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Zimbabwe veteran Sean Williams will make his return to the Test squad for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh, as the team prepare for a two-match series starting April 20.Williams had missed Zimbabwe’s previous Test, against Ireland, due to a back injury. Both he as well as the captain Craig Ervine, who pulled out of the Ireland game due to the birth of his child, have been included in the 15-man squad for the Bangladesh series. Wessly Madhevere, who had been a last-minute call-up to replace Ervine in the Ireland series, keeps his place for the Bangladesh Tests.Overall, Zimbabwe have made three changes from the squad that took on Ireland in February. Wicketkeeper-batter Joylord Gumbie makes way for Tafadzwa Tsiga, who returns to the national fold two years after making his Test debut against West Indies.Also returning is left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza, whose most recent Test appearance came during that same series against West Indies in 2023. He replaces young pace bowler Newman Nyamhuri.Fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani, who made history in February by becoming the first Zimbabwe pacer to claim seven wickets in a Test innings, will spearhead the bowling attack alongside Richard Ngarava.The only uncapped player in the squad is legspinner Vincent Masekesa.”We are very excited to be heading into a period where Test cricket will be our sole focus,” Zimbabwe head coach Justin Sammons said.”I am certain this group of players will continue to grow as individuals and as a team as they face new challenges in different conditions.”Zimbabwe will take on Bangladesh in the first Test in Sylhet from April 20, before moving to Chattogram for the second Test on April 28.This is Zimbabwe’s first Test in Bangladesh since February 2020, when the hosts secured victory in a one-off match in Dhaka by an innings and 106 runs.Squad: Craig Ervine (Captain), Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Ben Curran, Trevor Gwandu, Wessly Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Vincent Masekesa, Nyasha Mayavo, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Nicholas Welch, Sean Williams

Sam Konstas put away the scoops, ramps and sweeps on the second day at the SCG but could only make 17 before falling to Scott Boland for the second time in the match.The day after Konstas’ first-innings dismissal – missing a sweep against Boland from the 13th ball of the game – had ignited debate about his batting approach he was much more measured during New South Wales’ second innings in a clear response to what happened on Tuesday.Related

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Overall batting was tricky and NSW closed in a healthy position with a lead of 190 and six wickets in hand as both teams pushed for a victory that will be vital to their hopes of a place in the Sheffield Shield final.NSW head coach Greg Shipperd and batting coach Nick Larkin watched intently from the boundary edge for the duration of Konstas’ stay which ended shortly before tea when he square drove a short delivery from Boland to point.Until then, Konstas had shaped up solidly against some demanding new-ball bowling from Boland and Fergus O’Neill. He had taken until his 13th delivery to get off the mark, showing a clear intent to leave deliveries outside off, and defended largely with a straight bat although was troubled by Boland.Will Sutherland trapped Kurtis Patterson lbw•Getty Images

It wasn’t until the 11th over that he found the boundary, collecting back-to-back fours off Will Sutherland, before carving another just over point against Boland. It was an attempted repeat of that stroke which brought his downfall.”I’m all for entertainment and good batting, but that wasn’t good batting on day one. It was good fun for five minutes,” Phil Jaques, the former NSW coach, said on commentary. “It was better application from Konstas today, he was really patient and gave himself a chance to get in. It was a better innings, but unfortunately not much to show for it.”Nic Maddinson, who hit 20 off the second of the game yesterday, had fallen early to a pearler from O’Neill while Kurtis Patterson was pinned lbw by Sutherland having worked hard for 28.Matthew Gilkes and Josh Philippe, the latter who was struck a nasty blow on the helmet, added 55 to turn the game more firmly NSW’s way until Philippe fell late in the day to Boland. His innings had included a bizarre moment shortly before his dismissal when it appeared umpire Simon Lightbody was giving him lbw to Mitch Perry only to stop raising his finger part way through leaving Victoria perplexed.Victoria had resumed on 92 for 4 and were quickly in deep trouble when Jackson Bird had Marcus Harris caught at point second ball of the day then trapped Sam Harper lbw before the opening over was done. It left Bird on 399 Sheffield Shield wickets, one short of becoming the fifth bowler to reach 400.When Sutherland fell to Hanno Jacobs, Victoria were still more than 100 adrift but nightwatchman Perry, who was given a life at cover by Gilkes, and No. 9 O’Neill eked out 34 in 16 overs until O’Neill was well held at long leg by Jacobs when he top-edged what became the last ball before lunch.NSW were frustrated for nine overs by the last-wicket pair with Boland making a handy contribution before Perry was last out, driving to mid-off, have faced 122 balls for 29.

