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He promised himself he would have an unforgettable year, and now he has earned a national call-up

Shashank Kishore05-Oct-2022Rajat Patidar’s journey from Indore to the Indian team has been swift. In February, he went unsold at the IPL auction. But instead of wallowing in self-pity, he picked himself up and promised to have an unforgettable year. It is this promise he has delivered on, as he finds himself on the cusp of the India cap.Currently part of India’s second-string ODI squad led by Shikhar Dhawan, Patidar is fighting for a middle-order berth. If and when he gets picked in the XI, it’ll be a spot well deserved.”It’s a dream come true for me,” Patidar told BCCI.tv of his call-up. “The IPL was the turning point for me. But I feel I have the ability to play all three formats. I am trying to focus on the processes [of the formats] differently. I want to keep myself in the present, and play to the demands of the team.”Related

• Patidar, Mukesh get maiden India call-ups for South Africa ODIs

• Mukesh Kumar learns about selection via India's WhatsApp group

At 29, Patidar understands selection and snub are two faces of the same coin. As much as that boring cliche goes, in Patidar’s mind, it is as simple as being able to control the controllables – and for him, that is to score runs.A week after his IPL snub, Patidar hit twin fifties in a game Madhya Pradesh won against Gujarat. He finished the Ranji Trophy league phase with 335 runs at 83.75, with no score below 53. Those runs translated into a knockout berth for MP.After he helped MP to the Ranji quarter-finals, came a phone call from Mike Hesson in early April, asking of his availability because Royal Challengers Bangalore needed a replacement.Patidar was in the midst of finalising his wedding preparations in May, but it was something he happily postponed to be a part of the IPL.Within 24 hours of the phone call, he was on the plane to Mumbai, and a few weeks down the line, he became the first uncapped Indian to hit a century in a playoff game. That knock at Eden Gardens against Lucknow Super Giants was followed by a half-century in Qualifier-2 against Rajasthan Royals.Patidar finished his second IPL season with 333 runs at a strike rate of 152.75. It marked his coming of age. Having played for nearly seven years in relative anonymity, he was firmly in the national consciousness.Rajat Patidar recently struck two centuries in three first-class games against New Zealand A•Manoj Bookanakere/KSCA

It is this form he has built on. A week after IPL ended, he was part of MP’s march to their maiden Ranji title. He made 323 runs in the knockout stages, including a century in the final; on the way, he had crossed a half-century in every knockout game.Most recently, he struck two centuries in three first-class games against New Zealand A. It was made special even more because it was his first stint with India A. This dream run that started in February culminated with his India call-up last week. Much of this run-scoring spree is down to how he “feels”; and it is not only about technique.”Especially if you talk about batting, but I also don’t judge myself on performance,” he had said after the Ranji final. “I need to get that batting feel – the shots are good, the balance is there, the head is in the right position. Till I don’t get that feel, I don’t feel I’m in good form. Obviously it is every batsman’s job to score runs, but for me, if I feel good about my batting, the runs come automatically.”The feel he speaks about is something he has learnt from watching AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik from close quarters.”Virat, AB – they were all my idols; experienced international players,” he said. “I felt a little overawed meeting them for the first time. It was a great moment to speak to them for the first time. Watching them all train and bat in the nets, I learnt a lot on how they approach their cricket.”Fast forward to this Monday, when he had his first full training session with the senior national team. He was welcomed in a huddle by stand-in coach VVS Laxman, who underlined why he had gotten this far. Laxman is believed to have appreciated Patidar’s big-match temperament and hunger for runs. Dhawan, the captain, then spoke to Patidar about his potential.”Legendary players, if they welcome you in the huddle, it feels motivating,” Patidar said with a smile, as he reflected on his first day in office. “It felt good, I know a lot of the guys. But this is the first time I’m playing with Shikhar [Dhawan] bhai; in fact, I had a chat with him the first time over here itself.”I thought how it would be when I talk to him, [and] how I can talk to him, but he himself came up to talk to me. It was nice talking to him, he appreciated my performances and wished me well for my future.”

