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Fast bowler believes England are still in the contest after witnessing fast start to own innings

Andrew Miller08-Oct-2024Brydon Carse was tired but proud by the close of the second day in Multan, after coming through a two-day trial in oppressive heat to claim his maiden Test wickets in the course of Pakistan’s imposing first-innings total of 556.Though he was made to wait until the 19th over of his debut performance, having had a first-day lbw verdict against Shan Masood chalked off on review, Carse was rewarded with the wickets of Naseem Shah and Aamer Jamal in his final two spells, to round off a wholehearted effort in conditions that his team-mates insisted are unlikely to get much tougher as his England career progresses.”It’s been hard work and hard toil over the last two days, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the challenge,” Carse told Sky Sports at the close. “Being out there with this group of lads, it’s been a tough but good two days.”A couple of the guys and Stokesy [Ben Stokes] said to me when we came in after fielding, ‘look, Brydon, it’s not going to get as tough as this [again] over the last two days’. There were times out there when the heat was probably the biggest challenge, and obviously the wicket, but as a group of bowlers, everyone kept on coming back, with the seamers in short bursts. Yeah, it was challenging at times.”Although Pakistan’s total is imposing by any standards, it could have been significantly worse had England not maintained their discipline until the bitter end. It was only in the closing moments of Pakistan’s innings, when Jamie Smith missed a stumping and Gus Atkinson dropped a sitter at midwicket, that the fatigue truly began to tell, but those misses ended up costing England just six runs between them.”I had a conversation with Woaksey and Gus towards the end there,” Carse said. “Both them boys’ legs were proper hanging on. There’ll be ice baths. we’re testing our hydration … I’ve been in the red for most of these two days, even with the constant consumption of water and fluids. But tonight, the lads will refuel and get food down us, and try and get a good night’s sleep, and hopefully have a good batting day tomorrow.”Coming into the contest, with memories of England’s victory at the same venue in 2022, it had been widely assumed that reverse-swing would be the likeliest means for the seamers to challenge on this surface. But the ball steadfastly refused to budge through England’s 149 overs in the field – a fact which surprised Carse.Related

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“The guys were working on the ball out there, but I don’t think it was as abrasive over the square as we probably expected. There was a lot of short-pitched bowling and a lot of changing of fields, which is certainly a role that I have been used in back home in county cricket at certain times. But hopefully in the second innings, we can get that ball reversing quite quickly, then we might be able to set slightly different fields and not be as predictable.”Reflecting on his maiden stint as a Test bowler, Carse admitted he thought his first-day lbw appeal against Masood had been “stone-dead”, despite DRS showing it to have pitched just outside leg. Given Masood had made just 16 of his eventual 151, it was a key moment in Pakistan’s innings, as was Chris Woakes’ disputed boundary catch off Salman Agha, which was eventually given as six, and which Carse later acknowledged was “one of those 50-50 chances that didn’t go our way”.But he and England stuck to their task, and Carse’s moment of catharsis came in the fifth over of his opening burst on the second morning, as Naseem poked a lifter off his hip to Harry Brook at leg slip.”Popey actually said to me after the fourth over: ‘Do you want to go one more?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, definitely’. Because I felt I was close to getting the breakthrough that we needed. And then obviously it came, and it was a special feeling, although probably not the celebrations that you often expect.”With two days gone, England are behind in the game, and may yet have to contend with Ben Duckett’s injury absence after he was struck on the thumb while completing the final catch of Pakistan’s innings. But Carse was adamant there was plenty for his team still to fight for, especially given the flying start that Zak Crawley has provided to their first innings with his run-a-ball 64 not out.”We spoke last night when we had them 340 for four, if you had that sort of score back home in England, you’re probably behind the game quite a bit,” he said. “But coming into today, in that first session, they only got 60 or 70 runs, and we scored 100 there tonight in 20 overs. If we can come tomorrow and bat positively and really put their attack under pressure, let’s see where we’re at by the end of the day, and then there’s still two full days of cricket to go.”

