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Australia coach Andrew McDonald has suggested that Usman Khawaja could be considered as a middle-order option in Adelaide after overcoming the back spasms that ruled him out of the Gabba contest as the selectors face a key decision over the batting line-upKhawaja’s return to fitness will create an intriguing conversation ahead of the third Test. He will turn 39 during the Adelaide Test and will be the first Australian Test player in 40 years to play at that age if selected.However, the success of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald at the top as created a conundrum. The new pair have shared two 70-plus stands in Perth and Brisbane in rapid time to take both games away from England. Australia had only had three half-century stands in their previous 14 Tests since David Warner retired, with Head involved in one of them with Khawaja in Sri Lanka.Related

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“It worked at this point in time,” McDonald said. “Pink-ball Test at the Gabba, we felt like that combination was right for those conditions and the opposition. We will always ask ourselves the question that the selection table as we move in. At our strategy meetings, we’ll continue to ask questions on what the best line-up is for that point in time. And we’re taking this Test by Test.”The assumption is that Uzzie can only open as well. So I think that he does have the flexibility. And we like to think that all our batters have the flexibility to be able to perform anywhere in that order. So we’ve got a collective sort of group of batters there that as a series wears on, the opposition may create some different challenges for us. We’re open to what it will look like for us moving forward.”Usman Khawaja didn’t recover in time for the second Test•Getty Images

Khawaja’s form was under scrutiny heading into the series – he is now averaging 31.84 since the end of the 2023 Ashes with one century in 45 innings – but he had been consistent for Queensland earlier in the season.When Khawaja was recalled to the Test side in early 2022 during the previous Ashes in Australia he came in at No. 5 when Head missed the SCG Test with Covid. Twin centuries made him undroppable and he moved up to open in place of Marcus Harris when Head returned.McDonald said that since that time there had not been consideration given to returning Khawaja to the middle order. Much of the focus after Warner’s retirement in early 2024 has been finding a partner for Khawaja, which was set to be Weatherald until Khawaja suffered back spasms in Perth.”He’s been a stable piece up there, so we haven’t discussed moving him previously,” McDonald said. “But we’re open to what the batting model would look like moving forward should there be any moving parts. Whether Trav opens, whether he goes back to the middle, that will all play out. We’re taking it Test by Test.”One of the themes of this season has been talk, led by McDonald and Pat Cummins, of potentially having flexible batting line-ups with both coach and captain believing set positions are over-rated.If Khawaja was to return it would be at the expense of Josh Inglis who batted at No. 7 at the Gabba where he made an uncertain 23. However, he pulled off a brilliant direct hit run out to remove Ben Stokes on the opening day.Australia’s squad is expected to be confirmed on Wednesday with Cummins set to be added to the 14 who were on duty in Brisbane ahead of a likely return for the captain.

Joey Evison, Nottinghamshire’s former England Under-19 allrounder, has signed a three-year contract with Kent. He will also join the club on loan for this year’s Royal London Cup.Evison, 20, debuted for Notts in 2019 and has since made 10 first-class appearances, alongside five in List A and one T20. He recorded his maiden first-class hundred earlier this season but has seen opportunities limited by the development of fellow seam-bowling allrounder Lyndon James.Evison currently averages 27.13 with the bat in first class cricket, and 30.19 with the ball, having taken a maiden five-wicket haul against Durham last summer.”I couldn’t be more excited about joining Kent Cricket,” Evison said. “I recognise that I’m still young but I’m hungry for first team cricket and very much hope I’ll be able to achieve this at Canterbury, as well as helping the team to success in the coming years.”The signing could be the start of a rebuilding process at Kent, who saw seamer Matt Milnes agree terms with Yorkshire on Friday and have to start preparing for life after Darren Stevens, with the 46-year-old allrounder having only made seven first-team appearances this year.Kent’s director of cricket, Paul Downton, said: “I’m delighted that Joey has chosen to join Kent. He’s an exciting talent with the potential to bat in the top order and also be a threat with the ball. He’s a really hard worker and we’re convinced that he will be a quick learner too, as opportunities come his way.”We’re also really pleased to have Joey available for us in this season’s Royal London Cup, and he strengthens our 50-over squad ahead of the tournament.”This is a signing with both the present and the future in mind. We can’t wait to see Joey blossom and make a positive impact both on and off the field for Kent.”

