The Ranji Trophy 2024-25 knockouts start on Saturday with the four quarter-finals. Here’s a quick primer. Fixtures Jammu & Kashmir vs Kerala in Pune, from 9.30am ISTVidarbha vs Tamil Nadu in Nagpur, from 9.30am ISTHaryana vs Mumbai in Kolkata, from 9am ISTSaurashtra vs Gujarat in Rajkot, from 9.30am IST How they got here: J&K topped … Read more
Big picture: Opportunity for precious game time in Pakistan A triangular ODI series is something of a curiosity that belongs in a museum more than it does in 2025. Pakistan last hosted one in 2004, and there have been none in the ODI format anywhere since 2008. When this particular series was announced not long … Read more
A PCB statement said Ayub was “progressing well in his right ankle fracture injury”. He remains in England, where he will complete the remainder of his rehabilitation, and has been ruled out for 10 weeks from the time of his injury, which he picked up while fielding in the second Test against South Africa in … Read more
When is Champions Trophy 2025 starting? It has been a while since we had a Champions Trophy, right? Why has there been such a long gap? Since its inception in 1998, the tournament was played every two years till 2009. After that, it was moved to a four-year cycle. India were supposed to host the … Read more
Australia 85 for 2 (Khawaja 34*, Smith 23*) trail Sri Lanka 257 (Kusal 85, Chandimal 74, Starc 3-37, Kuhnemann 3-63, Lyon 3-96) by 172 runs Marnus Labuschagne’s woes continued as Australia’s top-order faced sustained pressure early on day two against a Sri Lanka spin attack relishing a deteriorating Galle surface. But despite the wickets of … Read more
Following a hiatus for the BBL, Sheffield Shield cricket returns on Saturday for the final four rounds of the regular season to see who will make it into the final at the end of March amid what is a very tight table after six rounds. Here’s a reminder of how things stand. 1. South Australia … Read more
Sunrisers Eastern Cape 177 for 2 (de Zorzi 78, J Hermann 69*) beat Paarl Royals 175 for 4 (R Hermann 81*, Pretorius 59) by eight wickets Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) will play in a third successive final after winning two matches in two days. They will take on first-time finalists MI Cape Town on Saturday, … Read more
The ECB board has confirmed that England’s men will fulfil their fixture against Afghanistan at the Champions Trophy this month, despite describing the “appalling oppression” of women in the country as “gender apartheid”. Richard Thompson, the ECB’s chairman, said in a statement following a board meeting on Thursday that a “coordinated international response” would achieve … Read more
Sri Lanka won five World Test Championship Tests in 2024, putting them in contention for making the World Test Championship final in 2025, as recently as December. Three of those victories came away from home, which is what made that run especially impressive. Since his big runs have dried up, Sri Lanka’s totals have become … Read more
Shreyas Iyer, who scored a match-winning 36-ball 59 in the first ODI against England in Nagpur, was originally meant to sit out the match. Iyer revealed this in a post-match interview with the broadcasters. India were without Virat Kohli, who was ruled out of the match with a swollen right knee, and they handed the … Read more
McBrine and Adair scored fifties each to lift Ireland from 31 for 5 to 260
Mohammad Abbas, the Pakistan seamer, has swapped Hampshire for Nottinghamshire, where he will be available for six fixtures in the forthcoming Rothesay County Championship. Abbas, who has claimed 758 first-class wickets at an average of 20.66, will begin his stint in May, following the conclusion of Fergus O’Neill’s month-long spell with the side. He will … Read more
Ireland left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after her action was deemed to be illegal. She subsequently got her action tested at the ICC-accredited testing centre in Loughborough on January 21, where it emerged that the amount of elbow extension in her bowling action exceeded the … Read more
England U19s 353 (Sawant 130, Fonseka 52, Rossouw 5-74) and 25 for 0 beat South Africa U19s 224 (James 84, Hansen 63, Jack 3-42) and 153 (Rowles 71, Vaughan 6-19) by 10 wickets Young Lions captain Archie Vaughan put the finishing touches on a comfortable 10-wicket win over South Africa Men U19s in the second … Read more
Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have both been officially ruled out of the Champions Trophy. The two of them and Mitchell Marsh “are managing some ongoing injuries and haven’t come up in time for the Champions Trophy,” selection chair George Bailey said on Thursday. Australia have until February 12 to finalise their Champions Trophy squad. … Read more
