What is the draft order and how was it decided? Can overseas players be retained?

Alex Malcolm17-Jul-2023The second installment of the BBL overseas draft is set to place on September 3 alongside the inaugural WBBL overseas draft. Both drafts will follow very similar rules to last year. Here is everything you need to know.What is the overseas draft and where will it be held?
BBL and WBBL teams no longer recruit their three overseas players privately. The BBL held an overseas draft for the first time last year and the WBBL will hold a draft for the first time this year. They will select a minimum of two or a maximum of three overseas players from the drafts that will be held back-to-back in Melbourne on September 3. The draft will only be for overseas players. Domestic players will be contracted in the same way they always are although there has been a new marquee rule in the BBL introduced for CA contracted players.Will the overseas draft be televised?
Both drafts will be televised on Foxtel and streamed on Kayo. The draft will take place at NEP studios in South Melbourne where it was held last year. The WBBL draft is likely to take place in the afternoon followed by the BBL draft in the evening.Related

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• Harmanpreet, Devine among the first nominations for the WBBL overseas draft

• Thunder and Stars win WBBL and BBL draft lotteries

How do overseas players nominate?
Players get to nominate their price category and their availability in terms of the number of games they can play. The BBL is now a 10-game season plus finals and not all overseas players will be available for the whole competition due to both international commitments and other leagues, as has been the case previously. The WBBL is a full 14-game season plus finals but the women are more likely to be available for the entire season. There is a nomination process that is currently open and ends on August 20. Players will be put into four categories: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The players themselves can choose to enter the Gold, Silver, or Bronze band. Platinum players will be decided by Cricket Australia based on the nominations.Liam Livingstone, Rashid Khan and Andre Russell were Platinum players last year•Getty Images

