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South Africa left-arm spinner’s celebration of a wicket lands her in trouble

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2025

Nonkululeko Mlaba picked up 2 for 46 in South Africa’s win over India•BCCI

South Africa left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba was handed a demerit point for breaching the ICC’s code of conduct during the match against India at the Women’s World Cup.The incident occurred in the 17th over of India’s innings, when Mlaba, after dismissing Harleen Deol, waved goodbye to the batter, which an ICC release on Saturday noted, “could have provoked an aggressive response”Mlaba was judged to have breached Article 2.5, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”Related

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On-field umpires Jacquline Williams and Kim Cotton, third umpire Candace le Borde and fourth umpire Sue Redfern levelled the charge. Mlaba admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Trudy Anderson. The sanction also included an official reprimand.Mlaba will carry this demerit point into a 24-month period. When a player reaches four or more demerit points within this period, they can be suspended for one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first.South Africa clinched a thriller against India on Thursday, chasing down 252 to post their second win in three games of the World Cup. Mlaba picked up 2 for 46 in the game.

Holder not only anchored Patriots’ innings with an unbeaten fifty but also delivered a match-winning final over

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2025St Kitts and Nevis Patriots kept their playoffs hopes alive by pulling off a narrow one-run victory over Barbados Royals, who have been knocked out of the race in CPL 2025. Captain Jason Holder played a starring role, not only anchoring Patriots’ innings with an unbeaten fifty but also delivering a match-winning final over with the ball, in which he defended 13 runs.Patriots sit fifth on the points table with eight points and all their matches done. Guyana Amazon Warriors are fourth with eight points and if they win either of their next two matches, they will secure the last playoffs spot, with St Lucia Kings, Trinbago Knight Riders and Antigua and Barbuda Falcons already through.While there were handy contributions from several players, Holder’s all-round performance was the key to Patriots’ success. His 53 not out guided them to 150 for 7, with Patriots recovering from 62 for 4 at the end of ten overs. This was after Mohammad Rizwan’s 39 off 36 helped Patriots get off to a modest start. Holder, along with Navin Bidaisee (30 off 23), accelerated in the latter stages as the pair added 74 runs off 46 balls for the sixth wicket, including 34 runs off the last three overs.Holder’s leadership was also evident in the bowling attack, where he claimed two crucial wickets in the death. His most dramatic contribution came in the final over, with Royals needing 14 runs to win. Rassie van der Dussen started the over with a six over long-on to bring the equation down to eight off five. Holder kept his composure and, with the equation down to two needed off the last ball, bowled a perfect yorker to trap Daniel Sams lbw, sealing a thrilling victory for Patriots.Earlier, Royals had made a strong start, with opener Brandon King (29 off 22) laying a good foundation for the chase. They raced to 44 for 1 by the end of powerplay. However, the middle overs proved costly as the top order struggled to accelerate. Patriots’ bowlers capitalised, with Waqar Salamkheil striking first with the wicket of King and Naseem Shah removing Kadeem Alleyne in the eighth over. Quinton de Kock was caught and bowled by Bidaisee in the following over and despite a dropped catch from Rizwan, Royals’ chase started to lose momentum.Van der Dussen fought valiantly, keeping Royals in the hunt with a quickfire 37 off 27 balls, but it wasn’t enough in the end. For Patriots, Salamkheil and Bidaisee also picked up two wickets apiece.

Test cricket, when your front men are scoring runs, is bliss. And that is what India will be searching for in Mumbai

Alagappan Muthu29-Oct-20241:16

Manjrekar: India will hope Rohit, Kohli fire in Australia

This is an anomaly, and it is at the heart of everything that has gone down in this series. A visiting batter is the top-scorer. There really aren’t very many times that has happened in Test cricket played in India.Keeping to events in this century, there was Alastair Cook’s merciless grind in 2012-13. Steven Smith’s extraordinary skill in 2016-17. Hashim Amla’s wristy goodness in 2009-10, dismissed just once while scoring 490 runs. Andy Flower’s sweep-shot masterclass in 2000-01. Matthew Hayden’s sweep-shot masterclass in 2000-01. This is not an exhaustive list, but it does highlight a very useful point. Only one of these five performances went on to help their team win the series.India’s batters found ways to match most of the others. Cheteshwar Pujara was hot on Smith’s heels. Rahul Dravid was only 108 runs off Flower despite playing one fewer innings. And VVS Laxman made 2000-01 all about himself with just one trip to the crease. A significant part of their dominance at home came down to their ability to pile on some serious runs, the kind that simply overwhelmed oppositions. England, in 2016-17, began three of the five Tests with first-innings totals of 400 or more. They drew one and lost two – by an innings.Related

