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Veteran allrounder set to move into coaching after calling time on 19-year professional career

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2024Steven Croft, Lancashire’s veteran allrounder and stalwart of their 2011 Championship-winning side, has announced his retirement from professional cricket at the age of 39.Croft stepped down from first-class and List A cricket at the end of the 2023 summer, and had been on a T20-only deal for this summer’s campaign. However, he has now confirmed his full retirement with immediate effect, and will instead move into Lancashire’s coaching staff on a full-time basis.His final appearance came earlier this month, in Lancashire’s defeat to Sussex in the Vitality Blast quarter-final, and was his 600th match for the club across formats. He made his Lancashire debut in 2005, and went on to make a total of 19,183 runs, as well as claim 199 wickets with his offspin.In 2011, he scored the winning runs against Somerset at Taunton, as Lancashire ended a 77-year wait for the County Championship, and four years later, he captained the T20 team to their maiden T20 Blast title at Edgbaston, beating Northamptonshire in the final.Between June 2006 and July 2018, Croft played 148 consecutive T20 matches for Lancashire, which is an English record. He finishes his career as Lancashire’s leading T20 run-scorer with 5,486 runs.”My dream as a boy was to play one game for Lancashire, in the end it became 600,” Croft said. “So, after just over two decades of playing for the club, I have taken the decision to retire as a player.”I can confidently say I have realised my dream and more, and what a ride it has been. To go with the games, runs, wickets and catches, I have played alongside some of my heroes and many greats of the game.”There have been so many highlights along the way, too. Winning the County Championship in 2011 will stay with me forever. The 2015 T20 Blast too, what a great night that was! But also, being awarded my county cap and being appointed club captain were special moments.Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s Director of Cricket, added: “On behalf of everyone at the club, I would like to congratulate Steven on an incredible Lancashire career.”Steven epitomises everything good about this club. He is an outstanding individual who always puts the team first and anyone who has watched him knows that Steven puts his heart and soul into every game and his record speaks for itself.”To be such an influential member of our side – as well as contributing to so many match-winning performances – over such a long period of time is something he should be very proud of.”Players like Steven don’t come around too often and whilst we will miss his skill and experience on the field, we’re thrilled that he will continue to play a vital role in continuing to develop the exciting young players we have at Emirates Old Trafford, working across the Men’s First Team, Second XI and Academy.”Even over the last 12 months, I’ve been really impressed with how quickly he’s taken to coaching and the impact he’s had in a short period of time. I am looking forward to seeing him develop these skills in the next chapter of his career.”

And can Ireland nullify any such calculations with their first win against India across formats?

Vishal Dikshit22-Aug-2023

Big Picture – Will Bumrah give chances to Jitesh, Shahbaz and Avesh?

India have largely achieved what they wanted from this Ireland series. Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna have made excellent returns to form and fitness and have subsequently been drafted into the Asia Cup squad. Ruturaj Gaikwad has returned to the T20I set-up with one unbeaten knock and one quick half-century. Sanju Samson looked fluent during his 40 in the second T20I before Rinku Singh sparkled on what was effectively his debut. Shivam Dube has auditioned as the back-up for Hardik Pandya’s role – although he could do with some more wickets. And Ravi Bishnoi grabbed four wickets in the two games after going wicketless in his only outing in the Caribbean. And, India have the series in the bag.So now they can turn attentions to the players who’ve been on the bench in Malahide. Jitesh Sharma could be given his India cap and bat in the lower middle order with licence to showcase his hit-from-ball-one skills. Shahbaz Ahmed could also come in – confident after his haul of wickets in the Deodhar Trophy – to give India another all-round option while resting the more-established Washington Sundar. And Avesh Khan, once such a promising force with the white ball, could do with another chance to prove he has ironed out his flaws.Ireland will have to step up big time with both bat and ball to give India a fight. In the first game, they slumped to 59 for 6 against two bowlers returning from injury, who were not yet at their peak. Opting to bowl in the second match, all India’s batters bar one flourished, Ireland leaked too many in the death overs, and their top four batters – barring Andy Balbirnie – couldn’t find answers to Prasidh’s short balls and Bishnoi’s wrong ‘un.Related

• Avesh Khan ready for reboot after being 'all over the place'

Even if they leak runs again, which isn’t a crime in T20s, Ireland’s batters will have to shoulder most of the responsibility if they want to register their first win against India after ten unsuccessful attempts.