A brilliant catch by James Bazley sparked Tasmania’s second-innings collapse

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2022Three sensational individual displays by Queensland players inspired an innings win for their side in the Sheffield Shield season opener.Wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson played an aggressive and classy hand to lift his side to 458 in reply to Tasmania’s first innings of 147 at Allan Border Field.Tasmania’s openers were looking comfortable at 0 for 41 in reply when Bulls allrounder James Bazley threw himself to his left at square leg to snaffle a one-handed screamer to dismiss Caleb Jewell. Bazley also claimed a scalp with his first ball of the innings and the wickets tumbled.Bazley’s timely catch was vital in the scheme of things as rain was forecast for the final day of the clash and Queensland needed wickets.Related

• Paine falls cheaply on first-class return as Queensland take charge

• Labuschagne starts his Shield season with classy century

Queensland pace bowler Gurinder Sandhu ripped through the Tigers who were bundled out for 139.Mark Steketee almost claimed a hat-trick when he removed Jordan Silk and Jarrod Freeman in consecutive balls, only to see a tough chance for the third wicket spilled at slip.Queensland’s win by an innings and 172 runs inside three days was the perfect start to their season and the Tigers were never in the hunt.Australian Test stars Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja made massive contributors to the Bulls’ win and struck early form ahead of the Test series against the West Indies and South Africa.Quick bowler Riley Meredith was the pick of the Tasmania bowlers who fought back to take 6 for 101 on the third morning after the Bulls were 4 for 357 overnight.Peirson’s innings knocked the stuffing out of the Tigers who were left with too much to do to save the game.Tim Paine claimed five catches on his return to first-class cricket. His performance was typical of a master of his craft.  The former Test captain was hardly noticed, as all good wicketkeepers are, but when a chance came his way the 37-year-old pounced to reveal that he has lost none of his touch despite a lengthy absence from the game.

Jaiswal, Abhimanyu hit half-centuries as visitors drive home the advantage

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2022India A 120 for 0 (Jaiswal 63*, Easwaran 53*) lead Bangladesh A 112 (Mosaddek 63, Saurabh 4-23, Saini 3-21) by eight runs
Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar helped India A take the opening-day honours in the first unofficial Test against Bangladesh A in Cox’s Bazar.Put in to bat, Bangladesh A were shot out for 112, with Saini and Mukesh picking up five of the top six. That the hosts recovered from 63 for 6 to cross three figures was mainly down to Mosaddek Hossain’s 63.It wasn’t just India A’s fast bowlers that impressed though. Saurabh Kumar, the left-arm spinner, ran through the lower order to finish with 4 for 23. The performance is significant given Saurabh could possibly stay back to be part of the Test squad should Ravindra Jadeja be ruled unfit for the two-match series in December.With the bat, India A’s openers looked in no trouble, galloping past Bangladesh A’s total and ending the day 120 without loss. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s strong first-class initiation got even better as he remained unbeaten on 63, with a possibility of bringing up a sixth first-class century in just his eighth match. At the other end Abhimanyu Easwaran, now an India A veteran, was 53 not out.It was Saini who drew first blood when he clean bowled Mahmudul Hasan Joy, one of eight Test players in the Bangladesh A side, with a delivery that swung late and beat the outside edge. Mukesh had then Zakir Hasan, the top-scorer in the just-concluded NCL first-class competition, caught behind before clean bowling Mominul Haque, who misjudged a nip-backer from around the stumps.Mominul’s dismissal could be some cause for worry in the Bangladesh camp as it was his first knock against an overseas team since being dropped from the Test side in West Indies earlier in the year.Saini wasn’t done yet. He got Najmul Hossain Shanto caught at third slip, before the captain Mohammad Mithun carelessly chased a wide one. At that point, Bangladesh A were 26 for 5.Mosaddek resuscitated the innings with a half-century that had six fours and three sixes, and after he became the eighth batter to be dismissed, the hosts managed to add just four more to their score to fold for 112.India A’s openers calmly posted half-centuries in their reply. They struck 14 boundaries in all, as the likes of Khaled Ahmed and Taijul Islam struggled for consistency. Mithun also tried four overs each of Nayeem Hasan and Mosaddek but could not find a breakthrough.