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Often enough, these runs came from their top four – from players with an enormous amount of experience, and the stubbornness that comes with it. This time, however, India’s closest representative to Rachin Ravindra on top of the leaderboard is a man who hadn’t played any international cricket prior to this year.Sarfaraz Khan’s biggest contribution, though – his 150, which forms a lion’s share of his total 170 runs – did come from higher up in the batting line-up. In fact, he braved the challenge of walking out earlier than he normally does in first-class cricket, and came good. That innings is doing a lot of legwork in carrying the average of the top four batters for India up to 31.75. Take that away, and in 15 innings, they have contributed 358 runs at an average of 23.87, including three ducks.New Zealand’s Nos. 1-4, meanwhile, are averaging 49, and even if you take Ravindra’s century out, it stands a healthy 37 because Devon Conway has two half-centuries; Tom Latham, in Pune, produced some of the most high-quality defensive batting seen in the second innings in India in the modern era; and Will Young, who came in to replace Kane Williamson, perhaps the only irreplaceable player in the team, has offered solidity. Among India’s top four, only Yashasvi Jaiswal has faced more balls than Young’s 222. Among his own top four, only Latham has faced fewer (210).Test cricket, when your front men are scoring runs, is bliss. And that is what India will be searching for in Mumbai. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have home bases here, left Pune early. It was understandable. There was nothing more for them there. Just unhealthy reminders of what they had lost: 18 straight series wins, a run unlike any other in the history of the game, and a run to which they had been significant contributors.India need the Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli of old now•BCCIKohli, in particular, has produced absolute gems in dire batting conditions. He made 248 runs in Visakhapatnam from eight years ago, but 81 of those stand separate – as an example of just how devastating his focus is. The ball that turned big couldn’t beat him. The ball that went straight couldn’t catch him off guard. The ball that kept low was whipped to the boundary. There was a 44 against Australia in Delhi just last year, when he was in control of roughly nine out of 10 balls in conditions where the others could only dream of such a thing. His judgment of length was scary quick, and the decisions that they led to elevated batting into art. In this series, he has been bowled to a Mitchell Santner full toss and caught off a non-turning Glenn Phillips offbreak. It has continued a worrying trend in both his and his team-mates’ batting against spin.Rohit has been a lightning rod for India’s defeats. His comments at the post-match press conference in Pune – particularly where he tried to defend the options that he and his team chose – have not gone down well. On social media, people have likened him to Erik Ten Hag, the Manchester United manager who had a habit of telling the media that he was happy with his team’s performance even after losses and pointing to past victories to explain their progress. Ten Hag was sacked on Monday. Rohit’s situation is slightly more secure, but it hasn’t escaped notice that he has led India to four losses in 15 home Tests. His predecessor lost two in 31.Reducing a player to just their numbers can be a bit unforgiving. Worse, it tends to paint an incomplete picture. In this case, it ignores how well Rohit led the team against England earlier this year when they went 0-1 down, and lost first-choice picks to injury and other complications. All of a sudden, there was a whole bunch of new(ish) faces in the team, and nearly all of them had a hand in turning that series scoreline to read 4-1. One of them, Jaiswal, is shaping up to be a world-beater. Rohit lifted his own performance levels as well, scoring two centuries and a fifty. India need that Rohit and that Kohli now. They need their two best batters to regain their old aura.

West Ham United’s return to Premier League football didn’t entirely go to plan on Saturday afternoon.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side looked on course to win their third game on the bounce when Callum Wilson made it 2-0 against Bournemouth in the 35th minute. However, the Cherries fought back, and thanks to a penalty and a goal from Enes Unal, came away with a point.

With that said, in the context of the season at large, it’s still a good point for the Hammers, especially as they had to make do without dynamic Crysencio Summerville and Lucas Paqueta.

Unfortunately, the Dutchman won’t be fit for the Liverpool game, but Nuno might have the perfect solution, one that involves dropping Luis Guilherme.

Guilherme's game vs Bournemouth

Now, the first thing to say is that Guilherme is still a promising talent and someone who could develop into a real star for West Ham.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

However, what is equally true is that he failed to make a case for why he should be in the starting lineup in place of the injured Summerville next time out.

The young Brazilian wasn’t terrible on Saturday, but he was almost entirely ineffective, looking unable to create chances for his teammates or get himself into positions where chances could be supplied to him.

Moreover, the 19-year-old still looks as slight as ever and lacks any real power or pace, which are two traits becoming increasingly important for attackers in the Premier League.

Unsurprisingly, the manager decided to take him off at the break, which only made his dire statistics even more pitiful.

Minutes

45′

Expected Goals

0.00

Expected Assists

0.01

Shots

0

Passes

10

Touches

21

Lost Possession

9

Dribbles (Successful)

3 (1)

Ground Duels (Won)

8 (1)

Dribbled Past

1

In his 45 minutes of inaction, the Brazilian registered an expected assists figure of 0.01, failed to take a single shot, took just 21 touches, failed in 66% of his dribbles, lost the ball nine times, completed ten passes, was dribbled past and lost seven of eight duels.

In short, Guilherme proved he cannot come in for Summerville again, so Nuno has to bring in one of the club’s most exciting prospects instead.

West Ham's Summerville solution

The player Nuno should bring into the squad to replace Guilherme and help solve the blow of Summerville’s injury is George Earthy.

Now, that might sound bold, and perhaps it is, but the academy gem has long been talked about as one of the club’s next stars, and his time at youth level and out on loan suggests as much.

For example, in 60 appearances for the u18s, totalling 4804 minutes, he scored 25 goals and provided 18 assists, which is an average of a goal involvement every 1.39 games, or every 111.72 minutes.

Then, during his time with the u21s, he scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in 55 appearances, totalling 3618 minutes, which is an average of a goal involvement every 1.71 games, or every 113.06 minutes.