Form guide

India WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Ireland LLLWW

In the spotlight – Shivam Dube and Paul Stirling

Allrounder Shivam Dube had a second coming of sorts in the IPL this year with the bat. He had his most prolific season – 418 runs at a strike rate 158.33, including a whopping 35 sixes (second-most in IPL 2023), while also averaging 38. More than half of those runs and 22 of those 35 sixes came against spin, though, and the conditions in Ireland are as different as they could get from Chennai (his home base at the IPL) – soggy, overcast, and quicker, bouncier, greener tracks. He faced only pace in the second T20I and scored 22 not out off 16 balls. His challenge will be to score more off the short stuff should it come his way, and be a wicket-taking option in the middle overs in conditions that better suit him.Paul Stirling has been scoring all around the world in the last couple of years – in the Vitality Blast and the Hundred in England, at the Lanka Premier League, the Pakistan Super League, the Caribbean Premier League and the SA20, apart from in international cricket. He
took the added responsibility of the captaincy from Balbirnie in July, but he hasn’t scored much against the No. 1 T20I side in this series. He fell to Bishnoi’s googly in the series opener before being bounced out by Prasidh for a duck and, with Ireland’s batting under pressure, Stirling will be eager to end the series with a significant contribution.

Team news – Will Theo van Woerkom get a debut?

Samson could hand over the wicketkeeper-batter reins to Jitesh, Shahbaz could come in for Washington, and Avesh for Arshdeep Singh, since Bumrah and Prasidh would want more game time before the Asia Cup. The only question would be whether India would want to make as many as three changes.India (possible XI): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Rinku Singh, 5 Sanju Samson/Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Washington Sundar/Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Jasprit Bumrah (capt), 11 Prasidh Krishna.Ireland have used the same XI in both games and, with nothing more to lose, they could also hand a debut to Christchurch-born left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom. He was part of New Zealand’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2012 but has qualified for Ireland, with an Irish background on his mother’s side. He could come in for legspinner Ben White. They could also try out Ross Adair (Mark Adair’s brother) at the top or batting allrounder Gareth Delany in the middle.Ireland (possible XI): 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andy Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Mark Adair, 8 Barry McCarthy, 9 Fionn Hand/Craig Young, 10 Josh Little, 11 Ben White/Theo van Woerkom.

Stats and trivia

• Paul Stirling is fifth among the all-time T20I run-scorers, behind the high-profile names of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill and Babar Azam. He will overtake Babar on Wednesday if he scores more than 77.
• Bumrah’s economy rate in this series so far is just 4.88 – no other bowler has gone at under six an over.

Pitch and conditions

Wednesday is expected to be mildly sunny in patches, with more of cloud cover and windiness and some rain expected. The temperature is expected to settle just under 20 degrees Celsius. There are more chances of rain later in the evening especially so, with a 3pm local time start, we should get a completed game squeezed in, even if it is interrupted.

“I said to the boys after [defeat in the first Test] I think we were good for about 65% of the game”

