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Andy McBrine and Andy Balbirnie have also been forced to isolate as close contacts

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Dec-2021Paul Stirling and Shane Getkate, the Ireland allrounders, are self-isolating in Florida hotel rooms after testing positive for Covid-19 and are set to miss at least the first ODI against West Indies in Jamaica.Ireland’s ODI series against USA was called off at short notice after a string of positive tests on both sides. The touring party are due to fly to Jamaica on December 31 for three ODIs and a T20I, starting on January 8.Several Ireland players tested positive for Covid before the squad met up earlier this month with their T20I squad down to its bare bones for the USA series. With the squad living in a “managed environment” rather than a strict bio-secure bubble, Stirling and Getkate have tested positive and two further players – Andy McBrine and captain Andy Balbirnie – have been forced to isolate as close contacts.Cricket Ireland said in a statement that Balbirnie and McBrine are likely to join the squad in Jamaica on January 2, pending further negative tests, with Stirling and Getkate due to leave quarantine on January 9, the day after the first ODI against West Indies.George Dockrell also returned a positive test but has been given the all-clear to travel to Jamaica with the rest of the squad. Dockrell contracted the virus earlier in December before leaving for Florida and holds a recovery certificate from that infection.”A managed environment is different to a bio-bubble, and is an approach being used currently to try and find that balance between risk mitigation from the virus and impacts of sustained periods of isolation on the mental and physical health needs of players and staff,” Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s performance director, said. “Part of this new approach is the ability to have several partners travel with the squad. However, these additional people are required to abide by the same testing and travel protocols as the players.”The transmissibility of this latest strain of the virus has not spared us – nor indeed the USA squad or umpires in our recent series. Overnight, three players have now tested positive. We have seen sport all around the world negatively impacted by this virus still, and like all sporting organisations trying to continue with sport during the pandemic, we are adapting quickly and responding to the needs of those in our duty of care. We have an extended squad with us on this tour, so will be able to cope with these absences pending no further outbreaks.”Harry Tector and Gareth Delany, who both tested positive after playing in a local T20 tournament before the T20I series, have completed their isolation periods and are due to fly to Jamaica on Friday.The fixtures will be played behind closed doors after Jamaica’s minister of local government and rural development announced this week that it was “simply not practical to give the green light for public access” due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

Zak Crawley reprieved after being caught off a no-ball late in the day

Alex Malcolm06-Jan-2022Usman Khawaja has produced a comeback century of the highest class to put Australia in another commanding position at stumps on day two of the fourth Test against England at the SCG.Khawaja’s silky 137 from 260 balls underpinned Australia’s 8 declared for 416, but it would have been more without a magnificent lone hand with the ball from Stuart Broad. After writing publicly about his frustrations at being left out in two of the first three Tests, Broad backed up his words with his 19th Test five-wicket haul including the crucial wickets of Khawaja and Steven Smith for 67, having knocked over David Warner on day one.England had to face a frightful five overs before stumps and Zak Crawley got a major reprieve. He nicked Mitchell Starc to first slip with Warner taking the catch head high. As Crawley walked off for what would have been a 12-ball duck, replays showed Starc had overstepped. Extras were the major contributor as the ball nipped and bounced prodigiously but Haseeb Hameed and Crawley survived another brutal examination from Starc and Pat Cummins.Related

• 'Just not fearing them' – Zak Crawley's plan to succeed against Australia quicks

