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NGO’s letter to ICC also asks if it would be prepared to recognise the Afghanistan women’s national team in exile, allowing it to train, compete and receive ICC financial support

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-20252:01

Firooza Amiri: If Afghan women can play sports, they can study as well

Human Rights Watch has called on the ICC to suspend Afghanistan’s membership and ban the Taliban-run nation from competing in international cricket.
The request came via an email addressed to ICC chair Jay Shah, dated February 3 and made public on March 7, with the subject line: “Suspending the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Implementing a Human Rights Policy”.Human Rights Watch describes itself as an independent, international, non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on human rights abuses by states and non-state actors around the world.”We are writing at this time to urge the International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend Taliban-run Afghanistan from ICC membership, and from participating in international cricket, until women and girls can once again participate in education and sport in the country,” the email said.Related

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“We also urge the ICC to implement a human rights policy based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”We note that you have pledged ‘to allocate more resources to women’s cricket’ during your tenure at the helm of global cricket and ‘champion the ICC’s mission further by allocating more resources and attention to women’s cricket’.”However, since retaking power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a long and growing list of rules and policies that bars women and girls from exercising their fundamental rights, including to freedom of expression and movement, many forms of employment, and education beyond sixth grade. These affect virtually all their rights, including to life, livelihood, shelter, health care, food, and water.”The email went on to say that the ICC’s anti-discrimination policy for international cricket states that it is committed to ensuring that wherever cricket is played, it can be enjoyed by all participants regardless of their respective backgrounds. It pointed out that the policy also strives to ensure all participants can enjoy sport without being subjected to intimidating conduct on the basis of – among other factors – sex, gender, marital status and/or maternity status.The email also argued that while payments to Afghanistan’s Women’s team were suspended in 2021, the country’s men’s team continues to receive financial and logistical support, apparently in contravention of the ICC’s own anti-discrimination rules.Nahida Sapan and Firooza Amiri speak to the media ahead of the Cricket Without Borders match in Melbourne in January•Getty Images

“By not allowing women and girls to play cricket, and not allowing a national team for women and girls to compete internationally, the Afghanistan Cricket Board is failing to abide by this Anti-Discrimination Policy,” Human Rights Watch said.”We note that cricket has been included as a sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and yet the Taliban’s ban on women and girls participating in the sport is a severe violation of the Olympic Charter’s guarantee that ‘the practice of sport is a human right’.”Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, women have been forced to adhere to an increasingly restrictive range of laws barring them from most areas of public life, including sport. Shortly before that, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had agreed to contract 25 women’s players, most of whom now live in exile in Australia.In July last year, former members of the Afghanistan women’s national team, no longer recognised as such by the country’s Taliban rulers, wrote to the ICC asking to be recognised as a refugee team.Several of those players united in an Afghanistan Women’s XI for an exhibition match against a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval in January.A protest outside Lord’s on the eve of the Afghanistan-England Champions Trophy match in Lahore in February•PA Photos/Getty Images

Around that time, the ECB came under pressure from a group of British MPs to boycott their recent Champions Trophy fixture against Afghanistan – who knocked England out of the competition – while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the ICC to “deliver on their own rules”.England and Australia have opted not to play Afghanistan in bilateral games, while agreeing to face them at ICC events, with ECB chief executive Richard Gould calling for a “co-ordinated, ICC-led, response” rather than unilateral action from individual countries.The issues of banning or boycotting the men’s team is complex, with some of the formerly contracted Afghanistan women’s players telling ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast that they didn’t want to see their male counterparts prevented from playing because they offered hope, but they did want them to do more for the women and girls who were being denied the same rights.Afghanistan fans settle down to watch their team play England in Lahore•Getty Images

Human Rights Watch asked for a timely response from the ICC to a number of questions, including what steps the governing body is taking towards developing a human rights policy, why it hasn’t suspended the ACB from playing international cricket until women and girls have access to education and sport and, would it be prepared to recognise the Afghanistan women’s national team in exile, allowing it to train, compete and receive ICC financial support.It also asks what steps the ICC has taken or plans to take to “pressure the Afghanistan Cricket Board to include women and girl players in their competitions” and what funding or other support has been or will be provided to the Afghanistan Cricket Board.”The International Cricket Council should follow in the steps of other sport governing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee, by calling on the Taliban to include Afghan women and girls in sport, and committing to a human rights frame work,” the email concluded.The ICC has been contacted for comment.

