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Their run-scoring methods haven’t worked on this tour and part of that is due to the variety in the Indian bowling attack

Alagappan Muthu11-Feb-2025

Big picture: Variety the spice of both life and ODI bowling attacks

Jos Buttler, all though this ODI series, has been conscious of doing well for longer but also of playing watchable cricket. He picked up Rohit Sharma’s 72-ball hundred as an example of how that is a virtue worth striving for; that being “dynamic” and “aggressive” is how the game needs to be played in the modern day.Rohit, having suffered months where nothing went right – maybe a ball rolling off his forward defensive and onto his stumps at the start of the season should’ve been a clue – looked up and saw four fast bowlers coming at him on a slow and low pitch and all four of them were virtually the same. Mark Wood had a little more pace. Saqib Mahmood swings it a bit but essentially they were all tall guys operating in the 130-140 kph in conditions that were never going to help them.England, meanwhile, had to score their runs against a mystery spinner who had already run through them in the T20I leg of the tour. Varun Chakravarthy, on ODI debut, picked up a wicket in his second over. They had to navigate two very different left-arm spinners. Axar Patel doesn’t rely on turn. He round-arms it in looking for lbw and bowled. Ravindra Jadeja doesn’t distinguish between edges of the bat like that. He hunts both of them. Variety like that matters in ODI cricket. India have it, to the extent that Rohit doesn’t really see too much wrong with where his team is at.Everyone feels the need to play attacking cricket, and that’s not just now. One of the greatest ODIs ever played – the 438 game – took place even as the world had barely realised T20 was a thing and reiterated just the unmitigated thrill of run-scoring. Three-hundred playing three-hundred is boring but four-hundred playing four-hundred is edge of the seat. England made 500 seem gettable – twice – and that’s the dream they’re still chasing. Maybe they could put just as much attention into finding a bowling attack that isn’t so samey.

Form guide

India WWLLT (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
England LLLWL

In the spotlight: Harshit Rana and Jos Buttler

Harshit Rana hated missing out on an international cap. He needed to be consoled when that kept happening, by his father, by his coach. Now though he’s an all-format player – Test, ODI and T20I debuts happening all in the space of four months – and with the Champions Trophy on the horizon his star might rise even higher. India are valuing his knack of picking up wickets over his tendency to leak runs and that is a trade-off worth pursuing, especially if it gives them a leg up in the middle overs.Harshit Rana, on ODI debut, picked up some big wickets•AFP/Getty Images

In Cuttack, at 219 for 3 in the 39th over, England were actually doing well, until their captain’s attempt to clear mid-off didn’t happen. Buttler could well have been playing that sequence in his mind when he said, “we are making steps again in the right direction but not the perfect, complete performance with the bat.” Had that shot gone for four, which it has hundreds of times before, things could’ve been different. Buttler needs for them to be different. The last 50-over ICC event that took place in the subcontinent didn’t go so well for him or England.

Team news: India to bring back Kuldeep?

When they named their squad for these ODIs, India had hoped to see if Jasprit Bumrah might be able to play this third one, following his back injury in the New Year’s Test against Australia in Sydney. That has turned out to be wishful thinking and it appears the way they front up now might be the way they front up in the Champions Trophy too, without their premier fast bowler. A different, but perhaps just as important member of their bowling attack, might be making his way back to the XI though. It was strange that Kuldeep Yadav was rested in the first place when he had played just two competitive matches since the middle of October 2024India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Harshit Rana, 11 Mohammed ShamiIt is a dead rubber so England might not push to bring back some of the players they rested in the last game, unless they are fit and able, in which case they could really use them considering Paul Collingwood and Marcus Trescothick had to volunteer for sub fielder duties. Tom Banton might be in line for an ODI recall, but given he usually does his best work at the top of the order, what does it mean for the rest of the line-up?England: 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Phil Salt (wk), 3 Tom Banton, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jos Buttler (capt), 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Saqib Mahmood/Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

Pitch and conditions: Win toss, win match?

A hot, humid day is forecast for the game in Ahmedabad. Both England and India are painfully aware that the best chance of winning a white-ball game there is to chase.