What is the money involved?There has been an increase in the men’s BBL overseas salary bands after the salary cap was increased from AUD 1.9 million to AUD$3 million. Platinum players are now set to earn AUD$420,000, up from $340,000 last year although there are caveats for the Platinum players this year. They will only earn the full amount if they are available for the entire season including finals, which runs from December 7 to January 24.If they are only available for 10 matches, they will earn AUD$400,000. If they can only play nine matches the price will be AUD$380,000. Anyone only available for eight matches or less in the Platinum category will earn AUD$360,000 regardless of whether they play one game or eight. Gold players will earn AUD$300,000, Silver AUD$200,000, and Bronze AUD$100,000 with no minimum matches required for those players. There are no match payments in the BBL, as players are contracted with set retainers. All overseas salaries are to be paid by the clubs from within the salary cap.The categories only relate to price, not to availability. So players can nominate to be available for the whole tournament in the Bronze category, or for half the tournament in the Gold category. Their availability is their currency and teams will have to decide whether a Platinum player with limited availability is worth selecting.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the WBBL, Platinum players will earn AUD$110,000 to be paid by the clubs from the AUD$732,000 salary cap. Gold players will earn AUD$90,000, Silver AUD$65,000 and Bronze will earn AUD$40,000.What is the draft order and how was it decided?
CA held a private weighted lottery to decide the order in both the BBL and WBBL, as they did last year. This year’s BBL draft order is as follows: pick 1 – Melbourne Stars, pick 2 – Adelaide Strikers, pick 3 – Hobart Hurricanes, pick 4 – Melbourne Renegades, pick 5 – Sydney Thunder, pick 6 – Sydney Sixers, pick 7 – Brisbane Heat, pick 8 – Perth Scorchers.The three teams who missed the BBL finals last season – Stars, Strikers and Hurricanes – entered a lottery for the first three draft picks. Stars, who finished last, got three chances to get the first draft pick, Strikers two and Hurricanes one. Here’s another way to think of it: there are six balls in the first lottery and three of them are Stars’ giving them a 50% chance of first pick, whereas Hurricanes, with one ball, only have 16.66% chance.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The order of the next five picks were selected from a second pot featuring the finalists from last season. Again, the lottery was weighted. Fifth-placed Thunder got five chances to get the fourth pick, Renegades four, Sixers three, Heat two, and two-time defending champions Scorchers got one.The WBBL draft order was decided via the same method except there were two pots of four due to a different finals system. This year’s WBBL draft order is as follows: pick 1 – Sydney Thunder, pick 2 – Melbourne Renegades, pick 3 – Perth Scorchers, pick 4 – Melbourne Stars, pick 5 – Hobart Hurricanes, pick 6 – Brisbane Heat, pick 7 – Sydney Sixers, pick 8 – Adelaide Strikers.In both drafts, the first two rounds of the draft will run in order from one to eight. Round three will run in reverse order, so team eight will get two selections in a row (pick 16 and 17). Round four will run in normal order again. So team one will get two selections in a row (picks 24 and 25).How does the draft work?
There will be four rounds of the draft with each team getting one pick per round. Clubs can pass if they don’t want to pick in certain rounds but must pick a minimum of two or a maximum of three players by the completion of round four. Round one is for Platinum players only. In round two, teams can pick Platinum or Gold players. In round three, teams can select Gold or Silver players. In round four, teams can pick Silver or Bronze players. Teams do not have to select a Platinum player but they must then select a Gold player. Teams can select two Platinum players, but only one in each round. If they choose two Platinum players, they cannot select a Gold player, they can only select a Silver or Bronze. The same rule applies if a team chooses two Gold players in rounds two and three. They can only then select a Bronze player in round four.Can overseas players who are currently connected with BBL clubs be retained?
Yes, they can. But only one. This could be coined the “Rashid Khan rule”. Rashid was the first player retained under this rule last year. Stars selected him as a Platinum player ahead of Strikers’ first pick. Strikers took the option to use their retention pick to keep him. Strikers had to pay the same amount of money and use their pick in the first round to retain him. Stars then got the opportunity to pick again and took Trent Boult. Scorchers had the option of retaining Colin Munro last year when Heat selected him first but opted not to use the retention pick. There is also an addition to the retention pick rule this year. Players that were previously drafted or contracted to the club but weren’t available to play can be retained.This specifically applies to Liam Livingstone, who was the No.1 pick in the inaugural BBL overseas draft last year by Renegades but was unavailable for the whole season after he was unexpectedly called up to England’s Test squad for the tour of Pakistan. Under the new rule, Renegades can use their retention pick Livingstone, even though he hasn’t played for the club and has only previously played for Scorchers in the BBL. Scorchers could have a challenge in the WBBL with their retention pick, potentially having to make a choice between star allrounders Sophie Devine and Marizanne Kapp if another team selects both of them first.Will Sophie Devine be retained by Scorchers?•Getty Images

Are there swapping of picks?
There is pick trading this season for the first time. There was no swapping of picks in last year’s draft but CA have added pick trading to the two drafts this year but it comes in a limited capacity. Teams can only trade picks within each round. So a team with pick 8 who doesn’t want a Platinum player cannot trade pick 8 for pick 9 to ensure both clubs got two picks in the same round. Trades of picks will need to be completed by August 20, the same day the nominations close, and all trades need to be approved by CA’s technical committee.What about replacement players?
Each team can contract up to four replacement overseas players (or five if they have only taken two players at the draft) if their picks in the draft become unavailable due to injury or international duty. Clubs can have no more than seven overseas players in total on any list including primary and replacement players. Teams can’t tell overseas players privately not to nominate for the draft and then contract them as replacements. They must have been available to all teams initially in the draft before being available as a replacement. Platinum players can be replacement players as was the case last year. Faf du Plessis and Andre Russell were both not selected as Platinum players at the inaugural draft but du Plessis ended up playing seven games for Scorchers as a replacement player for Phil Salt while Russell played four games for Renegades as a replacement for Livingstone.

