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Fast bowler Zaman Akhter has become the latest Gloucestershire player to agree a move away from the club after signing a three-year deal with Essex.Zaman has featured for England Lions after impressing with his pace for Gloucestershire. He made his first-class debut in 2019 for Oxford MCCU before gaining a second chance through the South Asian Cricket Academy, leading to a county contract at the age of 24.Essex are currently third from bottom in Division One of the County Championship and beginning a process of reshaping their squad after the return of Chris Silverwood as director of cricket before the start of the season.”We are really excited to bring ‘Zum’ into the group,” Silverwood said. “He is a player we’ve had our eye on for a while and we really believe his quality will add and strengthen our bowling group.”I look forward to working closely with Zaman over the winter period when we prepare for the 2026 season, integrating him into the squad and our plans for the season ahead.”Zaman is the fourth Gloucestershire quick to announce their departure in recent weeks. Ajeet Singh Dale will join Lancashire at the end of the season, while Tom Price and Dom Goodman are making the switch to Sussex. Long-serving batter Chris Dent has also announced his retirement.Zaman said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Essex. It’s a great club with a rich history and a strong winning culture, and I can’t wait to get started.”I’m really looking forward to contributing on and off the field, learning from some outstanding players and coaches. Speaking to Chris Silverwood, it’s a really exciting time and hopefully I can thrive at Essex to help contribute to their future success.”

Day three’s claim on the “moving day” moniker in a Test match was given extra credence at Edgbaston. While the situation in this second Test at stumps was not all that different to how it began – India ahead by plenty, England ruing various mistakes with ball and then bat – this was as stirring, emotional and mesmerising as this format gets.It began with Mohammed Siraj prising out Joe Root and Ben Stokes with successive deliveries in the second over of the day, and he would close England’s innings with the final three to finish with 6 for 70. This was Siraj’s fourth five-wicket haul, and first on these shores, confirming a first-innings lead of 180 that would eventually swell to 244 by the close, for the loss of just Yashasvi Jaiswal, trapped lbw by Josh Tongue.Related

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In between, however, Jamie Smith’s unbeaten 184, of which the first century clocked in at a joint-third-fastest 80 deliveries, alongside Harry Brook’s 158 dared England to believe they might wipe out India’s opening effort of 587 despite having to rise from the canvas. From 84 for 5, Smith struck Siraj’s hat-trick delivery back past him for four and did not look back, while Brook occupied his slipstream for an initial retaliation that turned into a calculated occupation of the crease and time.They were eventually parted for 303 in the evening session, England’s second-highest stand for the sixth wicket. On a new-ball pitch, the second one had done the trick, as Akash Deep seamed one through Brook’s bat and pad off a length, disturbing the timber. That would be the first of the final five wickets to fall for just 20 runs in 7.2 overs. As KL Rahul’s 28 not out led a quick dart to 64 for 1 with dark clouds looming, England had snapped out of their Smith-inspired fever dream and were back in cold, dank reality.And it was Smith inspired. Siraj set the scene with the jeopardy Smith used to fuel a second Test century and new top score for an England wicketkeeper, beating his Surrey mentor Alec Stewart’s 173 against New Zealand back in 1997.Jamie Smith completed his century in a single session•ECB via Getty Images

Root’s demise was a boost for its earliness – nine balls into Friday – and ease; over-balancing to tickle an edge down the leg side through to Rishabh Pant. If that was a little bit of good fortune for Siraj, it was all him for the next delivery, as a snorter – leaping off a short length, scorching the gloves as Stokes attempted to protect his neck – gave England’s Test captain his first golden duck in the format. It was only the second time England’s top six had provided three noughts.It was from that point of disarray, with England trailing by 503 in the 22nd over, that Smith unleashed his astonishing counterattack. Smith was more or less a-run-a-ball up until he locked horns with Prasidh Krishna in the over before the drinks break. With Shubman Gill chasing the match earlier than he needed to, Prasidh was ordered to bounce Smith, who cashed in handsomely with four fours and a six smashed high over fine leg, taking the over for 23.Remarkably, Gill persisted with Prasidh and the short-ball tactic and, as expected, Smith tonked the first ball of this new over for another six over backward square-leg. The previous over had seen Smith move to his sixth fifty-plus score from 43 deliveries.Harry Brook celebrates after getting to 150•Getty Images

