Page 50 - Cricket

Canada's McGahey to become first transgender to play international cricket

Danielle McGahey of Canada will become the first transgender cricketer to play in an international match when she represents her adopted country during the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup qualifier in Bangladesh. The 29-year-old McGahey, an opening batter, has been selected in Canada's women's squad for the next month's qualifying tournament after she fulfilled ICC's eligibility criteria for male-to-female transgender players. The qualifying tournament will be played in Los Angeles from September 4 to 11. Canada will take on Argentina, Brazil and the United States in the ICC Americas Qualifier for a place in the Global Qualifiers. "I am absolutely honoured. To be able to represent my community is something I never dreamed I would be able to do," McGahey was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. McGahey moved to Canada from Australia in February 2020 and began her social transition from a man to a woman in November 2020. She started medical transition in May 2021. McGahey's participation in .

Asia Cup: Pathirana's coach cliams he didn't copy action from Malinga

Matheesha Pathirana's sling-shot action immediately brings Lasith Malinga to mind but the young Sri Lankan did not deliberately copy his illustrious senior, his childhood coach Bilal Fassy said on Thursday, insisting that the much talked-about bowling style came naturally to the pacer. His Malinga-like action has also earned Pathirana sobriquets like Podi (Little) Malinga in Sri Lanka and Baby Malinga among Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans. Pathirana had a breakout season for IPL champions CSK. He snared 19 wickets from 12 matches and was Mahendra Singh Dhoni's go-to bowler in crunch situations. While Dhoni is grooming the 20-year-old as CSK's designated death overs specialist, the Sri Lankan cricket establishment should handle him with utmost care, feels Fassy. "Seeing his action, a lot of people think that he has modelled it after seeing Malinga. Pathirana also trained under Malinga. But he came to me with this action from day one, and we just worked on it a bit, considering it can

Gujrat Titans' Sai Sudharsan signs up with Surrey for County Championship

In a rare feat, uncapped Indian opener B Sai Sudharsan on Thursday signed up for Surrey County Cricket Club for the remainder of its County Championship season. The 21-year-old Sudharsan has so far played in only eight first-class matches for Tamil Nadu, scoring 598 runs at an average of 42.71, including two hundreds and a half-century, with a top score of 179. Sudharsan has also been a regular player in the Indian Premier League for former champions Gujarat Titans over the last couple of seasons, accumulating 507 runs in 13 matches at an average of 46.09 and a strike rate of 137.03, with a top score of 96. He made his India 'A' debut during the Emerging Asia Cup a few months back, where he hammered a ton. Speaking on Sudharsan's signing, Surrey head coach Alec Stewart said, With the busy schedule of international and domestic cricket around the world, I'm pleased to add Sai Sudharsan to our available squad of players. "Sai has come highly recommended to me by people I hugely resp

Asia Cup 2023: Dasun Shanaka confident his young players would prove enough

Sri Lanka have been hit hard by injuries to key players in the run up to the ongoing Asia Cup, and captain Dasun Shanaka on Wednesday said they can't have control over such crisis but are confident of others standing up for the absentees in the continental tournament. Six-time champions Sri Lanka will open their Asia Cup campaign against Bangladesh here on Thursday, but they will be without four main players in Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara and Dilshan Madhushanka. "We can't have control over injuries. You know the players who unfortunately missed out -- Hasaranga, Chameerathey are big players, experienced players. "But we have a young side and this will be a good experience for them and we are looking forward to the tournament," said Shanaka here during the pre-match press meet. Shanaka said they have enough quality players in the side to make an impression in the Asia Cup. "Last time (in the 2022 Asia Cup) also we went in as underdogs and lost our first g

England women to get same match fee as men in international cricket

England's female international cricketers will be paid the same match fees as their male counterparts on the back of record attendances and viewing figures for the Women's Ashes played over June and July. The move toward abolishing the pay gap between male and female players in England had already been recommended in a report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, which was published two months ago and highlighted deep-rooted discrimination in the English game. That report said the average salary for England Women players was 20.6% of what players in the men's team received for limited-overs games. A total of 1,10,00 people came to watch the drawn Women's Ashes series between England and Australia, with crowds of around 20,000 at several of the limited-overs matches. More than 23,000 tickets were sold for the five days of the test at Trent Bridge. Broadcast viewing figures of 5.3 million were double those in 2019. The pay increase will take effect immediately, starti

