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Hampshire secured a rare win against Surrey in the Vitality Blast when rain brought an early close to their game at the Kia Oval with the visitors 15 runs ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.Miserly bowling from Scott Currie and Chris Wood restricted a subdued home side to an underwhelming 141 for 7, Jason Roy top-scoring for the third time this season with 37, while Sam Curran and Laurie Evans made 34 and 33 not out respectively.Hampshire were cruising at 63 for 0 in reply when the rain came with skipper James Vince 33 not out and Toby Albert unbeaten on 28. It was only Hampshire’s second win in their last 11 meetings with Surrey in the Blast.As with their first two batting efforts in the Blast this season, Surrey struggled for fluency after being put in by Vince. Dom Sibley smote an early six, but the former England Test opener fell in the next over, a wicket for debutant South African slow left-arm bowler Bjorn Fortuin.Ollie Pope, unsure if he’ll retain the England No. 3 shirt for next week’s first Test against India, was starved of strike and made only 11 before an attempted ramp off Currie found the gloves of wicketkeeper Albert.Even Roy with scores of 92 and 69 behind him in the Blast struggled to break the shackles, two successive fours off John Turner from the last over of the powerplay the best of his contribution.Eyes were now on captain Curran, who laboured until unleashing successive sixes off Turner, the first of which disappeared down the exit steps beyond the midwicket boundary onto the concourse. He too though fell attempting a third big hit on the spin and only some late blows from Evans carried Surrey to a third successive score in the 140s.The first over of the chase brought drama, Dan Worrall finding the edge of Albert’s bat, only for Roy to grass the chance at second slip.Vince’s dismissive cover drive to end the over though suggested he was in the groove and he soon caressed another from Nathan Smith to the fence at point.Rain was now falling but three boundaries, one from a misfield on the fence helped raise the 50 partnership and put Hampshire well ahead of the DLS par score. Albert, growing in confidence, cut one from Surrey debutant, Kiwi international Mitchell Santner, to the fence just before the increasing rain brought a halt to proceedings.

Three wickets apiece for seamers Logan van Beek and Ben Green set up Leicestershire’s first red-ball victory at Lord’s in 45 years, flattening Middlesex to strengthen their position as Rothesay County Championship Division Two front-runners.Van Beek took 3 for 28 – including two wickets in as many balls – while Green’s 3 for 32 also played a pivotal role in ensuring the home side were dismissed for 143 in their second innings.Middlesex collapsed after Sam Robson and Max Holden’s opening stand of 51, losing six wickets for 34 despite Luke Hollman’s defiant knock of 42. That left the Foxes hunting a modest victory target of 102 and they got there with three wickets down, skipper Peter Handscomb hitting the winning runs off Hollman to secure his side’s fourth win in six games.Van Beek’s initial spell in the morning was on the costly side, with Robson picking him off three times to the short leg-side fence as he and Holden wiped out their 32-run overnight deficit without loss. But changes of bowling at both ends brought Leicestershire success, with Robson pinned in front by a Green delivery that seamed back at him, although Tom Scriven’s successful lbw shout against Holden might have been missing leg stump.Hollman began his innings brightly, crunching Green through the covers for four, but Middlesex soon became bogged down and their lack of runs eventually gave way to a clatter of wickets.Despite avoiding a pair, Leus du Plooy never looked entirely comfortable and was trapped leg before as van Beek got one to straighten before Ryan Higgins flashed hard at the next and Handscomb clung on at second slip.Middlesex struggled through to lunch at 79 for 4, but their prospects continued to deteriorate after the interval as Ian Holland drew Ben Geddes into an edge to slip and van Beek bamboozled Jack Davies with a ball that took out his off stump.Hollman’s boundary off van Beek was the first in well over an hour of play, but Zafar Gohar quickly added another, thumping Josh Hull to the rope beyond mid-off to lift his side’s total into three figures.The seventh-wicket pair ground out a dogged partnership of 40 before Green returned to dismiss both Gohar and then Hollman in identical fashion, jagging the ball back to hit the top of middle and off. A brisk undefeated 16 from Toby Roland-Jones hauled Middlesex’s slender lead just above 100 before legspinner Rehan Ahmed mopped up the tail with two wickets from successive deliveries.Sol Budinger launched Leicestershire’s pursuit with gusto, clubbing Dane Paterson for two boundaries in a quickfire 25 before dragging onto his leg stump, while Holden’s well-judged catch over his shoulder as he ran back from cover accounted for Rishi Patel.Rehan also departed, caught behind off Middlesex’s teenage debutant Naavya Sharma, but it was not enough to derail the Foxes as Handscomb and Lewis Hill steered them across the line.