Further shifts came with consecutive boundaries off spinners Washington Sundar (two fours through cover) and Ravindra Jadeja (a cut through point, then a launch back over the left-arm bowler’s head), bringing Smith in with a shout of taking the record for England’s fastest Test century.He was 84 from 62 deliveries, needing 16 from nine deliveries to take the record outright with the uncertainty of whether Gilbert Jessop achieved the feat from 72 or 76 deliveries. Alas, a slowdown as lunch approached, while sensible, meant that opportunity passed him by.Nevertheless, the century within the session came with three deliveries to go, as Smith lifted Jadeja down the ground and then smeared a 17th boundary through midwicket to take him to three figures. Edgbaston roared and then roared again as he walked off with Brook unbeaten on 91, the pair of them smashing 165 of the 172 scored in the first 27 overs between them – the third-most India have conceded in a session.Harry Brook played some eye-catching shots•AFP/Getty Images

Brook’s ninth Test century came up four overs into the afternoon, with a controlled guide through the cordon – his 13th boundary, off his 137th ball – between gully and second slip off Prasidh. It was Brook’s first century against India, and only his second at home, having fallen for 99 in his first innings of the series at Headingley.By tea, Smith and Brook had eaten further into India’s lead – 232 by this point – but they had started to slow down, taking 101 deliveries to move their partnership to 250 from 200, which had only taken 192. A combination of Siraj, Jadeja and Washington could claim responsibility for prompting that deceleration with wider, more consistent lines. Nitish Kumar Reddy did find Smith’s edge on 121, but Pant could only get fingertips to the chance, allowing the 24-year-old to pass 150 – off 144 balls – for the third time in his first-class career.The 12 runs off the penultimate over of the second session, bowled by Washington, who was reverse swept with ease by Brook, spoke of the ability of both batters to shift back up the gears. However, India pinned their hopes on the second new ball, which arrived five overs and one warm-up delivery from Akash Deep into the evening and proved their saviour.1:39

Akash Deep: Morne Morkel has given me a lot of confidence

Brook was cramping up, needing the physio – and a banana – eight deliveries before he was dismissed. He could score no runs during this period considering he only faced one of these deliveries, the one that dismissed him, prompting Smith to switch gears again. The wicket-taker Akash Deep was lifted gorgeously over long-on and then clouted through long-off for four. But with that second boundary coming at the end of the over, Smith watched on as Siraj trapped Josh Tongue lbw, and put a sickening bouncer on Shoaib Bashir’s temple before castling the No. 11, who had opted to leave a delivery that moved in off the deck.Smith rushed off, cursory waves of his bat for a quite incredible innings that ran India ragged and thrilled a large home support. At various points, you needed the scoreboard to show you who was actually in charge. By the end, it was clear as day, as Rahul drove pristinely and Jaiswal, while he was there for 22 deliveries, smoked 28, punishing both Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse when they dropped short.There was almost a moment of controversy when, having been pinned by Tongue, Jaiswal seemed to run out of time before calling for the review, which was given to him by standing umpire Sharfuddoula, who had given the decision on the field. Stokes immediately stormed over to remonstrate after watching intently as the big screen ticked from 15 to zero before Jaiswal’s signal.In the end, it did not matter, and resulted in India losing a review as three reds were confirmed on the big screen. A small victory for England in a mini session that, not unlike this Test match so far, belongs to India.

