Tag: England

Phil Salt smashed a scintillating century and Barbados-born Jacob Bethell blasted an unbeaten 58 as England romped to an eight-wicket victory over West Indies in their opening T20I at Kensington Oval on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 183 to win, England opener Salt guided the tourists home with 19 balls to spare after a dazzling unbeaten 103 in Bridgetown.

Salt’s third T20 international century came off just 54 balls, including nine fours and six sixes as England cantered to victory, finishing on 183-2 in the 17th over.

Phil Salt set the tone for a dominant England performance in the fourth over, bludgeoning West Indies bowler Shamar Joseph around the ground for 24 runs to take England to 52-0.

The 21-year-old Bethell, who was born and grew up in Barbados before moving to England when he was 12, provided a dazzling half-century, delighting a contingent of friends and family in the stands with a 36-ball knock that included five fours and two sixes.

It’s worth noting that all three of Salt’s T20I centuries have come in games played at Caribbean venues against West Indies. He scored back-to-back tons in last December’s series.

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“I enjoy batting here — I’ve grown up on these surfaces,” Salt said. “It’s probably the place I’m happiest.”

Earlier, West Indies had finished their innings on 182-9 thanks to a late burst of scoring from the lower order, with Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd and Gudakesh Motie accounting for 98 runs of the home side’s final total.

Russell smashed four sixes on his way to 30 off 17 balls while Shepherd slashed an unbeaten 35 off 22 deliveries, including three fours and two sixes.

Shepherd received sterling support from Motie, the tailender cutting loose to score 33 off 14 balls before being caught by Dan Mousley off Saqib Mahmood.

Mahmood was the pick of England’s bowlers, taking four wickets for 34 runs off his four overs. Adil Rashid took three for 32 off four overs.

The second match of the five-match series between West Indies and England will be played on Sunday in Bridgetown.

READ: Uncapped opening batter named in Australia squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy

LAHORE: Pakistan is set to host England, New Zealand and Zimbabwe women’s cricket teams for the first time as ICC announced the Future Tours Programme (FTP) 2025-29.

Zimbabwe will tour Pakistan in April/May 2026, while New Zealand will tour Pakistan in April 2027. Meanwhile, the England women’s team will visit Pakistan in October 2027.

The fourth cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship, which will be played from 2026-29 will see 11 sides taking part in the event for direct qualification to the ICC Women’s 50-over World Cup in 2029. Zimbabwe will feature in the event for the first time.

In the Women’s Championship, each team will compete against eight other teams, following the format of four home and four away series, similar to the current edition. Across 44 series, a total of 132 ODIs will be played, with each series consisting of three matches.

In the Championship, the fourth side to visit Pakistan will be Bangladesh and they will come in October 2028.

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As part of their four away assignments, Pakistan women’s team will travel to South Africa in February 2026, and then play Sri Lanka in July the same year.

Later in November 2026, Pakistan will visit the West Indies while their final away series in the ICC Women’s Championship 2026-29 cycle will be in Ireland in June 2028.

The Future Tour Programme will see an ICC Women’s tournament taking place every year, starting with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in England, the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy in 2027 and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028.

Also, to prepare for ICC events, members have mutually scheduled tri-series tournaments. Ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in England, Ireland will host Pakistan and the West Indies.

Pakistan Home Series:

• April 2026: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
• April 2027: Pakistan vs New Zealand
• October 2027: Pakistan vs England
• October 2028: Pakistan vs Bangladesh

Pakistan Away Series:

• February 2026: Pakistan vs South Africa
• July 2026: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
• November 2026: Pakistan vs West Indies
• June 2028: Pakistan vs Ireland

READ: Mohammad Huraira to lead Pakistan Shaheens against Sri Lanka A

England Men’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler will belatedly join the upcoming tour of the West Indies for the T20I series only as he completes his recovery from a calf injury.

Buttler will miss the three-match ODI series against West Indies after suffering a slight setback in his rehabilitation.

Liam Livingstone will step in as captain for the ODI series with the Lancashire all-rounder set to lead England for the first time. A decision on whether to add a replacement player to the squad is still to be decided.

