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Chief executive John Stephenson believes Chelmsford redevelopment can earn hosting rights for 2030 Men’s T20 World Cup

Andrew Miller18-Apr-2024John Stephenson, Essex’s chief executive, says that the club now has a chance to “future-proof” itself through a significant redevelopment of its home ground at Chelmsford, and could even target the hosting of a Men’s World Cup fixture in 2030, following the ECB’s decision to name the county as one of eight Tier 1 clubs in the new professional structure for women’s cricket.Essex’s bid, which was made in conjunction with the University of Essex, drew support from the cricket boards of Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, so enabling the club to be preferred to other local bids in the South East of England – most notably Middlesex, but also Kent and Northamptonshire – and join Surrey in securing Tier 1 status in the London region.”For Essex to be chosen as one of the eight is huge for us, just in terms of perception,” Stephenson told ESPNcricinfo. “The partnership with the University will enable the team to make use of their expertise in sports science, and also use their facilities to train, and that takes a little bit of pressure off us financially.”It just amplifies the region really, because you go from East London all the way to Norfolk, it is huge. East London’s a massive catchment area for us, as is East Anglia. It will make sure that we have a really strong player pathway, with a big pool of players to choose from. It also allows us to focus on making Essex the No.1 region in England for women and girls cricket, and for sports in general.”Aside from Somerset, whose home ground at Taunton has had long-standing connections with women’s cricket, Essex are the only non-major match venue of the eight Tier 1 clubs, with Chelmsford’s current capacity of approximately 5,000 being comfortably the smallest.Stephenson, however, believes that the ground’s intimate nature will be a virtue in the short term as the club seeks to grow alongside the women’s game, but in the longer term, he expects the announcement to kickstart their redevelopment plans. Consultation has already begun with local residents and Chelmsford City Council, with the aim of doubling the capacity to 10,000 by the time of the men’s T20 World Cup in 2030.”I did think that most of [the bids] would go to the international venues, but to be picked out on the strength of our bid, it really shows the strength of the club,” Stephenson said.”It will link into our development plans because what’s held the club back has been the lack of investment in the ground,” he added. “There’ve been a lot of stop-starts, but we’re confident in our masterplan, and the commercial possibilities relating to the women’s game are huge. It is an ideal ground for women’s cricket, but we do need to develop the ground for future-proofing, and also to diversify our income stream.”This will allow us to build up-to-date facilities for players and officials, while making it a hub of the region. Our partners and sponsors have already expressed an interest in getting involved, so it’s really a good opportunity.”Chelmsford’s infrastructure has remained largely unaltered since the club first moved into the ground in the 1960s, and given that it is boxed in on three sides by the River Can, a major road and a housing estate, the opportunities for expansion are limited to the southern corner around the pavilion and indoor school.Nevertheless, the club’s ambition was piqued last season by its successful hosting of an Ireland-Bangladesh ODI series, which drew enthusiastic support particularly from East London’s Bangladeshi community. With their Tier 1 Women’s status locked in until 2028, and with the Women’s World Cup due to be held in England in 2026, Stephenson is confident that the ground can be ready to host more major matches in the near future.”If we can get a spade in the ground next year, by 2030 the women’s game will have grown exponentially, and hopefully we’ll be ready to host a World Cup match for the men in 2030. But our immediate focus obviously is the Tier 1 women’s team. We just want to make sure that we build the facilities that ensures we can give them the best possible experience.”In recent seasons, Essex’s reputation had been clouded by allegations of historic racist abuse, which were upheld in December in a report by Katherine Newton KC, after the club had been fined £50,000 by the ECB in 2023. But whereas Yorkshire’s bid for Tier 1 women’s status has been deferred until 2027, in part as a consequence of their own high-profile racism scandal, Stephenson said he felt the success of Essex’s bid was a vindication of the action the club had taken to confront the mistakes of the past.”It is pleasing that the ECB recognise that we have dealt with the situation that we were confronted with,” he said. “I think they feel satisfied at the actions we’ve taken, and now we can focus absolutely on the future. Now the club is moving in a great direction, and that is particularly satisfying.”

