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Stumps Cameron Bancroft continued his early dominance of the Sheffield Shield season as Western Australia made a strong start in response to Tasmania’s formidable first-innings 439 on a lifeless WACA pitch.In perfect batting conditions, Bancroft and captain Sam Whiteman were at ease as they batted through the latter part of day two. A result could be difficult to force on an unusually sedate WACA pitch, which has seemingly flattened considerably due to unseasonably warm spring weather.Bancroft is looking to make the most out of the conditions on the back of a commanding century earlier this month against a strong Victoria attack at the WACA.With David Warner set to retire from Test cricket over the summer, the race is on to find his replacement, and Bancroft has so far made a compelling case. A nervous starter at times, Bancroft had to endure a few tests early in his innings. Shuffling across the stumps, Bancroft struggled initially against seamer Lawrence Neil-Smith, who targeted his pads.Once he got through the new ball, Bancroft looked immovable, and so too Whiteman. Tasmania’s bowlers rarely threatened in 53 overs, but they will feel relieved that conditions are set to be significantly cooler on day three.After a couple of wickets late on day one, WA had been hopeful of restricting Tasmania to under 350 but skipper Jordan Silk defied the attack with a marathon 181 off 349 balls. He superbly led a gritty fightback after Tasmania had seemingly let slip winning an invaluable toss when they stuttered at 49 for 3.Jordan Silk ended with a career-best 181•Getty Images

Resuming at 281 for 6, all eyes were on Silk, who had finished day one on 99. He remained agonisingly stuck on that score for almost 30 minutes into the day’s play, pinned back to the crease by accurate bowling from quicks Liam Haskett and Aaron Hardie.On his 22nd ball of the day, Silk scurried through for a single to finally bring up his century. After such a cautious start, Tasmania got a roll on with Jarrod Freeman and Silk hitting seven boundaries in succession.But WA looked set to wrap up the innings when a fine catch running backwards from Lance Morris dismissed Freeman, who made the most of the sedate conditions with a breezy 30 off 14 balls.WA’s bid to escape the heat was thwarted by a 77-run ninth-wicket partnership between Silk and Neil-Smith, who held up an end. Silk opened up after lunch with several gorgeous drives to inch towards a double-century.Silk’s indefatigable innings ended when he was trapped lbw by seamer Charlie Stobo early in the second session, the last wicket to fall in the day’s play.In searing conditions, with the temperature nudging 36-degrees Celsius, WA’s attack toiled manfully but with little of their trademark menace. With their quicks neutralised, WA relied on offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli, who finished with 3 for 144 off 39 overs.Morris only bowled a three-over spell on day two as he works his way back from a stress-related back injury that ruled him out of the Ashes. Clocked at around 140kph, Morris unleashed several bouncers and enticed an edge from Silk that flew past wicketkeeper Josh Philippe.He finished with 2 for 55 from 19 overs – solid figures on a pitch that has so far proved unrelenting for bowlers.

The International League T20 (ILT20) has announced a development tournament from September 30 to October 10 in Dubai. The tournament will act as a platform for UAE’s domestic and international players to showcase their talent in a bid to be picked by the ILT20 franchises for the second season of the league.So far, the six franchises have retained 11 UAE players for the second season, meaning there are 13 spots still up for grabs.In July, the ICC had approved a cap of four overseas players all new T20 leagues, with a view to limit the player drain feared by some Full Members due to the mushrooming of T20 franchise leagues. This rule doesn’t apply to the ILT20 yet but the league will have to conform to those limits within a reasonable period of time. According to the ILT20 rulebook, each playing XI can have a maximum of nine overseas players, with at least two UAE players – and two Associate overseas players needed in the squad.Related

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Six teams will take part in the development tournament, with each team playing five matches in the group stage. The top four will advance to the semi-finals. All the group stage matches will be played at the ICC Academy Grounds with the final on October 10.Each team will have 14 players with the squads formed through a player draft that will take place next week. More than 300 domestic players have signed up for the pre-tournament player draft.”We are very happy to see UAE players being provided an opportunity to show their skills through the ILT20 Development Tournament,” Emirates Cricket Board general secretary Mubashshir Usmani said. “This initiative is truly a life changing opportunity for these players.”I am confident that the tournament will be hugely beneficial for the growth of the game and will become a launch pad for participation in the DP World ILT20 as well as aiding in identification and selection of players for UAE’s men’s teams in the years ahead.”