Stats and trivia: Twin peaks waiting for India’s stars

• Rohit needs 13 runs to score 11,000 in ODIs. On Sunday, he went past Rahul Dravid into the top 10 run-getters in the format’s history
• Virat Kohli needs 89 runs to get to 14,000 in ODIs. Only Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar have ever got to that peak.
• England and India have both won the same number of matches since the end of the last ODI World Cup – 4 – just that England have also lost as many matches (9) as India have played in that same time.

Quotes

“We want to keep getting better as well. Nothing specific we want to work on but overall we want to keep getting better as a player and team. That is what we want to do. As long as guys are clear about what they are supposed to do, if they keep doing that not much to think about.”

Nervy three-wicket win over Phoenix concludes fourth-placed campaign

ECB Media27-Aug-2025Trent Rockets concluded their campaign with a third successive win, Nat Sciver-Brunt’s third half-century of the competition setting up a nervy three-wicket victory over Birmingham Phoenix to nudge her team up to fourth in the table.Sciver-Brunt finished as the leading run-scorer in last summer’s women’s competition and the England skipper’s thrilling innings of 52 from 29 balls at Trent Bridge moved her up to second place in this season’s batting charts, behind Meg Lanning of Oval Invincibles.After the Rockets had been set 124 for victory, Em Arlott clean bowled the dangerous Bryony Smith for 10 with a superb slower yorker but Sciver-Brunt was quickly into her stride, sharing a second-wicket stand of 46 with Grace Scrivens (16) before Scrivens holed out to Arlott off the impressive Phoebe Brett.Ash Gardner struck two quick boundaries before falling to Megan Schutt via a stunning catch in the deep by Ailsa Lister and the Rockets threatened to implode when Sciver-Brunt chipped to extra cover off Hannah Baker immediately after bringing up her fifty and Brett dismissed Heather Graham and Ellie Threlkeld in the space of four deliveries, the young left-arm spinner finishing with figures of 3-19 as the hosts slipped to 109-6.Alana King made a crucial 9 to settle the nerves a little and when she edged behind off Schutt (2-24), courtesy of a superb catch from Amy Jones, it was left to Jodi Grewcock to hit the winning boundary with three balls to spare, securing a first home win of the season for the Rockets.Earlier, Emma Lamb’s second half-century of the competition had steered the Phoenix to 123-6, the England opener batting through the innings to finish unbeaten on 56 from 42.It was tough work at times for Lamb, who struck five boundaries, but she played judiciously as the Rockets’ high-class spin triumvirate of Kirstie Gordon (2-24), King (1-21) and Gardner (1-18) served up very few loose deliveries.Ellyse Perry (14), Marie Kelly (14) and Lister (12 off 6) played useful cameos to help push the visitors up to a competitive target but ultimately it wasn’t enough to prevent them slipping to a sixth defeat in eight.Sciver-Brunt, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “I would have liked to be there at the end and made it a bit calmer for everybody but it wasn’t to be. In the three games I have made runs that’s not been the case, so that’s something to think about in future.”As a batting group, we’ve always said if we can get ahead of the game, try and stay ahead of the game. That was the tempo I wanted to go at. Getting out at that point, had we not been ahead of the game as we were, it probably would have been even more stressful.”It’s always nice to win at your home ground in front of your home fans and we haven’t been able to do that until today. The wicket is quite specific, it’s quite slow, and we probably didn’t adapt to that as quickly as we wanted to.”

With teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius set to open with him, Rickelton could be thrust into the senior role

Firdose Moonda06-Aug-2025There’s no Quinton de Kock, or Temba Bavuma, or Reeza Hendricks. While it has not been confirmed that the first of those has retired from the T20Is and the other two are completely out of the picture (though Bavuma probably is), South Africa will be looking at a new opening pair for the next T20 World Cup. Enter Ryan Rickelton and Lhuan-dre Pretorius.Both are left-handed and both are wicketkeepers. They have 18 T20I caps, two half-centuries and a decade in age between them. That means Rickelton, who enjoyed a breakthrough summer in Tests and ODIs for South Africa and played in his first IPL, could be thrust into the senior role even as he looks to cement himself in the side. How might that alter his usually aggressive approach to batting? Not at all, he said.”I’m still trying to establish myself in the T20 side but I don’t think there’ll be any expectation for me to change anything that I’ve been doing in these last two years,” Rickelton said from Darwin, where South Africa are set to play a three-match T20Is series against Australia starting Sunday. “It’s just an opportunity for me to hopefully claim that opening spot for this South African side, going into the World Cup and further on past that.”Related