Deficit still 149 but hosts given hope by Clarke’s first ton since 2021

ECB Reporters Network13-Jun-2023Joe Clarke posted his first century in first-class cricket since September 2021 but Warwickshire remain favourites to complete the fourth win of their LV= Insurance County Championship season and stay in contention for the Division One title.Nottinghamshire were following on after being bowled out for just 155 in reply to Warwickshire’s 571 for 9 declared but despite Clarke’s impressive performance they remained 149 runs behind at the close of the third day at 267 for 4 and a second new ball available to the visiting bowlers after just two more overs.Clarke finished unbeaten on 119 from 178 balls, having batted for almost four hours and not given a chance, picking up 22 boundaries. Skipper Steven Mullaney was not out on 37 in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand worth 81 yet even with the pitch flattening out, Warwickshire will be disappointed not to turn their dominance over the first three days into a victory.Earlier, Pakistan quick Hasan Ali had taken three for 30 and Will Rhodes and Chris Rushworth two wickets each as Nottinghamshire were dismissed in 56 overs to trail by 416 on first innings.Having left the field to rumbles of thunder and lightning flashes on Monday evening, Nottinghamshire emerged in glorious sunshine for day three having been urged to fight for their survival, despite being five down for 82, still 489 runs behind. Yet 24 overs and two balls later, they were being asked to follow on.Mullaney, not out with Tom Moores overnight, was well caught at short midwicket at the end of the fifth full over of the day, a third victim for Hasan. Moores and Calvin Harrison attacked defiantly before departing in consecutive overs. Moores was bowled driving loosely – a first wicket of the season for skipper Rhodes – and Harrison, somewhat inevitably after being tempted by several short deliveries on the leg side, miscued one to long leg.Rhodes picked up his second when Jake Ball fended a short ball to first slip and one over of spin from Danny Briggs was enough to tempt last man Dane Paterson to put one down the throat of long-off.There was an argument for Rhodes not enforcing the follow-on, given the rising heat and the effort put in by his bowlers to staunch any threat of a Nottinghamshire recovery. If discussed it was rejected, although he might have thought about it again as openers Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed put on 61 without too many alarms.But as in the first innings, the introduction of Hasan changed the picture. Hameed, misreading a ball angled in by the Pakistan quick, lost his off stump offering no shot. Two balls later, new man Matt Montgomery was hit in front, beaten for pace.Clarke, patient at first, hit three lovely straight drives to the boundary off Rhodes but just as it seemed he and Slater might assert themselves and get the innings back on an even keel, the captain brought Briggs on for Hasan at the pavilion end and Slater, perhaps misjudging the bounce, spooned the ball tamely to short midwicket.Responsibility now sat heavily on Clarke, who passed his first test alongside Lyndon James by ensuring Nottinghamshire reached tea with no more casualties. By then he was on 53 and though 40 of them had come in boundaries he had taken them without unnecessary risk.James, by contrast, was content simply to block, and the combination worked well as Clarke – helped by four boundaries in one over off the medium pace of Rhodes – moved into the 80s for the first time this season until James, having tucked one away nicely through midwicket for only his third boundary in an hour and three-quarters at the crease, was drawn into playing a ball from Rushworth that took the edge and had him caught at first slip. The fourth-wicket partnership had added exactly 100, easily the biggest of the match for Nottinghamshire, although the deficit remained a daunting 230 runs.Clarke, who had gone past fifty eight times since his 109 against Yorkshire in the final fixture of the 2021 season without being able to convert, picked up a couple more boundaries off Oliver Hannon-Dalby to move into the 90s but looked nervous as he edged closer to three figures and when he drove Hasan through extra cover to reach the milestone with his 19th boundary it prompted no more than a low-key celebration, perhaps acknowledging that his side still had much to do to save the game.