New Zealand A were knocked over for 147 on the opening day in Brisbane

Andrew McGlashan28-Aug-2023Young pace bowler Jordan Buckingham made another good impression for Australia A on the opening day of the first four-day match against New Zealand A in Brisbane. He collected three wickets in a 13-ball rush as the visitors were left in a hole they never really climbed out of.Buckingham’s burst instigated at collapse of 5 for 16 either side of lunch before some lower-order resistance lifted New Zealand A to 147. Legspinner Mitchell Swepson, who may have imagined his chance of a bowl disappearing as the quicks did the early damage, bagged three to wrap up the tail. By the close, Australia A were almost in the lead.Buckingham’s performance followed his career-best haul of 6 for 58, which he took in Lincoln in April when these two sides met in New Zealand.”It was a pretty conducive wicket and an important toss to win,” Buckingham said. “To get the rewards was really nice, especially in that first spell, but think we all bowled really well. Definitely pride myself on consistency. I’m not out-and-out express pace like some guys are blessed with. For me, I try to stay as patient as possible and try and win the mental battle.”This is Buckingham’s 11th first-class match and two of them have already come for Australia A, along with another non-first-class outing for a Cricket Australia XI against South Africa last season.”You are always confident in your own ability and what you can do, but to get the opportunities early in your career is an absolute blessing if you ask me,” he said. “To get exposed to good opposition and such good cricket at such an early age is only going to hold you in good stead for the future.”Caleb Jewell played the innings of the day•Getty Images

Caleb Jewell led Australia A’s response with a half-century studded with crisply hit boundaries including two fours and a six in the space of four deliveries against Brett Randell.Jacob Duffy, who has clocked up some air miles in the last couple of weeks, flying to the UAE for the T20I series where he did not play and then back to Brisbane, struck twice. He had Tim Ward taken at second slip and removed Nathan McSweeney when he edged a full delivery.Scott Kuggeleijn claimed the other wicket, drawing Cameron Bancroft, who is trying to push his claims for a Test recall, into nibbling away from his body after having beaten him with a superb delivery the ball before.After Australia A captain McSweeney won the toss it was not long before his attack made inroads. Mark Steketee found himself on a hat-trick in his second over when Henry Cooper was caught behind off an inside edge then Nick Kelly nicked to second slip first ball. There was encouragement for the quicks in the air and off the pitch in early-season conditions – it is not officially spring for another three days.However, from there, New Zealand A gave themselves a foundation as Sean Solia and captain Tom Bruce added 59 for the second wicket. But Buckingham put an entirely different complexion on the morning session as he surged in with 3 for 1. He started by nipping one through Solia before finding the edge of Muhammad Abbas with a full delivery, and then getting Josh Clarkson lbw when he missed a swipe across the line.It left New Zealand A in a mess at lunch on 69 for 6 and when Kuggeleijn was caught in the slips shortly after the resumption it appeared they could fall short of three figures.But Randell and Cam Fletcher combined with decent effect in an eighth-wicket stand of 31 before Swepson had Fletcher lofting to mid-off in his opening over, having moments earlier taken a painful blow on the fingers from a drilled straight drive. Swepson wrapped up the innings when Ajaz Patel top-edged a sweep and Duffy missed a googly.