In other words, the Havering-born gem is a dual threat: a goalscorer and a creator.

Appearances

60

55

Minutes

4804′

3618′

Goals

25

18

Assists

18

14

Goal Involvements per Match

0.71

0.58

Minutes per Goal Involvement

111.72′

113.06′

Moreover, with 40 appearances for Bristol City last season, during which he was named young player of the year, he has plenty of genuine first-team experience under his belt already.

With all of that said, the “priceless” youngster, as dubbed by coach Steve Potts, is primarily an attacking midfielder, and so it would make sense to play him there against Liverpool, which means the man who’d actually outright replace Guilherme is actually Paqueta.

Yes, the Brazilian is also primarily a central player, but has made 36 club appearances on the left-hand side in his career, as well as six for the Brazilian national team.

Anyway, having the former Lyon gem further forward could help make the team more dangerous in attack, while also allowing the 21-year-old to get up to speed in a more familiar position.

Ultimately, it is not ideal, but Guilherme made it clear against Bournemouth that he cannot start games at the moment. Therefore, bringing the incredibly talented Earthy into the middle and allowing Paqueta to play on the left could be the answer to Summerville’s absence – at least for now.

West Ham dealt Jarrod Bowen blow as Nuno faces fresh concern about star winger

The England international is their most crucial man by some distance.

ByEmilio Galantini Nov 21, 2025

Manchester United are now eyeing a move for another “brilliant” Wolverhampton Wanderers star, alongside their interest in midfielder Joao Gomes.

Man Utd looking to sign two Wolves stars

It could be viewed as questionable to be targeting players from Wolves, given that they have made a torrid start to the campaign, having only collected two points thus far, but Man United have recently set their sights on Gomes.

In fact, the Brazilian maestro has reportedly already said ‘yes’ to a move to Old Trafford, with INEOS now working on a deal, which could amount to £50m, with bringing in a new central midfielder of particular importance to Ruben Amorim & co.

Several targets have already been identified in midfield ahead of the January transfer window, including Nottingham Forest and England star Elliot Anderson, with journalist Andy Mitten revealing the Red Devils “would love” to sign the 23-year-old.

However, with a fee of over £100m being touted, potentially cheaper alternatives are also being targeted, and Man United are now eyeing a move for Wolves’ Andre, who has recently joined six other players on the list of midfield targets.

That is according to reliable reporter Rob Dawson, in a report for ESPN, with it being revealed United are looking to bring in at least one top midfielder next summer, while Amorim is also keen to bring in additional options at wing-back.

With United looking to get the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho off the books, INEOS feel as though they will have the financial muscle to make the necessary improvements to the squad, and moves could be made in January, although they would prefer to wait until the summer.

"Brilliant" Andre might not fit Man Utd's criteria

After signing for Wolves for £21m back in 2024, the Brazilian has gone on to establish himself as a key player for Wolves, and former player Dave Edwards has been impressed by the midfielder’s performances at times this season, lauding him as “brilliant”.

However, with United looking to sign a proven top-level midfielder, the 24-year-old might not be exactly what they’re looking for, given that he is yet to play in Europe, and has mainly been fighting at the bottom of the Premier League table since leaving Fluminense.

While the Wolves star is now experienced in the Premier League, having made 45 appearances over the past two seasons, there are a number of more exciting options on the shortlist, including Anderson, who is arguably a more rounded midfielder.

Amorim and Wilcox agree on blockbuster Man Utd move for "elite" £80m star

The Red Devils could now make a notable signing that would be represent a statement at Old Trafford.

By
Sean Markus Clifford

Nov 24, 2025

The 23-year-old amassed eight goal contributions in the Premier League last season, during which time Andre failed to register a single goal or assist, while he is also solid from a defensive point of view, placing in the 91st percentile for tackles per 90 over the past year, compared to other midfielders.

As such, Anderson should be Man United’s top target in midfield, but the £100m+ price tag could be prohibitive, and Forest are in a position to play hardball, as he remains under contract until 2029.

Former captains Mohammad Ashraful and Akram Khan point at systemic issues around team selection, lack of batting plans, and players not adapting to the modern way

Mohammad Isam16-Oct-2025Bangladesh’s seemingly never-ending issues in the batting department remains in focus as they head into another ODI series – this time against West Indies at home – within three days of their 3-0 whitewash at the hands of Afghanistan.There is a confidence problem within the batting group, with captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz conceding after their 200-run defeat in the third ODI that they wanted to bat 50 overs but were struggling to.Fans are irate too. On Wednesday, one group gave the Bangladesh players an unsavoury welcome, including inflicting damage on some players’ vehicles. Another group urged people to stay away from the Shere Bangla National Stadium for the first ODI against West Indies on Saturday.Related