He last played the tournament in 2013 and should be available for five regular-season matches

Andrew McGlashan20-Aug-2022David Warner’s return to the BBL for the first time since 2013 has been confirmed with a two-year deal for his original club Sydney Thunder.Late last month the reported that Warner was going to request permission to play in the new ILT20 league in the UAE rather than the BBL after the cancellation of the South Africa ODI series in January opened up space for Australia’s multi-format players.That put in motion a chain of events that played out swiftly, the outcome of which will see Warner return to the club where he has played two of the three BBL matches in his career. He should be available for five regular-season matches after the final Test against South Africa in early January and then the finals if Thunder make it that far.Warner said he was aware of the bigger picture and how important a successful BBL was to the entire game in Australia.Related

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“I care deeply about the game, and I am conscious that the conditions that I enjoy as a professional cricketer have largely come from other senior players who have come before me,” he said. “That is how the game is structured and I understand that my contribution to the future of the BBL will hopefully benefit the next generation of players long after I am retired.”It is understood that Warner’s deal will match that of the platinum players in the upcoming BBL draft – AUD340,000 – with a portion of that coming from Thunder’s salary cap and the rest from CA.Warner’s signature is a huge boost for the BBL and CA more broadly as they face a legal battle with host broadcaster Channel Seven which largely revolves around the quality of the tournament. It is also likely to be the start of Australia’s leading players being paid far more to appear in the BBL as it attempts to compete with the riches available elsewhere.Discussions around the new MoU between CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association will gather pace shortly with the BBL salary cap key parts of the negotiations due to the rapidly evolving T20 franchise landscape.
It had already not gone unnoticed by Australia’s domestic cricketers how much money was being offered for overseas players – especially in the platinum category – and how it will put them well ahead of the top-paid local players such as Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh. With Warner now commanding a similar fee it is inevitable that there will be pay hikes across the board, but that is unlikely to be until next season.On a purely cricketing level, Warner’s deal with Thunder makes plenty of sense. There is the previous link to the club while they were also on the lookout for a top-order batter after Usman Khawaja moved to Brisbane Heat, although Warner will only cover part of the season. He also has strong links to Thunder coach Trevor Bayliss.”Davey’s record on the field speaks for itself and I have no doubt he already has, and will continue to, inspire many, many kids to play and love cricket,” Bayliss said.Warner’s three previous BBL appears have been spread across three seasons from 2011 to 2013. He made a century in his first appearance against Melbourne Stars at the MCG before the following season, where he played for crosstown rivals Sydney Sixers, collecting a duck against Thunder. Then, back with Thunder in 2013, he made a half-century against Sixers, sharing a century opening stand with Khawaja, in a match his team lost.Warner was one of a number of Australia’s players without a BBL deal. Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne signed extensions with their clubs last week, but Steven Smith has turned down Sixers’ initial offer as he considers whether he will want to rest before the tour to India.Mitchell Starc and Test captain Pat Cummins will also rest during that window while it could be that Josh Hazlewood, the No.1-ranked men’s T20I bowler in the world, follows the same path. The chances of Cameron Green being involved will also depend on his Test workload. Scott Boland also currently does not have a BBL deal.

Avishka Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeffrey Vandersay, Eshan Malinga and the injured Wanindu Hasaranga have been left out of the squad

Madushka Balasuriya28-Aug-2025Vishen Halambage, the 20-year-old batter, has earned a maiden national call-up as Sri Lanka named their T20I squad for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.Halambage is among five changes to the squad that faced Bangladesh last month and one of three new batters, with Nuwanidu Fernando and Kamil Mishara also drafted in, alongside legspin-bowling allrounder Dushan Hemantha and seamer Dushmantha Chameera. Making way are Avishka Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeffrey Vandersay, Eshan Malinga and the injured Wanindu Hasaranga.All three of Halambage, Nuwanidu and Mishara had impressed at the recent SLC T20 League, a three-team invitational tournament designed to help the selectors finalise squads ahead of the Asia Cup and this Zimbabwe tour.Related

