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There are few things more thrilling than a five-match T20I series in cricket. One would be hoping to go on a bump-free, smooth path before an upset knocks them back to reality. A similar situation has unfolded in this series so far. The series stands at 2-1, with India leading in a way that makes each match a battle for survival for England. But what could hurt England’s survival chances is something that has been their Achilles’ heel for quite some time now—their lack of spin resources. Among teams that have played a minimum of 20 games since the start…

Nearly five years ago, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chose to punt by introducing a tournament played in an entirely new format. In September last year, they doubled down on this gamble by putting 49% of the stakes in each of the eight franchises up for auction, primarily to support county cricket. The final stage of the equity sale has just begun, with suitors worldwide ready to grab the shares. Earlier, the ECB shortlisted potential bidders, allowing them to target the specific franchises they were most interested in. It has been reported that both London-based teams, Oval Invincibles…

The fifth edition of the Hundred is set to begin on August 5, with both men’s and women’s teams of London Spirits taking on the title defenders Oval Invincibles at the Lord’s. The tournament will be played over 27 days, ending with a Final at the Lord’s as well. Games for both men’s and women’s teams will be held concurrently.  Each side will play four home games and as many away games. Following are the home venues for each team: London Spirit – Lord’s Manchester Original – Old Trafford Northern Superchargers – Headingley Birmingham Phoenix – Edgbaston Oval Invincibles -…

The fifth edition of the Hundred will kick start on August 5, with London Spirit taking on their city rivals, Oval Invincibles at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. Both women’s and men’s competition games will run simultaneously, making each day have two matches at least. As per the schedule, the competition will run until August 31, avoiding clash with US-based franchise tournament, Major League Cricket, which is likely to be played from mid-June to mid-July. However, the 100-ball tournament will clash with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which will be held from August 14 to September 21.  34 double-headers will be…

Australia have not played a single match of the current WTC campaign outside the SENA countries. In other words, they have reached the final while playing only in home-like conditions. While it would be too cruelly imprudent to say they extracted any sort of unfair advantage from the scheduling, a series at a venue polar opposite to their comfort zone could serve as the perfect cap to their extraordinary journey. And what better venue to test their skills than Galle itself, whose raging, unfathomable track will pose a challenge for Australia, who have largely relied on Nathan Lyon and part-timers…

India are 2-0 up in the series, and England will have to make their move if they do not want the series to slip through their fingers. But in all fairness, England have been badly outdone by the hosts, who did not fail to fire in any way, be it batting, bowling, or even fielding. There will be discussions around how the visitors have played, even some eyebrow raises for Jos Buttler and the new coach Brendon McCullum, none of those, though, will conclude without mentioning how the hosts essentially crippled the English.  But Buttler would be somewhat calm that…

A 120-run defeat at the hands of West Indies confirmed Pakistan’s last-place finish in the World Test Championship (WTC) table. But this did not make skipper Shan Masood abandon the side’s spin-inclined strategy. In fact, Masood advocates for such raging pitches to be replicated at all levels in Pakistan to prepare batters for the trouble they cause. “Domestic cricket will be played like this. We’ve already talked about this. The more we’ll play the better we’ll get at it. We’ve shown encouraging signs. After the four matches, we’ve won three in these conditions. We dominated the first hour of the…

You can never have enough spinners when touring Sri Lanka, especially when playing red-ball cricket. For a team like Australia, which has not played any Test games outside bouncy and seam-friendly SENA venues during this Test Championship cycle, the need for a stacked spin department is more pressing than ever now that they are gearing up for the Sri Lanka tour. For most of the current WTC cycle, they relied upon Nathan Lyon to manage the spin duties. That would be far from sustainable in Sri Lanka, so Matthew Kuhnemann and Cooper Conolly will join him as the side’s frontline…

There was a time when no sports were allowed to be played in Afghanistan, least of all cricket which was deemed as a game imported from Pakistan. Surprisingly, cricket soon became the only sport Afghanistan under the Taliban was allowed to play. One of the reasons why cricket forced its way out of the banned games was that the public had developed an undeniable penchant for it. Penchant might not be the right word to capture the essence of the connection that the Afghans forged with the game. In truth, there probably isn’t any word in existence adequate enough to…

Do you ever come across things that are not illegal but seem so? Pakistan’s new winning strategy sounds something like that. The first Test game in Multan ended within three days, thanks to the surface that splashed out wickets gleefully for spinners, with a total of 34 wickets going to their names. With the second Test set to be played in Multan as well, a repeat of the first game can be expected. If it really ends up being the case, should Pakistan worry about the ICC’s perspective on the pitch? And if the ICC does hand out a bad…