Matthew Wade will captain Australia in the five-match T20I series against India after the 2023 ODI World Cup. The multiformat fast bowlers and allrounders have been left out ahead of the Test summer, but David Warner, Steven Smith and Travis Head are included.Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will return home after the World Cup along with Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh, who captained Australia’s previous T20I series against South Africa, to prepare for the home Test season which begins on December 14 against Pakistan in Perth.Related

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That could open up the opportunity for them to play the final round of Sheffield Shield matches before the BBL break, which begin on November 28, although previously the big three quicks have been comfortable not playing a four-day match before a home Test series.Marsh and Green are vying for the No. 6 spot with Marsh the incumbent after playing the final Ashes Test at The Oval. The selectors will need to decide whether to make Green available for Western Australia’s Shield match against Queensland in Brisbane or give him a break. The inclusion of Warner, Smith and Head in the T20 squad means they are unlikely to get any red-ball cricket before the first Test in Perth.With Marsh heading home it meant a new stand-in captain was needed with Wade, who has previously done the role on seven occasions including the final game of last year’s T20 World Cup when Aaron Finch was injured, taking on the duties. It marks a significant change in his career trajectory after previously indicating last year’s tournament in Australia could be his swansong.Wade was initially overlooked for the tour of South Africa as the selectors blooded some new names but was later called up as a replacement and chair of selectors George Bailey had previously said he was in the running for this tour.It is expected a permanent appointment as Australia’s T20 captain will be made during the home season with Marsh the frontrunner to take the role ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.Matthew Wade has previously led Australia in seven T20Is•BCCI

The remainder of the squad is made up of players who featured in the 3-0 victory over South Africa with left-arm quick Spencer Johnson given another chance to impress along with legspinner Tanveer Sangha and allrounder Matt Short.”It’s an experienced squad with a mixture of players who have had their first opportunity on the international stage and that we hope will continue to develop into important players in our T20 group,” Bailey said. “Matthew has captained the team previously, is a leader in the group and we look forward to him taking the reins for this series. Like Mitch Marsh in the South Africa series, this is another great opportunity to further deepen our international leadership experience and depth.”Western Australia allrounder Aaron Hardie is the one player who featured in that series to miss out. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was not considered due a recurrence of his calf injury.Once the ODI World Cup is complete attention will turn to preparations for the next T20 edition in the West Indies and USA in June 2024. After the five games in India, Australia have a three-match series against West Indies and New Zealand in February as their other confirmed fixtures before that tournament.Starc and Cummins are expected to be among the players to put their names into the hat for a return to the IPL with a view to using that competition as preparation for the T20 World Cup.The matches against India take place on November 23, 26, 28 and December 1 and 3.Australia’s T20I squad: Matthew Wade (capt), David Warner, Travis Head, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Josh Inglis, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha

The Sri Lanka sports minister who sought to sack the SLC board and install an interim committee has himself been sacked by the country’s president, on Monday. Roshan Ranasinghe’s ouster may ease the lifting of Sri Lanka Cricket’s suspension by the ICC, though it is not a certainty.SLC had beseeched the “top level” of Sri Lankan government to provide guarantees that there would be no further political interference in cricket administration in the country. Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe has not provided such a guarantee thus far, but his sacking of Ranasinghe could be an indication that he wishes the government as a whole to back off. In any case, it was Ranasinghe who most energetically sought the sacking of SLC’s office bearers.Related

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However, Ranasinghe has not only been sacked as sports minister, but has also been removed as minister of youth affairs and minister of irrigation – the other portfolios he held. This was after he had made accusations against the president in parliament, earlier on Monday. There is a chance his sacking was not particularly motivated by SLC’s suspension by the ICC, which had taken place two weeks prior.In any case, the news of Ranasinghe’s ouster will be welcomed by SLC officials, who have feuded with the minister for about 12 months. In the press conferences that SLC held in the past two weeks, board president Shammi Silva delivered personal insults against Ranasinghe, as Ranasinghe had against him elsewhere.Ranasinghe had also repeatedly accused SLC of corruption and mismanagement. The interim committee he had installed – and which was ousted by Sri Lanka’s courts a day later – was headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, and also featured two sons of politicians with no known history of cricket administration.SLC is understood to have asked to be suspended by the ICC in order to put pressure on the sports minister that had temporarily sacked the cricket board. Because of SLC’s suspension, Sri Lanka lost hosting rights of the Under-19 men’s World Cup, which had been scheduled for January and February 2024.

