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Middlesex 211 (De Caires 52, Geddes 52, Aspinwall 4-62, Bailey 4-68) and 99 for 4 (Bailey 3-47) drew with Lancashire 375 for 5 dec (Bohannon 87, Hurst 67, Wells 62, Jennings 61)Josh Bohannon made a superb 87 and both Seb Morgan and Arav Shetty took their maiden first-class wickets on an eventful last day of the first-class season at Emirates Old Trafford but the Rothesay County Championship match between Lancashire and Middlesex ended in a draw.Replying to Middlesex’s 211, Lancashire’s batters went on the attack in the first half of the day, scoring 270 runs in 44 overs before declaring on 375 for 5 an hour after lunch. However, their imaginative attempt to conjure a victory was thwarted, not without the odd alarm, by Middlesex’s top-order and the game ended with the visitors on 99 for 4.The result ensures that Glamorgan will finish second in Division Two, although whether that means they will be promoted to Division One or one of the proposed conferences has yet to be decided.The morning had begun on a positive note for Middlesex when Luke Wells was lbw to Toby Roland-Jones for 62 in the third over of the day. But the session was dominated by the batting of Bohannon whose 69-ball 87 included 14 fours and two sixes, the latter off Henry Brookes and Zafar Gohar. Lancashire’s No. 3 scored 74 of the first hundred runs in his 113-run stand with Jennings and looked set for a very quick hundred before he was bowled by Roland-Jones when hitting across the line.Jennings had been completely overshadowed by his batting partner but he was dismissed for 61 two balls after Bohannon when he played all around a ball from Morgan and lost his leg stump. That gave 18-year-old Morgan his maiden first-class wicket on the ground where his 61 runs had been instrumental in Middlesex’s memorable one-wicket Metro Bank Cup victory back in August.Lancashire came into lunch on 239 for 3, giving them a lead of 28, but they lost George Bell in the third over of the afternoon session when he was leg before wicket to Higgins for 17. By then, though, Matty Hurst had hit the first of his four sixes, two of the maximums coming off Gohar, and Lancashire’s rapid progress was not slowed by the dismissal of Michael Jones, caught at deep point off Morgan, for 33. When the declaration was made, Hurst was 67 not out off 68 balls and Lancashire had scored 270 runs off 44 overs in the day’s play.Lancashire’s hopes of achieving an unlikely victory were given an immediate fillip when Josh De Caires was leg before wicket to Tom Bailey in the ninth over of the innings. That gave Bailey his 500th wicket in all formats for Lancashire and Middlesex came into tea on 26 for 1.On the resumption, Sam Robson and Luke Hollman coped reasonably easily with Lancashire’s seam attack but after the light had worsened and stand-in captain Bohannon was compelled to bowl his slow bowlers if the game was to continue, Robson fell to Bailey’s first offspinner when he was caught at short leg by Bell for 21. Shetty then took his maiden first-class wicket on debut when he bowled Leus du Plooy for 5 and Middlesex’s anxieties were increased three overs into the last hour when Bailey bowled Luke Hollman for 33.To their evident relief, though, the visitors lost no more wickets and were 99 for 4 with Higgins on 14 not out and Ben Geddes unbeaten on 1 when the players shook hands. Bailey finished with 3 for 47 from 17.5 overs.