Following a defeat in the first Test against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh have had to make changes to their Test squad ahead of the second match in Chattogram next week. Anamul Haque returns to the fold while Nahid Rana steps aside to fulfil PSL commitments.Anamul replaced Zakir Hasan, who didn’t play in Sylhet. He is in line to play his first Test match in nearly three years, forcing his way back into the reckoning with his recent form. Anamul is the highest scorer at the ongoing Dhaka Premier League 50-over competition, having hit four hundreds – three of them unbeaten – in his last ten innings. He will hope to use that form to make a better impression for Bangladesh in the longest format considering he has played only five Tests since making hist debut in 2013 and has a highest score of 23.Rana’s exit – he has been picked to play for Peshawar Zalmi – provides room for uncapped left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam. Tanvir has played 41 first-class matches to pick up 134 wickets at an average of 27.06. He has six five-wicket hauls with a best of 8 for 51.Bangladesh, who are 1-0 down, play Zimbabwe in the second Test of the two-match series from April 28.

Bangladesh squad for second Test vs Zimbabwe

Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shadman Islam, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Jaker Ali (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (vice-capt), Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Tanvir Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib

Nottinghamshire 579 (James 125, Slater 92, McCann 79, Montgomery 75, Tongue 55) and 89 for 2 (Hameed 39*, Clarke 35*) beat Durham 378 (Ackermann 116, O’Neill 5-81) and 289 (Ackermann 124, Clark 62, Tongue 5-66) by eight wicketsColin Ackermann’s second century of the match was not enough to stave off defeat for Durham, who succumbed to Nottinghamshire by eight wickets after a match-turning spell by England fast bowler Josh Tongue.South African-born Netherlands international Ackermann made 124 to go with his first-innings 116 as Durham, who had trailed by 201 on first innings, looked to emerge with a draw from the opening round of the Rothesay County Championship.But Tongue, on a Nottinghamshire debut delayed by a full season because of injuries following his 2023 move from Worcestershire, shattered that ambition by taking 5 for 66, somehow conjuring four wickets in 12 deliveries from a ball right at the end of its 80-over match lifespan.Durham lost their last five wickets for 21 runs, leaving Nottinghamshire needing 89 to win from 40 overs remaining in the match, a task they completed for the loss of two wickets, skipper Haseeb Hameed making 39 and Joe Clarke 35.Tongue’s achievement came after Nottinghamshire’s other debut-making fast bowler, Australian international Fergus O’Neill, had taken 5 for 81 in the first innings. Tongue also made a career-best 55 with the bat in Nottinghamshire’s first innings.It was a painful defeat for Durham, who posted 378 in their first innings and had the home side 319 for 6 in reply only for Lyndon James (125), Matt Montgomery (75) and Tongue to bat the home side into a position of strength.If Durham’s approach to the final day was always likely to be cautious, it was confirmed after Dillon Pennington opened with a sharp seven-over spell that brought him two wickets for 10 runs.At 87 behind overnight, even with seven wickets in hand on a pitch that had yielded runs at around 3.75 per over, the visitors had at least needed a productively trouble-free morning to consider revising that perspective.Yet after the pacy Pennington had removed Ollie Robinson via an edge to first slip and Will Rhodes leg before, angling one in from a wide delivery point, Durham found themselves five down and still 78 behind.From then on, Ackermann and Clark dug in for a long fight and any hope that Pennington’s burst might trigger a rapid Durham collapse soon subsided.The sixth-wicket pair reached lunch still together, before clearing the arrears seven overs into the afternoon session with the innings 68 overs old.Durham’s first-innings centurion completed his second hundred of the match five overs later, a career-first for the 34-year-old and a 28th in all in first-class cricket. Conditions have largely favoured the bat in this match, but Ackermann did a superb job for his side in both innings.By now, Nottinghamshire’s best chance of making a breakthrough seemed to be with the second new ball, which was seven overs from being available as the Durham dressing room celebrated Ackermann’s feat.Yet Tongue dramatically changed the picture in what would have been the last over – the 80th – with the old ball, taking wickets with the first and last deliveries of it as Clark was bowled off an inside edge, ending a partnership with Ackermann worth 145, and new batter George Drissell was leg before, beaten for pace.Not surprisingly, Hameed invited Tongue to carry on with the same ball. A wise move it was, the England player repeating the trick in his next over, ripping out Ben Raine’s middle stump with the first delivery, beating Ackermann’s flick across the line with the sixth.O’Neill promptly finished things off with the new ball by inducing an easy return catch with a slower ball to Matty Potts, meaning Durham had collapsed from 268 for 5 to 289 all out in the space of six and a half overs.After tea was taken between innings, the home side had 40 overs available to score 89. They lost their own first-innings centurion, Ben Slater, leg before to Potts for a duck, and Freddie McCann to a slip catch off a reverse sweep, but wrapped up victory at 4.55pm with 22.5 overs to spare.

