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Can the bottom two teams from last season make a push for the title?

Alex Malcolm08-Oct-20191:01

Six young guns to watch out for this Shield season

Tasmania

Last season Fifth (League stage: 3 wins, 5 defeats, 2 draws)
Captain Matthew Wade
Coach Adam Griffith
2018-19 statsOverviewGeorge Bailey stepping away from the captaincy early last season and the shoulder injury he sustained during the BBL certainly disrupted Tasmania’s attempt to try and go one better than 2017-18. They started the season with a superb win in Queensland but were very inconsistent thereafter. There was a heavy reliance on Matthew Wade in the middle order. He had an extraordinary season scoring over 1000 runs and moved from No. 6 to No. 4 midway through the year to firstly try and arrest Tasmania’s batting issues but also push his Test case. He did the latter but could do nothing about the former and his potential absence during the Tests this summer will severely challenge Tasmania’s young players. Jordan Silk and Alex Doolan battled manfully at the top of the order on a difficult new-ball pitch at Bellerive. Charlie Wakim announced himself at No.3 last year but they need the likes of Jake Doran and Ben McDermott to take the next step in the middle order. One of those two is likely to keep wicket when Tim Paine and Wade are unavailable while Silk is set to captain. The attack will be strong again. Jackson Bird and Gabe Bell are a formidable new-ball duo in the heavy Hobart air and Riley Meredith adds speed at first change. Tasmania opted to go without a specialist spinner quite often last year, particularly at home, but young offspinner Jarrod Freeman could well get further opportunities after debuting last season.Player to watchJordan Silk made a century in Tasmania’s last Sheffield Shield final triumph back in 2012-13. He was the youngest of the six players that season to make multiple Shield centuries at just 20, and he achieved it in just three games. He was selected to play for Australia A on a tour of England in 2013, but after 50 first-class games, and 97 innings, he’s only managed to score four more centuries. Bellerive Oval has been a very difficult place to open the batting and so his overall average of 31.67 is better than it appears. At 27, he is stepping into the captaincy when Wade is absent and Tasmania would love for that added responsibility to help him thrive with the bat.Young gunThere is a lot of hype around Riley Meredith in white-ball cricket but Tasmania are excited about his development in all three forms. At 23, he is still arguably a little while away from becoming a fully-fledged international prospect but he has shown a lot of promise. He had a good Shield season last year as the first change option behind the new ball pairing of Bird and Bell as he took 27 wickets at an average of 28.96, without a five-wicket haul. Tasmania have some solid bowling all-rounders which allows Meredith to be used in shorter bursts to maximise his pace. His development will be interesting to follow.Alex Carey cuts the ball watched by wicketkeeper Peter Nevill•Getty Images

South Australia

Last season Sixth (League stage: 0 wins, 6 defeats, 4 draws)
Captain Travis Head
Coach Jamie Siddons
2018-19 statsOverviewSouth Australia are desperate to improve this season after two disastrous years. They failed to win a game last season after winning just two the year before. There were some injury issues with 2016-17 Player of the Year Chadd Sayers missing half the season due to a knee injury, Ashes hopeful Daniel Worrell played just four games due to back and hamstring problems and Alex Carey missed eight games due to national duty. But coach Jamie Siddons is desperate to see his established players like Callum Ferguson, Tom Cooper, Jake Weatherald and Jake Lehmann step up. Captain Travis Head will also be eager for big runs to regain his Test place after failing to post a century last year despite reaching 50 five times in 13 Shield innings. The batsmen are still coming to terms with the new drop in surface at Adelaide Oval, which has become a seamer’s playground after previously being a batsman’s paradise. The bowling depth will be tested again. Sayers is still working back to full fitness, Worrall will miss the first part of the season and Joe Mennie, who took 37 wickets at 19.72 last season, is also sidelined. Young legspinner Lloyd Pope got a taste last year and may well play a little bit more this season depending on Adam Zampa’s availability depending on T20I selection.Player to watchAlex Carey only played two matches last season and it remains to be seen how much he plays this season but at this stage, he is guaranteed to play three of the first four matches and looks set to be available for five of the first six. He broke the record for the most dismissals in a season in 2016-17 and is all but inked in as Paine’s successor in the Australia’s Test team, but the selectors will want more runs from him. He made a Shield century last season but he only has two first-class hundreds in 55 innings. He is a better player than that and some continuity in playing a string of first-class games should give him the chance to prove it.Young gunLloyd Pope has developed a cult following after bursting onto the scene in the Under-19 World Cup, but he found his first experience in Shield cricket difficult, as many young legspinners do. Western Australia’s Shaun Marsh took a liking to him in a fourth-innings run chase last season and Pope learned some valuable lessons from the experience. He is expected to continue to develop over the coming seasons but patience will be required from all involved.

