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Both experts say continued T20 expansion may be especially harmful to the health of ODI cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-20239:30

Are IPL team owners going to take over world cricket?

Ravi Shastri and Tom Moody feel it is “inevitable” that IPL teams will start to influence world cricket by engaging players in long term contracts which will see them take part in multiple leagues. Last week, FICA confirmed that there have been informal conversations between some franchises and players about the possibility of such contracts, but nobody has officially signed one yet.”We have seen that slowly shift in the last couple of years, when IPL teams look to buy other franchises around the world,” former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Moody said on ESPNcricinfo’s Runorder. “The reason we start talking about this is because each IPL team is looking for a bigger footprint in the game. It might not be financially beneficial for them to be doing that, but they are looking at the long term benefit of having a greater stake of the time in the calendar year.”Former India coach Shastri agreed and highlighted the possibility of international cricket being geared around World Cup tournaments. “I have always said that the bilateral cricket will suffer, there is no question about that. With the leagues spreading around the world, it’s going to go the football way. The teams will assemble just before the World Cup, they play a little bit of bilateral, clubs will release the players and you play the mega World Cup. So it’s going to go that way in the long run whether you like it or not.Shastri admitted he wasn’t troubled by any of this. “I don’t feel bad at all,” but he did add that “one of the faculties of the game will suffer. I think it will be 50-over cricket.”Related

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Moody went a step further and suggested the one-day format might even be replaced, by T10 cricket, and that continued T20 expansion could lead to just a handful of countries playing Test cricket.”That really tells me that there are only going to be few countries that are going to be playing Test cricket, as simple as that,” Moody said. “Rest are going to focus on white-ball cricket, and I will add another format that may replace the 50-over cricket and that may be T10. I see that as a potential, not a game-changer but a movement towards the next step ahead for the IPL to consider if they want to expand what is an incredibly successful property.”All this leads to a situation where players may have to choose between their country and their club and Shastri, for one, understands why they might be tempted to pick club. Especially those who are unable to make it to the highest level. India has an abundance of such players but whether the BCCI will allow them to participate in various leagues is still a topic up for discussion.”Look at the volume of people in this country, we are 1.4 billion, and only 11 can play for India,” Shastri said. “What will the others do? They have an opportunity to play white-ball cricket, it’s their strength, globally, across different franchises in the world. Grab that opportunity. It’s common sense, it’s their living. It’s their income. Nobody will be able to deprive them of this. They [players] are not contracted by BCCI. What stops them going?”Nothing like getting exposure. How much do they want to protect their own league? You’ve got to see where they come from, and rightly so. This is our league and to protect this league is paramount as far as our interest goes. But by letting certain players go, it’s not going to affect the league in any way.”New Zealand Cricket has already recognised that the game is at a tipping point and has worked with several players, including the likes of Trent Boult who opted out of a central contract last year, to find a way forward that benefits both parties.

Mukesh Kumar has also been named in the squad; Mohammed Shami has been rested and Umesh Yadav dropped

Shashank Kishore23-Jun-20232:22

Has Cheteshwar Pujara played his last Test?

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mukesh Kumar have been selected in India’s Test squad for the first time for the tour of the West Indies, while Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped and Mohammed Shami rested. Fast bowler Navdeep Saini has also made a comeback to the squad in place of Umesh Yadav.It means India will have a new No. 3 for the series after Pujara, 35, scored only 14 and 27 in the World Test Championship final against Australia earlier in June. Unless India move Shubman Gill down to No. 3, Pujara’s spot could be taken by either Jaiswal or Gaikwad for India’s first series in the 2023-2025 WTC cycle.Related

• Time to temper expectations as India enter Test transition

• Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma earn maiden call up to India T20I squad

• Abhimanyu Easwaran: 'Very few people are this close to being picked for India. That gives me confidence'

• What more can Sarfaraz Khan do to get selected for India?