• Usman Khawaja raises the roof amid groundswell of support

Khawaja was the star of the day for Australia. Playing his first Test in more than two years after he was dropped during the 2019 Ashes, he made his ninth Test century in his 45th Test, and his first in an Ashes series since making 171 in the SCG Ashes Test four years ago. Khawaja’s innings was proof he remains one of Australia’s best batters despite only playing due to Travis Head’s Covid-19 diagnosis.He was calm and composed throughout on a pitch that was not the traditional SCG batting paradise. He played some sparkling pull shots off Mark Wood and Broad and attacked Jack Leach and Joe Root with his full repertoire, scoring boundaries via reverse sweeps, cover drives and pull shots. Beyond his trademark stroke play, his ability to withstand some excellent spells of fast bowling was particularly noteworthy. As Australia lost Smith and Cameron Green in quick succession when Broad made the second new ball talk, Khawaja calmly kept the good balls out and was unflustered as several misbehaved on a surface becoming increasingly uneven.He did offer one chance on 28 that England will rue. Leach had barely troubled him on a leg stump line from around the wicket, but finally pitched outside off and found the outside edge as Khawaja prodded forward. The edge went past Jos Buttler’s gloves and deflected off his thigh before floating to Joe Root’s right, but the skipper failed to grasp it.From then on Khawaja was flawless and had the crowd so engrossed and invested that they booed Australia captain and New South Wales darling, Cummins, in the penultimate over before tea when Cummins retained the strike with an untimely single. But the skipper was immediately back in the good books, sneaking a single early in the next over to give Khawaja three balls to reach his century before the break. He only needed one with a neat tuck behind square sparking a standing ovation.Usman Khawaja latches onto a pull•AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, Khawaja shared a 115-run stand with Smith, their seventh together in Tests, their third at the SCG and their first since the last Ashes Test in Sydney in 2018. He also shared invaluable stands with Cummins and Starc. The latter was worth 67 to help Australia press to 400 with Starc making 34 not out, his third score of 30-plus for the series.Smith looked destined for a century of his own as he cruised to his second fifty of the series and his sixth consecutive fifty at the SCG. His only concern in the opening session, where Australia made 83 without loss, was keeping his bat dry as several brief showers interrupted play momentarily.Smith looked impenetrable. He played a contemptuous on-drive off James Anderson’s first ball after one rain delay. He also picked off anything fractionally straight and dealt with an unsuccessful short-ball barrage that left Ben Stokes wicketless and unable to bowl for the rest of the day. Stokes failed to complete his 14th over due to sharp pain in his left side. He left the field with grave concerns but returned after lunch and fielded without issue.But Broad stopped Smith in his tracks with his outstanding spell with the second new ball. In one over he deceived Smith completely as he shouldered arms to a good length ball that hit him in front of middle and leg. But it had seamed back considerably and he was given not out, and the decision was proven correct as England lost a review proving it was missing leg stump. Broad got his man for the ninth time in Test cricket two balls later as he turned Smith inside out with a back-of-a-length leg cutter that took the outside edge. Broad added to his haul finding Cameron Green’s outside edge with a fuller cutter. Green’s struggles in the series continued as the only boundary in his 5 came from a nick that went between first and second slip.Alex Carey missed a golden chance to cash in against a weary attack, holing out for just 13 trying to slog-sweep Root from the rough outside off. It was Root’s seventh wicket in England’s last three Ashes tours in Australia making him the equal-most successful England spinner across those tours.Broad returned later to bounce out Cummins with a brutal lifter that brushed the top of the bat handle on the way through to Buttler. He also knocked over Khawaja with a beauty late in the day. It was another leg cutter that nipped off the seam, caught the inside edge and ricocheted onto leg stump.Broad had been described as a caged lion prior to the Test by England assistant coach Graham Thorpe and his five wickets was just reward for a lion-hearted effort. He also went past Bob Willis to claim the second-most Ashes wickets for England behind Ian Botham, and became the second-oldest visiting quick to claim a five-wicket haul in Australia behind Sir Richard Hadlee. He did suffer the ignominy of Nathan Lyon launching his last ball into the stands at midwicket but he deserved the warm applause he got walking off after Australia’s declaration.

Captain missed third match after experiencing pain during England’s warm-up

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2022Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, has been ruled out of the remaining two matches of England’s T20I series against West Indies in Barbados, after sustaining a low-grade quadriceps injury.Morgan sat out England’s 20-run defeat in Wednesday’s third match, with Moeen Ali stepping in as his deputy, after feeling pain in his right quad during the pre-match warm-up.An ECB statement added: “Follow-up testing revealed he sustained a right thigh-muscle injury which, whilst relatively minor, will prevent him from playing further games during the current tour.”Morgan, 35, made scores of 17 from 29 balls and 13 from 12 in England’s first two fixtures – the former innings coming in the midst of a top-order collapse that included the loss of three wickets in the first two overs, and an eventual total of 103 all out.England bounced back to win the second match, although West Indies’ lower-order battled back from the brink to reduce the margin to a solitary run.Although England are currently ranked as the No. 1 T20I team in the world, Morgan had identified this campaign as an opportunity to expand their options ahead of the next T20 World Cup in Australia in November.”The whole tour is one where the development of our game is more important than a series win,” Morgan said ahead of the first T20I. “We’ve gone through this process before, and identifying the level of intensity, and our performance is far more important than the result.”The squad in the Caribbean had already been missing a core of proven performers, with Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood among those rested following their involvement in the Ashes, while Jofra Archer has been absent following his recent elbow operation – although he has been back training with his team-mates on this trip.In Morgan’s absence on Wednesday, England gave a debut to Harry Brook, with Phil Salt and George Garton also making their maiden T20I appearances in place of Sam Billings and Saqib Mahmood, who was hit for 28 runs in his final over of the second match.”A lot of talented guys will get opportunities throughout this series which is very exciting, not only for the team, but for them as well,” Morgan added. “They don’t get a lot of opportunity to go through a process like this so, for our long-term planning, as we strive to have deeper, stronger squads, it’s very important. The group that we would normally take to a World Cup has been together for quite some time, so the planning behind that is important to us.”Moeen will continue to lead the team in Morgan’s absence for the final two back-to-back fixtures on Saturday and Sunday. England, currently 2-1 down, must win both to claim the series.