Woakes marked his England Test recall with 57 off 23 balls to revive a stuttering Birmingham innings

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2018
ScorecardChris Woakes celebrated his call-up to the England squad for the second Test against India by making a match-winning career-best 57 from 23 balls for Birmingham Bears as they beat Northamptonshire by 17 runs at Wantage Road.After winning the toss, the Bears’ innings stuttered along until Woakes struck six fours and four sixes in a cameo that steered the visitors to 187 for 7. Josh Cobb made a career-best 103 from 62 balls in reply but found no support as Northants slumped to their ninth defeat in ten matches.The Bears innings was initially hard work as only 38 came from the Powerplay for the loss of Ed Pollock and Adam Hose before Ian Bell continued his excellent form. He flicked the day’s first boundary through midwicket, swatted four more past mid-on and lifted Richard Gleeson elegantly over cover.Hose, having edged a boundary from Nathan Buck over the wicketkeeper’s head, tried to scoop the same bowler over short-fine leg and was caught at the wicket. Pollock fell for just 1, skying a pull stroke to mid-on where Seekkuge Prasanna took a solid catch.Bell swung Ben Sanderson over mid-off and gracefully went in-to-out to lift Prasanna wide of extra-cover but he and Sam Hain, who added 64 for the third wicket, fell within three balls. Bell drove Buck straight to extra-cover for 43 after Hain, who lifted a low-full toss from Sanderson over long-off for the innings’ first six, holed out to long-on off Prasanna.At 128 for 5 after 16 overs, the innings was listing but Woakes ensured the Bears had plenty to defend. He survived a tough dropped chance on 12 as Gleeson couldn’t hold on running around from long-off and the miss proved costly.He pulled the Gleeson for four through cover point and midwicket before top-edging a six as 16 came from the 17th over. Prasanna was swung over long-on for six more and Woakes found two more sixes in the final over that brought 17 as the Bears finished with a flourish, scoring 59 runs in 24 balls.Northants also found the going tough in the Powerplay as Ben Duckett was superbly yorked by Olly Stone for 2 and with only 45 runs scored, the required rate was quickly into double figures.Cobb was struck a blow to the head by a Stone bumper but warmed to his work with a punch off Woakes past mid-off and then through midwicket before driving Aaron Thomason down the ground for four and pulling a slower ball out of the ground over deep-square leg. He put a ball through a similar region for his second six and flicked Thomason wide of short-fine leg for four, passing fifty in 35 balls.But it was a lone chase as Ricardo Vasconcelos made 18 before driving Grant Elliott to long-off where Thomason took an excellent catch running to his right, Alex Wakely holed out to deep square for 3 and Steven Crook, Charlie Thurston and Prasanna only made single-figure scores.Cobb was left to chase the target himself and he went down on one knee to put another ball out of the ground and swung Woakes over long-on for six more.With 64 needed from 24 balls Cobb heaved Thomason out of the ground over midwicket and past short-third man for four to leave 42 required from 18. He drove Stone for four and charged back for a second off Woakes to reach his first T20 hundred in 58 balls and become the fourth T20 centurion for Northants.But Stone’s final over only cost seven and with 27 needed from the last over, Cobb ran himself out coming back for a second run and a wonderful innings was consigned to a losing cause.