Suzie Bates staged a batting masterclass as Durham beat Somerset by 105 runs in a one-sided Metro Bank One Day Cup contest at the Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton.The 37-year-old Kiwi registered a superb career-best innings of 163, eclipsing her previous highest List-A score of 151 made for New Zealand against Ireland in Dublin in 2018, as Durham raised an imposing 315 for 9 after winning the toss. At her imperious best, Bates amassed 18 fours and three sixes and shared in stands of 71 with Hollie Armitage, 66 with Beth Heath and 78 with Phoebe Turner for the second, fifth and sixth wickets respectively to make it a day to forget for Somerset’s bowlers, who conceded 38 boundaries in all.The pick of Durham’s bowlers, Phoebe Turner claimed 3 for 45, Katie Levick took 3 for 57 and Mady Villiers 3 for 30 as Somerset were dismissed for 210 in 40.2 overs, Jess Hazell top-scoring with a 55-ball 50 and Bex Odgers contributing 47 in a losing cause.There was little evidence of what was to come when Mollie Robbins had Emma Marlow held at backward point with the score on 22 in the fifth over. Initially playing and missing on a surface offering early assistance to seam, Bates had to wait six overs to post a boundary, scoring the majority of her runs in an arc between point and third man as she battled to establish herself.But Somerset’s seamers found the going tougher thereafter, Bates and Armitage posting a 50 stand in 56 balls to build momentum and advance the score to 93-1 inside 20 overs. Only when Somerset turned to spin, did they begin to make headway, Chloe Skelton bowling Armitage and Emily Windsor and Liv Barnes having Mady Villiers stumped, three wickets falling in four overs as the visitors lurched to 107 for 4.Beth Heath announced herself by plundering sixes at the expense of Alex Griffiths and Elllie Anderson as Durham quickly reasserted themselves, the fifth wicket realising 50 in just 39 balls as the pendulum swung back again. By the time the hard-hitting Heath chopped on and lost leg stump to Laura Jackson, she had contributed a run-a-ball 32 and helped force the home bowlers onto the back foot once more.Having raised 50 from 64 deliveries, Bates then moved up through the gears, dominating a partnership of 78 with Phoebe Turner, who expertly rotated the strike in contributing 25. By now hitting through the ball cleanly, Bates moved to three figures via 112 balls, raising that landmark with a leg-side single off Mollie Robbins. By the time Anderson had Turner held in the deep, Durham were 251 for 6 in the 45th and flying.Bates lifted Robbins over the rope behind square to equal the 148 she scored for Hampshire against Warwickshire at Basingstoke in 2018 – her highest score in England – and then hit the same bowler over the mid-wicket boundary to go to 150 in fine style.Having faced 140 balls and scored more than her team’s runs, Bates succumbed in the 48th over, holing out to short fine leg off the bowling of Laura Jackson with the score 290 for 7. Even then there was no respite for the hosts, lusty hitting from Katherine Fraser and Sophia Turner serving to carry Durham out of sight.Somerset made a decent start to their reply, reaching 49 for the loss of Niamh Holland in 10 overs, but their progress was slowed by spin thereafter, Katie Levick and Villiers restricting scoring to build pressure and force the required rate up above seven an over for the first time. Villiers then struck an important blow, pinning Sophie Luff in the crease for 19 with the score 75 for 2.Odgers had played nicely in raising three sixes and a brace of fours and advancing her score to 47 when she was bowled by a startling Phoebe Turner yorker. Turner struck again later in the same over, Fraser taking off to hold a brilliant diving catch at backward point and send back Fran Wilson as the home side slipped to 88 for 4 in the 18th.When Fraser found the outside edge and Griffiths was caught at the wicket, Somerset were 108 for 5 in the 23rd, requiring a further 208 to win at just under eight an over. It proved too big an ask, despite Hazell and Jackson staging a defiant sixth wicket stand of 53 to hold up Durham and deny them a bonus point.

Stand-in South Africa captain Keshav Maharaj has been ruled out of the second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo because of a left groin strain. Allrounder Wiaan Mulder will lead the side in the second Test starting July 6.Maharaj captained South Africa in Test cricket for the first time after Temba Bavuma did not recover from the hamstring strain he suffered in the World Test Championship final. Maharaj returned a match-haul of four wickets with his left-arm spin apart from scoring a half-century in the second innings. He sustained the injury while batting on the third day of the first Test, which South Africa won by a whopping 328 runs.This will be Mulder’s first time of leading a team in first-class cricket. He has made 87 red-ball appearances, 20 of them in Tests. His only experience of captaining the team came for Leicestershire in the quarter-final of the One Day Cup 2022 against Kent. Mulder is coming off a productive match, scoring his Test best of 147 in the second innings to follow his four-wicket haul in the first innings.Fellow left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy has been named Maharaj’s replacement for the next Test while Lungi Ngidi, originally set to join the squad ahead of the game, has been released. Maharaj was not part of the T20I tri-series to follow, with New Zealand being the third team.

Australia allrounder Ashleigh Gardner has been named Gujarat Giants captain for WPL 2025, ending fellow national team-mate Beth Mooney’s two-year reign at the helm.”It is an absolute honour for me to be named the captain of Gujarat Giants.” Gardner said in a Giants statement. “I have loved being a part of this team and I am excited to lead this fantastic group in the upcoming season. We have a great mix of young and experienced players and plenty of Indian talent in our squad. I am looking forward to working with the team and making our fans proud.”Related