Human Rights Watch has called on the ICC to suspend Afghanistan’s membership and ban the Taliban-run nation from competing in international cricket.The request came via an email addressed to ICC chair Jay Shah, dated February 3 and made public on March 7, with the subject line: “Suspending the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Implementing a Human Rights Policy”.Human Rights Watch describes itself as an independent, international, non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on human rights abuses by states and non-state actors around the world.”We are writing at this time to urge the International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend Taliban-run Afghanistan from ICC membership, and from participating in international cricket, until women and girls can once again participate in education and sport in the country,” the email said.Related

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“We also urge the ICC to implement a human rights policy based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”We note that you have pledged ‘to allocate more resources to women’s cricket’ during your tenure at the helm of global cricket and ‘champion the ICC’s mission further by allocating more resources and attention to women’s cricket’.”However, since retaking power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a long and growing list of rules and policies that bars women and girls from exercising their fundamental rights, including to freedom of expression and movement, many forms of employment, and education beyond sixth grade. These affect virtually all their rights, including to life, livelihood, shelter, health care, food, and water.”The email went on to say that the ICC’s anti-discrimination policy for international cricket states that it is committed to ensuring that wherever cricket is played, it can be enjoyed by all participants regardless of their respective backgrounds. It pointed out that the policy also strives to ensure all participants can enjoy sport without being subjected to intimidating conduct on the basis of – among other factors – sex, gender, marital status and/or maternity status.The email also argued that while payments to Afghanistan’s Women’s team were suspended in 2021, the country’s men’s team continues to receive financial and logistical support, apparently in contravention of the ICC’s own anti-discrimination rules.Nahida Sapan and Firooza Amiri speak to the media ahead of the Cricket Without Borders match in Melbourne in January•Getty Images

“By not allowing women and girls to play cricket, and not allowing a national team for women and girls to compete internationally, the Afghanistan Cricket Board is failing to abide by this Anti-Discrimination Policy,” Human Rights Watch said.”We note that cricket has been included as a sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and yet the Taliban’s ban on women and girls participating in the sport is a severe violation of the Olympic Charter’s guarantee that ‘the practice of sport is a human right’.”Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, women have been forced to adhere to an increasingly restrictive range of laws barring them from most areas of public life, including sport. Shortly before that, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had agreed to contract 25 women’s players, most of whom now live in exile in Australia.In July last year, former members of the Afghanistan women’s national team, no longer recognised as such by the country’s Taliban rulers, wrote to the ICC asking to be recognised as a refugee team.Several of those players united in an Afghanistan Women’s XI for an exhibition match against a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval in January.A protest outside Lord’s on the eve of the Afghanistan-England Champions Trophy match in Lahore in February•PA Photos/Getty Images

Around that time, the ECB came under pressure from a group of British MPs to boycott their recent Champions Trophy fixture against Afghanistan – who knocked England out of the competition – while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the ICC to “deliver on their own rules”.England and Australia have opted not to play Afghanistan in bilateral games, while agreeing to face them at ICC events, with ECB chief executive Richard Gould calling for a “co-ordinated, ICC-led, response” rather than unilateral action from individual countries.The issues of banning or boycotting the men’s team is complex, with some of the formerly contracted Afghanistan women’s players telling ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast that they didn’t want to see their male counterparts prevented from playing because they offered hope, but they did want them to do more for the women and girls who were being denied the same rights.Afghanistan fans settle down to watch their team play England in Lahore•Getty Images

Human Rights Watch asked for a timely response from the ICC to a number of questions, including what steps the governing body is taking towards developing a human rights policy, why it hasn’t suspended the ACB from playing international cricket until women and girls have access to education and sport and, would it be prepared to recognise the Afghanistan women’s national team in exile, allowing it to train, compete and receive ICC financial support.It also asks what steps the ICC has taken or plans to take to “pressure the Afghanistan Cricket Board to include women and girl players in their competitions” and what funding or other support has been or will be provided to the Afghanistan Cricket Board.”The International Cricket Council should follow in the steps of other sport governing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee, by calling on the Taliban to include Afghan women and girls in sport, and committing to a human rights frame work,” the email concluded.The ICC has been contacted for comment.

Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane has backed his team-mate Rohit Sharma to “get a big one” as the India Test captain returns to the Ranji Trophy after low returns in his last eight Tests this season. In the three Tests in Australia and five at home before that, Rohit managed only 164 runs from 15 innings to average a dismal 10.93.Rohit now returns to the domestic cricket – although likely for one round before the ODIs against England – along with many other India Test players such as Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and possibly Virat Kohli.”What is important is he is hungry, he is determined to do well,” Rahane said of Rohit on the eve of Mumbai’s next fixture starting on Thursday. “I am sure once he gets in, he will get a big one.Related

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“He batted really well yesterday [in] a couple of [net] sessions, so it’s part and parcel of a player’s career. I am really confident about Rohit.”Rohit has always been relaxed. Even playing at the international level, his character is similar. His attitude is pretty much relaxed. He knows his game really well so, no one has to tell him what he needs to do.”Once he gets in, I’m sure he will do well. He has never changed, which is a very good thing.”After the coming round in which Mumbai host Jammu & Kashmir at home, Rohit will captain India against England in a three-match ODI series starting on February 6 followed by the Champions Trophy.”I think he’s only playing this game; not sure about the next game,” Rahane said of Rohit’s availability. “His inputs in the next four days will be really important.”Mumbai also have Jaiswal for the upcoming round, although he was among India’s better batters on the tour of Australia, with a knock of 161 in Perth at the start of the series and twin half-centuries in Melbourne. Rahane said the return of Rohit and Jaiswal would add a lot of value in the dressing room too.”As a team, [and] individually, players are going up to them [and] asking questions, learning from them,” Rahane said. “Once they are on the field, I am sure the players will watch them and they’ll learn a lot of things from them.”Rohit and Jaiswal are expected to open together for a star-studded Mumbai line-up that will also see Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur along with other domestic stars such as Shams Mulani, Siddhesh Lad and Tanush Kotian.

Marnus Labuschagne’s long-time batting mentor has cautioned him against over-training ahead of the second Test in Adelaide and be less rigid in his gameplan as he attempts to emerge from what is the most serious batting slump since he became an international cricketer.While collectively Australia’s top order is underperforming, Labuschagne is the one squarely in the spotlight after two ugly innings at Optus Stadium. On the first day he laboured to 2 off 52 balls before missing a straight delivery from Mohammed Siraj and on the third evening left a delivery from Jasprit Bumrah that would have smashed the stumps.Related

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The twin failures left Labuschagne with 123 runs from his last 10 innings of which 90 came in one knock against New Zealand in March. Overall this year he is averaging 24.50 in Tests to follow a 2023 where that figure was 34.91 having been above 60 in three of the previous four years.Labuschagne was already back in the nets while the opening Test drew a conclusion in Perth on Monday and was expected to train individually before the squad links back up a day earlier than planned in Adelaide.”I’d probably just half what he usually does. Just try and clear it up a bit,” Neil D’Costa told ESPNcricinfo. “Keep working on reacting more, not having such rigid plans. Every batter goes through this. Almost everyone around 30 years old – I don’t know why it’s that number – seems to have this glitch. He’s a guy we all know, he loves playing cricket. He never leaves a stone unturned. He’s super fit. Does he overthink things? I don’t know, possibly everyone does.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“When someone gets to the stage where they are the No. 1 player in the world, they are going to become a target. He couldn’t keep going. He’d be averaging 80. At some stage, I don’t want to say it had to happen…it happens to a lot of players. They try a bit too hard and like [Virat] Kohli you have to keep trusting yourself, trusting your processes, trust what you do. Go back and find a way the next day.”Labuschagne’s lack of positivity at the crease came under significant focus after his first innings. “The manner that he’s been playing, for me it’s such a negative mindset, and he has been for a little while,” Aaron Finch said on . “What that does, when you’re coming up against great attacks – Jasprit Bumrah is as good as we’ve ever seen, Siraj a very good fast bowler – it just allows them to settle in, you’re not putting much pressure on them, so their margin for error becomes huge.”D’Costa, who has already spoken with Labuschagne since the Test, believed he was within his rights to think he could leave the delivery from Bumrah. “That ball was 8.3 metres [from the stumps], that’s going over the stumps all day, every day,” he said. “It just hit the top of the stumps. With a millisecond to make a decision, he saw the length and let it go and it skidded. Are we going to lose sleep over that? I’m not. Would you like him to score runs, absolutely.”Marnus Labuschagne left a lot of balls in the first innings…and fell leaving one in the second•Associated Press