It seems a pretty safe bet to assume that neither Haseeb Hameed or Jos Buttler will be in the England squad for the first Test against South Africa when it is named at 9am on Sunday

George Dobell at Edgbaston28-Jun-2017
ScorecardIt seems a pretty safe bet to assume that neither Haseeb Hameed or Jos Buttler will be in the England squad for the first Test against South Africa when it is named at 9am on Saturday.Both were in the side the last time England played a Test series – December in India, though Hameed missed the final Test through injury – but, for various reasons, it seems neither will retain their place.Haseeb Hameed has simply not scored enough runs. In 15 first-class innings this season, he has failed to make a 50 and only reached 25
three times. He’s been out for a duck four times.By the time the India series finished, it seemed unthinkable that Hameed would not be retained for England’s next Test. But, whether
it’s a case of county bowlers learning how to bowl at him after a successful first season in the game, or whether he is struggling
mentally with the new levels of expectation with which he is confronted, is hard to say. His balance at the crease might also be a factor; his movements certainly don’t seem as sharp as they did in India with a prop onto the front foot perhaps leaving him exposed when
he has to play back.Butter was promoted to open in the second innings here. It was a tactical decision based upon the hope that he might enjoy the pace of
the harder ball and also soften it more quickly. Worcestershire enjoyed success with similar tactics against Durham.It was selfless of Buttler to agree to such a ploy. But whether it’s what he needs at this stage of his career is debatable. Rather than
bringing his undisputed white ball skills to play in red (or pink) ball cricket, he might be better served developing his long-form skills.He hasn’t had much chance to do that. Since the end of the 2014 season, he has played just two Championship games and scored 45
Championship runs. He has played 15 Tests, it is true, but few learn their trade at the top level without an apprenticeship. It is asking a
lot of him to do so.It would be understandable if Buttler didn’t continue to pursue a future as a red ball player. He doesn’t need to: his status as a white
ball player – and his earning potential – is strong. If he helps England win a World Cup, he can retire with a proud record.He has always said, however, that he is keen to make it as a Test player and he clearly has the raw ability to do so. But, as John
Lennon put it, life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. And the down side of England’s new prioritisation of
white ball cricket – the decision to play in the IPL rather than County Championship; the decision to allocate a window in prime summer
to a new-team T20 competition – is that there is simply no time for players like Buttler to learn their red-ball trade. It’s no-one’s fault, it’s just a reflection of the modern world.Haseeb Hameed has done nothing to retain his England place•Getty Images

Anyway Buttler, having attempted a lavish swipe outside off stump, soon departed to a catch at mid-wicket as he tried to clip one through
the leg side. And Hameed, who survived a strong leg before shout on 15, was then trapped by a little away swing as he shaped to play
through mid-wicket and was beaten by one that looked as if it were heading on to his pads, but straightened towards middle and off.Both might have learned a thing or two from Andy Umeed’s innings. While both Hameed and Buttler paid for playing across the line, Umeed played resolutely straight and demonstrated remarkable patience in adding 100 for Warwickshire eighth-wicket with Jeetan Patel.It has emerged – courtesy of Robert Brooke, co-founder of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians – that Umeed’s
century was the second slowest (in terms of minutes; records in terms of balls have only been reliably kept since about 1987) in the history of the County Championship after Jason Gallian’s 453 minute effort for Lancashire against Derbyshire at Blackpool in 1994. It took Umeed 429 minutes to reach three-figures, which was nine minutes slower than WH ‘Billy’ Denton’s 420-minutes century for Northants against Derbyshire in 1914.Warwickshire’s management have been asking for their batsmen to show some fight for a few weeks; in Umeed they found an old-fashioned battler. It is not a fashionable quality, but then nor are good manners or driving on the inside lane on a motorway and those things have value, too.The most fluent batting on day three of this game came from Alex Davies. Driving, cutting and pulling with more freedom than anyone
else has managed all game, Davies helped Lancashire wipe off the first innings arrears of 48 and gain a lead of 130 going into the final day.But when he fell top-edging an attempted pull and Steven Croft laced another pull to mid-wicket where Umeed took an excellent catch – it
seems he can move pretty fast when required – Warwickshire clawed their way into the game once more. If the weather holds, we might yet
have a terrific finish here.