Jason Gillespie has stepped down at South Australia and the state needs to decide on their future structure

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2024Tim Paine would be “very interested” in putting his name forward to be Adelaide Strikers’ head coach if South Australia decide to split the state and BBL coaching roles following Jason Gillespie’s departure.There is a significant overhaul going on at South Australia this off-season with long-time general manager of high performance Tim Nielsen departing along with Gillespie. Luke Williams, who has become a sought-after coach in T20 leagues, has also stepped down as head coach of the women’s state team although will remain in charge of the WBBL side and has signed as an assistant coach in the BBL.Paine was an assistant coach with Strikers in last season’s BBL as they reached the Challenger final and is keen to progress his career but remained realistic about where he would stand.”Would I like to coach the Adelaide Strikers? Of course, I would,” Paine said on . “But at the moment, they have no GM of cricket and a number of other roles that need to be filled before any of that happens.”They need to decide with South Australia and the Strikers, do you go down the same model they’ve just had of one coach, in which case I cannot do it, [but] if they were to split the roles, I would be very interested certainly in having a crack at getting the job.””But I’ve been coaching for about six months and it’s a big job and I’d imagine it would get a lot of experienced coaches interested in that job as well. But I would love to go through the process because, one, it would be a great learning curve for me as a professional coach, to go through some sort of process would be awesome for my development, but like any coach of course you want to coach in the biggest leagues you can get in.”Paine added that it wasn’t the right time in his career to consider a combined state and BBL role as he would not want to move his family out of Tasmania. “If you are looking at a Big Bash job and state job, that is enormous,” he said.Currently, the four states with a single BBL team – South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia – have opted for a unified head coach across the state and BBL set-up. Brisbane Heat, the defending champions, are also in need of a new coach after Wade Seccombe stood down.