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The squad flies out to the Caribbean early next week with Buttler to join up in Barbados ahead of the five-match T20I series, which begins on Saturday 9 November.

The three-match ODI series will kick off in Antigua on Thursday 31 October.

England squad for white-ball tour of West Indies

Jos Buttler (c) (T20 series only), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John Turner

*Two further players will be added from the Test squad currently in Pakistan.

Schedule of England vs West Indies white-ball series

Thursday 31 October: 1st ODI – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
Saturday 2 November: 2nd ODI – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
Wednesday 6 November: 3rd ODI – Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Saturday 9 November: 1st T20 – Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
Sunday 10 November: 2nd T20 – Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
Thursday 14 November: 3rd T20 – Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Saturday 16 November: 4th T20 – Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Sunday 17 November: 5th T20 – Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

READ: Kane Williamson ruled out of second India Test

SHARJAH: Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Maia Bouchier scored dominant half-centuries to power England to a thumping ten-wicket victory over Scotland in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.

With this victory, England jumped to the top of Group B, having won all three of their matches in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 so far.

Chasing a 110-run target, England took only 10 overs to finish the game with Bouchier hitting the winning boundary.

Bouchier set the tone for the chase with three boundaries off the first three balls of the innings. Danni Wyatt-Hodge also joined the party in the fourth over, hitting tree boundaries against Olivia Bell.

Both batters continued their dominant batting display, striking regular boundaries to achieve the target in ten overs.

Maia Bouchier scored an unbeaten 62 runs from 34 balls, which featured 12 boundaries, while Danni Wyatt-Hodge struck 51 off 26 with seven boundaries.

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Scotland opted to bat first after winning the toss and got off to a cautious start as they managed 38 runs in eight overs before Nat Sciver-Brunt broke the opening stand.

Saskia Horley went back to the pavilion after scoring a mere 13 runs from 23 balls. Meanwhile, Sarah Bryce scored 27 off 31 before falling prey to Sophie Ecclestone.

Kathryn Bryce held on to one end for Scotland, but could not find enough support from the other end. She top-scored with 33 runs from 28 balls with the help of four boundaries.

Charlie Dean castled Bryce on the last ball of the 17th over to leave Scotland reeling at 89-5.

Megan McColl and Katherine Fraser scored unbeaten 10 and 6 to push the team’s total to 109-6 in their allocated 20 overs.

Sophie Ecclestone led England’s bowling attack with two wickets, while Nat Sciver-Brunt, Lauren Bell, Charlie Dean and Danielle Gibson bagged one scalp each.

READ: Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi dropped from Pakistan squad for England Tests

MULTAN: The England cricket team arrived here in the wee hours of Wednesday to play a three-match Test series against Pakistan, starting on 7 October.

The Ben Stokes-led team will rest on 2 and 3 October before hitting the nets on 4 October to prepare for the three-match Test series.

The three-match series between Pakistan and England will run from October 7 to 28 and is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.

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It’s worth noting that the second Test, which was originally planned at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi from 15-19 October, will now be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

The match has been shifted as the National Bank Stadium is undergoing a major facelift for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

The remaining two Tests will be played as originally planned, i.e. 7-11 October in Multan and 24-28 October in Rawalpindi.

Squads:

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

England: Ben Stokes (C), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

READ: Reason behind Babar Azam’s decision to quit white-ball captaincy revealed

BRISTOL: Travis Head starred with both bat and ball as Australia beat England by 49 runs in a rain-marred fifth ODI to complete a 3-2 series win here on Sunday.

Australia made a blistering start to their chase of 310, with openers Matthew Short (58) and Head (31) sharing a stand of 78 in slightly more than seven overs.

And when rain stopped play, Australia were 165-2 off 20.4 overs — well ahead of the target required under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.

Steve Smith, leading Australia in place of the injured Mitchell Marsh, was 36 not out before the umpires called the game off at 6:00 pm local time (1700 GMT).

Australia’s opening batters Short and Head punished a wayward England attack featuring Olly Stone, in for the rested Jofra Archer. But Brydon Carse struck with his first ball when he had Travis Head caught at cover.

Matthew Potts, who had already dismissed Australia’s Smith twice in the series, almost had the star batter given out lbw for 10 but a review indicated the ball would have missed leg stump.

