impressed with a century on debut in Sri Lanka.Sam Konstas is pushing for a recall after being ousted from the top to facilitate Travis Head’s shift from No.5 and Nathan McSweeney is vying for a first Test in his preferred middle-order spot.”It’s clear that we’ve got some players that have put their hand up, so there is a squeeze,” said coach Andrew McDonald. “Whoever misses out will be very unlucky.”Australia could change their XI around between the WTC Final and the three-match West Indies series that begins later in June. McDonald said it was “highly likely” the squads would be different for the two, but Australia will defer selection calls, including on Labuschagne, until closer to June.”England creates a different challenge and then off to West Indies, which can spin, it can also swing and seam,” McDonald said. “The beauty of it is we’ve got some time before we have to make some decisions.”It’s great to have options. Will they all be fit at that time? Who fits what conditions and when? I think that’s going to be the art of what transpires across the journey.”Smith remains confident Labuschagne is approaching a big score, sceptical about claims his close mate is even out of form. The stand-in captain went as far as to say he had recently been in a similar situation to Labuschagne, feeling at his best despite scores of 0, 17 and 2 to begin the home summer.Smith has since scored centuries in four of five Test matches since those lean figures against India and was player of the series against Sri Lanka.”Marn’s similar to me, in a way,” Smith said. “I’ve said this a lot of times about myself, there’s a difference between being out of form and out of runs. I don’t think he’s out of form, personally. I’ve watched him train, I’ve watched him play and a lot of the things that he’s done so well are there.”He knows he’d love to score more runs, we’d love him to score more runs, but in my opinion, it’s just around the corner.”

Matthew Breetzke 94 in vain as home side get home in shortened chase

ECB Reporters Network14-Jun-2024Derbyshire 123 for 3 (Donald 68) beat Northamptonshire 193 for 8 (Breetzke 94, Dupavillon 3-43) by 24 runs (DLS method) A brilliant innings from Aneurin Donald gave Derbyshire Falcons a 24 run win over Northants Steelbacks under Duckworth Lewis Stern in the North Group match at Derby.Donald smashed eight sixes in a 26-ball 68, equalling his own record for Derbyshire’s fastest T20 fifty, to put Falcons ahead of the run rate on 123 for 3 after 11 overs when a violent thunderstorm ended the game.Matthew Breetzke batted superbly to score a T20 best 94 from 54 balls, sharing a stand of 81 with Sikandar Raza, as Steelbacks reached 193 for 8.Rain left Falcons with a revised target of 187 from 19 overs but Donald’s demolition shredded the bowling before David Lloyd (33), and Cam Fletcher kept the home side ahead of the game before the heavens opened.Steelbacks scored only six from the first two overs which included a maiden from Daryn Dupavillon before Breetzke took three fours from Pat Brown.Ricardo Vasconcelos was dropped at cover by Samit Patel off Brown but it did not prove costly as the opener was comprehensively yorked in the fourth over by DuPavillion.Breetzke was finding his range and pulled Zak Chappell into the car park before David Willey dished out the same treatment to Dupavillon. But Dupavillon had the last word by getting Willey to miscue a drive low to mid-off as Steelbacks ended the powerplay on 55 for 2.After a brief stoppage for a sharp shower, Breetzke and Ravi Bopara worked the ball around without taking risks and had put on 48 from 36 balls when Falcons made a big breakthrough.Bopara tried to launch Mitch Wagstaff over the midwicket boundary only for Ross Whiteley to take a well judged catch just inside the ropes.But Breetzke and Raza trod on the accelerator to plunder 79 in five overs as the ball disappeared to all parts. After Breetzke reached 50 from 36 balls, he pulled Brown for six and dispatched Ross Whiteley for another maximum before Raza launched Chappell over the ropes.Breetzke passed his previous highest T20 score of 80 by taking three consecutive fours off Dupavillon before a yorker ended a thrilling innings.Brown and Chappell dragged it back by conceding only 11 from the last two overs in which Steelbacks lost four wickets trying to push towards 200.Falcons needed a fast start and Donald delivered, driving Willey straight for six and pulling and driving Ben Sanderson for two more as they raced to 50 in the fifth over.Donald pulled Raphy Weatherall into the home dugout and smashed a Saif Zaib full toss for six before he launched a no-ball over deep midwicket to reach 50 from 19 balls.He hammered two more off Freddie Heldreich before holing out to long-off in the seventh over but he had done exactly what the situation demanded.Bopara had Wayne Madsen caught behind and Patel was caught at deep square but the Falcons had done enough by the time torrential rain ended the contest.

