India has reportedly decided to move on from Rohit Sharma as part of its preparations for the 2027 World Cup, with the BCCI informing the veteran opener he no longer features in the nation’s long-term plans.
‘Worst in history’: Root rages at star’s all-time Bazball brain fade
Joe Root’s typically composed 99 not out steered a jittery England to a four-wicket win over India in the second one-day international in Cardiff on Thursday to level this three-match series at 1-1.
So long, Bazball: What’s next for Poms after ‘selfish’ deathcult that ‘won nothing’
“We’ve managed to become a sports team that will live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket”.
‘Insane’ Smith breaks ALL-TIME T20 chase record as absurd 40-ball century saves team’s season
Steve Smith has produced one of the most explosive innings of his career, blasting an unbeaten century to lead the Ricky Ponting-coached Washington Freedom to a record-breaking T20 run chase in the Major League Cricket Eliminator.
ICC confirms big World Cup shake-up… and what it means for cricket’s biggest fixture
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Wednesday a revamped format for the men’s 2027 one-day international World Cup that could lead to an additional fixture between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
The Spin | The day Harrogate ‘burst at the seams’ as Pakistan and India swung into town
An unlikely match ‘like a World Cup final’ was for some first proof of Yorkshire immigrant community’s love of cricket
On 30 June 1986 the Yorkshire Post printed an invitation to a pre-match reception at the Majestic hotel. “Meet cricket club celebrities,” the invite read. “Auction, £10 (including buffet).” But these were not just any old cricket celebrities, this was India and Pakistan, led by Kapil Dev and Imran Khan, due to meet for only the second time on British soil at the genteel English town of Harrogate.
This unlikely match, a 40-over bish-bash fundraiser for Help the Aged, had been encouraged by the cricketing bigwigs of both nations. India were already in situ on an England tour, while the Pakistan ambassador, Ali Arshad, was in charge of pulling together a team, flying five players over specially.
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Continue reading...Answer over 40-over shift… and ANOTHER World Cup — How major cricket shake-up could look
The future of international cricket could be set for its biggest shake-up in years after the International Cricket Council’s annual conference in Edinburgh last week.
Bazball star breaks silence on McCullum as India inflicts heavy England defeat in ODI opener
England white-ball captain Harry Brook said Brendon McCullum’s sacking as Test coach was “disappointing” as India won the first ODI by six wickets at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
Who replaces Baz… and the three Aussies in mix as shock names on England shortlist revealed
England are keen to move fast to replace Brendon McCullum as Test coach, days out from giving the man behind Bazball the flick.
BREAKING: Every BBL fixture and venue as shock first for Christmas Eve return confirmed
A historic Big Bash League season opener in India has been officially locked in, with Cricket Australia announcing the full fixtures and venues for the upcoming BBL|16 season.
‘Tap on shoulder’: Baz’s admission over Eng sacking as former Test coach reveals touching Stokes act
Sacked England coach Brendon McCullum has conceded a failure to win back the Ashes was among the reasons his ‘Bazball’ tenure ended in stunning fashion on the weekend.
Flower power: can England tempt head coach back with an already flawed setup? | Ali Martin
England Test head coach vacancy may not appeal to the Zimbabwean who is at the top of his field
That Andy Flower emerged as the favourite to take over England’s Test team so soon after Brendon McCullum’s demotion should come as no surprise. Put simply, the Zimbabwean is the leading active head coach on the circuit.
During his first spell in the job from 2009 to 2014, England won three successive Ashes series, ended a 27-year wait to win a Test series in India, and rose to No 1 in the Test rankings. The men’s white-ball team also broke its duck in global tournaments by lifting the World T20 in the Caribbean in 2010. Flower has since carved out a successful second career. In franchise cricket, his teams have won the Pakistan Super League, the Hundred, the ILT20, and the Indian Premier League (twice). When Australia broke India’s hearts by securing the 2023 World Cup, Flower was in their camp as a batting consultant.
Continue reading...Inside England’s ‘six months of waste’: How Poms botched Baz sacking… and it cost them Stokes —UK View
Bazball is no more.
RIP Bazball: McCullum’s philosophy burned bright but all too briefly
The sacked England Test coach reinvigorated an ailing team in 2022, but his super-aggressive style proved unsustainable
Farewell, then, to Bazball, the approach defined upon its adoption by the Collins English Dictionary in 2023 as “a style of Test cricket in which the batting side attempts to gain the initiative by playing in a highly aggressive manner”. In time the manner grew less aggressive, the attempts to gain the initiative less evident, and the results less convincing. Brendon McCullum, whose philosophies and nickname had inspired it, was always irritated by the term, describing it when he deigned to address it at all as “silly”, but while this is evidently true, Bazball without any of its defining characteristics was downright mystifying.
Ben Stokes was widely mocked in 2023 when, during a drawn home Ashes series, he said, in a speech given in the privacy of the dressing room but filmed and later released by the England and Wales Cricket Board: “What we have managed to do is we’ve managed to become a sports team that will live for ever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket. What we have done is something a lot bigger than any Ashes trophy … be[ing] the team that everybody will always remember.”
Continue reading...Brendon McCullum ‘gutted’ after being sacked as England Test coach
ECB moves after Ben Stokes’s retirement
McCullum will stay on as white-ball coach
Brendon McCullum has been sacked as the England men’s Test coach, with the England and Wales Cricket Board opting for a completely fresh start for the side following the recent retirement of the red-ball captain, Ben Stokes. The decision came one day after McCullum guided England to the top of the T20 rankings, and he will continue to coach the men’s white-ball teams.
McCullum said he was “gutted” after being told his services are no longer required, and he will not be involved in preparations for the three-match series against Pakistan in August and September, by which time the ECB hope to have appointed a replacement.
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