South Africa lost ten wickets for 61 and were bowled out for 134 in chase of 312

Firdose Moonda20-Sep-2024Afghanistan completed their most high-profile bilateral series win and their first against a team ranked in the ICC’s top five with a 177-run victory over South Africa in Sharjah. After dominating South Africa with the ball two days ago, Afghanistan repeated the dose with the bat on Friday and posted their tenth total of 300 or more to ask South Africa to complete their sixth-highest successful chase. A collapse of 10 for 61 meant South Africa did not even get close and recorded their fifth-biggest defeat by runs. Afghanistan lead the series 2-0 with one match remaining.Birthday-boy Rashid Khan turned 26 and took his fifth career five-for to top off a day of excellence for Afghanistan in all departments. Their celebrations began with Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s seventh ODI century, followed by Rahmat Shah’s 29th ODI half-century and then Azmatullah Omarzai’s fastest fifty in the format. Omarzai reached his half-century off 32 balls, ended unbeaten on 86 off 50 balls and led Afghanistan’s charge of 93 runs in the last ten overs to post a challenging total. While Rashid headlined their bowling, he shared his success with left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote, who finished with a career-best 4 for 26.Afghanistan asserted themselves from the get-go when they chose to bat which left South Africa to field in the worst of the heat. Officially the temperature was 38 degrees Celsius but the real-feel was in the late 40s and they did not have any real menace. Gurbaz and Riaz Hassan put on 88 for the first wicket before Gurbaz and Shah shared a 101-run second-wicket stand which formed the spine of the Afghan innings.South Africa’s spinners, Bjorn Fortuin and Aiden Markram were the most effective in keeping Afghanistan quiet and conceded 59 runs in 14 overs between them, but debutant legspinner Nqaba Peter was expensive and Nandre Burger also conceded 68 runs. Lungi Ngidi was the pick of the seamers, particularly at the end of the innings but South Africa lacked wicket-taking ability, which allowed Afghanistan to get away from them with their fourth and fifth wicket stands of 55 off 40 balls and 40 off 23, respectively.Gurbaz got things underway with the first boundary: a massive six over long-off, off an Ngidi length ball. He followed it up with a cover drive for four, and then two pull shots off Burger short balls to race to go from 4 off the first 15 balls he faced to a run-a-ball 24.Fortuin was brought on in the powerplay and kept his end quiet but Burger’s insistence on using the short ball did not serve South Africa well early on. His first spell of five overs cost 32 runs. He was replaced by Peter, whose first over was tight. He gave away a boundary in each of his next two before Markam took over. Markram got the first wicket when he beat Hassan’s inside-edge and hit him on the pad above the knee roll.Rashid Khan appeals for a wicket•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Gurbaz quietened down for a couple of overs but when Wiaan Mulder was brought on in the 21st over, he could not resist a charge down. He hit Mulder over long-on for his second six. What followed was an electric display of shots from both Gurbaz and Rahmat in a stand that seemed to drain South Africa. Rahmat reverse paddled Markam to third and flicked Mulder fine for four, Gurbaz lofted Peter over mid-off, mid-wicket and swept Fortuin to deep backward square to edge towards 90.Then, the nerves kicked in. He spent 18 deliveries in the 90s and seven of those on 99, including a maiden over from Fortuin, as he inched towards his milestone. He got there when he swept Markram behind square leg and his response was as emotive as they come. Gurbaz dropped his bat and then himself to his knees in sajdah, and then composed himself to create a heart-shape with his hands and blow a kiss to the changeroom and a spirited Sharjah crowd. However, in the next over, he swung at a Burger ball, missed and was bowled to end an exceptional knock. This is also the third successive year in which Gurbaz has scored two hundreds. With this knock, Gurbaz has most ODI hundreds for Afghanistan, surpassing Mohammad Shahzad (6).Afghanistan’s 200 was up after 36 overs, and they would have been eyeing a total in excess of 300. Peter made it difficult for them before the last ten overs and picked up his first ODI wicket when he dragged his length back as Rahmat advanced on him, and had Rahmat stumped on 50.Omarzai’s intent in the final period was clear when he hit Mulder over long-off for six two balls into the last 10. He sent Peter in the same area twice, and then hit him over mid-wicket for his fourth six and the shot that brought up his half-century, off 32 balls. Mohammad Nabi was little more than a spectator in the 55-run stand with Omarzai but when he tried to smash an Ngidi slower ball, he skied to Bavuma to depart for 13.That brought Rashid to the crease and he was in immediate trouble, albeit not caused by the bowlers. He hit Ngidi to sweeper cover and ran two but pulled up at the end of the second run with what looked like a hamstring concern. He received treatment on the field, skied the next ball he faced, which Peter couldn’t get to, and then held his hamstring again. Rashid stayed with Omarzai as he took Afghanistan over 300, and any problems he had with his fitness did not show in the field.South Africa’s chase got underway steadily with returning captain Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi’s opening stand of 73 in 14 overs. But Bavuma’s dismissal and then Rashid’s introduction into the attack sparked an almighty collapse. Bavuma top-edged a pull off an Omarzai short ball and the high catch was well judged by Mohammed Nabi. Bavuma departed before he even had a chance to face Rashid, who was given the ball in the 18th over and caused problems with his first ball which teased Reeza Hendricks’ outside edge. Four balls later, de Zorzi tried to drive Rashid through the covers but edged to Ikram Alikhil.Stunned by spin, South Africa went into their shell and scored only 11 runs in the next four overs as pressure built. When left-arm spinner Kharote was brought on in the 23rd over, Hendricks looked particularly out-of-sorts when he stayed back in his crease to play for turn and was bowled. In the next over, Tristan Stubbs was given out on review when he gloved a sweep off Rashid to Nabi at leg slip. Two balls later, Kyle Verreynne failed to pick the wrong ‘un and was out lbw and Markram was left with the lower-order. Mulder was Rashid’s fourth victim, beaten as he stayed back, and Fortuin was bowled by his counterpart Kharote off one that stayed low. At 112 for 7, there was no way back for South Africa.Rashid’s fifth came when he bowled Markram with a googly. Kharote took wickets either side of that to leave South Africa floored. They lost all ten wickets in the space of 20.3 overs.