Left-arm quick will be available for first eight matches of Blast group stage

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2024Surrey have signed Australia fast bowler Spencer Johnson for their first eight matches of the Vitality Blast.The left-armer, who did not make the cut for Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, is no stranger to south London after turning out for Oval Invincibles last summer. He took five wickets for Invincibles in their successful 2023 campaign, including a remarkable 3 for 1 off 20 deliveries against Manchester Originals. He is currently playing in the Indian Premier League for Gujarat Titans.Johnson’s acquisition comes as Surrey look to bolster their Blast squad, which will be missing four players to the T20 World Cup, with Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan and Reece Topley selected by England. They were also dealt a blow in March when Australian allrounder Aaron Hardie was withdrawn from a three-month stint with a view to managing his workload. Johnson will join Sean Abbott as the overseas options, with a maximum of three allowed in a squad and two in the XI.Related

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• It's been some week for Spencer Johnson

“I’m very excited to join Surrey and I have some fantastic memories from playing at the Kia Oval last year,” Johnson said. “Surrey have a great squad and I can’t wait to contribute with the ball in front of the packed out crowds in south London.”Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of men’s cricket, said: “Spencer is a highly talented cricketer who has shown his skills in white-ball cricket at the highest levels. He will add strength to our bowling unit in the first part of the group stages when we have four players away at the World Cup with England.”Despite missing out on international selection for next month’s World Cup in the Caribbean and USA, Johnson remains one of the most coveted players on the T20 circuit. Titans handed him a deal worth AU$1.78million (USD1.175million) for this year’s IPL, despite setting himself a base price of AU$90,000 (USD60,000).Following the T20 Blast, he will turn out for LA Knight Riders in Major League Cricket, before returning to The Oval for his Hundred stint with Invincibles. He could also add to his six international caps at the end of the English summer when Australia tour for three T20Is and five ODIs. Johnson is not centrally contracted to Cricket Australia, meaning the board has no say over his domestic commitments.

Thanks to this result, Sri Lanka are out of contention to qualify from Group D

Ashish Pant13-Jun-20241:52

Rapid Fire Review: Rishad changed the course of the game

Bangladesh made a big stride towards securing a Super Eights berth at the T20 World Cup 2024 with a confident 25-run win over Netherlands in the first international fixture in Kingstown in close to a decade.It was a welcome return to form for Shakib Al Hasan, who scored his first fifty in 20 T20I innings to shepherd Bangladesh to 159 for 5. Netherlands made a good fist of the chase, moving to 111 for 3 in the 15th over. But legspinner Rishad Hossain struck three times in four balls spread across two overs to change the course of the game.Related

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With Shakib and Mustafizur Rahman tightening the screws alongside Rishad, Netherlands fell in a heap, losing 4 for 6 in the space of 16 balls. They still had an outside chance with 36 needed off the last two overs, but Mustafizur Rahman’s cutters proved too much to handle in the 19th over. He kept slanting the ball across, and the batters kept swishing and missing. He conceded just three runs in that over, having given away just one in the 17th, and Netherlands were eventually restricted to 134 for 8.

Bangladesh fly away despite Dutt’s strikes

With the Bangladesh top order studded with left-handers, Netherlands brought Aryan Dutt in for his first game of the tournament and he immediately repaid their faith. Introduced in the second over, he removed the Bangladesh captain with his second ball. It was an innocuous length ball outside off, which Najmul Hossain Shanto reverse-swept straight to first slip.Dutt struck again in his next over, with a lot of help from Sybrand Engelbrecht. Litton Das eyed a slog-sweep only to get a top-edge well in front of square. But Engelbrecht, stationed behind square, sprinted to his left , put out a full-length dive and picked up a screamer inches off the turf.Despite the early losses, Bangladesh continued to score at a fair clip. Tanzid Hasan struck Vivian Kingma for two fours and a six in the third over before Shakib picked another four off Paul van Meekeren in the fifth. Shakib then laid into Logan van Beek in the sixth over, smashing him for four fours to take Bangladesh to 54 for 2, comfortably their highest powerplay score of the tournament.1:42