A severe lack of bowling time did not deter Dottin from wanting to bowling a high-pressure final over, and executing to perfection to quell New Zealand

Firdose Moonda04-Mar-2022″A player like Deandra Dottin, when she says give me the ball, you just give her the ball.”Even if you had already decided someone else should bowl. Even if Dottin has only bowled 11 overs in international cricket in the last three years, and none in training recently. Even if you’ve never won a match in New Zealand before, there’s only five runs to defend, and your World Cup opener is on the line. In fact, especially if that’s the case.Related

• Back at the top of the order, Hayley Matthews proves she's still got it

• Report: Deandra Dottin stuns South Africa in Super Over finish

“Shakera Selman was meant to bowl and Deandra pretty much just come up to the stumps and said to Stef [Stafanie Taylor], ‘Give me the ball.’ And we were like, ‘What? You haven’t bowled in international cricket in like a year now,'” Hayley Matthews, whose century helped West Indies ask New Zealand to chase a record target in the tournament’s first match, said. “She literally hasn’t bowled to anyone in the nets since we’ve been here and she just came and said, ‘Give me the ball.’ A player like Deandra Dottin, when she says give me the ball, you just give her the ball. It doesn’t matter if she has bowled in a year or if she hasn’t.”Taylor thought about hesitating for a fraction of a second but Dottin was insistent and Taylor figured she could deal with the consequences later. “She [Dottin] was like, ‘Skip, I want the ball, give me the ball,’ and I said, ‘Ok, you and the coach will discuss after, that has nothing to do with me. I will give you the ball, do your thing,'” Taylor told the television broadcasters afterwards.Dottin’s thing was to concede a single off the first ball and then send down a dipping yorker that smashed into Katey Martin’s pad in front of leg stump. Martin was given out and reviewed but ball-tracking showed the delivery was going on to hit leg stump, and Martin had to go. Dottin tried to replicate that ball immediately but sent down a low full toss instead and Hannah Rowe took a single to long-on. She kept going for the block hole and Jess Kerr tried to clear mid-off but offered a simple chance to Chinelle Henry. With four to get off the last two balls, Dottin bowled length and missed everything. Fran Jonas tried to steal a bye but Rowe was slow to respond and by the time Jonas turned around, Shemaine Campbelle had collected and thrown to Dottin, who ran Jonas out at the non-striker’s end.West Indies had won, and there was nothing for Dottin to discuss with the coach, except maybe how she held her nerve. “I feel like she went into that over knowing she was going to get the job done,” Matthews said. “For her, it was like, ‘If we lose I am going to take the blame.’ Simple as that. Obviously we love that attitude. We love players that will come to the captain and say: ‘I want to do that.'”And if they win? Of course Dottin was happy to share the glory, knowing that it may be up to someone else in another match. “That’s what’s really good about our team. We’ve got so much experience and so many players we can call on. We know once we call on them, they are going to get the job done and she was the epitome of that today,” Matthews said.Dottin’s last-over heroics are even more remarkable because of the time she has spent away from bowling after sustaining a serious shoulder injury in 2019. She has only bowled 11 overs of international cricket since then, last in September 2021. Even then, she showed her mettle and kept South Africa to six runs in the Super Over, which West Indies chased easily. Taylor said Dottin is “not ready to bowl yet” but “took the responsibility of bowling the last over” anyway.It means West Indies have caused the tournament’s first upset. “We came into this tournament a bit as underdogs,” Matthews said. “It’s helped to ease a bit of pressure. To make a statement like this in the first game is massive.”

Duo share Surrey record eighth-wicket stand of 244 as Gloucestershire bowlers toil

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2022Jamie Smith’s maiden double-century and a second first-class hundred from Jordan Clark gave Surrey a stranglehold on the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Gloucestershire at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.Unbeaten on 111 overnight, Smith had moved to 234 not out, from 430 balls, with 34 fours, by the time his side were finally bowled out for 603 shortly after tea on day two.It was a phenomenal effort of concentration from the 21-year-old, who occupied the crease for nine hours and 28 minutes, sharing a stand of 244 – a record for Surrey’s eighth wicket – with Clark to stifle the life out of a willing, but uninspired home attack.Clark provided positive support, making 137 after walking out at 349 for 7, with Surrey just having failed to claim a fourth batting point. He struck 15 fours and 2 sixes in an imposing 177-ball innings.By the close, Gloucestershire had replied impressively by posting 86 without loss. Openers Chris Dent, who was 45 not out, and Marcus Harris, unbeaten on 30, produced an array of positive shots in the face of considerable scoreboard pressure.Related

