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Australia vs India game will kick off the tournament on July 29, with the final scheduled for August 7

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2022Sri Lanka, after winning the ICC’s Commonwealth Games (CWG) qualifier in Kuala Lumpur last week, have completed the line-up of eight teams that will take part in the women’s T20 competition at the Birmingham edition of the games later this year. The other teams in the fray are Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa.A joint announcement by the ICC and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Tuesday confirmed that cricket had become the first discipline to make public the complete line-up for CWG, following the “CGF ratification of the island nation’s entry”.”It’s good to have finalised the identity of the teams participating in the Commonwealth Games, and congratulations to Sri Lanka for making it after playing so well in the qualifier,” Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s chief executive, said in a statement. “We will have eight of the best teams competing for the gold and I am sure we will get to watch a highly competitive tournament.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“The Commonwealth Games are an important part of the women’s cricket calendar over the next year. It is a huge opportunity for us to take cricket beyond the traditional strongholds and give more people around the world the chance to enjoy the game, whilst the players are very much looking forward to being part of a multi-sport games.”The competition will be played in a league-cum-knockout format, with Australia and India, who made the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020, which Australia won, kicking things off with the first game, on July 29. Australia and India are in Group A, along with Barbados and Pakistan, while Group B has the rest of the teams. The medal matches are scheduled for August 7.Chamari Athapaththu, who led Sri Lanka to the title at the qualifiers, said, “It’s a great feeling to have qualified for the Commonwealth Games and all of us are really excited to be part of the multi-sport extravaganza. I’m sure it’s going to be a different experience for all of us.”Cricket has featured only once in the CWG, back in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, when it was a 50-over event for men. South Africa won the gold then, with Australia winning silver and New Zealand bronze.

“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.”

He has also resumed bowling, although had to clear a fitness test for a tight hamstring before the second T20I against Afghanistan

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Feb-2024Angelo Mathews has had quite the ride over the last ten years. He was once the crown-prince of Sri Lanka’s white-ball teams, and then became the injury-riddled senior as the men’s team’s results plummeted, before eventually the previous set of selectors deployed him only in Tests – an experience that frustrated Mathews substantially.However, Monday’s knock in the second T20I against Afghanistan was Mathews’ best since his comeback to the T20I side over the past few weeks. He came in at No. 7 in the 15th over, and though he struggled early, making only four off his first nine balls, he soon began to find the boundary.Mathews cracked three consecutive sixes off Azmatullah Omarzai to start the 19th over, and struck four sixes and two fours in all, finishing with 42 not out off 22 balls. Sri Lanka have been desperate for that kind of finishing firepower in their white-ball sides over the last two years.Related

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“The plan was for Sadeera Samarawickrama to bat deep so that I could bat with freedom,” Mathews said of that innings, as he and Samarawickrama put on a fifth-wicket stand worth 66. “I struggled in the first ten to 15 balls. Every ball went to the fielder when I hit it initially. But I knew I could clear the boundary.”The way Sadeera was going I knew I could play my shots. I can improve further if I can get singles and twos in the first couple of deliveries.”Though fitness had become a sticking point between him and the selectors, and had infamously led to a public battle with the then-coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, Mathews has since made it a point to publicise his improvements on the fitness front. Now, picked again by a new group of selectors he gets on with, he has begun to produce serious results in T20Is.Sri Lanka will face tougher attacks than those of Zimbabwe and an Afghanistan team missing both Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. But Mathews’ first two T20I innings in almost three years yielded 46 off 38 balls, and 66 not out from 51 deliveries in the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe. He didn’t get to bat in the third game, and got only 6 in the first T20I against Afghanistan, before the quickest innings of the lot came about in the second T20I.In addition to hitting 160 runs at a strike rate of more than 136 since his comeback, Mathews has also claimed five wickets, though at an economy rate of 8.95. Although Mathews was not available to bowl for fitness reasons several years ago, he has, more recently, again made bowling an important part of what he offers the team. But this is not without its drawbacks – he’d had to clear a fitness test on account of a tight hamstring before playing the match on Monday.But him taking the new ball in particular is handy for this Sri Lanka team, who are exploring the option of saving most of Matheesha Pathirana’s overs for the death. Pathirana’s strengths so far have been at the back end of an innings; he has been much less effective with the new ball. Five of Pathirana’s six wickets this series have come between overs 16 and 20.”Since the Zimbabwe series, I was told to bowl to help the balance of the side,” Mathews said. “At any moment I am ready to bowl. Selectors spoke to me too, and we had a decent chat. I am willing to give my 100%. I am enjoying my cricket, and want to do my best for the team.”

