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South Africa’s last pair survive nervy finish to salvage draw after Bulbulia century

ECB Reporters Network29-Jan-2025Farhan Ahmed was the star again with a five-wicket haul but it was not enough as England Men U19s fell one wicket short of claiming victory in the first Youth Test against South Africa Men U19s in Stellenbosch.Ahmed completed a dominant display with both bat and ball – returning match figures of nine for 181 after his first-innings 90 – only for the home side to snatch a draw chasing 317 to win.Opener Muhammed Bulbulia’s century had South Africa Men U19s on course before spin duo Ahmed (five for 103) and Tazeem Ali (three for 57) inspired a collapse of six for 56 and left the tail with over an hour to bat.Ali eventually broke a stubborn 84-ball ninth-wicket stand when Raeeq Daniels edged to Archie Vaughan at first slip, but with just eight balls left the home side saw it through to the close – albeit in unconventional style.Last man Nqobani Mokoena opted to attack the final over from Ahmed, who had eight fielders around the bat, finding the rope twice including smashing the final ball through cover.The Young Lions had earlier declared at 336 for nine after quick runs from Jack Home (60 not out) before the impressive Bulbulia – who made 88 in the first innings – paced the chase with 114 from 154 balls.Bulbulia fell victim to Ahmed, spooning back a return catch, and the Nottinghamshire 16-year-old all-rounder had his five-wicket haul in the same over when Divan de Villiers was bowled attempting a big shot.Lethabo Phahlamohlaka ushered his side to the draw though, with an unbeaten 46, despite nervously watching Mokoena’s final-ball antics from his haunches at the non-striker’s end.The second Youth Test begins at Western Province Cricket Club in Cape Town on Monday.

The former Australia captain believes that with a handful more runs and a fit Bumrah could have taken India to victory at the SCG

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2025Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has termed Jasprit Bumrah the best all-format quick bowler, ever after his Player-of-the-Series performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Bumrah took 32 wickets at 13.06 before pulling up injured midway through Australia’s first innings at the SCG in the final Test. India’s other quicks were able to secure a four-run lead, but in Bumrah’s absence, Australia chased down 162 on the third day to win the series 3-1.It meant Bumrah finished two short of equaling Sydney Barnes’ 1911-12 record of 34 wickets in a series by a touring pace bowler to Australia.Related

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“The thing I’ve thought about Bumrah, after the series finished and I was sitting and thinking about his performances, I actually think he’s the best fast bowler ever across all three formats,” Clarke told ESPN’s .”I know a lot of great fast bowlers, Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, didn’t get to play T20 cricket, so I’m not talking about those guys, but in regards to anyone who has played all three formats, I think he might be the best ever. He’s actually that good in any conditions, that’s what makes him great; any conditions, any format, this guy’s a freak.”Bumrah blew Australia away in Perth with eight wickets, claimed a six-wicket haul in the first innings at the Gabba, and almost turned the MCG Test on its head with his burst on the fourth afternoon. He then removed Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne early in Australia’s first innings at the SCG – the former following a confrontation with Sam Konstas – but could only manage one over after lunch on the second day when the game was in the balance.”I reckon India were probably 20 runs short [in Sydney],” Clarke said. “I reckon a 180 lead, with Bumrah in the team, I think India are home. I think Bumrah is that good… he’s so much better than the other bowlers they had in the team.”Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t quite reach the end of the series•Getty Images

Mohammed Siraj was the next highest wicket-taker among India’s quicks with 20 at 31.15, while Prasidh Krishna’s six wickets in Sydney suggested he might have been worth a run earlier in the series. However, Australia managed totals over 400 in both Brisbane and Melbourne, the latter with a short turnaround into Sydney, and Aaron Finch believed their tactics eventually paid dividends.”Australia were prepared to play the long game with Jasprit Bumrah,” Finch told . “They wanted to make him bowl over and over and over, make him come back for one more spell, bowl another three, four, five [more] overs and in the end, it worked, they broke him in the end. They played that long game, they won.”Had he bowled in the last innings in Sydney, would Australia have got over the line? Think they still just get over the line, but it would have been a lot more difficult than it was.”