• Surrey sign Colin de Grandhomme to replace injured Kemar Roach

• Ollie Pope 84, Jamie Smith hundred turns tables for Surrey at Gloucestershire

The day began promisingly for the hosts as from 294 for 4 Surrey lost three wickets for the addition of 55 runs. Sam Curran was first to go, having added seven to his overnight 57 before being caught at gully driving a ball from Ryan Higgins.The next delivery saw Colin de Grandhomme bowled by a Higgins no-ball. He was then dropped at slip off the luckless Mohammad Amir before departing for 11, leg-before to Matt Taylor.When Will Jacks was caught and bowled by David Payne off a top-edged pull shot for 13, Gloucestershire were well in the game.But by lunch, Smith and Clark had added 37 to take the total to 396 for 7, Smith having gone past his previous career-best score of 138, and the afternoon session saw both batters dominate.Smith went to 150 with a leg-side boundary off Payne and in the same over produced one of the shots of his innings, a glorious straight drive for four that exuded quality.Clark brought up his fifty with an off-driven boundary off Amir, the one Gloucestershire bowler to threaten repeatedly, albeit in vain as he finished wicketless.Smith’s double hundred was brought up with a flourishing cover drive for four off Miles Hammond, his 30th boundary. It was greeted with warm applause and cheers from the Surrey balcony.Clark took two runs through the off-side from the off-spinner to reach his hundred off 151 balls, the second fifty having occupied only 60 deliveries.By tea, which was taken at 574 for 7, the partnership had overtaken the previous highest eighth-wicket stand for Surrey in first class cricket, an unbroken 222 between Ben Foakes and Gareth Batty against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl in 2016.Still captain Rory Burns wanted more runs on the board and there were five more overs of toil for the home bowlers.Some lusty swings accounted for Clark and the tail-enders, Dan Worrall falling to Jack Taylor, who has reinvented himself as a leg-spinner having had his off-spin action deemed illegal back in 2017.Surrey’s seamers found it as tough as their Gloucestershire counterparts to make inroads on the slow pitch as Dent and Harris confidently saw out 24 overs to the close.

New Australia coach believes that international teams should have one person in charge across formats

Alex Malcolm03-May-2022New Australia coach Andrew McDonald insists there was never a risk he would have pursued the England job due to his firm belief that international coaches should oversee all three formats, with England set to split the roles down white and red-ball lines.McDonald was formally appointed as Australia’s new coach last month taking over the post permanently from Justin Langer on a four-year deal.There was interest from England in both McDonald and Langer prior to Rob Key being appointed as new ECB managing director of men’s cricket.But Key’s desire to split England’s coaching roles, with the two jobs advertised last week, dissuaded McDonald from considering it prior to taking the Australia job.”No I don’t think there was a risk,” McDonald told . “I think the way that they’re going to set-up, structure up, is clear. I think they’re going to go for a split coaching role. My views on that differ slightly.”McDonald would not have taken the Australia job had it been split into two roles. His reasoning is that the consistency of messaging from one figurehead is vitally important despite the enormous workload that comes with coaching an international team.Related

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• England to split coaching roles between Test and white-ball teams

• Rob Key brings sense of calm at turbulent time for English cricket

• Andrew McDonald, the quiet achiever

“My belief is to still have that one coach and share the workload within that,” McDonald said. “I think for me the continuity of messaging is critical. But also the priorities shift. And people probably don’t like me saying this, but the priorities do shift at certain times. You can’t be everything to everyone.”For example, Pat Cummins, on the back of three Test matches in Pakistan, at the end of that he’s severely fatigued and then the white-ball team gets compromised because Pat Cummins isn’t playing. But he’s not ready to perform in that environment.”If you had split coaches, which format takes priority? So, I think the ability to have one selection panel, one coach to work through that, give the direction to what the priorities are at the time and managing the overall squad as such and then someone, potentially a Michael Di Venuto or another assistant coach, coming in to allow the head coach to balance the workload but still stick on the same path.”For example, we’re going to build towards the 2023 World Cup, am I going to do every one-day game leading into that World Cup? There’s no chance of that. So I think that the continuity of messaging for me is important.”England have tried to split the coaching roles previously in 2012 between Andy Flower (Tests) and Ashley Giles (ODIs and T20Is) with the push and pull between formats causing a lot of friction between the pair.McDonald was keen to avoid any such scenario in the Australia job. McDonald and Cricket Australia’s head of national teams Ben Oliver have several assistant coaching appointments to make prior to the three-format tour of Sri Lanka in June.McDonald needs to find a full-time bowling coach to replace the role he has vacated since ascending to the head coaching job, while Jeff Vaughan has left his post as an assistant coach to take on the head coach position in Tasmania, leaving a second hole to fill within Australia’s ranks.Test cricket remains the priority for Australia as they remain in the frame for the World Test Championship final next year while a T20 World Cup title defence at home this year will also mean McDonald is heavily involved in the T20I series ahead of that. But there is likely to be an ODI series against Zimbabwe in August/September where McDonald could rest as well as other ODI series over what is shaping as a hectic 18 months of cricket for Australia.