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.

Earlier in the match, Haris Rauf went off the field with what was later confirmed to be a low-grade side strain

Danyal Rasool08-Feb-2025New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra is unlikely to feature in the ODI against South Africa on Monday, after sustaining a blow while fielding during Saturday’s tri-series ODI against Pakistan.Fielding at deep square leg in the 37th over, Ravindra steadied himself to take a catch as Khushdil Shah slog-swept Michael Bracewell towards the on side. But Ravindra seemed to lose the ball, struck flat and low, mid-flight, and took no evasive action as it struck him square on the forehead. He was seen staring at the ground, apparently in a daze, as blood streamed down his face while medical staff rushed onto the field.New Zealand Cricket [NZC] has since released a statement saying that Ravindra is “otherwise well” and will continue to be monitored.Related

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“Rachin Ravindra sustained a laceration to the forehead after being struck by the ball in yesterday’s ODI tri-series win over Pakistan in Lahore,” the release said. “Ravindra passed the initial head injury assessment and the laceration, which required stitches, was addressed and treated at the ground. He is otherwise well and will continue to be monitored under HIA (Head Injury Assessment) protocols. He is unlikely to feature in tomorrow’s match against South Africa.”A stunned silence took hold of the ground after Ravindra went down. A stretcher was brought on as well, though it was ultimately not required. The Pakistan team doctor, nearest to the incident, also rushed on to provide first-aid assistance. After lying down on the ground while receiving a few minutes of treatment, Ravindra got up with the assistance of medical staff, and walked off the field, holding a towel to his head, to warm applause from what had just recently been a packed Gaddafi Stadium.New Zealand, riding on Glenn Phillips’ maiden ODI ton, won the opening game of the tri-series comfortably by 78 runs. Ravindra had earlier opened the batting and scored a brisk 25 off 19 balls to get his side up and running and sent down three overs.Haris Rauf walked off the field with a side strain•Associated Press

Earlier in the match, Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf went off the field two balls into his seventh over, and the PCB later revealed he had complained of “sharp pain in the left side of the chest and abdomen muscles”, which was later confirmed to be a “low-grade side strain”. Rauf, it was confimed, would not come out to bat during Pakistan’s chase.These developments come just 11 days before the start of the Champions Trophy, which begins when these two sides meet in Karachi on February 19. New Zealand’s next game is on Monday, when they take on South Africa in the second match of this tri-series, while Pakistan are scheduled to meet South Africa on Wednesday.As the Champions Trophy looms, New Zealand could also be without the fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who suffered a hamstring injury while playing in the ILT20 in the UAE. As yet, the team is awaiting reports of a scan on Ferguson’s injury.GMT 0925 The news report was updated following NZC’s statement on Ravindra’s injury.

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.

Opening batter is part of a squad due to play three matches against Afghanistan starting June 2

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-May-2023Opening batter Dimuth Karunaratne has been recalled to Sri Lanka’s ODI squad, more than two years after he last played a 50-over game in international cricket. Also returning is fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera, who had missed the New Zealand tour in March 2023 after undergoing ankle surgery.Legspinning allrounder Dushan Hemantha is the only uncapped player in the 16-man squad to face Afghanistan in three ODIs, starting on Friday. There was no room for left-arm spinning allrounder Dunith Wellalage however, while wicketkeeper Kusal Perera is out with a hamstring injury.Karunaratne’s presence is an indication that the selectors are once again set to fall back on his experience in a World Cup year, after he’d led Sri Lanka in the 2019 edition. They had also recalled Angelo Mathews earlier in the year, and have consistently had Dhananjaya de Silva in the middle order as well. Karunaratne may be poised to open alongside Pathum Nissanka. Nuwanidu Fernando, who had opened the batting in New Zealand, was not picked for this series.Related