Surrey gained revenge for last month’s County T20 Cup final defeat to Lancashire Thunder as they won a weather-shortened Vitality Blast clash at Emirates Old Trafford by two runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern.In an 11-overs per side game, visiting spinners Kalea Moore and Tilly Corteen-Coleman struck twice apiece to restrict Lancashire to 85 for 6 following a 3.15pm start due to rain. Fi Morris top-scored with 29 off 25 balls for the home side.Surrey’s third successive win at the start of this competition was then confirmed as, when rain returned at 62 for 4 after eight overs of their chase, they were ahead of the DLS target.At Taunton late last month, Thunder won the first title of the new county-led era of women’s professional cricket thanks to a 32-run success. But Thunder are under early pressure in the Blast having now lost three from four so far.After a two-and-a-quarter-hour delay here, Surrey, who elected to bowl, made the perfect start as Moore’s offspin had Tilly Kesteven stumped by Kira Chathli off the first ball of the match on a used pitch.In that aforementioned County Cup final, Kesteven had been named player-of-the-match following a superb 77 off 60 balls, her maiden senior fifty.Ryana MacDonald-Gay trapped her England team-mate Seren Smale lbw in the next over – 10 for 2 – to leave Thunder up against it early on.They reached 24 for 2 after 3.2 overs of powerplay. Morris and captain Ellie Threlkeld united to steady Lancashire’s ship through a mix of power and invention. Threlkeld drilled Dani Gregory’s legspin down the ground for four and Morris scooped Phoebe Franklin’s seam to the long-leg fence.They shared 50 for the third wicket before Threlkeld was bowled pulling at Gregory for 24 in the eighth over amidst the late and unsuccessful scramble for runs.Moore and wicketkeeper Chathli combined again for another stumping, this time Ailsa Lister departing, and Lancashire were never able to cut loose.When Corteen-Coleman’s left-arm spin bowled Morris and Danni Collins in the 10th over, the hosts were 75 for 6.Surrey’s chase started positively as captain Bryony Smith twice clubbed Grace Johnson’s seam down the ground for boundaries in the second over, taking the score to 17 without loss.Either side of that, Danni Wyatt-Hodge twice pierced the gap at deep midwicket off Sophie Morris’s spin, and at 34 without loss after 20 balls of powerplay Surrey were motoring.The loss of three wickets in 10 balls changed that. Smith skewed Tara Norris’s left-arm seam to point shortly afterwards, ending a 38-run opening partnership with Wyatt-Hodge, before Grace Harris got a leading edge to cover later in the fifth over.When Wyatt-Hodge, on 25, hoisted Darcey Carter’s off-spin to long-on in the next, Surrey were 46 for 3. Australian legspinner Alana King, on debut, then bowled Chathli – 53 for 4 in the seventh.With the rain now falling and the DLS equation tightening up, Paige Scholfield hit Carter for six over wide long-off to seal the win given the umpires took the players off four balls later. She finished 16 not out off 14 balls.

England 400 for 8 (Bethell 82, Duckett 60, Brook 58, Root 57, Seales 4-84) beat West Indies 162 (Overton 3-22, Mahmood 3-32) by 238 runsBorn in Barbados but stunning in Birmingham, Jacob Bethell’s devastatingly crisp 82 from 53 deliveries led England to 400 for 8, their second-highest score at Edgbaston, on their way to burying West Indies by 238 runs at the start of this three-match ODI series.For Harry Brook’s first assignment as full-time limited-overs captain, it was the perfect start. However one-sided this might have been, the dominance goes some way towards bolstering confidence at the start of a new era. The result alone is a godsend, ending a run of seven consecutive defeats.Bethell, 21, had only just arrived back from an IPL stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. And yet having missed the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe, he clicked through the gears, striking the majority of his eight fours and five sixes at the back end, to remind the world – and his head coach Brendon McCullum – of his unignorable claim for multi-format berths. This second half-century in the format also reinforced the scale of the talent England have pilfered from the Caribbean.Bethell’s was the lead hand in an innings littered with impressive but unfulfilled starts, including half-centuries for Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Brook. The scoreboard pressure was suffocating enough before Saqib Mahmood – Brummie-born – produced an opening burst of 3 for 32 from his opening seven overs. The last of those three to fall was Shai Hope, stunningly clutched by a back-peddling Brydon Carse about five yards in from the deep square boundary.Brydon Carse took a spectacular catch in the deep•AFP/Getty Images