Melbourne Stars have signed Queensland legspinner Mitchell Swepson on a three-year deal on the final day of the BBL’s first player movement window. Swepson, 31, had been Brisbane Heat’s acting captain during the most recent BBL season when Colin Munro was injured, with permanent skipper Usman Khawaja playing just one game for the season. The … Read more
England elected to bat in the first ODI against India, after Jos Buttler won the toss in Nagpur for the opener of this three-match series. The big news is there is no Virat Kohli after the 36-year-old suffered a right knee injury on Wednesday evening. As such, Rohit Sharma’s XI is a mix of new … Read more
India captain Rohit Sharma said at the toss that Kohli had injured his right knee while training on Wednesday evening. Jaiswal was slotted to open with Rohit on the BCCI’s team sheet with vice-captain Shubman Gill, who would have opened if Kohli was fit, listed at No. 4, though it remains to be seen if … Read more
Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis has announced his immediate retirement from ODI cricket, ruling himself out of the upcoming Champions Trophy. Stoinis, 35, will now focus on T20 cricket and remains available for Australia in that format. He scored 1495 runs in 71 ODIs at an average of 26.69 with a best of 146 not out … Read more
But even his legion of admirers out west could not have foreshadowed his rise to Test cricket would be so swift. After just four first-class matches, the 21-year-old Connolly became Australia’s 471st men’s cricketer after he replaced offspinner Todd Murphy in Australia’s XI for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. He becomes Australia’s … Read more
Sri Lanka won the toss and will bat first against Australia Left-arm spinning allrounder Cooper Connolly will make his Test debut for Australia on a dry surface expected to produce significant turn as Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and elected to bat in the second Test in Galle. The 21-year-old Connolly … Read more
Sunrisers Eastern Cape 184 for 6 (Markram 62*, Tahir 2-21) beat Joburg Super Kings 152 for 7 (Bairstow 37, Overton 2-20) by 32 runs Sunrisers Eastern Cape remain on course for the SA20 three-peat after beating Joburg Super Kings in the Eliminator in Centurion, having recovered spectacularly from three defeats in their opening three games. … Read more
The first ever WPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) aim to adopt an “aggressive approach” in all three departments. They want their players to be “fearless” in their quest to lift a second title in three seasons in front of their home crowd, according to head coach Charlotte Edwards. MI have also started preparing for the … Read more
A three-match home Test series against Australia and a two-Test tour to India will be the highlight of West Indies men’s Test fixtures for 2025. They will begin the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle with the Test series against Australia, for the Frank Worrell Trophy, from June 25 to July 16. This will also be … Read more
Champions Trophy 2025 will have no Indian officials with two of the likeliest candidates having excused themselves from travelling to Pakistan. It is understood that Javagal Srinath, one of the most prolific ICC match referees, and Nitin Menon, part of the ICC’s elite panel umpires, had “mutually agreed” with the ICC that they would not … Read more
South Africa U19s 224 & 145 for 8 (Rowlers 71, Vaughan 5-18) lead England U19s 353 (Sawant 130, Fonseka 52, Rossouw 5-74) by 16 runs England Men U19s were closing in on victory after a dominant third day of the second Youth Test against South Africa Men U19s in Cape Town. Aaryan Sawant’s maiden century … Read more
Chittagong were all but out but fought back in a see-sawing contest
A third IPL franchise owner has emerged victorious in the ongoing Hundred sale with the Sun Group, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, making the highest bid to buy a stake in Northern Superchargers, whose host county is Yorkshire. The Sun Group’s valuation of Superchargers was £100 million for 100% of the franchise, with two other parties … Read more
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the upcoming WPL will “play a very big role” in the lead up to the home ODI World Cup later this year, as the T20 league will help the India players fine-tune their game and “raise” their fitness levels in the free window after the tournament. This year’s World Cup … Read more
Are India giving serious thought to adding Varun Chakravarthy to their Champions Trophy squad? For now, the answer to that question is… possibly. Varun’s inclusion in India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against England is one of the most intriguing eleventh-hour selections in recent times. He is yet to make his ODI debut, but … Read more