Maharoof: Shakib was prepared for Netherlands’ short-ball tactics

The middle-overs squeeze

Netherlands weren’t backing down, though. Captain Scott Edwards rung in the changes and the bowlers made sure to stick to their lengths. According to ESPNcricinfo’s logs, Netherlands only veered into the full lengths four times in 10 overs from the seventh to the 16th, and Bangladesh’s scoring rate dropped. The pressure told on Tanzid, who mistimed a pull to deep backward square leg in the ninth over, while Towhid Hridoy had his leg stump flattened by Tim Pringle in the 13th. Bangladesh managed only 58 runs in the middle ten overs with five fours and a six, and lost two wickets.

Shakib the glue as Bangladesh end strongly

The last time Shakib scored a fifty in T20Is was in October 2022 against Pakistan. At the T20 World Cup, he hadn’t breached the half-century mark since 2016. But on this crucial day, Bangladesh’s stalwart stood tall.He scored his first seven runs at a run-a-ball, and picked up his once he got the hang of the surface. And even when the runs dried up in the middle phase, he kept rotating strike without panicking. He reached his fifty off 38 balls and hit de Leede for back-to-back fours in the final over to finish unbeaten on 64 off 46 balls, his innings studded with nine fours.There were important contributions from Mahmudullah (25 off 21) and Jaker Ali (14* off seven) as Bangladesh collected 47 runs off the last four overs.Bas de Leede is stumped off Rishad Hossain•ICC/Getty Images

Bangladesh keep chipping away

With 349 runs in nine innings, Michael Levitt came into this tournament as Netherlands’ highest run-scorer in T20Is since the start of 2024. However, he’s had a dismal start to his T20 World Cup with scores of 1 and 0 against Nepal and South Africa. He seemed to change the tide against Bangladesh when he drove Mustafizur through the covers in the first over. Then, when he smashed Taskin Ahmed over the roof at deep midwicket, it seemed his campaign was back on track.But Levitt’s joy was short-lived. In the fifth over, he top-edged a cut off Taskin to Hridoy at point. In the next over, Max O’Dowd smashed a length ball straight back to Tanzim Hasan, and Netherlands ended the powerplay at 36 for 2.Vikramjit Singh hit Shakib for back-to-back sixes in the seventh over and slog-swept Rishad over deep midwicket in the ninth. His sprightly 16-ball knock was cut short when he was stumped, walking past a tossed-up delivery from Mahmudullah. But at 69 for 3 in the tenth over, Netherlands were still in with a chance.

Rishad triple-strike gives Bangladesh the W

Netherlands seemed to be giving Bangladesh a proper fight when Engelbrecht and Edwards were at the crease. The duo ran superbly and got the boundaries at regular intervals during a 31-ball stand of 42 for the fourth wicket.When Rishad was brought on to bowl the 15th over, Netherlands required 56 off 36. The legspinner’s first two overs had gone for 19 and he knew this over could decide the match. It did, in Bangladesh’s favour.With his fourth ball, he got Engelbrecht to top-edge a legbreak straight up, with Tanzim taking the catch at point. Two balls later, he had de Leede stumped with a ball that spun sharply past his outside edge. Mustafizur then got into the act by taking out Edwards, and when Rishad sent back Logan van Beek at the start of the 18th over, the game was as good as done.Dutt struck a six off Rishad later in that over, but he and Pringle had no answers to Mustafizur’s cutters in the 19th. Eventually, Netherlands fell well short of their target. The result does not knock them out of contention, nor does it give Bangladesh a sure-shot place in the Super Eight. It has, however, knocked Sri Lanka out, and given Bangladesh an excellent chance of advancing from Group D.