New Zealand ended day three of the Mount Maunganui Test against South Africa in command, leading by 528 runs in the second innings. This was after South Africa were bowled out for 162 in the first innings, with Mitchell Santner picking up 3 for 34 with his left-arm spin. Santner’s effort, along with Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson’s, gave the hosts a massive 349-run lead in the first innings. Playing only his second Test in more than two-and-a-half years, Santner spoke of the changes he has made in his bowling in the longest format.”I felt like I was getting too quick at the crease, and getting a bit long. It was through, I guess, a lot of white-ball bowling,” he said. “But I’ve gone the other way now: tried to give it a rip again, and [go a] little bit slow at the crease, and get my momentum from the crease. That’s what I tried to do at the World Cup… and it has flown into my red-ball bowling.”With 16 wickets at 28.06, Santner was New Zealand’s highest wicket-taker at the ODI World Cup in India last year. While seamer-friendly conditions at home allow New Zealand to field just the sole spinner, if any, Santner wants to cement his position when they tour the subcontinent to play Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and India later in the year.”Usually in the home summer, it is one spinner or that kind of allrounder role,” Santner said. “But looking forward, it’s nice to have a consistent Test series in the sub-continent – I think we’ve got six games. So it’ll be nice to go there as a spin unit and ply our crafts. Bangladesh [series last year] was good; we spoke a lot, [and had] good chats… it’ll be a good opportunity to get stuck in and bowl some overs [in the sub-continent].”Santner noticed some turn on the pitch in Mount Maunganui, and expected to get slower as the game progresses.”Usually in the first innings, when it’s flat, you do a role – [bowl] on a good length – and let the other boys do their thing at the other end,” he said. “It is nice to see it turn a little bit: we can play around with the position at the crease, [with the] seam, [and] slight change of pace. Mount is traditionally slower than where we are going to now.”Here I can enjoy the pitch, which is nice… it might do a little bit more tomorrow. Day five maybe a little bit more, but it usually slows down a lot in nature, where it is more of a grind to get your wickets.”

Joe Clarke and Will Young broke a Nottinghamshire record stretching back 121 years with an unbroken third-wicket stand of 370 to transform the Vitality County Championship match against Somerset at Taunton.The pair batted for all but ten minutes of the third day, coming together with their side 48 for two in their second innings, trailing by 213, and guiding them to 418 for two at the close, a lead of 157.Clarke hit an undefeated 209, while Young contributed 156 not out. Their combined efforts bettered those of the uncle and nephew partnership of Billy and John Gunn, who put together a third-wicket stand of 367 against Leicestershire at Trent Bridge back in 1903.By stumps, the pair had been together for two minutes short of six hours without either giving a chance. It was memorable display of concentration and application, which spelled total frustration for the Somerset bowlers.Notts began the day looking to save the game from a seemingly daunting position. There was no indication of batting dominance to come when Haseeb Hameed was bowled through the gate by Craig Overton for 20 with only ten runs added to leave them 48 for two.Clarke walked out to join Young with hundreds against Worcestershire and Essex already to his name this season. From a watchful start, the pair grew in stature to such an extent that a very occasional play-and-miss was all that offered encouragement to the bowlers.Mostly, the ball met the centre of the bat as Clarke and Young mixed watchful defence with sound shot selection, choosing the right deliveries to attack.By lunch, their stand was worth 92, Clarke having reached an 88-ball half-century and Young unbeaten on 41. But at 140 for two, Notts were still 121 adrift and there was plenty more hard work ahead.The afternoon session proved totally sterile for Somerset as their bowlers found scant assistance for seam or spin from the flattest of third-day pitches. Young went to fifty off 135 balls and Clarke brought up his ton off 136 deliveries, with 12 fours and a six, before celebrating with a glorious straight-driven boundary off Overton.When the partnership went past 180 it beat the previous highest third-wicket stand for Notts against Somerset, compiled by Mike Harris and Sir Garfield Sobers at Trent Bridge in 1974.Not content with that, Clarke and Young had increased it to 233 by tea, which was taken at 281 for two, with their side now 20 ahead. Somerset’s last hope was the second new ball, due two overs after the interval.It was taken at 291 for two, but made no difference as the Notts pair continued to grind the bowlers into the dust in bright sunshine. Young went to his century with a superb square-driven four off Migael Pretorius, his 11th boundary in a then 234-ball knock.Soon the partnership was worth 300. A six by Young off the disappointing Shoaib Bashir piled on the misery for Somerset before Clarke scampered a single off Lewis Goldsworthy to bring up his double hundred off 284 balls, with 25 fours and a six.It continued to be a no-contest between bat and ball as the Notts lead increased with every over. Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory shuffled his attack, giving overs to Goldsworthy, Matt Renshaw and Tom Lammonby as well as his normal bowlers without any hint of success.The record was broken in the final over when Young pulled a two off Pretorius. A few moments later the Notts pair walked off to warm applause from the Somerset team and the crowd, Clarke having faced 303 balls and Young 304. They had been together since the third over of the day.