Regular skipper Laura Delany still injured as hosts prepare for up to four international debuts

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2022Gaby Lewis will captain Ireland Women for next month’s six-match, multi-format series against South Africa in Dublin.As a result of injuries and player unavailability – primarily due to school or college exams – head coach Ed Joyce is without eight of his 20 senior performance squad members for the series.Lewis will lead the side in the absence of regular captain Laura Delany, who is recovering from injury. Still only 21, Lewis already has 88 caps and is Ireland Women’s fifth-highest run-scorer across all formats. She also becomes the first child of a former Irish cricket captain to lead her country, following in the footsteps of her father, Alan Lewis, who led the Ireland men’s team 35 times.Lewis became the first Ireland woman to score a century in any format last August when she struck an unbeaten 105 from 60 balls against Germany in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifier and she was subsequently named in the ICC Women’s T20I team of the year for 2021.”It’s an absolute honour to be asked to captain Ireland for the first time,” Lewis said. “The opportunity to take on one of the world’s leading sides is one I am relishing, and I know the squad is looking forward to the challenge.”One of the benefits of a competitive domestic Super Series is that – even with up to nine players missing – we are still able to bring in a talented group of players as cover, showing that we are growing our player pool and developing our emerging talent in the right way.”

Ireland vs SA schedule

• June 3 1st T20I, Pembroke

• June 6 – 2nd T20I, Pembroke

• June 8 – 3rd T20I, Pembroke

• June 11 – 1st ODI, Clontarf

• June 14 – 2nd ODI, Clontarf

• June 17 – 3rd ODI, Clontarf

Selectors have chosen four possible debutants in the 14-player squad, including New Zealand-born Arlene Kelly, as well as Alana Dalzell, Sarah Forbes and Kate McEvoy. Jane Maguire is in line to make her T20I debut, if selected, having played four ODIs. New Zealand-based Eimear Richardson was unavailable for the series.The 28-year-old Kelly, who plays for Auckland Hearts in New Zealand, is an Irish passport-holder and recently relocated to Ireland to pursue cricket opportunities. She has featured for Dragons in the early stages of the Arachas Super Series, claiming Player of the Match honours on debut after scoring 60 and taking 3 for 35 against Typhoons at Lisburn.Carrie Archer, chair of national women’s selectors, said: “We are excited about the inclusion of these potential debutants, but at the same time acknowledge that there’s a lot of years of experience missing. We will be facing one of the world’s top-ranked teams, and this is our first outing in the ICC Championship.”Despite the challenges, the squad will still feature a number of senior players who have a wealth of experience – Gaby Lewis, Shauna Kavanagh and Mary Waldron have 335 caps between them. We wish Gaby and her team the best for the challenge ahead.”South Africa’s tour of Ireland will begin with three T20Is, starting on June 3, ahead of three ODIs from June 11-17.The three ODIs will be Ireland’s first fixtures as part of the ICC Women’s Championship. It was announced this week that Ireland and Bangladesh had been added as the ninth and tenth teams in the 2022-25 Women’s Championship, offering sides a chance of direct qualification to the next ODI World Cup in 2025. During the four-year cycle, Ireland will host England, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka, and tour Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and West Indies.Ireland squad: Gaby Lewis (capt), Alana Dalzell, Rachel Delaney, Georgina Dempsey, Sarah Forbes, Shauna Kavanagh, Arlene Kelly, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Kate McEvoy, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Celeste Raack, Mary Waldron

Clubs won’t have long to lock down their recruitment strategies for the new season