England captain says emphatic victory at Trent Bridge shows the progression of his side

Andrew Miller21-Jul-2024Ben Stokes, England’s captain, praised Shoaib Bashir for “showing the world what he’s about today”, after his five-wicket haul rushed West Indies to a 241-run defeat on the fourth afternoon at Trent Bridge.Bashir, 20, finished with figures of 5 for 41 for 11.1 overs as West Indies – chasing an unlikely 385 to square the series – collapsed from a comfortable 61 for 0 shortly after tea to be bowled out for 143.Though he only made his debut in February on England’s tour of India, this was Bashir’s third five-wicket haul in five Tests, and his first on home soil – surpassing the recently retired James Anderson as the youngest England bowler to achieve such a feat.”Wow… special stat,” Bashir said on Sky Sports shortly after wrapping up the victory, adding that he was still trying to “comprehend what just happened”. It was left to Stokes to truly sing the praises of a young offspinner who didn’t bowl a single over in last week’s first-Test win at Lord’s, but stepped up to the challenge exactly when his captain needed him.”Bash showed the world what he’s about today, on a wicket that wasn’t necessarily offering too much for spin throughout the whole game,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation. “The ability he had to be able to change his pace, change his line, and manipulate how he wanted the ball to react out of the surface was top-class.”It was a far from a one-man effort on the final day, however, and Stokes was especially pleased with the range of contributors to England’s victory. Although Ollie Pope was named Player of the Match for his first-innings hundred, he signalled out the second-innings stand between Joe Root and Harry Brook as the key passage of the contest, under gloomy skies on the third evening, and also warned that “someone will pay” after Mark Wood’s sensationally quick bowling display was rewarded with just two wickets across his 28 overs in the match.”On another day, Woody could have got Man of the Match, the way that he bowled was just phenomenal,” Stokes said. “He’s not got the rewards this game, but someone will pay eventually this summer.”In batting we talk a lot about partnerships, and it’s the same thing with bowling,” Stokes added. “You look at the amount of wickets at the other end when Woody was bowling his spells, that’s the effect that a bowler like Woody can have.Mark Wood cranks up the pace once more for England•Getty Images

“He’s got the heart of a lion, he’ll run in ball after ball after ball for us. And his pace is just phenomenal but it’s the skill that he’s got as well, to be able to consistently hit a certain area, with batters always thinking ‘when is it coming at my head?”Stokes was also full of praise for Chris Woakes, who overcame a fallow display at Lord’s and another off-colour first spell at Trent Bridge to finish with six wickets in the match, including the critical first wicket of Mikyle Louis in the second innings that sparked West Indies’ collapse. Woakes had endured a disrupted season, impacted by the recent death of his father, but Stokes was delighted that the senior man in his attack had hit his groove.”He really found some rhythm, I thought, in his second spell on day two, and he led the attack so well today,” Stokes said. “Chris Woakes is Mr Dependable, he generally always delivers, but the pressure from external noise about him leading the attack hasn’t affected him, and I think the performance he put in this week showed that.”Shortly after the close, England confirmed an unchanged squad for next week’s third Test at Edgbaston, with the uncapped Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts once again included alongside the spare batter, Dan Lawrence. And though Stokes would not be drawn on whether Wood in particular might be given a break after his exertions in this Test, he was delighted with the team’s overall direction of travel, as England wrapped up their first series win since the tour of Pakistan in December 2022.”I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the way in which the whole team has performed throughout the Test,” he added. “This week has been great for the progression that this team has made, as a group and also as individuals.”In team sport, you want quite a few individuals to stand up at any given time, but what I hope doesn’t get lost is that partnership last night between Brook and Root,” he added. “I definitely felt that was the toughest batting conditions that we had throughout the Test match, the ball was starting to swing and the way in which that they got through that but also were able to still put pressure on to the West Indies bowling attack was top-class.”Related

• England make 400-plus twice for the first time, Bashir breaks Anderson's record

• Nobody puts Shoaib Bashir in a corner

• West Indies look for building blocks in the rubble after spirit-sapping defeat

• Bashir, Root, Brook give West Indies a 241-run hammering

Stokes also name-checked Ben Duckett for his twin scores of 71 and 76, each compiled in a slightly different manner but with the same positive intent flowing through his game.”They had different plans and different fields to him and he changed the way that he played accordingly but still stuck to his strengths,” Stokes said. “He was always looking to put them under pressure, because when Ben Duckett is looking to put the bowlers under pressure, that’s when he plays his best.”England resumed in a strong position on the fourth morning, leading by 207 with seven wickets standing, and though both Brook and Root converted their starts to centuries, West Indies hit back with a flurry of wickets, particularly through Jayden Seales, to keep their target below 400.”We played really well this morning,” Stokes said. “Probably if we’re being brutally honest, we could have got a few a few more runs in the first innings, and would have liked to have gotten a few more [today]… but with the pressure of the fourth innings, 380 is a lot of runs.”Joe was Joe… a fantastic knock, another hundred for Joe in a winning cause for England, then Brookie went out and just played the house down.”