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani is potentially set to go head to head with the incumbent Greg Barclay in the ICC chairman election scheduled for next weekend. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Mukuhlani, who has been on the ICC board for a long time as the ZC representative, has declared his intention to enter the contest – subject to his getting enough support from the smaller Full Member countries as well as the Associates.ESPNcricinfo recently reported that Imran Khwaja, the ICC deputy chair, was going to stand, but he is believed to have withdrawn. Khwaja suffered a fractious defeat in the 2020 elections against Barclay. Back then, Barclay secured influential support from the BCCI which paved the way for the New Zealander to win by 11 votes to five, in what turned out to be a two-round contest.In July this year, after the ICC annual general meeting, Barclay declared he was ready to contest for a second two-year term. Barclay is believed to be bullish about his prospects, especially as election rules have been tweaked with the winner to be decided on the basis of a simple majority. In 2020 the winning candidate needed a two-third majority from the 16-strong ballot. The 16 votes are from the ICC board of 12 Full Members, one independent director (Indra Nooyi) and three Associate directors which includes Khwaja.Khwaja had received six votes in the first round two years ago, but Cricket South Africa’s vote in the second round tipped the contest in Barclay’s direction. Once beaten, twice shy, Khwaja, one of the most experienced directors on the board, weighed his options and eventually decided not to contest this time, despite having got the mandatory one vote to get nominated.While it could not be confirmed on October 20, the nomination deadline day, Mukuhlani, too, had been proposed by one of the ICC directors. And now he has the second vote, enough to support a nomination. While he is keen to fight the elections, Mukuhlani will likely take a final call in the next week once he senses the kind of support he could expect.Greg Barclay is the current ICC chairman and is looking for another term•Kai Schwoerer/ICC/Getty Images

Mukuhlani is part of the ICC’s Audit Committee and chair of the Membership Committee. He is also part of the global body’s Olympics working group, which is tasked with pushing for cricket’s entry in the Summer Games. Popularly known as ‘Doc’ in ICC circles, Mukuhlani believes he has the experience to take over the leadership and become a voice for smaller members and Associates. He is hedging his chances mainly on getting support from a majority of Asian countries except for the BCCI. At the moment, it is believed that the BCCI vote is leaning towards Barclay, but options remain open till election date. The election is planned to take place during the ICC meetings, scheduled on November 12-13 in Melbourne.Mukuhlani’s manifesto revolves around striving for equity among members and advocating for governance changes. It aligns with the vision Khwaja has had for several years and was to an extent able to put into effect during the four years Shashank Manohar was ICC chairman (2016-20). Both men worked closely to dismantle the Big Three power structure and put in place a fresh financial model where smaller countries received an enhanced share from the ICC revenue pool.That pot has now grown much bigger after Disney Star* bought ICC broadcast rights for men’s and women’s events between 2024-27. The deal, to broadcast in the India market only, is reportedly worth over US$3 billion, considerably more than what the ICC got in the previous rights cycle (which was for eight years, and globally). Barclay, too, is drumming up support and is believed to have put a re-look at the financial distribution model as well as modifying the governance model at the forefront of his strategic plan for a second term. Other than looking at enhancing individual countries’ share of the pie, Barclay wants to invest money in strategic funds as well has promotion of women’s cricket.

Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia starting February 9 in Nagpur.ESPNcricinfo has learned that Iyer, who returned to Bengaluru on Wednesday to get fitness clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA), was told he needs to spend more time in rehab to recover from the back injury that had ruled him out of the recent ODIs against New Zealand.After playing the two-Test series in Bangladesh in December, Iyer had a swelling in his lower back for which he was given an injection at the NCA. He was originally expected to travel from Bengaluru to Nagpur and join the India squad for their preparatory camp for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting on February 2.Extending Iyer’s rehab is more of a precautionary step taken by the BCCI medical staff and he is now expected to join the India squad for the second Test, which starts in Delhi from February 17.Shreyas Iyer needs more time to recover from his back injury•AFP/Getty Images

Iyer was one of the contenders for a middle-order batter’s slot along with Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, depending on who opens with Rohit Sharma. He’s played only seven Tests so far, averaging 56.72 at a healthy strike rate of 65. Iyer began his Test career with scores of 105 and 65 on debut against New Zealand in Kanpur in November 2021, and he was India’s second highest run-scorer – 202 in three innings – in their most recent Test series in Bangladesh in December last year.India’s squad for the first Test against Australia: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav

Trent Rockets women have appointed Chris Read as their new head coach.The former Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper and captain has been promoted from his assistant role held under previous incumbent Jon Lewis, who left the Women’s Hundred side at the end of the 2025 campaign after three years in charge.Read is a cult hero at Trent Bridge, having made over 700 appearances in all formats for Nottinghamshire across 19 years, serving as club captain for 10 seasons. He earned 15 Test caps for England, alongside 36 ODI appearances.Rockets will enter the 2026 season under new management following the acquisition of a 49% stake by Cain International – whose co-founders Todd Boehly and Jonathan Goldstein are part of the consortium that owns Chelsea FC – and private equity firm Ares Management. They will run the organisation, with Nottinghamshire retaining a 51% stake.Read’s move into coaching has recently included success as with Lancashire Women, marshalling them to two trophies this year. Last week, he signed a two-year deal to remain as their head coach through to the end of 2027.Read’s coaching staff at Rockets will include another former Nottinghamshire team-mate, Luke Fletcher, as assistant coach.”It’s a deeply proud moment to take on a head coaching role based at the ground that I have a huge number of unbelievably special memories at,” said Read in a statement. “I’ve really enjoyed developing my coaching skillset with the Rockets over the last three summers, and the opportunity to continue that journey is really exciting.”I felt the impact of a sold-out Trent Bridge crowd first-hand over many years, and I know how much their support can change the course of games.”With all the fresh energy and investment into the Hundred, I’m really looking forward to starting the preparation for 2026 and beyond as we bid to deliver success.”Rockets general manager Mick Newell, who coached Read at Nottinghamshire, added: “It’s a real full-circle moment for Chris to return to Trent Bridge to lead Trent Rockets, and we’re delighted to welcome him back.”Having established himself as a true club legend here with years of outstanding service as a player, he has now shown himself to be blossoming into an excellent coach and leader too.”His fantastic start to a coaching career at Lancashire, and his experience from previous years with the Rockets, will stand him in great stead, and we can’t wait to see him in his new role.”Despite boasting a strong group, which includes current England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, Rockets have yet to reach the final of the Women’s Hundred. Their best finish came in 2022, losing the Eliminator to Southern Brave.

Yorkshire 130 for 4 (Bean 42, Williams 2-22) trail Lancashire 276 (Jennings 119, Wells 84, Hill 6-26) by 146 runsFew games are so wonderfully enriched by their past as cricket yet few should be more wary of being enchained by it. It is a tricky path to tread. Before the rain-delayed start to our cricket at 12.55 this afternoon, a memorial was dedicated to Peter Eckersley, who skippered Lancashire to the title in 1930 and 1934. Eckersley once piloted an aircraft containing his team to an away match in Cardiff and most of the photographs of him also feature either a plane or a posh car. One can imagine him as a suspect in an Agatha Christie whodunit.Shortly after this ceremony ended, play began, a couple of hours late, and Lancashire lost their last two wickets for the addition of only four runs. Ten minutes later, 20-year-old Fin Bean, who made a quadruple century for the second team in June, walked out to play his maiden innings in first-class cricket. Bean was unlikely to know it and there was scant reason for him to care, but of all the buildings that encircled this sacred field two decades ago, only the pavilion remains and even that is now overshadowed by a hotel and a corporate hospitality venue. The blare of the present, the imperative of now, is everywhere.And yet Peter Eckersley lived just as vividly as Fin Bean lives. Understanding such things is a triumph of historical imagination and a very necessary one in these months of notions and nostrums. So in the midst of confusions about cricket’s role and direction it was pleasant to be reminded of a few of our game’s verities this afternoon. One of these is the intensity of the Roses match, something into which Bean was inducted this afternoon as he scored just one run from his first 27 balls. Patiently, he left some balls alone; steadfastly, he tapped others back to the bowler. Then he stroked an on-drive and a cover-drive to the boundary off Will Williams and we realised here was a left-hander capable of grace as well as grind.Related

