England to host next three WTC Finals; ICC announces key updates at Annual Conference
Among other key developments, the ICC also provided an update on the ongoing efforts to support displaced women cricketers of Afghan descent. This initiative is being advanced through a collaborative effort led by the ICC, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and Cricket Australia (CA), under the supervision of ICC Deputy Chair Imran Khwaja.
The programme aims to deliver structured support through high-performance initiatives, domestic playing opportunities, and engagement at key ICC global events, including the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 in India and the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in England.
In relation to USA Cricket, the ICC reiterated its previous position and confirmed that the organisation remains on notice. USA Cricket is required to undertake comprehensive governance reforms, including but not limited to completing free and fair elections within a three-month period. The Board, however, reserves the right to take such actions as it deems appropriate.
Additionally, Gurumurthy Palani (France Cricket), Anuraag Bhatnagar (Cricket Hong Kong, China), and Gurdeep Klair (Cricket Canada) were elected to the ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) as Associate Member representatives.
Formal votes of thanks were recorded to outgoing ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice, and to departing CEC members Sumod Damodar (Botswana Cricket Association), Rashpal Bajwa (Cricket Canada), and Umair Butt (Cricket Denmark), for their service to the global game.
Two new members joined the ICC family to take the total membership to 110 members with Timor-Leste Cricket Federation and Zambia Cricket Union formally becoming ICC Associate members.
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Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Times of Oman
Fifties from Yashashvi, Sai take India to 264/4 against England in Manchester Test
Manchester : Half-centuries from left-hand batters Sai Sudarshan and Yashasvi Jaiswal took India to a total of 264/4 at the end of the first day of the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 on Wednesday, which was played at Old Trafford in Manchester. At stumps on Day 1, India are 264/4 in 83 overs with Ravindra Jadeja (19*) and Shardul Thakur (19*) unbeaten on the crease. The visitors started the final session from 149/3 in 52 overs with Sai Sudarshan (26*) and Rishabh Pant (3*) unbeaten on the crease. The Shubman Gill-led side touched the 150-run mark in the 53rd over. In the 65th over, Team India surpassed the 200-run mark in their innings. At the score of 212 when Rishabh Pant was looking solid on 37 during the fourth Test in Manchester when a sharp delivery from Chris Woakes struck him hard on the right foot. The damage looked serious; there was a big swelling, a bit of bleeding, and he could barely stand. The physio rushed in, but it quickly became clear that Pant couldn't carry on. A motorised vehicle was brought in to take him off the field as he was in evident pain. Left-hand batter Ravindra Jadeja came out to replace him. In the 69th over, Sai Sudarshan completed his maiden Test fifty as he slammed a boundary on the bowling of off-spinner Joe Root. In the 74th over of the innings, India lost their fourth wicket as Ben Stokes dismissed Sai Sudarshan (61 runs from 151 balls) when the team's score was 235. On the second ball of the 79th over, India completed the 250-run mark as Shardul Thakur took a single on the bowling of left-arm spinner Liam Dawson. India finished the first day of the Manchester Test at 264/4 with Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur unbeaten on the crease. Before the end of play, both players built an unbeaten partnership of 29(55). For the Three Lions, two wickets were snapped by all-rounder Ben Stokes (2/47 in 14 overs) and one wickrt each was bagged by right-arm seamer Chris Woakes (1/43 in 17 overs) and Liam Dawson (1/45 in 15 overs) in their respective spells. Earlier in the day, England elected won the toss and opted to field first. Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul started reasonably well, getting themselves a boundary each within the first three overs. Jaiswal, though, survived a catch attempt at slip in the first over as it fell short of the man at second slip. Jaiswal had some struggles against Woakes, who beat him plenty of times, but he nonetheless persisted. KL also became the fifth batter to complete 1,000 runs in England from India, joining the elite company of Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. India survived the first hour against Woakes, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse, at 42/0, with KL (21*) and Jaiswal (13*). Both KL and Jaiswal continued their grind following drinks, with skipper Ben Stokes striking KL's pad in his first over, but the opener survived. A cut carved by Jaiswal, piercing the gap between third slip and gully, brought India's fifty-run mark in 17.4 overs. Towards the final few overs of the first session, Jaiswal became more aggressive, using some big hits against skipper Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, the heroes of England's Lord's triumph. India ended the session without a wicket lost.