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Former Bangladesh captains Mohammad Ashraful and Akram Khan have both said that Bangladesh’s batting approach and overall strategy in the last 12 months have left them baffled.Ashraful, who has recently started his coaching career, said that the problems begin at the top, with Bangladesh’s top-order. Only Saif Hassan, playing his maiden ODI series, played the lead in whatever starts Bangladesh got against Afghanistan. Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto scored 22 runs in five innings between them. Mohammad Naim scratched around for seven in his only appearance.The situation was slightly better against Sri Lanka in July, although Tanzid and Parvez Hossain Emon scoring a fifty each hardly made a difference to the team’s performances. Shanto made 37 runs in three innings back then.”I think the biggest concern is the lack of runs from the top order,” Ashraful told ESPNcricinfo. “It has been going on for a while now. Shanto isn’t scoring runs, so that’s becoming a problem. In fact, the lack of runs from the top order goes back quite a long way. During the West Indies series last year, it was Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali and Mehidy Hasan Miraz bailing us out every time. We did put up reasonable totals but I kept feeling that we were at least 50 runs short in those three matches. Even before that, in the previous Afghanistan series last year, we couldn’t get good starts because of poor strike rates.”Ashraful said that the lack of runs from Shanto and Litton Das, and Mehidy’s lukewarm batting tempo through the middle-overs, have dented Bangladesh severely. Among the batters around the national side these days, Mehidy is the most experienced with 113 ODIs, while Litton is on 95 and Shanto 55.Litton Das has been in and out of the ODI team•AFP/Getty ImagesLitton’s ODI career has stalled after a prolonged batting drought in the format. He has scored only 35 runs in his last nine innings going back to December 2023. He has been dropped twice from ODIs, although he is a Test regular and the T20I captain.”Whenever the team’s established batters don’t score runs, it makes life difficult for the rest,” Ashraful said. “Litton has been in and out of the ODI team for a while now. He is sometimes out of the squad, and then they bring him in on the back of some runs in another format. He returns, and then he fails again.”I also feel that since Mehidy began batting at No. 5, he is scoring runs but not how modern batters go about it. We are going back to our time when a batter would score 65-70 off 100 balls.”

“The ODI team hasn’t settled down. There’s too much chopping and changing. I think many of these decisions are being taken due to pressure from media and social media”Mohammad Ashraful

Bangladesh have been going through a batting transition in the last 24 months. Those who exited the format – Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah – possessed vast ODI experience. Tanzid, Towhid Hridoy, Mehidy and Jaker have since taken over those batting positions and the swaps haven’t been smooth.Tanzid no longer enjoys a blanket backing from the management. Hridoy’s honeymoon period is long gone – he has failed to make meaningful contributions since the century against India in the Champions Trophy. Jaker is struggling, too, in the last few months.Akram, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman across two terms in the last ten years, is sympathetic.”I think there’s too much pressure on the players,” Akram told ESPNcricinfo. “They are not a bad team. These are not bad players. Generally, however, I am not seeing the ability to play big knocks. I don’t see the batters planning their innings, or at least breaking them down to phases of 15 balls each. Batting like this was possible in Abu Dhabi where we saw that only one innings got close to the 300-run mark. But we didn’t plan well.ODI captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz has been among the runs, but his strike rate has been a concern•AFP/Getty Images”I think the coaches should be held accountable. Losing one in ten matches is okay, but when you lose most games, there will be questions. It is high time we understand the importance of the men’s cricket team. Their level of performance reflects the overall health of cricket in the country. I think there’s a lot of room for improvement.”Ashraful also feels there should be better decision-making in the selection of the side. Apart from what he said about Litton, he pointed to the selection policy when it came to Soumya Sarkar.”The ODI team hasn’t settled down. There’s too much chopping and changing,” Ashraful said. “I think many of these decisions are being taken due to pressure from media and social media.”It will be a tough series against the West Indies. It won’t be like the ODI series in the past few years. West Indies are fresh from a Test series in India where two of their batters struck centuries in the second Test. I think that makes them a team with more confidence.”In home conditions, however, “we can always hope to do well,” Ashraful said. Which, of course, might only serve to paper over the cracks.

The Oman captain on his journey back from injury and his aspirations at the Asia Cup

Shashank Kishore11-Sep-2025Jatinder Singh nearly retired in June 2024. He was suffering from sciatic nerve compression in the spinal cord and the pain was so much worse than the disappointment of not making the Oman squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup.The flare-ups were so bad that even bending down was a battle. Walking was measured and slow. Playing cricket seemed impossible in these circumstances.”I remember sitting with my wife and telling her that maybe it was time to retire,” Jatinder, now 36 and Oman’s captain at the Asia Cup, tells ESPNcricinfo. “I didn’t want to be a burden on the team anymore. I felt like I was holding them back.”His wife, Ramandeep Kaur, did not let him quit.”She told me, ‘For the number of years you’ve given to cricket, this injury is just a small blip. You can’t let this one setback define you. Push through it. Once you find your rhythm again, you’ll be unstoppable.'” Her words gave him new direction. Instead of retiring hastily, Jatinder decided to make a comeback.Related