• Markram, Bavuma return for SA's white-ball tour of Australia

• Owen earns ODI call-up to face South Africa, Labuschagne retained

South Africa play three T20Is and will have the experience of regular captain Aiden Markram back in the top order and Rassie van der Dussen in the middle order, which Rickelton believes will allow him to continue to play his natural game. “The way the team is structured fits the mould of how they want me to play too, so I’m pretty comfortable with what’s required,” he said. “I am always looking to land that first punch and get the side off to a good start no matter who’s alongside me at the top.”Rickelton, Markram, as well as other returnees Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada, were all rested from the tri-series tournament in Zimbabwe as South Africa gear up for eight months of almost non-stop cricket. After the Australia tour, they will play white-ball cricket in England before starting their World Test Championship defence in Pakistan. That will be followed by an all-format tour of India, the SA20, a brief home series against West Indies and the T20 World Cup. Those five, and some others, will then go on to play in the IPL which will extend their active time to ten months. For someone like Rickelton, who did not play the MLC this year, the schedule has already provided lessons in workload management which he will draw on as the next busy period looms.”This was my first IPL year and it’s long three months in India which can really stretch you, mentally more than anything,” he said. “I would still like to play leagues when the opportunity comes along and next year there’s a break after the IPL so there’s some space in between.”Once you get to the groove of playing a lot of cricket, it can be really nice when you’re playing quite well but it can also be quite dark if you’re not playing too well. It’s more trying to manage the space mentally. That’s probably the balance that I’m trying to walk at the moment.”Ryan Rickelton opened for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2025•AFP/Getty Images

Rickelton can already see the challenge of that task. Since being part of the squad that won the WTC final at Lord’s in June, Rickelton has had six weeks off while Pretorius made his Test debut against Zimbabwe (and scored a century) and was moved around the T20I batting order from opening to No. 5 and back up.”I haven’t been hitting the ball too well these last couple of days but I’m not too worried. We’ve played a lot of cricket this year already and it’s not something that you just lose full stop. It will take a few more sessions for me to get going,” he said. “But I’m watching the rest of the guys, they’re really hitting the ball quite nicely and you can see the guys that have been playing are moving a lot better than a few of the guys that have taken a little bit of time off.”All of that changes from this week when South Africa press play on what is set to be an important period as they build under all-format coach Shukri Conrad, with two ICC tournaments and a new WTC cycle ahead of them.”If you look at the fixtures lined up for the T20 World Cup, we’ve got some big competition and some big rivals,” Rickelton said. “If we can put a good foot forward and play quite well and match what we want to try and replicate in a few months’ time, especially against quality opposition, that’s really important to the team and the individuals as well. We spoke about it as a group, we have an opportunity to try and win a series in Australia, which doesn’t come around that often, and we’re looking forward to obviously cementing our own places and playing well for South Africa.”

The home side had made a strong start before Joel Paris hit back for Western Australia

AAP01-Nov-2024Half centuries from Caleb Jewell and Mitchell Owen have kept Tasmania’s first innings on track in their Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia.Tasmania, who lost to WA just a fortnight ago by six wickets in a Shield final rematch in Perth, ended day one 302 for 7 at Bellerive Oval. A run-a-ball 83 from No. 7 Owen helped lift the hosts from a precarious 153 for 4.The Shield champions travelled to Hobart on top of the standings, but missing numerous key personnel.Among the absentees were opener Cameron Bancroft, Cooper Connolly and rising spinner Corey Rocchiccioli on Australia A duty; Aaron Hardie and Josh Inglis preparing for upcoming one-day internationals, as well as Mitch Marsh (paternity leave) and Charlie Stobo (omitted).Tasmania lined up without key middle-order batter Beau Webster who led their run-scoring tally last season, while the bowling line-up was boosted by the return of Gabe Bell and Lawrence Neil-Smith.The home side survived the opening session without loss after being sent in to bat by opposition skipper Ashton Turner.Tasmania posted a century stand before rookie medium-pacer Brody Couch had Jake Weatherald caught down the leg side for 49.The ever-reliable Joel Paris then did the damage midway through the second session as Tasmania lost 3 for 18.Jewell was trapped lbw for 61 after surviving an earlier let-off, before Charlie Wakim and captain Jordan Silk were both soon sent back to the pavillion.Owen fell in the final hour having struck 13 boundaries and two sixes in a career-best knock, only for Paris to end the dangerous innings.Brad Hope was then dismissed for 25 off Cameron Gannon having shared a 102-run stand with Owen.