Firdose Moonda12-Feb-2024With the knowledge that they could become the first South African team to lose a Test series to New Zealand, Neil Brand’s men are “desperate to put in a good performance,” in the Hamilton Test, and believe they are better than what their 281-run defeat in Mount Maunganui suggests.”I don’t think we are miles off. I said to the boys afterwards I think we were good for about 65% of the game,” Brand, South Africa’s stand-in captain said. “Obviously we have to learn pretty quickly at this level and it’s something we are desperate to do and to put it right.”Brand identified South Africa’s batting as the biggest concern after they were dismissed for 162 and 247 and only one of their batters, David Bedingham, crossed 50. For Brand, the top three is a particular focal point. “We have to do the right things for longer and myself, personally, I have to find a way to get through the new ball which has been tricky in these conditions,” he said. “The wickets look like they are getting better for batting the longer you can hang out there. So, it’s just about keeping our confidence high and making sure we keep believing in ourselves.”Between them, Brand, his opening partner Eddie Moore and one-drop Raynard van Tonder, scored 61 runs in six innings in the first Test. They were all making their debuts. Moore was bounced out in the first innings and drove a ball aerially in the second, Brand’s shot selection was uncertain against the moving ball and van Tonder was twice dismissed by Kyle Jamieson, who shaped the ball back in and tested his technique on the front foot. None of those things, especially among players who are new to playing at this level, have quick fixes but it wasn’t all bad. Moore spent 50 minutes in the middle in the first innings, van Tonder was at the crease for an hour and 23 minutes in the second innings and they did some work in protecting the middle-order, who all got starts.Zubayr Hamza, Keegan Petersen and Bedingham all got to double-figures in both innings and with Test experience, are expected to form the backbone of South Africa’s efforts. Bedingham, in particular, comes into the series with a lot of expectation around him after he made his debut against India. “We want him to push on and get a big score for us,” Brand said.On the other side of that coin, South Africa’s attack are searching for ways to be more incisive after conceding 511 runs in the first innings and 179 in 43 overs in the second. Both times, they had New Zealand in early trouble on 39 for 2 and 10 for 1, but could not capitalise. It didn’t help that they dropped chances off Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra, who went on to score 118 and 240 respectively, but that aside, Brand still hopes they can find more ways to take wickets with the older ball. “We were really good with the new ball in both innings. I understand this wicket might be a bit different but we just want a bit more options from over 20 through to the [second] new ball so we can dismantle that middle order. We’ve been building pressure but we haven’t found ways to strike with the old ball.”For variety in attack, South Africa could look to bring in allrounder Mihlali Mpongwana, who may add some pace, or one of their spinners – Dane Piedt or Shaun von Berg. While many will wonder why, with the SA20 completed at the weekend, South Africa can’t call on some of their first-choice players to bolster the stocks, the answer lies in travel time and jet lag. New Zealand is 11 hours ahead of South Africa and the shortest flight route is a little over 19 hours. To counter fatigue and jet lag, players are required to be in the country for at least a week before playing which makes it impossible for anyone else to be added to the touring group.Instead, South Africa have to make do with what they have and most of these players have one more opportunity to show what they can offer at international level. Despite how difficult it has been, Brand hopes some of them will take it.”The Test match was really tough. On day three I was pretty tired. Dane Piedt said Hashim Amla told him that every day feels like a (whole) Test match when you are playing Test cricket,” he said. “But I have enjoyed every moment of it. I have learnt a lot about myself as a person and I really love being in this environment so hopefully I can put in a few good performances.”

Jason Roy opted out of the tournament citing personal reasons

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2024Kolkata Knight Riders have brought in Phil Salt as a replacement for Jason Roy for IPL 2024 after Roy pulled out citing “personal reasons”. Having remained unsold in the latest auction after representing Delhi Capitals last year, this will be Salt’s second season in the IPL. He was acquired by KKR at his reserve auction price of INR 1.5 crore (approx $181,000).Salt’s most recent T20I appearances came in December 2023 in the Caribbean, where he recorded scores of 40, 25, 109 not out, 119 and 38, topping the run-scoring charts with his 331 runs, at a strike rate of 185.95. Unfortunately for him, the two centuries came on December 16 and 19, the latter the date of the auction. With Roy opting out, though, he became an option for KKR.His 48-ball century in the fourth T20I in the West Indies is the joint-fastest in the format for England, and Salt now has a stellar T20 record, with 5308 runs from 221 innings at a strike rate of 153.41 and an average of 25.89. And he has played around the world, too, including in the BBL, the Caribbean Premier League, the Pakistan Super League, and in leagues in Sri Lanka, the UAE and South Africa.Roy, for his part, hasn’t had a regular run at the IPL despite his reputation as a short-format champion, even though he has been around a bit, playing for the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in 2017, Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) in 2018, and subsequently for Sunrisers Hyderabad and KKR.This, though, isn’t the first time he has opted out of the IPL. He had withdrawn in 2020 (Capitals) for personal reasons and then in 2022 (Gujarat Titans) when he took an “indefinite break” from the game.The swap doesn’t change the overseas/Indian balance of the KKR line-up. Salt becomes an option for the opening slot along with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, with Sherfane Rutherford the other specialist overseas batter in the mix. That aside, they have old regulars Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, as well as quick bowlers Mitchell Starc and Dushmantha Chameera, who had earlier replaced Gus Atkinson, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the fingerspinner.Shreyas Iyer is the designated captain of the side, which will play its IPL 2024 opener on the second day of the tournament, March 23, against Sunrisers at home in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