Moeen Ali has admitted he lost confidence in his batting after moving down the order for England

George Dobell13-May-2016Moeen Ali has admitted he lost confidence in his batting after moving down the order for England.Moeen made his name in county cricket as a top-order batsman. He opened the batting in his first international match – an ODI against West Indies in Antigua in 2014 – and then batted at No. 3 in the T20 side and at No. 6 when he first came into the Test side.But, as his international career has developed, so his spin bowling has taken priority over his batting. He fell behind Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in the Test line-up and, despite making two centuries as an ODI opener – one of them a 72-ball effort against Sri Lanka – he lost his position at the start of the summer of 2015 when the selectors left him out of the ODI team so he could work on his red ball bowling.Alex Hales and Jason Roy subsequently established a dynamic partnership in his place and, since his return to the side in the lower middle-order, he has not passed 21 in ODI cricket. Only once in his last eight T20I innings has he made double-figures; four times in that period he has been dismissed for a duck.He did have a brief spell as Test opener in the UAE, but was left more confused than ever by what was required of him in a team that, in successive Tests, batted him at No. 9, No. 8 and No. 9, before three Tests at opener were followed by a move back down to No. 8.While Moeen understands the reasons for his position in the line-up, he has found it challenging to retain his identity as a batsman.”If you want to be good at something, you have to believe,” Moeen said. “And I went through a phase where I probably didn’t believe I was a top-order batter.”I didn’t practise it as much, because I felt like my bowling was keeping in the team. I definitely haven’t done myself justice with the bat at Test level. I have shown glimpses in all three formats, but I have not done as well as I want. I know I can do better.”Part of the problem comes with being required to bat with the tail. Reasoning that he may not have time to play himself in, Moeen has often felt the need to attack from the start. While that has, at times, had positive results – most notably in the Ashes – it has seen him turn into something of a lower-order slugger rather than the classy player he once threatened to be. It is understandable from the perspective of the team’s needs, but the suspicion remains that England are not getting the best out of him with the bat.Certainly he has, at times, looked a long way below the standards he set in making a high-class century in his second Test. That innings, played against Sri Lanka almost exactly two years ago, took England to the brink of a memorable – and unlikely – draw.”I was more confident then,” he said, “because I’d come back from a couple of years of county cricket where I’d scored well.I just remember telling myself I wasn’t going to get out the night before. I’ve done it for Worcester. I was actually surprised we did it for so long. It was a good effort. But I’ve not been batting that much or that well since.”The hardest thing is obviously batting at No. 8. If you’re batting with Jonny Bairstow, you can play normally, and Stuart Broad is batting quite well at the moment. But then you get lower down…”On your marks: Joe Root, Perri Shakes-Drayton and Moeen Ali at the launch of the NatWest T20 Blast•Getty Images