The legspinner has battled injuries and illness to thump life into Australia’s World Cup campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-20231:11

Pujara: Zampa’s flatter trajectory made the difference

Adam Zampa has had to deal with back, neck, shoulder, and glute complaints – and even illness – in this World Cup, but he has overcome them to revive Australia’s campaign. After taking 4 for 47 against Sri Lanka in Lucknow, the legspinner bagged another four-wicket haul against Pakistan in Bengaluru on Friday, to help Australia secure their second successive victory. This, after they had started the tournament with back-to-back losses.Australia captain Pat Cummins was pleased with Zampa’s latest effort, which helped his side defend 367 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which often spooks bowlers with its small dimensions and easy-paced pitch. Zampa claimed the key wickets of both captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the highest run-getter in the tournament so far, to kill off the chase.”Yeah, Lazarus [Adam Zampa] has been awesome,” Cummins told at the post-match presentation. “He’s been in the bed for the last week or two. He was fantastic, and he just showed his class. He’s a real wicket-taker in the middle. Babar Azam and Iftikhar [Ahmed] at the end when he was going – two big wickets.”Related

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Marcus Stoinis, Zampa’s close friend and team-mate, felt that this was Zampa’s best spell in this World Cup. “I’m very happy for Lazarus (laughs). He’s had a flu, he’s had a sore back, he’s had a bad neck and he’s had a bad glute,” Stoinis said. “But he’s been bowling really well. This game was the best he has bowled, I reckon. So, he will rest up today and come strong tomorrow.”Zampa – and Australia – will have a four-day break before they face Netherlands in Delhi.Cummins also credited David Warner and Mitchell Marsh for setting up Australia’s victory on Friday with a 259-run opening stand. Both batters scored century and at one point Warner even threatened to convert it into a double-hundred. Pakistan’s bowlers then clawed their way back in the slog overs, but the openers had already inflicted severe damage on their attack by then.”Yeah, that was a great win,” Cummins said. “Pretty tough playing here at Chinnaswamy, but good to get a win. Yeah, that was proper from those two [David Warner and Mitchell Marsh]. That kind of set the tone for how we want to play our cricket: take the game on. Eighty-odd in the powerplay was fantastic and I can’t ask for any more. That [batting through] in ODI cricket is key and it can look easy at times and hard to get the breakthrough. You just need one breakthrough and the next guy suddenly looks a bit different. So, it was great.”Just five days ago, Australia were rooted to the bottom of the points table. They’ve now climbed up into the top four and are looking like serious contenders for the title once again.