Despite the long tour, the Australia captain says he is in a better condition heading into The Oval this time compared to in 2019

Andrew McGlashan26-Jul-2023The Ashes is secured, but there is a huge amount at stake for Australia at The Oval. Return home with a 3-1 series win, to go alongside the World Test Championship title, and legacies will be secured. Draw the series, from being 2-0 up, and it will be mission incomplete.Many of this Australian squad featured in the 2019 Ashes series, which ended 2-2 when England won at The Oval. That has gnawed away at them, particularly after they had responded impressively from the Ben Stokes miracle at Headingley to win at Old Trafford.Pat Cummins remembers the final game of that series as the only occasion he worried he would miss a Test through fatigue, although he still ended with five wickets and bowled the most of Australia’s quicks, having also played the ODI World Cup earlier. This time, he is under scrutiny both as bowler and as captain, having endured a tough few days in Manchester. But he insists he has the gas in the tank for one final push. You wouldn’t expect him to say anything different.Related

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“I remember turning up here in 2019 for the fifth Test and I was wrecked,” he said. “It’s probably the only time in my career where I thought I genuinely might not be able to play. But I still did a decent job then. And I feel in a much better position now.”So, for the second time in four years, Australia reach The Oval 2-1 up but via different routes and aiming to achieve what they have been unable to do since 2001. This time, they were perhaps two good sessions of cricket away from securing this series outright in Leeds. England were 142 for 7 at lunch on the second day, still 121 behind, and for all their love for a run chase there is a good chance that, had they conceded a hefty lead, the game would have gone.Instead, largely through Ben Stokes and Mark Wood, England cracked 95 off ten overs to draw almost level and then, later in the day with Australia’s lead approaching 100, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne handed their wickets to Moeen Ali. There were a few twists to come but that’s where the mood of this series shifted.At Old Trafford, Australia were outplayed in a manner that has rarely been seen in recent years – over an extended period, rather than a single crazy session such as the one that cost them in Delhi earlier this year. In Manchester, a lazy first-day batting display then became a rudderless performance in the field as Zak Crawley, Joe Root and latterly Jonny Bairstow made merry.Australia admitted how poor they were, but have also tried to play it down somewhat by saying they always expected it would come given how England play. When it did come, they did not have any answers. Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh ensured a touch of equilibrium was resorted on the fourth day, but only the rain saved them.It all means they come back to London, where this tour started at the beginning of last month with the World Test Championship final, needing a victory (or at least be in a strong position for one should weather intervene again) to honestly be able to leave knowing they were the better team.”It’s a big one,” Cummins said. “If we win this one and you look back, it’s been an incredible tour over here really. We’ve played five games, we’ve won three and only lost one. It’s already a fantastic tour. But to go home winning the urn would be phenomenal. It’s a final thing to tick off the list of titles to win for a few of the guys, who you never [know] if you’ll get another chance at it. We’ve said the whole time, our aim is to come here and win the Ashes and that’s the opportunity ahead of us.”As Cummins alluded to, it will be the last Ashes Test in England for a lot of this side. In fact, it probably marks the start of a transition for both teams: the youngest member of the England attack at Old Trafford was Wood at 33.”They’ve got world class bowlers in their attack,” David Warner said. “They’re all mid-30s, like myself, so it’s just great to see them keep coming. They probably don’t have much cricket left in them and it will be sad to see a lot of those guys leave and we have to applaud the way that they’ve kept coming year after year.”Pat Cummins and Alex Carey could be borderline names when Australia pick the team for their next Ashes series in England•Associated Press