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His journey of recovery took him to India. Through his team-mate Suraj Kumar, he found Dr Gaurav Sharma – a sports-science specialist with IPL franchise Gujarat Titans. But what Jatinder thought would be a quick, month-long recovery turned into a painstaking 105-day rehabilitation process in Chandigarh.”When Gaurav saw me, he told me it was not a short-term thing,” Jatinder says. “It was posture-related, and we needed to work on strengthening the smaller muscles so that the shooting pain would not come back.”Jatinder Singh was considering retiring in 2024•ICC/Getty ImagesJatinder stayed in the suburb of Kharar and travelled to the clinic in Chandigarh for treatment. Evenings were spent in sessions with strength and conditioning coach Jitendra Billa near the Mohali stadium. He was dedicated to this routine for three months.”It was exhausting, physically and mentally. But help came from all sides,” he says with gratitude.Former India fast bowler Aavishkar Salvi, who was Oman’s bowling consultant at the time, arranged for Jatinder to stay closer to the clinic. “Salvi bhai spoke to Baltej Singh [Punjab fast bowler], who offered me his vacant apartment for three months.”After nearly eight weeks, when he could resume light training, Jatinder rang Salvi again. “This time, he connected me to Punjab cricketer Jassinder Singh, who helped organise nets and a throw-down specialist for me to be able to resume batting.”For the first time in months, he felt good about playing cricket.”It was still hard mentally,” he says. “When you’ve been through an injury, your mind replays the pain, and you fear it happening again. But with every net session, every treatment, every day at the gym, I started feeling stronger. That fear slowly went away.”By the end of September last year, Jatinder was back. In October, he was appointed Oman’s captain for the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. It felt like a blessing after all the pain he had endured.”I never played cricket with the aim of becoming captain,” he says. “My only passion was to play the game. So, for me, this was part of god’s plan. I’m just grateful.””Gratitude” is a word Jatinder often uses while he tells his story, which started on cement pitches and mud grounds in 2011, when most of Oman’s players had full-time jobs and could train only in the evening.Jatinder Singh began playing cricket while working a full-time job•Peter Della PennaThe turning point came when Sri Lankan great Duleep Mendis took over as Oman’s coach in 2014, bringing with him semi-professionalism, part-time contracts, and a culture of discipline. Soon enough, Oman had positive results – they won the ACC Cup in 2015 and secured entry to the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Ireland and Scotland.”We trained and played in 50-degree heat at home and then had to play in near-freezing conditions abroad,” Jatinder says with a smile. The hard work paid off when they beat Ireland at the 2016 T20 World Cup in India.”That’s one of our golden moments,” Jatinder says. “The other big moment was climbing from Division 5 up the ladder and securing ODI status in 2018. And then of course, hosting matches at the T20 World Cup in 2021, along with UAE.”I’ve seen cricket change in our country. From days when we had no facilities, to today, when we have facilities par with some of the best in the world. What we need are opportunities to improve.”Jatinder works in the administration department of a private company – Khimji & Ramdas, which is owned by the family of Pankaj Khimji, the top boss of Oman Cricket. His days are carefully planned: fitness sessions in the morning, nets in the afternoon, office work, and more training in the evening.”It’s busy, but it keeps me disciplined,” he says.That discipline is being tested again as Oman prepare for their biggest challenge – their first Asia Cup. The team recently completed a D20 domestic tournament in Al-Amerat, providing some match practice before facing Asia’s best.”For us, this Asia Cup is like a World Cup,” Jatinder says. “It’s a chance to rub shoulders with the giants, to see how they think and prepare.”I know Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma from the ACC Emerging Cup in Oman last year. We had some great conversations. Abhishek gave us valuable advice about training and told us to back ourselves as a talented group.”Jatinder Singh had moved to Oman at the age of 10•ICC/Getty ImagesOman’s squad is a mix of players from India and Pakistan and is coached by a talismanic Sri Lankan in Mendis. Their bond, he says, is unshakable despite a few tumultuous months, when several regular players were dropped in the wake of a contract crisis that rocked the team.”For all of us, Oman is the top priority,” Jatinder says. “Our team is like a family. We joke around, spend time together, and no one takes anything personally. Most of us live close by in a radius of 25km in Muscat, so we train and socialise together all the time. It makes a big difference.”Family has always been the anchor for Jatinder ever since he moved to Oman as a 10-year-old. His father worked in the Royal Oman Police for decades, rising through the ranks to retire as head of the carpentry department in 2022.”He wasn’t a cricket person at first,” Jatinder says with a laugh. “But now he follows every match and even calls me with advice sometimes.”I’m grateful to every person who helped me, my wife especially. My coaches, my team-mates, even friends who encouraged me when I felt low. Each of them has played a part in this journey. Now, I just want to keep going, to keep making Oman proud.”

Australia 248 for 4 (Gardner 104*, Sutherland 98*) beat England 244 for 9 (Beaumont 78, Sutherland 3-60) by six wicketsIndomitable Australia were at it again, this time with an unbroken 180-run stand between Annabel Sutherland and Ash Gardner which dug them out of early trouble and put them back into top spot on the World Cup table with a six-wicket win against England.It almost feels misguided to use the word “trouble” when it comes to an Australian side packed with so many gifted allrounders and boasting such depth that someone, anyone, in their XI can always get the job done.On Wednesday in Indore, where Australia lurched to 24 for 3 then 68 for 4, it was Sutherland and Gardner, who proved so dominant in their pursuit of 245 that they inadvertently turned the closing stages into a battle over who would reach a century first.Gardner did it, rocking back with intent to steer a Lauren Bell delivery to the boundary through deep third. She’d romped there from 69 balls, yet three dot balls followed to give Sutherland the strike, with four runs needed for victory and five for her ton.Sutherland attempted a six off Sophie Ecclestone and miscued high over cover where Heather Knight spilled the chance. Though she got back on strike with a two, a subsequent single left her at the non-striker’s end on 98, with Gardner hitting the winning boundary as Australia cruised to victory with 57 balls to spare.Both had played their part with the ball too in restricting England to 244 for 9. Sutherland claimed three wickets and Gardner two while legspinner Alana King was instrumental in smothering England through the middle overs with a miserly eight-over spell. She yielded just 13 runs while claiming the big wicket of Nat Sciver-Brunt for just 7. King finished with 1 for 20 from 10.Tammy Beaumont found form with the bat but, without her half-century and a late charge by seventh-wicket pair Alice Capsey and Charlie Dean, England would have been worse off than defending a total that still looked sub-par against a side as strong as Australia.Australia celebrate the DRS review that sent Heather Knight on her way•Getty Images