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Ajinkya Rahane, who was India’s highest scorer at The Oval, has kept his place after making a comeback following a 15-month absence from the Test team. He has also been named vice-captain. The rest of the squad, led by Rohit Sharma, includes most of the players selected for the WTC final.Jaiswal had made the trip to London as a stand-by player along with Mukesh, after Gaikwad, who was part of the original list of back-ups, withdrew to get married. While Jaiswal and Mukesh are uncapped, Gaikwad has played ten limited-overs internationals; his most-recent an ODI against South Africa in October last year.Gaikwad, who plays for Maharashtra, has a first-class average of 42.19 from 28 games with six centuries, and his technique has impressed the selectors and team management who have been looking to bring him into the Test team for a while now.Jaiswal has been prolific for Mumbai and has a first-class average of 80.21 in 26 innings. In his most recent first-class game – the Irani Cup – he made 213 and 144 for Rest of India against Madhya Pradesh. That aggregate of 357 is the most for any batter in an Irani Cup game. Jaiswal has the ability to not just open but also bat at No. 3 if required.Mukesh is a workhorse who plays for Bengal. The 30-year-old is a line-and-length fast bowler who has built an impressive body of work in domestic cricket. He was key to Bengal making two Ranji Trophy finals in the last three seasons and has been on the Test radar for a while, having featured in every India A tour over the past two seasons. He has 149 wickets in 39 first-class games.Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are all still recovering from surgery for various injuries, and with Rishabh Pant undergoing rehab after surviving a car crash last December, KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan have been picked as India’s wicketkeepers in the Caribbean. Bharat has played all five Tests since Pant’s injury, but has scored just 129 runs at an average of 18.42.What next for Cheteshwar Pujara?•Associated Press

On the spin-bowling front, Axar Patel provides back up to R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Jaydev Unadkat, who has been part of every Test squad since the tour of Bangladesh last December, was also retained and is the only left-arm seamer in a fast bowling group that also includes Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Saini and Mukesh, all of whom have fewer than 100 Test wickets each. Saini has not played a Test since the famous victory at the Gabba in 2021.India open their tour of the West Indies with the first Test in Dominica from July 12. The second Test begins on July 20 at Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. They won their previous Test series in the Caribbean 2-0 in 2019.India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk), Navdeep Saini

The women’s team will take on Pakistan in December 2023 and England in March and April next year

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2023New Zealand will host Australia for a Test series for the first time in eight years in the upcoming summer, right after attempting to secure a maiden Test series victory against South Africa, according to the fixtures released by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for the 2023-24 home season.The New Zealand men’s team begin their home season with three ODIs and three T20Is against Bangladesh in the last two weeks of December. They then have a 11-day break before hosting Pakistan for five T20Is from January 12 to 21.South Africa then visit for two Tests between February 4 and 17, followed by Australia, who tour for three T20Is and two Tests between February 21 and March 12.Related

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• Williamson not giving up on the World Cup dream just yet

• Adam Milne offered NZC contract after five years

New Zealand women also host Pakistan for three T20Is and three ODIs between December 3 and 18, and then take on England in five T20Is and three ODIs between March 19 and April 7. The England women’s A team will also tour New Zealand at the time.This will be the first international summer in 24 years to be screened live free-to-air on TVNZ.NZC said its schedule includes ten double-headers (two games back-to-back at the same venue) as it attempts “to address both the needs of different audiences and enhance the efficiency of its playing programme in an era of climate change awareness.”NZC chief executive David White said: “In terms of venues with lights, we’ve been able to schedule several back-to-back night matches and day matches to ensure good opportunities for both families and adult patrons, respectively, which we think is good for the game.”It’s a strategy that also complements our need to prioritise energy efficiency – and to just do the right thing as a sports organisation, given the challenges we’re facing from climate change these days.”

New Zealand men’s fixtures

vs Bangladesh
1st ODI: December 17, Dunedin2nd ODI: December 20, Nelson3rd ODI: December 23, Napier1st T20I: December 27, Napier2nd T20I: December 29, Tauranga3rd T20I: December 31, Taurangavs Pakistan
1st T20I: January 12, Auckland2nd T20I, January 14, Hamilton3rd T20I, January 17, Dunedin4th T20I, January 19, Christchurch5th T20I, January 21, Christchurchvs South Africa
1st Test: February 4 to 8, Tauranga2nd Test: February 13-17, Hamiltonvs Australia
1st T20I: February 21, Wellington2nd T20I: February 23, Auckland3rd T20I: February 25, Auckland1st Test: February 29-March 4, Wellington2nd Test: March 8-12, Christchurch