Shammi Silva has been elected president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for a fourth consecutive term. He will hold the position for a two-year period from 2025-2027.This is also the third time Silva has secured the post uncontested, while the rest of his team has also been re-elected without contest.Jayantha Dharmadasa and Ravin Wickramaratne have been re-elected to the post of vice-president, while Sujeewa Godaliyadda, Chryshantha Kapuwatte and Lasantha Wickremasinghe remain as treasurer, assistant secretary and assistant treasurer, respectively.Only secretary Mohan de Silva, who resigned in November 2023, does not return. His post has been taken up by Bandula Dissanayake, the only new face in the executive committee. Kapuwatta had been acting Secretary since de Silva’s resignation.The end of Silva’s term in 2027 will mark eight years in charge, an eventuality made possible by a recent change in Sri Lanka’s sports law that allowed for officials to hold posts for up to two consecutive four-year terms.The most notable facet of this year’s election is that it’s the first one to be held since last December’s change to SLC’s constitution which saw the voting body reduced from 147 down to 60.

Cameron Green is unlikely to play any Sheffield Shield cricket before his County Championship stint with Gloucestershire as he continues to recover from back surgery.Speaking at the Australian Cricket Awards last month Green had flagged that his recovery was on track to have him available for Western Australia’s final Shield match against Victoria on March 15 as a batter only. But despite returning to the nets and hitting balls regularly over recent weeks, ESPNcricinfo understands that he is unlikely to be cleared to play before the end of the Australian domestic summer. WA are not expecting him to be available for the contest with Victoria or the Shield final if they qualify.Green has to get regular scans on his back to check on his progress before returning to play, having undergone spine surgery in October. Green’s first match back is likely to be in division two of the County Championship for Gloucestershire against Kent in Canterbury on April 18.Related

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Green has signed a five-game deal with Gloucestershire thanks to the help of a “significant donation” from one of the club’s members. Those five matches are against Kent (twice), Leicestershire, Lancashire and Northamptonshire prior to the WTC final at Lord’s. However, it remains to be seen whether Cricket Australia’s medical staff allow him to play five straight first-class matches leading into the WTC final coming off no cricket since September and no first-class cricket in 13 months, despite the fact he will not be bowling in any of them.Green is in the frame to play in the WTC final in June as a batter only having played all 28 of his Tests to-date as an allrounder. Australia also have a three-Test tour of the Caribbean starting late June, but he will not be available to bowl until later in the year in the build-up to the home Ashes series which starts in late November.His availability as a batter only will create a selection squeeze in Australia’s line-up. Green made 174 not out in his second last Test match batting at No. 4 but Steven Smith’s triumphant return to that spot means Green will have to bat somewhere else if he plays in the WTC final against South Africa.Travis Head will also return to No. 5 after opening in Australia’s most recent Tests in Sri Lanka, meaning Australia will need another opener to partner Usman Khawaja. Sam Konstas is in the frame to return after missing selection in Sri Lanka and is keen to play in the County Championship but is yet to secure a deal.Green could possibly bat at No. 3 or No. 6 but that would displace either Marnus Labuschagne or Beau Webster. If the latter were to be left out, it would leave Australia without a fourth seam option, although that may not be a major consideration for a one-off Test in England in June. Josh Inglis’ recent run-spree across all formats makes him an enticing selection prospect for the final as well. Australia do not need to name a 15-man squad until May.