The washout means Wednesday’s match between England and Afghanistan is a knockout, with the loser certain of exiting the competition

Firdose Moonda25-Feb-2025 – Match abandoned due to rainThe much-anticipated Champions Trophy match between Australia and South Africa in Rawalpindi was washed out without even a toss, forget a ball being bowled, after persistent drizzle. The match was called off at 5.10pm local time, three hours and ten minutes after the scheduled start of play at 2pm and two hours and 22 minutes before the cut-off time for a 20-overs-a-side game, 7.32pm local time. This was due to be the teams’ first meeting at a Champions Trophy.The result means that if Australia and South Africa win their final group matches, against Afghanistan and England respectively, they will progress to the semi-finals. Wednesday’s match between Afghanistan and England is a knockout, with the loser certain of exiting the competition. The winner will have to beat their next opposition to make it through to the final four. As a result, one of the matches between Australia and Afghanistan on Friday and South Africa and England on Saturday could be a virtual quarter-final. Both Afghanistan and England have to win both their matches to qualify for the semi-finals.With no XIs named for this encounter, South Africa kept their cards close to their chest on Heinrich Klaasen’s availability. He missed their opening match against Afghanistan with an elbow injury and now has three more days to recover before the game against England on Saturday.This was due to be the first meeting between Australia and South Africa since the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final, which Australia won, and means that they continue to have the advantage over South Africa in ICC events. In nine matches, Australia have won four, South Africa three, there was a tie at the 1999 World Cup and now, their first washout.

“A team could still lose if they have performers. But if we have more impact, chances are, we will win more games.”

Mohammad Isam14-Sep-2022Bangladesh’s technical consultant Sridharan Sriram believes ‘impact’ in T20 cricket trumps everything else. Even performance.

In his first press conference in Dhaka, Sriram – essentially brought on board for the T20I side – said that he believes a good performance can even be detrimental to a side, unless it has a direct influence on the outcome of a T20 game.”I am looking for impact, not performance,” Sriram said, just moments after Bangladesh announced their T20 World Cup squad. “Bangladesh will win if seven or eight players make an impact. A 30 or 25, off 17-18 balls is impact for me. A small example of this is the way Mosaddek [Hossain] went after [Wanindu] Hasaranga in the over after Mahmudullah got out [at the Asia Cup]. That’s impact. I think performance is overrated in T20 cricket. A team could still lose if they have performers. But if we have more impact, chances are, we will win more games.”Related

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Sriram said that Bangladesh’s struggles in closing out games from tight situations as an area that needs improvement. In nine T20Is this year, Bangladesh have lost seven matches, following on from doing poorly in the T20 World Cup last year in the UAE. Sriram believes that it could be a lack of skill or mentality, or both, that is holding the team back.”We want to win critical moments in the game. Bangladesh have lost a lot of close T20 games. The overall results would have looked a lot better had we won half of these games. Why we are losing close games is something I am really keen to understand.”We need to have critical-moment awareness. If we win small moments, overall we can string those results together. Chances are, we will win close games. It could be skills, execution or it could be mental as well. What is he thinking in those situations? These conversations are ongoing with the leadership group of the team. We do one-on-one and also small groups too,” Sriram said.Sriram is also keen to work with Bangladesh’s returning batters. Litton Das, Nurul Hasan and Yasir Ali missed the Asia Cup due to injuries, but Sriram believes that they have the right skills to take the team in the right direction come the World Cup.”Litton Das is an established cricketer and Nurul has good knowledge of his own game,” Sriram said. “I am quite eager to see more of Yasir. He has the power that Bangladesh lacks as a T20 team. Somebody who can clear the ropes and find the boundaries. I think Rabbi [Yasir] is a very exciting prospect.Sriram shot back at a suggestion that a good performance by Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup, in Australia next month, will give him a contract extension. Rather, he said, that he wanted to focus on the positives from the Asia Cup, where he felt that the team showed fighting qualities despite losing to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.”I am not here to extend my contract. I am here to do my job to the best of my ability for the time I am contracted,” Sriram said. “Thinking of an extension is not the right way to operate. I will do the best for Bangladesh. I wear heart and soul for this team.”There was a huge positive in the way we played in the Asia Cup. We needed to win both games but it doesn’t mean we didn’t play good cricket. I please request everyone not to be results driven. Results are everything in sport but there needs to be a process and plan in place. As long as we have that direction, that’s all I am accountable for.”