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
England down Italy to reach Euro 2025 final
Chloe Kelly fired home the rebound from her own penalty to net a 119th-minute winner as reigning champions England pulled off a stunning comeback to beat Italy 2-1 after extra time on Tuesday and reach the Women's European Championship final. England fell behind in the first half but hit back to level through Michelle Agyemang six minutes into second-half stoppage time and when Emma Severini pulled down Beth Mead in the box in extra time, Kelly grabbed the chance to decide the game. Her first effort was saved but she was quick off the mark to rifle in the rebound and send England through to the final where they will face either Spain or Germany. After a come-from-behind penalty shootout win over Sweden in the quarterfinals, England again flirted with disaster, but their late surge floored Italy, whose hopes of reaching a first final since 1997 were crushed. The win propelled England into a third successive major final after their Euro 2022 success and World Cup loss to Spain the following year. With the Italians riding a wave of confidence after a last minute winner against Norway in their quarterfinal, they defended brilliantly and attacked incisively on the break. Their persistence paid off in the 33rd minute of a gritty semifinal when a ball from the right found its way to Barbara Bonansea, who took a touch before lashing it into the roof of the net. England then dominated possession and created a slew of chances as the Italians rode their luck, but too often the English attackers unleashed shots from distance that were easily dealt with or flew harmlessly over the bar. With their hopes of defending their title slowly slipping away, 19-year old substitute Agyemang snapped up a loose ball in the box and fired home to send the game to extra time. Agyemang almost scored again with an effort deep into the second half of the extra period, outsprinting and outmuscling the Italian defence only to see her deft lob towards goal bounce back off the crossbar. Sensing that they could avoid a repeat of their quarterfinal penalty shootout against Sweden, England poured forward and reaped their reward when Mead was fouled in the box, but there was one more twist in the tale. Kelly took her usual prancing run-up, but Italy keeper Laura Giuliani kept her nerve and saved, only for the England winger to score from the follow-up and seal her side's spot in Sunday's final in Basel. 'I just tried my best for the team. It wasn't supposed to go like that, that penalty, but I was ready for the rebound and ready for any opportunity given to me wearing an England badge,' a delighted Kelly said. England defender Lucy Bronze said they had been forced to dig deep to reach the final. 'Yeah, we don't know if it's the easy way it seems this tournament, but we find a way to win,' she said. 'I think it was the 96th minute and then the 118th minute... we just... found a way to get the goals and get the ball in the last minute.' For Italy, who had defended superbly until England's equaliser, the loss was a devastating blow. 'Obviously, going out like this hurts a lot. Having stood up to the champions should give us a lot of confidence for the future. There are no words to describe the emotions we have experienced on this journey,' coach Andrea Soncin said. 'This evening, for as hard as the girls fought, we definitely deserved a different ending. Many difficult situations to comment on. It's sad, but I am and we are very proud.' — Reuters
Times of Oman
3 days ago
- Times of Oman
Gill's "Spirit of cricket" jab, exciting squad additions: 4th India-UK Test at Manchester has makings of another humdinger
Manchester: The fourth Test between England and India, perhaps the most important in the context of the series, will kickstart at Manchester's Old Trafford on Wednesday. With Team India lagging behind by 1-2 in the five-match series, a victory would help them level the series. If England win, they will win the series, denying Team India a shot at glory in England, which they have been seeking since 2007, when they last won a series under Rahul Dravid's captaincy. After a narrow loss at Lord's by 22 runs, India will have to rewrite history books all over again to level the series. Out of nine tests played at Old Trafford, India has lost four, and five have ended in a draw. In their previous Test at the venue, back in 2014, India lost by an innings and 54 runs, failing to outscore England's first-innings total of 367 across both their innings, managing just 152 and 161 runs. Ahead of the match during the pre-match presser, the tensions between both teams showed no signs of slowing down as Indian skipper Shubman Gill fired jabs at openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett for being "90 minutes late" to the crease during the final moments of day three and played the 'spirit of the game' card against the Englishmen themselves, known for