So it proved as Australia – missing injured captain, wicketkeeper and in-form batter Alyssa Healy – consigned England to their first defeat of the tournament.After a best score of 32 from five innings at this World Cup, Beaumont stood up for England with 78, sharing a 55-run opening stand with Amy Jones. Capsey was the only member of England’s struggling middle-order to make a significant contribution with 38 off 32 balls, while Dean provided another helpful cameo from No.8, this time worth 26 from 27 as the pair put on 61 runs together.It looked briefly like their efforts might have been good enough when new-ball duo Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith sent Australia reeling.Bell’s third ball was a gem which moved away from left-hander Phoebe Litchfield, whizzed past the outside edge and took out off stump. It was the first time in 33 ODI innings that Litchfield had been dismissed in the first over.Healy pursed her lips and shook her head in the dug-out as she watched a replay of her batting replacement, Georgia Voll, bottom-edging a slog-sweep off Smith onto off stump, losing her balance and toppling onto the ground into a backward somersault to complete the indignity.Smith claimed her second with a simple return catch off Ellyse Perry’s leading edge as she backed away from a shorter delivery, while stand-in skipper Beth Mooney was left chewing her top lip after she spooned Sophie Ecclestone to midwicket, where Sciver-Brunt took a sharp catch dive-rolling to her left.Sutherland looked scratchy early in her rescue mission but she settled into a rhythm, moving into the 40s with a powerful slog-sweep off Smith and clearing the covers off Dean for four to bring up her fifty. She then skipped down the pitch to Bell and steered another boundary expertly between extra cover and mid-off.Linsey Smith struck in her second over as Georgia Voll played on•ICC/Getty Images

Gardner raised her half-century with a glorious pulled four off Sciver-Brunt but didn’t stop there, adding two more straight away, a carbon copy of the first followed by a lofted drive down the ground.From there the Australian duo made their task look easy, Gardner becoming particularly aggressive with three consecutive fours off Capsey and three more off Ecclestone’s ninth over to move ahead of Sutherland.Earlier, Kim Garth, who replaced fellow seamer Darcie Brown in the Australian side, and Megan Schutt were wayward with their lines and lengths and the England openers capitalised. England reached 55 for 0 in eight overs, which was already their highest powerplay total of the tournament.But Sutherland’s introduction to the attack delivered instant rewards with a wicket maiden as she plucked out Jones, playing inside the line of a perfect ball on the top of off stump, and when Garth closed out the powerplay with her own maiden to Beaumont, Australia’s mid-innings fightback was underway.After a wise Australia review removed Knight, lbw to Sophie Molineux, King backed up the excellent economy of her player-of-the-match performance against Bangladesh and was rewarded with the wicket of Sciver-Brunt, lured down the pitch and skewing the ball to Sutherland at mid-off.King extracted prolific turn and bounce, her initial spell coinciding with a period between the 20th and 30th overs in which England added just 26 runs. Australia, by contrast, would rack up 77 for 0 in the same spell of their reply.A cool-headed catch by Voll, playing her first World Cup match, removed Beaumont. Feeling the need to pick up England’s tempo, Beaumont took on Sutherland’s slower ball as Voll ran backwards at long-on, parried the ball back into play as she toppled over the boundary rope, and stepped calmly back inside to complete the catch.It was a back-of-the-hand slower ball from Sutherland which extended Emma Lamb’s wretched tournament when she was bowled off her pads for 7, and after struggling for rhythm in her 22 from 48 balls, Sophia Dunkley misread a Gardner delivery, advancing and heaving towards the leg side as the ball spun past the outside edge. Mooney whipped off the bails as she tried in vain to make her ground.Capsey defied her lean run at No. 7 with back-to-back fours off Sutherland, taking her past her previous best of 20 for this tournament. But when she was pinned on the pad by Molineux and Dean chipped Gardner to cover two balls later, Australia wrested back control.