Roshan Ranasinghe was removed from his post by Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Nov-2023The Sri Lanka sports minister who sought to sack the SLC board and install an interim committee has himself been sacked by the country’s president, on Monday. Roshan Ranasinghe’s ouster may ease the lifting of Sri Lanka Cricket’s suspension by the ICC, though it is not a certainty.SLC had beseeched the “top level” of Sri Lankan government to provide guarantees that there would be no further political interference in cricket administration in the country. Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe has not provided such a guarantee thus far, but his sacking of Ranasinghe could be an indication that he wishes the government as a whole to back off. In any case, it was Ranasinghe who most energetically sought the sacking of SLC’s office bearers.Related

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• Sri Lanka Cricket suspended by ICC board

• Court issues stay order to prevent interim committee from taking over

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However, Ranasinghe has not only been sacked as sports minister, but has also been removed as minister of youth affairs and minister of irrigation – the other portfolios he held. This was after he had made accusations against the president in parliament, earlier on Monday. There is a chance his sacking was not particularly motivated by SLC’s suspension by the ICC, which had taken place two weeks prior.In any case, the news of Ranasinghe’s ouster will be welcomed by SLC officials, who have feuded with the minister for about 12 months. In the press conferences that SLC held in the past two weeks, board president Shammi Silva delivered personal insults against Ranasinghe, as Ranasinghe had against him elsewhere.Ranasinghe had also repeatedly accused SLC of corruption and mismanagement. The interim committee he had installed – and which was ousted by Sri Lanka’s courts a day later – was headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, and also featured two sons of politicians with no known history of cricket administration.SLC is understood to have asked to be suspended by the ICC in order to put pressure on the sports minister that had temporarily sacked the cricket board. Because of SLC’s suspension, Sri Lanka lost hosting rights of the Under-19 men’s World Cup, which had been scheduled for January and February 2024.

England Lions keeper-batter will replace Dan Lawrence in middle order at new club

Matt Roller28-Jul-2023Kent are “disappointed” that Jordan Cox, the wicketkeeper-batter who toured Pakistan with England’s T20I squad last year, has turned down the offer of a contract extension in order to join Essex.Cox informed the club on Monday of his desire to leave at the end of this season and has signed a three-year deal with Essex where he is seen as a long-term replacement for Dan Lawrence, who is leaving for Surrey.Cox went to school in Essex – at Felsted, 10 miles north of Chelmsford – where he worked closely with Jason Gallian. Gallian became chair of Essex’s cricket committee earlier this year and the pair have maintained a good relationship.Cox’s departure is a major blow for Kent, the county where he has played since the age of 10. He played a significant role in the club’s Blast win two years ago, scoring 58 not out in the final before setting up a remarkable relay catch during Somerset’s run chase with sensational athleticism on the boundary rope.Related

