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Justin Langer won’t return to coaching in the near term after deciding to take up “other opportunities” despite Ricky Ponting pursuing him vigorously for the Hobart Hurricanes’ head coaching role.Hurricanes announced Jeff Vaughan as their new head coach on Friday and he will combine the job with his role as Tasmania head coach. Vaughan is Ponting’s first appointment in his new role as Hurricanes’ head of strategy. Ponting also appointed James Hopes and Darren Berry as assistants alongside Vaughan.But Ponting was candid in explaining that his close friend Langer had been his first choice. The pair had discussed the role at length and Langer had shown interest early in the process before other opportunities piqued his interest.Related

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• 'He's got a bit more thinking to do..' – Ponting reveals Langer might be interested in coaching Hobart Hurricanes

“I’m on record saying that I’ve spoken with Justin quite a bit about coming down here and being the head coach of the Hurricanes and he was quite keen,” Ponting said. “The initial conversations were pretty exciting. And he would like to get back involved again. But as things got progressed and things got a little bit closer, I think he’s had some other opportunities and exciting things maybe come across his desk that he thinks he might be able to enjoy a little bit more through the course of the summer.”I’m sure you’ll find out about some of those things over the next little period of time. But as soon as he [took] himself out of the running, it was really obvious to me who the next guy had to be and that’s the guy that we’ve appointed as head coach in Jeff. I’m not hiding from the fact that I spoke to him [Langer]. I spoke to him a lot about it and I think everyone, probably around Australian cricket circles knew that I was trying to get him down here for the Hurricanes but it wasn’t to be.”Langer has remained in Perth since his messy departure from the Australia men’s coaching job in February. He has been doing a lot of corporate speaking as well as fulfilling his duties as a board member for the West Coast Eagles, an Australian Football League club.When Ponting first flagged Langer’s name as his number one candidate for the Hurricanes job back in June, it was met with a lukewarm reception from Hurricanes’ veteran Matthew Wade when he was asked about Langer’s style.Vaughan’s appointment is likely to be a popular one. He has vast experience having been with Tasmania and Hurricanes previously as an assistant under former coach Adam Griffith. He left both in 2021 to join the Australia men’s coaching team under Langer for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, but returned to take the Tasmania job earlier this year just prior to Andrew McDonald taking over as Australia’s head coach.”Everyone that I’ve spoken to around Tasmanian cricket or around the Australian cricket team just had glowing reports about Jeff with his coaching ability and his coaching style and his people management,” Ponting said. “I think that’s exactly what the Hurricanes need right now.”Hobart Hurricanes coaching team (left to right), James Hopes (assistant), Ricky Ponting (head of strategy), Jeff Vaughan (head coach) and Darren Berry (assistant)•Cricket Tasmania

Combining the Tasmania men’s domestic program with Hurricanes’ BBL team under one coach is a model that has worked successfully in Western Australia under both Langer and Adam Voges and is currently employed in South Australia and Queensland.But the addition of Hopes and Berry adds significant global franchise experience to Hurricanes. Hopes has been an assistant under Ponting in the IPL at Delhi Capitals while Berry has previously coached Adelaide Strikers in the BBL and coached South Australia to a T20 title in the old Big Bash competition. Berry has been an assistant coach at title-winning teams in the IPL and PSL and also works in the Hundred.”With Jeff being the head coach of the Tigers and what I felt the Hurricanes needed right here and right now it just seemed like the perfect fit for him to be in charge of both programs,” Ponting said. “But in saying that was also really important to me that I got high-quality experienced assistant coaches underneath Jeff to make sure that when Jeff is away with the Tigers that the Hurricanes program is actually in as good a shape as possible by the time he joins, which will be probably two weeks before the first game.”In other coaching news, Griffith has joined Victoria as their men’s bowling coach under head coach Chris Rogers. Victoria have also appointed Ben Rohrer as their new batting coach to take over from Andre Borovec, who has joined the Australia men’s team as an assistant coach in the role Vaughan vacated.Former Victoria and Australia batter Cameron White has departed Adelaide Strikers to join Sydney Sixers as an assistant coach under Greg Shipperd.