New Zealand women’s fixtures

vs Pakistan1st T20I: December 3, Dunedin2nd T20I: December 5, Dunedin3rd T20I: December 9, Queenstown1st ODI: December 12, Queenstown2nd ODI: December 15, Christchurch3rd ODI: December 18, Christchurchvs England1st T20I: March 19, Dunedin2nd T20I: March 22, Nelson3rd T20I: March 24, Nelson4th T20I: March 27, Wellington5th T20I: March 29, Wellington1st ODI: April 1, Wellington2nd ODI: April 4, Hamilton3rd ODI: April 7, Hamilton

Afridi will become the first big-name Pakistan star to be part of the league

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2023Shaheen Shah Afridi has signed with Desert Vipers for the second season of the UAE’s ILT20, and will become the first Pakistan player to play in the league when it takes place in January next year. He has joined on a three-year contract.”I am excited to join the Desert Vipers. I know there are many Pakistan cricket fans in the UAE and I hope they will support our team in the upcoming ILT20,” Afridi said in a statement.With the season scheduled to begin on January 13, Afridi will join the group after returning from Australia after the New Year’s Test in Sydney.Last year, Vipers had signed Azam Khan, which would have made him the first Pakistan player in the ILT20, but the PCB eventually did not grant him the no-objection certificate to play in the league.Related

• ILT20 Season 2: Warner, Shadab, Wood, Rayudu among high-profile overseas signings

• Pakistan players and PCB close to reaching common ground on new contracts

• Azam Khan won't be given No-Objection Certificate to play the ILT20

• ILT20 2024 to kick off on January 13

The PCB, under current chairman Zaka Ashraf, has softened its stance on allowing players to participate in various T20 leagues, after the players had expressed displeasure last year on the restrictive terms imposed under the administration at the time, led by Ramiz Raja. The PCB administration under Najam Sethi, Ashraf’s predecessor, was also understood to have been negotiating with ILT20 about making Pakistan players available.”Shaheen is a player of world-class calibre who has had a significant impact not only for Pakistan but for every team he’s played for in recent times,” Vipers director of cricket Tom Moody said on their new signing. “He offers a huge amount as an impact pace bowler that has destroyed many, many top-orders and he also boasts terrific leadership skills that will add a huge amount of value to the Desert Vipers moving forward.”Afridi will join a bowling attack that already has Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana, Tom Curran and Sheldon Cottrell among others.Vipers retained many of their players after finishing runners-up in the inaugural season. The list includes captain Colin Munro and opener Alex Hales, who finished as the highest run-scorer of the tournament.

The general sale of tickets for all World Cup matches to commence from 8pm IST on September 8, the BCCI said

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2023With less than a month to go for the first match of the men’s ODI World Cup, the BCCI, the host board, has announced the release of as many as 400,000 tickets in the next phase of ticket sales.A BCCI statement on Wednesday evening said that the “general sale of tickets” for all matches of the World Cup will commence from 8pm IST on September 8, adding that “fans will be notified of the further sale of tickets in the next phase in due course”. The release did not mention any details of the next phase though.ESPNcricinfo has learnt these tickets are part of a further phased approach to meet the huge demand from fans, though there was no mention previously that such a batch would go on sale. The original phased approach of online sales (except for the knockouts) ended on September 3.Related

• ODI World Cup tickets to go on sale on August 25

• Date changes for India-Pakistan and eight other games

The BCCI arrived at the number of tickets to be sold in coordination with the state associations that will host the World Cup matches. It is understood that those associations were asked by the BCCI to release a certain number of tickets – usually meant for the former’s members – which were then added to public tickets quota.The BCCI had faced a lot of backlash from fans and other stakeholders for first releasing the schedule only 100 days before the start of the tournament, and then making further changes to it, which further delayed the release of tickets. The statement said the board “acknowledges the high demand for tickets” and planned to release more tickets after “discussions with the hosting state associations” to accommodate “as many passionate cricket fans as possible, ensuring their participation in this historic event”.”The BCCI deeply acknowledges that fans are the heartbeat of the tournament, and their unwavering passion, engagement, and contributions are pivotal to the success of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023,” the statement said.According to the original plan of ticket sales revealed by the ICC on the same day that they released the revised schedule, the tickets were to go on sale in seven phases, from August 25, 41 days before the tournament opener.