Alex Malcolm22-Jun-2022The BBL will aim to get a jump on the new rival T20 leagues emerging in UAE and South Africa by hosting its first overseas player draft in August in a bid to secure leading players early as it attempts to revive the competition.The tournament announced a new overseas recruitment model on Wednesday with top-line overseas players set to earn $AUD340,000 and given the option of nominating the amount of games they want to be available for during December and January without having to commit to the whole tournament.It has been difficult for the BBL to match the riches on offer in the UAE and potentially South Africa, as well as even the BPL and the PSL, given the league is bound by a $AUD1.9 million dollar salary cap for an 18-man squad and for a competition that is significantly longer. But players will get to nominate for three price categories – Gold, Silver and Bronze – with an additional Platinum level on offer for the biggest names. Cricket Australia will contribute a significant portion to each salary bracket to sit outside the cap to help the clubs.There is no official date set for the draft but it is understood that it will likely be held in August, up to four months before the start of the BBL season. The tournament will once again be a full 14-game home and away season likely to run from mid-December to late-January, with fixtures set to be announced in July. There is a need to lift the competition ahead of the next TV rights deal, with the current deal ending in 2024, after a difficult few years compounded by Covid-19.An August draft is not ideal for clubs, who would prefer it be held closer to the season so they have greater clarity on their needs and player availability. However, BBL general manager Alistair Dobson and BBL player acquisition and cricket consultant Trent Woodhill both believe the earlier draft will give high-profile overseas stars clarity and options to lock themselves into playing in the BBL prior to the UAE and South Africa leagues getting established in what is set to be a crowded January calendar.”We are keen to be able to provide players and agents and clubs with a timeline that gives certainty and allows them to plan their year and be confident that the BBL is a place they want to come and play which we know they’re looking forward to,” Dobson told ESPNcricinfo.The BBL is confident they can secure some big names after early fruitful discussions with agents.”It’s actually been really positive,” Woodhill told ESPNcricinfo. “I feel like there’s clarity. Players want certainty. Player agents now have an opportunity to put their players up in lights and then work with the clubs to promote their players. The clubs get a choice. And I think it really suits the competition. And I’m confident they’re going to get some really good names.The league has previously left the recruitment of overseas players to the clubs to do privately. But Woodhill believes the draft will bring greater fan interest to the process with clubs’ decisions on who they select base on who is available now out in the open.”By having a draft, it’s up in lights,” he said. “It’s harder for the clubs to dismiss a high-profile player and they have an opportunity to draft them or choose somebody else in the draft.”I like the fact there is a choice. The choice for the player in what band they nominate in but also a choice for the clubs to see how they fit into their existing domestic team. And then explaining why they’ve done that. You always want to know why teams have gone for a spinner or a quick or an allrounder or maybe a frontline bat. So I’m excited to see the viewpoint of the club and the explanation from the club as to why they’ve gone for one big name over another.”The one downside that has been discussed among players is that the draft does not allow overseas names to choose where they will play, with a summer stint based in the beachside eastern suburbs of Sydney proving a popular recruiting tool for Sydney Sixers pre-Covid, for example.Clubs have also been reluctant in the past to pay big portions of the salary cap to star players for short-term deals with some clubs preferring to recruit lower-tier overseas players for specific roles over a full season. Andre Russell did a short stint last year at Melbourne Stars and they missed the finals while AB de Villiers’ six-game stint at Brisbane Heat in 2019-20 was equally unsuccessful.On the flipside, Perth Scorchers recruited lesser-known Englishman Laurie Evans last year for a very specific middle-order role. He was available to play for the entire campaign with Scorchers on less money and ended up being Player of the Match in the final fulfilling the exact role he was recruited for.There was some push and pull from the BBL and the clubs initially when the draft concept was raised with clubs still keen to do their own bespoke recruiting. However, clubs have been pleased that they were able to work with the league to come up with a draft model that allows clubs to use one retention pick, so that teams like Adelaide Strikers get to retain Rashid Khan even if another club drafts him.Clubs also won’t be forced to take a big-money Platinum player who is only available for a short stint if they would prefer to recruit a lesser name in a Silver or Bronze category for the full year. Dobson, Woodhill and the clubs have been meeting weekly over zoom to discuss the mechanics of the draft.”We’ve consulted for a long period of time with clubs and they’re excited about what the draft brings,” Dobson said. “I think there’s a bit of apprehension around the pressure and it is new territory for clubs in terms of being live on draft day or draft night and I think we’re excited to see how they handle that.”Clearly, success is the quality of the players that we get in. But trailing along not far behind that is the amount of interest and stories we can tell and speculation and debate and potentially controversy that sits around that because we think that’s all going to be a great build-up to the start of the BBL season.”Woodhill, who was formally the list manager at Melbourne Stars and has worked on auction strategy with Royal Challengers Bangalore during his time coaching in the IPL, was in no doubt about what his approach would be if he was entering the draft with a club.”You can’t underestimate star power,” Woodhill said. “Some teams look at it as a whole year approach. I’d be looking at how many wins do we need to make the top five and then I’m looking to find the best player possible in the draft to help me get to that point. If it’s seven games, then we need to get the seven games. So that’s my first target.”So it’s hard to look past an Andre Russell, a Sunil Narine or a Kieron Pollard, Faf du Plessis because they win a lot of player of the match awards. So I’d be aiming high.”