Nottinghamshire 285 (Montgomery 80, Hameed 70, James 50, Hogan 4-47, Harris 4-65) and 259 for 4 (Clarke 95, James 76*) drew with Glamorgan 318 and 421 for 5 (Byrom 144, Northeast 105*, Lloyd 60)Nottinghamshire showed why they are leading the way in Division Two by batting through the day in Cardiff to frustrate a Glamorgan side who needed nine wickets for victory.Chasing an improbable 455 to win, Notts finished on 259 for 4 with wicketkeeper batter Joe Clarke making 95 and Lyndon James unbeaten at the end on 76. Captain Steven Mullaney was 28 not out, while Notts finished 195 behind.Glamorgan were left to rue a couple of decisions which could have exposed the Notts tailenders to the second new ball, but the Cardiff wicket remained true and in the end the pursuit was called off with just over nine overs to go as both sides agreed a draw.The Welsh County were only able to take three wickets on the final day, two of those to the occasional spin of Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson, and they were unable to claim the win that would have moved them second in the table.Notts will feel they have earned their cushion in the promotion hunt, with a 19-point gap to third-placed Worcestershire and Glamorgan a further four points behind that.Clarke would have enjoyed giving Welsh cricket fans an exhibition of his talents as he will be back at the Cardiff Wales Stadium on a regular basis in the next few weeks as part of the Welsh Fire squad in the Hundred.He came to the wicket early as Glamorgan got the perfect start, James Harris trapping Matt Montgomery lbw in the second over of the morning. Getting rid of the first-innings top-scorer seemed a crucial breakthrough for the Welsh county.However they had to wait until six minutes before lunch for another wicket to fall as Clarke and Ben Slater successfully blunted the bowling attack.Glamorgan captain David Lloyd ran through his options and brought on Ingram, who lured Slater into giving a caught-and-bowled chance with the batter departing for 48.That put Notts three down at lunch, probably the minimum Glamorgan required to continue their push for victory.The afternoon session was one of frustration for the bowlers with even half chances few and far between as Lyndon James joined Clarke and the pair took the score to 184 for 3 at tea.Clarke seemed odds-on to move onto his century, especially when Glamorgan brought on part-time spinner Carlson for the first over after tea.An innocuous ball outside off stump flicked Clarke’s edge, Chris Cooke took the catch and suddenly the game was thrown open.Glamorgan took the second new ball as soon as it was available with 25 overs to go and the mood of the game changed as Notts captain Steven Mullaney joined James at the crease.Australian Michael Neser charged in with the new ball and had a strong lbw shout against Mullaney turned down second ball, while the fifth ball was edged past first slip.A couple of overs later he had a huge appeal for caught behind, again off Mullaney. The Glamorgan players sank to the ground when umpire Hassan Adnan kept his hand down, knowing a win was slipping away.

MI Emirates, the Mumbai Indians-owned team in the UAE’s ILT20, have announced their roster of non-UAE [overseas] players, headlined by old favourite Kieron Pollard, and Trent Boult, who opted out of a New Zealand central contract on Wednesday to spend more time with his family and focus on T20 franchise cricket.The league has allowed the six participating franchises to pick as “direct acquisitions” up to 14 overseas players for their line-ups – with up to nine allowed in the playing XIs. For MI Emirates, the 14 are Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran and Andre Fletcher (from the West Indies); Boult (from New Zealand); Imran Tahir (from South Africa); Najibullah Zadran, Zahir Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi (from Afghanistan); Samit Patel, Will Smeed and Jordan Thompson (from England); Brad Wheal (from Scotland); and Bas de Leede (from the Netherlands).Related

• Shane Bond appointed MI Emirates head coach

• Trent Boult hoping he's not done with Test cricket just yet

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• Boult's choice a landmark moment in fast-evolving landscape

While Pollard has been a one-team man in the IPL, turning out for Mumbai Indians every season since starting out with them in 2010, Boult was traded to Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2020 season by Delhi Capitals and went on to play a starring role in their title run. He picked up 25 wickets that season, second only to Jasprit Bumrah’s 27, and was the Player of the Final as Mumbai Indians won their fifth title. Bravo and Pooran have also represented Mumbai Indians in the past.”I am delighted with our dynamic group of 14 players that will be part of our #Onefamily and represent ‘MI Emirates’,” Akash M Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, the owners of the franchise, said in a statement. “We are glad to have one of our key pillars, Kieron Pollard continue with MI Emirates. Joining us back are Dwayne Bravo, Trent Boult and Nicholas Pooran.”On Thursday, the franchise owned by the same group in the yet-to-be-named South African T20 league – MI Cape Town – had announced their pre-signings for the inaugural edition, to run more or less concurrently with the ILT20. That list reads: Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada and Dewald Brevis.The MI Emirates team will be based in Abu Dhabi. The local UAE players will be added to the squad in the near future.