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“We’re disappointed that Jordan has decided to move on from Kent next year,” Paul Downton, Kent’s director of cricket, said in a terse club statement. “He has made a name for himself as a Kent cricketer and has been extremely well supported by the club.”Downton, who is leaving his role at the end of the season, added: “That said, we would like to thank Jordan for his contributions to Kent Cricket and wish him well with his cricket in the future.”He is the second keeper-batter academy graduate to leave Kent in the last 12 months, after Ollie Robinson joined Durham at the end of last year. Robinson has thrived since moving north, scoring three Championship hundreds this season and finishing the Blast as Durham’s top run-scorer.There has been a logjam of wicketkeeper-batters at the county, with club captain Sam Billings generally taking the gloves when he has been available – though Cox had kept wicket in Kent’s last six Championship games with Billings taking a break from first-class cricket after a lean run of form.Billings tweeted on Friday night that he was “disappointed” to see Cox leave the club, but added: “As a club I don’t think we could have supported his journey any more & at times prioritised his development over others.He added: “Opportunities for young players now are endless. Good advice & support networks are paramount to navigate through a career especially in the early (most important) stages of development.”Essex have used three different wicketkeepers this year – Adam Rossington, Michael Pepper and Will Buttleman – but none has scored heavily in the Championship. Cox has not been given any guarantees around keeping wicket, but is likely to have opportunities with the gloves at some stage.Cox said it was “a real honour” to sign for Essex•Getty Images

Anthony McGrath, their head coach, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to secure the signing of Jordan, who is a young, hungry cricketer looking to impress in all formats.”He will add real depth and quality to our batting line-up, as well as strengthening our wicket-keeping ranks too, and we are all very much looking forward to working with him.”Cox said it was “a real honour” to sign for Essex, adding: “The team is full of talent, they are going places, and I can only see the group getting better over the coming seasons. I’m excited to join them and contribute to what I hope will be a successful future.”I’d like to thank everyone at Kent for everything they have done for me to get me where I am today. I’ll miss my team-mates, coaches and the staff at Kent but I feel that now is the time for me to move on.”The club will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will always look back on my time here fondly. I will continue to give my all for Kent during the rest of my time here.”

“My family actually doesn’t get to travel the world and watch me play a lot of international cricket. So to do it in front of them definitely is right up there”

Sidharth Monga23-Jun-20241:15

Has Chris Jordan made himself undroppable?

Perhaps because he has been around for longer, Chris Jordan doesn’t quite get remembered as an England cricketer of Bajan origin as Jofra Archer does. The Kensington Oval was where Jordan first saw a cricket match, incidentally between West Indies and England, and fell in love with the game. He vaguely remembers watching it from the old press box. Perhaps he means the stand and not the actual press box.There is nothing vague about having created a pretty special memory here by taking a hat-trick to end USA’s innings prematurely in a collapse that took out five wickets for no runs, before England eventually won the Super Eight match by ten wickets to seal a semi-final spot. It is naturally special having done it at “home”; those in attendance made it more special for Jordan, because he has never had so many of his family watching him play. It ranks “right up there” with his best days in an England shirt.”Yeah, it’s a good day,” Jordan said. “I think because my family actually doesn’t get to travel the world and watch me play a lot of international cricket. So to do it in front of them definitely is right up there. And then also in a World Cup, in a game to make sure that we can qualify, it’s definitely up there for sure. Ranks high.”Related

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Who all were there then? “Yeah, everyone. The list goes on. My mum, my dad, my sister, brother-in-law, nephew. My nephew’s the one because he called me this morning and said, ‘Make sure you take three wickets today if you’re playing’. And yeah, so I looked up and he’s jumping up, because one day he might be out there trying to do the same thing. So yeah, you end up trying to be a role model and stuff like that. So yeah, it was a nice day.”It was fitting then that the England leadership brought Jordan in for a homecoming, along with Archer. After the defeat to Australia, Jordan missed the Oman game, but was brought back for the rain-shortened crunch match against Namibia. Then he missed games against West Indies and South Africa. It can be challenging for a player to not be sure of a place in the starting XI, but Jordan hasn’t let it affect him.”Not too much of a challenge because I [have] played a lot of cricket now, and I think the communication has been really good from the hierarchy as well,” he said. “I try to control the things that I can control – because even when I’m not playing, I’m trying to be there for guys and help guys with their planning, and make sure that guys are well motivated as well going into the game.”So we don’t really have too much time to even think about being in and out. All I can do is kind of keep training hard and just keep preparing as [though] I’m going to play every game anyway, whichever way the coin falls on the day. So yeah, not too much of a bother for me.”