Labuschagne’s two lbw dismissals in Perth come amid a period where a tendency to be caught playing away from his body had crept into his game which D’Costa partly attributes to him working on his white-ball batting.”If you look at how he plays, he lets a lot of balls go. He always has,” he said. “Think maybe he was working really hard at being a one-day player so for a little while he lost that. And he started nicking. Let me tell you, they [India] bowled so well. They knew exactly he wanted that ball on leg stump. They did not bowl there. If anything, they bowled wide. This team is really well prepared. They executed very well.”After the defeat, captain Pat Cummins acknowledged Labuschagne’s difficulties would be a focal point in the days ahead.”Marn, along with quite a few guys in the team, didn’t have the week we would have wanted,” he said. “It’s no secret how hard the batters, particularly Marn, works in the nets. He’s always trying to find those small marginal gains. This week will be a lot of conversation with the coaches around his approach and what he could be doing differently.”

The year 2024 has been like a box of chocolates for Shreyas Iyer. He wouldn’t have known 10 months ago what all he was going to get.He started the year playing Test cricket but was soon dropped from the side during the home England series. When he skipped Ranji Trophy briefly, he lost his BCCI central contract worth INR 3 crore.But he returned to win the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai with a knock of 95 in the final before ending KKR’s ten-year drought by leading them to the title as captain.Related

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With back issues bothering him at the start of the year, Iyer’s big challenge in this domestic season was to be patient, play long innings and stay fit by playing one red-ball game after another. And in five first-class matches that started with the Duleep Trophy in early September, Iyer began a stretch of four scores of 50 or more in 11 innings that culminated with a Ranji Trophy century against Maharashtra on Saturday – 142 off 190 balls studded with 12 fours and four sixes, including a couple off short balls. It was Iyer’s first century in first-class cricket in nearly three years, since his hundred on Test debut against New Zealand in Kanpur. Iyer says he is “absolutely keen for a comeback” with runs behind him and his back 100% fine.Calling the century “special,” Iyer said: “Coming back after a very long time, obviously I was feeling a bit down with my injuries, but now getting a century after a very long time, it’s a great feeling.”I am absolutely keen for a [Test] comeback but yeah, as we say, control the controllables and my job is to keep performing and keep participating as much as possible and also see with that my body is in best shape. So I’ll take the best decision possible according to that.”Iyer revealed that after his back surgery last year, he went through a phase where he had doubts that the injury might recur. He came back from an injury layoff in the Asia Cup last year that was followed by the ODI World Cup at home before he played the two Tests in South Africa at the turn of the year and then two more against England at home. Iyer had said at the end of IPL 2024 that he was “definitely struggling” with his back in the longer format but “no one was agreeing” when he raised the concern. Does he still feel such doubts about his back creep in sometimes?”Not anymore,” he said. “But there was this phase where I was feeling that it might occur again. But yeah, I trained a lot to see to it that I have optimum fitness and obviously it comes here and there, but now my capacity has improved a lot.”Shreyas Iyer: ‘I am absolutely keen for a [Test] comeback but yeah, as we say, control the controllables’•PTI

