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Ecclestone, Sciver-Brunt and Wyatt-Hodge turn in the command performances to order

Valkerie Baynes07-Oct-2024When the going got tough, three of England’s most senior players stepped up to preserve their unbeaten start to the T20 World Cup.Sophie Ecclestone – the spearhead of England’s four-woman spin attack – contained a threatening South Africa with her 2 for 15 from four overs, despite their 124 for 6 making them the first side to pass 120 in Sharjah’s run-scoring desert. Then came Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Nat Sciver-Brunt, two vastly experienced batters who shared a 64-run stand for the third wicket to see England home by seven wickets with four balls to spare, and give them two wins from as many games.Ecclestone has been at the top of the world T20I rankings for four-and-a-half-years, yet went wicketless in England’s tournament opener against Bangladesh.On Monday, South Africa were looking strong at 37 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, then Ecclestone entered in the seventh over and straight away enticed a thick edge from Laura Wolvaardt, although wicketkeeper Amy Jones couldn’t hold a difficult chance.Ecclestone returned in the 11th over and conceded just two runs while threatening the top of a struggling Anneke Bosch’s middle stump. Then, crucially, Ecclestone removed South Africa’s two most dangerous batters, Wolvaardt swiping across the line as the ball crashed into middle and leg and Marizanne Kapp, who was ominously poised on 26 from 17 balls when she charged and missed to hear the death rattle behind her.Sciver-Brunt said that England’s opening match against Bangladesh had taught them the best way to deploy Ecclestone in Sharjah, where the pitch has been slow and the boundaries are vast.”She’s a bowler that can bowl wherever in the innings,” Sciver-Brunt said. “Saving her for a couple overs for when batters really want to get after her, having had a go on that wicket already, we learned pretty well that’s what would be really difficult, and she executed that really well.”Both sides were left to rue chances and half-chances, and England’s run-chase spluttered early on before the senior pair hit their stride.When Maia Bouchier strode down the pitch and lofted Kapp down the ground for a one-bounce four, it was England’s first shot in anger, as they reached 8 for 0 after three overs.After the powerplay, England were 28 for 1, Alice Capsey having arrived when Bouchier was out lbw to Kapp and trying to get things moving with two boundaries off one Chloe Tryon over.Related

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Capsey’s soft return catch to Nadine de Klerk prompted Wyatt-Hodge to get creative. She lapped Nonkululeko Mlaba, though the shot only went for two, and tried a couple of times to launch Sune Luus down the ground before latching onto one over the bowler’s head for four.Her 41 from 40 deliveries had been the standout performance of England’s victory over Bangladesh, and her run-a-ball 43 kept England in a close contest against South Africa while being more patient than usual.”It’s funny because she’s been very frustrated for both of the innings,” Sciver-Brunt said. “She’s probably used to being 70 off 40, but the innings that she’s playing for us are so important, and just being able to hit it in areas that only she can [find] probably makes her quite difficult to bowl at, even in these conditions. Hopefully she can continue doing that and not get too frustrated.”Sciver-Brunt, by contrast, is characteristically unflappable, and she moved up a gear in the 15th over with twin leg-side fours off Kapp’s fourth.By the time Wyatt-Hodge was stumped off Mlaba, England needed 11 off the last two overs and two more boundaries from Sciver-Brunt, including the winning runs clubbed over extra cover off Ayabonga Khaka saw them home.”When I came to the middle, obviously we were a little bit behind the rate,” Sciver-Brunt said. “But I knew that [would change] if me and Danni stayed together, put a partnership together, ran really well. I think that from the first game, that’s something we really wanted to do, run really well between the wickets, knowing that boundaries are quite hard to hit on that wicket. The importance of running twos and then maneuvering fielders out the way so that you can hit into a gap a bit easier. That was the plan.”England’s next match is against Scotland on Sunday, meaning an extended period of down-time before they return to Sharjah again with qualification very much in their own hands.”Two wins out of two, we’re pretty happy,” Sciver-Brunt said. “We’ve got about a five-day gap now until our next game so we’ll be taking that time to reset, have a couple of days off and then go again. We’re really happy to get over the line today and I’ll just be celebrating that.”