Returning Azhar Ali’s 74 made light work of Sussex’s 191

ECB Reporters Network20-Aug-2023Worcestershire Rapids are through to the knockout stages of the Metro Bank One Day Cup after completing a comprehensive eight-wicket success over Sussex Sharks at New Road.The Rapids ensured a top-three spot with a sixth win in eight group games after dismissing the Sharks in 45.5 overs and then knocking off their 191 target in just 26.4 overs to give their net run rate a massive lift.They maintained a grip with the ball after Dillon Pennington and Matthew Waite picked up a trio of scalps in the initial powerplay with spinner Josh Baker’s three wickets taking his tally to 15 in the competition.Danial Ibrahim’s List A best score of 51 provided the most resistance but the Sharks total was well below par after they chose to bat.Gareth Roderick and Azhar Ali then ensured there would be few alarms for the Rapids after laying the foundations during an opening stand of 82. Azhar, 74, and Kashif Ali, with a 26 ball half-century, then added a further 93 in 8.3 overs.Worcestershire will have to wait until the conclusion of the group on Tuesday to determine where they exactly finish and whether they have a home or away tie to look forward to.Worcestershire made two changes from the side which triumphed against Derbyshire at the Incora County Ground on Friday with Azhar and Logan van Beek replacing Ed Pollock and Pat Brown. Sussex handed debuts to a pair of 19-year-olds in batter Zak Lion-Cachet and off spinner Bertie Foreman.Sharks captain Tom Haines opted to bat first and his side quickly ran into trouble on the same wicket as which Worcestershire had been reduced to 25-5 in the powerplay against Warwickshire last Sunday.Waite made the first breakthrough when Harrison Ward was lbw to ball of full length which swung back into his pads. Pennington shared the new ball and he struck in successive overs. Tom Alsop played down the wrong line to a ball which nipped away and was pouched at second slip by Baker.The same combination then accounted for Haines after he drove at Pennington. Sussex reached 42-3 by the end of the initial powerplay and James Coles and Liam Cachet led a partial recovery during a partnership of 42. But Worcestershire captain Jake Libby broke the stand with a superb piece of fielding.Coles played Logan van Beek to mid-wicket and set off for a single but he was run out by Libby’s direct hit at the non-striker’s end with only one stump to aim at. Baker came into the attack and quickly cemented Worcestershire’s position of strength.Lion-Cachet (34) showed plenty of promise on his debut before making room to cut and being bowled via the bottom edge. Charlie Tear then stepped back and chipped a straightforward catch to Rob Jones at extra cover.Foreman (35) also created a favourable impression on his debut in adding 66 in 14.1 overs with Ibrahim. He eventually became Baker’s third victim when attempting a switch hit and being bowled behind his legs.Ibrahim completed his half-century from 85 balls with five fours before the innings was wrapped up. Van Beek had Ibrahim taken at deep square leg and the Netherlands international struck again when Sean Hunt could only find the hands of mid off. A second run out of the innings polished off proceedings when Brad Currie failed to beat Rob Jones direct hit from backward point attempting a quick single.Azhar and Roderick were initially watchful in seeing off the new ball attack of Currie and Hunt but gradually started to accelerate. A cover drive for four by Roderick at Atkins expense brought up the 50 in the 13th over.The stand was broken when Roderick holed out to long on off Foreman but Azhar completed a 61 ball half-century with six fours to sustain the momentum. Kashif Ali, who had smashed 88 off 36 balls against Derbyshire on Friday, continued in the same big-hitting vein.He struck three maximums off Coles on his way to a — fifty and, with Azhar stepping up a gear, 93 were added in just 8.4 overs. Azhar left the field to a standing ovation after he finally holed out to long on off Ibrahim, and then Kashif completed the victory with his fifth six, off Atkins.

Visitors likely to head into penultimate round in ninth position as Lancashire take control

ECB Reporters Network12-Sep-2023Lancashire’s batters maintained their side’s grip on the LV= County Championship Division One match against Middlesex and had built a 136-run first-innings lead by the close of yet another rain-shortened day.Replying to the visitors’ 194, the home side were 330 for five at stumps with Dane Vilas marking his final month as a Red Rose cricketer by making 124 and Luke Wells adding 97. Lancashire’s powerful position means that Middlesex face a battle to avoid defeat on the final day of the game, thus complicating a relegation battle that already involves Northamptonshire, Kent and Nottinghamshire.After overnight and morning rain had caused the loss of the first session’s play, Lancashire’s batsmen were clearly determined to build a big lead as quickly as possible.Both Wells and Vilas took heavy toll of any short-pitched bowling from Josh de Caires and Jayant Yadav, each batsman hitting a six as if to dispel Middlesex’s thoughts that they might seize the initiative with a couple of early wickets. Indeed, the pair had extended their partnership to 128 when Wells came down the wicket to Jayant and was caught by John Simpson for 97, although the wicketkeeper made doubly sure of the dismissal by stumping the batsmanBy that stage, however, Lancashire had a lead of 30 and George Bell helped Vilas stretch that advantage to 51 at tea, by which time Lancashire were 245 for four and well-placed for an onslaught in the final session of the day.At first, it seemed that the home side’s plans would be frustrated by bad light but the weather improved markedly and both Vilas and Bell scored freely against a flagging attack. Vilas reached his tenth first-class century for Lancashire, but his first of the season, with a square-cut off Toby Roland-Jones. He had faced 155 balls and hit eight fours and one six in his 197-minute innings.Having reached that landmark, however, Vilas and Bell accelerated, presumably with the aim of building an advantage that would permit an early declaration on the final day of this game, thereby giving Lancashire’s bowlers time to dismiss Middlesex.In the final hour of the day, Bell reached his third fifty of the season off 75 balls with four fours and immediately brought up his hundred partnership for the fifth wicket with Vilas. It was a tough day for the Middlesex bowlers but the visitors made a breakthrough late in the day when Vilas was lbw to Ethan Bamber for 124, thus ending his 106-run partnership with Bell.Bad light then ended play 9.5 overs before the scheduled close.