Sri Lanka last hosted the men’s T20 World Cup in 2012, India in 2016

Nagraj Gollapudi09-Sep-2025The 2026 men’s T20 World Cup is likely to be played between February 7 and March 8. The tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka and will comprise 20 teams.The matches will be played in at least five venues in India and two in Sri Lanka. The final will be in Ahmedabad or Colombo, depending on whether Pakistan is playing. India and Pakistan are not playing in each other’s countries due to strained political relations between the two governments at present.While the ICC is still finalising the schedule, ESPNcricinfo has learned that it has identified the window and informed the participating countries.Related

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At present, 15 teams have been confirmed for the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup: India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, USA, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Italy, who have qualified for a World Cup for the first time. Of the remaining five teams, two will come from the Africa regional qualifier and three from the Asia and East Asia Pacific qualifier.The format will be the same as the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA, where the 20 teams were divided into four groups of five each, with the top two from each group qualifying for the Super Eight round, where once again the eight teams were divided into two groups of four. The top two from each Super Eight group progressed to the semi-finals. India are the reigning champions, having beaten South Africa in the final in Barbados. The entire tournament comprised 55 matches.India are hosting several marquee events in the first four months of 2026 starting with the WPL, dates for which are yet to be finalised. The BCCI has earmarked a window between early January and early February for the five-team tournament. The WPL will be followed by the men’s T20 World Cup, after which the BCCI will host the IPL, with the tentative window being March 15 to May 31. India also host New Zealand for ODIs and T20Is from January 11 to 31.

The three teams have combined to play just 23 Tests since 2017

Tristan Lavalette17-Feb-2023As they trudged off the Queens Sports Club after suffering a second successive Test thrashing, Zimbabwe were left disappointed at being comprehensively outplayed by West Indies.Defeat in this recently-concluded two-match series, however, was almost inconsequential for a nation emerging from an 18-month hiatus from Test cricket. Before hosting West Indies this month, Zimbabwe played only 14 Tests from 2017-22: in part because ongoing financial strife forced them to, and also because enticing bigger Full Members while not being part of the nine-team World Test Championship (WTC) has proven something of an impossible sell for them.Ireland and Afghanistan, who became Full Members by gaining Test status in 2017, are also not part of the WTC, and similarly have barely played Test cricket; Ireland have had only three Tests since, while Afghanistan just six. But when the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the period 2023-27 was released last August, these three teams were allocated significantly more Tests: Afghanistan (21), Zimbabwe (20) and Ireland (12).Related

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• ICC puts onus on boards to make international calendar manageable

• ICC: 'Volume of ODIs and T20Is in the calendar is up to every member'

Until that announcement, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan had combined to play just 23 Tests since 2017; none of them played another for the rest of 2022 as well. So while the Test numbers were a positive, the problem was that precious few in the new FTP were scheduled against the cash cows of India, England and Australia. Zimbabwe, notably, were allocated 109 matches across formats, with not a single one – even in the shorter formats – being against cricket’s three biggest draw cards.During ICC meetings in Melbourne last November, while he contemplated running for ICC chair, Zimbabwe Cricket boss Tavengwa Mukuhlani used his leverage to push for a working group focused at looking into current and future FTP bilateral planning arrangements. Mukuhlani, along with ECB’s Martin Darlow and New Zealand Cricket’s Martin Snedden, will be comprising that group, which is expected to be ratified at next month’s ICC board meetings. They haven’t met formally, although they had discussions on the sidelines in Melbourne.The working group is open for Full Members to address concerns heightened amid international cricket’s shrinking calendar as T20 leagues sprout worldwide. It is expected to have a particular focus on the three countries not part of the WTC too, even as the abolition of the ODI World Cup Super League has also raised an alarm for smaller nations over future ODI fixtures.”We believe Zimbabwe is a Test nation. We can’t just let that slip simply because nations don’t want to play us,” Mukuhlani told ESPNcricinfo. “We have something to preserve and defend. We want to play Tests. We know it will cost us money, but we can’t put a value on playing Test cricket.”Zimbabwe have not played any of the so-called Big Three teams in Test cricket since September 2005, when they had hosted India for two Tests. Last year, they ended a 19-year drought of touring Australia other than for a World Cup, for a series which was part of the Super League, and where they famously won the third ODI, although their push for a one-off Test was rebuffed by CA.This year’s match remains Ireland’s only Test against England, India or Australia through to 2027•Getty Images