Wicketkeeper Nicole Faltum has been handed her first call-up for the three-match T20I series in late March

Tristan Lavalette26-Feb-2025Australia captain Alyssa Healy will miss next month’s T20I tour of New Zealand, but there is “no doubt” over her status for the ODI World Cup as she rehabilitates after a wretched run of injuries.With Healy absent as expected due to a foot injury, Melbourne Renegades wicketkeeper-batter Nicole Faltum has been called up in Australia’s 14-player squad for the three-match series starting in Auckland on March 21.Tahlia McGrath will captain with Ashleigh Gardner to be her deputy, while Beth Mooney will again take the gloves in Healy’s absence.Related

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Faltum, 25, has yet to play international cricket but is coming off a strong season for WBBL champions Renegades and captained the Governor-General’s XI against England in January. She beat out Tahlia Wilson and Maddy Darke for the New Zealand tour.”We just see Nic slightly ahead of the others, particularly for the T20 format,” Australia chief selector Shawn Flegler told reporters. “It’s really unlikely that she will play. Obviously, Beth will take the gloves for this tour and she did a really good job during the Ashes replacing Alyssa.”But we just thought it was a great opportunity for Nicole to come in and be around the group, train with them and get to see the environment first hand.”Healy, who turns 35 in March, was not named in the squad due to the stress fracture in her right foot. She missed the T20I portion of the Women’s Ashes and had to prove her fitness for the MCG Test before playing as a specialist middle-order batter.Healy had ruptured her plantar fascia in her foot at the T20 World Cup in October last year which saw her miss Australia’s final group match and the semi-final against South Africa. She also suffered a knee injury in the early stages of the WBBL which meant she missed the remainder of the season and the subsequent ODI series against India.Healy had to skip the ongoing Women’s Premier League, but a return to the field could take place at the women’s Hundred ahead of an ODI series in India in September that runs straight into the World Cup.”My understanding is that there’s no doubt that she’ll get through to the World Cup, that’s for sure,” Flegler said. “She’s had a complicated last couple of years with some different injuries that’s been related to foot…some Achilles and stuff.Nicole Faltum will be part of her first Australia tour•Getty Images

“We certainly don’t want to rush it. As far as I’m aware, there’s no risk that she’ll miss out on that World Cup.”Allrounder Sophie Molineux will continue to be on the sidelines as she recovers from a knee injury that ruled her out of the multiformat Ashes series. “We want to make sure that she’s right for that World Cup, we think she’ll be an important member of that side,” Flegler said.”When she came back into the team, she played a really good role for us across all formats. We’re not going to rush her back. It’s a bit of a complex injury, but we want to make sure that she’s good to go in September.”But there is no set timeline for Tayla Vlaeminck, who dislocated her bowling shoulder just moments into Australia’s T20 World Cup match against Pakistan last October. She is hoped to return at some stage next summer.Australia will enter the T20 series against New Zealand in high spirits after their historic 16-0 Ashes triumph. But Australia should feel extra motivated facing the reigning world champions on their turf in what will be rare matches in the format ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in England.”We were really disappointed with how the T20 World Cup ended for us, and New Zealand did extremely well to win that World Cup,” Flegler said. “It’s a great chance for us to go up against them. There’s always a great rivalry against New Zealand and I’m sure they’ll be keen to play well against us.”We don’t have that many T20s leading into the next T20 World Cup, so every opportunity we get is really important to keep trying those different combinations and getting players used to those positions that they are now in.”

Australia squad for New Zealand tour

Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (capt), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Oman Cricket says the delay “was procedural, dependent on formal post-event clarifications from the ICC”