Sri Lanka captain was dismissed twice by Nathan Lyon in the first Test, but insists he is “not going to change” his methods after just one match

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Jul-2022Don’t panic. Keep things simple. And you don’t necessarily have to sweep (if you don’t want to). This, Dimuth Karunaratne said, was his advice to Sri Lanka’s batters ahead of the second Test in Galle. They had stumbled to 212 and 113 in the first Test, while Australia made 321 in their first innings.With a slightly better batting pitch expected for the second match, Karunaratne hoped his batters could put up a total that would give an inexperienced spin attack something to bowl at.”When we’ve won matches here, it’s not generally on tracks that turned from ball one,” Karunaratne said. “It’s when we batted well and used that scoreboard pressure to give the spinners a cushion – that’s when we’ve won here. We don’t have Rangana Herath or Dilruwan Perera anymore, so the spinners have to do what they can.Related

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“But as a batting unit, we need to put up a big first-innings score. That’s where you set the tone for the bowlers to build that pressure.”How to put up those scores when the opposition spinners are all over you, though? Nathan Lyon claimed nine wickets in the first game, Mitchell Swepson took five, and even a rank part-timer in Travis Head took four second-innings wickets.Half of Sri Lanka’s batters had fallen attempting to sweep or reverse sweep in that second innings, with new head coach Chris Silverwood suggesting after the match that mastering that stroke was crucial to Sri Lanka’s success on turning tracks. Karunaratne, though, did not put such an emphasis on the sweep in his chats with team-mates.”The sweep is just one option against spin. If you’re batting well, there are a lot of options there for you,” he said. “Everyone’s game plan has to be different. Not everyone can sweep well. Everyone’s got a unique method, and I’ve told everyone to play in their own unique way, without putting much pressure on themselves.”Without trying too many new things, what’s important is to improve the things you already know how to do. We’ve had separate training sessions for the batting unit. We know where we failed.”Karunaratne had a poor Test personally as well, making 28 in the first innings and 23 in the second. He was dismissed by Lyon on both instances, the first as he came down the track, and the second as he attempted to sweep. He is a vital part of Sri Lanka’s top order, having hit match-winning innings in Galle over the past several years. But he won’t let the battle with Lyon play on his mind too much.”I’ve got a very simple plan for myself. I’m not going to change what I’m doing based on what happened in the last match,” he said. “This is a new game. Perhaps the pitch will be better for this game than the last one. I’m going through the routine that has brought me success.”I have a plan for the first 15 overs, and then what I need to do to build an innings. As a senior batter, I’m trying to take as much responsibility as possible.”

There is a bigger squeeze than ever to fit in all the bilateral cricket alongside global events and the expanding domestic leagues

Alex Malcolm17-Aug-2022Mind the BBL gap
Cricket Australia have made the BBL a top priority under new chairman Lachlan Henderson with a fresh broadcast deal looming in 2024. It has faced numerous hurdles recently with the proliferation of rival leagues in the UAE and South Africa even as it tries to recover from the impacts of Covid-19. CA had previously said it would like a free window in January, which now has a crunch of leagues, to allow Australia’s international stars to play in the BBL. The plan has been partially successful.Australia don’t have any white-ball commitments in January over the next four years, but there will be Test cricket that will take the multi-format players away. They are scheduled to host West Indies in two Tests in mid-January 2024 as the ODI World Cup in October-November 2023 creates a squeeze on Australia’s home summer. Meanwhile, in January-February 2025, there is a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka. That series will need to be played before the Champions Trophy, which does not leave CA much room to keep the Test players at home for the BBL. Then, in early 2027, Australia will make another unusual summer away trip to India to play five Tests in January and February.CA’s head of scheduling, Peter Roach, confirmed that CA had tried to create a January window. “That was the priority to try and free the white-ball players so they can compete in the whole BBL,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “But we understand Test cricket works in that window as well. So it’s trying to find that balance between the opportunity for everyone to play versus making sure that our Test product is still really strong.”Related