Mukuhlani said discussions were ongoing over Zimbabwe hosting India for a white-ball series later in the year after the countries played a three-match ODI series last August in Harare. But their relationship with England has long proved thorny due to strained political ties during the latter years of the reign of Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe.The two countries have not played each other bilaterally since 2004 – and not at all since September 2007, when they had met in the inaugural ICC World T20 – although Zimbabwe’s political situation is different since Mugabe was ousted from power in 2017.Both the ZC and ECB have confirmed that there are no longer political issues preventing the countries from playing each other; but such a bilateral arrangement still remains stalled for the foreseeable future.”England for us is big money – the second biggest behind India,” Mukuhlani said. “We want England to tour us. It’s a conversation we’ve had for many years. There is great willingness from the ECB, and there have been signs in recent times. But nothing tangible has ever happened on their end. But we know they – like other countries – are struggling to find gaps in the schedule.”Mukuhlani said he would advocate through the working group for countries touring South Africa to make a stopover in Zimbabwe; even as England last month were in South Africa for a three-match ODI series, but won’t be returning there until 2026-27. He also planned to propose annual triangular or quadrangular white-ball series during April-May for countries with limited or no players competing in the IPL, such as Zimbabwe and Pakistan.”I’ve been trying to raise these issues for a long time, so hopefully now there is a proper platform to air them,” Mukuhlani said of the working group.Afghanistan are set to end a two-year Test wait with a series in Bangladesh mid-year•Abu Dhabi Cricket

Unlike Zimbabwe, Ireland play England imminently with a one-off Test scheduled in June at Lord’s. Cricket Ireland administrators had hoped it would become an annual fixture in the English summer, but this year’s match remains Ireland’s only Test against England, India or Australia through to 2027. Before that fixture, they will be breaking a four-year drought in the format when they meet Bangladesh in a one-off Test in Dhaka in April.”Our players are keen [to play Tests], but we have to be realistic,” Ireland’s ICC board director Ross McCollum said.Ireland’s only home Test was their debut in the format against Pakistan in 2018 which cost around a million Euros; and they aren’t scheduled to host a Test until the middle of next year against Zimbabwe.”With the budget we have, it is much easier to play away,” McCollum said. “Our annual turnover is around 10-12 million [Euros], so it’s a sizeable chunk out of that to host Tests. Ideally we want to play Test cricket. But only a few countries are financially able to play Test cricket and can put bums on seats.”While they strive for more Test opportunities, these smaller nations realise that an expanded WTC remains unlikely.”I think [WTC] is important because it creates context,” McCollum said. “Ideally it would have been expanded to 12 members, and I would have liked to have seen two leagues with promotion and relegation. But some countries didn’t want it because they might have fallen into relegation, and 12 teams in one division is too hard because of the crammed calendar.”Afghanistan, meanwhile, are set to end a two-year Test wait with a series in Bangladesh scheduled for mid-year. Their FTP is marked by a historic tour of Australia in 2026, which includes a one-off Test, but relations between the two countries are currently frayed. CA recently pulled out of an ODI series against Afghanistan set for March due to the Taliban’s ban on university education for girls.It was met with fierce condemnation from the Afghanistan Cricket Board and their players, including Rashid Khan, who threatened to boycott the BBL. But amid the politicking, Afghanistan’s future is murky beyond the playing field, as the sport’s administrators grapple with the apparent erosion of women’s cricket development since the Taliban seized control. The Afghanistan issue is set to be debated at the ICC meetings next month.