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch would like a full player auction to be brought into the BBL while Glenn Maxwell believes the power surge should be removed as it doesn’t replicate international playing conditions.Currently, overseas players are selected through the draft – with clubs now able to pre-sign one name before that event – while a trade window, that is currently open, has been introduced for the first time this season, but Finch has said the majority of domestic players should also be included in a process more aligned with how the IPL operates.Related

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“I’d like to see an auction come in,” Finch told the Powerplay on ESPN’s . “Each team potentially has the ability to retain maybe four of their players and then you say everybody else in the country, you’re into an auction. I think that that would create a great spectacle.”We see it in the IPL, it’s brilliant, creates evenness across the board I think. What it does give you as well is it gives you what the players are worth. So at times, depending on what your team needs, you might have to overpay for someone. But if it’s an auction, that’s generally what the price of a player is.”Maxwell, though, was uncertain about the idea, raising concern about clubs losing an identity with established names. “You’ve still got to have a way to keep your homegrown players in your home state, [to] still have that relevance,” he said.The BBL continues to be challenged on retaining overseas players with a number leaving in early January for either the SA20 or ILT20.Meanwhile, when asked what he would change about the tournament, Maxwell argued that while he could see the appeal of the power surge – the two overs of fielding restrictions that can be taken by the batting side after the 10th over – he felt it skewed the skills that were required away from how the rest of T20 is played. It echoed the views of Stars team-mate Marcus Stoinis who made similar comments ahead of the BBL season.”I’d get rid of the power surge,” Maxwell said. “I think unless the power surge was introduced in international cricket, I think it’s sort of probably lost its relevance. As a player, I think it probably misrepresents middle-order batting.”When you get picked for your country, you don’t have that luxury of having those two overs in the back ten to boost your strike rate, boost your score. It’s lost on the art of middle order batting to be able to find your way through those last ten overs. I know it’s great for broadcasters. I know it’s great for fans. But until it’s made an international rule, I don’t think we should have it.”Finch acknowledged he had held a similar view when he was a player, but having now retired from the game saw the value the power surge brings.”I think that it provides entertainment right through an innings,” he said. “It keeps games alive. Like if a team needs 15 and over, with a power surge up your sleeve, there’s still half a chance.”

Mitchell Marsh has insisted there is no limit to the number of overs he can send down against India, having put his trust in the coaching and medical staff amid a cautious build-up to the series and then careful management ahead of the Adelaide Test, while Josh Hazlewood continues to push for a return to the side in Brisbane.Marsh has been nursing periodic back stiffness since the white-ball tour of the UK in September, where he bowled just once – in the ODI at Lord’s – which was the first time he’d had ball in hand since suffering a hamstring injury in the IPL in April.There had been plans for him to bowl in the Sheffield Shield early in the season but those were put on ice by the ongoing back issues. He took two wickets on the opening day of the Perth Test, sending down 17 overs in total for the match, after which he pulled up sore, which led to doubts over his place for Adelaide with Beau Webster called up as cover.Related

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Marsh didn’t bowl in the lead-up, with Pat Cummins saying it was a decision not to use up overs at training, before finishing with a innocuous none for 26 from four overs in the first innings.”Not in my mind, no,” Marsh said when asked if there was an upper limit on his bowling capacity for the series. “I’ll try and be ready to bowl as much as Patty needs me. Our allrounders haven’t bowled a hell of a lot in Australia the last few years, but I am really thankful for our medical staff and Ronny [coach Andrew McDonald] and Patty who have allowed me the space between that first and second Test to just get right for the game.”I didn’t bowl as much as I would have liked to in the lead-up to the series, but our medical staff, Ronnie and Patty were really clear. I trusted that.”Meanwhile, Hazlewood had another extensive bowl as he continues to overcome the side strain which kept him out of the second Test. With only short run-ups available in the Gabba nets and no spare centre wickets, Hazlewood went out to Allan Border Field to bowl off his full run alongside Mitchell Starc, under the eye of bowling coach Daniel Vettori. If he pulls up without problems on Friday he will be close to slotting back into side at the expensive of Scott Boland.Such was the speed with which Australia bowled out India twice in Adelaide, needing just 80 overs, that even Nathan Lyon was only required to send down a single over as Starc, Cummins and Boland went to work.In the Gabba Test against West Indies earlier this year, Australia used Marsh, Cameron Green, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne for a combined 23 overs.”I had an interrupted lead-in but I am really well placed,” Marsh said. “For me it is about being able to contribute. Whether that is five overs and bowling the occasional good ball and getting a wicket or just bowling overs to give our boys a chop out. Right now, it [the back] is feeling as good as it has felt.”Away from the bowling discussion, Marsh was involved in one of the more curious incidents during the Adelaide Test when he walked for an edge behind against R Ashwin only for replays to show he hadn’t hit the ball.”The reality is I thought I hit it and I didn’t,” Marsh said. “I didn’t speak to Heady [at the non-striker’s end]. I had a mare. When I got to the change rooms they asked if I hit it and I said ‘yeah, I smashed it’. And then the replay came up and the head went into the hands and about one minute later everyone else was laughing at me.”

