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Allrounder’s 19, three wickets and two catches proved too much for Originals, who are now bottom

ECB Media13-Aug-2025Welsh Fire 137 for 8 (Smith 26, Kohler-Cadmore 26, Tongue 3-25) beat Manchester Originals 112 (Buttler 57, Meredith 4-9) by 25 runsAussie pace bowler Riley Meredith cranked it up in front of a raucous Cardiff crowd, taking 4 for 9 as Welsh Fire defeated Manchester Originals by 25 runs.There were also three-fors for both Chris Green (3 for 19) and David Payne (3 for 14) as a brilliant fielding and bowling performance earned Fire a much deserved win.Bowling first, Originals got off to a flying start, Sonny Baker having Jonny Bairstow caught by Lewis Gregory at slip with his fifth ball.Fire reached 28 for 1 after the powerplay, 22 of the runs to Steve Smith, including a stunning six over point off Josh Tongue.Tongue soon got his revenge, seeing Smith caught behind for 26. Fire then lost Luke Wells to Scott Currie for 13, reaching 57 for 3 at the halfway point.Tongue returned to remove Abell (22) and Currie got rid of Saif Zaib (15), both caught behind by Jos Buttler, the Fire innings threatening to fizzle out at 108 for 6.Chris Green added some late impetus, striking two sixes in his nine-ball 19, as Fire closed on 137 for 8, Currie (3 for 21) and Tongue (3 for 25) the pick of the Originals’ attack.A brilliant burst of 3 for 6 from 10 balls by Riley Meredith saw the backs of Phil Salt (3), McKinney (10) and Mark Chapman (0), Salt spectacularly caught at deep backward-square by Green, as the Fire started well on top.Buttler began the counterattack, hitting Paul Walter for back-to-back boundaries, but the Fire struck a huge blow when they had Heinrich Klaasen (11) caught in the deep off Green.Buttler kept going, bringing up his fifty from 28 balls with a six off Green, but the off-spinner then struck twice, taking the key wickets of Buttler (57) and Gregory (21), both caught at deep midwicket by Abell, before Payne and Meredith cleaned up the tail.Meerkat Match Hero Chris Green said: “It was a lot of fun. The last two games here have been an amazing atmosphere. The support here in Cardiff has been fantastic and it was great to reward that support with a win here tonight.”Tommy Abell thought 130 was defendable, there was a bit of hold for the off-cutters for the seamers and a bit of hold for the spinners as well.”Riley Meredith was outstanding up front and probably should be standing here because I thought he broke the game open. The energy we had and the support we had tonight got us over the line and we go into a big game in London on Saturday.”

Sussex go to Finals Day in the Vitality Blast with their Championship promotion hopes hanging by a thread after a thumping at Chester-le-Street

ECB Reporters Network and ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2018
ScorecardDurham secured their fourth victory of the Specsavers County Championship Division Two season, hammering Sussex by 186 runs at Emirates Riverside thanks to a fine performance with the ball by Chris Rushworth.They appeared to be in trouble after their first innings after being bowled out for 103. However, Rushworth dug his team out of trouble with an outstanding spell of 8 for 51 before a brilliant hundred from Cameron Steel put Durham in command on day two.They never looked back. Sussex, set a daunting chase of 322, never raised a threat as Rushworth dominated with the ball, claiming another four wickets to take his tally to 12 for the match. India left-arm spinner Axar Patel wrapped up the tail on his final match for Durham, allowing the home side to ease to the victory.Sussex now head for the Blast Finals Day at Edgbaston with their Championship promotion hopes looking much tattier than they did a few days ago. They now trail second-placed Kent by 21 points and must now beat Warwickshire, the leaders, at Hove next week to stay in the hunt. Jason Gillespie, their coach, faces a tough task to regain the momentum at Hove next week.It was a far cry from their triumph on the same ground last month when they beat Durham in the Blast quarter-finals.Gillespie responded: “Sussex coach Jason Gillespie: “It was a couple of days to forget overall, if we’re perfectly honest. I think Durham outbatted and outbowled us. It’s something that we have to learn from.”I’ve just spoken to the boys, it’s about individual self-reflection what they can take away from this game and what they’ve learned. I thought Cameron Steel played very well, and Chris Rushworth bowled wonderfully well. It’s up to us to learn as much as we can from this game. It hurts to lose a cricket game in that manner. We must take something away from it and hopefully be better for the experience.”Jason Gillespie must lift his side for a vital week•Getty Images