Just days before his Test debut, Australia’s new opener tuned up for the challenge of facing Bumrah and co.

Tristan Lavalette18-Nov-20241:19

Ferguson: McSweeney sets a great example for everyone

After months of intrigue and innuendo, having come up trumps in a bat off to find Usman Khawaja’s opening partner, Nathan McSweeney endured an initiation in the middle of the WACA in his first session as an Australian Test cricketer.Just days before he makes his Test debut, McSweeney started preparing for the major challenge of fronting up to India’s frontline quicks led by talisman Jasprit Bumrah on an expected fast and bouncy Optus Stadium surface.In Australia’s first training session ahead of the series-opener starting on Friday, the focus was firmly on a wide-eyed McSweeney, who has suddenly had to deal with a lot of attention having mostly flown under the radar before this season.As McSweeney walked out to the middle of the WACA amid a warm sunny morning, with quicks Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc raring to go, some of his new team-mates decided to rib him.”Welcome to Test cricket,” they chirped.McSweeney, 25, was put through a thorough examination on the centre wicket as he took turns with Khawaja and Steven Smith in facing Cummins and Starc with the new ball.It was a baptism of fire and McSweeney looked rather uncomfortable as he played and missed repeatedly. But batting was made more difficult on the western side of the square which sloped away from the right-hander.Smith lamented the conditions, while McSweeney had a torrid time particularly against Cummins who consistently angled in and seamed away down the slope. He struggled to lay bat on ball, but there were some encouraging signs.McSweeney did not nick any of the deliveries, earning a nod of approval from his team-mates watching closely, and he didn’t follow the ball. He also did not get squared up, which had been an issue against the India A new ball quicks at the MCG when he opened for the first time in his first-class career.”It was a good challenge. I got through it unscathed,” McSweeney told reporters on Monday. “Didn’t put much pressure on them but they bowled really well and great preparation to face those guys who are quality bowlers.”McSweeney had a better time against offspinner Nathan Lyon, who he played comfortably, before undergoing more batting practice at the WACA nets. He finished his maiden session by bowling to Starc and Cummins. His handy offspin likely to be needed at some point during the Test series.”I think nothing but exceptional in my eyes,” Lyon said of McSweeney’s character. “I saw him up close and personal in that Shield game a couple of weeks ago [South Australia vs New South Wales] and I thought we had to run him out to get him out in the game.”I thought his tempo was nice. His timing of his movements were in sync. I’ve got nothing but praise for Nathan the way he’s gone about it. He’s a great guy, great kid and I only wish him the best.”Nathan McSweeney poses ahead of his Test debut•Getty Images

McSweeney will also play a role in shoring up Australia’s slip cordon after the retirement of David Warner, while Cameron Green’s absence also leaves a sizeable hole at gully.On Monday, McSweeney was stationed at third slip for catching practice with Smith on his left at second, Khawaja at first and Marnus Labuschagne in the gully. He also moved to a second gully for a few catches, standing on Labuschagne’s right in an indication that he might be used as a floater and rotate between third and the extra gully depending on where he’s needed.”Early days of my Shield career was at third and a little bit at gully,” McSweeney said. “Undecided exactly where I’m going to field but comfortable in both. It’s pretty cool standing in the slip cordon next to Steve Smith.”Even though he bats at No. 3 for South Australia, McSweeney’s excellent form to start the Sheffield Shield season on the back of a fine season last year and an unbeaten 88 – batting at No.4 – in the first India A fixture in Mackay lifted him over specialist openers Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Konstas.But as he starts to experience the scrutiny that comes with being a Test cricketer, his selection did receive some backlash with former Test opener Ed Cowan particularly vocal.”I think everyone is going to have their opinion. I try and not read too much into it,” McSweeney said. “I have the guys in my corner. I really trust and value their opinion and I haven’t spent heaps of time with Ed.”I think for me I know what works and I feel very capable to go and do the job and I’m batting the best I ever have, I feel. Hopefully I can go out there and execute that on Friday.”2:20

Malcolm: ‘McSweeney could be a future captain if he finds his feet’