Surrey close with lead of 133, after seven wickets for spinner Will Jacks

ECB Reporters Network31-Aug-2024A maiden century in only his third first-class innings from the 19-year old, locally raised left-hander Freddie McCann helped take Nottinghamshire’s reply to 405 at Trent Bridge despite a caree-best seven for 129 from Surrey spinner Will Jacks. Batting again, Surrey ended the third day of their Vitality County Championship match 133 ahead on 13 for 1.Play was soured in the afternoon, however, when Jacks, selected in both England’s white-ball squads for their games against Australia in September, smartly fielded a pull on the bounce at short mid-wicket and threw the ball hard and high towards the wicketkeeper causing McCann to take evasive action.Umpires James Middlebrook and Paul Pollard immediately summoned Surrey skipper, Rory Burns, and applied five penalty runs under Law 42.3.1 for “throwing the ball at a player in an inappropriate or dangerous manner”. The matter will also now be referred to Surrey for any further disciplinary action they deem condign.Half an hour later McCann became the fourth victim in the innings of Jacks’s off-spin, slog-sweeping to long-on for 154. And Jack Haynes soon went for 68 to the same all-rounder but the follow-on target of 376 was passed just after tea with six wickets down.On 144 for 3 overnight after the nightwatcher had gone to what proved Friday’s final ball, the home side lost Joe Clarke in the morning’s fourth full over when, rashly, he advanced to launch a straight drive at Jacks only to be stumped as the ball spun sharply out of the rough trough thew gate. Clarke, gone for four, was Jacks’s third success in 11 balls after his breakthroughs the previous evening.He remained a threat at the end from which fellow off-spinner Farhan Ahmed had taken seven wickets on the opening two days. But, with Haynes surviving an early alarm when edging a Cam Steel leg-break between wicketkeeper and slip on three, resistance of some character brought lunch at 231 for 4.The partnership had added 154 when McCann departed after 268 balls of high application straight after Haynes had posted a sixth fifty in his 15 innings since joining from Worcestershire. None of these though has passed 77 and the pattern continued when, glancing, his thin legside edge was taken behind.Kyle Verreynne, the South Africa wicketkeeper in his maiden county innings after arriving as Nottinghamshire’s third overseas player this season, was joined by Lyndon James to see the innings to 369 for 4 at tea. But two overs after they had averted the follow-on, James, slicing a drive to backward point for 23, gave Steel his first success in completing 22 of the 110 overs.With bonus points decided as five to Surrey, four to Notts, Liam Patterson-White was leg-before, one run later, giving Jacks his only six-wicket bag since his success at Rawalpindi in the first of his two Tests, against Pakistan in 2022. He had bowled a mere six championship overs hitherto this year.Rob Lord, on debut, came and went for 10 to Steel and Ahmed to Jacks without score as the final four fell for 21 in 30 balls, leaving Verreyyne unbeaten on 50 from just 60 balls. Leading by 120 on first innings, Surrey then faced spin at both ends from the off.It took Ahmed eight balls to add to his match tally when Dom Sibley clipped to mid-wicket but after seven overs bad light intervened with eleven of the day’s quota left unbowled. Surrey’s pursuit of an eighth win in nine games and a third successive championship title was put on hold for the night.