And how did he get his body there?”Training. Yeah, obviously I improved my long-distance running and that’s what I wanted to. You know, increase my patience as well in terms of the longer format and according to that I was training. [I did] intensive training like I was stressing up my body, like pushing my body 400-800 meters of running and I was trying to push my limits and seeing to it that I was at the best fitness possible.[Earlier], even when I would sit for long, stand for long, the back would get stiff automatically and yeah, basically that’s what I wanted to improve on.”Did the fitness issues and how he thought “nobody was agreeing,” create an inaccurate perception about him for Test cricket?”See, I had addressed my feeling during the longer format and things didn’t go my way,” he said, implying that he was willing to put it behind him. “But I’ve also addressed it in the previous interviews I’ve given and I’m in a good space right now. I’m doing what I’m meant to do, that is training and playing matches consistently and I feel that all the matches I’ve played right now in the past have helped me gain that fitness level as well, along with my training.”Playing his sixth first-class match in a row in the last six weeks, Iyer said, “The body has taken a lot of load at the same time. So we have to manage here and there and see to it that I strategise in terms of how I play. Now I have to be smart in terms of what decisions I take, I need to see to it that my body is in the best shape possible. As I mentioned previously as well, I have to decide according to that, no matter whatever people think outside. I have to listen to my body because I know the amount of threshold carried over the last few years and based on that, I’ll be taking the right decision, and I hope that my team will also back [that].”Iyer further said that coming back from injury for the longer format, he also had to change the way he approached the red-ball format. Iyer faced 190 deliveries during his knock spread across Friday and Saturday, and the last time he consumed as many deliveries in first-class cricket was back in December 2022 in Chattogram, scoring a patient 86 off 192 in the first innings of the first Test. Since then, there were only two occasions when Iyer faced over 100 deliveries in a first-class innings in 28 attempts.”Nowadays when the teams come up, they straightaway put a defensive field right from ball one,” he said. “So I was just trying to take some time, in between trying to play more balls than scoring shots, so that was my plan. Play session by session and try to see how much my body can take. When I said that I played a few matches in the past, that was the reason where I got to know that I can smash every ball, but at the same time I have to bat longer if I want my body to be ready for any situation provided by the opposition. And yeah, we faced many challenges in the past.”Like even in the previous match, Baroda gave us a rank-turner and they performed brilliantly and we were put under the pump. So you know, different occasions, different demands and we have to see to it that we are in the best mindset possible.”After the game against Maharashtra, Iyer will play three more league games Mumbai are slotted to play this year before the Ranji Trophy season will be paused for the 50-over and 20-over white-ball tournaments. It might be a little far-fetched to say that Iyer will be a strong contender for the Australia tour, having not been named in the India A squad for the two red-ball games starting October 31.Does Iyer feel he has had a mixed bag of chocolates this year?”You win three championships in a year, and what else can you ask for? All I see is the positive things over here and that is winning the trophy and that’s what I want.”

Mahmudullah will retire from T20Is at the end of Bangladesh’s ongoing bilateral series in India. He made the announcement on Tuesday, at a press conference on the eve of the second game in Delhi. Mahmudullah, 38, said that he had informed the relevant people in Bangladesh cricket about his decision, and will continue playing ODIs.”I am retiring from T20I cricket after the last game of this series. I was pre-decided before coming here,” Mahmudullah said. “I had a chat with my family. I spoke to the coach [Chandika Hathurusinghe], captain [Najmul Hossain Shanto], chief selector [Gazi Ashraf Hossain] and the board president [Faruque Ahmed] as well. I think it is the right time to move on from this format for me and the team. Especially with the World Cup coming up in less than two years. I will concentrate on the one-day game.”Three years ago, Mahmudullah had retired from Tests during a game against Zimbabwe. His white-ball career went off the rails somewhat when he was dropped for two years from the T20I side, missing 27 matches between 2022 and 2023. He returned in T20Is with a 54 against Sri Lanka earlier this year, but had an ordinary campaign at the T20 World Cup, before falling for 1 in the first T20I against India in Gwalior.Related

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A former captain in the format, Mahmudullah will retire as the join third-most-capped T20I player in history. He has played 139 matches and two more matches will take him level with George Dockrell at 141. He is also Bangladesh’s second-highest run-scorer in the format, only behind Shakib Al Hasan. Mahmudullah has also played in the most defeats in this format, and earlier this year he became Bangladesh’s oldest player in T20Is.Mahmudullah’s T20I career will be remembered for his transformation as a big-hitter almost a decade after his debut. At the start of 2016, Hathurusinghe had given him the role of finisher. He took up the challenge, adding more aerial shots to his repertoire.”Back in 2016, there was a T20 World Cup in India. Before that, we had a training camp in Khulna. I changed my batting approach from that camp,” Mahmudullah said. “I had to bat at No. 6 or 7, so I decided to change my approach and style. It was the team’s finisher role. It was a very tricky place to bat. Not always you could finish the game. People would usually highlight the ones you didn’t finish, rather than the ones you were there for. But it is part and parcel of this game.”He raised his strike rate for the following couple of years, culminating in his best T20 knock in 2018. His unbeaten 43 off 18 balls against Sri Lanka took Bangladesh to the Nidahas Trophy final, and it was played with an umpiring controversy around, which led to then captain Shakib nearly calling off the Bangladesh innings. Despite all that – during the last over of an already tense chase – Mahmudullah held his nerve and won the match off the penultimate ball when he whipped Isuru Udana for a six.Mahmudullah called the innings a career “highlight”, and identified Bangladesh’s defeat against India in the 2016 T20 World Cup match in Bengaluru as the most “frustrating moment” in his career. He said that although Bangladesh didn’t win a major trophy during his T20I career, the team did take strides forward in the 17 years since his debut.”Definitely we didn’t win a major trophy, but I don’t agree that we don’t have any achievements,” he said. “I think if a trophy is the only benchmark then many legends wouldn’t be called legends. The situation is very different from the time I made my debut in 2007 to now. It is not just due to the [‘five Pandavas’ from the , a reference to the combination of Shakib, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Mashrafe Mortaza]. Every player, coach and team management involved, have all contributed to this change in Bangladesh cricket.”Mahmudullah said that there were several players in Bangladesh who could replace him in the finisher’s role, but it was a batting position that required patience and support from the coach and captain. “Jaker Ali, Shamim [Hossain], Afif [Hossin] and Yasir Ali can be good choices at No. 6 or 7,” he said. “It is not easy to bat there in T20Is. You have to be brave. You can’t think about failure. You have to go out there, and hit the ball as hard as you can. Coach and captain has to back the batter in that position.”

