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Tayla Vlaeminck is part of the Australia A group that will tour concurrently in England

Andrew McGlashan28-Mar-2023Opening batter Phoebe Litchfield has been included in Australia’s squad for the multi-format Women’s Ashes in England later this year alongside Kim Garth while fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck is part of the Australia A group that will tour concurrently.Litchfield, 19, could be in line for a Test debut following the retirement of Rachael Haynes when the Ashes gets underway with a five-day encounter at Trent Bridge from June 22. She will be an option to open the batting depending on where Australia want to use Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy.Litchfield made her international debut against India in December during the T20I series before impressing in her first appearance at ODI level against Pakistan in January with 154 runs in the three-match series.Garth, the former Ireland allrounder who also made her first appearance for Australia in December, could also push for a Test debut as one of the pace options in a bowling attack that does not lack options.Grace Harris is the other player in the squad uncapped at Test level although she is likely to be more in the plans for the ODIs and T20Is which make up the multi-format Ashes.Australia have held the Ashes since 2015 and won by a convincing 12 points to four margin in 2021-22 although the Test produced a gripping contest where England nearly chased down a final-day target before hanging on nine wickets down.”Following the success of the side at the recent T20 World Cup, the focus now turns to the exciting challenge of retaining the Ashes away from home,” national selector Shawn Flegler said. “We’ve been fortunate to have a consistent side across all formats over the past couple of years and as a result we have selected a similar group to the squad which won the T20 World Cup in February.”Phoebe Litchfield has taken her game to the next level in the past 12 months, we view her as a long-term player for Australia and it’s pleasing to reward her progress with selection in an Ashes squad.”The inclusion of Vlaeminck in the Australia A squad is significant with her having not played since early 2022 when she suffered another stress fracture of her foot during that season’s Ashes.”Tayla Vlaeminck is progressing in her rehabilitation and is working back towards full bowling fitness,” Flegler said. “She is a highly regarded talent and is certainly part of our plans moving forward.”With the Australia A tour overlapping the first part of the Ashes, there is a chance for players to cross over if form or injuries require reinforcements with the main group. The A tour will include three T20s and three one-day games between June 21 and July 2.”It’s hugely beneficial to have an Australia A component to the tour and provide an opportunity for our developing players to test themselves in conditions they may not experience in Australia,” Flegler said.”The nature of concurrent tours also offers flexibility and allows players to be available for and cross over into both squads, whether it be from a preparation perspective or to provide an opportunity at international level.From the A squad, left-arm seamer Lauren Cheatle, allrounder Heather Graham and legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington have been capped at international level alongside Vlaeminck, while seamer Maitlan Brown has come close. Batter Courtney Webb was the WNCL Player of the Season for 2022-23.Australia Ashes squad: Meg Lanning (capt), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia WarehamAustralia A squad: Maitlan Brown, Lauren Cheatle, Maddy Darke, Heather Graham, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Charli Knott, Kate Peterson, Courtney Sippel, Tayla Vlaeminck, Courtney Webb, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Tahlia Wilson

Billy Bowden may have stood in his last international match, after being dropped from New Zealand Cricket’s international panel of umpires

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2016Billy Bowden may have stood in his last international match, after being dropped from New Zealand Cricket’s international panel of umpires.Bowden was demoted to NZC’s national panel, along with Derek Walker and Phil Jones, in a shake-up of New Zealand’s umpiring ranks that resulted in former first-class players Shaun Haig and Chris Brown being promoted to the international panel. Wayne Knights was the third man added to the international panel.Bowden stood in 84 Tests, 200 one-day internationals and 24 T20 internationals, his most recent appearance having been during the Chappell-Hadlee Series in Wellington in February.He made his international debut in an ODI in 1995 and his Test debut in 2000, and for many years was one of the most recognisable figures on the ICC’s elite panel due to his unusual mannerisms.However, Bowden was cut from the elite panel in 2013. He was reinstated in 2014 after the retirement of his countryman Tony Hill, but was axed once again in 2015.Since then, Bowden was on New Zealand’s international panel, meaning he was still able to stand in international matches. As a member of the national panel, he will now only be able to officiate in domestic games and women’s internationals.NZC international panel Chris Brown, Wayne Knights, Shaun Haig.

NZC national panel Billy Bowden, Chris Brown, Tony Gillies, Shaun Haig, Phil Jones, Wayne Knights, Ash Mehrotra, Tim Parlane, Derek Walker.