Stoinis reveals text saying: “I’ll be home for a little bit and then I’m coming back to win this World Cup”

Alex Malcolm02-Nov-2023Australia’s World Cup campaign has hit another hurdle with star allrounder Mitchell Marsh ruled out of the England clash after flying home for personal reasons.Marsh has flown home to Perth and will not play in Saturday’s clash with England in Ahmedabad. This comes on the back of Glenn Maxwell being ruled out of the clash after suffering a concussion during a golf day on Monday.Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement on Thursday that Marsh had flown home on Wednesday night. “Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh has returned home from the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 late last night for personal reasons,” the statement said. “A timeline on his return to the squad is to be confirmed. No further detail will be offered at this time.”Marcus Stoinis is likely to be fit to come into the side having recovered from a minor calf problem that has kept him out of the last two matches against the Netherlands and New Zealand but Cameron Green will also be set for a recall while Marnus Labuschagne is likely to remain in the middle order. Australia will be down to only 13 fit players for the clash with England with Sean Abbott and Alex Carey the only others available in the squad.”He’s flown home late last night: he’s got a family issue going on,” Stoinis said on Thursday morning. “And, like we all know, family is very important. He’s doing the right thing and he’s getting home and he’s seeing the people he needs to see and then I don’t think there’s a timeline on when he’s coming back but I’m sure he’ll do what he needs to do at home and then and then get back. He sent me a message last night saying, ‘I’ll be home for a little bit and then I’m coming back to win this World Cup’ so that makes me smile.”You miss him off the field or in terms of his energy and his personality around the team as much as we’re going to miss him on the field. But you can pretty much see how the team’s going to line up anyway, and there’s bases covered. I joked with him that he just passes the overs back to me now – and thanks for that… We will miss him and yeah, he’ll be back soon. And the train keeps rolling.”Marcus Stoinis is set to return from a calf niggle against England•AFP/Getty Images

Marsh’s absence will also likely mean that Steven Smith will return to his preferred position at No.3. But it is a huge blow to Australia’s balance with two of their most explosive and destructive players in Marsh and Maxwell missing for the match against England as they look to shore up a semi-final spot.Stoinis confirmed that he is hoping to be fit enough to bowl 10 overs – if required – following his calf issue. “I’ll have a big training session today [Thursday], go through my paces. But I think I’m ready to go, touch wood,” he said. He attempted to convince coach Andrew McDonald and selector George Bailey that he was available to face New Zealand in Dharamsala last week, but they decided to delay his return by a week.”There’s been moving parts… it hasn’t been the smoothest campaign and we’ve gone from losing the first couple to now sitting in the top four,” Stoinis said. “There is a silver lining there. It always feels good when you walk towards the finals and boys starting coming back into the team and that sort of thing. We saw it with Heady [Travis Head] last game so it could be our secret weapon.”

