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The batsman had incidentally opted out of England’s tour of Bangladesh in 2016, citing security reasons

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2018Alex Hales has signed up for BPL franchise Rangpur Riders for the 2018-19 season, their CEO Ishtiaque Sadeque has confirmed. Hales became Riders’ first of the two signings from outside the draft, apart from their four retained players Chris Gayle, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Islam and Mohammad Mithun.Hales’ deal with Riders is an interesting one given that he had pulled out of England’s 2016 tour of Bangladesh, citing security fear, alongside Eoin Morgan. There was some criticism of the duo especially as the tour passed off without any incidents.The BPL is scheduled to be held in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet from early January, clashing with the Big Bash League in Australia and the UAE T20x tournament.Hales, who played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in this year’s IPL, will be reunited with coach Tom Moody who took Riders to their maiden BPL title last year. Riders will fill the rest of their squad during the October 25 players’ draft.While Hales does face a hearing in front of the ECB’s Cricket Disciplinary Commission in December, over his part in the incident last year that saw Ben Stokes charged with affray, he would only not be available for the BPL if any suspension was extended beyond England involvement. England are due in the Caribbean in January, but will begin their tour playing Tests.Meanwhile, Chittagong Vikings owners DBL Group confirmed earlier this week of their participation in the BPL after they had reportedly threatened to pull out of the competition. But on October 4, they announced Luke Ronchi, Sikandar Raza, Najibullah Zadran and Sunzamul Islam as their four retained players.

Leicestershire remain the only county without a victory in Division Two after rain intervened on the final day at Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network31-Aug-2017Mark Cosgrove played an eye-catching one-over cameo•Getty Images

Two lengthy rain showers ensured Kent’s entertaining Specsavers County Championship clash with Leicestershire ended in a draw when a tea-time deluge put paid the fourth day’s play.The result means the Foxes will go into a 12th game looking for their first win of the Division 2 campaign, moreover, a fifth draw in 10 starts for Kent, will put a severe dent in their hopes of winning promotion to the top tier.Having secured a modest first-innings lead of 17, Leicestershire wobbled badly when batting second time around and had limped to 135 for 6 and a lead of 152 when the players left a floodlight field of play in light drizzle for the tea interval.The rain intensified thereafter, leaving umpires Martin Saggers and Russell Warren with no choice but to abandon the match as a draw with Kent banking 11 points to Leicestershire’s 12.Batting for a second time with a modest first-innings lead of 17, Leicestershire lost both openers in the space of seven overs. Harry Dearden shouldered arms to a Darren Stevens inswinger to depart lbw then Michael Carberry’s unhappy return to Canterbury continued when he was snared full in front by a shooting off-cutter from Adam Milne.Foxes’ skipper Mark Cosgrove appeared to treat his innings like a T20 Blast net session, spanking 34 off 19 balls – including 24 from five successive deliveries from Matt Coles – before top-edging an attempted paddle off Coles to the keeper.Then, on the cusp of the lunch break, Ned Eckersley went back and across his stumps in aiming to leg to also go leg before, this time to Mitch Claydon.Rain during the interval led to the loss of an hour’s play and 19 overs but Kent were soon back amongst the wickets when Colin Ackermann (34) swept across a quicker one from left-arm spinner Imran Qayyum to become the 11th lbw victim of the game.Foxes’ first-innings top-scorer Lewis Hill soon departed to the same bowler without scoring. Seemingly troubled by a man in at silly point, he drove hard only to miscue to Joe Denly at cover as the Foxes went in at tea on 135 for 6 – an overall lead of 152.The final day started with Kent batting on in search of a fourth batting bonus point only to fall 17 runs short despite an eye-catching career best 39 by Imran Qayyum and 22 from Adam Milne. Qayyum was the last man to go, edging an attempted steer to third man to the keeper, while Neil Dexter was the clear pick of the Foxes attack with figures of 5 for 76.Kent’s rookie spinner Qayyum, who continued his steady progress with three wickets in the match, summed up the dressing room mood as disappointed. “It is a shame because we were in the game with Darren’s eight wickets and batted reasonably well on that second day, but the rain on that third day really hurt us. We needed a win in terms of our promotion push, and although we’ve got four games left, it’s bitterly disappointing that we’ve only come out of this with a draw.Leicestershire skipper Cosgrove also found it a frustrating last day. “There was possibly a very good game building up here so it was disappointing that we lost that third day to rain.”We could have set up a game and had a really exciting day, but it wasn’t to be. It was always going to be hard to bowl them out on that pitch, we needed time, but they didn’t let us get going with the bat.”Explaining his own 19-ball cameo, he added: “I was just trying to get rid of some frustration. That and Matt Coles got the better of me in the end – I guess he’ll be happy with 1 for 24 in the over!”