He is alleged to have attempted to convince players to fix in the 2020 Lanka Premier League

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Sep-2023Former Sri Lanka offspinner Sachithra Senanayake has been arrested by Sri Lanka Police on Wednesday, on charges related to match-fixing. According to the police’s media division, he is due to be produced in court in the next 24 hours.Senanayake, 38, is alleged to have attempted to convince players to fix in the 2020 Lanka Premier League. Although he was not himself a player in this tournament, and is understood to have been overseas at the time, Senanayake is alleged to have contacted more than one player taking part in the LPL. This information was then allegedly conveyed to the tournament’s anti-corruption officers.The arrest was made under the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports Act, which was introduced in 2019. Under this law, “any person who solicits, entices, persuades, or instructs any person… to influence the result, progress, conduct … of any sport, commits the offence of corruption in sports”. This is the first arrest made under this act.Last month, a court had also imposed a travel ban on Senanayake, after a probe was launched into the allegations.Senanayake had had something of a storied career before being pulled up on his action in 2014. He’d been a key part of Sri Lanka’s triumphant 2014 T20 World Cup campaign, and had also been bought for USD $625,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2013 IPL season.Although he made a return in 2014 with a remodeled bowling action, his career declined thereafter. He played the last of his 49 ODIs in December 2015, and the last of his 24 T20Is in 2016. He also played one Test in 2013, but didn’t take any wickets.

Travis Head has been rested by Cricket Australia ahead of the West Indies Test series

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2024Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey have been made available for their club’s next BBL matches in the small window between the Pakistan and West Indies Test series but ODI World Cup final hero Travis Head has been rested.Khawaja and Labuschagne are both set to feature for the undefeated Brisbane Heat against Perth Scorchers at the Gabba on Wednesday while Carey will line up for Adelaide Strikers against Hobart Hurricanes the day before.Steven Smith is also expected to feature for Sydney Sixers against Sydney Thunder on Friday with David Warner planning to helicopter to the game after his brother’s wedding.Related

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The availability of Khawaja and Labuschagne, who featured in the first game of the season against Melbourne Stars, will lead to some tricky selection decisions for Heat who have been the standout team so far this season with six wins in eight matches and are already assured of at least a top-three finish in the regular season.Their remaining two games are against defending champions Scorchers with those fixtures likely to determine who will finish top and host the Qualifier final on January 19.”It will be good for the group to have Usman and Marnus back around the team, especially as we get into the business end of the competition,” Heat coach Wade Seccombe said.Carey’s return is a boost for the struggling Strikers who are currently sixth with just two wins and will likely need to win their remaining three games to stand a chance of progressing.A Strikers statement added: “In consultation with Cricket Australia medical staff, Travis Head will not be available for Big Bash selection during the break between international Test series”Steven Smith was in spectacular form for Sydney Sixers last season•Getty Images

It has yet to be confirmed whether Carey will be available for the return fixture against Hurricanes in Hobart on Thursday. Mitchell Marsh won’t be available for Scorchers against Heat in Brisbane on Wednesday.Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc signed as marquee supplementary players with Thunder and Sixers respectively this season so they can have a role promoting the competition but have never been in line to play. Cameron Green does not have a BBL deal having opted not to take one this season due to a combination of the schedule and to focus on red-ball cricket.Lance Morris (Scorchers) and Scott Boland (Stars) have previously been released from the Test squad to play in the BBL.Nathan Lyon won’t be able to debut for Melbourne Renegades this season with their next game on Saturday, the day the Test squad is due to gather in Adelaide ahead of the first Test against West Indies from January 17.There is set to be a far larger window for Australia’s Test players to feature in the BBL next season with the Sydney Test against India in the first week of January to be the last of the home summer. This season’s schedule was pushed to a later start due to the ODI World Cup.