“The Vitality Blast is a completely different format. We’re really excited about that. The overall feel around the squad is excellent. The whole club is buzzing about Finals Day, we’re really looking forward to that. We’ll put this game to bed quickly. As I said to the lads in the dressing room as soon as we walk out of here, we’ll hold our heads held high and move forward.”Durham began the day 201 runs ahead of the visitors, although they lost Patel almost immediately as he played a loose shot against Danny Briggs that landed in the grasp of David Wiese. Steel maintained his form, notching his highest score at Emirates Riverside on his way to 150.He produced a stand with Paul Collingwood to edge Durham’s lead towards the 300-run mark, although Steel was to fall to Tom Haines for 160, becoming the 19-year-old’s maiden first-class wicket. The home side collapsed after lunch losing their final four wickets for four runs to be bowled out for 340, despite a season-best knock from Collingwood of 47.Sussex lost Phil Salt in the first over of their reply, chasing down 322 for the win. Rushworth burst through his defences to clean bowl the opener for a duck, while Matt Salisbury notched the scalp of Luke Wells in his first over. Harry Finch came and went leaving a straight delivery from Rushworth (two disastrous leaves in the match), which reduced the visitors to 11 for 3 and allowed the seamer to claim his 10th wicket of the match.Haines and Michael Burgess battled for a while. However, Rushworth’s persistence paid off as he bowled Burgess for 22 before trapping Haines lbw for 40. The home side seized the initiative to close in on the victory as Patel removed Ben Brown, while Salisbury claimed his second wicket of the innings tearing one through the gate of David Wiese.Jofra Archer endured a miserable time at the crease at Chester-le-Street. He was bowled for a golden duck in the first innings, while his second attempt proved to be just as unsuccessful – a pair as he was run out before he got off the mark by Michael Richardson after surviving an lbw shout. Patel pinned Chris Jordan lbw before Ollie Robinson clipped the left-arm spinner straight to Steel to allow the home side to secure the win by a comfortable margin.

Gulbadin’s miscalculation and costly overs undo spin quartet’s choke as Afghanistan stumble under pressure

The Report by Varun Shetty29-Jun-2019As it happenedImad Wasim reaped the rewards for managing to scrape through a tough period of batting, hanging on till the end to feast on the nervous, generous medium pace of Gulbadin Naib as Pakistan kept their semi-final push well afloat with a three-wicket win at Headingley. Imad’s unbeaten 49 and his crucial partnerships with Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz saw Pakistan through their last 11 overs, a period where they had to contend with Afghanistan’s spinners on a turning pitch and get more than run-a-ball with just four wickets in hand.It seemed like neither team particularly made the extra push for control. Pakistan had Afghanistan 57 for 3 and resorted to defensive bowling. Afghanistan recovered only to hand the game back in two overs. And then, Pakistan replicated them in the chase until they looked down and out, staring at a shattering loss. Then they were handed 28 of the easiest runs over 10 balls from Naib, who went for 73 in 9.4 overs.This undid all the good work by their spin attack, which on the day had turned into a four-pronged one after seamer Hamid Hassan hobbled off early in the innings with an injury. Filling in for him was experienced allrounder Samiullah Shinwari, who last bowled for Afghanistan in March against Ireland.ALSO READ: Fans evicted after clash in the standsThe conditions almost exclusively helped spinners, and Shinwari benefitted, much like Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammed Nabi, and Rashid Khan had. His figures read a creditable 8-0-32-0. With 46 required off five overs and Imad struggling to pick the spinners, Gulbadin’s decision to bowl himself over Shinwari cost them 18 in the 46th over.Imad had his luck – he was deemed not out on an lbw call when on 1 with Afghanistan without a review, and a splice at extra cover was completely fluffed by a spinning Asghar Afghan off the second ball of the 46th over – and made use of it, picking up two more boundaries, before Wahab smote Rashid for a six and a four despite a hairline fracture on his right hand. By the time Naib returned for the last over, only six were required.Pakistan’s top order hadn’t been particularly responsible about the way they set out to chase this target. Fakhar Zaman, trapped in front by a Mujeeb carrom ball, looked fairly certain he hadn’t got an edge on the ball, but chose to review anyway. As early as the second ball of the innings, that loss of review set the tone: a little pressure, and Afghanistan could put Pakistan to the test.Nabi’s spell, arguably one of the best of the tournament, was built on this motif. As he has done notably for a while, Nabi used those old-school offbreak tools, dip and drift, to keep Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam planted in the crease and pushing with hard hands. That was until Imam could resist no longer and stepped out early to one that didn’t drift and instead floated wide of him. He had no chance to come back in even as Ikram Alikhil took his time to gather and break the stumps.If that was rash, then Babar’s dismissal in Nabi’s next was to top it. Having dragged Pakistan to a win against New Zealand in what he called his best innings, Babar was guilty of being over adventurous on Saturday. He chose to sweep a full, leg-stump ball and was, both, through it too quickly, and out of shape as Nabi bowled him around the legs.Pakistan were forced into conservation, with Mohammed Hafeez and Haris Sohail in the middle with ideal games for such a strategy. Boundaries were only sought – and successfully – off the odd short balls handed to them, and all seemed well. That was until Hafeez added to his collection of ordinary shots against spin this tournament by chopping a short ball straight to backward point. Shortly after that, Sarfaraz Ahmed, who had already survived because of a dropped chance, ran himself out looking for a second run that wasn’t there. But one captain’s misdemeanour was eventually balanced out by the other’s.This was much the pattern through Afghanistan’s innings as well. They were handed a rather gentle welcome when Pakistan, with three in-form fast bowlers, opened the bowling with Imad. Naib lapped it up, getting himself in with three boundaries, until Sarfaraz brought Shaheen Afridi into the attack. The impact went both ways. Shaheen’s over went for 14, but he had Naib and Hashmatullah Shahidi caught off consecutive deliveries – off the outside edge and leading edge respectively.Afghanistan have lost at least three wickets every time they have scored at close to five an over in the opening 15 overs in this tournament, and that was the case once again. A free-flowing Asghar took on Shadab and pretty much anyone who felt a sense of discipline bowling to the patient, watchful Alikhil at the other end.It was Shadab who got him in the end, with a piece of ingenius strategy: he brought in a silly point and prompted Asghar, whose forward blocks are bottom-hand dominant, to step out and swing at him again. Only on this occasion the line was off stump, the pace was quicker than when he had hit him over midwicket, and the turn was minimal but just enough to hit off stump.In the next over, Alikhil, who had played 65 balls for 24, went against his brief and holed out to long-on. Afghanistan’s lower order, with some big hitters, was then forced to patch up the innings which was doomed to peter out into a middling 220s score. Nabi, Najibulah Zadran, and Shinwari all made it to points where they could have taken off, but then Afridi and Wahab were around to stop them every time they tried. It was perhaps the only sense of order in an otherwise chaotic display from both teams.