Hard-hitting middle-order batter Bevon Jacobs has been handed his maiden New Zealand call-up by being picked for the upcoming three-match home T20I series against Sri Lanka.Jacobs was part of the New Zealand XI side that took on Sri Lanka in a 10-overs-a-side tour match in Lincoln on Monday, although he did not get a chance to bat.Jacobs’ call-up comes barely a month after he was picked up by Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 auction, joining New Zealand internationals Trent Boult and the new white-ball captain Mitchell Santner. Jacobs’ maiden IPL contract came after an impressive Super Smash campaign last season, where he hit 134 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 188.73 while batting as a finisher.Related

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“It’s obviously an exciting time for Bevon and his family,” NZC selector Sam Wells said. “He’s a promising player with a lot of talent and we’re looking forward to exposing him to international cricket.”He’s clearly got a lot of power with the bat, but he’s also shown in the longer formats that he has a decent technique and temperament.”Having come through the system at Auckland, Jacobs had made a switch to Canterbury for whom he made his List A and T20 debuts just over a year ago. But he returned to Auckland ahead of the ongoing home summer, and made his first-class debut for Auckland last month, with scores of 75 and 79.After narrowly missing out on another half-century in his second before, he racked up 80 against his old team, Canterbury.Fast bowler Zakary Foulkes, wicketkeeper Mitchell Hay and top-order batter Tim Robinson are also part of the T20I squad, and could play their first international home games, having made their debuts abroad earlier in the year.Foulkes and Robinson debuted in the T20Is in Pakistan in April, while Hay’s debut came in Sri Lanka in November. Hay is set to keep wickets in the T20Is, and will be cover for Tom Latham in the ODIs that follow.While Jacobs, Foulkes and Robinson have only been called up for the T20Is, Latham, Will Young and Will O’Rourke will join the squad for the one-dayers. O’Rourke has been rested for the T20Is after a heavy Test workload, having featured in all eight Tests against Sri Lanka, India and England.Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra will be back in white-ball action for New Zealand•Associated Press

The series against Sri Lanka will also see Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell and Matt Henry make a return to the white-ball squads, having been rested during their tour of Sri Lanka to prepare for the home Tests against England.New Zealand will miss many big names, due to their commitments to various franchise T20 leagues. Lockie Ferguson, Finn Allen, Adam Milne and Tim Seifert are away at the BBL, while Kane Williamson and Devon Conway are part of the SA20, which is scheduled to begin on January 9.Ben Sears and Kyle Jamieson remain unavailable as they are still recuperating from knee and back injuries respectively.The team will be coached by Luke Ronchi, with regular head coach Gary Stead taking a break. Ronchi will have Jacob Oram for support as the bowling coach, while Craig McMillan will look after the batting and fielding.This will be New Zealand’s final ODI bilateral series before the Champions Trophy, where they will take on hosts Pakistan in the tournament opener.New Zealand also will play a tri-series in Pakistan, also featuring South Africa, before the Champions Trophy begins.”As with the squads that recently toured Sri Lanka, we’re keen to keep exposing new talent to the big stage and it’s nice to have an experienced core of players around them,” Wells said. “The Champions Trophy, like all ICC pinnacle events, is an obvious incentive for players and I know many will be keen to put their best foot forward in the ODI series to be in the frame for selection.”The T20Is will be played on December 28, 30 and January 2 before the ODIs on January 5, 8 and 11.

New Zealand T20I squad vs Sri Lanka

Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Mitchell Hay, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Nathan Smith

New Zealand ODI squad vs Sri Lanka

Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Mitchell Hay, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Will Young

Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal are the three players likely to be retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.RCB will lose at least INR 36 crore for retaining two capped players and one uncapped player, and will have three right-to-match options at the mega auction, which they can use to buy back one uncapped Indian player and two capped players, or three capped players.Some of the high-profile players not retained by RCB include their 2024 season’s captain Faf du Plessis, Mohammed Siraj, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green. RCB finished fourth in IPL 2024 and lost the Eliminator to Sunrisers Hyderabad.October 31 is the deadline by which the ten franchises have to submit their lists of retained players to the IPL. The teams have been allowed to retain up to six players ahead of the mega auction before the 2025 season, of which a maximum of five can be capped internationals and two can be uncapped players. While the IPL has set minimum deductions from the auction purse for each player retained – INR 18 crore for the first player, INR 14 crore for the second, INR 11 crore for the third, INR 18 crore for the fourth, INR 14 crore for the fifth, and INR 4 crore for an uncapped player – the franchises are free to pay more or less than those amounts to their retained players.