Leicestershire left-arm seamer named as replacement, with Stone likely to take place in team

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2024Josh Hull, the Leicestershire left-arm seamer, has been added to England’s squad for the final two Tests against Sri Lanka, following confirmation that Mark Wood will play no further part in the series after suffering a thigh injury.Hull, 20, is one of the most exciting young players on the county circuit, although his first-class record is modest with 16 wickets at 62.75. Standing at 6ft 7in, he played a key role in Leicestershire’s triumph in the Metro Bank One-Day Club last season, and impressed earlier this month on his England Lions debut, taking five wickets across two innings at New Road to help inflict a seven-wicket defeat on Sri Lanka’s tourists in their only warm-up game.He has only taken two wickets in three Championship games this season, but showcased an ability to push the speed gun up towards 90mph when making his debut in the Hundred for Manchester Originals last month.”It was about half nine last night when I got the call from Brendon McCullum,” Hull told BBC Radio Leicester. “It’s a very special moment.””It’s come around pretty quickly, I didn’t think it would happen this fast, but I am really excited to be joining them””I was happy with how I performed [for England Lions] but I never thought it would lead to a call this early. They’ve got Olly Stone there as the first replacement, so it will be a great opportunity to join up and be part of that environment.”Hull is currently in Bristol, taking part in Leicestershire’s Championship fixture with Gloucestershire, and is expected to join up with England’s squad in London on Monday ahead of the second Test at Lord’s, which begins on Thursday. The final Test of the summer, at the Kia Oval, takes place from September 6-10.Hull’s inclusion is the only change to England’s 13-man squad for the remaining two Tests, with Nottinghamshire’s Olly Stone likely to step into Wood’s role for what would be his fourth Test appearance, and his first since New Zealand at Edgbaston in June 2021. Stone has also been playing Championship cricket for Nottinghamshire this week, after being released from the England squad on the opening day of the first Test, alongside the reserve batter, Essex’s Jordan Cox.Related

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Wood’s status had been in some doubt from the moment he pulled up midway through his 11th over of Sri Lanka’s second innings on Friday evening. He took no further part in the match, and was subsequently sent for a scan midway on Saturday morning, with the results revealing a muscle strain in his right thigh.Though unfortunate in the short term, the diagnosis of a strain, rather than a tear, will be a relief for Wood and England, given the team’s busy winter schedule which includes three-Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand in the lead-up to Christmas.In his absence, England were made to battle for victory in the first Test, with Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal batting through the morning session of the fourth day to help post a taxing target of 205, which was eventually hunted down with five wickets standing, thanks to an unbeaten 62 from Joe Root.England squad for final two Tests: Ollie Pope (capt), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes

Centuries for Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon keep Northants under pump on shortened day

Paul Edwards27-Jul-2023
If anything is to help this game reverse up Stalemate Close, it is probably the black saucers of earth that lie at each end of the pitch. Batters regard them with suspicion while spin bowlers, of which Lancashire have two specialists, view them with delight. If only our top order can build a lead, they thought this morning, we could frolic in the footmarks on Friday. So as expected, when play began at Emirates Old Trafford on this third day, three hours late and with 29 overs snipped from our ration, Lancashire put the hammer down on an attack lacking Ben Sanderson, Tom Taylor and Rob Keogh.Carnage followed. Big style. And Phil Salt played one of the innings of the season, scoring a century which outshone even those of Luke Wells and Josh Bohannon and reminding everyone, perhaps including Salt himself, that his talents need not be confined to white-ball cricketThat said, Northamptonshire’s injured bowlers have taken 39 of their side’s 108 Championship wickets in 2023 and this day’s two sessions showed how sorely they are missed. To a degree, it also revived memories of the evening’s cricket at Blackpool just over a fortnight ago, when Lancashire’s attack was shredded by Dan Lawrence and Doug Bracewell. This time, however, it was Keaton Jennings’ batters who did the shredding, scoring 377 runs in 67 overs and ending the day with a lead of 156 runs and power to add on the morrow.Even in the present era, such fast-forward cricket lent the evening unreality. The achievement of bonus points every 50 runs, significant partnerships and the batter’s individual landmarks blurred into each other and passed with notebook-defeating speed. Rounds of applause blended into each other, for there always seemed something for home supporters to clap. Wells reached his first century of the season off 171 balls, Bohannon his second off 143 balls and Salt also made his second three-figure score of the campaign, reaching that landmark off 74 balls with his third straight six to add to his 11 fours. So yes, there were plenty of big shots but what was most noticeable, particularly during Bohannon’s 126-run stand for the third wicket in 19 overs with Salt, was the whippet-speed of the running between the wickets as ones became twos if the fielder had to make any ground towards the ball.And as so often on such occasions, catches went down, some more culpably than others. White had little choice but to throw his catch at deep square leg back inside the boundary as he toppled over the rope, thus giving Wells a life on 78, but shortly afterwards Lewis McManus had no such excuse when he spilled a very straightforward chance off Dominic Leech. McManus was standing back, Leech was standing aghast and Wells was still standing on 85 not out.The one Northamptonshire fielder to emerge from the massacre with any credit was Ricardo Vasconcelos, who took an unremarkable catch to dismiss Wells off White for 119 and then a very remarkable, one-handed, diving effort off the same bowler to remove Bohannon for 128. But the loss of those wickets was acceptable collateral damage for Lancashire, although the same could hardly be said when Croft received a box-splintering blow in the knackers from White and fell to earth like a lightweight on the end of a haymaker.Salt’s dismissal, caught at deep square leg off White for a 77-ball 105 brought the curtain down on chaos. Nine overs from the close, Bell was caught on the deep square leg boundary by Vasconcelos for 15 and Croft and Tom Bailey later fell to Luke Procter, who, along with White, was the only Northamptonshire bowler who will wish to consult his bowling figures this evening. But those late successes seemed taken from another game, one far detached from the mayhem of a post-tea session in which 222 runs were scored in 35 overs, and one even further removed from the sight of Salt hitting fours and sixes that astounded even his batting partner.