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By then, Adam Lyth had gone, caught at short leg by Josh Bohannon off Williams for 13, and it was plain that Yorkshire’s under-strength top-order was vulnerable to a Lancashire new-ball attack led by Tom Bailey, one of county cricket’s quiet masters. But Bean resisted Bailey and Williams, even though, as he admitted later, the ball was “nipping around a bit”. In company with George Hill, who might still have been in slight shock after his 6 for 26 yesterday, Bean put on 63 for Yorkshire’s second wicket. At times the cricket was a trifle slow but these things are relative.Certainly it was furlongs removed from the drawn game at Old Trafford exactly a century ago when play was possible on only two days out of three and 504 runs were scored in 252.3 overs. These, though, are not the most intriguing features of that match. 20,000 spectators watched Lancashire compile 118 all out from 77.3 overs on the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday weekend and 10,000 saw Yorkshire bat out for a draw on the following Tuesday when the visitors needed only eight runs from five overs to win but finished three short with eight wickets down, Wilfred Rhodes making an unbeaten 48. Effectively, however, Yorkshire were nine down; their skipper, Geoffrey Wilson, was in hospital with appendicitis. Even more significantly, perhaps, Yorkshire were on course for the first of what would be four successive titles and were content to remain top of the pile while denying Lancashire any chance of overhauling them.Will Williams took two wickets for Lancashire•Getty Images

A hundred years later, it is Lancashire who are chasing the title, albeit a little distantly, whereas Yorkshire fear relegation, an indignity unknown to Rhodes, Roy Kilner and those other giants. The home side’s hopes were raised a tad when Hill was bowled by a glorious leg-spinner from Matt Parkinson for 32 and lifted again when, after 153 minutes in the middle, Bean was pinned in front of his stumps by Bailey for a 116-ball 42. He will have been disappointed not to reach a half-century but he had looked as if he belonged. In its way his innings had counted for much more than his gourmandising for the second team. “This innings shows that I can play at this level, which is a big thing for a young player,” he said.Lancashire enjoyed one more success before the weather closed in. After struggling for 3 runs in 10 balls, Will Fraine was bowled by Williams when playing no shot but Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Jonny Tattersall ensured their side reached 130 for 4 before the umpires took the players off for bad light that had been gathering from the west. Ten minutes later, the rain was bucketing down.No matter… or not much anyway. Our delayed and truncated day had honoured the Roses match and Bean had taken his first steps towards the fulfilment of a dream. From the 1864 suite the blazered nobility from both counties had watched it all with the discernment that only decades in the game can bring. For once, one did not begrudge them their mighty lunches. Roses matches are their occasions, too, and that smoked salmon was never going to eat itself.