Lord’s was forced to wait through the rain for Brendon McCullum’s first and last appearance at the ground this season

Will Macpherson at Lord's23-Jun-2016

ScorecardJohn Simpson applied a speedy finish to Middlesex’s innings•Getty Images

Until last Thursday, when Sussex came to town, Middlesex had never had a Twenty20 at Lord’s in which the weather had prevented a ball being bowled. For much of this Thursday, it looked as though they would be treated to two in as many games. Lord’s, fascinatingly, were not insured for the washout. With each fixture costing some £100,000 to stage, those refunds burned even deep MCC pockets.These, of course, were to be Brendon McCullum’s only two games at Lord’s. This place had waited long enough to see McCullum in Middlesex colours. Since arriving, he has given cricket’s most notable speech of the year – at this very ground, and played plenty of shots in the process. He has rung the five-minute bell to kick off the Saturday of a Test match. He has played at two outgrounds – Radlett and Merchant Taylor’s – and even appeared across town at The Oval, smiting at least one vast six at each.When the clouds did eventually part – with another hearty crowd of 10,000 in attendance – to allow a nine-over thrash, McCullum’s opening partner Dawid Malan gave the game away, saying: “I think with McCullum playing, the MCC were pretty keen to get us on.” No one was up for another round of refunds. Everyone wanted to watch McCullum bat.Few appreciate the effort it takes just to get McCullum on a cricket field these days. His back is in pieces, and requires as much as three hours with a physiotherapist before playing – for the first time ever, Middlesex’s physio has been travelling to away games to get him up and running. Recently, McCullum was able to do little more than smile when Lord’s filmed a rather nice little video in which Middlesex players tried to replicate Albert Trott’s achievement – unsurpassed since 1899 – of smiting a ball over the Pavilion. His back prevented him having a go.The Malan and McCullum partnership took 21 from Tim Groenewald’s opening over, all but three of them the captain’s, including a magical flick to midwicket for six off his first ball and a drive over extra cover for six more. Thereafter, though, things became sticky, and they did not double those 21 until the penultimate ball of the sixth over, and they had lost three wickets by then. McCullum was caught behind, a ball after smiting Lewis Gregory through the covers for four. The following two overs featured a wicket each, with Paul Stirling caught well at cow off Max Waller, and James Franklin bowled without scoring by Roloef van der Merwe.John Simpson joined Malan to bookend the innings. Simpson hooked a six, cracked a four down the ground then headed to wide midwicket for six more. In the meantime, Malan had contented himself with singles until launching into Jamie Overton’s final over, driving down the ground for six, then taking four more with the deftest, classiest ramp, and – from the final ball – going inside-out over extra cover for six, which brought up his 50 from 28 balls and, more importantly, took Middlesex past 90, which looked par.Allenby flew out of the blocks, pulling his first ball – from Steven Finn – to midwicket for six, before James Fuller did him for pace and he miscued into the offside and was caught. Two balls later, Finn’s quite brilliant catch – running 30 metres to his right at long-on and diving – did for Johan Myburgh. Next ball, bowled by James Franklin, Mahela Jayawardene drove hard and uppish through point, where Paul Stirling dived to his right and took another outstanding catch.There were to be cameos, but little more, from Somerset. The following over Nathan Sowter, a gangly legspinner with a deep box of tricks, bowled Peter Trego with his googly, and another fine catch – McCullum, straight, this time – sent Lewis Gregory on his way. Van der Merwe held Middlesex up, with a marvellous ramped four and a brutal cover-driven six off Fuller.With 13 required off the last, bowled by Finn, Jamie Overton was caught at long on – that man McCullum again – before van der Merwe appeared to be caught and bowled next ball, only for the delivery to be adjudged a waist-high no-ball and a free hit – scrambled for two – given. With six needed from two, Finn conceded just one.Off, then, McCullum trots from Lord’s, with a final appearance of the season in Canterbury to come – he says he wants to come back next year, and is already leaving behind a team batting and fielding in his image. It is only a shame he could not stay longer, and we all know why that is.