Rehan Ahmed scored a superb maiden century to save Leicestershire from defeat in the LV=Insurance County Championship match against Derbyshire at Derby.The England Under-19 allrounder decorated the last day of the season at the Incora County Ground with a breathtaking 122 off 113 balls to provide a memorable finale to a miserable season for Division Two’s bottom club.It was also a record-breaking performance as he became the first Leicestershire player to score his first hundred and take his maiden five-wicket haul in the same match. The 18-year-old was well supported by Lewis Hill who scored 60 off 157 balls and shared a fourth wicket stand of 163 in 35 overs with Ahmed.Harry Swindells, with 48, and Tom Scriven, (30), added a further 70 and although Sam Conners celebrated his county cap by taking his 50th Championship wicket for the summer, Leicestershire were 86 ahead at 405 for 7 when rain consigned the game to a draw with 20 overs remaining.Derbyshire probably sensed the chance of an early finish when Ben Aitchison struck in the fourth over of the morning. Sam Evans had driven the fast bowler square to the boundary but the next ball drew him into playing and Wayne Madsen held a low catch at second slip.Leicestershire’s top order had collapsed in the first innings but Ahmed joined Hill to provide another impressive demonstration of his talent.After a frenetic start, Ahmed settled in to bat with controlled aggression, playing shots all around the wicket to reach a brilliant hundred. An upper-cut for six off Aitchison was one of the memorable shots in a maiden fifty which came off 60 balls and he needed only 39 more to reach three figures.There were no signs of nerves as he waltzed down the pitch after lunch to deposit Leus du Plooy’s left-arm spin over the long-off boundary and he dished out the same treatment to off-spinner Alex Thomson. Another six off Thomson took him to 99 and the next ball he drove through the covers for his 12th four to reach three figures in only his third first-class match.Ahmed is now in the distinguished company of former England allrounder Phillip DeFreitas who was the last Leicestershire player to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same game, in 2003 against Sussex at Grace Road.It was the first time it has been done in a first-class game between the two counties at Derby since Derbyshire’s Garnet Lee made an unbeaten 107 and took 5 for 31 in 1928.Ahmed drove Thomson for a fifth six but in the next over he skied a slog-sweep at du Plooy and Luis Reece ran in to take the catch at mid-on.Hill had played a valuable supporting role but he fell to the second new ball when he tried to cut Aitchison and was caught at first slip.Conners beat the bat numerous times before he struck twice in consecutive overs, having Scriven caught behind pulling before Swindells dabbed the fast bowler into the gloves of Brooke Guest. But the light was fading before rain swept in just after 4.30pm with Derbyshire finishing fifth in Division Two while Leicestershire end the season without a Championship victory.

Sydney Sixers made it two from two early in their WBBL campaign after an all-round display led by Suzie Bates’ sizeable contribution with the bat, another half century for Ellyse Perry and a superb performance from Sophie Ecclestone.After Alyssa Healy fell in the fourth over, charging a slower ball from Darcie Brown having not found her rhythm, Bates and Perry added 131 for the second wicket in a stand that lasted until the penultimate ball of the innings.The pair never quite fully cut loose, but after Sixers ended the powerplay on 1 for 24 there was a steady build throughout the innings with the ninth over going for 15 and the 13th 16 runs. Bates had been 23 off 30 balls before latching onto Amanda-Jade Wellington’s second over.Perry’s 58 off 44 followed her 55 off 48 in the opening match against Brisbane Heat while Bates, against her former club, made her first major contribution with Sixers. Darcie Brown’s bowling stood with 1 for 20 from four overs including 14 dots. Ash Gardner faced just one ball and launched it for six.Deandra Dottin gave Adelaide Strikers a rapid start to the chase with 25 off 16 balls with three sixes before being well caught at mid-off against Ecclestone.Ecclestone then produced a direct hit from mid-on to run out the well-set Laura Wolvaardt and in her next over with the ball was rewarded for some nice flight when Tahlia McGrath drove to cover to swing the match decisively Sixers’ way.The asking rate continued to rise and the loss of Bridget Patterson and Mack in the space of three balls left far too much to do for the lower order.