• August 25: Warm-up and World Cup matches not featuring India
• August 30: India warm-up matches in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram
• August 31: India World Cup matches in Chennai (vs Australia, Oct 8), Delhi (vs Afghanistan, Oct 11) and Pune (vs Bangladesh, Oct 19)
• September 1: India World Cup matches in Dharamsala (vs New Zealand, Oct 22), Lucknow (vs England, Oct 29) and Mumbai (vs Sri Lanka, Nov 2)
• September 2: India World Cup matches in Kolkata (vs South Africa, Nov 5) and Bengaluru (vs Netherlands, Nov 12)
• September 3: India World Cup matches in Ahmedabad (vs Pakistan, Oct 14)
• September 15: Semi-finals and final

In comparison, the 2019 World Cup (in England and Wales) had tickets go up for sale in September 2018 and then again on March 21, 2019, as an ICC response to the high demand for tickets.The 2023 World Cup will kick-off on October 5 with England vs New Zealand – a repeat of the 2019 final – in Ahmedabad. Nine other cities will host World Cup games in India: Hyderabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata. The ten teams will all play each other in the first round before the semi-finals are played in Mumbai (November 15) and Kolkata (November 16), and the final in Ahmedabad on November 19.

Head coach Gary Stead provides updates on the three players who missed New Zealand’s opening clash against England

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2023Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee are likely to be fit for New Zealand’s second World Cup game against Netherlands having recovered from their respective injuries. However, captain Kane Williamson is likely to spend some more time on the sidelines, head coach Gary Stead has said.”Lockie Ferguson got through training really well so providing he is scrubbed up okay this morning, he will be available for this next game,” Stead said. “Tim Southee also got through the training really well. It was great to see him back at the bowling crease and also doing a little bit of fielding as well.”He will just get a final x-ray done this morning and we will make a call after that but it is all looking good for selection from now on and into the rest of the tournament.”Related

• Can Netherlands bring high-flying New Zealand back down to earth?

• Netherlands keep their SOUL intact despite World Cup reality check

• New Zealand play with fire and come out unscathed

• 'Knee held up pretty well' – Williamson marks return from injury with half-century

• Southee hopes to 'be right in time' for World Cup as he begins bowling with 'tender' thumb

New Zealand have been plagued by injuries coming into the World Cup and effectively had 12 fit players to pick from for their opening fixture against England. Ferguson missed the game due to a back niggle, while Southee, who had surgery on his fractured right thumb heading into the tournament, failed to recover in time.Williamson, meanwhile will continue to remain absent from the playing XI as he makes his way back to full fitness from an ACL tear he suffered in the IPL earlier this year. Williamson played the two warm-up games against Pakistan and South Africa, giving a good account of himself, scoring 54 and 37 respectively, before retiring out.He missed the opening game against England and is now targeting a comeback in New Zealand’s third game against Bangladesh on October 13 in Chennai.Kane Williamson is targeting a return in New Zealand’s third game•ICC via Getty Images

“Kane’s also been progressing very well. I think the fielding is still the element for him that he’s just got to get a little bit higher and get a little more trust in his body,” Stead said.”But he is progressing really well and we are pretty confident he will be playing the third match for us. We have got another training to get through today so we will finalise the team once we have got through that training. At this stage with Kane, we are looking like the third game is when he will start the tournament.”New Zealand will next face Netherlands on October 9 in Hyderabad.