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Homeward March
There is another significant knock-on effect of the five-Test tour of India in 2027. Australia have not hosted a Test in March since 1979 with their home matches played almost exclusively between November and January each year, with the exception of the rare winter series. But, in the new FTP, there will be two Tests against Bangladesh in March 2027 with the home summer essentially split in half by a trip to India. Australia begin that home summer with limited-overs matches against England in November 2026 before hosting Tests against New Zealand over Boxing Day and New Year. Then, after heading to India, they will return to host Bangladesh at a time when traditionally only Sheffield Shield cricket has been played in Australia. It will also be just the second time Bangladesh have played a Test series in Australia, with the first coming way back in 2003. It will also complete a run of ten Tests in four months for Australia to finish their 2025-2027 WTC cycle.Back-to-back West Indies
One of the vagaries of Australia’s new FTP is that they will host West Indies for Test matches in consecutive home summers because of the new World Test Championship starting next year. They visit for two Tests in December this year during the final stages of the current WTC cycle, but the new one starts afresh thereafter and Australia are drawn to host them again the following summer for two more Tests. It’s understood CA did try to change the order of the series to avoid the back-to-back visits but it was unable to find a solution. Australia will also travel to the Caribbean in 2025 for three Tests and three ODIs.In 2027, Bangladesh are scheduled to play their first Tests in Australia since 2003•AFP via Getty Images

Winter cricket back in northern Australia
Australia are hosting Zimbabwe and New Zealand in the coming weeks during late winter in the north of the country and will have more internationals during that period in years to come with the climate in the Northern Territory and North Queensland perfect for cricket. Australia have experimented with winter cricket previously, starting with ODIs under the roof at Docklands in Melbourne in 2000 and 2002, to Test matches in Darwin and Cairns in 2003 and 2004, before abandoning the concept after an ODI series against Bangladesh in 2008.It wasn’t a popular offering for local broadcasters as it clashed with the football codes that dominate the winter airwaves. But they will host ODIs and T20Is with South Africa in August of 2025 and then a Test, and T20Is ODIs against Afghanistan in July and August of 2026. “We hope that [winter cricket] becomes a little bit more regular,” Roach said. “I don’t think it’ll be every year but we know those games will be really well supported by all those fans and we also know the fans around the country, whilst they’re deep into their footy season, still relish the opportunity to watch some cricket during our winter months.”The Afghanistan question
Australia were set to host Afghanistan in a one-off Test last year prior to the Ashes but it was postponed after the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan with CA taking a stance on women being prevented from taking part in the sport (the game had previously been postponed from 2020 due to Covid-19). Australia have two bilateral commitments against Afghanistan in the new FTP – an away T20I series in August 2024 and the aforementioned tour in northern Australia in 2026 – which will mean the CA board may have to make another decision on their position depending on the situation when the series are played.More broadly, CA knows it will need to pull its weight in playing the developing nations and alongside the away T20Is against Afghanistan will also tour Ireland for white-ball matches in 2024.”We want world cricket to be really strong, and it’s not going to be really strong if we restrict ourselves to a handful of opponents,” Roach said. “Having the opportunity to go and play these opponents, developing countries in some respects, is something we’re really focused on doing. Not so much to be a good citizen, it’s the right thing to do because we know what value it brings to our players and also the players in the opposing teams.”

Australia’s men’s FTP 2023-2027

(* = home series)2023-24
Jun: World Test Championship
Jun/Jul: England vs Australia (5 Tests)
Sep: South Africa vs Australia (5 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
Sep: India vs Australia (3 ODIs)
Oct/Nov: ODI World Cup – India
Nov/Dec: India vs Australia (5 T20Is)
Dec/Jan: Australia vs Pakistan (3 Tests)*
Jan/Feb: Australia vs West Indies (2 Tests, 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)*
Feb/Mar: New Zealand vs Australia (2 Tests, 3 T20Is)2024-25
Jun: T20 World Cup – West Indies and USA
Aug: Afghanistan vs Australia (3 T20Is)
Aug/Sep: Ireland vs Australia (3 ODIs, 1 T20I)
Sep: England vs Australia (5 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
Nov: Australia vs Pakistan (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)*
Dec/Jan: Australia vs India (5 Tests)*
Jan/Feb: Sri Lanka vs Australia (2 Tests)
Feb/Mar: ODI Champions Cup – Pakistan2025-26
Jun: World Test Championship
Jun/Jul: West Indies vs Australia (3 Tests, 3 ODIs)
Aug: Australia vs South Africa (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)*
Oct: New Zealand vs Australia (3 T20Is)
Oct/Nov: Australia vs India (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is)*
Dec/Jan: Australia vs England (5 Tests)*
Feb: Pakistan vs Australia (3 T20Is)
Feb/Mar: T20 World Cup – India and Sri Lanka
Mar: Pakistan vs Australia (3 ODIs)2026-27
Jun: Bangladesh vs Australia (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
Aug: Australia vs Afghanistan (1 Test, 3 T20Is)*
Sep/Oct: South Africa vs Australia (3 Tests, 3 ODIs)
Nov/Dec: Australia vs England (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is)*
Dec/Jan: Australia vs New Zealand (3 Tests)*
Jan/Feb: India vs Australia (5 Tests)
Mar: Australia vs Bangladesh (2 Tests)*