New Zealand keep semi-final hopes alive but need Bangladesh to beat South Africa

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Feb-2023New Zealand thumped Sri Lanka so severely in each team’s last match of the group stage, in Paarl, that they nullified the terrific start Sri Lanka had to the tournament, and gave themselves a chance of qualifying for the next stage, despite their own underperformance in their first two games.By claiming a 102-run victory, set up by terrific half-centuries from Amelia Kerr, who hit 66 off 48, and Suzie Bates, who made 56 off 49, New Zealand easily eclipsed Sri Lanka’s net run rate (NRR). Both teams have four points, but Sri Lanka’s NRR now finishes at a woeful -1.46; New Zealand’s is 0.138, although that won’t be enough if hosts South Africa beat Bangladesh on Tuesday.But Sri Lanka are out of the competition, despite having delivered an upset to South Africa to start their tournament, before also beating Bangladesh. They have never made it out of the group stage in a T20 World Cup.New Zealand’s 162 for 3 was made possible by Sri Lanka’s repeated fielding mistakes – at least two dropped catches, and as many missed run out chances. But it was not an unattainable score, until Sri Lanka’s top order crashed and burned in the space of 4.5 overs – the first five wickets going down for the addition of 13 runs.The collapse rolled on, and Sri Lanka were all out for 60 inside 16 overs. Seamer Achini Kulasuriya, who appeared to badly injure her shoulder while delivering her third over, could not bat.

Kerr and Bates dominate

Bates and Kerr’s 110-run second-wicket partnership, which came off 83 deliveries, was the centrepiece of their victory. Bates had been the quieter of New Zealand’s openers in the powerplay, letting Bernadine Bezuidenhout create the early momentum with her 32 off 20 balls. But in the company of Kerr, she began to settle into a substantial innings. She struck Kavisha Dilhari for consecutive fours – one through deep third, the other through deep midwicket – in the ninth over, and appeared particularly at home at the crease.Kerr, meanwhile, seemed comfortable from the outset. She struck her third ball – from the experienced Inoka Ranaweera – to the boundary, and breezed her way through the middle overs, venturing only the occasional boundary on a pitch not particularly suited for big runs. At the end of the 14th over, she was 31 off 29, and then began to attack more seriously, finding frequent boundaries in front of square, as she muscled the Sri Lanka bowlers through the leg side with particular relish.They were both dismissed in the final over, but despite not having hit a six between them, had inflicted sufficient damage.

Sri Lanka’s woeful fielding

Sri Lanka should have had Bezuidenhout out for 7 when she had been stranded mid-pitch in the third over. But Kulasuriya’s throw from backward square leg was wayward and wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani could not collect.Bezuidenhout should have been out two overs later too, for 19, had Harshitha Samarawickrama held a catch at deep midwicket, off the bowling of Malsha Shehani. But she let the straightforward chance slip through her fingers.Bates was also a benefactor of Sri Lanka’s fielding largesse. She was dropped on 37 by Nilakshi de Silva – a skied chance to mid-on going down. Then in the 16th over, on 41, she could have been out again, had either the fielder at midwicket or the bowler who collected the ball made more accurate throws.But what pressure the Sri Lanka bowlers did create did not translate into wickets on account of their fielding.

Catastrophic collapse costs SL

Although New Zealand had made more runs than they ought to on a difficult surface, a target of 163 was not completely beyond Sri Lanka, particularly if their openers got going. Neither did. Sri Lanka struck only one boundary in the powerplay, as Jess Kerr, Hannah Rowe, and Eden Carson delivered tight early overs.And once the wickets started to fall, they went rapidly. Harshitha was caught in the outfield at deep midwicket, trying to slog her first boundary after a frustrating start. Vishmi Gunaratne was out next over, when Bates completed a spectacular catch running back from mid-on. De Silva had her leg stump rattled by a Jess Kerr yorker.And when captain Athapaththu was out for 19 in the seventh over, lbw on review against a straighter delivery from Amelia Kerr, Sri Lanka were always going to struggle.Had they made in to 123, they could still have finished ahead of New Zealand on NRR and given themselves some chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. But Sri Lanka’s middle order had not produced significant runs even in their wins. And here, they fell rapidly.

England will play two ODIs in Antigua and one in Barbados when they tour the Caribbean early next year

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2016England will play two ODIs in Antigua and one in Barbados when they tour the Caribbean early next year. The short 50-over series will form part of England’s build-up to the Champions Trophy, a tournament for which West Indies failed to qualify.The England team is scheduled to arrive in St Kitts on February 22 for two warm-up matches against a WICB President’s XI, before going on to Antigua for two ODIs at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium – where the West Indies-England Test was abandoned in 2009. The two-week tour will conclude with a third ODI at Kensington Oval on March 9.