Osman Samiuddin23-Jun-2025Oman Cricket (OC) has finally agreed to pay the members of its men’s T20 World Cup squad the prize money due to them from that tournament, claiming that the long delay in clearing the dues was “procedural”. In a statement put out on Monday, OC said the US$225,000 amount would be disbursed to the squad and support staff by July 2025.ESPNcricinfo had reported earlier this month that players from the Oman squad had not been paid, a year after the event held in the USA and the Caribbean in June 2024.Agreements participating boards sign with the ICC for events stipulate that prize money must be disbursed to players within 21 days of the board having received it from the ICC. That money, the ICC confirmed, had been sent to OC on time, though the latter claimed in its statement “that the delay in disbursement was procedural, dependent on formal post-event clarifications from the ICC, which are typically received after global tournaments”.The players raised the issue of non-payment not long after the event, and matters came to a head last October, at the emerging teams Asia Cup, when the Oman players resolved to take unified action. That led to the players threatening to not play and being told to leave a day before the tournament began.Eventually, 11 of the players from that 15-man squad had their central contracts suspended and most had to leave Oman. As with most Gulf states, residency in the country is tied to employment and, in this case, a number of players had their employment revoked, compelling them to leave the country.Oman Cricket acknowledged that players had raised the matter but said that officials, including chairman Pankaj Khimji “had repeatedly assured the players that payments would be made in full following the ICC’s confirmation of the allocation and structure.” The players contend that the board’s assurances – by that stage already four months late on the payments – had begun to sound hollow.The board blamed the players for escalating the situation and refusing to play, which they claimed put Oman’s international commitment “at serious risk”.”The players had every right to seek clarity, and we were transparent about the timelines involved,” Khimji said in the statement.The players sought help from the World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) after being made aware of the avenue by players from Canada and Nepal – who had faced similar difficulties. Khimji criticised WCA’s involvement, saying the global players’ body “misled” the players and “encouraged them to abandon their duties under the guise of advocacy.”The WCA CEO Tom Moffat told ESPNcricinfo: “We are pleased to see that Oman Cricket has put a timeline on paying the players the prize money almost a year after they received the money from the ICC, and almost a year after it should have been paid to the players under the ICC terms of participation.”Every player in the world should be afforded a safe space to raise concerns and advocate for themselves. It’s incredibly sad that the majority of Oman’s men’s World Cup team have lost their careers, employment, and were in turn forced to leave the country for doing so. WCA will always assist players who come to it for help, especially those who are vulnerable or who face with extremely imbalanced and unhealthy power dynamics.”Oman Cricket said it had constituted an internal committee to investigate “the communication gap” around issues of prize money as well as to avoid such a situation in the future. “This was an isolated incident, but it showed us the need for stronger systems,” the board treasurer Alkesh Joshi said in the statement. “We will ensure that players are never left uncertain about their entitlements — but also that professional commitments are never compromised.”

Bangladesh are searching for a 3-0 series clean sweep; Pakistan are looking for fixes

Danyal Rasool23-Jul-2025

Big picture: Can Bangladesh make it 3-0?

Bangladesh set aside Pakistan’s pseudo-paternalistic concerns about their home pitches not helping them away on Tuesday. After all, this series is taking place in Bangladesh, and in the corresponding one six weeks ago, Pakistan prepared surfaces designed to suit their own game; it hasn’t exactly helped them away in Bangladesh, either.A dominant bowling performance helped Bangladesh wrap up the three-match T20I series at the earliest opportunity, with the visitors grateful for a counterattacking knock from Faheem Ashraf that staved off sharper embarrassment, though not defeat.Coming a day after the tragic events of a plane crash into a school that took many lives, an emotional crowd in Dhaka were given something to cheer by a home performance which oscillated between steel and swagger. The former was required when Pakistan’s bowlers punctured Bangladesh’s top order repeatedly in the powerplay and beyond; Jaker Ali and Mahedi Hasan stanching the bleeding and keeping alive their hopes in the contest. The fast bowlers then lit the stadium up in a scarcely believable powerplay where they took five wickets.Related

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Even more satisfying, perhaps, for Bangladesh is the well-roundedness of their displays this series. They showed, in the first game, an ability to hunt down a low-scoring total with ease despite early pressure, before defending one in the second, holding their nerve in a tight finish. They even rested two of their best performers in the second contest – Tanzid Hasan and Taskin Ahmed – without leaving them too exposed in these conditions. At just about every stage in each game, they have found themselves ahead of Pakistan, and fittingly, that’s where they are guaranteed to stay.When Pakistan trounced this opposition at home a few weeks earlier, captain Salman Agha had said he would judge his team by intent more than results. However, that intent – particularly on Tuesday after Pakistan lost a heap of early wickets – was lacking for large periods. The asking rate ballooned to a point where, even in a low-scoring game, Pakistan scored 78 off the last 45 balls and still end up short. Salman himself scratched around for 23 balls, managing just nine.However, one thing going for Pakistan is that they have a large number of T20Is over the rest of the year. If they find themselves unable to implement the fixes they have so publicly promised they are seeking, it won’t be for lack of match practice. The final game against Bangladesh may offer a window into how quickly those fixes can begin to be implemented.