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Hemantha, 29, is something of a surprise selection. He had not been especially impressive with the bat in this year’s National Super League – Sri Lanka’s most competitive List A tournament. But he had been good with the ball, taking 13 wickets at an average of 23.61 across eight matches. It is possible he is there as cover for Wanindu Hasaranga, who is “currently undergoing rehabilitation for a foot injury” according the Sri Lanka Criket release. The only other frontline spinner in the squad is Maheesh Theekshana.The seam attack appears especially strong after the return of Chameera, with Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, and Matheesha Pathirana in the squad. Pathirana is fresh from a strong showing as an impact player in the IPL, but has never played an ODI. Allrounder Chamika Karunaratne is another seam-bowling option.The batting line-up is fairly predictable. Kusal Mendis likely to take the gloves and bat at No. 3, with the likes of Charith Asalanka, Mathews, and de Silva to make up the middle order. Sadeera Samarawickrama, who recently made a maiden Test hundred against Ireland, has been picked for these matches as well, though he’s not played an ODI since 2019.Each of the three matches will be played at Hambantota. For Afghanistan, it will be part of their lead-up to the World Cup, having already qualified for the marquee event. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are yet to seal their place. They must play the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe next month; these matches will serve as preparation.Sri Lanka ODI squad: Dasun Shanaka (capt.), Kusal Mendis (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushan Hemantha, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana

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.”

He was expected to be in high demand following a successful debut season with Delhi Capitals and his current England form

Cameron Ponsonby20-Dec-2023Phil Salt has described his IPL omission as “confusing” after he went unsold at the 2024 mini auction.Salt was expected to be in high demand following a successful debut season with Delhi Capitals where he averaged 27.25 with a strike-rate of 163.91. But despite a base price of 1.5 crore, the England opener went unsold.”It was a confusing morning,” Salt said in the moments after he’d scored a second consecutive T20I hundred for England against the West Indies. “I expected to be picked up, having gone there last year and done well and after the year that I’ve had, but these things happen. It’s part of the lottery of an auction, it happens in draft processes as well. There’s a few lads in our dressing room who are going to have a very good Christmas and I’m over the moon for them.Related

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“I was a bit confused but it can happen. There’s no bad cricketers on the list at the IPL. It’s one of those things.”England opener had purposely slept in late in order to miss as much of the auction as possible, with his agent giving him texts to update on how things were going. The timing of Salt’s snub is particularly incongruous given his international form which has seen him score back-to-back centuries for England who have won two on the bounce to tie their five-match series against the West Indies at two apiece. Until four days ago, Salt hadn’t scored a professional T20 hundred, now he has made two.”It was probably a little bit of it, subconsciously,” Salt said of whether his IPL snub had motivated his innings of 119 today. “I’m very aware of how lucky I am to be here playing cricket.”I’m playing good cricket, I’m doing what I came out here to do. More importantly than that, the boys have really pulled together and shown what a good team we are. The West Indies are a very good side that we’re playing against so to win back-to-back games and force the decider in a couple of days’ time, I’m chuffed.”Salt’s innings of 119 off off 57 balls in Trinidad was the highest-ever score in T20I by an English player and backed up his effort of 109 not out off 56 on Saturday.Salt had spoken previously of his disappointment at failing to turn starts in an England shirt into big scores, a trait that he has brought to an emphatic close in the last 72 hours.Alongside captain Jos Buttler, the pair has combined for back-to-back hundred run partnerships, with their effort in Trinidad the fastest century stand in England’s history, coming off just 52 balls.”When we’re in the middle, it’s more getting me back in my box,” Salt said of Buttler’s advice whilst the pair were batting together. “It’s either ‘you’re doing really well’ or ‘drop it down a gear’. We’ve had some good conversations away from the game, we’ve enjoyed spending time around each other as a group so we’re going nicely.”England went on to score 267 for 3, their highest ever T20 score and the second highest by a Full Member nation. Salt himself reached his century off 48 balls, muscling 10 sixes along the way.”I’ve worked specifically on hitting sixes over the off-side. I’ve always been good at hitting the sight screen and going over the leg-side. When Jason Holder took the pace off wide and I hit it over the offside, something Jos said to me was ‘teams can’t bowl to you’. That’s an area I’ve been working on for a good while so it’s good to see it’s working.”

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.”