It was an impressive piece of athleticism from Carse, returning to international duty after a toe injury ended his Champions Trophy campaign prematurely. He looked back to his best with the ball with the dismissal of Brandon King – a Test-match length and nip away finding the edge through to Jos Buttler behind the stumps – and his fielding effort was in keeping with a broader, altogether more energetic performance with Brook leading from the front.Stationed in the ring, Brook took five catches – having previously managed just three in 26 previous ODIs – level with the record for the most taken by a fielder in format (Jonty Rhodes against West Indies in 1993). It was Brook’s second dalliance with a record after he was one of seven batters to score 30 or more in the same innings – the first time that had been achieved in a one-dayer.A shellacking of this magnitude was far from Hope’s mind when he won the toss and chose to bowl, but the game was up at the halfway stage when his side were faced with a record target and already shorn of the explosive Evin Lewis, who damaged his groin in training on Wednesday. But for the final-wicket stand of 38 between Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales, whose 29 makes him the seventh No.11 to top-score in an ODI innings, this would have been a record defeat. In the end, they were dismissed for 162 with 23.4 overs left on the table.The travails of missing the 2023 50-over World Cup and the uncertainty that remains in the air regarding automatic qualification for 2027’s edition was reason enough to insert an experimental-looking England batting line-up on a muggy Thursday afternoon in the midlands. And West Indies, to their credit, stayed afloat for the majority of their time with the ball.Alas, they were completely blown out of the water in the death overs. Seales’ figures of 4 for 84 from nine overs showed that even the few with rewards bore scars. The fast bowler, given the nod ahead of Shamar Joseph, suffered his most grotesque punishment in his penultimate over, sent for 19 as part of a bumper 98-run stand for the sixth wicket. Bethell was the aggressor, but Will Jacks, making his first appearance for England since November 2024, played an accomplished hand, bagging 39 off 24 from his first go at No.7 in ODIs.Harry Brook marked his captaincy debut with five catches•AFP/Getty Images

The onus was immediately on a newly ordered, albeit not new-look, England batting card. The initial focus was on Jamie Smith, front and centre to face the first ball, moved to open for the first time in List A cricket.His failures at No. 3 during the ICC Champions Trophy suggested more exposure to the new ball would not go down well. But Smith made hay, strumming crisp drives with the odd shuffle down the pitch, backing up McCullum’s view that the Surrey keeper-batter has the wares to cope with the early movement. Alas, having reached 37 in quick time, his 24th delivery – the number of runs he managed in three Champions Trophy knocks – stung the palms of Brandon King at midwicket, who held the catch, putting to shame Seales who had misjudged a far easier opportunity at mid-on the ball before.Smith’s departure, at the end of the seventh over, with 64 on the board, probably should have been a hint for at least one of the others to bat through. And yet the senior trio of the top-order punched their cards without lasting the course.Duckett looked the best of them, and probably should have set the platform for others to launch after moving through to a breezy half-century from 34 deliveries. But when he was done in at the start of the 20th over – Roston Chase taking a stunning one-handed grab leaping at backward point – both Root and Brook had to tend to a half-finished foundation.The Yorkshire duo set about their task well, Root typically calm as Brook targetted Justin Greaves’ medium pace, striking him for two sixes in three deliveries – down the ground, then behind square – for his first boundaries. Then Root, after registering his 59th fifty-plus score in the format, opted for a booming drive to nick Seales through to Hope.That was Seales’ first of three, the second coming when Brook lazily carved what was ultimately a long-hop out to deep point. By then, Jos Buttler was at the crease, stepping back having stepped down, with 4 off 6 to Brook’s 27 off 19 in their brief stand of 33.The stage looked set for Buttler to return to the pack in blockbuster fashion, as he brought out the classics – charging Greaves for a straight six, then a slapped four before ramping Seales down the line. Alas, a well-disguised cutter from the latter meant a heave to leg landed neatly in the hands of midwicket.Brook also made an attacking half-century•Getty Images