The calamity of Cape Town 18 months ago has helped Australia accept that the Headingley loss was simply a game of cricket they can learn from

Daniel Brettig27-Aug-2019The last time an Australian Test tour took on the trajectory of the current Ashes series, starting with a victory before beginning to fall away, the response of a tiring and weakening team desperate for victory was to resort to the infamous, obvious cheating of Newlands.With pressure compounding fatigue, a performance culture wearing away at weary minds and bodies, and anger at how circumstances and failings had conspired against them, that Australian team lost its way in the most awful and spectacular manner, while the rest of the world took the opportunity to raise a host of accumulated grievances.Australia’s current captain Tim Paine and vice-captain Pat Cummins were both part of that group, and in the deep anguish and frustration of Headingley, Ben Stokes’ heroics and all, there was acknowledgement that this time around, a different and better path must be taken. And that, for all of the difficulties of the past 18 months, there are now far more members of the team able to step away from events in the middle and remind everyone that this is, after all, a game.”Someone like Matt Wade, he’s been out of the side for two years and one of the first things he said this morning [before the final day] was, ‘if we win or if we lose, you turn up on the building site and no one knows’,” Cummins said. “So I think it’s a good reminder that it’s not the be all and end all. One lesson we learnt from Lord’s probably on that night where we were really close to ripping the game open, we got really emotional and almost just wanted it too much, so I was really proud how everyone stayed quite level this game.”When we bowled them out for 67 or they got a partnership we were quite even. I think it’s the sign of a pretty confident squad. Painey’s been brilliant. He walked straight into the change room and said it’s one-all, it’s all good, two more matches to go. Bowlers, him as a captain, everyone makes decisions and you reflect after the game and think, what could I have done differently?”When you look at it – a couple of catches, maybe a run out, but when a batsman comes out and scores a hundred like that, hitting sixes from an offspinner out of the rough so cleanly, you’ve just got to say well done. Someone’s had a day out, we’ll be right.”Marshalling the bowlers, Cummins agreed that there were a few moments to ponder. Not least some profligate bowling with the second new ball, having imposed enormous pressure on England for over after over leading up to it. “That was one thing we spoke about was with the new ball,” he said. “Obviously you feel like you’re more in the game with wickets but that wicket almost felt like a one-day wicket or an Indian wicket where with the new ball it’s a double-edged sword.”If you’re not absolutely perfect you can go for runs and I think if we reflect on that half-an-hour, they might have got 30 or 40 runs pretty quickly. But other than that I thought we were brilliant. We’ll have a look at that but the second new ball sometimes is a different ball game to the first new ball.”I think the most pleasing thing for us, one, we bowled really well, but as you said I feel like we’ve got really good plans and processes to all of them. Ben Stokes obviously had a day out today and was probably playing more like one-day cricket towards the end there but we saw yesterday they batted for 70 overs and kept them to two runs an over and always felt like we were in the game. All three games we’ve been in a match-winning position so we know how to do 99 per cent of it. Hopefully we can get over the line in the next one.”Ben Stokes survives an lbw appeal•Getty Images