Matthew Wade cut loose with a six-laden half-century but Hurricanes collapsed after he was dismissed

AAP31-Dec-2022Stellar knocks from Oliver Davies and Alex Hales helped Sydney Thunder post the fourth-largest total in BBL history and storm to a 62-run defeat of Hobart Hurricanes.Thunder finished 228 for 6 before Matthew Wade’s own rapid-fire effort had Hurricanes in the contest up to their necks and ready to break the record for largest-ever BBL chase.But after forgotten allrounder Ben Cutting took Wade’s wicket and Brendan Doggett ripped through the tail, Thunder closed in on their third consecutive win and put their disappointing start to the summer firmly in the past.On an extremely batter-friendly wicket at Albury’s Lavington Sports Ground, Davies fired away to the first half-century of his young BBL career, while English opener Hales was the steady hand after the Thunder were sent in.Only Nathan Ellis was able to consistently trouble the batting order as Davies proved especially keen to exploit the short boundaries down the ground.Six of his ten boundaries went over either long-on or long-off before he was caught by Paddy Dooley at backward point from Ellis’ bowling.Hales became the first man to surpass 200 runs for the tournament and appeared set to finish the innings unbeaten until he was caught on the boundary rope by Tim David on the first ball of the final over.Davies caught the destructive D’Arcy Short at point from Doggett’s bowling to get Hurricanes’ chase off to a meek start but Wade wasted no time making amends.The skipper hit three sixes from ramp shots in the same over Short was dismissed and equalled his own record for fastest 50 by a Hurricanes player. Wade hit six sixes as he reached his half-century from only 19 deliveries.Called in to replace the injured Gurinder Sandhu, Cutting enticed Wade into toeing the ball to Rilee Rossouw at backward point on only his second delivery of the BBL summer.Wade reviewed the decision, hoping it was a bump ball, but the wicket stood after multiple replays and the Hurricanes fell to 105 for 3.Promoted up the batting order, Tim David found himself run out after a pin-point throw from substitute Joel Davies, who was fielding in the BBL for the very first time.Davies, younger brother of Oliver, threw straight to wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes from midwicket to spring David as he tried to sneak back for a second run.Hurricanes were officially in trouble when their last two recognised batters, Asif Ali and Shadab Khan, were both caught in the space of seven deliveries and it faded away quickly.

The visitors say Ish Sodhi is tracking well after ankle injury but haven’t taken a call on his inclusion yet

Alagappan Muthu20-Jan-20233:38

Jaffer: Coming in around 30th over will suit Suryakumar Yadav

Big picture: India vs NZ is a battle of titans

It finally feels like a World Cup year, doesn’t it? In an age of content saturation – organisers trying to horn in as many big events as possible and writers doing much the same to make you care about their own work – something pure happened on Wednesday night in Hyderabad. A game that needed no bigging up. A game that stood on its own. A game that will not soon be forgotten…And already, it’s time to top it, which is exactly why it feels amazing. Because this series – for all the spin put into it – was going to be just another notch in the bilateral cricket calendar. Instead, it’s become something that actually matters. it’s become something fun. There’s a buzz. There’s an expectation. There’s a thrill. As if we haven’t seen anything yet because imagine even half of what happened two days ago happening at the World Cup.Shubman Gill was so good. Like eerie good. Like, there’s over the top and then there’s this. A 23-year-old scoring a double-century in the 49th over of an ODI while single-handedly propping up the rest of his team – and we haven’t even mentioned the opposition. Somewhere in Nakatomi Plaza, John McClane is rolled up in a ball crying because he’s not the gold standard in doing the impossible anymore. Kids half his age are pulling his shtick.

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You can watch the second ODI between India and New Zealand LIVE on ESPN Player in the UK and on ESPN+ in the USA.