Moeen feels that a return to Worcestershire for the start of this season has helped him rediscover his confidence. He has batted at No. 3 in three Championship matches and, in scoring a century and two half-centuries, goes into the Investec Test series against Sri Lanka averaging 91 so far this season.”Going back to Championship cricket, batting at three, I feel like I’m back to how I was,” he said. “I do feel that I’m ready again. I feel like a proper batter again. The batting and the bowling are coming together.”That return to Worcestershire almost didn’t happen. He originally entered the IPL auction only to withdraw after Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, asked him to.”I’m actually glad I didn’t go in the end,” Moeen said. “England just said ‘we’d rather you played red-ball cricket’. It made sense in the end. I had a bit of a break and then played three Championship games. I obviously wanted to get ready for the Test matches.”He is talking to publicise the new NatWest T20 Blast season that beings – ridiculously – on the second day of the first Test next week. Moeen, like the rest of England’s top players, may well be limited to just one or two games in the group stages with the ECB announcing that, fitness permitting, every contracted player will be available for Blast action from June 15 to June 18.While he talks with great passion about the Blast, he is among many of the England players who feel that a city-based competition would improve the standard and spark new interest.”We’d love to be playing the T20 Blast as much as we can,” he said. “I played a bit last year, and I absolutely loved it. We miss a big chunk of it, and that’s a bit disappointing. But it’s the way it is.”It would be sad [if Worcestershire disappeared from a city-based competition], but personally I would love a franchise system. The standard would improve and although not everyone in domestic cricket would play – that’s the biggest shame about it – I think it would be good for the league and good for England.”To find out more information and buy tickets for this season’s NatWest Blast games, please visit: www.ecb.co.uk/natwestt20blast

Sunrisers Hyderabad face the problem of finding the best eleven and in Kolkata Knight Riders they have a side that has started to put together clinical performances

Karthik Krishnaswamy21-Apr-20151:56

Agarkar: Sunrisers should get Williamson back

Match facts

Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Big picture

Before the start of the season, Sunrisers Hyderabad seemed to have stitched together a fairly good-looking squad on paper, with excellent overseas additions in Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan adding to their core of David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Dale Steyn. Trouble is, you can only play four overseas players at the same time, and Sunrisers have struggled to find their best eleven.In that struggle they have lost three of their first four games, while winning the other convincingly enough – against Royal Challengers Bangalore – to suggest there’s definite potential for improvement. But potential only means so much, and they will have to start stringing together actual performances right away, starting with their home game against Kolkata Knight Riders, to climb out of the crowded bottom of the table.It won’t be easy. Knight Riders’ win over Delhi Daredevils on Monday was a performance that distilled their strengths so clinically – expert constriction with the ball, despite an uncharacteristically expensive spell from Sunil Narine, followed by a sensibly constructed chase – it was a little boring to watch. Knight Riders won’t mind being called boring if they keep playing like that, though. They know their strengths, they know their best eleven, and pride themselves on the standards they set. Unless they have a rare bad day, Sunrisers will have to be at or close to their best to beat them.

Watch out for…

Eoin Morgan came into the IPL on the back of perhaps the worst form slump of his career, and came into the Sunrisers XI in place of a massive name in Kane Williamson. He’s there for a reason – Williamson fits best in the top three, where Sunrisers have a decent number of options, while Morgan is a number five or six, where they have a hole to fill – but he hasn’t really convinced in his two innings so far. A match against his old team might be a good starting point for him to turn his form around.After a seemingly never-ending streak of 40-plus scores last season, Robin Uthappa‘s form has dipped, and he’s made scores of 9, 35, 13 and 13 this season. He’s played some sparkling shots in the brief time he’s spent in the middle, suggesting he isn’t in particularly bad touch, and his run of scores hasn’t really affected Knight Riders’ performances too much, but he will certainly want to contribute more to their cause.

Stats and trivia

• Sunil Narine has been his usual economical self this season, conceding only 6.81 runs an over, but his wicket-taking ability seems to have diminished: he’s only taken two wickets in four matches, at an average of 54.50.
• Yusuf Pathan is the only batsman to score more than 100 runs in matches between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
• No Sunrisers batsman has scored a half-century against Knight Riders.