Nair, who smashed 112, set a new record of 542 runs without being dismissed, going past former New Zealand allrounder James Franklin

PTI03-Jan-2025Karun Nair on Friday broke the world record for most List A runs without being dismissed, while guiding Vidarbha to an eight-wicket victory over Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Nair, who smashed 112, set a new record of 542 runs without being dismissed, going past former New Zealand allrounder James Franklin, who in 2010 had managed a streak of 527 runs without getting out. Other prominent names in the list are: Joshua van Heerden (512), Fakhar Zaman (455) and Taufeeq Umar (422).The knock was his fourth hundred of the season – and third on the trot – as he helped Vidarbha overhaul UP’s 307 for 8 in just 47.2 overs. Nair’s unbeaten streak began on December 23, when he first blasted 112 off 108 balls against Jammu & Kashmir. He followed it up with an unbeaten 44 in a small chase against Chhattisgarh. He then made a season-high 168 not out against Chandigarh, helping Vidarbha chase down 316 in 48 overs, before finishing 2024 with another unbeaten ton – 111* against Tamil Nadu.On Friday, Vidarbha ended at 313 for 2 as Yash Rathod also made an unbeaten 138 off 140 balls. He and Karun shared a massive 228-run stand for the second wicket.The victory also enabled Vidarbha to position themselves comfortably as the top team in Group D with 20 points from five games ahead of second placed Tamil Nadu (14) and UP (14), who are on third.

Ayush Mhatre raced to an 80-ball 126 but with all results on the table, rain had the final say again