It was at that point that Bethell took over, with 58 balls remaining in the innings. From 26 off 30, Bethell took it upon himself to put the game out of sight. From the 43rd over up to the 47th, Bethell hit a six in each over, before Jacks, who had played the straight man, tagged in for the 47th to blitz a six and four fours off Matthew Forde. That devastating five-over period brought 86 runs and effectively settled the match given the scale of the mountain West Indies had to climb.Granted, it could have been far greater. The dismissal of Jacks – well-bumped by Greaves – and another special catch from Chase (this time running over his shoulder from mid-off to claim a steepling catch off Overton) kept the boundaries down to ensure Bethell was off strike for the entirety of the penultimate over. Regaining strike for the final over, a thin slice on a cut through to Hope brought his time to an end.Just when it seemed West Indies were going to close out the final two overs without a boundary, and thereby deny England their 400, Seales’ well-directed yorker shot out of the footmarks, nutmegging Carse and flying away to the advertising boards to bring up the landmark from the final ball of the innings.Once the first six West Indian batters had been seen off in the opening 12 overs, Brook was able to mix up his attack. That worked particularly well for Overton, who was able to finish with career-best figures of 3 for 22 despite having to leave the field during the eighth over after damaging his right hand trying to take a return catch off his second delivery.Bethell completed Overton’s over, before Mahmood picked back up at the City End to claim two more dismissals. Overton, however, was back on the field to bowl the 16th over, bouncing out both Chase (caught Jacks at deep square leg) and Matthew Forde (caught Mahmood at fine) before fooling Gudakesh Motie with a slower delivery that was looped to point for Brook’s fifth and final catch.

Orange Cap table

Suryakumar Yadav was in action, and true to his reputation and form, scored 57 in 39 balls to be MI’s top scorer on the night, but fell ten runs short of breaking up the Gujarat Titans (GT) monopoly at the top of the run-getters’ table. He ended the night on 640 runs, just nine behind second-placed Shubman Gill, with B Sai Sudharsan looking like he might become the first batter this season to top 700 runs when GT play next.Virat Kohli, following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) washout against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the 43 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) remains at No. 6, but has a chance tonight against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to at least get past Yashasvi Jaiswal of Rajasthan Royals (RR), who is done for the season and is currently at No. 5, just 11 runs ahead of Kohli.Also in action in that match will be LSG’s Mitchell Marsh, who is 80 runs behind Suryakumar and in with a chance of signing off from IPL 2025 with another big one.For PBKS, it has been more of a team effort when it comes to the batting, and that’s reflected on the leaderboard: Shreyas Iyer is their top scorer so far with 514 runs, which puts him at No. 9, with Prabhsimran Singh at No. 11 with 499 runs, and Priyansh Arya at No. 15 with 424 runs.

Purple Cap table

Arshdeep Singh played a big part in PBKS’ win over MI with 2 for 28, lifting him to 18 wickets and the fifth place on the Purple Cap table.Trent Boult could have challenged Noor Ahmad of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the table-topper with 24 wickets, and GT’s Prasidh Krishna, No. 2 with 23, but went wicketless for MI against PBKS to stay in third place with 19 wickets.RCB’s Josh Hazlewood, if he plays on Tuesday night, could even go past Boult – he is just one wicket behind with 18.Here’s what ESPNcricinfo’s MVP table looks like.And here are some other IPL 2025 tables that show the season’s best performers in different aspects of the T20 game.

• Highest batting strike rates
• Best bowling economy rates
• Most sixes
• Best bowling figures in a match

Jacob Duffy’s international career has been a stop-start one. Since making his T20I debut in December 2020, he has largely been on the bench, with Tim Southee ahead of him in the pecking order. Till 2023, he did not play more than four T20Is in a calendar year. But in 2024, he was given more chances, and that’s helped him build his rhythm and finally deliver “genuine and match-winning contributions”.”I think it’s just nice to be able to contribute towards the New Zealand team,” he said after the third T20I against Sri Lanka. “I’ve sort of been around a while now, doing little bits here and there without probably really any genuine and match-winning contributions. To have that sort of impact on a game and a series is pretty special and hopefully more to come.”Duffy played seven T20Is in 2024, the last two of which were the two wins in the home series against Sri Lanka, which ended 2-1 in New Zealand’s favour after Sri Lanka picked up a consolation win on Thursday. He picked up seven wickets in those two wins which earned him Player-of-the-Series award.Related