But John, listen. It’s okay. It happens. This sport that you’ve probably never even heard of does this kinda thing all the time. Like, just about an hour later, with New Zealand at 131 for 6 in a chase of 350, this guy called Michael Bracewell was about to shatter everything we thought was sacred. The coming of age of a golden boy of Indian cricket almost always includes the humbling of the opposition. Sunil Gavaskar took down Garry Sobers. Sachin Tendulkar took down Adbul Qadir. Virat Kohli took down Lasith Malinga. Gill took down Lockie Ferguson. After that, he was supposed to ride all the way off into the sunset but he was made to wait. He was made to sweat.So here we are, still feeling the tremors of that game, and an excitement for what’s to come. Because India vs New Zealand is a battle of titans and equals.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand LWWLW

In the spotlight: Hardik Pandya and Glenn Phillips

Once upon a time, Hardik Pandya would walk into a cricket field and start hitting boundaries. He’d come to press conferences, stop just short of Marlon Samuelsing it, and say with a perfectly straight face that “I could hit a six anytime I wanted to.” Now, five years later, a father and a future leader, some of that fire has been tempered. Two of his four slowest ODI innings (min 30 balls faced) have come in the last week. Both on tough pitches and in winning causes. India will hope their point of difference allrounder is adding to his game, and not necessarily compromising it because the Hardik of old used to put fear in the opposition – which is awesome enough – but he’d also one-up it by feeding off that fear until nothing seemed beyond his reach.Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell are two big hitters in the New Zealand side•Associated Press

We’ve all noticed there’s a bit of Steven Smith about Glenn Phillips, right? In his stance. In his backlift. In the way he refuses a run. There’s a chance that he’s copied one of the most un-outable batters of our times just to maximise the one thing he has that Smith doesn’t. Pure, beautiful power. The guy claims to do 800 press-ups a day in order to sustain the thing sets him apart. Six-hitting. West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have all seen just how destructive he can be – even from dire situations. At some point in this series, India could to see it too.

Team news: Will India try Malik? Is Sodhi back to fitness?

The middle overs didn’t go India’s way with the ball in Hyderabad. Would that tempt them to bring in Umran Malik? The upside is his pace. The downside is their batting depth takes a big hit if he comes in for Shardul Thakur.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ishan Kishan (wk), 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajIsh Sodhi, currently out with an ankle injury, is tracking well according to New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi. A call on his inclusion will be made later.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Ish Sodhi/Henry Shipley, 10 Doug Bracewell, 11 Lockie Ferguson

Pitch and conditions: Raipur’s first ever ODI

A sellout crowd of over 50,000 is expected in Raipur to mark the occasion of its first ever ODI. The city is also in the running to host Women’s IPL matches in March. Seems good things happen to not just to people who wait but stadiums as well. No one’s really sure how the pitch will behave, although Mitchell Santner suspects it has more bounce than Hyderabad. Dew will once again play a role on a day where the temperature will go up to 31C in the afternoon and then down to 21C in the evening. No rain is expected.

Stats and trivia

• Bracewell has an ODI strike rate of 122.22. With a minimum of 10 innings played, only three others, from Full Member countries, can say they score their runs quicker. Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone.
• It’s basic. But it bears saying. India have a batting line-up that now includes not one, not two, but three ODI double-centurions. What the actual…

The three have replaced the retired Lizelle Lee, Dane van Niekerk and Trisha Chetty in the list