The approach taken by Paine to spread the field for Stokes all the way through his match-winning 76-run stand with the last man Jack Leach (contribution: one run) has been a source of some consternation in the wake of defeat. Paine has admitted that he should at least have spoken more with the bowlers about maintaining attacking lines and lengths with that field, rather than taking it as a sign to effectively put the cue in the rack against Stokes and only try to dismiss Leach. Cummins admitted that such fields tended to put any bowler into white-ball mode.”Unfortunately yeah it is [like one-day cricket],” he said. “When the wicket’s like that and the ball’s still hard, it didn’t feel like it was going to swing or seam so as a bowler your options are you’re hopefully going to still snick him off so you’ve got the slips out there but other than that just trying to limit the damage. He’s faced almost 200 balls and when he started going he’s at the top of his game so it’s certainly hard work but we still had our chances. Obvious thing is the wicket got better and better the longer the game went on. I would have liked to score a few more runs myself.”Runs will more than likely be available from a welcome avenue at Old Trafford, via the return to fitness and selection of Steven Smith. Cummins said that Smith had remained very much involved in the game since he was ruled out through concussion, making his impending recall all the more welcome. “I know last week at Lord’s he said he was screaming at the TV from his hotel room watching the final hour,” Cummins said.”This game we were right on top and we’ve got the world’s best batter coming in for the next one so it’s great. I think from all reports he’s going to play the tour match next week. What has he got? 100-odd, 100-odd and 90-odd so it’s going to be great to be back.”Cummins had one more crucial involvement, firing in the return to Nathan Lyon that, had he held it, would have seen Leach run out with Australia triumphant by a single run. Here, once again, was a reminder why the refreshed Australian approach, forged out of the infamy of Newlands, should serve the tourists well at the pointy end of this Ashes series. “I probably didn’t help him out with the throw there, it could have been a bit better,” Cummins said. “But yeah, like everyone, you just want to win so desperately and the emotion gets to everyone slightly differently.”Gaz obviously wears his heart on his shoulder so we’ve got to get around him. But I think the next ball he bowled after that was three reds [for lbw] so on another day he’s the match-winner. It’s that fine line, if you lived and died by a win and a loss you’d be out of this business pretty quickly.”

Ireland broke their sixteen-game rut in limited-overs cricket, spanning nearly two years, with a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their last match ahead of the Women’s World T20 Qualifier

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2018Ireland captain Isobel Joyce talks to the media•AFP/Getty Images

Sixteen straight losses across limited-overs cricket over the past two years. Heavy defeats against New Zealand in ODIs and T20Is. An unassailable 2-0 lead to Bangladesh in the T20 series. All of this gloom headlined Ireland’s home summer.If the tenth-ranked hosts needed a performance to break their long-drawn-out rut ahead of the Women’s World T20 Qualifier next week in the Netherlands, it couldn’t have come in more thrilling a form than their final-ball, six-wicket victory over ninth-ranked Bangladesh in the third and final T20 in Dublin. The match was also to be the last appearance on home soil for Ireland’s 37-year-old batsman Clare Shillington and 38-year-old legspinner Ciara Metcalfe.With 11 required off the last over and seven wickets in hand, Ireland would have fancied themselves to avoid a clean sweep. But in their path to the 152-run target lay a final over from Jahanara Alam, who memorably sealed Bangladesh’s maiden Asia Cup title with the bat, and then dominated Bangladesh’s last two T20I wins with her all-round exploits.Ireland captain Laura Delany (46 off 38) and veteran allrounder Isobel Joyce (22 not out off 14), however, ensured four singles, one four, and a two were enough – despite Delany’s run-out off a wide three balls into the over – to seal Ireland’s 11th win in their 48 games in the format and third over Bangladesh in seven overall T20I encounters. While Joyce struck the winning single after leveling the scores with a boundary on the penultimate ball, Alam took away the Player-of-the-Tournament award.The major swell of impetus to Ireland’s victory came much earlier through 17-year-old Gaby Lewis’s 31-ball 50. Her seven fours and a six complemented the seven combined fours from Delany and Joyce. A 93-run third-wicket stand between Delany and Lewis took Ireland to 123 for 2 in 16.2 overs before both were run out three overs apart.Earlier, Bangladesh collected 151 for 4, after being sent in. No. 3 batsman Fargana Hoque’s unbeaten 66 and an opening partnership of 47 between Shamima Sultana (30 off 27) and Ayasha Rahman (27 off 26) set the tone of Bangladesh’s innings. Fargana then partnered Sanjida Islam to smash 38 off three overs at the death before Delany removed Islam at the start of the final over. Hoque’s highest T20I score took Bangladesh past 150 on the back of six fours and two sixes.