England’s tour schedule

• February 25 Warm-up v WICB Pres XI

• February 27 Warm-up v WICB Pres XI

• March 3 1st ODI, Antigua

• March 5 2nd ODI, Antigua

• March 9 3rd ODI, Barbados

“We are pleased to have agreed the itinerary for this tour, which will form an important part of our one-day squad’s preparations for the Champions Trophy in England and Wales later in the summer,” Andrew Strauss, the ECB’s director of England cricket, said.”West Indies is always a popular tour destination for England fans and we trust as many supporters as possible will travel to the Caribbean to show support for the team.”The schedule is similar to that of England’s limited-overs tour of the West Indies in 2014, when they played three ODIs in Antigua before going on to Barbados for three T20s.WICB chief executive, Michael Muirhead said: “We see this an additional opportunity to strengthen our performances in this format as we aim to move up in the rankings. We are pleased once again to have England in the region and as always we know the contest will be keen and we know the fans will come out in their numbers.”West Indies are currently ranked No. 8 in ODI cricket but missed out on the Champions Trophy because they had slipped below Bangladesh and Pakistan to ninth at last year’s cut-off.

A Zimbabwe Cricket spokesperson confirmed that the fast bowler had suffered a Grade 2 tear on his left quadriceps muscle, after he had pulled up while running in to bowl on the second morning

Mohammad Isam12-Nov-2018Zimbabwe were dealt a major blow in the Mirpur Test against Bangladesh, after fast bowler Tendai Chatara was stretched off with a suspected Grade 2 tear on his left quadriceps muscle. The injury occurred in the 100th over of the Bangladesh first innings. Chatara pulled up while running in to deliver the over’s third ball, and after some initial checks by the physiotherapist, he was carried away from the ground.A Zimbabwe Cricket spokesperson confirmed the extent of the injury afterwards, but said that there may be more updates on Chatara’s condition as the day progressed.Chatara had been in good form prior to the injury, having taken 1 for 34 in 22.2 overs, with 12 maidens. He had also played a critical role in Zimbabwe’s famous victory in the Sylhet Test, where his three-wicket burst in the first innings opened up Bangladesh’s batting line-up, which eventually collapsed twice in the game.

India’s bowlers were also clinical in their defence of 180 against Netherlands

Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Oct-20221:12

Inside the Surya-Kohli bromance

Fifties of vastly different moods and tempos from Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav laid the platform for India to brush Netherlands aside and move to the top of the Group 2 table with a healthy net-run-rate boost. Choosing to bat first on an SCG surface that was considerably slower than the one they played their tournament-opener on at the MCG, India put on a classic display of controlled dominance over Associate opposition, posting a par-ish total and defending it ruthlessly.Chasing 180, Netherlands were never in the game, and for a while seemed in danger of being bowled out for under 100. They avoided that fate, and the No. 11 Paul van Meekeren finished the innings with 4, 4, 4 off Arshdeep Singh to narrow their margin of defeat, but it was still a resounding 56 runs.India’s five specialist bowlers shared the wickets, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep, Axar Patel and R Ashwin picking up two apiece, and Mohammed Shami one.A costly non-review

The new ball swung, and occasionally stopped on the batter too. India scored just 11 runs in the first 2.4 overs of their innings, and van Meekeren picked up a well-earned early wicket too, having an lbw shout upheld after KL Rahul missed the flick off a late inswinger. Rahul didn’t review the decision, even though his opening partner Rohit seemed to suggest to him that the ball might have been swinging down the leg side; ball-tracking eventually proved Rohit correct.Three approaches, three fifties

Rohit struggled for fluency on this sluggish surface but he kept trying to hit boundaries. He survived a dropped chance – Tim Pringle putting down a sitter at mid-on when he was on 13 – and finished his innings with a control percentage of just under 59, but his preparedness to look ugly ensured he kept the scoreboard moving in the first 12 overs of India’s innings. He made 53 off 39 balls; during his time at the crease, the two batters at the other end – Rahul and Kohli – combined to score 28 off 31.Kohli finished with a control percentage of 75. During the first 21 balls of his innings, when Rohit was at the other end, Kohli’s control percentage was 81. Unlike Rohit, he didn’t take chances early on and chose to trust in his ability to score quickly once set. He did this, and found the boundary with increased frequency in the last five overs to score 30 off his last 14 balls, having scored 32 off 30 balls before that.Suryakumar Yadav brought up his fifty off the last ball of the innings•Getty Images

Suryakumar, meanwhile, did what only he and a few others in the world can do. He shuffled this way and that, brought his wrists into play to whip and slice the ball into gaps, and found the boundary five times in his first 12 balls at the crease. He hit seven fours and a flicked six off the last ball of the innings to finish unbeaten on 51 off 25 balls, a jaw-dropping effort on a sluggish pitch but one that you might take for granted given how often he does these things.Together, these three innings worked well for India to achieve what they set out to on the day. The chances Rohit took early on came off often enough for Kohli to begin conservatively, and Suryakumar’s blazing start allowed him to keep going in that vein until the last five overs.India’s total of 179 was their lowest in T20I innings where they have lost only two wickets or fewer, and Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik didn’t even come out to bat, but India probably only aimed for par on a sluggish pitch against Associate opposition. Kohli may probably have taken more risks early on against a stronger team.Max O’Dowd was bowled by Axar Patel•AFP