South Africa 271 for 9 (Rickelton 91, Stubbs 79, Adair 4-50, Young 3-45) beat Ireland 132 (Dockrell 21, Williams 4-32, Fortuin 2-28, Ngidi 2-35) by 139 runs Career-best ODI scores from Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs respectively and career-best List A figures of 4-32 from Lizaad Williams helped South Africa crush Ireland by 139 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.Rickelton and Stubbs put on a 152-run partnership in the middle of two mini-collapses to help South Africa get to 271 before Williams’ three-for in an eight-over opening spell left Ireland five down inside 14 overs. Ireland eventually only got to 132.South Africa got off to a watchful start, with Rickelton doing a majority of the scoring early on. He cut Mark Adair through point for a boundary off the first ball of the match before hitting a couple of cover drives off Graham Hume and Adair.In between, Hume induced the outside edge from him but was dropped by wicketkeeper Stephen Doheny.But Adair got the breakthrough in the seventh over, when he changed tactics and banged one in short. Tony de Zorzi got a top edge as he looked to pull and was taken at deep backward square.Temba Bavuma was then given out lbw first ball as a length ball jagged in from outside off, but was reprieved as he reviewed and ball-tracking showed the ball going over middle stump.But it was short-lived relief for the South African captain, as Craig Young got another inducker to beat his defence and crash into the stumps.Two wickets in two overs became three in three as Adair ended his first spell by getting Rassie van der Dussen to edge to second slip.Once the first powerplay ended, spin came in and that led to more chances. Stubbs tried to reverse-sweep Andy Mcbrine but hit it straight to short third where Craig Young shelled a catch in the seventeenth over. One ball later, Rickelton lofted debutant legspinner Gavin Hoey down the ground and just cleared long-on, who was standing a few yards inside the ropes and had to track back.Hume came back into the attack in the 22nd over, and was launched over long-on by Stubbs as he brought up a half-century stand with Rickelton.Rickelton brought up his maiden ODI half-century off 74 balls in the 26th over and immediately put his foot down on the accelerator.Hoey bowled a couple of half-volleys and Rickelton first lofted him down the ground before slog-sweeping him over midwicket. When Hoey shortened his length, Rickelton adjusted to steer it past the wicketkeeper for a boundary in what was an 18-run over.Stubbs brought up a 62-run fifty in the next over, before Rickelton slapped Campher through backward point for another boundary to bring up the century stand. While the first fifty runs of their partnership took 73 balls, they took just 39 balls to get the next fifty.Stubbs then came down the ground to Craig Young for a six over long-on that brought up 150 for South Africa in the 30th over, before Hoey was swept behind square by Rickelton next over.Even as Stubbs hit McBrine and Adair for boundaries, that was the last one Rickelton hit. After facing ten balls without a boundary, Rickelton tried to go after a full and wide delivery from McBrine but ended up dragging the ball on, falling nine runs short of a maiden ODI century.File photo: Lizaad Williams ended with 4 for 32•ICC via Getty Images