The Zimbabwe captain picked up two demerit points following an altercation with Josh Little and Curtis Campher during the first T20I

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2023Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza will miss the second and third T20Is against Ireland after picking up a two-match ban following a code-of-conduct breach in the first match of the series on Thursday.Raza, who was Player of the Match for his all-round display (65, and 3 for 28) in a one-wicket win in Harare, was involved in an altercation with two Ireland players during the 14th over of Zimbabwe’s chase. The incident followed a tight single off the bowling of Josh Little, which involved Raza having to run around the bowler in his follow-through.Raza had a heated exchange with Little and Curtis Campher, “charging towards” the duo – according to a Zimbabwe Cricket press release – while “pointing his bat and breaking away from the umpire who had tried to calm the situation”.Raza received two demerit points for the offence, which took his total to four in the last 24 months, leading to his two-match ban. He was also fined 50% of his match fee. Campher and Little picked up one demerit point each, their first in the last 24 months, and were fined 15% of their match fees.Sean Williams will stand in as Zimbabwe captain for the remaining two matches of the T20I series, on Saturday and Sunday.

“Certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention,” BCCI says of Kohli; replacement to be named soon

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2024Virat Kohli has pulled out of India’s first two Tests against England for personal reasons, the BCCI said on Monday, adding that a replacement for Kohli would be named soon.”Virat has spoken to captain Rohit Sharma, the team management and the selectors and has emphasized that while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention,” the board said in a statement.Kohli reached Hyderabad, the venue of the first of five Tests, on Sunday, but did not attend India’s optional training session on Monday.Related

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Kohli played India’s last Test series – the 1-1 draw in South Africa – and then missed the first T20I at home against Afghanistan for personal reasons before returning for the last two matches of the series.While Kohli was rested for the white-ball games in South Africa, he had returned to India and missed the preparatory three-day intra-squad match ahead of the two Tests there.The BCCI is yet to name a replacement, but the frontrunners include Cheteshwar Pujara, Rajat Patidar, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan.Pujara last played for India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final last year, but started this year’s Ranji Trophy with an unbeaten double-century against Jharkhand before hitting three scores in the 40s and a half-century in his next two games.Patidar and Sarfaraz both played and impressed for India A against the touring England Lions. Patidar blazed centuries in both the tour game against them and the first unofficial Test, while Sarfaraz scored half-centuries in both games, including 96 in the tour game.Shubman Gill and KL Rahul are among the middle-order batters in the India squad•AFP/Getty Images

Abhimanyu had replaced the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad as India’s reserve opener for the Tests in South Africa and is currently captaining India A.Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill are the other middle-order batters in India’s squad, while KL Rahul is also available to play as a pure batter if needed – Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel are the contenders for the wicketkeeper’s spot.Kohli became the second player in as many days to opt out of part or all of the series, after Harry Brook withdrew from the entire tour on Sunday, also because of personal reasons. It is, however, understood that he can rejoin the England touring party on a later date.The five-match series against England will begin in Hyderabad on January 25 and will be part of the WTC. India are currently second on the WTC points table, behind defending champions Australia.

They have an abundance of riches when it comes to spin bowling ahead of their title defence

Andrew McGlashan13-Jan-2024Australia have a focus on their first bilateral tour of Bangladesh as a valuable intelligence-gathering mission ahead of the T20 World Cup later in the year amid what shapes as a squeeze for spin-bowling spots.They will face South Africa in a multi-format series starting at home in late January, with those T20Is also providing valuable preparation for the World Cup in September, but it’s the first-hand experience over in Bangladesh that could be especially important. The ODI and T20I tour will take place at the end of March following the WPL.”We’ve got a couple of venues in Bangladesh that the World Cup will be played at so that will be part of the investigating during the tour, about how wickets are going to play,” Shawn Flegler, the national selector, said.Related