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Duffy announced himself on the international stage with a four-for on debut, but since then he had only managed seven wickets in 13 T20Is before the start of this series.In the first game in Mount Maunganui, when Sri Lanka were cruising in their chase of 173, Duffy shifted the momentum with a triple-wicket over which included removing Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis for ducks. It was a blow Sri Lanka couldn’t recover from, triggering a slide as the visitors fell eight runs short.In the second game, Duffy removed both of Sri Lanka’s highest scorers – Perera and Pathum Nissanka – to help bowl them out for 141, sealing a 45-run win, while also registering career-best figures of 4 for 15.Duffy will now want to take his momentum into the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, and with Southee having retired from international cricket, he hopes to cement his position in New Zealand’s white-ball sides.”I guess in my role, I guess sitting behind Tim [Southee] really for a long time, You might get a game here or two games here and you just don’t quite get the comfortability at an international level but a momentum,” Duffy said.”So to get a whole series and go out and perform and start feeling a little bit more at home, that’s got a huge sort of mental positive for me. So hopefully more of that come ODI series and just hungry for more international cricket.”

Rachin Ravindra admits that winning a Test series in India is an extremely difficult task, but is hopeful that his recent white-ball success in the country coupled with New Zealand’s experience of playing in the subcontinent recently could stand them in good stead in the three-Test series, starting in Bengaluru from October 16.Ravindra had a breakthrough 2023 ODI World Cup in India where he scored 578 runs in ten innings, which included three hundreds and two fifties. An IPL contract with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) followed, and Ravindra suddenly found himself in the thick of things.”Although it is different formats, it gives you confidence that you can perform in this part of the world, although conditions will most likely be different,” Ravindra said on Monday. “It’s more, I guess, managing the crowd and the expectations of the people because we know how passionate Indian people are about cricket.Related

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“It feels like if you’re able to do it a couple of times, hopefully you’ll be able to do it in a Test series and, look, I think it’s a different challenge entirely and it’s something I’m really looking forward to. It’s always special to come back to India and play. Those two tournaments [ODI World Cup and IPL] were amazing, the crowds and the passion and the hype and the buzz around them, so I’m excited to have a fully-fledged three-match Test series here.”After a bit of a false start to his Test career, Ravindra has had a fairly successful year in the longest format with 599 runs in six Tests in 2024 at 49.91, including a top score of 240 against South Africa.The same, however, can’t be said about New Zealand in general, whose World Test Championship (WTC) campaign has nosedived after the two wins at the start of the year against a second-string South Africa. They lost a home Test series to Australia before going down 2-0 in Sri Lanka. Spin has largely been New Zealand’s undoing in this WTC cycle, but Ravindra wants to take all the learnings and positives from the Sri Lanka series and is hopeful his side can come up with a better show in India.”India have always been a quality side, I guess the brand of cricket they play is very positive, especially in their own conditions, they know how to play,” Ravindra said. “They’ve grown up on these wickets and their players, the way they’ve evolved over the last few years has been amazing.”For us, it’s [about] playing our game and doing what’s true to us. I think we did some really good stuff during the Sri Lankan series as well, obviously came on the wrong end of the stick and the wrong side of the win-and-loss column there, but I think as a group there were times where we actually really pushed. That first Test was close and we played the way we wanted to in certain moments, but I think we’ve got to understand that we’ve got to do it for long periods of time because that’s what Test-match cricket is about.”As New Zealanders, we don’t necessarily try and look at the opposition too much; we know what a quality side they [India] are and what they bring to the table. But I think if we’re able to play our game and be consistent and put our best foot forward, hopefully that will result in a win, who knows?”While the pitches in India are unlikely to do New Zealand any favours, the weather in Bengaluru might help them feel at home. It’s been overcast and damp here over the last few days, and the forecast for the first Test suggests heavy cloud cover and rain. The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, too, has been under covers for a fair bit.Does that then bring New Zealand into the game a bit more?”I guess a bit of rain around, a bit of overcast conditions, looking at the wicket, it might not turn as much as what we might expect in Mumbai maybe, but I think the quality of the wicket, the quality of their bowlers, the quality of our bowlers, I think that will decide the make-up of the game,” Ravindra said. “Whether it turns, I don’t know, I guess we’ll only find out… it might not turn first, second day, we’ll only find out third, fourth, fifth day. It’s important for us as a group to play what’s in front of us and not come into this game with preconceived notions or ideas of what it looks like.”I think we did some really good stuff during the Sri Lankan series as well”•AFP/Getty Images