Cameron Bancroft announced his return to Gloucestershire by scoring a much-needed half century on day two of the Vitality County Championship Second Division match against Yorkshire at the Seat Unique Stadium.Returning to the club he last served in 2017, the 31-year-old Australian batsman made a good first impression, top-scoring with a patient 70 and sharing in a stand of 98 with Miles Hammond for the fourth wicket as Gloucestershire recovered from 28 for 3 to post 263 in their first innings.Ben Charlesworth weighed in with an unbeaten 52 to keep the home side afloat, but frontline bowlers Ben Coad and Matt Fisher found reward for their persistence by returning figures of 3-44 and 3-65 respectively as Yorkshire forged a useful first-innings advantage of 63.Openers Adam Lyth (39 not out) and Finlay Bean (15 not out) then further improved the white rose county’s position, safely negotiating 11 overs beneath lowering skies to reach 57 without loss, a lead of 120, on a day when five overs were lost to bad light.Recruited to bolster a batting line-up that has struggled to post substantial first-innings totals in recent seasons, Bancroft brought all his experience to bear to extricate Gloucestershire from a spot of bother after they had been reduced to 28-3 in reply to Yorkshire’s 326. Nightwatchman Josh Shaw fell in the fourth over of the day, held by Harry Brook at third slip off the bowling of Matt Milnes, at which point Bristol County Ground regulars braced themselves for the anticipated collapse.Obdurate and resilient by nature, Bancroft had other ideas and, together with Hammond, set about repairing the damage as Yorkshire’s seamers, buoyed by their early success, sought to press home their advantage. It may not have been an edifying spectacle for the neutral, but Gloucestershire’s fourth wicket pair at least achieved their initial aim of riding out the threat posed by Coed and Milnes.As conditions eased and the Kookaburra ball softened, so Bancroft and Hammond continued their painstaking progress, oozing defiance aplenty as the sanctuary of the lunch interval was attained with the score on 88-3. Leading by example, Bancroft registered his first 50 in his second stint with Gloucestershire, that landmark arriving shortly after lunch via 160 balls and including a solitary four.Hammond then threatened to awake spectators from their slumbers by hoisting a short-pitched delivery from Fisher behind square for the first six of the innings. Yet having been the soul of discretion hitherto in making 43, the 28-year-old left hander succumbed to temptation, lured down the track in pursuit of a ball tossed up outside off stump by slow left armer Dan Moriarty and falling prey to a smart stumping by Jonny Tattersall.A workmanlike stand of 98 in 41 overs might have afforded the home side a degree of reassurance, but there was still a good deal of work to be done and their situation was not helped when Bancroft suffered an uncharacteristic rush of blood to the head, attempting to drive Moriarty and holing out to Root, who took a well-judged running catch at deep mid-off.No doubt disappointed to miss out on a hundred, the Australian nevertheless contributed 70 valuable runs in an innings that spanned 196 balls and just under four and-a-half hours, demonstrating the virtue of patience to his new teammates.Coming together with the score on 157-5, James Bracey and new batsman Charlesworth were charged with the task of reaching the tea interval without further mishap. These two took advantage of a prolonged spell of spin and a flat pitch to raise the scoring rate and advance the score to 202-5, only for Bracey to blot his copybook in the final over before tea.The eighth bowler to be deployed by Yorkshire skipper Shan Masood, occasional spinner Lyth struck a telling blow with his second delivery, Bracey attempting a late cut and nicking off to Root at slip. He departed for a 63-ball 39, his demise shortly before the advent of the new ball offering Yorkshire further encouragement.Gloucestershire still trailed by 96 runs when captain Graeme van Buuren succumbed to the new ball, attempting to hit Coed over mid-on and edging a catch behind. It was an ill-advised shot in the circumstances and the dismissal of Zaman Akhtar two balls later, caught at the wicket off the bowling of the estimable Coed, did nothing to save van Buuren’s blushes.With his team firmly on the back foot, big-hitting Marchant de Lange characteristically offered attack as the best form of defence, smiting 3 fours and a six in a violent nine-ball cameo that ended when he drove Fisher to mid-off for 18.Notwithstanding the chaos at the other end, Charlesworth remained unflappable as he quietly went about the business of digging Gloucestershire out of a deep hole, and having displayed sound judgment throughout, the left-hander went to 50 in the grand manner, smashing Coed over long-on for an imposing six. He was eventually left high and dry on 52 not out, Fisher pinning Ajeet Singh Dale lbw to wrap up the innings in the 91st over.Charlesworth’s contribution certainly served to frustrate the white rose county, Gloucestershire’s last two wickets realising a further 43 runs to restrict Yorkshire’s first-innings lead to 63.There was still time for Lyth to press home Yorkshire’s advantage, the former England batsman exhibiting some fine stroke-play to harvest seven boundaries and set the tone. Without a win in red ball cricket in all of 2023, Gloucestershire have their work cut out over the course of the next two days if they are to avoid defeat.