The defending champions have to win each of their remaining six matches to stay in contention for the IPL playoff race

Sidharth Monga03-May-20184:19

Tait: Pollard is a big asset on a small ground

Form guide (most recent match first)

Kings XI Punjab: lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 13 runs, beat Delhi Daredevils by four runs, beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets
Mumbai Indians: lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 14 runs, beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 31 runs

Big Picture

People of Indore – with the Marathi influence on the city – like to believe they live in “Little Mumbai”. It is way closer to Mumbai than it is to any city in Punjab. Yet Mumbai Indians come to Indore as the away team looking to survive in the tournament, playing form team, Kings XI Punjab.With five wins in seven matches, Kings XI are not too far from the playoffs, but they are coming off a week-long break. Mumbai, meanwhile, will want to get off the treadmill of defeat; they need to win every match from now.It is well reported that the last few balls of an innings, or game, have cost Mumbai. Three times they have lost in the last over of the match, in another they bowled a bad last ball for 13 runs, which proved to be a bridge too far when they chased. There is no room for any allowances now.This will be a contest between a side looking to make use of every small resource available to it and a side so rich with resources it can afford to have a surplus player in its XI in the hope that when he comes good, he wins them a match off his own bat. Kings XI have been a revelation, Mumbai are looking to rediscover themselves.

In the news

With a one-week break behind them, Kings XI should have a fit and hungry Chris Gayle at the top of the order.Kieron Pollard is precariously placed in Mumbai’s XI. A match after he was finally dropped, the West Indian made an unsuccessful return to the side, scoring a run-a-ball 13. There is uncertainty around Evin Lewis as well considering his wrist injury.

Previous meeting

Remarkably these sides are meeting for the first time this season.Rohit Sharma clobbers one off the middle of the bat•BCCI

Likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Aaron Finch, 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 R Ashwin (capt.), 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Barinder Sran, 10 Ankit Rajpoot, 11 Mujeeb Ur RahmanMumbai Indians: 1 Suryakumar Yadav, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Rohit Sharma (capt.), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Ben Cutting, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Strategy punt

If Mumbai open with Rohit Sharma, they could force Mujeeb ur Rahman – legspin v Rohit is always a bowler-friendly match-up – to bowl sooner than Kings XI would want him to bowl.

Stats that matter

• Over 10 seasons, these two sides have an even record of 10 wins and losses against each other. The head-to-head between them over the last three seasons has been 1-1.
• Pollard has faced only 70 balls in six innings this season; Aaron Finch has faced only 16 over five innings.
• In 25 balls faced from Mitchell McClenaghan, KL Rahul has scored a healthy 42 runs, but has also been dismissed twice.
• Chris Gayle has struck at 169.4 per 100 balls of spin this IPL without being dismissed; he still has a solid strike-rate of 154.8 against pace but has got out twice to the quicks.

Fantasy pick

Krunal Pandya is a floater. He could bat high up in the order, and he will be bowling his left-arm spin against a line-up full of right-hand batsmen, except Chris Gayle.

Quotes

“We have six games left, and we have to win them all. That is what we have to do. I still believe when you look at our squad, we have key players who can win us six games in a row. We have done it in the past, and I believe we can do it again.”