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Gardner has been a vital cog for Australia across formats, chipping in with her all-round credentials. In the recent Women’s Ashes, she picked up five wickets including a second-innings four-for in the only Test match – a pink-ball affair at the MCG – and scored her maiden ODI century in the third ODI of the series. She missed the T20I leg of the multi-format series with a calf strain but had provided a reminder of her bowling abilities by picking 16 wickets for Sydney Sixers in WBBL 2024.”She is a fierce competitor,” Giants head coach Michael Klinger said. “Her game awareness, tactical acumen, and ability to inspire players make her the ideal choice to captain Gujarat Giants. We believe she will lead from the front and guide the team towards a successful campaign.”Gardner has been with Giants since the inaugural season and the move to elevate her to captaincy was made to free up Mooney, who is also the designated wicketkeeper and the opening batter for them. Gardner was also Giants’ vice-captain for most of the first season after Mooney picked up a calf injury one game into WPL 2023.Gardner is the No. 1-ranked allrounder in ICC’s ODI rankings while Mooney is the leading T20I batter.”I would like to thank Mooney for her highly valued leadership,” Klinger said. “Now, she will be able to focus on wicketkeeping and opening the batting lineup. She continues to be a major leader of our group.”Ahead of the auction for WPL 2025, Giants rejigged their support staff with assistant coach Nooshin Al Khadeer and mentor Mithali Raj parting ways. Australia assistant coach Daniel Marsh joined as the batting coach while IPL team Lucknow Super Giants’ spin-bowling coach Pravin Tambe is the bowling coach.

“It has been a blurry two days for me. I have been thinking about what I can say.. Do I put this down as a tribute to my all time favorite cricketer ? Maybe I’ll just take the partner angle? Or maybe a love letter from a fan girl? I guess this is a little bit of all of it.”When I saw Ashwins PC, I thought of small and big moments. Many many memories over the last 13-14 years. The big wins , the MOS awards, the quiet silence in our room after an intense game, the sound of the shower running for much longer than usual on some evenings post play , the scratch of pencil over paper as he scribbled thoughts down, the constant streaming of footage videos when he is making a game plan, the calm of meditative breathing before leaving for each game, certain songs playing on repeat while he unwinds.. The times we weeped in joy – after the CT final, after the MCG win, after the Sydney draw, The Gabba win, after making a comeback in T20s…the times we sat in silence and the times when we had our hearts broken.Related

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“Dear Ashwin, from not knowing how to put a kit bag together to following you to stadiums all over the world, rooting for you, watching you and learning from you, it has been an absolute pleasure. The world you introduced me to gave me the privilege to watch and enjoy a sport that I love from close quarters. It also showed me how much passion, hardwork and discipline is needed to keep your head above water. And sometimes even that is not enough. I remember us talking about why you, R Ashwin, had to do all of this and a lot more to even stay relevant in the scheme of things. How awards, the best of stats, the POMs, the accolades, the records didn’t matter if you didn’t sharpen your skill sets constantly and did not put in the work. Sometimes, nothing is enough. As you end your wonderful international run, I only want to tell you that it’s all good.It is all going to be good.It is time to set the burden of being you down. Live life on your terms, make space for those extra calories, make time for your family, make time to do absolutely nothing, share memes all day, create a new bowling variation, bug our kids out of their minds. Just do it all.”

Najmul Hossain Shanto* and Mushfiqur Rahim have both been ruled out of Bangladesh’s upcoming two-Test series in the West Indies. While Mushfiqur has a finger injury, Shanto has a groin strain. The absence of Mushfiqur means Bangladesh will go into a Test series for the first time in 16 years without any of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal or him.Mushfiqur, a veteran of 94 Tests, has also been suffering from a shoulder injury since the Pakistan Test series in August. He suffered the finger injury during the first ODI against Afghanistan in Sharjah last week.Shanto, who will also miss the third and final ODI against Afghanistan in Sharjah on Monday, sustained the injury during the second ODI, a BCB statement said. He left the field, and scans later confirmed the nature of the injury.”We have received the team physio’s report and the scan report, which has confirmed a Grade II strain on his left groin,” BCB senior physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said in a statement. “This will require a period of rest and rehabilitation. We will reassess his condition after two weeks. He will return home from the UAE to continue his rehab.”Mehidy Hasan Miraz will captain the side in Shanto’s absence.Shahadat Hossain, the 22-year-old right-hand top-order batter, has been named Shanto’s replacement.He has played four Tests after debuting against New Zealand last year, and has an average of 14.75 with a highest score of 31. He was dropped for the home Tests against South Africa in October, and averages 26.33 in four matches in the National Cricket League, including a century in his last game. Possible alternatives could have been Amite Hasan, who has 466 runs at an average of 77.66 in the NCL, and Anamul Haque and Amit Majumder, who have also crossed the 400-run mark in the competition.Mushfiqur Rahim had hurt his shoulder during the Test series against Pakistan in August•AFP/Getty Images