Opening batsman Martin Guptill has claimed the top honour at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Auckland, winning the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2012Opening batsman Martin Guptill has claimed the top honour at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Auckland, winning the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2011-12. Guptill was also named ODI and Twenty20 player of the year, based on performances between September 1, 2011, and August 31, 2012. Young fast bowler Doug Bracewell picked up the other big award of the evening, being named Test Player of the Year.

Full list of award winners

• Martin Guptill: Sir Richard Hadlee Medal

• Doug Bracewell: Test Player of the Year

• Martin Guptill: ODI Player of the Year

• Martin Guptill: Twenty20 Player of the Year

• Amy Satterthwaite: International Women’s Player of the Year

• Frances McKay: Women’s Domestic Player of the Year

• Gareth Hopkins: Men’s Domestic Player of the Year

• Simon Hickey: Gillette Young Player of the Year

• Cran Bull: Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding services to cricket

• Doug Bracewell: Fans Choice for Outstanding Individual Performance

• Doug Bracewell: Winsor Cup for best bowler in first-class cricket

• Martin Guptill: Redpath Cup for the best batsman in first-class cricket

Batsman Amy Satterthwaite, who averaged 51.75 in five ODIs during the judging period, was named Women’s Player of the Year.Guptill scored 681 runs in 11 Tests in the same period. He was one of the few bright spots for New Zealand on their tour of the Caribbean, where they lost in all three formats; he made 97, 67, 71 and 42 there, top scoring in three of the four innings. In ODIs, against Zimbabwe home and away, his sequence of scores read 74, 105, 70, 77 and 85. In all, he scored 579 runs in 13 matches in the format. In 13 Twenty20s, he scored 454 at 45.40 with strong showings against South Africa and Zimbabwe.Bracewell, who debuted in November last year, took 40 wickets in 11 games at 28.02. His best of 6 for 40 came in New Zealand’s famous 7-run win against Australia in Hobart, where he claimed the wickets of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey with the score on 159 to upend their chase of 241. For that performance, Bracewell also picked up the Fans Choice for Outstanding Individual Performance award.The winners were decided by an independent selection panel headed by former New Zealand Cricket president Don Neely, and included former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith and veteran radio commentator, Bryan Waddle.

A round-up of the matches from the second day of the Faysal Bank T20, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2011Seamer Sarfraz Ahmed and left-arm spinner Raza Hasan took seven wickets between them as Sialkot Stallions restricted Hyderabad Hawks to 96 for 8 and went on to win by nine wickets at the National Stadium in Karachi. Sarfraz did the early damage, taking three wickets in his first two overs, leaving Hyderabad 12 for 3. Shahzad Haider and Rizwan Ahmed then put on 51 runs for the fourth wicket but it took them ten overs as they tried to rebuild after the early losses.Abdur Rehman dismissed Haider for 42, Sarfraz came back to take his fourth wicket, and Hasan took three scalps as Sialkot did not allow Hyderabad’s innings to get going. Hasan conceded just 12 runs in his four overs, Sarfraz 13 and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan went for 14. Shoaib Malik ensured Sialkot did not waste time getting to the meagre target, and scored a run-a-ball 50, helping them get there with 20 balls to spare.Khurram Manzoor’s half-century laid the foundation for Karachi Zebras comfortable 44-run win over Quetta Bears at the National Stadium in Karachi. Manzoor and Rameez Aziz got the innings off to a quick start, adding 36 from the first four overs. Anwar Ali then came in and made a rapid 32 as he and Manzoor put on 57. Manzoor eventually fell for 62 in the 16th over but some lusty blows from Akbar-ur-Rehman pushed their total to 172. Quetta started steadily, but Uzair-ul-Haq removed both openers in the sixth over. Abid Ali and Mir Wais kept the innings ticking but Ali’s dismissal with the score on 110 triggered a collapse as Quetta lost their last seven wickets for 18 runs.An all-round bowling effort from Lahore Eagles helped them beat Abbottabad Eagles by 15 runs. Pakistan batsmen Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar got Lahore’s innings off to a brisk start, with Farhat the more aggressive partner, racing to 43 from 31 balls with four fours and a six. Azhar Ali kept up the momentum once Farhat fell but Lahore weren’t able to push on in the closing overs, despite having wickets in hand, as the Abbottabad bowlers kept them to 150. Yasir Hameed and Yasir Shah steadied the Abbottabad innings after the early loss of Ghulam Mohammad, but the innings lost its way once the pair departed. Six bowlers took at least one wicket, but the standout was Junaid Zia, who took 2 for 9 from 3.3 overs. Umar backed up his innings of 35 with 2 from 16 was named the Player of the Match.