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay23-Jul-2025Ben Dawkins struck a century and Ralphie Albert claimed a ten-wicket haul as England Under-19 drew against India Under-19 in the second Youth Test in Chelmsford. Kent opener Dawkins made an impressive 136 and shared a 188-run opening stand with Adam Thomas before England declared on 324 for 5 thanks to some middle-order firepower, as they looked to pursue an unlikely win. But Ayush Mhatre’s century extinguished those hopes despite Surrey spinner Albert’s eventual match figures of 10 for 129. The result meant that the two-match series finished level.With the pitch offering little assistance at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, England’s openers picked up where they left off and Dawkins brought up his half-century with a flick off his pads for two in the fourth over of the day.Thomas provided ample support, on his way to 91, as England quickly extended their lead towards 200 in the first hour as the Indian attack toiled.India had a half-chance for an opening wicket as both openers entered the nervous nineties, but Dawkins narrowly avoided a run-out after taking a hasty single to cover.With lunch looming, Aditya Rawat finally got the breakthrough, taking a regulation caught-and-bowled chance as Thomas fell short of a century.Dawkins brought up a deserved hundred on the brink of lunch with a piercing cover drive for four, having nearly been caught on 99 playing the same shot on the previous ball.Ben Mayes looked to counterattack but was dismissed by Rawat for a quickfire 11 when a leading edge flew straight down the throat of Henil Patel at deep third.As England’s lead passed 250, Dawkins and Thomas Rew began to attack more with the skipper hitting a flurry of boundaries before Rawat bowled him for 19.As the runs flowed, so did the wickets, as Dawkins and Rocky Flintoff continued the boundary assault before both were caught in the deep.After Aaryan Sawant and Ekansh Singh smashed a few sixes of their own, England eventually declared on 324 for 5, leaving India with 65 overs to chase down 355 or simply survive.England got off to a dream start when Alex Green’s opening delivery was chopped on by 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, fuelling the hopes of victory.But India soon extinguished these hopes. While Vihaan Malhotra dug in, Mhatre attacked, racking up 50 in just 25 balls as India steadied the ship.Albert’s drop at long on when Mhatre was on 54 looked like a potentially pivotal moment as the clouds grew darker and the floodlights switched on.But Albert wasted no time in making amends with the ball, as he dismissed Malhotra in his first over, leaving India 100 for 2 as tea beckoned.India also harboured dim hopes of victory as Abhigyan Kundu joined Mhatre and hit two sixes in the first two overs after the break to keep ahead of the required run rate.Mhatre also kept the momentum going and made the most of his earlier reprieve to bring up a remarkable century off 64 balls.Kundu was equally aggressive in the middle and brought up his half-century with a well-placed four, striking at over 150 in the process.But Mhatre finally fell for 126, caught by Mayes on the long-on boundary as Albert got his revenge, triggering a mini-collapse for India.Kundu edged to slip 15 minutes later before Rahul Kumar chipped the ball straight back to Mayes, swinging the momentum back towards England.However, India’s lower order rallied and when drizzle forced the players off the umpires ended the match as a draw.

“Murphy is an exciting young bowler. He is not Nathan Lyon, but Nathan Lyon is not Shane Warne either”

Matt Roller24-Jul-2023Tom Moody believes that Australia must select Todd Murphy for the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Kia Oval, and that he should replace Cameron Green in the side.Australia went into the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford with three frontline seamers and two allrounders in Green and Mitchell Marsh, opting not to select a specialist spinner for the first time in more than a decade.They conceded 592 in just 107.4 overs as England looked to force a result before rain wiped out the majority of the fourth and the entirety of the fifth day. Moody, who played 84 times for his country and has enjoyed an extensive coaching career, believes that Australia must pick Murphy, the 22-year-old offspinner, to restore balance to their attack.Related

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“I know that they would’ve had their various reasons behind not playing Murphy, whether that was based around the fact that there was the weather that was potentially on the horizon, but that’s no guarantee,” Moody told ESPNcricinfo. “That would have looked pretty stupid if it had backfired.”To me, the attack did look like it lacked balance. Murphy is an exciting young bowler. He is not Nathan Lyon, but Nathan Lyon is not Shane Warne either. Murphy needs to create his own path and have his own journey; he has started that already and he has started pretty successfully.”I’d be surprised if he doesn’t come into the side just to create that balance, but also give the team better combinations for Pat Cummins to lean towards. In that fourth Test match, it was almost like he was looking around the field for options – and he was nearly looking in the mirror all the time.”Australia planned to use Travis Head as their main spinner in Manchester, but he bowled seven wicketless overs, which cost 52 runs. “That highlights the challenge of Test cricket,” Moody said. “You need to be a specialist at your craft, and you need complementary specialists in your attack.”He suggested that Australia should leave Green out of their side in order to fit Murphy in. “I think playing the two allrounders is a luxury, and to me, at this stage, Mitch Marsh is the one that looks like he can influence the game, which he’s already done since he’s returned with confidence.”There’s no question Cameron Green has got remarkable upside, but the here-and-now selection is Mitch Marsh. There are very few players in the history of the game that haven’t had setbacks, or been left out of sides for team combinations or form or whatever it might be. If anything, it’s probably something that might do him [Green] the world of good.”Moody expects Australia’s selectors to keep faith in David Warner, having retained him for the fourth Test. “The way I look at it, them deciding to play him at Old Trafford was nearly committing to him for the series,” he said. “If they were going to make a change, that was the moment to make it, but they clearly felt that he’d done enough.”And Moody believes that winning an away Ashes series for the first time since 2001 by avoiding defeat at The Oval would be “a huge achievement” for Australia. “The way that England have been playing Test cricket has been nothing short of outstanding to watch. They have set new standards, which is something to be admired and respected.Moody wants Australia to win the Ashes 3-1•Getty Images