Firdose Moonda20-Mar-2023Anneke Bosch, Delmi Tucker and Nadine de Klerk have replaced the retired trio of Lizelle Lee, Dane van Niekerk and Trisha Chetty in South Africa’s central-contracts list for the 2023-24 season.All of Bosch, Tucker and de Klerk were in the squad for the recent T20 World Cup and have been around South African squads in the recent past. The only player not on the contract list from the T20 World Cup squad is Annerie Dercksen, with Tumi Sekhukhune, who missed the tournament, keeping her spot.Following the retirements of van Niekerk and Chetty last week, there are no surprises in the 15-player list. As ESPNcricinfo reported on Thursday, van Niekerk’s wife Marizanne Kapp has committed to the national team and signed a new deal. So, too, has 34-year-old Shabnim Ismail, who is the oldest player in the group, but remains committed to playing international cricket.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“With the current group of players going from strength to strength, we are pleased to retain the core of the squad for what is set to be another exciting chapter in the Proteas Women story,” Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of cricket, said.South Africa’s next assignment is six months away, when they travel to Pakistan and India for back-to-back tours which form part of the Women’s Championship, and would determine qualification for the 2025 50-over World Cup. The tours are also expected to help with preparation for the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be held in Bangladesh.Next summer, South Africa will host Bangladesh and Sri Lanka before traveling to Australia for an all-format tour – including a Test match, their second in two years after playing England last June.South Africa’s contracted players: Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloé Tryon, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt

Extended squad named for three-match series as big names head for India

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2023Chad Bowes and Ben Lister are the two uncapped players in New Zealand’s extended squad for this month’s ODI series against Sri Lanka, with a host of regulars missing due to a clash with the IPL.Lister, who plays for Auckland Aces, enters the 50-over set-up after making his T20I debut in India last month, while Bowes could make his international debut after top-scoring for Canterbury across white-ball formats this season, with 373 List A runs at 46.63 to date, and a further 359 at 39.89 in T20s.The squad will be led by Tom Latham, but will be lacking a number of senior players, including Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Devon Conway – all of whom are playing in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka – as well as the left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Phillips will be available for the first ODI at Eden Park on March 25, but will fly to India thereafter. Lister will then link up with the squad ahead of the second ODI in Christchurch, alongside Mark Chapman and Henry Nicholls.”It’s always exciting as a coach to have new players in the environment and to have players putting their hands up to be selected again in a particular format,” Gary Stead, New Zealand’s head coach, said.”Chad has been impressive for a number of seasons at the top of the order for Canterbury as well as being an excellent fielder.”We are set to play 16 white-ball matches between now and the start of May so there will be a number of chances for players to test themselves in familiar and unfamiliar conditions.”The series will also mark a return to the white-ball set-up for Will Young and Tom Blundell, who has been one of New Zealand’s stand-out players in Test cricket in the past 12 months, but has not played a limited-overs international since the tour of Bangladesh in September 2021.”Tom Blundell, in particular, is someone who we’ve been hugely impressed by in international cricket over the past 18 months as a leader in the Test team and then domestically with the Wellington Firebirds,” Stead said. “It’s an exciting opportunity for Tom ahead of a big year of white-ball cricket.”ODI Squad to face Sri Lanka Tom Latham (capt), Finn Allen, Tom Blundell, Chad Bowes, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Ben Lister, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Will Young

“The real red flag is their batting, and the inconsistency that they’ve shown in that five-game period is quite remarkable”

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-202329:47

A deep dive into Delhi Capitals’ woeful season

Tom Moody wants Delhi Capitals to drop Prithvi Shaw, recall Rilee Rossouw, use Mitchell Marsh as an opener, and promote Axar Patel to No. 5 as they attempt to turn their season around.Capitals are in crisis after starting IPL 2023 with five consecutive defeats. They will likely have to win eight of their nine remaining games to have a chance of qualifying for the play-offs, starting with a home fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday night.Moody, a title-winning coach with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, has over a decade of experience in IPL dressing rooms. In an extended edition of ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time:Out, he dissected Capitals’ issues and offered a potential solution to their problems with the bat, which have seen them fail to pass 175 so far this season.Related

• Veterans Ishant and Warner give Delhi Capitals much-needed relief

• Capital collapse: Delhi's problems start with Warner and Shaw

• Delhi Capitals players lose bats and other equipment in transit

• Capitals desperate for turnaround with struggling KKR visiting

“I’ve faced situations where you have your backs up against the wall, and it’s a challenging time for everyone because pressure comes from all angles,” Moody said. “You get external pressure: there’s a lot of noise coming from the media, a lot of noise coming from your fans. And you’ve got your internal pressure, right through from ownership to senior management, baring into that dressing room.”Moody believes that in the five-day gap between games, the franchise would have “gone through every department” of their line-up. “Clearly, the real red flag for Delhi Capitals is their batting and the inconsistency that they’ve shown in that five-game period is quite remarkable: the number of players, and the different positions that players have played in over that period of time,” he said.Capitals have regularly lost early wickets, most recently stumbling to 32 for 4 in the powerplay during their defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday. “Everything is being compounded at the beginning; they’re not crossing the first hurdle,” Moody said.4:27