Chasing New Zealand’s 402, the opener smashed an unbeaten ton to keep up with the DLS asking rate in rain-hit game

Danyal Rasool04-Nov-20231:47

Mumtaz on Fakhar’s knock: ‘Pakistan’s dreams and hopes alive due to one man’

Against all odds, Pakistan somehow remain alive in this World Cup. In a game where they turned in one of their most ordinary bowling displays in World Cup history, a century from Rachin Ravindra and 95 from the returning Kane Williamson saw New Zealand amass 401 – their highest World Cup total – to leave Pakistan on the ropes. But an astonishing counterattack from Fakhar Zaman saw him smash an unbeaten 126 in 81 balls to keep Pakistan up with the DLS asking rate with the threat of rain looming for much of the second innings. And when the rain did arrive, Pakistan were comfortably ahead of the rate they needed to be, pulling off a win that levels them on points with New Zealand and puts a semi-final berth within realistic grasp.Pakistan’s decision to field first after winning the toss raised eyebrows on a flat wicket, suggesting they had as much of an eye on improving their net run rate as they did putting points on the board. But as soon as New Zealand’s innings started, both prospects began to look like distant improbabilities. Devon Conway and Ravindra had started brightly, and Pakistan, who had somewhat curiously gone without either of their two legspinners or Mohammad Nawaz, found themselves turning to Iftikhar Ahmed’s spin in the sixth over.

Pakistan fined for slow over rate

Pakistan were fined 10% of their match fees for maintaining a slow over rate in their win over New Zealand in Bengaluru. The Babar Azam-led side was found to be two overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

On the field, Pakistan were found to be three overs short at the cut-off time and, as a result, they had to have one less fielder outside the inner ring for the last three overs of the innings that went for 35.

Match referee Richie Richardson imposed the sanction and Babar pleaded guilty to the offence, so there was no formal hearing.

New Zealand went after him too, and it was Haris Rauf who drew first blood with a short delivery that kissed Conway’s bat on the way through to Mohammad Rizwan. It brought Williamson out for just his second game this tournament, but he started like he’d never been away. The duo, on opposite ends of the spectrum in experience, were united in the comfort with which they negotiated a Pakistan attack that looked desperately toothless, with Babar Azam ringing the changes and struggling for respite from any corner.They had long brought up their half-centuries, and were speeding towards three figures, turbocharged by a Hasan Ali over that saw 18 come off it as both approached the 90s. But there was to be no slowdown from either; with New Zealand hovering around 240 for 1, there was little need to stall momentum in pursuit of a milestone. If anything Williamson’s risk-taking increased to reckless levels; he nearly ran himself out three times while within touch of his century. Ravindra, meanwhile, smeared Wasim through the onside to get to 99, before a single brought up his third World Cup hundred in the city of his parents’ birth.Williamson fell looking to bring his own hundred up with a straight six as he holed out to long-off, while Ravindra scooped one up to the midwicket boundary shortly after. But if Pakistan thought two new batters would stem the bleeding, Daryl Mitchell and Mark Chapman soon disabused them of that notion. The pair, along with Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner, put on cameos to see to it that New Zealand put on 140 runs in the 14.1 overs since Ravindra fell, breaching the 400 barrier against a battered, broken Pakistan fielding unit.Rachin Ravindra brought up his third century of the World Cup but it was in vain•Associated Press

Pakistan needed everything to go their way to have a snowball’s chance in hell, and that’s certainly not how it started. It was the irrepressible Williamson who drew first blood with one of the catches of the tournament, a sensational diving grab running backwards that put paid to Abdullah Shafique.But it was Fakhar who Pakistan needed in a situation like this, and his onslaught against Trent Boult made his intentions clear. Two fours and a six in his third over set the tone, with the 17 he conceded was Boult’s most expensive World Cup over. It was followed up by another 16 in his next as Babar also joined the party.However, it was the Fakhar show. Soon, Tim Southee was also taken on, as was Santner as Pakistan posted 75 by the time the first powerplay ended. Fakhar soon brought up his half-century with a late cut off Ish Sodhi off 39 balls, but he was only getting warmed up.A pair of sixes off Glenn Phillips meant Williamson, too, was struggling to get a handle on Fakhar, who was in that zone where he looked like every ball would disappear for six. Before you looked up, you saw he’d smacked Santner for his ninth six of the innings and was suddenly one ball away from three figures, bringing up a phenomenal 62-ball hundred soon after.When the rains arrived, Pakistan were ten runs ahead on the DLS, but it was to be a relatively brief interruption. When they got back on, though, they rubberstamped their dominance as the chase dwindled to 342 off 41 overs; they had effectively reduced it to a T20 game. Williamson fatefully turned to Sodhi, who conceded 32 in the two overs he sent down, including two gigantic sixes off Fakhar that indicated the break had not sapped any of his momentum.When steady rains began once more, Pakistan were much further ahead, 21 clear of where they needed to be. And on a wet evening, they would never get back on, Pakistan dashing away with the two points in a smash-and-grab for the ages. One whose lore may continue to be told and reinvented if a few results go a certain way in the coming week.