Asia Cup 2023: Bangladesh jolted, Litton Das ruled out due to illness

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das was on Wednesday ruled out of the entire duration of Asia Cup cricket tournament due to illness, dealing a blow to the side ahead of their campaign opener against hosts Sri Lanka in Pallekele. Das could not recover from a viral fever, and he did not travel to Sri Lanka whom Bangladesh face in their opening match on Thursday. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has named 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Anamul Haque Bijoy as Das' replacement. Bijoy will join the squad in Sri Lanka later on Wednesday. "Bangladesh opening batsman Litton Kumer Das, who could not travel to Sri Lanka with the Asia Cup squad due to viral fever, has been ruled out of the tournament as he has not recovered from the illness," the BCB said in a statement. "The National Selection Panel of BCB has named 30-year-old fellow right-hander Anamul Haque Bijoy as Litton's replacement." Anamul Haque has played 44 ODIs and has scored 1254 runs which include three hundreds. His l

Disney gambles on free cricket to turn the tables in India streaming war

The India streaming operations, which were Disney's biggest last year globally by users, posted a loss of $41.5 million on revenue of $390 million for the year to March 2022, its last disclosed result

Asia Cup will test bowlers' readiness for 50-overs cricket: Wasim Akram

Pakistan bowling great Wasim Akram on Sunday said the upcoming Asia Cup will test readiness of subcontinental bowlers for 50-overs cricket ahead of the ODI World Cup, but refused to pick any favourites for the tournament. The Asia Cup begins on Wednesday with Pakistan taking on Nepal in the tournament-opener in Multan, but all eyes are fixed on the mega clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in Kandy on September 2. "Be it India or Pakistan or Sri Lanka, we will find out if the bowlers are able to deliver 10 overs or not, now-a-days they are all used to bowling four-overs (per game)," Akram told reporters here during a tournament sponsor's event. The competition will revert to 50-overs format in this edition after being organised in T20 version last year, and Akram welcomed the change. "This is a good idea by ACC to have a 50-over Asia Cup because right after it we have the World Cup," he said. Akram said all teams will be challenged on the parameters of fitness and game ...

Asia Cup 2023: Karim Janat returns after six years to Afghanistan ODI squad

All-rounder Karim Janat on Sunday returned to Afghanistan's ODI squad after a gap of six years and the selectors also included seasoned left-handed batter Najibullah Zadran in the 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup. Hashmatullah Shahidi, a solid left-handed batter and who is known for anchoring the innings, will lead the team in the tournament will be played from August 30 to September 17 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Mohammad Saleem Safi and Abdul Rahman, two fast bowlers, who were part of Afghanistan's recent home ODI series against Pakistan, have retained their spots in the squad, but Fareed Ahmad and Wafadar Momand have been left out. Azmatullah Omarzai, a seam-bowling all-rounder, has been ruled out of the competition due to a side strain. Gulbadin Naib and Janat have been added to the team to serve as backup all-rounders. Sharafuddin Ashraf, a left-arm spin bowling all-rounder, has also been included as a reserve spinner. Zadran, who missed the recently-concluded Pakista

Asia Cup 2023: Top five run scorers for India in tournament's history

The top five Indian batters in the list include heavyweights of the game like Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. But the last two names are of Delhi boys which might surprise people

World Cup: Netherlands bank on practice matches in India to make an impact

Netherlands might be entering the ICC World Cup 2023 as rank outsiders, but their coach Ryan Cook is banking on camps in India and practice matches to make an impact in the quadrennial extravaganza. Netherlands will arrive in India mid-September to have an acclimatization camp in Bengaluru, where they will play a couple of local sides. Following that, they will face India and Australia in the pre-tournament warm-up matches at Thiruvananthapuram. Cook hoped that the time spent in India would blend with his team's inherent desire to win matches. "We are preparing as hard as we can. There will be a couple of camps and practice matches in India. We hope they will serve us well in the tournament proper. Once you enter the tournament, it will be inspirational for everyone to do well," Cook said on Saturday while addressing a select media gathering. The Dutchmen qualified for the World Cup earlier in July ahead of teams like two-time champions West Indies. However, since that day they h

Opening day rush: World Cup tickets app and website crashes for 40 minutes

The much-delayed sale of tickets for the ODI World Cup began on Friday but fans had a tough time booking them with the official website not working for a good 35 to 40 minutes. The opening day of ticket sales was reserved for non-India matches, including the warm-ups. However, the process stared at 8 pm local time and soon after fans complained of the 'Bookmyshow' application crashing amid a mad rush to book the tickets. 'Bookmyshow' is the ticketing partner for the World Cup beginning October 5. "This is really frustrating - after such a delayed announcement of ticket sales, if the basic systems infrastructure is not in place, it speaks very poorly of the mighty BCCI and ICC. Events like these are organised world over and systems like lotteries and ticket queues are common. Why are those not in pace for such a large event," Delhi-based fan Atirav Kapur told PTI on Friday. Half hour into the ticket sales, the website started working but by then a chunk of the fans had lost their ..

