Cricket

8:00 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Toss Ireland won the toss and chose to bat v West Indies Mindful of the wear and tear on a pitch that had already been used for the first ODI of this series, Ireland have decided to bat again in Barbados. Andy Balbirnie admitted that the visitors’ batting had underwhelmed,

12:01 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The ECB have announced that the majority of adult tickets for the Hundred will be priced at £30 or less in an attempt to boost attendances, with under-16s tickets available at £5 each and children under five admitted for free. While there is some level of discrepancy depending on venue

3:24 AM GMT Glenn Maxwell picked a typically opportune time to rattle the Melbourne Stars to a Big Bash League victory at the MCG, leaving his erstwhile Melbourne Renegades rival and now the Australia ODI captain Aaron Finch to explain why the allrounder wasn’t joining him on the plane to India. After a World Cup

6:08 PM GMT Might we have just witnessed a changing of the guard? In the dying moments of the second Test, England had a slip cordon that included Ollie Pope (aged 22 and playing his fifth Test), Zak Crawley (aged 21 and playing his second), Dom Bess (aged 22 and playing his third) and Dom

10:46 AM GMT Deivarayan Muthu Sri Lanka allrounder Isuru Udana has been sidelined from the team’s must-win third T20I against India in Pune on Friday with a back injury. The 31-year had injured himself during India’s chase in the second T20I on Tuesday night, while attempting to stop the ball at short third man. Udana

Jan 7, 2020 Sreshth Shah January 8: Melbourne Stars v Sydney Thunder in Melbourne Our XI: Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Nic Larkin, Callum Ferguson, Usman Khawaja, Chris Morris, Daniel Sams, Adam Zampa, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan Coulter-Nile NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about a late injury (or other

James Anderson celebrates taking the wicket of Kagiso Rabada © AFP / Getty Images James Anderson is a fitness doubt for England’s third Test against South Africa, after a side injury limited him to two overs after lunch on the final day of their win at Newlands. Anderson struck early in the day to remove

8:53 AM GMT The ECB has confirmed that Rory Burns will miss England’s Test tour of Sri Lanka after suffering ruptured ligaments in his left ankle playing football the day before the Cape Town Test. Burns underwent surgery in London on Monday and is expected to be out of action for four months. That means

Despair after Todd Astle drops a return catch © Getty Images New Zealand are “hurting a lot” after being whitewashed in Australia, with coach Gary Stead admitting confidence among some key players will need to be resorted ahead of the next Test series against India in February. Defeats by 296 runs, 247 runs and 279

7:03 PM GMT The Foreshore Freeway Bridge was designed to cut through the centre of Cape Town, linking the eastern and western suburbs of the city. But in 1977 construction work stopped. The bridge was never completed and instead of joining the roads, it ends in a couple of precipices; a real road to nowhere,

10:57 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Pat Brown, the 21-year-old seamer, has been ruled out of all cricket for the winter after suffering a second stress fracture of the lower back in as many years. Brown, who enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2018 when he took 31 T20 wickets for Worcestershire to finish as the Vitality

2:37 AM GMT Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat in Sydney Our XI: Usman Khawaja, Chris Lynn, Matt Renshaw, Callum Ferguson, Max Bryant, Mathew Gilkes, Ben Cutting, Arjun Nair, Daniel Sams, Chris Morris, Ben Laughlin Captain: Callum Ferguson Many options for captaincy here, but we’ll bank on consistency. With three fifties to his name in the

Hobart Hurricanes 2 for 180 (Short 103*, Fawad 1-25) beat Perth Scorchers 8 for 172 (Marsh 48, Boland 2-29) by 8 runs D’Arcy Short made the hosts Perth Scorchers pay for a sloppy fielding display, making the most of a string of reprieves to post the slowest century in the history of the Big Bash,

Jan 3, 2020 ESPNcricinfo staff Perth Scorchers v Hobart Hurricanes Our XI: D’Arcy Short, Josh Inglis, Cameron Bancroft, Ben McDermott (wk), Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Qais Ahmed, Chris Jordan, Riley Meredith, Matt Kelly, James Faulkner NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about a late injury (or other relevant) updates

8:00 AM GMT Lunch New Zealand 3 for 141 (Latham 49, Lyon 2-26) trail Australia 454 by 313 runs Australia claimed three wickets on the third morning of the SCG Test as Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins struck for the hosts against a stubborn New Zealand top order. Lyon dismissed Tom Blundell and Jeet Raval

5:54 PM GMT Dominic Bess has won praise from the players of both sides after providing a crucial contribution on the second day in Cape Town. While the figures – 1-62 from 27 overs – may not look outstanding, Bess’s control allowed England’s seamers to rotate throughout the day. With one end is offering bowlers

Memories of missed opportunities spurred on Marnus Labuschagne to his career-best 215 during the second day at the SCG.  Three times in 2019 he had passed 140 (185, 162, 143) before falling short of the double century, but this time there was no mistake although the tension grew – in the crowd at least –

Jan 2, 2020 Australia 3 for 283 (Labuschagne 130*, Smith 63, De Grandhomme 2-63) v New Zealand If it feels as though there has been something monotonous about this series, then that is because there undoubtedly has been. Australia’s top order, given the chance to bat first in each Test, has responded with diligence, efficiency