Hosts pile on 503 but Durham responded positively after 146.4 overs in the field

ECB Reporters Network11-May-2024Tom Prest flaunted his significant talent with his second Vitality County Championship hundred as Hampshire and Durham’s Division One clash turned into a run-fest.The 21-year-old expertly scored 102, to dovetail with Ali Orr’s day one century and Ben Brown’s 75th first-class fifty, to help Hampshire to 503.Alex Lees led Durham’s response on a Utilita Bowl pitch which has displayed heavy spin in patches but has mostly been fun in the sun to bat on.The opener scored 71 before departing in the penultimate over of the day, having teamed up with David Bedingham to put on a match-high 97 for the third wicket. Durham ended the day on 146 for 3, 357 in arrears.Prest furthered his reputation of being Hampshire’s most exciting homegrown batter since James Vince while showing his complete range.He had enthusiastically reached his half-century on the first evening but was forced to bedded in with Ben Brown, as the visitors bowled accurately during the morning. The pair eventually added 72 together.Prest’s overnight partner Liam Dawson was leg before in the third over of the day – having survived a caught behind appeal from Ben Raine the delivery before.The former England under 19 captain cemented his place in the Hampshire side after a century against Essex in the penultimate match of last season, before an 85 against Lancashire last month proved the ton was no fluke.He never looked in any discomfort, not offering up a single chance as he strode his side to three batting points and a 161-ball century.Prest guided to first slip two balls after reaching three figures to give Brydon Carse his first wicket of the season – having gone nought for 285 up until that point in 2024.Brown, who passed fifty in 95 balls, and Felix Organ maintained Hampshire’s progress – with a clear intention to only have to bat once, especially with rain forecast on Monday.They put on 60 before a flurry of wickets ended the innings. Brown lost control of the bat and splattered one-handed to midwicket, Organ was run out by James Fuller’s lazy running, Kyle Abbott was bowled by a Callum Parkinson ripper before Fuller – after some exciting shot-making – lost his off stump.Parkinson ended with an expensive four-for, with debutant Peter Siddle pilfering three. Hampshire reached 500 at home for the first time since 2019.Vince called for his spinners as soon as the eighth and ninth overs and was quickly rewarded with turn for Dawson and Organ – the former seeing two loud lbw appeals turned down in his first over.Organ was the first to strike when Scott Borthwick brought tea by misreading a full straight delivery to be bowled, and end a pacy 45-run stand with Lees. And then Colin Ackermann was plumb in front to Dawson.Lees batted himself out of danger of becoming a victim of the spin and variable bounce with a series of aggressive boundary shots.But the spell of peril eased and Lees slipped back down the gears to reach 50 for the second time this year in exactly 100 balls, with Bedingham keeping him company.He was adjudged leg-before to Dawson with the seventh from last ball of the day, with Hampshire the only side who could realistically win this game.

Todd Murphy’s chances of playing at Old Trafford remain unclear as crunch time nears in thrilling series

Andrew McGlashan18-Jul-2023David Warner will retain his place at the top of the order at Old Trafford and Josh Hazlewood will replace Scott Boland, with Australia’s final decision set to be between Cameron Green and Todd Murphy as Australia look for the victory that will secure the Ashes and avoid the series from going to a decider.Warner’s position has come under scrutiny after his double failure against Stuart Broad at Headingley – making it 17 times he has fallen to Broad – with Australia needing to work out if there is a way of getting Green back into the XI.Since 2021, Warner has averaged 28.17 in 23 Tests, and that includes his double hundred against South Africa during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG last year. In a clear sign that he remained in Australia’s plans, he was part of the slip cordon during practice on Monday and Pat Cummins, although saying the selectors had not yet met, endorsed Warner’s contributions in the series where he has put on opening stands of 61, 73 and 63 with Usman Khawaja.Related

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“I think [Warner] has been going really well,” Cummins said. “I thought at Lord’s, he was really impressive. Last week, like many of us, he probably didn’t contribute as much as he would have liked with the bat.”He’s been out there over the last couple of days putting in a lot of work, but I think this tour he has shown a lot of good signs and hasn’t quite kicked on to make that big score. Some of those innings he’s played under really tough circumstances has made it easy for [Steven] Smith to come in and score runs, or the like.”With Warner retained, and Mitchell Marsh seemingly undroppable after his Headingley hundred, the only other way for Green to return would appear to be in place of Todd Murphy leaving Australia with an all-pace attack supplemented by Travis Head, who did have an extensive bowl in the nets on Monday. Murphy was lightly used at Headingley and Cummins appeared to hedge his bets slightly on what the decision could be.David Warner’s runs earlier in the series are likely to secure his spot•Getty Images