Adding to his set of challenges, McSweeney has never played red-ball cricket at the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium. Isaac McDonald, the ground’s curator, is hoping to replicate the spicy conditions of last year’s Test between Australia and Pakistan where numerous batters copped blows to their bodies.The advice from his senior team-mates? “Try and make sure you spend some time in the nets and get used to the bounce,” McSweeney said. “That’s one thing that’s spoken about a little bit.”The other thing is own your space in terms of what I’ve done for South Australia. Execute the same thing and the same process, same routine.”Ultimately it’s the game of cricket and I know my game.”While he learns to cope with the whirlwind of being a Test cricketer, McSweeney will lean on the support from loved ones descending to Perth in large numbers.”A lot of friends will be there, and mum, dad, my sister, grandad, my partner and a lot of guys I played club cricket with back in Brisbane,” McSweeney said.”Got a great supporter base and great family that’s looked after me and sacrificed a lot. Just looking forward to taking it all in and being able to share the moment with them.”

It was San Francisco Unicorns’ fourth win in four games, and Texas Super Kings’ first defeat in MLC 2025

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-2025Faf du Plessis slammed a 51-ball 100, but he had to do it alone, pretty much, for Texas Super Kings. That was the difference between Super Kings and San Francisco Unicorns on the day, since Unicorns had two men doing it, doing it at well over a-run-a-ball, and doing it for long enough. The quick half-centuries Matthew Short and Finn Allen hit were not only enough to take Unicorns over the line in a chase of 199, but get there with 23 balls in hand. The win kept them at the top of the MLC 2025 table with four wins in four, with Super Kings one spot below after their first loss.Super Kings were asked to bat, and du Plessis had two big partnerships for the first two wickets, but he had to contribute exactly 100 runs to those, which added up to 166. In the first stand, of 97, Devon Conway was unusually slow, scoring 23 in 23. In the second, worth 69, Saiteja Mukkamalla did better than Conway had, contributing 38 to du Plessis’ 30, though they went at roughly the same strike rate.To make matters worse for Super Kings, Mukkamalla, du Plessis and Marcus Stoinis fell in an eight-ball spell to Xavier Bartlett and Haris Rauf, and that derailed them at a point when they looked good to top 200.Faf du Plessis did most of the scoring for Texas Super Kings while he was around•Sportzpics for MLC

Du Plessis, though, was supreme in getting his first fifty-plus score since April 29, when he hit 62 in 45 balls for Delhi Capitals against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2025. There were six fours and seven sixes in his innings as he scored at a strike rate of exactly 200 before being dismissed.But even if Super Kings had crossed 200, it’s unlikely Allen and Short would have cared.Allen barely got any of the strike in the first three overs as Short sped off the blocks, getting to 33 in 16 balls even as Allen was 1 off 2. After that, though, it was a different story. Over four, five and six went for 10, 23 and 15, and Unicorns were 83 for no loss after the powerplay and Allen was 34 off 16 to Short’s 46 off 21.The runs kept coming, and the half-centuries too, as the two took the total to 117 before being separated when Short holed out off Daryl Mitchell for a 29-ball 61. Allen was on 52 at that point in the ninth over, and batted on to score 78 in 35. When he was dismissed, by the impressive Adam Milne, Unicorns were just 30 runs away with 7.4 overs to go. Jake Fraser-McGurk took care of most of those with a 25-ball 37.

He is set to join the team ahead of Yorkshire’s game against Somerset starting September 8

Shashank Kishore04-Sep-2025India opener Mayank Agarwal is set to join Yorkshire on a short-term deal for the remainder of the County Championship.Agarwal, who is expected to link up with the squad ahead of their match against Somerset on Taunton starting September 8, will play three matches in all before returning to India in time for the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season. This will be Agarwal’s first county stint.He was most-recently in action at the Maharaja T20 Trophy, Karnataka’s flagship T20 tournament. Prior to that, he was part of an IPL-title winning campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after being signed as a late replacement for the injured Devdutt Padikkal.Agarwal, 34, is no stranger to England, having been on two tours previously with the Test side – in 2021-22 and for the World Test Championship final against Australia in June 2023.He had been in line to open during the 2021-22 tour, which India drew 2-2, but was ruled out prior to the series opener due to concussion. He has also been on two tours with the India A team.Agarwal, currently Karnataka’s all-format captain, comes with rich first-class experience. He has 8050 runs in 190 innings at an average of 43.98 with 18 hundreds and 44 half-centuries.In all, Agarwal has hit 1488 Test runs in 36 innings at an average of 41.33, with four Test centuries, including a best of 243 against South Africa. He played the most recent of his 21 Tests in March 2022 against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.Other prominent Indians to feature in the UK domestic season this year are Khaleel Ahmed (Essex), Tilak Varma (Hampshire), Yuzvendra Chahal (Northants), Ishan Kishan (Notts) and Sai Kishore (Surrey). Jaydev Unadkat is set to join Sussex this month.