For Australia, of those who have featured in the series, you can only say confidently, as much as is possible with the uncertainties of professional sport, that Labuschagne, Travis Head, Cameron Green and Todd Murphy will have the chance of returning in four years’ time. Marsh and Alex Carey (35 by then) are perhaps borderline names, as is Cummins himself who will be 34. The team will start disbanding as soon as the next home summer with Warner the first to depart, at the SCG against Pakistan in early January if he makes it that far.”We know we are an experienced team,” Cummins said. “But that means there are some people who are close to the end of their career. That means we’ll have to find some new guys, who I think it won’t be very hard to find, but no doubt the team’s going to change over time. Maybe it’s this moment, I don’t know.”While some are questioning how long Cummins will be able to marry the role of lead fast bowler and captain, he sees the upcoming changing of the guard as something exciting.”We’re very individualised in how we let everyone be themselves and do it their way,” he said. “Some of that’s down to the fact that we’ve got guys that have played 100 Test matches [and] 15 years of first-class cricket. If there’s new guys [coming] in maybe you need to shift that a little bit more. It’s exciting – that’s what I like about the job.”But before the future, comes the immediate challenge. Being crowned Test world champions was deserving reward for two years of excellent Test cricket, but coupling that with an Ashes series win in England – something that has passed by a number of very fine Australian players – is needed to ensure that this group of players has its place in history.

Matthews’ knock wasn’t enough as West Indies were eventually bowled out for 238 in big chase

Shashank Kishore24-Dec-2024The game witnessed two majestic hundreds, from Harleen Deol and Hayley Matthews. Where Deol had support of three other half-centurions in the Indian innings, Matthews had none. And that in a monumental chase of 359 was simply not good enough.The end result was another one-sided fare that gave India the ODI series with one match remaining, but it was also one where West Indies showed a lot more fight than they did two nights ago. They nearly batted out the 50 overs to take away something from a contest they never looked like bossing at any point.West Indies’ response to India’s 358 for 5 – their joint-highest ODI total – was circumspect. They batted out three maidens in the first seven overs, two of those to Renuka Singh, who had wrecked their top order with in-swing to finish with a five-for in the first ODI. It underlined West Indies’ approach for large parts of their innings – survival over flamboyance that they’re known for.As the innings progressed, it became evident how big the gulf was between Matthews and the rest of their batters, who hardly seemed to trust their defense and bat long enough against an Indian attack that boasted of some variety that will give them a welcome headache as they go forward in a World Cup year. Only Deandra Dottin can claim to have received a pearler that she had no answers to as Renuka ripped past her inside edge to flatten the stumps with a superb in-ducker.Mathews aside, the only other semblance of a fight from the West Indies came from wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle, who made 38 in a fifth-wicket stand that was worth 112. Matthews was brutal in her onslaught against India’s spinners, especially legspinner Priya Mishra whom she read from the hand and off the pitch. Against pace, she was quick to pounce on anything short or wide. Yet, it wasn’t until she had crossed 70 that she began to show off her full range of strokes, eventually getting to her seventh ODI hundred off 99 balls. But Matthews’ century only served to merely reduce the margin of defeat.Hayley Matthews celebrates her third ODI ton from her last six innings•BCCI

The story of the day, though, was Deol. Having been on crutches, recovering from a knee injury until five months ago, she repaid the faith the team management had in her by hitting a maiden international hundred from No.3. Dropped on 20 by Dottin at square leg, Deol made them pay. She built slowly to a half-century, reaching there in 62 balls, but shifted gears seamlessly in the end overs to raise her century off 98 balls.In Jemimah Rodrigues,
she found an able ally as the pair put on a quick-fire 116-run stand off just 71 deliveries for the fourth wicket in a partnership where they attempted a shot every ball. Rodrigues was outstanding against spin, lofting inside-out over cover, paddling fired-in deliveries past short fine leg, or rocking back to pull. Along the way, she showed her versatility to accelerate as comfortably as she had built the innings. The reward was a half-century off 34 deliveries, before she was out attempting to hit out a waist-high full toss.Deol fed off that energy, in addition to the confidence from spending time at the crease. In all, India scored 184 in the last 20 overs, compared to the 160 they hit two nights ago. That they achieved this with Richa Ghosh contributing just an unbeaten 13 should give them much encouragement.Deol’s knock was preceded by a second straight century opening stand from Smriti Mandhana and rookie Pratika Rawal, who looked anything like the nervous version from her debut on Sunday. She came out looking to score quickly. There wasn’t much swing on offer, and Rawal impressed with her intent and strokeplay to set the base of India’s innings after they elected to bat.At the other end, Mandhana, who became the highest run-getter in women’s ODI this year, simply carried on from where she left off in the series opener. She displayed more than just traces of brute force in muscling spinners. Rawal was comfortably outscoring Mandhana until the eighth over, but it didn’t take long for the India vice-captain to catch up, before overtaking her to raise a 29th half-century and her second straight of the series off just 44 balls. One ball later, the opening pair raised their century stand.Rawal soon caught up to get to her maiden half-century but missed out on a great chance of converting it to a maiden international hundred, when she was out to a soft dismissal on 76. But in taking two wickets and sending down a few tight overs, and taking an excellent catch inside the ring, Rawal had a day neither she nor the team management will forget in a hurry, not even after having had a role in running out Mandhana, who instead of fuming gave her a pat of encouragement as she walked back.