The PCB’s controversial decision to drop Mohammad Rizwan for Sarfaraz Ahmed for the two-Test series against New Zealand was among the biggest talking points throughout the series. Rizwan, however, said he felt that, on current form, he “didn’t deserve to play” for Pakistan at the time.”You can ask the head coach Saqlain Mushtaq what I told him after the end of the England Test series,” Rizwan told in an interview. “I personally thought that since I wasn’t able to perform, I didn’t deserve to play in the next series.”In his last half dozen Tests, Rizwan had suffered a downturn in his form with the bat, scoring 262 runs in 12 innings without a half-century at an average of 21.83. That was significantly down from his career batting average (38.13), though it was believed his quality behind the stumps gave him enough protection from omission.But soon after the PCB chairman Ramiz Raja was removed in a dramatic overhaul, changes were felt on the pitch, too. Rizwan was replaced by Sarfaraz, playing his first Test match in over three years. While concerns over his wicketkeeping linger – there were a slew of dropped catches and missed stumpings across both Tests – his form with the bat was not in question. He was the highest run-scorer in the series with 335, scoring three half-centuries and a hundred on the final day of the second Test to ensure Pakistan escaped with a draw. He would go on to be named the Player of the Series.”I was happy to see Sarfaraz perform because that is what I wanted,” Rizwan said. “Sarfaraz has been performing in domestic and deserves his chance now. I asked for his inclusion. Whoever performs best for Pakistan deserves to play.”Some players said that every player goes through this phase and you can’t sit on the bench based on few failures. But I went to the coach and captain myself and told them that you can drop me because I haven’t performed. Two players are witnesses to this conversation.”This wasn’t the first time Rizwan’s benching raised eyebrows. He was famously left on the bench for much of his time at Karachi Kings, playing just seven times across his last two years with the franchise. Upon moving to Multan Sultans in 2021, he was appointed captain and led the side to their maiden PSL trophy, finishing as the second highest run-scorer in the competition.Rizwan defended his former franchise’s decision. “I was never hurt when I was benched during the PSL in the past. I thought they [Karachi Kings] were honest with the team, and it was the team’s requirement at the time to keep me on the bench.”Rizwan remains with Multan, whom he will captain for the third successive season when the PSL gets underway on February 13.

Cricket Australia is contemplating lifting David Warner’s lifetime leadership ban as soon as Friday, with directors looking at rewriting the organisation’s code of ethics.Warner has had a leadership ban hanging over his head since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, with him keen to have the punishment reversed. The 35-year-old has been mentioned as a candidate for Australia’s vacant one-day captaincy, but cannot fulfil the role under his sanctions.Under current rules players who accept a sanction under the code of ethics waive their right to have the matter reviewed.It means CA’s code would need to be rewritten for Warner’s ban to be reviewed, something directors will discuss at Friday’s board meeting in Hobart.Related

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“The view within Cricket Australia is that David is doing particularly well on the field and making a great contribution off the field,” chairman Lachlan Henderson said.  “The first step in terms of David’s leadership ban is to review the code and see if those sanctions are able to be reviewed. And the appropriate revisions to that code that would need to be made.”Henderson said the code would be rewritten if deemed necessary before a call on the one-day captaincy is made.”Our intention is to review the code as quick as is practical. It’s not in anyone’s interest for us to delay that,” Henderson said. “It would be in time for any future leadership conversations in relation to David.”There are however hurdles to clear. CA is wary any change made to the code in consultation with ethics commissioner Simon Longstaff could have implications on matters beyond Warner.At the same time, CEO Nick Hockley stressed players had a right to show they had changed since the point of being handed a lifetime ban.”In very simple terms, we are looking at sanctions to be reviewed for good behaviour and growth after a period of time,” Hockley said. “Pending tomorrow’s discussion, there would then need to be a revision of the code and that would need to be approved by the board.”The pair’s comments came after CA reported a $5.1 million loss for the 2021-22 financial year at Thursday’s AGM.CA largely blamed the loss on challenges presented by the pandemic, as well as a drop in media rights from the UK for last summer’s Ashes.Former women’s quick Clea Smith was also unanimously voted onto the CA board as the sole former player serving as director, after Mel Jones’ decision to exit.Smith has previously held roles at the Australian Cricketers’ Association and was influential in the parental leave policy being introduced in 2019.Former Cricket Victoria chair David Maddocks was also voted in as a replacement for the outgoing Michelle Tredenick.Meanwhile CA remain undecided whether to lift a ban on playing Afghanistan in bilateral matches before a three-match ODI series early next year.Australia refused to host the country while under Taliban rule last summer, but have agreed to face off against them in the men’s T20 World Cup on November 4 as it is an ICC event.