Since the conclusion of The Oval Test, the Australian rumour mill has been abuzz with theories as to the motives behind Nathan Hauritz’s omission

Alex Brown29-Nov-2009Since the conclusion of The Oval Test in August, the Australian rumour mill has been abuzz with theories as to the motives behind Nathan Hauritz’s omission from the starting XI. The move to play an all-pace attack on a parched pitch that turned early and substantially played a sizable role in Australia’s eventual 197-run defeat, and prompted on-duty selector Jamie Cox to offer a rare on behalf of the panel after the match.But murmurings around the Australian camp suggest there is more to the overlooking of Hauritz than meets the eye. Several team sources have told Cricinfo that Australia’s selectors intended to play their specialist spinner in the series decider but, hit with a crisis of confidence before one of the most important Ashes Tests in modern history, Hauritz either withdrew his candidacy or was deemed too great a risk.Whether true or not – and Hauritz insists upon the latter – the issue of the spinner’s confidence has been a discussion point within Australian cricket for some time. Greg Matthews, one of his spin-bowling mentors, once described him as “heavily scarred” following his arrival in New South Wales from Queensland, and Hauritz himself has been candid in discussing his need to be more assertive as a bowler.In the immediate aftermath of The Oval defeat, the aforementioned sources expressed concern over the working relationship between Hauritz and Ricky Ponting looking ahead. Their worries appear unfounded. Ponting showed no hesitation in tossing the ball Hauritz’s way throughout subsequent limited-overs campaigns in South Africa and India, and was effusive when discussing the spinner’s five-wicket contribution to Australia’s thumping Test win over West Indies at the Gabba.”As far as I’ve been concerned for the last eight or ten months he hasn’t let anybody down,” Ponting said. “The more exposure he’s getting to better players and different conditions to bowl in he’s learning a lot about the art and craft of offspin bowling in Test cricket these days. It’s not an easy skill anymore. Batsmen are playing differently and always trying to stay a step ahead of the bowlers and a lot of the wickets we play on these days around the world aren’t that conducive to it. I think he’s done a great job.”As for Hauritz, evidence of his evolving confidence was on display at the Gabba – both on the field and in the press conference room. He appeared in no way intimidated returning to the venue that almost broke him as a first-class cricketer, bowling with a tantalising loop that was all but absent in his latter years with Queensland. It was at the Gabba that Hauritz was jeered – first as an underperforming Queenslander, then as a New South Wales “defector” – and he admitted to a sense of self-satisfaction when, after dismissing Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach with successive deliveries on Saturday, the once antagonistic crowd erupted into chants of “Haury”.As striking as Hauritz’s self-assured deeds on the pitch were his comments off it. No longer was he dealing in one-game-at-a-times. Hauritz expects to be on the plane to Adelaide on Tuesday, and Perth thereafter. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel like I belong in the side,” he said with trademark self-deprecation. “I don’t know if that feeling exists within such a competitive culture. But I know I’m very happy with where my game’s at, at the moment.”It’s going to be a different situation going to Adelaide. Adelaide is a lot slower wicket but it is renowned for turn. It’s going to be different. That’s one of the first Gabba wickets I’ve played on – and I don’t know if my bowling’s different now – that I got the ball to turn a little bit. I don’t know if I’ve changed a bit as a bowler or the wicket’s changed, but I enjoyed bowling out there and I’m looking forward.”Such is Hauritz’s confidence in his own game at present, he is toying with the idea of revealing his experimental doosra against West Indies in Perth. Though much has been written about his “other one”, Hauritz has thus far been unwilling to bowl it outside the nets. The third Test at the WACA, he hinted, might prove a suitable occasion for the unveiling.”For me, I need to be able to consistently land it in the nets before I bring it out because I sort of feel short-leg would die if I don’t get it right,” he quipped. “Punter’s always trying to get me to bowl it in a game. Whether it’s this series I don’t know, but definitely on a wicket like Perth, where the bounce is so fast and it does spin, it might come out there. I’m looking forward to playing the next two games because there’s two totally different wickets.”This week Hauritz will return to the venue that staged his sudden and unexpected comeback to the Test arena last year. A training mishap involving the then Test incumbent Jason Krejza prompted Andrew Hilditch to order Hauritz, an occasional member of the New South Wales side at the time, onto the next Adelaide-bound flight. His efforts in that match and the remainder of the summer earned him a ticket to the Ashes and a chance to reignite a Test career many, himself included, feared had stalled at the Wankhede Stadium four years prior.”The [feeling] in Adelaide was one of great relief playing that second Test,” he said of last year’s recall. “I never thought that would ever come along. There might not be any difference in the areas I land the ball – there might be a little bit more spin, I don’t know – but definitely the mental strength and the confidence with what I’m doing makes me a lot different bowler to then.”Mo Matthews is always keen [for me to] embrace it all. I’m generally a pretty reserved person. I’m pretty happy to stay to myself and just bowl and play cricket. Definitely one part of my game that can improve is my aura on the field. That might change after 30 or 40 Tests, I don’t know. But I’m just happy to be playing each Test on its merits at the moment.”