Rawal made contact with Filer and Ecclestone in two separate incidents during India’s successful chase against England

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2025India opening batter Pratika Rawal has been fined 10% of her match fee and handed one demerit point for “avoidable physical contact” during the first ODI against England on Tuesday, which India won by four wickets.Two separate incidents took place during India’s chase, which came in for scrutiny by the match officials.The first was when Rawal played a ball off Lauren Filer in the 18th over and went across for a single. While approaching the non-striker’s end, she made contact with the bowler. Then, in the next over, after being bowled by Sophie Ecclestone for a 51-ball 36, Rawal made contact with Ecclestone on her way back to the dressing room.Related

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Rawal pleaded guilty to the Level 1 breach of the ICC’s code of conduct, which relates to “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play”.”It [the collision with Filer] was not intentional; I was just running in my way,” Rawal said ahead of the second ODI at Lord’s*. “And the shoulder barge thing was also not deliberate. I don’t think there is [need to have] any reaction to it or [make] any fuss about it.”While she was in the middle, Rawal stitched together partnerships of 48 with Smriti Mandhana for the first wicket and 46 with Harleen Deol for the second wicket, setting up the chase of 259, which India completed comfortably thanks to a 90-run stand between Jemimah Rodrigues (48) and Deepti Sharma (62*) for the fifth wicket.England, meanwhile, were fined 5% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate. They were found to be one over short of the target in the time allotted for completing their overs, though they didn’t have to bowl all 50, India getting over the line with ten balls in hand.England and India will meet each other for the second ODI on Saturday, at Lord’s, before the last game of the tour, the third ODI in Chester-le-Street on Tuesday. India had earlier won the T20I series 3-2.* 1300 GMT Updated with Rawal’s qoute

He has resigned after just four months into his stint citing personal reasons

Danyal Rasool10-Aug-2023Four months after he was appointed head coach of the Pakistan women’s side for the second time, Mark Coles has resigned with immediate effect citing personal reasons. Coles had earlier served as the head coach of the team from 2017 to 2019.The resignation comes at a less-than-ideal team for the women’s side, who take on South Africa in a high-profile series at home that begins on September 1 in Karachi. The sides play three T20Is and three ODIs, with all six games taking place in Karachi. The PCB said a new coach will be announced “in due course” though there is no guarantee a permanent replacement will be in place by the time that series begins.Pakistan have a busy upcoming schedule, playing 15 ODIs and 17 T20Is in the upcoming year. Aside from South Africa, they host the West Indies at home, and travel to Bangladesh, New Zealand and England.It is understood the resignation came as something of a surprise to the PCB, and Coles has not made any public comment on the matter. When he was announced as Pakistan’s head coach alongside Nida Dar as the new captain, he said he was “excited to lead the team in the upcoming events”.”It has been a privilege to work with such a talented group of players and I look forward to the exciting times ahead as we aim to improve our previous performances and achievements,” Coles had said at the time. “We have a lot of potential in the team, and I look forward to helping the players give their best and achieve success on the international stage.”In the end, he would oversee no games during this second stint. He did enjoy a relatively successful time on the pitch when he was first appointed in 2017. Pakistan won nearly half of their ODIs – 7 in 16 – including a famous come-from-behind series win against West Indies. They also won 15 of 32 T20Is before Coles quit because of “family commitments”.The PCB said in a statement that it would “like to extend its gratitude to Mark Coles for his brief stint with the women’s side and wishes him well in his future endeavors.”