bringing in the phrase during various instances of the games not going their way. "So let me just clear the air for once and for all. The English batsmen on that day had seven minutes of play left. They were 90 seconds late to come to the crease. Not 10, not 20, 90 seconds late. Yes, most of the teams use this. Even if we were in a position, we would have also liked to play fewer overs. But there is a manner to do it," said Gill during the presser. "We felt, yes, if you get hit on your body (one of Jasprit Bumrah's deliveries hit Crawley's hands), the physios are allowed to come on. And that is fair. But to be able to come 90 seconds late on the crease is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game," he added. "I would not say it was something that I am very proud of. But there was a lead-up and build-up to that. It did not just come out of nowhere. And we had no intention of doing that whatsoever. But it just, you are playing a game, you are playing to win. And there are a lot of emotions involved. And when you see there are things happening that should not happen, sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere," he concluded. In a positive update, Gill said that the superstar wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will be behind the stumps after having faced a finger injury at Lord's, which saw Dhruv Jurel take the keeping gloves while Pant batted, scoring 74 and nine. Answering a query if Pant will be wicket-keeping, Gill said, "Yes". Gill also spoke about the Old Trafford Cricket Ground pitch and said there is not much chance for the wicket to dry. "Honestly, when I went to see the wicket, the wicket did not look that damp. But obviously, now having to look at the weather, I don't think there is much chance for the wicket to dry that much throughout. So I think there would be a little bit more for the bowlers," Gill said. "And generally on this venue, it is a little bit quicker than the other venues we have seen. There's a bit more pace and bounce. So we'll have to see how the test match pans out," he added. Despite the presence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, Team India will have to field another bowling combination in the absence of an injured Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep. Speaking of Haryana seamer Anshul Kamboj, who impressed during India's A's tour to England before the series with four wickets and a half-century with the bat, Gill said that the team has seen enough of him and the communication with him has been kept simple. He also hinted that the 24-year-old, newly drafted in the team, is "close to making his debut". "You know, why has he been brought in. But it is mainly the belief that we have within our squad that any player who comes into the team can win matches for us. And secondly, yes, Anshul, he is very close to making his debut. We are going to see tomorrow, between him and Prasidh, who is going to make it to the playing XI," he added. Kamboj is known for his ability to stick to traditional lengths and hit the deck hard, generating movement. He was part of the India A squad before for the two unofficial Tests against England Lions and impressed in the second, taking four wickets, including two in a single over. Not just with the ball, Kamboj exuded grit with the bat, stitching an unbeaten 149-run stand with Tanush Kotian in the same contest and scoring a half-century himself. In the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, he scalped 34 wickets in six matches and finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 2024-25 Duleep Trophy. He created history by becoming only the third Indian to take all ten wickets in an innings against Kerala. In First-Class cricket, Kamboj boasts 79 wickets in 24 matches at an average of 22.88 while maintaining a strike rate of 44.2 and an economy of 3.10. Now, moving to the other side, England skipper Ben Stokes has made one exciting addition to his side, adding Liam Dawson, an experienced spin bowling all-rounder, in place of an injured Shoaib Bashir. During the press conference, Stokes highlighted the 35-year-old's "experience and competitiveness" and expressed excitement at his return to the playing eleven. "He has been performing really well for Hampshire for a while now. I think he is getting recalled into the white ball team as well. He showed that he can just come back in and get to work straight away. I think someone, when you have as much experience as Dawson has, it makes coming back in, not easier, but it does make it easier, if that makes any sense at all." "Because he has got all that experience to fall back on. Obviously, I am sure there will be a bit of nerves for Dawson coming back in and playing his first game in eight years, as you said. But yes, he is a very good cricketer, and I am excited for him this week," he added. He has performed consistently for Hampshire for several years, scoring 10,731 runs in 212 first-class matches at an