“It was pretty cool to tick off,” she said after becoming just the second woman to score an ODI century from No. 6 or lower

Andrew McGlashan17-Jan-2025Ashleigh Gardner was relieved to not be stuck in the 90s for too long on the way to an “emotional” maiden international century which put Australia on the brink of retaining the Ashes.Gardner’s previous highest score for Australia was 93, made in a T20I against India in 2020, and in Hobart she became just the second women’s batter to score an ODI century from No. 6 or lower in the order.In the 45th over, Gardner was on 90 and facing Nat Sciver-Brunt when the England allrounder pushed consecutive balls down the leg side which Gardner was able to take advantage of, with a single off the final delivery of the over leaving her on 99 against Lauren Bell. One dot followed before she pulled Bell through square leg.Related

• Sciver-Brunt hopes for 'mindset shift' even as Australia promise to 'scrap and fight'

• Gardner's century and King's five-for give Australia ODI series sweep

• Stats – Gardner's rescue act, King's fruitful series, Ecclestone's poor show against Australia

“Because I haven’t made many hundreds throughout my whole cricketing life I had a feeling that I would get really nervous in the 90s,” Gardner said. “Thankfully for me, Nat bowled a couple down the leg and I was able to get those away to the boundary and race through the 90s.”The rest just fell in place and I was able to get to that milestone. It’s certainly something that I can be really proud of. I’ve played a lot of international games and haven’t quite made that mark…to be able to reach that was pretty emotional, but it was pretty cool to tick off.”Gardner had walked in with Australia tottering on 59 for 4 but was able to stitch together partnerships of 95 with Beth Mooney and a defining 103 from 83 balls with Tahlia McGrath before the innings was capped off by George Wareham’s 12-ball 38.Gardner made a conscious effort to try and put pressure on England’s leading spinner, Sophie Ecclestone, who she scored 24 off 29 balls against in what became Ecclestone second-most expensive return in ODIs.”For me and Moons, it was just to build a partnership and to ease the nerves a little bit and calm people down,” Gardner said. “The conversations just kept being around putting pressure back on them. I know for me, batting in those types of situations, you can go back in your shell.”For me that doesn’t really work because then I go too far the other way, so I still try to be really proactive. I tried to put pressure back on Ecclestone, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I guess it made her change something, and that was what I was trying to do.”The messages were kind of the same with T-Mac [McGrath]. That was probably the best I’ve seen T-Mac bat in a very long time. She just took a lot of pressure off me. I didn’t feel like because I was the one in that I had to keep going as hard.”Gardner put an exclamation mark on her performance with a spectacular parried boundary catch late in England’s innings to remove Ecclestone.Ash Gardner took a spectacular juggling catch on the rope•Getty Images