Title contenders in any team sport are often characterised as much by an aversion to defeat as a thirst for victory

Paul Edwards at Edgbaston19-May-2015
ScorecardMark Stoneman gave Durham hope heading into the final day•Getty Images

Title contenders in any team sport are often characterised as much by an aversion to defeat as a thirst for victory. In the first three days of this match Warwickshire’s cricketers have shown their desire to win the game; in the final three sessions Durham’s players have a chance to further demonstrate their hatred of losing it. It is almost certainly all that is left to the visitors and it is worth more than five points.In the recent era known as BB (Before Barker) Durham welcomed this fixture, winning seven of the nine Championship games played between the sides. Since then they have lost four of the last six. That will be five in seven on Wednesday evening unless Paul Collingwood’s batsmen continue their prolonged resistance to an attack that has generally kept the ball up to the bat on an excellent pitch and accepted as collateral punishment the leaking of boundaries attached to this approach.Carrying Durham’s standard in the second innings was Mark Stoneman, whose technically correct 83 not out was a 161-ball act of penance for his carelessness in getting out on Tuesday evening. Also wearing a hair-shirt was Collingwood, although he has little reason for self-reproach after being last man out for 68 when having a swipe at Boyd Rankin in Durham’s first innings. When this pair trooped off at 6.50pm, they had helped reduce their side’s 265-run deficit to a manageable 76. While there is still work to be done to save the game, at least a start has been madeFor Warwickshire it was, yet again, Keith Barker who led his side’s thorough examination of the defensive technique of Durham’s top and middle order; and in the first half of the day Collingwood’s men failed the test. The left-arm seamer got rid of three more batsmen as Durham lost their last seven wickets for 135 runs in a mere 25.5 overs. Having then had the luncheon interval in which to rehydrate and recover, Barker was ready to lead his side’s attack when the follow-on was enforced.In his second over he removed Keaton Jennings, who completed a poor match by limply edging a catch to Rikki Clarke at slip; in his fifth he had Scott Borthwick lbw for 14 when a ball nipped back a shade and struck the rear leg. And there was still time for Barker to return and have Michael Richardson caught by Varun Chopra at slip for 47 after the Durham right-hander had added 72 with Stoneman for the third wicket in 18 overs. Calum MacLeod then put on a further 64 with the opener before he gloved a catch to Clarke at slip when unable to avoid a hostile delivery from Rankin who was then bowling around the wicket. Stoneman and Collingwood took care of business for the last ten overs of a long rain-interrupted day.Indeed, weather had provided a curious backcloth to the cricket. The wicket of Richardson fell just before the third and last break but there seems no doubt that this third day escaped comparatively unscathed in losing just 16 overs. Like 19th century American settlers, Durham’s players looked westwards with hope in their hearts but the expected rain did not arrive. Heavy showers had been confidently forecast yet while it poured elsewhere in the Midlands, at both Wantage and Grace Roads for example, Edgbaston’s Pershore Road remained mostly dry. Rather in the manner of pageboys in Shakespeare’s history plays, the groundstaff waited by the covers, doing little, saying nothing, but available to spring into action if summoned.They saw some pretty ropey batting in the morning session, when Durham declined from 50 for 3 to 182 for 8, 66 of the runs coming from the bat of Collingwood who at last found a stubborn partner in the No. 10 Chris Rushworth. Richard Jones took the first wicket when he bowled MacLeod off the inside edge with the fourth ball of the day. Barker then removed Richardson, caught at slip, Mustard, lbw for a golden duck, and Coughlin, middle stump uprooted, all in just six balls before John Hastings was leg before to Clarke for 14. That left Durham on 125 for 8 and people were wondering about a three-day finish.Instead they could enjoy the sight of Stoneman, middling a few, smearing others, but sticking around regardless.”We’re still in it and if we can now get a good session or two sessions in, we’ll have the chance of a few more points than we probably expected at the start of the day,” he said. “I’ve felt really good this season and ironically this is the worst I’ve felt at the start of an innings. Maybe I’ve gone at balls a little bit hard in the leave alone area. It was nice to have the opportunity to bat time with no pressure to set the game up, just take each ball as it comes.”One person unlikely to be bowling those balls, however, is Jones, who has aggravated a foot injury and is unlikely to take any part on the final day. That represents something of a fillip for Durham, who may need all the help they can get if they are to secure the draw. Although as Collingwood and Stoneman might observe, it is self-help that brings cricketers their greatest satisfaction.