The promotion of Rehan Ahmed to the Test squad might have seemed a bit last-minute. But a day after Ahmed was informed by head coach Brendon McCullum of his selection for the tour of Pakistan, men’s director of cricket Rob Key revealed that that had been the plan all along.A 15-man Test squad was picked in October without Ahmed’s name, which instead appeared in the Lions squad. A training camp in Dubai, and involvement in the ongoing warm-up match in Abu Dhabi between the Test squad and the Lions, was to be followed by a secondment on the Test tour to continue his development.And while that would not necessarily have prevented Ahmed from being selected, particularly under captain Ben Stokes whose tenure has involved changing the way things used to be done, the fact that his call-up has been made official in this manner, a week out from the first Test, is due to careful, necessary planning.”The plan for Rehan was that we always looked to bring him into the squad,” Key said in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. “This is the best way to aid his development. He is a serious talent, but he might be four or five years off being the finished product. He is nowhere near the finished article at the moment.”But we just hope that being involved with the Test squad, with McCullum and Stokes and the mentality they have … bowling at Joe Root. He becomes a full member of that squad, he’s not just a net bowler. If needed, we believe he can play and do a good job for us with bat and ball. It’s a chance to put him on a path that will get the best out of him.”Credit to the Test set-up, we feel that is the best group of people to aid his development and get him to where we think he can be quicker, by being involved with not just the captain or Brendon, but every one of those players has a part to play in his development.”Having sent down eight wicketless overs for 73 runs as the Test “XI” racked up 501 for seven on day one of this mooted three-day tune-up at the Tolerance Oval, Ahmed helped provide the exclamation mark of the Lions’ reply. His brisk 26 off 10 deliveries included three fours and two sixes, both off Liam Livingstone, who responded in the same over by feigning a run-out at the non-striker’s end, before eventually bringing about his end by more conventional means. It meant that the Lions closed day two on 411 for nine. Haseeb Hameed’s composed 145 and 82 from fellow opener Tom Haines provided the guts of the innings.Ahmed’s innings – bold, care-free, very much what you’d expect from an 18-year-old teeming with confidence – can perhaps be extrapolated to the impression he has made on McCullum, who was understood to be reticent about selecting Ahmed before he had seen or fully interacted with him. He has evidently been impressed over the last 48 hours.Nevertheless, the duty of care towards a kid with just three first-class appearances for Leicestershire, who only turned 18 in August, was always part of the consideration.Rob Key (right) and Brendon McCullum, who has evidently been impressed by Ahmed since his arrival in the UAE•Getty Images

“How we’ve done it, we wanted it to be more of a soft launch, rather than just announcing him in a squad and away you go, with all the media speculation,” Key revealed. “He has been able to come out here, we have had a look at him. Mo Bobat [ECB performance director and head coach of the Lions] knows him very well and has had a big part in his development since being a young kid. Every one of these young players has come through that pathway with Bobat, David Court [Player ID Lead]. They have a good read on these people, they have been in touch with the families and all that stuff. That was the best way we felt we could have that soft launch, so he was around a bit before he finds out he’s been picked in the squad.”There is another, intriguing element to Ahmed. Even with a century and five-wicket haul with the red ball, both picked up in a County Championship match against Derbyshire at the end of the 2022 season, his white-ball game is clearly a little further developed. So much so, that he had offers for franchise cricket this winter. Had the schedules aligned differently, he would have almost certainly played in England’s ODIs in Australia that immediately followed the T20 World Cup, having trained with the limited-overs squad during the summer.Key cedes Ahmed “is going to have decisions going forward in his career and life”, around which colour ball takes his fancy at various points of the year. And he has no qualms in admitting this exposure to Test cricket can sow a sizeable seed in Ahmed’s head.”He arguably could be thinking about franchise cricket but we’ve given him an offer he can’t refuse really – a chance to be involved in Test cricket as the pinnacle. If you can play this form, you can play anything.”That last bit is a principle Key swears by, and forms the basis of his work so far at the head of the English game, as far as on-field matters are concerned. Even from his days in the commentary box with Sky Sports and others, he has long held a view the old and new worlds can sit comfortably together, with a little give and take along the way.Jofra Archer is a more developed example of this. Having made a return to bowling in a match for the first time since July 2021, he will play in the SA20 franchise competition for MI Cape Town. The stint forms part of the gradual build-up of Archer’s workload – he will then move on to the ODI series in South Africa – and is probably the most open indication of co-operation between two entities with differing priorities, at least on the face of it. And, no doubt, it was set in motion following a chat in the summer between Key and Graeme Smith, commissioner of the SA20.Haseeb Hameed made a century for England Lions in Abu Dhabi•ECB Images