Bangladesh have also left out Khaled Ahmed and Nayeem Hasan, but will welcome Litton Das back in the fold after the wicketkeeper-batter missed the second Test against South Africa in Chattogram, and the three ODIs against Afghanistan due to fever.The touring party has a strong pace attack, including Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam and Nahid Rana. Uncapped left-arm spinner Hasan Murad has been added to the spin department that includes vice-captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam.Bangladesh have kept faith in their regular top-order batters Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan. Shanto and Mominul Haque will bat at No. 3 and 4 respectively. Mushfiqur’s role could fall on Jaker Ali or Mahidul Islam Ankon, with Litton back with the gloves, and likely to bat at No. 7.Bangladesh will start the tour with a four-day warm-up game at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, followed by the first Test in Antigua from November 22. The second Test is in Jamaica, starting November 30. The visitors will then play three ODIs and as many T20Is, but their white-ball squad hasn’t been announced yet.Bangladesh Test squad: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shahadat Hossain, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Litton Das (wk), Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Hasan Murad

Dom Sibley batted for more than four hours for his third century of the season to ensure there was no last-day embarrassment before Surrey lifted aloft the Vitality County Championship trophy following an attritional draw at Chelmsford.Surrey savoured the traditional champagne-spraying celebrations for the third successive year after a season in which they won eight of their 14 matches. However, apart from Sibley’s 189-ball 125, they were comprehensively second best against Essex as underlined by the fact they only collected two bonus points from the game.Sibley’s innings was a mixture of forcefulness, chiefly through the covers, and watchfulness as he dominated half-century stands with Dan Lawrence and Josh Blake before he was sixth man out with Surrey still nominally 143 runs shy of making Essex bat again.The finale to the Championship season petered out in comedy as Essex bowlers changed bowling styles before handshakes were exchanged at 4.10pm with Surrey 267 for 7.Essex, bowling sensibly at the time, had taken three wickets in 10 overs in the morning to introduce a little frisson to proceedings, but the game meandered towards the draw that had been inevitable since rain washed out all but 111 minutes’ play on the first two days. The draw meant Essex finished fourth, two points behind one-time title contenders Somerset.Yousef Majid extended his nightwatchman duties by just over half-an-hour on a cold, grey morning before he tried to play Harmer to leg but popped up a catch in the opposite direction to short extra cover.Jamie Porter’s sequence of four successful maidens was broken when Sibley drove him straight back so fiercely it almost cut the bowler in half on its way to the boundary. He was equally aggressive against Harmer, coming down the wicket and swiping him past midwicket for another of his 17 fours.Ryan Patel had already been missed at slip by Ben Allison, fielding in place of the injured Dean Elgar, before he was unbalanced by Porter and departed lbw. Ben Geddes did not last long, beaten by one from Harmer that turned and jagged back his off-stump.Sibley dominated the first fifty of the fifth-wicket stand with Dan Lawrence amid a flurry of pushed and well-placed boundaries. Lawrence contributed just 14 of them, and 27 of the 75 runs they eventually put on before Shane Snater trapped him lbw.Runs dried up at that point: seven came off 43 balls and 10 overs passed without a boundary before Sibley stroked back Sam Cook for his 14th four to reach three figures from 168 balls. He celebrated by going down on one knee and launching Matt Critchley out of the ground over long leg for only the second six of the match.However, Critchley gained a measure of revenge when Sibley drove uppishly towards mid-off where Cook took the catch. Harmer was eventually rested and his replacement, Tom Westley, struck with his sixth ball as Ollie Sykes’s debut lasted two balls.With little enthusiasm from the participants, the first over after tea, bowled by Westley, took eight minutes to complete – and 16 minutes for three overs of spin – with questions about changing the ball and sundry other time-wasting manoeuvres.To enforce the sense of farce pace bowler Cook came in off three paces to send down six balls of spin and spinners Critchley and Harmer took the new-ball with a variety of medium-paced dibbly-dobblies to an equally unfamiliar slip cordon of Cook, Porter and Allison.