Form guide

Bangladesh: WWWWL
Pakistan: LLWWWMustafizur Rahman returned outstanding figures of 4-0-6-2 in the first T20I•BCB

In the spotlight: Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Nawaz

Mustafizur Rahman has tormented Pakistan this series, using his famous offcutters on a surface designed to make them impossibly difficult to play. The pace-on variation makes that weapon even more deadly, and Bangladesh have wrapped up the series before Pakistan have figured out how to handle him. Across two games, he boasts an economy rate under five and has taken three wickets, including the one that finished Pakistan off on Tuesday. Should Bangladesh play him with the series already done, there’s little to suggest Pakistan won’t struggle similarly against him.Hasan Nawaz intersperses big scores and impactful innings with a string of low ones, and he’s in the latter cycle right now. He’s faced ten deliveries this series, but he’s yet to score, dismissed for a duck each innings. It’s been a story that’s repeated itself throughout his brief career so far; the T20I series against New Zealand in March saw him score one century but add just a solitary run in the other four innings. It is that explosiveness that Pakistan use to justify his selection, and what they will bank on as they try and avoid a series whitewash.

Team news: Farhan, Muqeem to get a chance?

Bangladesh may rest the odd player or two with the series done, but there are no new injury concerns.Bangladesh (probable XI): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Litton Das (capt), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Jaker Ali (wk), 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 10 Mustafizur Rahman/Shoriful Isman, 11 Taskin AhmedWill Sufiyan Muqeem come into the side for the third T20I?•AFP/Getty Images

Sahibzada Farhan is yet to get a game this series, as is Sufiyan Muqeem. The inclusion of either won’t be a surprise, though Pakistan’s weakened bowling attack means they will continue to be forced to turn to part-timers to run through an innings.Pakistan: (probable XI): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Saim Ayub/Sahibzada Farhan, 3 Mohammad Haris (wk), 4 Hasan Nawaz, 5 Salman Agha (capt), 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Abbas Afridi, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Ahmed Daniyal, 10 Salman Mirza, 11 Abrar Ahmed/Sufiyan Muqeem

Pitch and conditions

Mirpur has stayed dry even amidst heavy monsoon rain in Dhaka of late. There’s an afternoon shower forecast, while the pitch – a subject of such focus this week – is unlikely to be significantly different.

Stats and trivia

• Rishad Hossain is two wickets away from becoming the sixth Bangladeshi man to reach 50 T20I wickets
• Bangladesh have won two T20I series 3-0 against Full Members – once at home against England in 2023, and one in the West Indies last year

Bethell set to become England Men’s youngest-ever captain during Ireland T20Is

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2025Sonny Baker has won his maiden England call-up for the forthcoming ODI series against South Africa, while Jacob Bethell’s rapid rise continues after he was named captain of the T20I side to tour Ireland immediately after.Bethell is set to become England’s youngest men’s captain when he deputises for Harry Brook in three T20Is. Still only 21, Bethell will beat the mark currently held by Monty Bowden, who was 23 and 144 days when he led England against South Africa at Cape Town on the Test tour of 1888-89.Related

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South Africa will arrive to play three ODIs and three T20Is next month, which will conclude England’s home season. Brook will then sit out the three-match trip to Ireland, along with four other all-format players – Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith – as part of workload management.Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will also take the reins from Brendon McCullum for the games in Malahide.Baker impressed with England Lions over the winter, which led to him being awarded an England development contract. Capable of bowling around the 90mph mark, he has caught the eye with Hampshire and Manchester Originals this summer.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