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The three picks inform how the selectors are looking to shape the T20I team more in line with modern, intent-driven batting. Both Halambage and Mishara struck a tournament-high six sixes at the domestic T20 tournament. The others to reach that total were Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, while only Niroshan Dickwella (20) managed to better Mishara’s total boundary count of 19.Mishara’s strike rate of 172.72 was impressive too, second as it was only to Nissanka’s 190.24, with Halambage’s 140.32 not far behind. Nuwanidu struck at a more modest 124, but his 155 runs across four innings were the highest in the tournament, as was his average of 77.50 – courtesy two unbeaten knocks. With Sri Lanka’s No. 4 slot up for grabs following the exclusions of both Avishka and Chandimal, Nuwanidu has been earmarked as a potential long-term replacement, a claim aided by his stellar recent performances across formats domestically and with the Sri Lanka A team.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

One player who might count himself unfortunate to have missed out is Dickwella, whose 134 runs came at a rate of 161.44 and included two fifties. But with those performances coming at the top of the order, where Nissanka and Kusal Mendis have locked down their positions, and the selectors likely looking to pick for the future, it seems a pathway for the now 32-year-old seems limited.On the bowling front, Hemantha’s inclusion as Hasaranga’s replacement ahead of the likes of Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Vandersay seems to have come down to the former having a more rounded skillset.Viyaskanth picked up five wickets in the tournament as compared to Hemantha’s four, while Vandersay was not even invited to play – signalling early that the selectors perhaps didn’t see a future for him in T20Is. While Viyaskanth was the more impressive legspinner across the tournament, Hemantha is a more accomplished fielder, while he is also capable of clearing the boundary with the bat – two facets to his game that are likely to have swayed the selectors in his favour.Eshan Malinga had an excellent IPL 2025, but hasn’t been too hot since•BCCI

Malinga’s exclusion, meanwhile, can be put down to the heated competition for places in Sri Lanka’s seam-bowling department. Malinga had only just made the squad for the Bangladesh tour on the back of an impressive IPL 2025, but his exploits both domestically and with the national side since have left observers underwhelmed.In the domestic T20 tournament, he picked up four wickets – all in a single innings – but leaked 164 runs across four innings at an economy rate of 11.71, making him the most expensive bowler overall at the tournament. Chameera, by comparison, conceded 85 runs at 8.5 an over for his four wickets, while the likes of Chamika Karunaratne went for just 5.5 runs per over and topped the wicket-taking charts with eight strikes.The rest of the squad shapes up as expected, led by skipper Asalanka. Following the two ODIs over the coming weekend, the T20I series will begin in Harare on September 3.

Sri Lanka squad for Zimbabwe T20I series

Charith Asalanka (capt), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Nuwanidu Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Vishen Halambage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushan Hemantha, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando

Having recovered from a long-term ankle injury, she has met all of CSA’s fitness requirements except the 2km time trial

Firdose Moonda18-Jan-2023Dane van Niekerk remains in contention for South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad and will undergo a final fitness test on January 27 in a bid to prove her eligibility for selection.Since recovering from the broken ankle she sustained last January, which kept her out of the 50-over World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, van Niekerk has played at the Hundred and the WBBL, but has not played international cricket as she works to meet the fitness standard set by Cricket South Africa (CSA). She has been left out of the squad for the tri-series against India and West Indies, which starts on Thursday, but coach Hilton Moreeng is optimistic she will lead the team at the World Cup next month.Related