Short went to fifty when he pulled Carse for his fourth six in just 23 balls. But he was out when caught behind driving at Potts.

England then missed an opportunity when they didn’t appeal after Josh Inglis, on two, got a thin edge off Carse to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.

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Earlier, Steve Smith won the toss only for Phil Salt to launch England’s innings with a quickfire 45 that featured consecutive sixes off Aaron Hardie.

But Hardie had his revenge when Salt’s drive over point was caught by Marnus Labuschagne before he bowled Will Jacks for a duck with an excellent off-cutter.

Harry Brook came in having struck a match-winning ODI century at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday that helped reduce England’s deficit to 2-1 before his 87 laid the foundation for a colossal 186-run success at Lord’s on Friday.

Duckett, who made 63 at Lord’s, completed a 45-ball fifty before Brook reached the landmark in just 39 balls when he drove Hardie over long-on for six.

Brook then struck leg-spinner Adam Zampa for successive sixes at the start of the 25th over. But Zampa, holding his nerve, deceived Brook four balls later with a slower, flighted delivery the batsman miscued low to Glenn Maxwell at long-off.

Brook’s exit sparked an England slump but Duckett, out for 95 in the series opener at Trent Bridge, completed his second career ODI hundred in 86 balls including 13 fours and a six.

The left-hander’s first England century in all formats this season, after several close calls in both Tests and ODIs, ended soon afterwards when he holed out off Head.

England were set for a huge total at one point with the scoreboard reading 202-2, however, they lost their last eight wickets for 107 runs to be dismissed for 309, with part-time spinner Head taking his career-best ODI figures of 4-28.

READ: Sanath Jayasuriya likely to continue as full-time head coach of Sri Lanka: reports

Jason Gillespie, the head coach of Pakistan’s red-ball team, has acknowledged that his team need to be ruthless in the upcoming Test series against England.

The three-match series between Pakistan and England will run from October 7 to 28 and is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.

It’s worth noting that this will be Pakistan’s second Test series under Jason Gillespie. In his first series as the red-ball head coach, the Green Shirts suffered a disappointing 2-0 series loss at the hands of Bangladesh.

During an appearance at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast, Gillespie expressed his disappointment over the series loss against Bangladesh.

“We showed glimpses of quality in the Test series against Bangladesh, where we were really driving the game forward. However, we didn’t sustain it long enough,” he stated.

“When we allowed our opponents to get back into the game, they capitalized and pulled ahead. That’s where we let ourselves down.”

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The former Australian fast bowler emphasized the importance of the Green Shirts adopting a relentless and aggressive approach to their cricket.

“What we need is a bit more ruthlessness. When we’re ahead, we need to stay ahead and make sure we drive home that advantage,” he stressed.

Jason Gillespie also defended the selection of Pakistan’s squad for the first Test against England. He emphasized the importance of backing players and maintaining stability in the team rather than implementing drastic changes.

“The players understand my philosophy regarding selection. We want to back and support them. Of course, if performances are not at the required level over a prolonged period, we may consider changes,” he shared

READ: Pakistan to hold training camp for England Tests from 2 October

The Pakistan men’s cricket team will kick off their training camp on 2 October for the upcoming first Test against England, which will be played in Multan from 7 October.

Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood will hold a pre-series press conference at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on 30 September (tomorrow).

Following that, Pakistan’s Test squad will assemble in Multan on 1 October where they will hold training sessions from 2 October. The first session will be held from 12:00 PM, where players will undergo rigorous batting, bowling and fielding training.

Meanwhile, the England men’s cricket team will arrive in the wee hours of 2 October. The visiting team will take a day’s rest before hitting the nets on 4 October to prepare for the three-match Test series.

The training camps of both teams will end on 6 October.

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The three-match series between Pakistan and England will run from October 7 to 28 and is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.

It’s worth noting that the second Test, which was originally planned at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi from 15-19 October, will now be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

The match has been shifted as the National Bank Stadium is undergoing a major facelift for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

The remaining two Tests will be played as originally planned, i.e. 7-11 October in Multan and 24-28 October in Rawalpindi.