The two made short work of the 292-run chase against Rajasthan in Vadodara

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2025Unbeaten centuries from Karun Nair and Dhruv Shorey saw Vidarbha chase down their target of 292 in style against Rajasthan and march to the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Vidarbha captain Nair notched up his fourth consecutive century and his fifth in the season and finished with an unbeaten 122. He tops the run charts this year with a whopping 664 runs, which is also his average as he has only been dismissed once in six innings.Nair and Shorey shared an unbroken 200-run stand for the second wicket as Vidarbha gunned down their target in 43.3 overs. Shorey first shared a 92-run opening stand with Yash Rathod before Nair joined him at the crease.The two then made short work of the chase, with Shorey hitting ten fours and three sixes to finish on 118* off 131 deliveries. Nair was more aggressive in his approach, taking just 82 balls for his 122, with 13 fours and five sixes.After being put in to bat, Rajasthan started slow and had only managed 15 runs when opener Abhijeet Tomar fell to Nachiket Bhute in the seventh over. One over later, his opening partner Manav Suthar was sent packing by Yash Thakur.Mahipal Lomror and Deepak Hooda then stitched a 71-run stand before the two fell in the space of four overs. Shubham Garhwal and Kartik Sharma then added 82 runs for the fifth wicket before Thakur struck again, removing Garhwal for 59. Kartik then shared a 50-run stand with wicketkeeper Samarpit Joshi but the two fell in consecutive overs, with Rajasthan’s score still under 250. Deepak Chahar smacked three sixes and two fours en route to a 14-ball 31 that helped Rajasthan get close to 300. Thakur was the pick of the bowlers for Vidarbha, with figures of 4 for 39.Vidarbha will play Maharashtra in the second semi-final in Vadodara on January 16.

Middlesex stutter to 189 for 8 on truncated day at Emirates Old Trafford

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay16-Sep-2025Middlesex 189 for 8 (De Caires 52, Geddes 52, Bailey 4-60) vs Lancashire Tom Bailey took four wickets to ensure Lancashire reduced Middlesex’s already slim promotion hopes still further on a rain-affected second day of the Rothesay County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford.After the first day of the game had been wiped out by rain, only 44 overs’ play was possible between the heavy showers on the second but the visitors ended a long and mostly sunlit evening session on 189 for 8 after Ben Geddes had been dismissed for 52 four overs before the close and Seb Morgan had fallen lbw to Bailey’s last ball of a truncated day.Having been asked to bat first in bowler-friendly conditions, the visitors were also indebted to opener Josh De Caires, who made 52 runs, many of them against the new ball at a time when the players were regularly forced off the field by rain.The match began at noon but barely 20 minutes’ play was possible before a heavy shower forced the players off again. In that time, however, Middlesex lost two wickets in five overs, Sam Robson being caught at second slip by Keaton Jennings off Bailey for 9, and the left-handed Luke Hollman being taken at first slip by Michael Jones for a four-ball nought when James Anderson slanted a ball across him and induced the edge.Two balls later – and probably to Hollman’s intense irritation – more showers blew in on the westerly wind and prevented play resuming for over two hours. An early lunch was taken and Middlesex resumed their innings on 13 for 2.On the bright side, the visitors then added 48 runs in six overs, De Caires hitting three successive fours off Tom Aspinwall and the visitors bringing up their fifty in the tenth over. However, only seven more balls were possible, though, before yet more heavy rain arrived from the direction of the Party Stand with Middlesex on 61 for 2.Play resumed at four o’clock and Middlesex immediately lost two wickets to successive deliveries from Aspinwall. Having put on 54 with de Caires, Leus du Plooy was caught behind for 22 when attempting to drive and Ryan Higgins departed first ball when he appeared surprised by Aspinwall’s pace and edged a catch to Jones at first slip.Geddes joined de Caires and the pair put on another 54 runs during the course of which the Middlesex opener was dropped by Bailey off his own bowling when on 46. De Caires reached his fifty off 65 balls when he nicked Bailey past third slip and to the boundary but the opener was caught behind for 52 three balls later when driving ambitiously at the same bowler.Josh Bohannon was introduced into the attack from the Statham End and struck with his first ball when he bowled Joe Cracknell for 6. By the close, however, Middlesex had recovered to near parity in the conditions with Geddes having reached his 50 off 80 balls with five fours and three sixes, all of the latter having been whacked over the short boundary on the Party Stand side of the ground.Nine balls after reaching that personal landmark, Geddes nicked Bailey high to Jennings’ left at second slip and the former Lancashire skipper took a fine two-handed catch. At the close, Zafar Gohar was 16 not out. Bailey finished the day with figures of 4 for 60 and Aspinwall with 2 for 48.