“So to get a stranglehold so early in the series was credit to Pat Cummins and his team. To win away from home is difficult anywhere in the world, but probably the two hardest places are India and England. After the way the game petered out at Old Trafford, I would imagine their mindset would be making sure that they put the final nail in the coffin and try to win 3-1.”Moody was speaking at Lord’s as Desert Vipers – the ILT20 franchise for whom he works as director of cricket – launched a sustainability initiative which included a full-scale audit into their carbon footprint during the league’s inaugural season in the UAE earlier this year.Vipers called on other T20 franchises to follow suit in order to mitigate the negative impact that short-form leagues have on the environment, particularly with regard to long-haul flights. “Hopefully Desert Vipers have a unique opportunity to be trailblazers for other sporting teams,” Moody said.”When you see significant events happen globally around the impact of heat or flood, that’s when it’s an eye-opener. Missing a day’s play because it’s wet is insignificant compared to seeing whole communities impacted by devastating floods, for example, which we’re seeing constantly both in Australia and globally.”

Bumrah took three wickets as India successfully defended 229 against England

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2023Having to set a total for the first time in this World Cup, India found themselves in trouble with wickets falling regularly, and scraped to 229 for 9, largely thanks to Rohit Sharma’s 87 on a challenging pitch. But eventually, India pulled off a comfortable win over England, and Jasprit Bumrah feels it was a good challenge for the table-toppers.”It was really good for us because we’ve been fielding first and we’ve been doing that for a while now. Because [India chased] in the previous series as well, which I played,” Bumrah told after picking up 3 for 32 to help enginner India’s 100-run demolition of England.”It was good challenge for us that we were put under pressure,” Bumrah said. “We lost a little bit of early wickets. We had to squeeze in and in the field as well, we had to put in a lot of effort. So yeah, very happy with the result.”Related

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England, hunting their second win in the tournament, started well in their chase, with openers Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow taking them to 30 inside the first five overs. But Bumrah opened England up in the fifth over, getting Malan to chop on and trapping Joe Root lbw off consecutive deliveries.Mohammed Shami followed up with quick strikes of his own before Kuldeep Yadav’s corker to Jos Buttler put England in too deep a hole to climb out of.Bumrah said his plan was to try and find some swing with the new ball, but with nothing on offer moved to harder lengths to look for movement off the pitch.”Usually when you bowl with the new ball, you first search for swing if there is some swing. Otherwise you just try and hit a hard length and make it as difficult as possible,” Bumrah said. “So there was a little bit of swing, but not too much from my end.”Then I tried to seam the ball a lot more and which was helping a little bit. So then I changed to seam bowling.”While Bumrah took three wickets, Shami stole the show with a four-wicket haul that included the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali.Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took seven wickets between them•Associated Press

“He [Shami] is outstanding. He’s, you know, one of the legends of the game,” Bumrah said. “I feel he has always been quite calm. He doesn’t come out to be flamboyant, but he way he was bowling as if he was playing a Test match and [it] was really, really wonderful to see.”Usually we’ve had a lot of partnerships in Test-match cricket and I really enjoy bowling with him. So yeah, I’m really happy with the way he’s going on.”Bumrah made his return from injury in August after spending more than a year out with a stress reaction in his back. He admitted that he had heard questions asked whether fitness worries would cut his career short, but said he was unbothered by all the speculation.”My wife [the TV sports presenter Sanjana Ganesan] also works in the sports-media department. So yeah, I heard a lot of question marks on my career that I will never come back and all of that, but it doesn’t really matter,” Bumrah said. “I’m very happy. I came back and I realised how much I love playing the game. I was not chasing anything.”Great headspace was there when I came back from the injury. So yeah, eventually I’m looking at the positives and trying to enjoy as much as you can.”