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“We believe she’ll be ready,” Moreeng said. “That’s why she has been given all the opportunity to make sure she is ready, so she can get through the fitness test and make sure she is part of the group. She was part of the camp and she trained with us. She is working hard to make sure she is in that squad.”ESPNcricinfo understands that van Niekerk’s fitness has improved drastically from where it was even before the injury, with one insider saying she is “the fittest she has been in five years.” She has lost 10kg since last year’s Hundred and has met all her markers except the 2km time trial. Female cricketers in South Africa are required to complete the run in 9 minutes and 30 seconds, while male cricketers must complete the distance in 8 minutes and 30 seconds. All players who hope to play for the national side must now meet this criteria, as well as pass a body composition test, although this is a rule that was only implemented in the last few years as CSA sought to be stricter on fitness.Last year, van Niekerk’s team-mate Lizelle Lee was dropped from the national team for failing her body composition test after her weight was deemed over the standard set for her. Lee retired in the aftermath and explained how she felt victimised and body-shamed at the time, as well as questioned why the standard was not more individualised.Sisanda Magala, the men’s white-ball bowler, asked the same question when he was left out of the national squad for failing to make his running times. He told The Cricket Monthly that he hoped his performances, as the leading bowler in the domestic one-day competition made up for the 12 seconds he fell short by on the running trial, but they did not. He has since passed the test and was, on Tuesday, named in South Africa’s ODI squad to play England later this month.Van Niekerk has lost 10kg since last year’s Hundred and has met all her markers except the 2km time trial•ICC via Getty

Considering Lee and Magala’s cases, Moreeng was asked if the rigid application of the standards was fair, and said he believed their uniformity made them so. “We believe they are fair. Every member of the squad knows what is required, even at the domestic level. It’s where we are as a team and as a country, it’s the direction we are moving to. It’s to make sure each and every player, as far as the minimum standards are concerned, meets them,” he said. “It’s criteria that have been designed and given to players all around the country. It’s one of those that tests your strength and aerobic side of things to make sure players will be able to deal with whatever demands the game gives them on a daily basis. It’s all to make sure the player has the best possible time to perform.”But Moreeng conceded that even without passing the running test, van Niekerk remained crucial to South Africa’s chances of success. “She is a quality cricketer,” he said. “Any environment will be blessed to have her.”And those close to van Niekerk say she is fully committed to doing everything she can to ensure she passes the test and is in South Africa’s squad and sees playing at this World Cup as the fulfillment of a dream.South Africa have set themselves a goal of qualifying for the final of their home World Cup, after reaching the semi-finals in 2014 and 2020.