“He’s a wildcard pick,” Key said. “You talk to the franchise owners and you come up with a plan so we are aligned. They want the same thing, which is Jofra Archer not getting injured again for a long period of time. It’s handy that he can bowl four overs in two games for them, then go into the 50-over stuff, so he has competitive cricket and a build-up. The way the world works now, you have to work with these teams and all you have to be aligned and want the same thing, to make sure Jofra can play to his potential for as long as he can. The only way it works is if you all work together.”You could extend all this to include the employment of Luke Wright as England selector. Wright will begin his tenure in March 2023, once he fulfils his contractual obligations with Auckland Aces as their performance and talent coach.At 37, and having just retired from a playing career primarily with Sussex across 20 years as a professional, he is wired into the game, both with contacts and his understanding of an ever-evolving ecosystem. He has experience across the world, in a variety of domestic and franchise competitions. Beyond his undoubted personability, Key will lean on his rare nous.Related

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“Things like shaping central contract decisions, all those things he’ll be involved with, and he understands better than I do because he’s played franchise cricket and knows what it’s like to be a player, and the decisions they’ve got to make because these decisions are coming now for the players. They’re not coming in five years’ time. This is coming now. Which franchise do they want to play for? What format do they want to play? Do they want to play in that series or is it going to collide with something else? Luke Wright’s across all of that.”Of course, a lot of this is a very English luxury, be it guaranteed interests in Test cricket from participants and punters, or simply the finances to ring-fence their assets to a point. Key acknowledges all of that, especially at a time when franchise competitions are only growing in number and pull.”We are so lucky in English cricket but our summer doesn’t get decimated by all of these leagues. You can see why Rahul Dravid said how they can’t let their players play in these franchise leagues, because all these leagues would just decimate the Ranji Trophy.”We’re in a very fortunate position but we’ve got to realise that we’ve got to work these people and put ourselves in the player’s shoes and think about ‘what decision would I make here?’ You’ve got to be fair and make sure everyone benefits. As expected, it’s just come quicker than I thought.”

Asif Afridi has been banned for two years for two separate breaches of the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code. The ban will come into effect on the date the left-arm spinner was provisionally suspended – September 12, 2022, meaning his period of ineligibility ends two years after that date. The offences are understood to have occurred in the 2022 Pakistan Cup, where Afridi, 36, played for eventual runners-up Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The more serious breach of the code comes in the violation of Article 2.4.10, which involves “directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally facilitating any Participant to breach any of the foregoing provisions of this Article 2.4.”While the precise nature of this offence has not been made public, it has seen him banned for two years. His other offence concerns the breach of Article 2.4.4, which concerns the non-reporting of corrupt approaches. For that, he has received a six-month suspension, to run concurrently alongside the two-year suspension.The offences can carry up to a lifetime ban, but the PCB said they had taken into account his admission of guilt, level of remorse and past track record.”It gives the PCB no joy to suspend an international cricketer for two years, but we have a zero-tolerance approach towards such offences,” PCB chairman Najam Sethi said. “As the game’s governing body, we need to make examples, handle such matters robustly and send out strong messages to all cricketers.”It is bitter fact that corruption poses a threat to our sport as selfish corrupters lure cricketers in different ways and methods. That’s precisely why the PCB has been investing heavily on player education so that they remain vigilant and can help the PCB eradicate this menace by reporting approaches. If, despite all our best efforts to create awareness, a player falls victim to his greed, then the PCB has no sympathy.”While Afridi hasn’t played international cricket for Pakistan, he was named in Pakistan’s T20I and ODI squads for Australia’s visit to Pakistan last year. He has also played for Multan Sultans in the PSL. He last played any form of cricket in the National T20 Cup in August 2022.