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Australia’s only previous trip to Bangladesh was when they won the 2014 T20 World Cup. Four members of the squad remain: Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen.There will be an open mind as to how conditions will play, but whatever combination Australia take into the final squad there will be no shortage of spin options. Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham and Jonassen are the three in the T20I squad to face South Africa with Alana King unable to find a space in that group but will return for the ODIs.Adding to the depth has been the return from injury of left-arm spinner and allrounder Sophie Molineux, who will captain the Governor General’s XI against South Africa. She lost her central contract in 2022 and has recently returned from a year-long layoff with an ACL injury. With an all-round skillset that the selectors admire, there is a chance she could put herself back in the reckoning.”She’s been highly-rated by the Australian set-up for a long time and just great to have her back playing,” Flegler said. “It’s pretty clear having a left-arm orthodox spinner playing international cricket is pretty good. We’ve been blessed with the amount of spin options we’ve had; we’ve had a left-arm spinner either Jess Jonassen or Soph involved in our World Cups over the last seven campaigns, so we’ll see that continuing, I’m sure. It’s going to be a tight squeeze over the next few series, but really blessed to have those options available to us.”Sophie Molineux took six wickets and scored a half-century in her second game back in the WNCL•Getty Images

Jonassen, meanwhile, has lost her position as a first-choice pick in Australia’s white-ball sides having been dropped from the T20Is after Hayley Matthews’ onslaught at North Sydney Oval late last year and not playing ODIs since the tour of Ireland after the Ashes, with Gardner taking on the mantle of senior spinner.”Ash’s performances over the last 12, 18, 24 months have been outstanding and she’s taken on the senior spinner role and Georgia Wareham has come back into the team. Thought she bowled better and better as the tour went on in India,” Flegler said. “[Georgia] also adds a pretty powerful lower-order batting option and is outstanding in the field.”I’ve said a few times, we value those three skillsets really highly and if you can do all three that certainly gives you a leg up selection and that’s where Georgia and Ash have got the nod at the moment. Jess is certainly still in discussions and in the squad.”Further highlighting the depth in Australia’s spin stocks is that legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington continues to be overlooked despite her regular domestic T20 success, which continued with a pivotal role in Adelaide Strikers’ back-to-back WBBL titles.After that tournament, Wellington said she was at peace with where she stood, but revealed that she could apply for a British passport and had not ruled out looking to play for England.”It is in the back on my mind but making that decision would be really hard because there are some risks – for instance, it would make me an international player for the Big Bash,” she told . “Technically the door is still open…I just haven’t really explored it that much.”Flegler said the selectors had been in regular communication with Wellington and that she could continue to push for Australia honours.”It’s a personal decision for Amanda what she wants to do,” he said. “But we certainly haven’t said she’ll never play for Australia again. Can imagine it’s really frustrating for Amanda. If that’s something she does want to pursue, then that’s up to her.”Flegler also indicated he was hopeful of Australia arranging some extra fixtures before the T20 World Cup. Currently, after the tour of Bangladesh they have nothing on their calendar until the tournament.

Javeria says she will be available to play in T20 leagues if offers come her way

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2024Former Pakistan captain Javeria Khan has retired from international cricket, bringing the curtain down on a career of just under 16 years at the highest level. She bows out after playing 228 white-ball matches for Pakistan and scoring 4903 runs across the two formats.”There was joy and sorrow, but above all a sense of great pride that kept me going for 15 years,” Javeria, 35, wrote in a social media post. “The privilege of wearing Pakistan’s jersey was way bigger than the odds that struck through my cricketing journey. I am blessed to have lived my life doing what I loved doing the most and will continue to do so.”Now when I look back, it gives me great satisfaction to see that the path that my friends and I chose to walk on was least trodden when I started playing professionally but is now open for so many girls in Pakistan.”Related