Richard Thompson, the ECB’s chair, has valued the Hundred at over £1 billion (US$1.2 billion) after confirming the ECB has received an offer for its newest competition, and anticipates others will be in the offing.Thompson suggested that reports of the offer, initially revealed by Sky News as a £400 million bid from Bridgepoint Group, were “exaggerated”. The London-listed buyout firm was supposedly interested in a 75% stake in the competition, which seems unworkable at present given Thompson’s insistence that any agreement would have to ensure the ECB retained overall control of the competition. He also confirmed the first-class counties were keen on the reported figure.Speaking in Rawalpindi on Saturday having arrived to take in England’s first Test in Pakistan for 17 years, Thompson, who took up his post in August, could not go into details but reiterated the need to consider any proposal with English cricket’s best interests at heart.”We have received an offer, and I can’t comment on the actual offer,” he said. “I would not be surprised if there are other offers. There’s a feeding frenzy in broadcasting rights of tournaments at the moment, so that reality of more interest in the game is bound to materialise. I’m determined we’re not going to be opportunistic about this, we’re going to be strategic. The tournament’s only two years old. Clearly there’s a value in it, and we expected there to be interest. Let’s see how things play out.”We understand there’s value in the tournament and teams, there’s lot of other untapped value in the game that goes beyond the Hundred as well. We shouldn’t fixate over one thing. What we won’t do is be opportunistic. We’ll think things through, and understand that we won’t sell the game short. Lucknow Super Giants, one team in the IPL sold for a billion. One team. That should establish a benchmark of value. I think we’ve got a long way to go before we do something. If offers want to be made, they will be made.”We can’t disclose what was in the offer, but it wasn’t what it appears to be,” he added. “We’ll continue to talk to the county chairs about this, and if this was an absolute game-changing offer that would wipe out the debts of English cricket, of course we would look at it. But it isn’t.”I don’t think people are giving money away at the moment, so I’d be surprised if someone came along with an offer you’d have to stop the press for and reflect on. But who knows?”Team ownership is the most likely first port of call for investment, and IPL owners are circling having bulked their portfolios with investment in other franchise competitions, such as the CPL, IT20 and SA20. One connection regularly mooted is between Mumbai Indians and Oval Invincibles, especially after Mukesh Ambani, owner of Mumbai Indians, attended a Hundred match in the 2022 season along with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who is an owner in Major League T20 having supported cricket’s expansion in the US.Thompson, previously a Hundred-sceptic when chair of Surrey, has been open to private investment since taking the post. But the importance of the ECB remaining in control of its product is vital, not least for county cricket and the summer at large.”I think the point is we’re the only country that plays in the northern hemisphere [during summer],” Thompson said. “I think the ECB would need to think very long and hard if we were to sell four or five weeks of the English summer to a third party. We all know how precious the schedule is at the minute. To look at the tournament and think we would sell four or five weeks of the summer would be a huge decision to take.”Incoming CEO Richard Gould, we opposed the Hundred for two sets of reason. I’m not going to be a hypocrite. We’ve come in and seen the success. It’s reached audiences the Blast wasn’t reaching, people are talking about Alice Capsey the way they would not be doing if she hadn’t made the impact she made on the Hundred, and women’s cricket wouldn’t have broken through the way it has. And we’re getting unsolicited offers in two years. So all these things mean we’ve got to take a competition like this very seriously.”Clearly it’s created a lot of tension in the sense that one of the reasons I opposed it in the first place was because I could see three domestic competitions, more international cricket, was causing so much challenge in the schedule – a fourth isn’t going to make matters easier.”That’s absolutely what has played out, and we need to find a way of somehow working with four competitions, where the Hundred doesn’t succeed at the expense of the Blast, one doesn’t cannibalise the other, and they can co-exist together. That’s going to take some doing, but we’ve got to find a way, because the Hundred is here to stay. We’ve signed that deal to 2028, and people are making offers. It’s creating an impact in two years that we didn’t expect to happen, but it’s also created some challenge and stress as well.”