Big Picture

After a T20 series where the view was longer-term to 2026, a number of big names were missing and the decider was washed out on a horrid day in Manchester, it feels like this upcoming five-match ODI series – yes, old-school and, yes, probably overkill – has a little more immediate relevance with an eye on next year’s Champions Trophy as some key multi-format players return.To highlight the shrinking relevance of bilateral ODIs, this is just the second series for both England and Australia since their contrasting World Cup campaigns last year: England lost 2-1 in West Indies last December while Australia beat the same opposition 3-0 in February. Quiz question: name the XIs these two teams put out in the final matches of those series (no cheating by clicking here and here).Related

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One significant player who won’t feature in these matches is Jos Buttler after a setback in the recovery from his calf injury. It means Harry Brook joins the list of England captains for the season, and it’s probably not insignificant given the feeling he is a genuine long-term option to lead the side. There will also be plenty of interest in how Jofra Archer goes in his first 50-over appearance in 18 months. It will be a significant increase in workload for him, although he will be carefully managed.Australia, meanwhile, have had an influx of senior names with Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc all part of the series. Alex Carey is also in the squad but, in ODIs, he is now Josh Inglis’ understudy after being dropped early in last year’s World Cup. Either way, the tour will include his return to Lord’s next week, the scene of a dramatic storyline in Carey’s career.Steven Smith was among those Australia players joining for the ODI leg•PA Photos/Getty Images

At the other end of the experience scale – you couldn’t actually go much further – is the call-up of quick bowler Mahli Beardman as a back-up player. With just one professional game under his belt it has certainly generated a talking point and, though he isn’t officially part of the squad yet, it wouldn’t take much more than some general soreness among the other fast bowlers for him to make a further step up.”He’s a ripping young kid,” Mitchell Marsh, a fellow West Australian, said. “For a 19-year-old he’s got a lot of talent, he showed that during the Under-19 World Cup. I think he’s going to learn a lot by being here. I’ve certainly faced him in the nets a few times. We’ve seen over the history of Australian cricket we’ve got a long list of guys who have been plucked, I guess, out of nowhere but Mahli is certainly extremely talented and bowls fast.”

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LWLWW
Australia WWWWW

In the spotlight: Jofra Archer and Glenn Maxwell

The A-word will never be far away. So much of what England are doing at the moment is with an eye on the 2025-26 Ashes and the rehabilitation of Jofra Archer is at the top of that list. This match will be his first 50-over game – international or domestic – since March 2023 having until now been kept on a diet of T20 action in a carefully-managed return to action. That step-by-step approach will continue and there’s a chance he may not even bowl his full allocation of 10 overs, but it marks another significant step in Archer’s comeback and another stage towards what is hoped is an eventual return to Test cricket.Glenn Maxwell was rested for the series against West Indies earlier this year so hasn’t played an ODI since the World Cup final. After his horror leg injury in late 2022, the effects of which he still has to manage, he is another player who will be carefully handled by the selectors. At the age of 35 he’s one of those who may not be around come the next ODI World Cup in 2027, so the Champions Trophy could be a 50-over farewell for one of the most dynamic white-ball cricketers there has ever been.Jofra Archer’s previous ODI was in March 2023•AFP

Team news: Archer plays; opening question for Australia

Ben Duckett will open for the first time in his ODI career with stand-in captain Brook slotting in at No. 4. Jamie Smith has been confirmed as wicketkeeper and it is likely he would have done so even if Buttler had been fit. Archer will play the opening match of the series. Jacob Bethell is in line for a debut and the final decision would appear to be who goes at No. 6 with Liam Livingstone’s bowling likely to swing things his way to allow Brook to spread overs between him, Bethell and Will Jacks.England: (probable) 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jamie Smith (wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece TopleyAustralia’s squad has been reportedly hit by a virus after captain Mitchell Marsh missed the second T20I with the illness. It may severely stretch their already thin squad for the first ODI with a number of senior players affected. As in T20s, Australia are searching for a long-term replacement for David Warner. Inglis and Jake Fraser-McGurk ended up there against West Indies after Travis Head was rested following the opening game so there are no shortage of options. Marsh has previously had success there, too, and if he goes in up top it potentially creates room for both Smith and Labuschagne. Inglis did not train much ahead of the opening match due to quad soreness so there may be a question mark over whether he plays. If so, Carey would come in.Australia: (possible) 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Josh Inglis/Alex Carey (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell/Matthew Short, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Mitchell Starc/Ben Dwarshuis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood/Aaron Hardie

Pitch and conditions

Trent Bridge can be a great place to bat in one-day cricket: since 2010 it has the highest average and strike-rate of all England and Wales venues. But the ball can also swing which gives the bowlers a chance. The sunny weather is set to hold on for at least the start of the series.