While Pakistan dealt with the burden of being (g)hosts

Alan Gardner12-Mar-2025And so they did it, triumphing against the odds. Plucky India, with their population of 1.4 billion. With their ICC revenue share of US$230 million. With their team of IPL Galacticos (but no Jasprit Bumrah, of course – another hurdle to overcome). They defeated New Zealand, Goliaths of overachievement, in the Champions Trophy final and the whole cricket world rejoiced.Or at least the biggest contributors to cricket’s economy rejoiced, which pretty much amounts to the same thing. Seriously, who do you think is paying for all this stuff?We had to cheer the little guy on right to the last ball of the penultimate over, so gamely did they attempt to make a game of it. Almost as if to underline the message “Look, folks, no undue advantage here.” Rohit Sharma even stretched mathematical probability to its outermost limit by wilfully losing the toss for the 12,000th time in a row – just to emphasise how up against it his side were.Gautam Gambhir had already put the “perpetual cribbers” in their place after the semi-final, when responding to such undignified questioning as “How brilliant is your brilliant India team, sir?” And Rohit swatted away the idea that spending the entire tournament in Dubai, while everyone else shuttled around Pakistan and back-and-forth to the UAE, was in any way beneficial.”It’s not our home either,” he said. “We don’t play so many matches here, it’s new for us as well.” He might have added that choosing dinner from the same five-star menu becomes really hard after the sixth night in a row, let alone three weeks, and that many of his team-mates had struggled to pack enough swimming trunks to cover the duration of their stay. Who was to know that the Dubai pitch would support bowling 38 overs of spin in the final? Certainly not India.Okay, so Mohammed Shami said something about it being a “plus point that all our matches have been played at the same venue” – but he is merely a 12-year veteran of international cricket, and the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, so what does his opinion count for?Sure, there might have been a few more fans wearing blue shirts than black caps in the stadium, but this was a classic battle for sporting supremacy. It’s a wonder, really, that the players didn’t go to the logical end point of their refusal to countenance any sort of bias towards India and shove ICC chair Jay Shah off the stage following the trophy presentation, a la Australia and Sharad Pawar all those years ago. Now that would have sent a message.Anyway, talking of tournaments where there’s only one winner… shut your traps, haters, the IPL is about to start.

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Thanks England, for saving Test cricket by having one sucky white-ball tournament after the other•Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty ImagesFor Pakistan, what was meant to be a crowning moment – hosting an ICC tournament for the first time since 1996 – became something more like a public flogging. To be fair to the PCB (a sentence we don’t write often), not all of their pain was self-inflicted. From Pakistan’s name being scrubbed off the TV broadcast logo, to India’s anthem being played at the Gaddafi, to losing out on the right to stage the final – as India’s gravitational pull dragged the tournament away to the UAE – to having no representative on stage for the trophy presentation, the hosts were slowly ghosted. Sure, there was some self-sabotage, like always – Pakistan winning zero games didn’t help. But remember, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.

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England’s Champions Trophy, meanwhile, stank out the room in a way that has barely been conceivable since they started playing white-ball cricket in 2015 (). The promotion of Brendon McCullum to all-formats supremo looked to be on rocky ground after the team lost ten out of 11 games on tour in India and Pakistan… but hold on just a minute. England, remember, are on a mission from Baz to save Test cricket. And if that means tanking in the limited-overs stuff to the extent that it becomes unwatchable, then job done. Yep, that’s right, everybody, the Bazballers have done it again with their 4D chess. No need to thank them (although a namecheck wouldn’t go amiss). The future of Tests is safe in their hands.

Everyone’s a winner, baby, that’s no lie (or is it?). Here are the annual awards that matter