CSA confirm departure in wake of Test series loss to England

Firdose Moonda12-Sep-2022Mark Boucher will leave his role as South Africa men’s head coach at the end of the T20 World Cup in Australia, Cricket South Africa has confirmed. Boucher informed the South African team at a meeting on Monday afternoon, at the conclusion of the final Test against England in London.Boucher has been in charge of the team since December 2019 and led South Africa to 11 Test wins, including a memorable 2-1 home series victory against India in January this year, and took them close to qualifying for the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final after five successive T20I wins in a row. The team is currently second in the ICC World Test Championship table and has a final chance at a major trophy at this year’s T20 World Cup. Boucher’s contract was due to run until the 2023 World Cup – which was scheduled for February-March of that year and then moved to October-November.”We are very surprised and shocked. He told us he wants to pursue other interests and opportunities,” Pholetsi Moseki, CSA CEO told ESPNcricinfo. “But we are glad that he will be there to take South Africa to the T20 World Cup.”South Africa’s director of cricket, Enoch Nkwe, will begin the process of appointing a new coach soon. It is understood that South Africa may seek an interim coach for their Test series against Australia over the festive season and the home Tests and appoint someone permanently thereafter.Moseki said: “We would like to thank Mark for the time and effort he has invested in South African cricket as the Head Coach over the past three years. He has helped navigate us through some rough waters following the departures of so many senior players through retirement and has helped lay some strong foundations for the next generation of Proteas. We are extremely grateful to him for the work he has done and would like to wish him well with the next chapter of his career.”Despite the good wishes CSA have extended to Boucher, the organisation has had a rocky relationship with their head coach since his appointment in the 2019-20 summer. Boucher was appointed by former director of cricket (DOC) Graeme Smith and replaced interim team director Nkwe, who was made his assistant and has now taken over as DOC. The pair have since maintained that their relationship is strong and Nkwe also expressed appreciation for Boucher.”We are deeply saddened by Mark’s decision to leave us but we also understand and respect his wishes. He is a Proteas legend and has done so much for the game in our country, both on the field and over the last three years off it, which we highly appreciate,” Nkwe said.”He has built a sound platform for South Africa to flourish in all three formats and I’m sure we will see the results of that at the T20 World Cup next month. He has a settled squad already, one that is growing in confidence, and we look forward to watching them in their important series in India before they head to Australia.”At the time of Boucher’s appointment, it was controversial because the coaching post was never advertised – which was later found to be against corporate governance at the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings – and Boucher, who is white, replaced South Africa’s first black African head coach, Nkwe. That decision came up as a talking point at the SJN hearings. Smith was later cleared of discrimination as it was found he appointed Boucher on sound cricketing grounds.Boucher was also implicated at the SJN for his historic role in participating in a racially discriminatory team song (Paul Adams was called a b**** s*** sang to the tune of Boney M’s ‘Brown girl in the ring’ in fines’ meetings) and his contemporary handling of racial issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement. South Africa did not take a knee at first, then raised a fist, then gave players the choice between taking a knee, raising a fist or standing to attention and then were directed by the board to collectively take a knee at last year’s T20 World Cup. CSA also charged Boucher and he was due to have a disciplinary hearing in May but the charges were dropped when CSA found that they were no longer sustainable.Throughout the time that Boucher was under scrutiny, he continued to command the support of the national team. Dean Elgar said the constant negativity around the coaching staff impacted the team.Under Boucher, South Africa’s Test team rose from No.7 on the rankings in June 2021, to the top of the World Test Championship points table. They remain out of contention for automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup, and their chances of making it are slim after they forfeited ODIs in Australia, and they are among the favourites at the T20 World Cup. It is not known whether Boucher’s support staff, which includes Charl Langeveldt (bowling), Justin Ontong (fielding) and Justin Sammons (batting), will continue in their roles, as it is likely the new head coach will be able to choose his own staff.

“In the last particularly 12 months, we’ve had a fairly stable group and some really amazing young talent emerge as mainstays,” Ellyse Perry says

Andrew McGlashan09-Sep-2025It hasn’t quite been a case of having too much of a good thing, but a key plank of Australia’s build towards their ODI World Cup title defence in India and Sri Lanka has been instilling the belief to make the most of their enviable depth.No team has gone back-to-back in the women’s ODI World Cup since Australia’s hat-trick of titles between 1978 and 1988, but few would be surprised if this side achieved the feat. They have lost just three matches in the format since defeating England in Christchurch in the 2022 World Cup final to complete their redemption arc from the semi-final exit of 2017.But two of those losses came in the 2023 Ashes when Australia were exposed across both white-ball formats. While not as seismic as what happened in the 2017 semi-final against India, coupled with their semi-final exit at last year’s T20 World Cup it was a moment when the team challenged itself to remain ahead of the pack.Related

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“We’re really conscious of the fact that we’re incredibly fortunate to have some huge depth in our side, both batting and bowling,” Ellyse Perry, who will be playing her fifth ODI World Cup, said at a sponsorship announcement for Chemist Warehouse ahead of the team’s departure to India.”So, from that aspect, I think we’ve made a really conscious shift towards wanting to take the game on from the very start and probably keep our foot down for as long as we can. Obviously, you’ve got to adapt to conditions and certain circumstances, but it just feels like there’s a real ethos within the group to make sure that we can utilise everyone’s talent on the day.”It’s going to be one person’s day most of the time, not everyone’s, but if we can kind of really be consistent with that, we’ve got a good chance of being successful more often than not. I think that’s been a big shift for us.”Staying ahead of the chasing pack is not just focused on batting and bowling, either. “The development of the women’s game has been really incredible in the last couple of years,” Perry said. “From an athletic point of view, we’re very conscious of making sure that we’re dominant in that space. We want to run hard between the wickets, be really good in the field, and I think looking at some of our bowling options, [we have] some of the quicker bowlers in the world as well. Hopefully we’re a dynamic side and hopefully that’s successful for us.”Annabel Sutherland and Phoebe Litchfield have emerged as fulcrums in the batting order•Sportsfile/Getty Images