Unbeaten 67-run stand with Marizanne Kapp takes charge of run chase after hosts’ 125 for 4

ECB Media06-Aug-2024Oval Invincibles returned to winning ways with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Manchester Originals in the Women’s Hundred at Emirates Old Trafford.An unbeaten 67-run stand between Paige Scholfield and Marizanne Kapp from 37 balls took charge of the run chase after the hosts managed 125 for 4. In-form Scholfield crashed 48 from 27 balls after opener Chamari Athapaththu laid the foundation with 33 from 36 balls.Invincibles were equally as impressive in the field, highlighted by a host of sharp catches, with Aussie leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 22.Both teams were looking to bounce back after disappointing results on Sunday. The Originals lost to cross-Pennines rivals Northern Superchargers, while Invincibles arguably let one slip in their derby draw with London Spirit to mark a rare two-game winless run, Tuesday’s result putting the Oval outfit in second place on the points table.After a slow start, which saw the Originals manage 25 without loss after the powerplay, openers Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney found the rope seven times in 15 balls.Mooney, the No. 2 draft pick, was just getting going when Seren Smale held a sharp chance at short third off Ryana MacDonald-Gay, who snapped up an even better catch at mid-on moments later to remove the competition’s second-highest runscorer Woolvardt.Originals started to slow, they went 34 balls without a boundary, before skipper Sophie Ecclestone added some much-needed late power to finish unbeaten on 26 from 15 balls.Invincibles set about proving that was not nearly enough on a good pitch with Sri Lanka star Athapaththu and captain Lauren Winfield-Hill adding 48 for the first wicket.Alice Monaghan removed Winfield-Hill and Alice Capsey in quick succession and when Athapaththu was lbw to Kathryn Bryce there was work to do at 60 for 3.Scholfield ensured any nerves were short-lived though as she found the rope on seven occasions, while Kapp added 19 from 11 to power the Invincibles home with seven balls to spare.Meerkat Match Hero Scholfield said: “I really enjoyed it. We’ve had a couple of tough games in a row. You learn more from losing than winning and we went away and studied what was going on and I think we were more disciplined today.”We just spoke about nudging her (Sophie Ecclestone) around and getting rotation of strike going and then going after the other bowlers.”

Vishwa Fernando and Lahiru Kumara combine as England rolled inside 34 overs

Valkerie Baynes08-Sep-2024In a match as changeable as the weather in south London, Sri Lanka took control of the third and final Test against England on the third day at The Oval.After an abject performance on the opening day when their bowlers failed to capitalise in prime conditions upon winning the toss, Sri Lanka had to watch Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett shine through the overhead gloom.Then, two incisive passages of swing bowling – on a dark second day, then under bright skies on the third – had the tourists back in contention, but not before Jamie Smith had bludgeoned England out of dire trouble. Still, by the time bad light stopped play just before quarter to seven on Sunday evening, the match was Sri Lanka’s to lose.But it is the detail around those key moments that tell the story of where this Test sits heading into the final day.Apart from Pope and Duckett, no England batter passed 20 in their first innings, as they were bowled out for an unremarkable 325. Despite Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis and Pathum Nissanka all passing fifty, no one pressed onto a big score that would have taken Sri Lanka past England, who led by 62 runs on first innings.Jamie Smith pulls over square leg for six•Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images

Then a struggling Dan Lawrence looked like top-scoring for England’s second innings with his series-best 35 before Smith’s brutal 67 off 50 balls made them the only home batters to pass 12 on the third day as Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando – with his devastating inswingers – kept them in check.And so, when bad light brought another early close, Sri Lanka were 94 for 1 and needing 125 more for a consolation win. Chris Woakes’ superb return catch removed Dimuth Karunaratne for just 8, but that was the only wicket to fall in Sri Lanka’s free-scoring fourth innings.Nissanka reached his second half-century of the match from just 42 balls by crunching a Josh Hull delivery to the rope wide of mid-off just before the light intervened, leaving him unbeaten on 53 with Kusal Mendis 30 not out.Sri Lanka’s bowlers, led by Vishwa, were making the ball move in what were by far the brightest conditions of the match so far, despite a couple of short interruptions for what amounted to sun-showers.But then Smith pummelled 52 runs off the last 19 balls he faced, helping himself to 20 runs off one Milan Rathnayake over to lead England’s second-innings recovery from 82 for 7 to 140 for 8.Vishwa Fernando trapped Joe Root lbw in his first over•Andy Kearns/Getty Images