Squads:

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

England: Ben Stokes (C), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

READ: Spinners shine as Sri Lanka complete clean sweep over New Zealand

England Test captain and dynamic all-rounder Ben Stokes is open to once again returning to One-Day Internationals (ODIs) ahead of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in Pakistan next year.

Stokes, who announced his retirement from ODI cricket during the home series against South Africa in 2022, undid his decision to represent England in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

The defending champions did not fare well in the tournament, suffering an early exit and finishing seventh with six points in nine matches.

Ben Stokes, who was brought out of the ODI retirement by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), however, did well with the bat as he scored 304 runs in six appearances at a brilliant average of over 50. He also scored a century in the global event.

The all-rounder has not played an ODI since England’s last ICC World Cup 2023 fixture against Pakistan.

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Meanwhile, in his recent interview with Sky Sports, Ben Stokes lauded England’s new talent, currently in action against a five-match ODI series against Australia.

“This white-ball team has gone in a new direction,” said Stokes.

“We’ve seen some unbelievable talent come through, just to point out one: Jacob Bethell, who I think is going to be a superstar.

“I’ve played a lot of white-ball cricket for England, I’m very happy and content with what I’ve achieved in that form of the game.”

The all-rounder then went on to share that if he gets a call to represent England in both white-ball teams, he would say “yes”.

“If I am part of the white-ball teams’ plans going forward in any way, shape or form then great,” said Stokes. “If I get the call, saying ‘do you want to come and play?’ It’s definitely going to be a ‘yes’,” said Stokes.

“But I’m not going to be too disappointed if I don’t because it means someone’s come in and doing really well. I can just sit back and watch everyone else go out and smack it,” he concluded.

For the unversed, Ben Stokes is set to undergo a scan for his hamstring injury next week ahead of the upcoming Test series against Pakistan.

The star all-rounder is currently nursing a hamstring injury, which he suffered in August during the The Hundred 2024.

READ: Pakistan’s Haris beats England’s Blackwell in second round of British Open

England women’s cricket captain Heather Knight has been reprimanded and given a suspended £1,000 ($1,300) fine after a historical photograph of her in “blackface” emerged on social media.

Knight, set to lead England at next month’s Women’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, said she was “truly sorry” for conduct that was deemed “racist and discriminatory” by Cricket Discipline Commission adjudicator Tim O’Gorman.

However, O’Gorman accepted there was no racist or discriminatory intent by Heather Knight, who was 21 when the image was taken at a sports-themed fancy dress party in 2012.

Knight, whose fine has been suspended for two years, said in a statement: “I’m truly sorry for the mistake I made in 2012. It was wrong and I have long regretted it.

“Back then, I simply was not as educated as to the implications and consequences of my actions as I have become since. There was no ill-intent meant.

“Whilst I can’t change the past, I am passionate and committed to using my platform to promote inclusivity across the game, ensuring under-represented groups are afforded the same opportunities and fulfilment within the game as I have.”

The picture of Heather Knight in blackface was posted to the Facebook account of another person.

Knight promptly accepted the charges brought last month, showed remorse and apologised for her conduct.

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Her punishment also takes into account the fact she did not have any education about the issues involved in posing for such a photo at the time and the work she undertakes to promote diversity and inclusion.

O’Gorman’s judgement said: “At a ‘sports stars’ themed party in 2012, Ms Knight appeared in a photo in fancy dress with blackface. This, I find, was racist and discriminatory conduct.

“(But) I find and accept that there was no racist or discriminatory intent in the blackface itself.

“It is accepted that Ms Knight did not herself post the photograph on any social media platform, has no power to delete the photo and has no power to control how it has been posted (or might be posted in future).

“I consider that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to require a further apology.”

Heather Knight’s teammate Danni Wyatt-Hodge was reprimanded two years ago for charges relating to blackface from an Instagram post in 2013.

England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould said: “Heather recognises this was a serious error of judgement which took place more than 10 years ago and has rightly apologised.

“As a public figure and leader, Heather has worked tirelessly to foster a more inclusive and equitable future for cricket.”

READ: Adil Rashid breaks silence on retirement plans