“The reverse is a strength of mine and I practice it a lot on the nets and just work on my wrist speed”

S Sudarshanan02-Jan-20241:17

Litchfield: ‘The reverse is fine, got to work on the conventional sweep’

Phoebe Litchfield can do it all. She takes gravity-defying flying catches as a habit. In fact, India batter Jemimah Rodrigues, her team-mate at Northern Superchargers in the women’s Hundred, joked that she doesn’t want to be Litchfield’s friend anymore after one such blinder resulted in her dismissal. But Litchfield also bats stylishly and plays a mean reverse-sweep. It’s a shot that the bowlers still don’t expect her to play, despite it being one of her strengths. She displayed that stroke multiple times in her maiden women’s Hundred season last year as well as the WBBL in the past few seasons. Those exploits led Gujarat Giants to splurge INR 1 crore (USD 120,000 approx) on her for WPL 2024.Litchfield attempted the reverse sweep against Sneh Rana in the one-off Test in India last month but chopped on. However, that did not deter her as she exhibited the shot multiple times during her chart-topping show in Australia’s clean sweep of the three-match ODI series against India. None of the batters from either side played the reverse sweep in the ODIs as much as Litchfield did. She brought it out on 12 occasions and scored 22; Alyssa Healy attempted the reverse-sweep four times, the next-most.Related

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“I still play it no matter if it spins or not,” Litchfield said of the reverse-sweep after her 119 at the Wankhede Stadium in the third ODI. “It’s more about the area of the ground I can access rather than [thinking] if it’s spinning, and then if it is spinning it’s probably a good option because it’s hard to play with a straight bat.”Litchfield finished the ODIs – her first in India – with 260 runs, scoring two fifties and a hundred. But she also identified a possible area to work on – the conventional sweep. In each of the three games, she fell while attempting a sweep. She missed a slog sweep and was bowled by Rana in the opening game, feathered an edge attempting the shot off Shreyanka Patil in the second, and top-edged a slog sweep towards cover off Patil on Tuesday.”I have got to work on the conventional sweep because it’s got me out every ODI innings hit so far. The reverse is a strength of mine and I practice it a lot on the nets and just work on my wrist speed. I think that’s an important factor of it. And just sort of controlling it. One of them went in the air close to [Pooja] Vastrakar [at backward point] today. It’s just all down to practice.”But there was a phase during her second ODI century where she felt the pressure. Healy and Ellyse Perry had been dismissed in relatively quick succession and Patil was brought on for a two-over spell. With close-in fielders in position, Patil stifled Beth Mooney before dismissing her and Tahlia McGrath off successive deliveries.Litchfield was on 91 off 88 balls when Healy was dismissed and crawled to 98 off 107 before the Patil double-strike. She then played a pristine drive to beat mid-off and got to her century off 109 balls.”I thought I was going to bring it up with Pez [Perry] as a fairy tale,” she said. “But it took me a long time to get to the hundred and it was nerve wracking to say the least. Then with the wickets falling around me it was a bit stressful. But I just stayed really calm. I probably scored each run in singles.”Litchfield is only 20, and is already being spoken about in the same league as former Australia captains Meg Lanning and Belinda Clark – that she termed “huge honor”. If her first year in international cricket is anything to go by, it won’t be outlandish if Phoebe Litchfield is the name that comes to mind when talking about the best batters in the world over the next five years.