“We know what Test cricket in India is, but we know the quality of the Indian fast bowling set-up too, so it’s not like they’re just going to produce a rank turner, you know, they’re quality [fast] bowlers too.”It is a sort of homecoming for Ravindra. His father played a decent level of cricket in Bengaluru before settling down in New Zealand. Ravindra still has plenty of family in the city and expects them to turn up for the Test.”Yeah, it’s cool,” Ravindra said. “Obviously when I was here last, well I guess it was IPL and then before that it was the ODI World Cup, so two pretty cool experiences to have, part of two very good teams.”But I guess it’s something different about playing a Test match. You’re here for five days and it’s tradition, and I guess it makes it extra significant just because of the family connection. For me, I was born and brought up in Wellington, I’m a Kiwi all the way through. It’s amazing and I’m very proud of my Indian heritage and to be able to play where a lot of my family is based is something pretty special.”There’ll be a bunch of them in the crowd and I know Dad will be here watching, so those moments, you pinch yourself on the journey and for this, it’s definitely one of them.”

Mitchell Marsh has hinted that his five-month absence from the bowling crease is unlikely to come to an end during Australia’s T20I series. Marsh has not bowled in a competitive match since tearing his hamstring during the IPL, including in last week’s 3-0 clean sweep up in Scotland.Australia have an abundance of allrounders in their T20 set-up, with Jake Fraser-McGurk the only man in their squad who neither keeps wicket nor bowls. With Marsh keen to give Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie opportunities with the ball, his own medium pace is unlikely to be required.Related

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“I’m sort of just building,” Marsh said. “I don’t tend to bowl myself too much, is the honest answer, and we’re lucky that we’ve got plenty of bowling options within our team, so we’ll see how we go… my bowling’s on line: whether or not I bowl, we’ll wait and see. We’ve got heaps of options. I’m always building something.”Australia will hope to have Marsh fully fit to bowl during their five-match Test series against India, which starts in Perth on November 22 – which he described as feeling “like a long time away”. Their management will carefully manage players workloads before that series, with Pat Cummins missing the whole England tour to give him a break from bowling.”A lot of our priorities will be geared around that,” Andrew McDonald, Australia’s coach, told on Tuesday morning. “You’ll see that unfold with the management of our players. We’ll be very pointed around who does what in terms of [Sheffield] Shield cricket coming into the summer to make sure that they are ready for that first Test match.”Australia play Pakistan in three ODIs and three T20Is in November, and it is expected that anyone included in the Test squad won’t feature in the T20Is. “We may have to give up a little bit in terms of that Pakistan white-ball series with certain players, to make sure that we are firmly prepared,” McDonald said. “We’re really keen for India to arrive.”This UK tour is Australia’s first men’s cricket since their Super Eight exit in June’s T20 World Cup, which saw them win their first five matches before back-to-back defeats against Afghanistan and India saw them crash out. Marsh has retained the T20 captaincy – and will also step in for Cummins in the five ODIs against England – but was coy on his long-term ambitions.”It feels like a lifetime ago now, that T20 World Cup,” Marsh said. “It was just disappointment: we went there with the hope of winning it, like every other team did, and unfortunately, we didn’t play our best cricket at the right time. In tournament play, that’s what you rely on…there’s a lot of cricket to be played between now and the next World Cup [in 2026] but hopefully I’m there.”McDonald isolated Australia’s fielding as the primary reason for their failure to reach the semi-finals, most notably dropping five catches in the defeat to Afghanistan. “We’ve got a few things that we need to work through, but clearly the key area for us that was disappointing was our fielding… that makes it really difficult for the captain and the team to function.”There was some discussion around Mitch Marsh and his captaincy, but if creating opportunities for the team with your bowling changes and your field positions is the way that we’re going to critique a captain, I thought he did a fantastic job. We just weren’t able to execute in those moments, and that really played out in the Afghanistan game.”

Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan has taken a break from Test cricket on medical advice because of an “ongoing injury issue”. He was hence not part of the 20-member preliminary Test squad to face New Zealand in the one-off Test in Greater Noida in India, early next month.”He has taken a break from Tests for now, there’s an ongoing injury issue with him,” an ACB official told ESPNcricinfo. “So the doctors have advised him to not play Tests for now.”We don’t know if he’s out for a year or not. What’s confirmed is that he’s out for some time, until he recovers properly. So he’s not going to play Test cricket until he gets the doctor’s approval. Right now, we can’t say for how long exactly he’s out.”Rashid had undergone back surgery after the ODI World Cup 2023 which kept him out of action for four months during which he missed the BBL, the SA20, and Afghanistan’s international assignments against UAE, India, Sri Lanka and Ireland. Since his surgery, he has only played T20s; he returned to action with three T20Is against Ireland before playing the IPL, the T20 World Cup 2024, Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA, the Hundred, and Afghanistan’s domestic T20 competition Shpageeza Cricket League.Related

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Participation in these tournaments was also not injury-free. A hamstring injury ruled him out of the last week of the Hundred after he had hurt himself while diving to save a boundary for Trent Rockets. When he went home for the domestic T20s, he picked up a back issue after playing only three of the eight games for Speen Ghar Tigers in the second half of August. Those three games were played on successive days and Rashid picked up six wickets at an economy rate of 5.09. In his third game, Rashid also smashed 53 off just 26 balls out of his side’s total of 112 in a truncated match against Amo Sharks.Rashid last played a Test match in March 2021 and has not featured in 50-over games since the ODI World Cup in India last year.Rashid’s workload management could also be a result of the busy calendar coming up. Afghanistan are slotted to play three ODIs against South Africa in late September in Sharjah, although it isn’t known yet if Rashid will be available for those. As per the FTP, Afghanistan are then scheduled to tour Zimbabwe for an all-format tour in December-January for two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. Even though he has opted out of the BBL for the second year in a row, Rashid will represent MI Cape Town in the SA20 which is set to run from January 9 to February 8 before the action moves to the PSL and the IPL.The Afghanistan Test squad has, meanwhile, begun training in Greater Noida, their adopted home ground, for the Test against New Zealand, which will be the first time that the two teams will be facing each other in the format. This will also be the first Test to be played at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground.

James Wharton and Jonny Tattersall shared a record-breaking stand before rain frustrated Yorkshire on the second day of the Vitality County Championship match against Derbyshire at Chesterfield.The pair shared a partnership of 241, Yorkshire’s highest for the sixth wicket against Derbyshire, as the visitors moved to 416 for 6 when play was abandoned shortly before 4.30pmWharton faced 241 balls for his career-best 188 which contained 23 fours and six sixes with Tattersall 93 not out off 151 balls to give Yorkshire a lead of 340.Yorkshire had been unrelenting with the ball on day one and there was no respite for Derbyshire as Wharton and Tattersall batted through a rain-shortened first session.With Derbyshire bowling spin from both ends to improve their over-rate, they did much as they pleased to eclipse a record which had stood for more than a hundred years.Wharton twice dispatched the leg spin of Mitch Wagstaff for six and after surviving a difficult chance to deep cover on 147, he reached 150 off 180 balls, 104 of them coming in boundaries.Tattersall’s contribution was not as eye-catching but was just as valuable in putting Yorkshire into a near impregnable position and the pair eased past the county’s previous highest sixth wicket stand against Derbyshire of 178 set by Emmott Robinson and Cecil Burton in 1921.Derbyshire eventually claimed a second new ball after 89 overs and after Wharton drove Daryn Dupavillon through the covers to bring up the 400, rain brought another prosperous session for the visitors to a close.When play resumed after lunch, Dupavillon finally broke through by having Wharton caught at second slip for the 12th highest individual score against Derbyshire in Yorkshire’s history.He departed to a standing ovation and warm congratulations from the Derbyshire fielders who recognised how well he had played in far from straight-forward conditions.Jordan Thompson announced his intentions by hitting two fours before more rain stopped play with Tattersall seven short of a century.and that proved to be the final action on a day when only 35.1 overs were bowled.