Moody: ‘It’s got to a point where Shaw’s rope is running out’

Prithvi Shaw out, Mitchell Marsh to open

He believes that, after scoring 34 runs in his five innings of the season, Shaw’s time is up. “Prithvi Shaw is a unique case in that he’s an extraordinary talent and we all know what he’s capable of doing,” Moody said. “He’s done that not only in the IPL but on the international stage as well. With someone like him, you give him a little bit more rope with regards to his opportunity to come good, because you know that when he does, it’s going to be a high impact. But I think it’s got to the point after five games where that rope is running out.”You’ve got to make a tough call on certain players that aren’t showing any light at the end of the tunnel. And on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far with Prithvi Shaw, it may well be that IPL 2023 may not be his year where he has the impact that we all hoped that he was going to have.”It can just be, ‘oh, we’ll give him a couple more games and see what happens’. Those couple of games go, your chances as a franchise have gone. That’s why you’ve got to make that cold, hard decision at that point. This is crunch time.”Moody wants Marsh, who has batted at No. 3 so far this season, to be shifted up to open.”He’s done that before recently and he’s done it successfully. He’s naturally an enforcer so that would complement [David] Warner… it would help him as well,” Moody said. “You’ve got a left-right combination, you’ve got a 6ft4in and a 5ft8in batter, which is difficult to bowl to.”4:30

How should Delhi Capitals structure their top seven after five losses?

Rilee Rossouw in, Axar Patel up at No. 5

He would also adjust their overseas combination, playing three overseas batters alongside Anrich Nortje at the expense of Mustafizur Rahman. “I think they’re left with no other choice at the moment,” Moody said. “They’ve been going two and two but I think they have no choice but to go the other way.”At No. 3 and 4, I’d have Rilee Rossouw and Manish Pandey both padded up. I’d always want to keep a left-right combination in the top four: if Marsh gets out, Pandey goes in, and vice versa. That would be my lock for the top four.”As for Axar, Moody would promote him to No. 5.”His batting has really shone over the last 12 months. I’d embrace that and have real clear communication with him that this is his position to nail down… he could have a very good impact there, and it’s always nice to have a left-hander in that middle phase as well, because generally a lot of spin is being bowled.”Capitals have plenty of experience in their management and support staff, with Sourav Ganguly joining as director of cricket this year and working alongside head coach Ricky Ponting, but the franchise face an uphill task to turn things around.”The time we’ve spent dissecting it just shows you how difficult a challenge it is,” Moody said. “What you can be assured of is that Delhi have got an assured leadership group with Ponting and Ganguly, you’ve got experience in [Shane] Watson as a batting coach. They’ve got all the personnel. It’s a case of making sure that they get all those pieces in line to hopefully turning their fortunes around.”

Australia batter also sees 2024 T20 World Cup as his swansong from all international cricket