Stats and trivia

• Australia are on a 12-match winning streak in ODIs. A victory in Nottingham would put this side joint second with Sri Lanka, behind Australia’s own 21-match run in 2003.
• Adam Zampa will play his 100th ODI: since the 2020 tour of England he has taken 94 wickets at 21.71
• The last time the sides met in an ODI at Trent Bridge, England made a then world-record 481 for 6. It is one of only four times the teams have met in a one-dayer at this venue.

Quotes

“That’s a long way away yet. Personally, I’m just going to try and concentrate on each game and I’d probably urge everybody else to try and do that as well.”
“It’s certainly a busy schedule and there are times when we might have to manage guys through and playing five games in 10 days is certainly a big ask but we’ll manage that the best we can.”

Rahul Dravid says Indian cricket has evolved into an “extremely powerful” force, thanks to the growing talent pool that now extends to even the remotest corners of the country.Dravid, who coached India to the T20 World Cup triumph in June, said a strong club cricket culture has a lot to do with bucking the old trend of city cricketers dominating the passage to the national team.”If you look at Indian cricket today, Indian cricket is extremely strong, it’s extremely powerful,” Dravid said during the 50-year celebration of Mount Joy Cricket Club. “One of the big reasons for that is that talent comes from everywhere, from all over the country.””If you go back to the time of, say, GR Vishwanath or even when I was starting out, most of the talent came from the big cities or a few states.”Even if there were talented boys in smaller places, they had to come to the big cities to play cricket. But today I think you see in Indian cricket that boys are coming from everywhere.”Dravid said it’s getting reflected in the standards of domestic cricket in India.”You just look at the standard of the Ranji Trophy. In the old days when you played in the South Zone, other than playing Hyderabad or Tamil Nadu, I think it is fair to say, without being disrespectful, that a lot of other teams you could take it not for granted but you could certainly take it a little bit more lightly.”I don’t think there is any team in the South Zone today that you can walk in and say you will beat comfortably.”Hailing the club cricket structure in the country, particularly in Karnataka, Dravid said the system has allowed the sport to remain accessible to all.”We need clubs to be strong. We need cricket not to be concentrated in the hands of a few people. We need cricket to be egalitarian, we need it to be all over the place.”You cannot have talent or facilities concentrated only in one or two places. To get the best out of talent, we need to ensure that young boys and girls are getting access to good infrastructure in every part.”Dravid briefly revisited his club career to underscore the need for that system to thrive.”After the practice, HAL [Hindustan Aeronautics Limited] would give us two eggs and one small glass of milk. I would always stay back for that glass of milk and those eggs. Not because I wanted the milk and eggs. But because I wanted to sit and listen to the likes of BK Kumar or Nandan talking about cricket. And it used to be great fun to listen to them and learn so much from them.”

Jos Buttler has been ruled out of the Hundred with a calf injury, after missing Manchester Originals’ first three matches.Buttler, who has been backed to continue as England’s white-ball captain by managing director Rob Key, took a short break from the game after the T20 World Cup and is understood to have sustained the injury while preparing for the Hundred. An initial scan was inconclusive, raising hopes he would be available towards the end of the competition, but his withdrawal was confirmed on Saturday.Key confirmed earlier this week that Buttler would continue as captain after Matthew Mott lost his job as England’s white-ball coach, with Marcus Trescothick due to fill that role on an interim basis during September’s series against Australia. At this stage, he appears likely to be fit in time for the first T20I on September 11.Related

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“Gutted to be missing the Hundred this year,” Buttler wrote on his Instagram story. “Best of luck to the Manchester Originals for the rest of the campaign. Working hard to be 100% fit asap [as soon as possible].”Buttler has suffered several calf injuries in recent years, including a strain two years ago which ruled him out of England’s seven T20Is in Pakistan and briefly threatened his participation in the T20 World Cup 2022.The Originals were losing finalists in the last two editions of the men’s Hundred but are winless this year in Buttler’s absence. Phil Salt, his opening partner, has deputised as captain but has managed only 23 runs in three innings, and their batting line-up has looked noticeably short at the start of the season.Simon Katich, the Originals’ coach, had initially lined up Keaton Jennings, Lancashire’s club captain, as a replacement but the move stalled amid confusion over Buttler’s status, and Jennings has since signed for London Spirit. The Originals are yet to confirm a new replacement ahead of Sunday’s match against Northern Superchargers.