Cricketers laud Praggnanandhaa on runners-up finish in Chess World Cup

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated India's grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa to clinch the title of International Chess Federation World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan on Thursday

IRE vs IND 3rd T20 Highlights: Match called-off, India win series 2-0

India vs Ireland 3rd T20 Highlights: The third and final T20 of the three-match series was abandoned due to rain without even a single ball being bowled. India take the series 2-0

ODI World Cup: NZ employ Fleming, Foster, Bell as part of coaching staff

New Zealand have roped in the services of former skipper Stephen Fleming and the English duo of Ian Bell and James Foster as part of their coaching staff in the lead up to the ODI World Cup in India. Both Fleming and former wicketkeeper Foster come with IPL coaching experience that may help the Black Caps during the World Cup, starting October 5. Fleming has been coaching the Chennai Super Kings for over a decade and has guided the MS Dhoni-led side to five IPL titles. He will join the Black Caps for the ODI series against England after finishing his duties with the Southern Brave men in The Hundred next month. "I think Flem will be great for players on that side of it and also good for the staff as well," New Zealand head coach Gary Stead was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "He's got immense amount of knowledge in that part of the world [India] and has coached in the IPL right from the start of the competition, so he's coached in all those areas where we're going to play in. "S

Haris Rauf's 5-18 dismisses Afghanistan for 59, Pakistan earn big ODI win

Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf grabbed 5-18 as Afghanistan succumbed to a 142-run loss in their one-day international on Tuesday. After bowling out Pakistan for 201 on a tricky, slow pitch, Afghanistan was all out at 59-9 in less than 20 overs. Afghanistan suffered its second lowest ODI total. Shaheen Shah Afridi rattled Afghanistan's top order with the wickets of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah off successive deliveries in his second over, then Shadab Khan took a brilliant catch of captain Hashmatullah Shahidi that left Afghanistan limping at 3-4. Rauf's fiery pace and swing then routed the middle order. Only Rahmanullah Gurbaz (18) and Azmatullah Omarzai (16), who retired hurt, reached double figures for the Afghans before Rauf claimed the last wicket and fell to his knees following the best figures of his ODI career. The spell of Haris was game-changing, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said. We just wanted to bowl as many dot balls as possible and hit hard lengths in the powerplay.

Historic move by Cricket South Africa, men and women to get equal match fee

This move has come on the back of another landmark announcement where the country would witness a six-team domestic structure for women's cricket for the first time

Rinku Singh's story is of hard work and perseverance: Abhishek Nayar

Having closely tracked the journey of a shy' young boy with low self confidence' evolve into a promising player for India, Abhishek Nayar describes Rinku Singh's story as one of hard work and perserverance. The 25-year-old shot himself into national reckoning ever since he smacked five consecutive sixes to power Kolkata Knight Riders to a shocking win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL this year. On Sunday, he showed he can replicate that at the highest level with a 21-ball 38 against Ireland on his India debut. I have seen Rinku evolve as an individual. The first time I saw him in the KKR set up, and spent time with him when he came to Mumbai, he was very shy and a guy with very low self belief, KKR assistant coach Nayar recalled on Tuesday. Overall, Rinku Singh has been a tremendous story a rags to riches sort of story but with a lot of hard work and perseverance, he replied to a PTI query during a chat organised by Jio Cinema. But one thing which has been a standout for Rinku is

Steve Smith injury: Australian reveals how he hurt his wrist at Lord's

Premier Australian batter Steve Smith has revealed that he was nursing an injury for the better part of the Ashes series, having wounded his wrist during the Lord's Test. The 34-year-old had torn a tendon in his left wrist during the second Test at Lord's after making a match-winning 110 in the first innings. "I did it at Lord's. I don't actually know the moment, it was when we were in the field. It wasn't until that night I was like, 'Geez, what have I done here, it's a bit sore'," Smith told 'Fox Cricket'. "I played the next game and then I had a cortisone before Old Trafford. I got back (to Australia) and I was like, 'Still not quite right. I still can't do a lot of things properly'. "I had another scan. There was a small tear in the tendon as well as a couple of other things." After winning the opening two Tests, Australia looked on course to register their first Ashes series win in England since 2001. However, the hosts staged a remarkable comeback to draw the rubber. Despit

Won't try and reinvent the wheel at all: Mitchell Marsh on Aussie captaincy

Star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh is not looking to "reinvent the wheel" and would rather continue what regular skipper Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald have been doing when he captains Australia in the upcoming white-ball tour of South Africa. The 31-year-old will be leading the Australian T20 and ODI side in the absence of Cummins, who is nursing a fractured wrist, in the white-ball series against the Proteas. "I probably won't try and reinvent the wheel at all. I think the most important thing I've learned about leadership is staying true to yourself," Marsh told cricket.co.au. "Patty and Andrew McDonald have created an incredible environment around our group right now so hopefully I can continue that in the T20 format and create an environment where the guys come in and just enjoy playing cricket for Australia." Australia are without a T20 captain since former skipper Aaron Finch announced his retirement and the series against the Proteas is the perfect opportunity for Marsh