The fast bowler is keen to keep himself in action ahead of facing England and will likely combine white and red-ball cricket

Andrew McGlashan28-Aug-2025

Josh Hazlewood will likely have a mixture of white and red-ball cricket ahead of the Ashes•Getty Images

Josh Hazlewood is expecting to play a Sheffield Shield match in the lead-up to the Ashes in November as he prepares to counter an “unbelievable” England batting line-up, which he believes will be strongest they will have brought to Australia during his career.Hazlewood recently played five out of the six white-ball matches against South Africa having sat out the T20I series against West Indies following the Tests while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have not featured in the last few weeks. Hazlewood won’t be in action on the field in September but wants to keep getting miles in the legs ahead of the first Test in Perth rather than having extended downtime.”It felt like over the last 12 months, the best way for me to go about it is just keep on ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling,” Hazlewood said at an event to promote Play Cricket week. “I find…getting back to that intensity and volume is quite tough for me. So if I can just keep staying up there, match intensity as long as I can, then that’s sort of the best way for me to go about it.”Related

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• Mark Wood targets Durham return in build-up to Ashes

Hazlewood, who played four Tests during the 2023 Ashes, is expecting a tough challenge from the England batting line-up. At times in the recent India series they showed a more nuanced approach rather an all-out attack, before falling to six-run defeat at The Oval. A 7 for 66 collapse triggered by a stroke from Harry Brook promoted significant debate after a spectacular hundred.Brook, currently the No. 2-ranked Test batter behind Joe Root, will be on his first Test tour of Australia and in nine T20Is in the country in 2022 had a top score of 20. His first-class experience is limited to one England Lions outing in 2021 and how he adjusts to conditions will be key to the team’s prospects. So, too, the performance of Root who has yet to score a Test century in Australia where he averages 35.68 from 14 matches.Josh Hazlewood expects Harry Brook to play without any baggage in Australia•AFP/Getty Images

“England has obviously been quite flat wickets recently, the last few years, and it’s been a really dry summer as well, so they are probably starting to get tired and spin now,” Hazlewood said. “I think [Brook] will adapt. He’s a good player. He’s at the top of the rankings for a reason, and he’ll be a tough challenge.”When [Root] first came out, it was a little bit of a different attack. It was probably [Mitchell] Johnson and [Ryan] Harris and [Peter] Siddle. Gaz [Nathan Lyon] has been around a long time now, so he was probably there, but we sort of just jumped on the back of that”I think a fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier. There’s no baggage behind him and he can just come out and play with freedom as he does. Joe’s probably in the form of his life as well. So they’re an unbelievable batting line, to be honest. The top seven have done really well…so it’s a challenge.”Asked whether it will be strongest batting up England have sent to Australia in recent times, Hazlewood said: “Yeah, definitely.”Australia have a three-match T20I series against New Zealand in early October then India visit for ODIs and T20Is ahead of the Ashes. It remains to be seen how Hazlewood’s schedule will be juggled to allow him a red-ball outing – the fourth round of Sheffield Shield matches starting on November 10, when New South Wales play Victoria at the SCG, may be too close to the start of the series – but he is keen to have the opportunity to replicate long-form intensity.Last season Hazlewood played one game for New South Wales ahead of the India Test series, and though he went wicketless across 24 overs against Queensland he was Australia’s best bowler early in the opening Test in Perth before his series was disrupted by injury. This winter, however, he was able to play all four Tests against South Africa and West Indies, albeit the workload on bowler-friendly Caribbean surfaces was not extreme.”The Test [only] guys will play more than one [Shield game]. They’ll probably play two or three, but everyone’s on different programs,” he said. “I used it last year and I’ve sort of found that it’s very beneficial. Time on the field, multiple spells in a day, it’s sort of hard to replicate it at training. So, to get that before a Test series is pretty pivotal, I think.”

Track the squads ahead of the new seasons as clubs build their lists

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2025 • Updated on 25-Aug-2025

Adelaide Strikers

Men: Hasan Ali (Pak), Cameron Boyce, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Mackenzie Harvey, Thomas Kelly, Chris Lynn, Harry Nielsen, Jamie Overton (Eng), Lloyd Pope, Alex Ross, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Henry Thornton, Luke Wood (Eng)
In Jason Sangha (Thunder), Mackenzie Harvey (Renegades)
Out Brendan Doggett (Renegades), Jake Weatherald (Hurricanes)Women: Jemma Barsby, Tammy Beaumont (Eng), Darcie Brown, Sophie Ecclestone (Eng), Anesu Mushangwe, Tahlia McGrath, Bridget Patterson, Madeline Penna, Megan Schutt, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Laura Wolvaardt (SA)
In
Out Katie Mack (Scorchers)Related

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Brisbane Heat

Men: Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pak), Tom Alsop (Eng), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Lachlan Hearne, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro (NZ), Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Callum Vidler, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth
In Lachlan Hearne, Hugh Weibgen (Thunder)
Out Mitchell Swepson (Stars)Women: Lily Bassingthwaighte, Bonnie Berry, Lucy Bourke, Nadine de Klerk (SA), Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Chinelle Henry (WI), Jess Jonassen, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Georgia Redmayne, Jemimah Rodrigues (Ind)
In TBC
Out Laura Harris (Thunder)