Shane Watson believes Stuart Broad is the biggest fast-bowling threat during the Ashes but expects James Anderson and Steven Finn to struggle in Australia

Peter English30-Oct-2010Shane Watson believes Stuart Broad is the biggest fast-bowling threat during the Ashes but expects James Anderson and Steven Finn to struggle in Australian conditions. While the three men starred during the 3-1 home win over Pakistan, Watson has told them it will be a different game Down Under.Watson, who has grown into one of Australia’s key men, said Broad had the skills to adapt to the harder, flatter surfaces during the five Tests, but he is not convinced by the credentials of the other two members of England’s first-choice attack. When asked by ESPNcricinfo if he thought Anderson and Finn would struggle he said: “I do. It’s obviously a very challenging place to come out and play and it’s very different to England with the way the ball swings all day.”That’s why Jimmy Anderson is so skilful when the ball is swinging. When the ball is not swinging it makes it easier to bat.” Watson is looking forward to the period when the Kookaburra loses its shine and there is less risk in driving through the off-side.When Anderson was in Australia four years ago he took five wickets at 82.6 while Finn, the 21-year-old, will be on Ashes debut. “There’s no doubt it’s a really big challenge for Anderson,” Watson said. “There’s no doubt he’ll have some mental scars from the last series he played out here. But he’ll be trying to find a way to be more successful.”Watson also offered a warning for Finn, who has stormed to 32 wickets in his first eight Tests. “It’s something very new to him,” he said. “The ball won’t be moving around here anywhere as near as much as it did in England, so it’s going to be a really big challenge.”The home side has won the Ashes in the past four series and Watson is convinced Australia will be more comfortable than they were in 2009. “It is different to England, no doubt about that,” he said. “It’s going to take the English quite a while to be able to adapt and find ways of being successful over here, that’s our big advantage.”Watson has excelled at Test level since returning to the side during last year’s Ashes defeat, so his opinions are gaining weight. He is unsure whether England’s seamers will focus on a fuller length in the hope of achieving any available swing, or operate more in line with the Australian method of bowling shorter and pushing the batsmen back.He felt Broad was the only England fast man who could fulfil both roles. “Stuart Broad is a very skilful bowler,” he said. “He will be their main man out here. He’s got the skills to adapt to different conditions, and got the height to make the most out of his bounce. I really think he’s going to be their main man. If we’re able to negate him that will be a big plus.”England arrived in Perth on Saturday afternoon ahead of three first-class tour matches. Their opening game is against Western Australia from Friday while they also face South Australia and Australia A before heading to the Gabba for November 25.