That dismissal sparked another mini-collapse as Adair combined with Balbirnie for two wickets in his next two overs. Stubbs pulled the fast bowler to Balbirnie at short midwicket before Phehlukwayo was done in by a slower ball and ended up spooning it short cover.A slower ball brought about another wicket as Wiaan Mulder was early in his attempt to pull Young and holed out at deep midwicket.Young then had his third when Williams skied his pull to deep midwicket, as South Africa lost five wickets for 38 runs.Bjorn Fortuin took South Africa past 250 as he hit Young for two boundaries before pulling Hume to midwicket for a 34-ball 28. Ngidi then hit a four and a six to take South Africa to 271.Ngidi continued giving South Africa momentum when the chase began, as he got Paul Stirling to chop on.Balbirnie and Curtis Campher then rebuilt for Ireland, adding 35 runs including top-edged sixes from both batters, before Williams drew an inside edge from Balbirnie that hit the stumps.Harry Tector brought out two gorgeous drives, one through point and one down the ground, off consecutive balls from Williams before he was trapped in front next ball.Williams then got one to stop on Campher, who was early into a shot and ended up offering a simple catch to cover.Debutant Ottneil Baartman then had his maiden ODI wicket when he got one to jag in and go through Doheny’s defence. George Dockrell and Adair hung around before the latter got a feather edge off Ngidi in the 21st over.Four overs later, Dockrell chopped on off Mulder before Fortuin trapped Hoey in front next over to ensure all of South Africa’s bowlers got on the wickets column.Williams returned to complete his quota and bounced McBrine out in his final over before Fortuin had Hume caught at mid-off to wrap up the win.

England are anticipating empty stadiums at October’s Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, but believe that their upcoming training camp in Abu Dhabi will mitigate the impact of the late change in venue from Bangladesh to Dubai and Sharjah.The ICC confirmed last week that the tournament will no longer be played in Bangladesh after weeks of civil unrest which prompted the prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. England’s squad did not change as a result of the shift but they are expecting a difference in conditions in the UAE – not least off the field, with attendances likely to be low.”It’s going to be a bit different,” Heather Knight, England’s captain, said. “There definitely would’ve been bigger crowds in Bangladesh, having played there in 2014 in the World Cup. We actually got some really good crowds, particularly in Sylhet… It’s become the norm for us to have people around. It is something we’ll talk about, but it’s a World Cup: it shouldn’t take too much to get up for that.”Related

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England will play their first three fixtures at Sharjah Cricket Stadium (16,000 capacity) and their final group match at Dubai International Stadium (25,000). Neither venue managed to attract big crowds for games which did not involve India or Pakistan during the men’s T20 World Cup in 2021, nor do they regularly stage women’s international cricket.”Some people thrive off the noise and the energy from the crowd, so [it’s about] making sure, individually, that everyone is prepared for potentially what we’re going to get. I don’t think, suddenly, there’s going to be a big rent-a-crowd. But it is what it is, and obviously safety and things like that are probably the most important things,” Knight said.While England have spent the past 18 months planning for a tournament in Bangladesh, doubling down on a spin-heavy strategy, Knight backed the ICC’s decision to shift the venue. “It’s obviously a shame for the Bangladesh team that they’re not going to have a home World Cup,” she said. “But I think it’s probably the right decision… the conditions will be slightly different, but not hugely.”England will arrive in Abu Dhabi on September 13, three weeks before their opening World Cup match, for a training camp. “[That is] the bit that’s a big advantage for us,” Jon Lewis, their head coach, said. “We’ve asked them to prepare wickets that are similar to what you would expect in the two stadiums, so by the time we get to the tournament itself, we think we’ll be really ready.”Dubai and Sharjah have only sporadically hosted women’s T20Is: Sharjah has staged 10 – most recently in 2017 – and Dubai only five, all between UAE and Namibia a year ago. It means that England are relying on data from men’s matches in their preparation, and are wary of going into the World Cup with too many preconceived ideas about conditions.”There’s obviously not been a huge amount of women’s cricket there, so you’re going off men’s stats,” Knight said. Lewis expects the toss to play a major role in floodlit games, as in the men’s T20 World Cup three years ago: “It will be a factor,” he said. “There are some subtle differences in terms of the wickets in Sharjah and the stadium in Dubai.”Lewis and Knight confirmed that England would have selected the same squad even if the tournament had stayed in Bangladesh, and played down concerns that they are one seamer light. “I don’t feel like we are,” Lewis said. “The thing that may be trickier for the spin bowlers is gripping the ball with some dew… but we do know that spin is really effective in the women’s game in general.”Lauren Filer was the only player to feature in England’s home T20Is this summer to miss out on selection, though will travel to Abu Dhabi for next month’s training camp. She was edged out by Linsey Smith, the left-arm spinner, who Lewis suggested covered more bases: “In the Powerplay, she’s a really effective bowler, and then she can bowl through the middle and the death.”Knight described Filer as being “really unlucky to miss out” and was impressed by her performances during the Hundred, despite her only taking six wickets in eight matches. “She bowled brilliantly without taking the wickets that she deserved,” Knight said. “But the squad we’ve picked gives us the most flexibility around potential conditions that we might face.”