Michael Hussey and AB de Villiers have indicated that the verbal duel between the two teams, which reached its height on the final afternoon in Brisbane, will resume in Adelaide

Daniel Brettig18-Nov-2012Almost as inevitable as the sight of Michael Clarke and Graeme Smith walking out for the toss at Adelaide Oval on Thursday will be the sound of their two sides resuming a noisy and pungent on-field dialogue from the moment the first ball is bowled.Both camps expect the verbal battle to return in the second Test, particularly after a lively and even ill-tempered final afternoon in Brisbane passed without either the umpires Billy Bowden and Asad Rauf or the match referee Ranjan Madugalle raising a formal charge against either side. The umpires did, though, have a cautionary word to the bowlers at various points of the five days. This has effectively defined a generous line for the players’ on-field aggression, leaving Adelaide to witness more jousting from Thursday.”It’s part of the game, once you get out in the middle and emotions start to rise, it’s good for the game to see a bit of competitive spirit out there between the two teams,” Michael Hussey said. “A lot of the players in the past have used it as a mental battle against batsmen and it’s probably worked in the past as well.”Whether it works on these South African batsmen I don’t know. They’ve shown they’ve been a great team for a period of time now, they don’t get to No. 1 in the world without enduring these sorts of things before. But once you get over that white line, competitive spirit between bat and ball starts, and there’s always going to be things that are said, but as long as it doesn’t go too far and players [don’t] cross the line I think it’s fine.”Clarke spoke before the series about “pushing the line” of legal aggression in this series, whether it was in terms of short-pitched bowling or a pointed choice of words. Australia’s players make no secret of their use of verbal aggression towards the opposition as a way of firing themselves up, something witnessed quite pointedly earlier this year during the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka when the ears of the Irish among others were left ringing by fighting words from the mouths of Shane Watson and David Warner in particular.In Brisbane it was James Pattinson who vented his distaste for batsmen most freely, with Smith copping plenty on the final afternoon after he pulled away from one delivery as the bowler entered his delivery stride. Ultimately Pattinson, who won the duel, delivered a send-off to South Africa’s captain that might have forced Madugalle to act had it been even a fraction more prolonged.Smith had played the role of instigator earlier in the match, confronting Ed Cowan with an attempt to disturb the opener’s concentration as he prepared to face up to the first over of the fourth day’s play. Smith’s words were brushed aside by Cowan, but provided further proof that Australia and South Africa are most comfortable when flinging a little mud each other’s way in pursuit of victory.Nevertheless, AB de Villiers noted that Australia’s bluster proved unsuccessful in the 2008-09 series in Australia, a useful reminder of the fact that sharp words can quickly appear hollow if not backed up by sharper deeds.”They thought so in 2008 as well and it didn’t really happen that way, so hopefully we can prove them wrong again,” de Villiers said of the contention that Australia considered sledging to be a way to get into South African heads.”There’s always a bit of chat around. We’re talking about two very good teams who want to win the game. You do whatever you can to get a few wickets when the pressure is on. Whatever you can do to get an edge over the opposition, you will do it.”