Australia are set to take two travelling reserves to the T20 World Cup with Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short likely to be named as the 16th and 17th squad members who will join as cover in case of a tournament-ending injury to one of the first-choice 15.Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey had suggested that Australia would carry just one reserve to the Caribbean when the provisional squad was announced, but they are likely to add a second with the in-form Fraser-McGurk set to be named alongside Short.Related

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They have elected not to add a third frontline spinner as a travelling reserve. Legspinner Tanveer Sangha was with the squad as a reserve at the ODI World Cup last year when Australia had just one specialist spinner but this time Ashton Agar is included in the 15. Sangha is also understood to be managing a hip flexor issue and therefore wasn’t in contention. Left-arm orthodox Matthew Kuhnemann trained with Australia’s non-IPL players in Brisbane in the two camps held over the past fortnight but is yet to play a T20I for Australia despite playing Test and ODI cricket over the past two years.Fraser-McGurk’s omission from the main squad caused a stir given his stunning IPL form with many in Australia and overseas believing he should have been included. He has yet to make his T20I debut and has only played two ODIs. He was not selected in the main squad on the basis that Australia have an established top three in David Warner, Travis Head and captain Mitchell Marsh and that the selectors needed players with more versatility to fill roles outside the first-choice XI. Fraser-McGurk will likely provide cover if one of the top three gets injured during the tournament.Jake Fraser-McGurk made a stunning entrance to the IPL•Associated Press

Short was also unlucky to miss out on a spot in the final 15 having appeared in nine of Australia’s last 14 T20Is and also played in multiple batting roles. He opened in five games having been BBL player of the tournament in back-to-back seasons as an opener but batted at No. 3 once and No. 6 twice as Australia looked to build some middle-order depth. He only bowled his part-time offspin in four of those matches including an over in the powerplay in three of them. He is likely to provide cover for a number of different roles in the squad.Australia have opted not to carry another fast bowler in their reserves as there may be times in the tournament they only play two of the four they selected in the squad. They have the capability of playing two spinners or the extra all-rounder in Cameron Green to lengthen the batting line-up down to No. 8.Spencer Johnson, Xavier Bartlett and Sean Abbott will all be in the UK playing in the T20 Blast during the World Cup and can be flown into the Caribbean more easily than anyone remaining in Australia.Australia’s squad members not involved in the IPL finals will fly to the Caribbean on Thursday for a training camp in Trinidad that will include two practice matches against Namibia and West Indies on May 28 and 30 respectively. There is a potential that Australia will have limited numbers available for those matches with Head, Green, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell set for a delayed arrival due to the IPL playoffs not being completed until May 26.But while New Zealand opted not to play any practice matches due to the logistical challenge of having chunks of their squad arrive at different times into the Caribbean, Australia are prepared to play the warm-up games with limited numbers to choose from.A number of their players including, Marsh, Warner, Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Matthew Wade, Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis have either played no cricket since the end of the Australian domestic summer in March or have played very little cricket in the IPL. Under ICC rules, only players named in the 15-man squad can play in the warm-up fixtures.Marsh, Hazlewood, Inglis, Zampa and Agar have all trained in Brisbane over the past fortnight along with Short. Marsh is understood to have recovered from his hamstring injury but he is still yet to bowl.

The path ahead for the women’s game certainly looks brighter. Raunak Kapoor is joined by Lydia Greenway, Marina Iqbal, Valkerie Baynes and Sambit Bal to look at the possible impact of India’s Under-19 T20 World Cup win on the sport – the increased interest, attention, cash, coverage and acknowledgment.