Looking ahead to the 2024 World Cup and standing in as T20I captain for three games against Sri Lanka for now, Hardik Pandya’s message to his young team is clear: “go out there and express [yourself], we’re going to back you to the core.”Hardik takes over captaincy in the absence of regular leader Rohit Sharma, who will take back captaincy for the ODIs. Even though it’s not clear yet who India’s captain at the next T20 World Cup will be, Hardik assessed India’s situation in T20s by saying that there was nothing wrong with their approach in the lead-up to the tournament.India had adopted a new approach in the format when Rohit took over captaincy and Rahul Dravid became the new head coach: they started getting much quicker off the blocks in the powerplay, Rohit himself changed his approach at the top, and most of India’s batters were batting with an intent of scoring faster. Except that in Australia, the bounce and pace was not to India’s liking, and they went back to their old template of setting a base and then building on it.Related

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“You see, I think before the [T20] World Cup, I don’t think we did anything wrong,” Hardik said in Mumbai, a day before the series opener against Sri Lanka. “Our template, approach, everything was the same. Yes, in the World Cup, things did not go how we wanted. And I think our approach was not the same – what it was before the World Cup. What we have noticed and told the boys is that just go out there and express [yourself], which they will do. And it’s up to us that how we back them.”What we have said is that we’re going to back you to the core. All the players have that support from my side that I’m going to back them to the core. Who are here, these are the best cricketers in the country, that’s the reason they are here. So, I have to make them believe that, which is a fact as well. For me, it’s important that how can I make them feel that they’re the best of their business. And if I can get that thing done, and can get that confidence in them, then I don’t think that they will have any problem in international cricket. I think they will flourish and have amazing careers ahead.”Hardik echoed Rohit’s words from a year before the 2022 World Cup when he and Dravid had given their players “assurance of going out and expressing” themselves. With the next T20 World Cup only a year and a half away, Hardik did not go into the team’s plans in detail but said there was not much time to experiment for now as there are only six T20Is before IPL 2023.

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“Obviously, the plans are set. We are looking to play in a certain way, which we will,” Hardik said without elaborating. “Before IPL only six games are there, so we don’t have much time to do a lot of things but going forward we will keep creating new plans and see which are the plans which are working for us. And going forward just make sure everyone gets ample opportunities and just that on the right time when needed just see what we need to do.”Being the hosts and 3-0 winners of the last time these two teams played a bilateral T20I series – in early 2022 in India – Hardik implied they had an upper hand in home conditions, and wasn’t looking to settle any kind of score after their loss to eventual champions Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup.”No, we’re not looking to settle anything [after the Asia Cup loss],” Hardik said with a smile. “We want to play good cricket. Yes, we will make them feel like we’re in India, don’t worry about that, I assure and promise you they will feel that they’re playing an international team and that too India in India. So from my boys and my side, we’re going to be clear. We don’t need to go and sledge them, our body language is enough for them to feel a little intimidated which we will do, I promise you.”India will field a new-look squad with Suryakumar Yadav the vice-captain in T20Is, and several senior players either unavailable or rested. Three uncapped players – Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Mavi and Mukesh Kumar – also have a chance to make their international debuts.

Australia quick Josh Hazlewood will fly home after being ruled out of the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series while doubts remain about David Warner’s fitness for the remaining matches as Australia mull further changes to the squad following their loss in Delhi.Hazlewood was unavailable for the first two Tests due to Achilles tendonitis. He was replaced by Scott Boland in the first Test in Nagpur before Australia chose three spinners and just one pace bowler in Delhi. Meanwhile, Warner was substituted out of the Delhi Test with concussion but he also suffered a hairline fracture in his left elbow from separate blows while facing India’s Mohammed Siraj.Australia coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Hazlewood would head home to continue his recovery of the Achilles issue while Warner will be closely monitored over the coming days. There are hopes he can play in the last two matches but a decision will be made by the medical staff.”Josh Hazlewood out, he’ll be going home,” McDonald said on Monday.”[Warner]’s still sore at the moment. We had a meeting just before discussing through this. We’re in no rush to make any decisions at this point in time around Davey. Just seeing how that settles, how functional that is.”It will be basically how sore and how functional it is as to what decision we make with him and then the length of the injury. There’s some talk the length of injury could be anywhere between a week plus depending how that settles down. There’s a bit of unknown there. I’ll leave that to the medical team and they’ll inform me once they know.”There are fewer concerns about his concussion as there are nine days to recover before the third Test, which should be enough time for Warner to pass the mandatory protocols.If Warner’s elbow isn’t fit then Travis Head is likely to open in Indore having made an excellent 43 in the second innings in Delhi. If Warner is fit then Australia’s selectors have some tough decisions to make.”If Dave’s unavailable it would make perfect sense,” McDonald said. “We did discuss before coming over here that if we were to lose an opening batter that Trav would be one we’d look to put up there. We feel in the subcontinental conditions that he can get off to the fast starts which he showed.”We don’t see [Head] as an opener in all conditions, more subcontinental and in other conditions back to the middle order.”Related