Worcestershire, Derbyshire the only first-class counties not to tender for top tier of revamped structure

Valkerie Baynes14-Mar-2024Sixteen of the 18 first-class counties have bid for one of eight professional women’s teams in a revamped England and Wales domestic competition starting next season.Worcestershire and Derbyshire are the only two clubs among those invited to tender who have confirmed that they did not bid for a Tier 1 team under the new structure.Surrey, Lancashire, Sussex, Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Glamorgan, Essex and Gloucestershire all confirmed this week that they had lodged tenders with the ECB.Middlesex confirmed a bid on Monday, which had received “the full support of Marylebone Cricket Club”. MCC, which owns Middlesex’s home ground, Lord’s, and was also invited to bid for a team, have not submitted a proposal of their own.Kent and Northamptonshire announced their bids last week along with Durham, Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Somerset.Related

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• Kent, Northants to bid for professional women's teams in 2025

• Counties told to 'show their vision' as ECB revamps women's competitions

It is understood counties will be notified imminently of interview slots for the next stage of the process, with those interviews to take place by the end of March.In February, the ECB invited all 18 first-class counties plus MCC to tender for one of the Tier 1 clubs in a move away from the current regional structure which began in 2020. Currently, teams contesting the 20-over Charlotte Edwards Cup and 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fall under central ECB control and largely encompass more than one county.By aligning teams more closely with existing counties – and their men’s teams – the ECB is seeking to address an identity crisis that has afflicted some of the regional teams with ownership, responsibility and governance shifting to the clubs.First-class counties not awarded Tier 1 status, plus all National Counties, will be invited to take part in a process to determine the make-up of Tier 2 and 3 competitions, comprising 10-14 teams and 16-20 teams respectively.Despite there being no plans for promotion or relegation from 2025-28, Derbyshire have taken a longer-term view, electing to “pursue the establishment of a sustainable Tier 2 women’s structure, one which will hopefully grow into Tier 1 status” in future. Derbyshire have hosted training for existing regional women’s team the Blaze over the winter and staged at least one England Women’s international fixture every year for the past seven seasons. In 2020, Derby hosted all five T20Is against West Indies which comprised the England Women’s international season amid the initial wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.Explaining the club’s position, Derbyshire chief executive Ryan Duckett said: “Derbyshire makes up 9% of the population of the Midlands, yet 26% of women’s cricket that was played across the region in the last year involved a team from the county. There are also three players in the current senior England squad who have come through the Derbyshire pathway, which has been led by the Derbyshire Cricket Foundation, and we will continue to support further success in this area.”Our ambitions for ground development include enhanced training facilities underpinning a robust pathway structure, as well as increasing seating capacity to meet demand and ensure the club retains its status as a host venue for international women’s cricket… After honest assessment, we felt that in the short term, as a standalone county, it may have been essential to compromise what is currently being delivered as a collective across the region and therefore believe this decision is in the best interest of the game.”Worcestershire CEO Ashley Giles told the club’s podcast: “At this point it would just be more a funding and a resource issue for us. Even in ground facilities, changing facilities, practice wickets, it would be really challenging for us.”But the next process from here will be Tier 2 and even Tier 3 and certainly we’ll be into that. And, for us, we host the Central Sparks right now, which is the regional team, but we also have the Women’s Rapids and I’m very keen that we start to develop that team so that when we come to those next levels, Tier 2 for example, that we’re ready to go.”The ECB will invest a minimum of £1.3 million per year into each of the eight Tier 1 teams, a proportion of which will be ring-fenced for player salaries, sports science and medicine and talent pathways. There will be no mandated minimum financial commitment sought from the counties, who are expected to outline their projected investment as part of the tender process.The existing regions – South East Stars, Thunder, Sunrisers, Central Sparks, Western Storm, the Blaze, Northern Diamonds and Southern Vipers – will remain for the 2024 season.