Osman Samiuddin03-Jun-2023David Warner wants to bid farewell to Test cricket on his homeground at the SCG next year, in the New Year’s Test against Pakistan. That will be one staging post towards a complete exit from the international game, with Warner hoping his final game in Australia colours is at the 2024 T20 World Cup.That Warner gets as far as that Sydney Test is not guaranteed given his recent Test form. And the glut of cricket between now and then, especially for an all-format opener, makes it even trickier. But it means, in effect, this Ashes could be the last time Warner plays a Test away from home.Warner is gearing up for what could be as many as six Tests in eight weeks, a World Test Championship (WTC) final against India next week, followed swiftly by the Ashes. His recent Test form has been poor, aggravated by an elbow fracture that ruled him out of the second half of Australia’s Test series in India.”I’ve always said the [2024 T20] World Cup will be my final game, but I think I probably owe it to myself and my family,” Warner said ahead of a training session in Beckenham in the lead up to the WTC final. “If I can score runs here, continue to play back in Australia, I can definitely say I won’t be playing that West Indies [Test] series. If I get through this and I can make the Pakistan series, I will definitely finish up then.”Warner played his 100th Test against South Africa at the MCG last summer, lighting up the Boxing Day Test a with a double-hundred. In March, Ricky Ponting said that the double-hundred was the ideal opportunity for Warner to say goodbye to red-ball cricket.That hundred was his first since January 2020. Since the start of 2022, the issue has become more acute: he’s averaging 26 since then with just two fifties and a hundred in his last 24 innings.”For me I’ve always played every game as if it’s my last,” Warner said. “That’s my style of cricket. I enjoy being around the guys, I love being part of the team, trying to be that ball of energy in the group. I want to just keep working as hard as I can to get there.”The amount of cricket Australia are scheduled to play to that point, however, will be a factor in deciding how far Warner does get. After the English summer, Australia have white-ball commitments in South Africa and India, before the 50-over World Cup. Right after the tournament, they stay on to play a T20I series against India.”Going back 12 months, [the schedule] looked very daunting,” Warner said. “Whether or not you’re going to play this Test before this series, given there is a World Cup as well, and we have South Africa as well. And then cricket on the back end of the World Cup in India. Leading into a home summer it’s going to be exhausting and I think the boys, rightfully so, the selectors have been speaking to them about the series that we are priding ourselves on. This [WTC] championship, the Ashes, then the World Cup, the big one.”For us, we have to be up and about. The senior players have to put our hands up, take wickets and score a lot of runs, for us to be on top. If we can manage that and do that, whatever the future throws at the team, we will be able to handle it.”If Warner does get to that Test farewell, it will leave him to prepare for the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in the West Indies and USA in middle of next year. That may involve him looking for various franchise deals from February onwards.”I want to play that 2024 World Cup, it’s something at the backend of my mind. We’ve got a lot of cricket before that. And then I think it stops from February. For me, then I have to play the IPL, some of the other franchise leagues and then get into the rhythm to play that, in June. Will be a bit of cricket around to play.”

Lack of runs leads to resignation, with Jack Leaning taking over Championship duties

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2023Sam Billings has stepped down as Kent red-ball captain for the rest of the season, with Jack Leaning set to take charge of the side when their County Championship campaign resumes against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road on Sunday.Billings, who made three Test appearances in 2022 – most recently in England’s seven-wicket win against India at Edgbaston – opted out of a stint with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL to focus on his role at Kent.However, he has endured a grim run of form in the County Championship, making 92 runs in 10 innings, including three ducks and a highest score of 31.Kent are currently second-from-bottom of the Division One standings, with one win from seven matches, and Billings’ form prompted him to leave himself out of their most recent Championship match, a five-wicket loss to table-toppers Surrey at Canterbury.”Kent cricket can confirm that men’s captain, Sam Billings, has decided to step down as captain in red-ball cricket for the rest of the 2023 season,” a club statement read.”Jack Leaning, who captained Kent against Surrey last time out in the Championship, will captain the side in Sam’s absence.”Billings will continue to lead the side in the Vitality Blast and remains the club captain in men’s cricket.”His fortunes as white-ball captain have been rather better, however. Kent have won their last six T20 Blast games under Billings’ leadership, and are currently fourth in the South Group, with a place in the quarter-finals within their grasp.Kent have named a 13-man squad for their trip to Northamptonshire, who are the only team below them in the current Division One standings.Arafat Bhuiyan, Arshdeep Singh and Matt Quinn all feature after not being involved in the Blast, while Ben Compton is set to slot back in at the top of the order. Harry Finch is included in the first XI squad after impressing in the Second XI Championship, Michael Hogan and Grant Stewart have been rested to focus on this week’s Blast contest against Sussex.