Bhuvneshwar sets the tone for dominant bowling display

‘Max O’Dowd or bust’ has been a fair description of the Netherlands batting at this World Cup so far, and the early overs stayed with that theme. O’Dowd found the boundary with a pair of pleasing square drives off Arshdeep in the second over, but either side of that Bhuvneshwar went 2-2-0-1, bowling with pinpoint accuracy and dismissing Vikramjit Singh, bowled swiping across the line.With the rest of the top order struggling, O’Dowd had to manufacture boundaries and was dismissed trying to do so, exposing all his stumps to Axar and missing a sweep.The Netherlands challenge fell away after that, as Axar and Ashwin throttled them through the middle overs, before the fast bowlers returned to clean up the lower order. Arshdeep, expensive early on, came back to take two wickets in two balls, a nasty bouncer followed by an inch-perfect yorker, and he was on a hat-trick when he began the final over. By the end of that over, though, his figures had taken a bruising, and van Meekeren had given Netherlands’ fans something to cheer about.

Bangladesh seamer reduced hosts to 9 for 3, with John Campbell and Jermaine Blackwood easing the tension out

Associated Press19-Jun-2022Stumps West Indies 265 (Brathwaite 94, Blackwood 63, Mehidy 4-65) and 49 for 3 (Campbell 28*, Blackwood 17*, Khaled 3-14) need another 35 runs to beat Bangladesh 103 and 245 (Nurul 64, Roach 5-53, Joseph 3-55)Bangladesh went from looking like losing by an innings to beating West Indies on a compelling day three of the first test on Saturday. A brilliant rearguard stand by captain Shakib Al Hasan and Nurul Hasan saved Bangladesh from an innings defeat.But when they were all out for 245, they left West Indies with only 84 to win with more than two days left at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.The target suddenly looked like 840, though, when Bangladesh medium-pacer Khaled Ahmed took three wickets in 11 balls and reduced West Indies to 9 for 3 in the fourth over of the chase.Opener John Campbell and Jermaine Blackwood eased the tension by holding out to stumps and leading West Indies to 49 for 3. The team should knock off the remaining 35 runs on Sunday morning in the series opener.Khaled gave West Indies a good scare. He had captain Kraigg Brathwaite caught down the leg side for 1 from his first delivery, and Raymon Reifer gloving his fifth on 2. Nkrumah Bonner hadn’t scored when his off stump was bowled by Khaled.Campbell, 28 not out, and Blackwood, 17 not out, combined for 40 to get the home side back on track.In the morning, West Indies seemed like they were going to wrap up the match by mid-afternoon. Bangladesh were reeling at 109 for 6 in the second innings and still trailing West Indies by 53 runs when Shakib and Nurul came together in the morning.Khaled Ahmed took three wickets in 11 balls•AFP/Getty Images

But showing the patience most of their team-mates didn’t on a good batting track, they rubbed out the first-innings deficit through a wicketless middle session, and pushed Bangladesh 70 runs ahead when they were broken up soon after tea.With the new ball, West Indies pace bowler Kemar Roach made Shakib drive straight to a man at short extra cover. Shakib was out for 63, his third straight Test half-century and second of the match. His demise ended a 123-run stand with Nurul. They seemed to match each other run for run, as Nurul was on 60 at the time. He was out for 64 after 147 balls, also bagged by Roach.Bangladesh started the day on 50 for 2, and got into deeper trouble with poor shots to regulation deliveries.Najmul Hossain Shanto went from 8 overnight to guiding Kyle Mayers to the slips on 17, then Mominul Haque was leg-before to Mayers and not saved by a review. Mominul’s score of 4 was his ninth straight Test score in single figures, and his tenth of 11 this year.Litton Das was caught by Mayers in the slips, and Mahmudul Hasan Joy’s stoic 42 that started late on Friday ended four overs from lunch when he was caught behind off Roach, going for a wide ball he should have left alone. He had endured 153 balls.Shakib and Nurul dug in and West Indies wasted their last two reviews after lunch trying to get them out. Ultimately, they had to wait for the new ball, and Roach delivered.Roach conceded the only six of the Bangladesh second innings when Mustafizur Rahman blasted him over the third-man boundary, but Roach had the last say by ending the innings by bowling Ebadot Hossain. That gave Roach his tenth test five-for – 5-53 – and tied him with Michael Holding on the West Indies wicket-taking list: 249, and sixth place.Alzarri Joseph took 3 for 55 and Mayers 2 for 30.