Three major names from the side that emerged from the heartache of 2017 into one of the most dominant sporting teams in history – with a record winning run of 26 ODIs – won’t be in India: Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes have retired, while Jess Jonassen has not been able to regain the spot she lost nearly two years ago, an example of the riches available to Australia.”[There’s been] some fairly big changes to our group over the last four years,” Perry said. “But in the last particularly 12 months, we’ve had a fairly stable group and some really amazing young talent emerge as mainstays as well, contributing consistently in every match. From that perspective, [it’s] definitely a slightly different-looking team, but I think still a really stable and established team.”The likes of Phoebe Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland have emerged as fulcrums in the batting order, while Georgia Voll had a breakout first year in international cricket. Voll may struggle to start the World Cup but will keep the incumbents on their toes. Perhaps the slight unknown, and potentially a factor at last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, is the pressure of knockout cricket.Speaking last week when the squad was named, captain Alyssa Healy said, “I had to watch something on the 2022 World Cup and just how much our team support staff and our squad has changed in that period of time, I think no one’s probably noticed that as much simply because of the way that players have had opportunity over the last couple of years.”1:24

Gardner on using the Hundred to gauge the opposition

Last season, there was a subtle shift in the batting order with Sutherland promoted to No. 5 and Tahlia McGrath moved to a finishing role at No. 7. Sutherland’s development into a world-class allrounder had almost demanded the move but it felt a significant nod to the next generation; she responded with back-to-back centuries against India and New Zealand. Nothing in elite sport is certain, but she’s the type of player who could shine at this World Cup.”Annabel’s been absolutely superb for the last 12 months, probably before that,” Perry said. “And to think that she’s only still so young is quite incredible. Obviously, she won the Belinda Clark Medal last year, and she’s been such a big contributor to our team in the last little bit.”I think her coupled with Phoebe Litchfield, the way that she’s been playing, Georgia Voll as well, since she’s had an opportunity at an international level… there’s some really, really special young players that we’ve got in the group. I think they balance out the experience that we have as well.”I’m sure Annabel’s going to have a wonderful tournament. She works exceptionally hard at her game. She’s never standing still.”Australia fly out to India on Wednesday ahead of their three-match series with the hosts before the World Cup. “It feels like with the women’s game, every World Cup just gets a little bit bigger, more competitive, and there’s more on the line,” Perry said.

Former SA captain has signed a two-and-a-half month contract with Sunrisers

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2023Dane van Niekerk will play regional cricket in England this summer. The former South Africa captain, who retired from international cricket earlier this month, has signed for Sunrisers on a two-and-a-half-month contract that will see her play in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Van Niekerk was re-signed by Oval Invincibles in the inaugural women’s draft for the Hundred on Thursday evening, and her deal with Sunrisers – the regional hub based around London and the East – means she will be in England for the majority of the summer.She was controversially left out of South Africa’s squad for the recent T20 World Cup on home soil after failing to meet a two-kilometre time trial benchmark, having struggled with injuries over the previous three years, and confirmed her retirement from international cricket last week.”I’m very excited to join up with my Sunrisers team-mates,” van Niekerk said. “I look forward to this new chapter and contributing to the overall success of the team. [I am] so grateful for the backing and can’t wait to get on the field to start playing.”Sunrisers have been the weakest of the eight English regional teams since the domestic system was revamped ahead of the 2020 season. They have only won once in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, the domestic T20 competition, and have never won a game in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.They have a new coach for this summer in Andy Tennant, the former Scotland international, while Northants’ assistant coach Chris Liddle has also been brought in over the winter to work with the squad’s seamers.”This is an extremely exciting time for Sunrisers, and having the ability to bring in Dané speaks volumes of the work that has been going on behind the scenes at this club,” Tennant said. “We all know exactly what Dané is capable of, and the experience that she will bring to our group of players is invaluable.”We made sure that the current squad were aware throughout the whole process, and Eva [Gray] and Mady [Villiers] have always spoken so highly of her after spending so much time together during the Hundred. She’s both a brilliant player and a brilliant person, and we can’t wait to welcome her into the Sunrisers family.”Van Niekerk’s deal with Sunrisers runs until the end of July, when she will link up with the Invincibles squad ahead of their opening Hundred fixture on August 2.