By the time Olly Stone fell to give Kumara his fourth wicket and Asitha Fernando had Shoaib Bashir also caught behind by Nishan Madushka – standing in for the injured Dinesh Chandimal – England had stretched their advantage to 218.Two early strikes had given Sri Lanka hope during a morning session extended because of bad weather over the first two days as Duckett and Pope fell cheaply.Lawrence smashed Asitha for six over long-off and, two balls later, carved deftly through point for four. But, having bettered his previous series best by one run, he was brought undone by a Kumara delivery that moved away late and kissed the edge of the bat before landing in Chandimal’s gloves.Vishwa entered the attack in the 15th over and he struck third ball with a superb inswinging yorker that hit Joe Root on the boot directly in front.Olly Stone had his third when he dismissed Milan Rathnayake•Getty Images

Harry Brook had come under fire for his petulant reaction to Sri Lanka’s successful bid to frustrate him by bowling outside off stump in the first innings. This time, he succumbed to another late inswinger which nailed the front pad with pin-point accuracy on leg stump in Vishwa’s next over.Kumara had Woakes caught behind for a six-ball duck but then Chandimal had to be helped off the field after diving stop a wayward Kumara delivery down the leg side to Gus Atkinson, hurting his lower back in the process. Atkinson was trapped lbw by Rathnayake, having faced 14 balls for his 1 before Smith got stuck in.Earlier, Hull and Stone had preserved England’s advantage after Sri Lanka resumed for the day on 211 for 5, trailing by 114. Hull made amends for dropping Dhananjaya on the second evening when he had the Sri Lanka skipper caught for 69 with his 11th ball of the day, an attempted pull looping off the top edge to deep backward square.That sparked a procession of five wickets for 52 runs in 13.3 overs, Hull, Stone and Woakes sharing four of the five wickets to fall with Atkinson off the field nursing a thigh problem from which he recovered sufficiently to bowl in the fourth innings.

Dasun Shanaka and Dilshan Madushanka were left out, while Dushmantha Chameera missed out due to injury

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Oct-2024Middle-order batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka’s T20I squad for the three-match series against West Indies, but former captain Dasun Shanaka was left out. With Shanaka out, 22-year-old seam-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe, who made his debut against India, keeps his spot.There was also no room for left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera failed to make the squad as well, but that is on account of an injury, which has kept him out of competitive cricket since July.Elsewhere, the squad is fairly predictable. Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay makes it into the squad proper this time, after impressing as Wanindu Hasaranga’s replacement during the ODI series against India. Hasaranga himself is back as well.Dinesh Chandimal, who was named in the squad against India, but has not played a match in this format since 2022, retains his place, helped perhaps by his good performances in the Test format.Meanwhile, Rajapaksa, 32, hasn’t played for Sri Lanka since January 2023, and doesn’t come in with a lot of form, having been only a middling performer for St Lucia Kings at the recently-concluded CPL. But he has been picked on past performances, as Sri Lanka seek hitters who can close out innings – a long-term problem for them.Madushanka’s omission, meanwhile, is down to his having been too expensive in this format. After 15 matches, his economy rate is 9.75 – too high for a bowler who takes a wicket a match on average. But Sri Lanka have alternatives. Slingers Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, left-armer Binura Fernando, and right-arm seamer Asitha Fernando make up the frontline pace contingent.On the spin-bowling front, Sri Lanka have Hasaranga, Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage to choose from, with overs potentially to come from Kamindu Mendis as well. Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva has not made this squad.The T20Is start on Sunday, and all three of them will be played in Dambulla.