Kellaway has combined with Sam Harper for a match-winning partnership in Victoria’s three-wicket victory

AAP06-Feb-2024South Australia captain Jake Lehmann was left to rue being sent in first on a “horrendous” pitch as Victoria secured a thrilling three-wicket victory in the Sheffield Shield clash at Junction Oval.Resuming on 49 for 2, chasing 157 for the win, Victoria crashed to 73 for 5 and 101 for 6 on Tuesday as Brendan Doggett, Nathan McAndrew and Wes Agar applied intense pressure.But fighting knocks from Campbell Kellaway (35 not out off 101 balls) and Sam Harper (34 off 28 balls) got the home side over the line just before lunch on day four.Kellaway was almost run out on 8, and he enjoyed another lucky break on 19 when a strong lbw shout from Agar was turned down. Replays showed Kellaway was plumb in front. Kellaway was given another life on 30 when a tough one-handed chance at leg slip was put down. The 21-year-old made the most of his fortune to combine with Harper for a match-winning 50-run stand.South Australia made just 173 in their first innings on a wicket that featured plenty of ghosts on the opening day. Although the Redbacks fought back with 271 in their second dig, their poor opening ended up being the difference in the match.”The pitch on day one was pretty horrendous in my opinion,” Lehmann said. “To get dobbed in on that and find a way to a score that we could compete in shows strength and character.”Credit to us there, but unfortunately we couldn’t come away with a win. If we [had] won the toss, we probably would have rolled them as well.”The Redbacks’ woes were compounded by an injury to allrounder Liam Scott, who rolled his left ankle on the boundary rope while watching the ball sail over his head.Victoria’s third win on the trot lifted them into second on the ladder with three rounds remaining, while South Australia will likely end the round in fifth spot.Stand-in Victoria captain Peter Handscomb paid special tribute to player of the match Nic Maddinson, who scored 104 in the first innings in his first Shield match since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament on New Year’s Day 2023.”Maddo’s innings was game-defining,” Handscomb said. “Everyone found it tough on this wicket. It seemed like there was seam movement from ball one to the last ball of the day, which was awesome to see. But the way Maddo played – counter-punched well but also had a strong defence – was incredible to watch.”The hosts made the worst start possible to day four, with first-innings centurion Maddinson chipping Doggett straight to mid-on on the first ball of the morning.Doggett struck again to remove nightwatchman Xavier Crone, while Handscomb made just 8 before being clean bowled by Agar. Jonathan Merlo’s exit for 17 left Victoria needing 56 more runs with just four wickets in hand.But Harper made light work of the task at hand, cracking three fours and two sixes to take the game away from the visitors.

He suffered a laceration to his chin and neck but scans cleared him of a fracture

Alex Malcolm05-Jan-2024Melbourne Stars wicketkeeper Sam Harper was taken to hospital via ambulance after a nasty blow to the head at training but scans have cleared him of a fracture despite suffering a laceration to his chin and neck.Harper was training with the Stars squad at the MCG on Friday ahead of Saturday’s clash against Sydney Sixers when he was struck in the head while batting in the nets.While attempting to play a ramp shot he was hit on the chin with the ball lodging under the grill of his helmet, causing a severe laceration near his throat. Harper was immediately attended to by the Stars medical team to control the bleeding.An ambulance was called but he was conscious, breathing and stable when he was taken to hospital for further treatment. He remained there overnight and will be monitored in the coming days despite scans clearing him of any fracture or soft tissue damage to his jaw or neck.The training session was immediately called off. Harper’s situation will be treated with caution given his history of concussions. He suffered a heavy concussion in the BBL in January 2020 when he collided with Hobart Hurricanes bowler Nathan Ellis and had to be taken to hospital. He was also hospitalised with concussion in 2017 when he was hit by a bat while keeping during a Sheffield Shield game.Harper will be unable to play tomorrow night and Stars do not have a back-up wicketkeeper on their list. Former Stars player and Victoria limited-overs captain Peter Handscomb has been called in at short notice as he does not have a BBL contract and was set to play grade cricket in Melbourne tomorrow for his club side St Kilda.He had been named captain of the Cricket Australia XI that is set to play a three-day game against West Indies in Adelaide starting on Tuesday but may need to be replaced for that game as Stars made him for all of the remaining three games of the home and away season and possibly finals, depending on Harper’s recovery.Handscomb has kept for Australia in T20Is and he played 51 BBL matches for Stars between 2012 and 2020 before playing two seasons at Hobart Hurricanes. He played three games for Melbourne Renegades last season as a replacement player, having not been contracted.