One byproduct of the aggressive way England play is that their innings last fewer overs (they have batted more than 80 just once so far in the series, and that was by nine balls in the second innings at Lord’s) so there is less opportunity for a spinner to make an impact, particularly if conditions favour the quicks, although there’s no doubt that if Nathan Lyon was fit, he would be locked in the side.”Every situation is different,” Cummins said. “We’ve played games with one quick; we’ve played some games with heaps of quicks. It’s all really conditions based. As I said last week about Toddy, I would have loved to bowl him a bit more but there wasn’t a heap of overs in the game, the ball seemed to swing and seam a little bit, so that’s certainly something to weigh up this week.””Nathan Lyon is the greatest offspinner we’ve ever had so it’s not quite apples for apples,” Cummins added. “We are really excited by Todd, think he’s fantastic. We played a Test in Hobart last year in the Ashes where Nath didn’t bowl an over. It’s all conditions based, we are really excited by Todd, with think it’s a gun, we love having him around, he’s got a big future. It was more conditions or the way I used him, as opposed to how he bowled.”Selection issues aside, Australia are entering a two-week period that will define how this tour – and this team – are remembered. If they can win at Old Trafford, the job will be complete before The Oval with a first series win in England since 2001. Fail from 2-0 up and the missed opportunity of 2019 will pale by comparison.So much of Australia’s planning for this tour has been based around them still being able to peak towards the end of the trip if needed, which is how things are playing out after they slipped up at Headingley.The squad only came back together in Manchester on Sunday as most players took the best part of a week off. Some have questioned if that has been the best use of time with the series on a knife-edge, but Cummins has experience of the 2019 tour, which did include a couple of tour matches, and while the team was able to win at Old Trafford, they ran out of steam at The Oval although for some the trip had also involved the ODI World Cup beforehand.”I didn’t play a tour match so I was able to grab those windows, but for a lot of the guys after the Test finished they were off to play a tour match somewhere,” he said. “You’ll hear us talking about trying to give players breaks as much as we can because on a 60-day tour playing 30 days of cricket, it’s already pretty busy.”That’s part of the thinking how we set up this tour around our prep, and even for a few of us missing IPLs or having shortened IPLs so that when we get to this stage we feel in as good a position as we can.”When you look back to a few of the recent tours we’ve had in Pakistan or India, we played some of our best cricket at the end of the tour. Hopefully this one’s the same, even getting more and more used to the conditions. And fortunately, other than Nath [Lyon], we haven’t any injury troubles so it feels like it’s set up quite nicely.”

South Africa’s Test coach says both he and the players have accepted the importance of the T20 franchise league to the game’s financial sustainability in the country

Firdose Moonda04-Jan-2024South Africa’s national team will have to “find a way to co-exist” with the SA20 and not fight against its primacy in the calendar, according to Test coach Shukri Conrad.His concession comes after South Africa announced a makeshift squad including an uncapped captain to play two Tests in New Zealand next month, sparking criticism, particularly from Australia, that they were disrespecting the oldest format. But Conrad called for a more nuanced understanding and indicated both he and the players have accepted the necessity of the SA20 to secure the game’s financial sustainability in South Africa.Asked to respond to Steve Waugh’s Instagram post on the South African squad, which questioned if it was a defining moment for Test cricket, Conrad did not hold back. “I don’t think Steve Waugh is going to really care what I say but I love how everybody outside South Africa have become experts on South African cricket,” he said. “Our hand has been forced. Everybody understands the SA20 has to happen. SA20 has to happen because it is the lifeblood of South African cricket. If it doesn’t happen, we are not going to have Test cricket anyway. We’ve got to find a way to coexist with the league, we’ve got to co-exist with leagues around the world to ensure the sustainability of the game.”