Sri Lanka’s T20I squad against West Indies

Charith Asalanka (capt), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamidu Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando and Asitha Fernando

He warmed-up for the Tests against England by scoring 60 for Northern Districts against Auckland

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2024Kane Williamson returned to competitive cricket after nearly two months out with a groin injury, and scored 60 for Northern Districts on day one of their Plunket Shield game against Auckland in Hamilton.Auckland asked Northern Districts to bat after winning the toss, and Williamson walked out to the crease at the fall of the first wicket. He hit seven boundaries in his 122-ball knock, which lasted for almost three hours. Williamson added 52 for the fourth wicket with Robert O’Donnell, before falling lbw to Jordan Sussex after a stand of 36 with Brett Hampton.It was Williamson’s first match in the Plunket Shield after five years – he last played in the premier first-class competition in the country in October 2019.”You always feel like an ND man, whether you are here or not,” he had said ahead of the game. “It is nice when, with the balance of the international schedule, you do have the opportunity to play.”Williamson had last played for New Zealand on the tour of Sri Lanka in September, and missed the entire Test tour of India and the white-ball series in Sri Lanka which followed. In his absence, Will Young occupied the No. 3 spot against India, and returned 244 runs to be named Player of the Series. But last week, Williamson was named in New Zealand’s squad to face England in three Tests at home.The first Test begins on November 28 in Christchurch, before the series moves to Wellington and Hamilton for the next two games. It will be Williamson’s long-time team-mate Tim Southee’s final Test series, unless New Zealand make the WTC final next year.

Mitchell Owen put his name up in lights with an astonishing display in the BBL final

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2025A day before the BBL started, Mitch Owen said he wasn’t sure where he’d be batting – or at all – for Hobart Hurricanes this season.After a record-breaking knock to win the competition for his home-town side, Owen, also the top run-scorer for the league, can start to lift his sights higher. The 23-year-old is set to earn life-changing amounts of money in franchise cricket, potentially starting with a replacement deal at the Indian Premier League.Related

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Owen’s manager confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he is available as a replacement player for the IPL, having registered for the auction longlist late last year before failing to make the shortlist. The Pakistan Super League, which virtually runs concurrently with the IPL in April and May, could be another option for him.Owen’s mighty knock of 108 off just 42 balls – the equal-fastest ton in competition history off 39 deliveries – had the sellout crowd chanting his name and won Hobart their first BBL title.”I feel a bit awkward in these situations. I don’t really know how to take it,” Owen said of the adoration. “It’s super special… the most special thing is hearing everyone in the crowd enjoying it. And I’m so grateful, I’m so proud that we could bring this trophy to Tassie.”Owen had played just six matches in the previous two seasons for Hurricanes, for a total of 42 runs. Previously a middle-order hitter, Owen said a decision that he would be batting in the top order came “probably one day, to be honest” out from their tournament opener.Ricky Ponting, Hurricanes’ head of strategy, said he was “amongst that” decision. Declining to elaborate on his role in that move, the Test great happily talked up Owen’s future, saying discussion of him representing Australia in next year’s World Cup was “inevitable”.Mitchell Owen made the equal fastest century in BBL history off 39 balls•Getty Images

“There’s not many players in the world that can do that,” he told AAP of Owen’s heroics in the final. “He’s done it pretty consistently through the tournament… some of his 30s and 40s that he’s got have actually won and set up games for the Hurricanes. And then he ended up getting a hundred in 30-odd balls and the game’s over.”Hurricanes team-mate and 2021 T20 World Cup winner Matthew Wade agreed Owen “would be there or thereabouts” when it came to squad selection for the 2026 tournament.”He can be anything… no stage really worries him too much. It was phenomenal,” Wade told AAP.Owen said he “absolutely” wanted to work towards the squad for the India-Sri Lanka-hosted tournament, which begins in February 2026.However, David Warner suggested such talk was premature. The losing Thunder captain said the Australian team didn’t need a shake-up.”No, no. You’ve got the guys that are there at the moment,” he said. “You can earn your stripes… we can’t be just picking blokes and chopping and changing when the guys that are there have won World Cups.”It will be difficult top order to break into, with Travis Head, Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk and T20 captain Mitch Marsh having claims on those spots.Steven Smith, left out of last year’s underwhelming T20 World Cup campaign, also has to be considered after starring for the Sydney Sixers in the past two seasons when he has played as an opener in between international duties.But Warner was certainly happy to credit Owen with a “phenomenal knock” that meant his side came up short after posting 97 without loss after 10 overs.”We got beat by one player tonight, plain and simple,” he said.0815 GMT – This story was updated to reflect Owen’s availability as an IPL replacement player.