average of 35.29, with 18 centuries and 56 fifties, and taking 371 wickets at an average of 31.54. In the most recent County Championship, Dawson made 536 runs in nine matches and 14 innings at an average of 44.36, with a century and two half-centuries. He also took 21 wickets at an average of 40.04, with best figures of 5/158. With his team getting their World Test Championship (WTC) points docked for slow-over-rate, Stokes also made an interesting suggestion to change the over-rate rules as per different continents, depending on the prevalence of spin or pace, as spinners take less time and energy, while there is a lot of rest, tactical side of things and workload managing involved for pacers who are "breaking their backs", "There are periods in the game where you do try to slow everything down, more tactically, if anything like that. Overrating is not something I worry about, but that doesn't mean I purposely slow things down. I do understand the frustration around it, but I honestly think there needs to be a real hard look at how it is structured," said Stokes. "You cannot have the same rules in Asia where spin is bowling 70 per cent of the overs to have the same laws in New Zealand, Australia, England, where it is going to be 70-80 per cent of seam bowlers. Because the spinners take less time than the seamers to get done with their overs, common sense would think that you should look at maybe changing how the overs are timed in different continents," he added. Stokes, while already crowned 'Player of the Match' for an all-round show at Lord's, would be aiming for big runs. In three matches during the ongoing home series, Stokes has scored 163 runs in six innings at an average of 27.16, with a best score of 44. While a big score continues to elude him, he is England's highest-wicket-taking bowler, with 11 scalps at an average of 29.45 and best bowling figures of 4/66. With the series' future to be decided at Old Trafford, this is another occasion that calls for a Stokes' special. He has a fine record at the venue, scoring 579 runs in eight Tests and 12 innings at an average of 52.63, with two centuries and three fifties. His best score is 176. With the ball, he has 11 wickets at an average of 27.54, with best figures of 27.54. The climb towards the top of Test run charts gets easier for Joe Root, who is just 120 runs away from becoming the second-highest run-getter in the format and sitting next to Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs). In three Tests so far, Root has scored 253 runs at an average of 50.60, with a century and a fifty each. He is the eighth-highest run-getter so far, a little disappointing given his gigantic standards this decade. Root has a fantastic record in Manchester, being the all-time highest run-getter with 978 runs in 11 Tests and 19 innings at an average of 65.20, with a century and seven fifties. His best score is 254. The stylish batter is currently the fifth-highest run-getter of all time in Tests, with 13,259 runs in 156 Tests and 285 innings at an average of 50.80, with 37 centuries and 66 fifties and a best score of 262. Scoring just 30 more runs will push him to fourth spot, outdoing Indian great Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs in 164 Tests), while 120 more runs will help him topple South Africa's Jacques Kallis (13,289 runs in 166 Tests) and Australia's Ponting (13,378 runs in 168 matches) to become the second-highest Test run-getter of all time. Indian skipper Shubman is also eyeing some records and milestones, 107 runs away from 6,000 international runs. Despite a brief lull at Lord's, Gill is still the highest run-getter in the series, with 607 runs in six innings at an average of 101.16 and an audacious strike rate of over 71, with three centuries to his name. His closest competitors, the wicketkeeping-batters Rishabh Pant (425 runs) and Jamie Smith (415 runs) are yet to touch even the 500-run mark in the series. So far in his international career, Gill has scored 5,853 runs at an average of 46.45, with 17 centuries and 25 fifties to his name, with the best score of 269 in 141 innings. 107 more runs will take him to the 6,000-run mark. In 35 Tests so far, he has shown both promise and inconsistency, scoring 2,500 runs at an average of 41.66, with eight centuries and seven fifties in 65 innings, including a best score of 269. Pacer Chris Woakes, who received backing from his skipper despite taking just seven wickets so far at an average of 56.42, will be aiming to continue his fine record at Old Trafford and become the eighth English player to reach the 400-wicket mark in international cricket, just eight scalps shy of the milestone. At Old Trafford, having taken 35 scalps in just seven Tests at an average of 17.37, strike rate of 35.8, with best figures of 5/50. He has two five-wicket hauls at the venue. England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Anshul Kamboj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel.