“I was probably off the rope too many steps, knowing that she hits the ball pretty hard and far,” she said. “After the initial catch, it was [about] trying to get my momentum to basically not fall over the rope. It was just one of those things where instinct kicks in and you throw the ball back and hope that you can catch it on the rebound.”I made a bit of a meal of it in the end, and I’m sure people will probably say that I put a bit of mayo on it. I didn’t mean for it to be caught that way, but I’ll take it.”Winning the ODI series has ticked plenty of early boxes for Australia and leaves them needing just two more points to retain the Ashes but with the memories of 2023, when 6-0 became an 8-8 draw, there is a determination not to be in that position again.”I know there was sort of redemption after the white-ball series that we played last time in the [last] Ashes. We weren’t up to it,” Gardner said. “I think the standard that we’ve shown throughout today was probably the most clinical batting performance that we’ve put out there. We’ve played on some tricky wickets, so it’s really exposed us at different times and being able to overcome that.”Knowing that we’re going into the T20s, which I think probably is England’s best format, being able to take confidence in what we’ve done in these last three ODIs into that first T20, I’d imagine England probably don’t have as much confidence as what we do, so we should really relish in that.”Having seen 59 for 4 turn into over 300, England still had a chance at 200 for 4, needing 109 from 80 balls, but when Danni Wyatt-Hodge was superbly caught Phoebe Litchfield, they lost 6 for 22.”You looked at the worms and they were bang on,” captain Heather Knight said of the chase. “I think we were ahead actually, for most of it. We felt like on the bench we could probably chase 10, 11 an over for the last ten. So being in that position, we felt pretty good. We just didn’t have that set batter to go on and go really big”Those key moments, when the game’s on the line, they [Australia] seem to be able to cope with them really well. We haven’t been able to seize the moment a little bit and really hammer down any advantage that we have got. It’s something that we need to do a little bit better, realising when we’re in a key moment of the match, can we go after this? Let’s go and win this. So hopefully we can show some progress in that in the T20s.”

Sussex coasting to title after rain-ruined contest at Hove

ECB Reporters Network29-Sep-2024Tom Haines and James Coles both scored centuries as Sussex clinched the second division title on a day of celebrations at Hove.Haines made 105 – his third hundred of the season – and Coles hit an unbeaten 132 as Sussex finished the season undefeated at the 1st Central County Ground after drawing with Middlesex.They began the final day on 112 for two, needing to reach 250 and a fourth bonus point to ensure promotion as champions.There was a slight sense of anti-climax shortly after lunch when Luke Hollman overstepped and the two no-balls took Sussex to 250, but the celebrations out in the middle, where Coles and skipper John Simpson embraced warmly, and on the pavilion balcony showed what it meant as Sussex returned to Division One after a nine-year absence.Sussex finished 20 points clear of Yorkshire, having won eight of their 14 games.There had still been a bit of work to do at the start before the celebrations could begin and Haines and Tom Alsop settled any nerves by putting on 123 in 35 overs for the third wicket with few alarms. Alsop passed fifty for the eighth time this season and must have fancied his chances of converting it into a first hundred, only to mistime a pull off Josh De Caires to deep midwicket.Haines reached a chanceless hundred – the 12th of his career – with a cut through backward point off Hollman for his 13th boundary only to fall just before lunch when he bottom-edged into his stumps to reward Hollman’s perseverance.Once Sussex had achieved their objective the cricket not surprisingly lost any intensity. Ryan Higgins bowled off breaks instead of his usual medium-fast seamers, Luis du Plooy gave his left-arm tweakers an airing as Middlesex employed nine bowlers including Mark Stoneman, who sent down seven overs in his final game for the county, and wicketkeeper Jack Davies.Not that Coles or Simpson were complaining too much as they built a fifth-wicket stand of 226 in 46 overs, beating the previous best against Middlesex set of 223 by Simpson and Cheteshwar Pujara when the teams drew at Lord’s earlier in the season.Coles played aggressively, hitting six sixes and nine boundaries, clipping Hollman into the leg side to bring up his first hundred of the season. His unbeaten 132 came from just 150 balls while Simpson took his aggregate to 1197 runs at 74.81 with an undefeated 87.It was fitting that Simpson, whose five centuries as well as his leadership has been so crucial to Sussex’s success, was there when the players shook hands at 4.20pm with Sussex on 459 for 4.A few minutes later the celebrations could begin in earnest when the trophy was presented to him by another former Sussex captain Clare Connor, the managing director of England Womens Cricket.