He joins an ODI squad that is largely unchanged from the group that beat West Indies 3-0 in Brook’s first series as permanent white-ball captain earlier in the summer. Gus Atkinson, Luke Wood and Tom Hartley drop out, though Wood is included in both T20I squads and Hartley will travel to Ireland. Atkinson will likely build up his red-ball loads ahead of the winter’s Ashes.Rehan Ahmed returns to the ODI group and is included in all three squads after a prolific summer with the bat. Baker is also in the Ireland T20I squad, as is Matthew Potts, who debuted in the format against West Indies.”Jacob Bethell has impressed with his leadership qualities ever since he has been with the England squads and the series against Ireland will provide him with the opportunity to further develop those skills on the international stage,” England men’s selector, Luke Wright, said.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Sonny is a player we have identified for a while and he was impressive during the England Lions tours last winter. He has carried that form into this season in white-ball cricket with Hampshire and Manchester Originals and deservedly gets his opportunity.”England ODI squad to face South Africa: Harry Brook (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jamie SmithEngland T20I squad to face South Africa: Harry Brook (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Luke WoodEngland T20I squad to face Ireland: Jacob Bethell (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Luke Wood

Birmingham Phoenix battle back after posting 111 for 9, but hosts do enough to seal second spot

ECB Media27-Aug-2025Trent Rockets 113 for 7 (Rehan 37) beat Birmingham Phoenix 111 for 9 (Rehan 3-15) by three wicketsTrent Rockets geared up for their Eliminator showdown with Northern Superchargers by sneaking past Birmingham Phoenix with one ball to spare after a memorable debut in The Hundred for Ben Cox and an eye-catching all-round display from Rehan Ahmed.The Rockets confirmed their second-place finish in the group, behind Oval Invincibles on net run rate, and will go into Saturday evening’s contest at the Kia Oval full of confidence after claiming their sixth win in eight.Spin was the key for the Rockets, with their slow bowlers producing combined figures of 6 for 35 from 50 deliveries after Ben Duckett (20 from 15) and Will Smeed (23 from 12) had made a promising start.Rockets skipper David Willey may have been questioning his decision to insert the opposition when the Phoenix raced to 36 for 0 from 21 deliveries, but the innings stalled when Duckett scuffed a short delivery from Lockie Ferguson to Rehan at midwicket.Joe Clarke soon followed, slog-sweeping southpaw spinner George Linde to deep midwicket, and from there the wickets tumbled. The irrepressible Rehan (3 for 15) induced a chop-on from Smeed and snared Jacob Bethell for a duck three deliveries later before Linde (2 for 12) claimed his second when Liam Livingstone’s ugly heave met thin air.Rehan grabbed his third – and 10th in the competition overall – when Benny Howell picked out Max Holden on the boundary and Joe Root, whose 15 deliveries cost just eight runs, got in on the action when Liam Patterson-White’s edge was brilliantly held by Cox, who only received a call-up to join the Rockets yesterday following an injury to Adam Hose.Dan Mousley (26 from 25) gave the score some respectability but 111-9 looked well under par, even on a spin-friendly surface.The chase was far from easy though. After the early loss of Tom Banton for 1, caught at mid-on off Boult, Rehan sparkled once more, racing to 37 in 23 balls before an audacious slog sweep was caught in the deep off Livingstone. Root continued his good recent form in the tournament with a run-a-ball 25 that came to an end when he was bowled by Patterson-White and the left-arm spinner struck again five deliveries later, castling Willey with a devilish delivery that spun back sharply between bat and pad.Linde was run-out after a mix-up and Marcus Stoinis got a leading edge to cover off Bethell as the Rockets slipped to 89-6, and the left-arm spinner struck again when Sam Hain holed out to leave six required from five.Bethell was entrusted with the final set and conceded just three runs from his first three deliveries but Cox kept a cool head and swept the fourth to the boundary to finish unbeaten on 17 from 12 balls.Named Meerkat Match Hero after his three wickets and quickfire knock, Rehan said: “Coxy was always going to do it, I had full trust in him. There was a lot of assistance for spinners on this pitch. We train on similar surfaces so it was about going out there and doing the same thing. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity I’ve been given and hopefully I can do it in the next couple of games.”