A round-up of the action from the third day of the third round of matches in the Ranji Trophy Plate Division 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2011Kerala thrashed Tripura by an innings and 53 runs at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Kerala had taken a first-innings lead on the second day and proceeded to make 316, thanks to Sony Cheruvathur’s 77. Offspinner Udit Patel took 5 for 75 but Tripura were staring at a difficult task trying to stay alive in the game. As it turned out, they were bowled out for 124, worse than their first-innings performance. Kaushal Acharjee top-scored with 47 and the others capitulated; Cheruvathur, Prasanth Parameswaran and Padmanabhan Prasanth grabbed three wickets each to inflict a third straight defeat on Tripura.Himachal Pradesh remained in a strong position against Andhra Pradesh at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Vijaywada. A century from Paras Dogra had helped them go past Andhra’s score on day two, and Varun Sharma held one end up on day three, reaching his own ton. Himachal, however, only managed to add 74 to their overnight score, getting bowled out for 341, a lead of 76. Andhra scored fluently in their second innings, opener G Shankara Rao leading the way with an unbeaten 96, but lost four wickets by the close. Vishal Bhatia grabbed two wickets and Abhinav Bali removed a set Venugopal Rao, who had added 94 with Shankara. At stumps, Andhra led by 100 with six wickets in hand, a tricky situation to be in heading into the final day.A collective batting performance from Hyderabad put them in control against Assam at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati. Centuries from opener Akshath Reddy and Syed Qadri helped them gain a first-innings lead of 247, with support from T Suman, who made 88, and cameos from Hanuman Vihari and Ibrahim Khaleel. Reddy added 145 for the second wicket with Suman, taking Hyderabad past the Assam score and Qadri built important stands with the rest to take his team to 474 for 6 declared during his unbeaten 107. Assam were dealt an early blow in their second innings, Amit Sinha falling in the first over.Goa extended their advantage over Jammu and Kashmir at the Gandhi Memorial Science College Ground in Jammu. Having gained a lead of 21 in the first innings, they stretched it to 397 at stumps on the third day. Opener Sher Yadav made 118, striking 18 boundaries, and there were half-centuries from Reagan Pinto and wicketkeeper Rahul Keni. Goa were 268 for 7 at one stage and there was still an opening for J&K, but Keni added 51 with Amit Yadav for the eighth wicket and an unbeaten 56 for the last wicket. The two most likely results are a Goa win or a draw, with the visitors taking three points.Maharashtra dominated the third day against Jharkhand at the Anant Kanhere Maidan in Nasik, putting themselves in an excellent position to win the game. In a combined bowling effort, they bowled out Jharkhand for 283 in the first innings, though the tail wagged – the last three wickets added 99. It wasn’t enough to prevent Jharkhand from following on, however, and they slipped to 218 for 6 by stumps, only 44 ahead. Opener Manish Vardhan made a patient 88, adding 73 for the first wicket, but the Maharashtra bowlers struck at frequent intervals, cutting short any threatening partnership. Seamer Domnic Joseph picked up three wickets, including Vardhan and wicketkeeper SP Gautam, who made 39.Vidarbha were in an excellent position to take a first-innings lead against Services at the Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi. In response to Vidarbha’s 508 for 6 declared, Services were struggling at 238 for 8 at stumps on the third day. Opener Jasvir Singh made 74 and Soumyaranjan Swain made 70 but Shrikant Wagh, Sandeep Singh and Ravi Jangid each grabbed two wickets to peg back Services, and take their team closer to a minimum of three points.

Sri Lanka’s selectors have dumped fast bowlers Dammika Prasad and Thilan Thushara, and recalled seamer Nuwan Kulasekara, to face West Indies

Sa'adi Thawfeeq20-Nov-2010Sri Lanka’s selectors have dumped fast bowlers Dammika Prasad and Thilan Thushara, recalled seamer Nuwan Kulasekara, and included a new face in Shaminda Eranga in their 16-member squad to face West Indies in the second Test starting at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday. The pair will join Dilhara Fernando and another uncapped Test fast bowler, Suranga Lakmal, who have been retained in the squad.Chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva said that with their main spearhead Lasith Malinga unavailable for Test matches, Sri Lanka are going through a transitional period of trying to find the right combination of fast bowlers to share the new ball in Test matches.”Most of them don’t want to play in a Test match but want to restrict themselves to playing fifty-over and T20 cricket,” he said. “Some of them cannot play back-to-back Test matches. This is something unheard of in the past. In Malinga’s case we have even promoted him to the top category in the player contracts, but he is not fit enough to play Test cricket.”Kulasekara played the last of his 11 Tests in December 2009 against India at Mumbai. The 24-year-old Eranga is a right-arm medium fast bowler who represents Chilaw Marians in the Premier club championships.Sri Lanka fast bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake said that Eranga is a bright prospect and is capable of bowling around 140kph. He was discovered during the Pace Ace programme conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket in 2006. Eranga, who made his first-class debut in 2006, has taken 34 wickets at a cost of 41 runs apiece.He is unlikely to make it to the final eleven, but 23-year-old Lakmal’s prospects are bright. He has been the leading wicket-taker for Sri Lanka ‘A’ in recent matches, and is a skilful bowler who can swing as well as seam the ball. Although yet to play in a Test. Lakmal has appeared in six ODIs for his country.With the recall of Kulasekara, Sri Lanka will have to decide who will play the second Test after the disappointing performance put on by Prasad and Thushara at Galle. The pair went wicketless, conceding 195 runs between them from 51 overs.Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was critical of the bowling. “The first six overs were probably okay, although we didn’t make the batsmen play too much. But after that I thought the lines and the lengths we bowled on this track was not good enough for us to put any pressure on them either to get wickets or to cut down on the runs.”It’s two things on these tracks. No. 1 is to try and make the new ball work for us. If it doesn’t work in picking up wickets how we build up pressure by bowling one side of the wicket to one set field. It’s nice to limit them to one side and dry the runs up. Those are the things we got to do a bit better and when that happens with our spinners we can build a lot of pressure.”Sri Lanka squad for second Test: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Rangana Herath, Thilina Kandamby, Kaushal Silva, Shaminda Eranga