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Javeria made her ODI debut in 2008 and played the ODI World Cups in 2009, 2013 and 2017. She also played just the one game – against India in Mount Maunganui – in the 2022 edition after going through a low phase form-wise. She was also out of Pakistan’s T20I side for 15 months before making a comeback in November 2022, and then played the T20 World Cup in 2023, her last outing for Pakistan. She played all the previous editions of the competition, too.”Things change, scripts change and new paths beckon,” Javeria wrote. “There is a time for everything, and now I believe is the best time to call it a day and announce my retirement. However, I’ll be available to play league cricket. I will always be grateful to Pakistan for letting me hold Pakistan’s flag globally.”Javeria led Pakistan in 16 T20Is – including at the T20 World Cup in 2018 and two matches of the 2020 edition when Bismah Maroof was injured. She also captained 17 times in ODIs and finished second in the list of highest run-scorers for Pakistan in both the white-ball formats.”On behalf of the PCB and all cricket fans, I extend heartfelt gratitude to Javeria Khan for her invaluable contributions to women’s cricket in Pakistan,” Tania Mallick, PCB’s head of women’s cricket, said in a statement. “Her glittering records with the bat speak for themselves and I am confident that her illustrious career will inspire many girls in the country to not just take up this sport but also excel at it across many years.”

The wicketkeeper-batter has excelled in the finisher’s role in the IPL in the last three seasons, and is back in the reckoning after a stellar show for RCB

S Sudarshanan20-Apr-20241:57

Does Karthik have few more seasons of cricket left in him?

Dinesh Karthik will be 39 by the time the T20 World Cup starts in June. But he is showing no signs of slowing down and has said he would do “everything I can” to be on the flight to the competition in the West Indies and the USA.On the back of a stellar show for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024, Karthik is back in the reckoning as the wicketkeeper that bats in the lower-middle order. He has scored 226 runs, the third-most for RCB, at a strike rate of 205.45 primarily batting at Nos. 6, 7 and 8.”At this stage in my life, it would be the greatest feeling for me to represent India,” Karthik said on the eve of RCB’s game against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. “I am very, very keen to do so. There is nothing bigger in my life other than representing India in this T20 World Cup.Related

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“I also feel there are three very, very stable, honest people who are at the helm to decide what should be the best Indian team for the World Cup — Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar. And I am completely with them. I respect any decision that they take. But all I can say is I’m 100 percent ready, and I’ll do everything I can to be on that flight to the World Cup.”Ahead of the competition, Karthik had indicated that IPL 2024 will be his last and that he would also take a call on his international career soon. But the last three years in the IPL have liberated him to an extent that he made a strong case for the finisher’s role and made it to the T20 World Cup in 2022, which was his last outing for India.Dinesh Karthik kept RCB fighting with 83 off 35 as they chased 288•BCCI

No batter has scored more than Karthik’s 604 in the last three IPLs while batting at No. 6 or lower. And his strike rate of 175.07 is the best among those with over 280 runs in the said position since IPL 2022. He attributed his success to understanding his strengths and preparing accordingly.”These days as a player, you need to understand your strengths,” he said. “I’m not a [Andre] Russell or a [Kieron] Pollard who can just mishit a ball and get a six for it. So, I need to understand how I can beat gaps and what sort of balls I can hit for boundaries. And I realised there was a certain pattern in which bowlers were bowling to me, so I needed to try and work out a solution for that.”Hence, when I practice, I try and understand, okay, if this is what they’re going to bowl at me, how am I going to get a boundary, visualising a field that is going to be in place for me. So, I worked backwards, and that’s helped me really learn a couple of shots more, at the back end. It’s been great to go out there and express myself, and it’s been thoroughly enjoyable to do what I’m doing for RCB as a finisher.”Recently, India captain Rohit Sharma was heard on stump mic joking about Karthik’s World Cup aspirations. ” World Cup (Good going, DK! He has the World Cup in his mind),” Rohit was heard saying when RCB played Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. In that match, Karthik scored an unbeaten 53 off 23 and helped RCB to 196 for 8 after walking in at 108 for 4 with under eight overs to go.”[I was] quite impressed, watching DK bat a couple of nights back, and Dhoni as well, came to play four balls, made a huge impact, that was the difference,” Rohit said on the podcast hosted by Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist. “It will be hard to convince MS although he is coming to the US, to do something else. He is into golf now. DK will be easier to convince I guess.”