Allrounder keen to focus on personal form and pushing case for T20 selection

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2023Warwickshire have announced that Will Rhodes has stepped down as club captain after five seasons in the role.Rhodes, 28, helped the club to claim a County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy double in 2021. Warwickshire were briefly in contention once again last season but only won one in six between May and September before finishing fourth.The allrounder, who remarkably has never missed a first-class game since joining the club from Yorkshire ahead of the 2018 season, made 618 runs at 30.90 in 2023 and told the club that he wanted to focus on his form, as well as regaining a place in the T20 side.”Coming to the club as 22-year-old I never thought I’d get such an opportunity to captain a great club like Warwickshire,” Rhodes said.”It’s been an unbelievable honour. I was hugely grateful for the opportunity when Jim Troughton and Paul Farbrace asked me to do it. And with the support of Robbo [Mark Robinson, Warwickshire’s head coach] and most recently Gavin Larsen I’d like to think I’ve made a positive contribution and helped take the club forward.”I’m looking forward to next season, helping whoever will be the new captain, and hopefully giving them a bit of advice from the experience I’ve gained over the years. And most importantly, collectively pulling together to win as many games as possible for the club.”Warwickshire have yet to make a decision on Rhodes’ successor but Robinson offered his personal thanks after the pair worked together as captain and coach for the past three seasons.”He’ll always be remembered as one of few players who’ve captained a side at Edgbaston to the County Championship,” Robinson said. “I’ve planned and plotted tactics with Rhodesy for several year now and I would personally like to thank him for all the support he’s given me as well as the wider club.”Rhodesy obviously isn’t retiring and will hopefully transition seamlessly into the ranks and continue helping us in our quest for success. But for now we thank him for all he has achieved with us as a leader.”

Group leaders beaten by seven wickets at New Road as Eve Jones anchors chase

ECB Reporters Network30-Aug-2024Central Sparks turned the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy table upside down by thrashing league leaders Southern Vipers by seven wickets at Worcester.Sparks took full advantage of Vipers’ depletion by international calls to add another emphatic victory to their five-wicket Charlotte Edwards Cup win over Georgia Adams’ side at New Road in June.Put in, Vipers were bowled out for 183 in 48.4 overs as Georgia Elwiss fought a lone battle against a potent attack led by Emily Arlott (4 for 15) and Charis Pavely (4 for 31).Sparks then cruised to a seven-wicket win with 64 balls to spare after a polished opening stand of 95 between Eve Jones (54) and Ami Campbell (48) gave the pursuit a perfect platform.Vipers started solidly with an opening partnership of 64 between Rhianna Southby (36) and Ella McCaughan (26) but were then hit by a superb spell from Arlott. The 26-year-old broke through when Southby top-edged a pull and removed the other opener in her next over when McCaughan drove round an inswinger and was bowled. After Adams and Emily Windsor edged to Arlott to wicketkeeper Abi Freeborn, four wickets had fallen for 28 runs in 57 balls.Eve Jones’ 54 set up the run chase•Getty Images

Elwiss dug in for Vipers but partners came and went as the Sparks’ spinners got to work. Hannah Baker trapped Abi Norgrove lbw on the sweep, and Pavely bowled Nancy Harman with a beauty. Georgia Davis flighted one onto Linsey Smith’s off stump and Pavely added two more wickets in four balls when Mary Taylor was lbw and Freya Davies was bowled through the gate. Last batter Ava Lee lasted 28 balls to help Elwiss add 36 but Vipers still came in well short.They desperately needed to strike early with the ball but Sparks opening pair Jones and Campbell put 50 on the board in 12 overs. The openers turned the chase into a formality with a stand of 95 in 19.3 overs before Campbell sent a low return catch to Lee.Davina Perrin edged Adams to wicketkeeper Southby and the Vipers’ captain removed her Sparks counterpart when Jones was caught on the long on rope but the Sparks skipper departed with her side on the threshold of victory.A dazzling cameo from Katie George (38 not out from 29 balls) saw Sparks over the line and left Vipers still with work to do to qualify and Sparks reflecting on what might have been if they had produced performances of this quality on a consistent basis.