Andrew Flintoff has agreed a new three-year deal to play one-day cricket for Lancashire, ending speculation over his future in the county game

Cricinfo staff05-Nov-2009Andrew Flintoff has agreed a new three-year deal to play one-day cricket for Lancashire, ending speculation over his future in the county game after he opted to become a freelance player following the decision to turn down an ECB incremental deal.Flintoff is currently recovering from the knee surgery he underwent following the Ashes series in August and is aiming to return to action in the one-day series against Bangladesh at the end of February. After calling time on his Test career, Flintoff said that he wanted to become “the best one-day player in the world” and is also being linked with a number of Twenty20 sides around the world.This new contract will replace the rolling one-year deal that would have come into place after Flintoff declined the England offer and was due to expire in 2010 and takes him up until the end of the 2012 season. The deal doesn’t include first-class cricket but Flintoff may still make the occasional four-day appearance if Lancashire needed his assistance.”This contract will also give me the flexibility to play other forms of one-day cricket around the world, which hopefully help me develop as a player and in turn, help Lancashire and England,” he said. “I have felt part of Lancashire ever since I first played here as a schoolboy and I want to help them achieve success. I am looking forward to being around the Lancashire dressing room more now I have retired from Test cricket”I have enjoyed many highs with England over the years, but I have not had the same success with Lancashire and that is something I want to address. I have a good relationship with Peter Moores and Glen Chapple and hopefully I can be of help to them both on the pitch and in the dressing room.”Head coach Peter Moores believes that Flintoff’s presence in the squad will a huge lift for the side. “Fred is a proven match-winner, and the type of player that lifts a dressing room with his sheer enthusiasm and will to win. It’s great that he is going to be with us, and I’m sure our supporters will be just as thrilled with the news.”

Stokes says Archer is “very interested” in Test comeback after long absence

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-Dec-2024Jofra Archer’s future as a Test cricketer received a boost after his central contract was extended past the 2025-26 Ashes, with England’s captain Ben Stokes confident that Archer is “very interested” in returning to the format despite a recent tug-of-war with the ECB over his IPL availability.Archer, who has not played Test cricket since February 2021, is one of three England quicks to have had their central contracts updated through to October 2026. Brydon Carse, who took 10 wickets in the match in the first Test against New Zealand last week, and Matthew Potts have also had their deals increased by a year.Jacob Bethell, fresh from a maiden half-century on Test debut in Christchurch, has been upgraded to a two-year central contract from the development contract he was awarded just last month. It caps a remarkable rise for Bethell, who made his ODI and T20I debuts at the end of the 2024 English summer, and has since earned an INR 2.6 crore (£245,000 approx.) IPL deal with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.For Archer, who is 29, the additional year highlights what has been a promising return to regular action. Since bursting onto the international scene in the 2019 season with the World Cup and Ashes, his progress has been stunted by a series of injuries, including stress fractures of the elbow and back.Related