England’s Test captain has slimmed down and regrooved batting technique to be ready for five-Test series

Vithushan Ehantharajah23-Jan-20243:16

Ashwin close to 500 Test wickets, Stokes eyes a rare double

The physique is as lean as it ever has been. The tattoos now stretch across a sleeker canvas. The cheekbones protrude a little more. Only the beard looks burdened with extra heft. Blow the dust off the memes – Ben Stokes looks more like Vincent van Gogh than ever before.A cricketer’s appearance rarely, if ever, warrants analysis. But for one to look like they’ve dropped from heavyweight to middleweight status just over 50 days from a serious knee operation is cause for some consideration.And it was a serious knee operation, by the way. For so long, Stokes had kept the state of his left knee as quiet as possible while his laboured movements and inability to fulfil bowling duties as an allrounder screamed the truth with every grimace. That included downplaying the surgery eventually administered by specialist Dr Andy Williams at the private Cromwell Hospital in southwest London at the end of November.Related

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“It was a bit more than a ‘clear out’ as well,” Stokes revealed on Tuesday afternoon in Hyderabad, having leant on that description in the months leading up to the procedure. A bone spur was removed, while the meniscus was reinforced with stitches.The reluctance to go under the knife came from an honest place. A sense of duty to England and, ultimately, trepidation. “Surgery is always the last option,” he said. “Surgeries can go very well, but they can also sometimes not go too well, and set people back even further, and potentially even end careers.”It was fear that motivated Stokes to strip down to a physique head coach Brendon McCullum likened to a greyhound earlier this week. Once England’s ODI World Cup had ended prematurely at the group stages, Stokes set about a pre-op routine to shed mass. “Because obviously, the less weight you’re carrying, the less weight you’ve got going through your knee and, actually, the quicker your recovery is,” he explained. An England spokesperson posited Stokes has lost 8-10kg. That has been facilitated by lifestyle changes, such as cutting alcohol, and a whole lot of hard graft.The logic proved sound. Following the operation, what began as weekly assessments with ECB medical staff morphed into once every two- or three-day appointments, given the acceleration of his recovery.Ben Stokes will play as a specialist batter in India•AFP

Days spent in the gym over Christmas and New Year were as much to bring the knee up to scratch as “fixing” the kinks in the rest of the body, which had previously been overburdened by overcompensating for the dodgy joint. All of which led neatly into the two-week training camp in the UAE before touching down in India.”Once we got to Abu Dhabi it was a good time to be pressing things on a bit, and start pushing myself,” explained Stokes. “Seeing how I was reacting, how I was waking up each day, how I was getting through long hard sessions, three or four different things through the day.”There were frustrating moments, too, particularly when it came to the actual cricket. Adjustments he made over the last couple of years to cover for his knee when batting, for instance, needed to be undone in the nets and sessions out in the middle.”Subconsciously, I was sort of doing what I was doing before I had it [the operation] just because it’s almost like muscle memory to maybe not get into certain positions. But the more and more I batted, the more I found, actually, it’s way more comfortable now. I can do it. You know, it’s just come through training more and more.”This has carried over into India, ahead of the first Test which begins on Thursday.”I sort of don’t think about it, if that makes sense? And getting into this period before the game starts, you’re thinking about the game whereas the first couple of nets I had I was more like testing the waters, maybe not committing myself as much as I would do in a game.”But that all comes from coming back from the surgery. Just testing the waters to see how everything is reacting and obviously now my mind is focused on the game. So now I don’t have those thoughts in my mind.”By all accounts, Stokes is ahead of schedule and expects to play all five Tests. And on the cusp of his first India tour as captain, a man whose leadership involves deflecting praise onto others allowed himself a moment of pride.