Alan Gardner and Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Dec-2024The cricket calendar is bloated, festooned with arcane traditions, and completely in thrall to money – which means it really comes into its own at Christmas. In the spirit of giving things that are not really wanted but everyone buys into out of a sense of social obligation, here is the Light Roller’s annual awards stocking filler. There is no gift receipt.Conspiracy Theory of the Year: SKY catch
With South Africa’s World Cup dream steadily going the way South African World Cup dreams usually do, David Miller plonked a full toss down the ground, Suryakumar Yadav sprinted around from long-on to complete a running relay catch, and 1.4 billion Indians rejoiced. Meanwhile, over on Reddit, a slightly smaller but no less dedicated community got stuck into poring over footage of the event. Had the third umpire properly checked whether SKY’s foot brushed the boundary marker? Could that slight discolouration of the grass prove said boundary marker had actually been moved earlier in the innings? Was that a puff of smoke on the grassy knoll or could the shooter have been holed up in the book depository? Rarely has the tinfoil-hat brigade had it so good.Runner-up: India’s friendly scheduling at the T20 World Cup. (Wake up, sheeple, it’s all connected!!!)Executive Decision-Making Award: ICC
Everyone knows where the Champions Trophy is being held, right? The dates, the venues, which teams are in which group, etc and so on? We’re all absolutely double-sure – and have been for at least the last three years – that it will be staged by Pakistan, as the first major tournament hosted in the country since its role in the 1996 World Cup. Right? Right?? Well, sort of right. Because India won’t be going there. So those games will be held in the UAE. We think. Can we get back to you? What do you mean it’s supposed to start next week…? []Commitment to Change Award: Pakistan’s groundsmen
Pakistan is the spiritual home of subcontinental fast bowling – although that fine tradition was beginning to look a bit rickety when they were beaten 2-0 in their own conditions by Bangladesh. A pummelling at the hands of Harry Brook and Joe Root on a flat one in Multan followed, after which the Pakistan management had a brainwave. First question: did anyone see England play spin in India earlier this year? Second question: do we still have any spinners? Meanwhile, the ground staff in Multan and Rawalpindi attacked their new brief with the gusto of a middle-class family who had just bought their first pressure cooker. Out came the industrial fans and heaters, and in all likelihood a tandoor was constructed over the strip. By game day, the pitch had been crisped to perfection. With a twirl of that luscious moustache, Sajid Khan provided the choicest accompaniments, doing the rest with Noman Ali.Architectural Feature of the Year: High Ceilings
Previously best known for being the place where Neil McKenzie used to sellotape his bat for good luck, the humble ceiling took centre stage – so to speak – thanks to England’s whimsical approach to selection, which went something like: “Gosh, those stats are rubbish. Are we even sure he plays cricket?” “No, but check out his height/pace/release point/hairstyle. I bet this guy has a really .” Which basically means: might be good, might not. And is in no way a guide to whether you could fit a full-size Josh Hull in their front room.Good thing he’s got a high ceiling, else he’d be knocking his head on it: 6′ 7″ Josh Hull gets his Test cap from Andrew Flintoff•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesAbsolutely Did Not Choke Award: South Africa
Look, the South Africa men’s and women’s teams won World Cup semi-finals this year. Which, given the weight of history, is really quite a thing. Almost as good as lifting the trophy but without needing to put pressure on your luggage allowance. The women didn’t really get close anyway – which is sort of a consolation. And as for the men, well, 30 runs off 30 balls with six wickets in hand really isn’t as simple as it sounds when you factor in Jasprit Bumrah still having two full overs lef- BWAHAHAHAHAHAAH, who are we kidding?ICC Feel-Good Award: Shamar Joseph
As in, makes the ICC feel good about itself. For what’s better than a shooting star of a fast bowler from the backwoods of Guyana’s logging country chopping down Australia’s finest at one of their famed fortresses to distract everyone from the fundamental inequities of the global game? West Indies cricket needs better funding, infrastructure, opportunity… but hey, look over there, Joseph and his team-mates are doing laps of the Gabba! Let’s all pat ourselves on the back and never mention the revenue-sharing model ever again!Runner-up: USA’s T20 World Cup campaign.Administrator’s Administrator of the Year: Jay Shah
A unanimous vote (apart from one abstention). It’s been another blockbuster year for the little big man, who always comes up clutch in the pressure moments – for instance, after guiding India’s men to their first World Cup win in over a decade (), he was on hand with a fun-size flagpole for Rohit Sharma to stick triumphantly into the Kensington Oval outfield. Instantly iconic. We’re not quite sure why he decided to trade in the job as cricket’s No. 1 most powerful person (head of the BCCI) to be the guy pushed around by the head of the BCCI (ICC chairman). But you can be certain he’ll still be the poster boy for go-getting young administrators the world over.Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to Cricket and Comedy: Pakistan
We’re living in a golden age here, people. From somehow managing to pit their two star players against each other over the captaincy, losing to USA on the way to bombing out of the T20 World Cup, seeing not one but two head coaches tender their resignations within months of being appointed, cutting daily allowances for female players, to all the fruitless posturing over the Champions Trophy (see above), the self-pwnage was on another level. If Pakistan cricket were a movie, it would be directed by Christopher Nolan, scored by John Williams, and star Tom Hanks. A female supergroup featuring Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Madonna. A gourmet dining experience overseen by Heston Blumenthal, René Redzepi and Carmen Berzatto. They are Sideshow Bob endlessly stepping on a rake, and for that we salute them.Kamindu Mendis: ace batter, versatile bowler, gun fielder, and suspense giver• PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty ImagesWTC Denier of the Year: Ben Stokes
Stokesy, love your work – we really mean that. But the science is in on this critical issue. At least 99% of all serious cricket experts have formed the overwhelming consensus that the World Test Championship is real. In fact – and perhaps you may need to sit down for this – the WTC may have been happening from as far back as 2019. Worse: it’s possible that the WTC is not even a conspiracy against England, the nation that has hosted two finals already. To misquote another beloved Ben (Kenobi): the WTC could bring balance to the global game. Search your feelings, Stokesy. You know this to be true.Setting us up for Disappointment Award: Kamindu Mendis
No Sri Lanka batter has ever had as monstrous a run in their first ten Tests as Kamindu Mendis, who has reaped 1110 runs in his first 17 innings, at an average of 74. Not only have two-thirds of those runs come away from home, the man is also a monster in the field – as safe in the slips as he is dynamic in the outfield. As an aside, he also bowls spin with either arm.This is all sounding way too good to be true for a young Sri Lanka batter, who as a breed have in recent years taken to scuttling their own careers in all manner of creative ways. It seems prudent to prepare ourselves for what may befall Kamindu in 2025. A haunting loss of form? Injury? A night out with Niroshan Dickwella? Life, surely, can’t stay this good.*Nepo-Sensation of the Year: Rocky Flintoff
In the back half of 2024, Flintoff Jr has made a spectacular charge with the bat, impressing for Lancashire’s Second XI, before being vaulted into the England Lions squad for South Africa, and more recently being named in the Lions squad for Australia. And who might be coaching that Lions team, you ask? Why, old man Andrew, of course. Bless.*The Light Roller is too rational to believe in anti-jinxes. But that doesn’t mean we’re not above trying them, just to be safe.More in our look back at 2024