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The ECB have stuck by the fast bowler, and are working meticulously with Archer. This year has been a success on that front; Archer made 20 appearances across the white-ball formats, including all eight of England’s matches at the T20 World Cup, where he was his team’s joint-leading wicket-taker with 10 dismissals at 19.00.The board’s ambition is to have him primed for a key role in Test cricket next year, ahead of five Tests against India at home followed by the visit to Australia in the winter. His initial two-year deal was set to expire in October 2025.Speaking in Wellington ahead of England’s second Test against New Zealand, Stokes said that Archer’s ambition to return to the red-ball set-up remains strong. He has even put himself forward for their one-off Test match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge starting on May 22, though he appears unlikely to be available.England’s updated contract list•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“The excitement is understandable around Jofra,” Stokes said. “The best thing is he is back on the field playing. I am sure he might have thought he might not have the chance to put on an England shirt again and the injuries and surgeries he has gone through could have ended other people’s careers so there is no rushing back for anything for Jofra.”He is being handled very well by the ECB and that will certainly continue. But Jof is a man of few words, even over WhatsApp. I had one a couple of months ago saying ‘Zimbabwe?’. That shows he is very interested in playing Test cricket for England.”Talk of Zimbabwe is far-fetched given Archer will be out at the IPL with Rajasthan Royals, who forked out INR 12.5 crore (£1.2m approx.) for his services for the tournament which is set to run until May 25. Given Archer will not have played any recent red-ball cricket before then, he is unlikely to be selected.If the ECB were to pull Archer out ahead of time, he would incur a ban for the next two editions under the tournament’s new regulations. Those same regulations would have also banned Archer had he and his representatives not convinced the ECB to let him enter the mega auction. The governing body initially blocked his entry on the grounds they want to continue to manage his workloads before a late change.As such, the earliest Test Archer could play would be during the India series, which begins at Lord’s on June 20. Given a lack of first-class cricket – his last match in the format came for Sussex against Kent in May 2021 – it is unlikely to be that first Test.Archer in action for Sussex Second XI in May 2024•PA Photos/Getty Images

A round of County Championship matches starting on June 22 (Sussex travel to Durham) could allow him a tune up. He could also play the next one on June 29 (Sussex vs Warwickshire) to refamiliarise himself to the rigors of bowling multiple spells across multiple days. In the event of the latter, he could still play a part in the final three matches of that series, provided he comes out unscathed.”When the decision gets made between him and the people who make those decisions around players, I am sure there will be conversations that he will have to get some different loading,” Stokes said.”You can come back and play a one-day game and get two or three different spells. But in Test cricket you have to do that over a long period of time and then another day to back it up. There is no doubt he is going so well at the moment, it is a case of he will have to build the body up to handle the extra pressure of a Test match.”

There was no Pakistani fan or media presence for their opening game against Netherlands in Hyderabad

PTI07-Oct-2023The BCCI is working hard on procuring visas for the Pakistani journalists waiting to travel to India for the World Cup, the ICC said after the PCB expressed its disappointment again over the delay in visa clearance for Pakistani fans and media.Around 60 Pakistani journalists are expected to make the trip for the World Cup. Pakistan had plenty of local support for their World Cup opener against Netherlands in Hyderabad on Friday but no member of their media contingent or fan was present.Karachi-born Mohammad Bashir, who is a US citizen, was seen rooting for Pakistan in the stands.”This (visa) is an obligation of our host (BCCI) and they are working hard on it with our full support. Every effort is being made to get this sorted,” an ICC spokesperson told PTI.Related

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With a large number of fans expected to travel across the border, the PCB is hoping the visas will come through before the game between India and Pakistan in Ahmedabad on October 14.”We have been reminding ICC about their obligations and members’ agreement on issuing visas for fans and journalists for the last three years and continue to raise concerns with all relevant authorities,” a PCB spokesperson said. “PCB is disappointed to see that Pakistani journalists and fans are facing uncertainty about obtaining an Indian visa to cover Pakistan’s opening game in the ICC World Cup. We understand the significant role that journalists and passionate fans play in enhancing the spirit and atmosphere of sports events.”Their presence not only adds vibrancy to the stadium but also contributes to the global coverage and appreciation of the game. We hope to see their presence soon.”It is to be noted that a visa application from a Pakistan passport holder needs to be vetted by multiple Indian ministries including home, external affairs and sports as the country is on India’s prior reference category (PRC) list.