The event will clash with the third and fourth days of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Nov-2024The IPL 2025 mega auction will be held on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is being held overseas for the second successive year – 2024 was in Dubai – and will clash with the third and fourth days of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth.Unlike regular auctions, the mega auction that takes place every three years is spread over two days instead of just one and it is one of the most-followed events in cricket, as the ten IPL franchises build their squads for the next three years (2025-27).A total of 1574 players (1165 Indian and 409 overseas) had registered for the auction, which will be held at the Abady Al Johar Arena (also known as Benchmark Arena), by the deadline of November 4, the BCCI said. They range from countries like Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Scotland, USA and UAE, apart from the Full Member nations excluding Pakistan. Each franchise can build a squad of up to 25 players, which means that there are 204 slots available at the auction after the retention.On October 31, the deadline for teams to finalise which of their players they were keeping from their 2024 squads, a total of 46 players were retained across the ten franchises. Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen was the most expensive retention at INR 23 crore, while Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants) were joint second at INR 21 crore. But perhaps the highlight of retention day was Mumbai Indians keeping all their big Indian players – Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma – for a total of INR 75 crore.Each team has a total purse of INR 120 crore to build their squads, but following the retention, Punjab Kings have the biggest purse remaining (INR 110.5 crore) to spend at the mega auction, having retained just two uncapped players – Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh – for a total of INR 9.5 crore. Rajasthan Royals have the smallest purse of INR 41 crore after they, along with Kolkata Knight Riders, retained the maximum of six players. KKR will have INR 51 crore to spend at the auction.The IPL has allowed teams to retain up to six players this time – of which a maximum of five can be capped and a maximum of two can be uncapped. The six players can either be retained outright ahead of the auction, or can be bought back using Right-to-Match (RTM) options at the auction, or a combination of both.If a player has been bought by another franchise at the mega auction, the franchise that he was part of in IPL 2024 can step in at the end of the bidding process and buy back their player using the RTM option by matching the highest bid. After that, the franchise that made the winning bid will be given another opportunity to raise the bid to whatever amount they wish. In that case, the player’s previous team will have to match the increased bid to buy back their player.Having retained just two players, PBKS have the most RTM options (four) at the auction. RCB, who retained three players, have three while Delhi Capitals, who retained four players, have two. Five teams – MI, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, SRH and LSG – retained five players each and have just one RTM option at the auction, while RR and KKR have no RTM options.There is of course no limit on the number of players a franchise can buy back if they place the highest bids for them during regular bidding at the auction.

The two teams play three ODIs in Sri Lanka between August 22 and 26

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2023Teenager Noor Ahmad appears to be in Afghanistan’s Asia Cup and World Cup plans having been called up to play a three-match ODI series against Pakistan. These matches, scheduled for August 22, 24 and 26, will be played in Sri Lanka and are the only ODIs on Afghanistan’s docket before they embark on the two biggest tournaments of the year in September and October.Noor, 18, has only played three ODIs for his country since making his debut in November 2022. He has, however, been one of the brightest talents on the franchise T20 circuit and gained considerable acclaim playing for Gujarat Titans in the IPL this year. The left-arm wristspinner at times out bowled senior pro Rashid Khan to finish with 16 wickets in the tournament.Noor has also been part of the Big Bash League in Australia, the Pakistan Super League and the Hundred in England as well. Although he wasn’t with Afghanistan for their most recent ODIs during the tour of Bangladesh last month, he did play two of the three matches against Sri Lanka in June 2023. Those were chastening experiences, though, both for him and the team. Afghanistan were beaten after going 1-0 up and Noor took just two wickets in 17 overs at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.29.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A bulk of the squad that made history by winning their first bilateral ODI series against Bangladesh have been retained. Izharulhaq Naveed, Nijat Masood and Zia-ur-Rehman, however, did not make the cut.ACB chief selector Asadullah Khan said: “Our whole concentration is to prepare the team for the upcoming two big events of Asia Cup and the World Cup 2023. This three-match ODI series against Pakistan provides us with a wonderful opportunity to prepare the team for the forthcoming two events.”The preparations for the Pakistan series are progressing well; the players have recently performed well in the Kabul Camp, which has been supervised by ACB’s high performance centre staff. The team will also undergo a week-long conditioning camp prior to the Pakistan series.”Afghanistan and Pakistan have only met each other four times in ODIs, and never in an actual bilateral series. At the end of these three games, Afghanistan have about a week’s gap before the start of the Asia Cup, where their campaign begins against Bangladesh in Lahore on September 3.