England sealed their domination of New Zealand via Maia Bouchier’s maiden international century and Sophie Ecclestone’s five-wicket haul to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three match ODI series.Ecclestone’s 5 for 25 from nine overs was instrumental in bowling New Zealand out for a sub-par total for the second game in a row – this time they were bundled out for 141 in 41.5 overs – and Bouchier saw England home with 25.3 overs to spare.Only four New Zealand batters, led by Amelia Kerr’s 43, reached double figures, but, as in the opening match of the series in Durham when they were all out for 156, it didn’t look like nearly enough. England’s bowlers kept New Zealand hemmed in, sending down 10 maidens between them, and Amelia faced 10 deliveries in seven overs for her last three runs.Early incisions by Kate Cross and Lauren Filer had New Zealand floundering at 10 for 2 in the sixth over.Ecclestone was introduced to the attack in the 12th over but it wasn’t until the 18th that she broke a sedate partnership of 46 in 72 balls between Sophie Devine and Amelia, her beautifully flighted delivery luring Devine well down the pitch, then dipping and turning to beat the bat as Amy Jones whipped off the bails.Maddy Green had faced 28 balls for her four runs before doubling her score by lofting the penultimate ball of Cross’ allocation to long-on. Green had reached 30 off 48 when Charlie Dean pinned her on the pad with one that turned sharply from outside off stump to end a 58-run stand with Kerr.Her dismissal brought Brooke Halliday to the crease, the standout performer with her half-century in an otherwise poor display by New Zealand’s batters in their nine-wicket defeat last Wednesday. But Halliday couldn’t repeat her innings after she was undone on 6 attempting to sweep an Ecclestone delivery, which clattered into off stump.Ecclestone made it two wickets in four balls and three for the match when, next over, she bowled Lauren Down for a duck with an excellent ball that turned past the bat and crashed into the top of middle stump. That ended Down’s first international appearance since giving birth to daughter Ruby in January before it had begun.Amelia faced 86 balls for her score, passing 2000 career ODI runs in the process, but her innings was otherwise uneventful, her dismissal via a return catch to Dean coming amid a collapse of seven wickets for 27 runs in 10.4 overs. During that time, Ecclestone also removed Izzy Gaze and Molly Penfold.It was Alice Capsey who took the last wicket when she had Jess Kerr caught slog-sweeping to deep midwicket by Nat Sciver-Brunt for 14 with only her fifth delivery of the day.Maia Bouchier celebrates after reaching her maiden international hundred•Getty Images

Tammy Beaumont survived New Zealand’s review when she was adjudged not out lbw on the first ball of the run-chase, Jess striking the pad with one that moved in but was shown to be tracking down the leg side.As in Durham, Beaumont and Bouchier broke the back of the target, this time via a 73-run partnership in 80 balls. Bouchier took charge here, even more so once Beaumont was run-out by the finest of margins for 28. Bouchier struck Amelia to cover, where Suzie Bates gathered and threw the ball back to the bowler to catch Beaumont short despite the dive.Bouchier was on 42 at the time but unfurled five boundaries in eight balls in the aftermath of Beaumont’s dismissal, four of them off one Devine over. She smashed another off Amelia through the leg side moments before Heather Knight despatched Halliday for the only six of the match, over deep square leg. Knight perished on 9, spooning Halliday straight to Amelia at midwicket.Bouchier was on 92 when she was given not out attempting to pull a Jess delivery, which rapped the back pad low down and New Zealand’s review was turned down on umpire’s call, keeping the century on the table.Bouchier skied the next ball and it dropped short of long-off as she and Sciver-Brunt scampered two and two singles took her past her previous best, 95, scored in the third ODI against Sri Lanka last September.With four more runs needed to win, Sciver-Brunt blocked the remaining four balls of Penfold’s over – one of them a full toss – to give Bouchier the strike. Bouchier tucked Jess’ first delivery to backward square leg and ran two more. Then, after a dot ball prodded towards point, Bouchier struck the next into the space through midwicket and took off for the two runs she needed to reach her ton and complete England’s victory.