Hobart Hurricanes

Men: Rehan Ahmed (Eng), Iain Carlisle, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Rishad Hossain (Ban), Chris Jordan (Eng), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster, Mac Wright
In Jake Weatherald (Strikers), Beau Webster (Stars)
Out Caleb Jewell (Renegades)Women: Nicola Carey, Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Lizelle Lee, Nat Sciver-Brunt (Eng), Hayley Silver-Holmes, Amy Smith, Lauren Smith, Linsey Smith (Eng), Molly Strano, Elyse Villani, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
In TBC
Out TBCCaleb Jewell has moved from Hurricanes to Renegades•Getty Images

Melbourne Renegades

Men: Jason Behrendorff, Josh Brown, Harry Dixon, Brendan Doggett, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Caleb Jewell, Hassan Khan (Pak), Nathan Lyon, Fergus O’Neill, Ollie Peake, Mohammad Rizwan (Pak), Tom Rogers, Tim Seifert (NZ), Will Sutherland, Adam Zampa
In Jason Behrendorff (Scorchers), Brendan Doggett (Strikers), Caleb Jewell (Hurricanes)
Out Mackenzie Harvey (Strikers)Women: Alice Capsey (Eng), Emma de Broughe, Deandra Dottin (WI), Tess Flintoff, Milly Illingworth, Sophie Molineux, Naomi Stalenberg, Georgia Wareham
In Tess Flintoff (Stars)
Out Ella Hayward (Stars), Georgia Prestwidge (Stars)

Melbourne Stars

Men: Austin Anlezark, Scott Boland, Hilton Cartwright, Joe Clarke (Eng), Tom Curran (Eng), Sam Harper, Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Haris Rauf (Pak), Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson
In Liam Hatcher (Thunder), Mitch Swepson (Heat)
Out Beau Webster (Hurricanes), Joel Paris (Scorchers)Women: Sophie Day, Kim Garth, Dani Gibson (Eng), Ella Hayward, Amy Jones (Eng), Marizanne Kapp (RSA), Meg Lanning, Rhys McKenna, Ines McKeon, Georgia Prestwidge, Sophie Reid, Annabel Sutherland
In Ella Hayward (Renegades), Georgia Prestwidge (Renegades)
Out Tess Flintoff (Renegades), Hasrat Gill (Thunder)

Perth Scorchers

Men: Ashton Agar, Finn Allen (NZ), Mahli Beardman, Cooper Connolly, Laurie Evans (Eng), Sam Fanning, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Bryce Jackson, Matt Kelly, Mitchell Marsh, Lance Morris, Joel Paris, David Payne (Eng), Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner
In Joel Paris (Stars), Bryce Jackson
Out Jason Behrendorff (Renegades)Katie Mack has signed with Scorchers•Getty Images

Women: Chloe Ainsworth, Maddy Darke, Sophie Devine (NZ), Amy Edgar, Mikayla Hinkley, Ebony Hoskin, Alana King, Katie Mack, Lilly Mills, Beth Mooney, Paige Scholfield (Eng), Chloe Tryon (SA)
In Katie Mack (Strikers)
Out TBC

Sydney Sixers

Men: Sean Abbott, Babar Azam (Pak), Jafer Chohan (Eng), Sam Curran (Eng), Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Kane Richardson, Lachlan Shaw, Jordan Silk, Steven Smith
In Kane Richardson
OutWomen: Caoimhe Bray, Maitlan Brown, Lauren Cheatle, Sophia Dunkley (Eng), Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Elsa Hunter, Amelia Kerr (NZ), Ellyse Perry, Courtney Sippel, Mady Villiers
In Elsa Hunter
Out TBC

Sydney Thunder

Men: R Ashwin (Ind), Tom Andrews, Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings (Eng), Ollie Davies, Lockie Ferguson (NZ), Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Ryan Hadley, Shadab Khan (Pak), Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner
In
Out Liam Hatcher (Stars), Jason Sangha (Strikers), Hugh Weibgen (Heat)Women: Chamari Athapaththu (SL), Samantha Bates, Ella Briscoe, Hannah Darlington, Sienna Eve, Hasrat Gill, Laura Harris, Shabnim Ismail (SA), Anika Learoyd, Phoebe Litchfield, Taneale Peschel, Georgia Voll, Tahlia Wilson
In Laura Harris (Heat), Hasrat Gill (Stars)

Out Sammy Jo-Johnson (retired)