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Captain Pat Cummins has flown home for family reasons in between the second and third Test but is expected to return to lead the side in Indore.McDonald revealed that there could be further changes to the squad but they are unlikely to fly anyone in unless Warner is ruled out, given they currently have 18 players with the squad in Delhi and a 19th in Mitchell Swepson, who will possibly fly back for the third Test, after heading home prior to the second Test for the birth of his first child.

Green, Starc expected to be fit for Indore Test

Mitchell Starc at a training session in Delhi•Getty Images

Cameron Green is expected to be 100 percent fit for the Indore Test having come very close to playing in Delhi. He only missed because doubts remained about whether his broken finger had recovered enough.”He was close,” McDonald said. “It’s building the confidence. He had the setback in Bangalore, a little setback batting in Bangalore where he had some jarring and there was a fair bit of discomfort in that finger. If he didn’t have that, I think the second Test was real. But it probably just delayed it those few days. And we contemplated him as a concussion sub as well. So that was another discussion. But we felt like if he wasn’t right to go at the start then what was a couple of days. We’re better off loading up for the third Test match and in a good frame of mind.”Mitchell Starc is also set to be fit for the third Test having been available to play in Delhi. Like Green, it was only doubt on the recovery on his finger tendon injury and the decision to pick three specialist spinners that meant Starc didn’t play. Starc’s lower-order batting is also a consideration as McDonald conceded India’s lower-order batting has been the difference in the series so far.Todd Murphy is also carrying a side niggle and will have a few days’ rest between the second and third Test but McDonald was confident he would be fully fit for Indore.

Agar, Morris might be sent home

Ashton Agar has slipped down the pecking order in Australia’s Test side•Getty Images

There is a potential Ashton Agar could be sent home to play some Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup cricket for Western Australia prior to the ODI series as he has become surplus to requirements. Agar started the tour as the second-choice spinner and looked set to play in Nagpur but has been plagued by confidence issues with Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann both debuting while Agar carried the drinks. Lance Morris is another who could be sent home having come as a spare fast bowler on tour. Australia will not play three fast bowlers plus Green as an allrounder in the final two Tests and may not even play two specialist quicks in the final two Tests having had some success with three spinners in Delhi.Without naming Agar or Morris specifically, McDonald confirmed there was a chance one or two players could return to Australia to play some domestic cricket with Green and Starc becoming available to play.”We’re working through that. It won’t be form as such but there’s cricket going on back home,” McDonald said. “And with a few players now becoming fit and available, are we carrying too many? That’s probably a question. So we’ve got to be clear on what we want to achieve in the next two Test matches in terms of the structure of the team. Once we get our heads around that, there’s an opportunity for players to be playing cricket back home and we value that.”

Maxwell unlikely to be called up for India Tests

McDonald was asked about the possibility of Glenn Maxwell being called up to the Test squad after he made his Sheffield Shield return for Victoria on Monday in Melbourne but he poured cold water on that prospect.”He’s played one game,” McDonald said. “What did he get, 5? He played club cricket and got 61. We’ll see how we go. We’ve got the one-day squad that we’ll announce, if he gets through everything that he needs to then he’ll be a starter for that one-day series. Anything forward of that will be discussed.”

Wasim Jaffer believes Chennai Super Kings (CSK) look “rattled” in IPL 2025, adding that their batting order doesn’t even “look like they’re trying” once Shivam Dube gets out. Mark Boucher, meanwhile, feels things are not “happening the way it used to before” for the side. In the 184-run chase against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Chepauk, CSK’s batters once again misfired as they suffered their third consecutive loss of the season.”They’re losing too many wickets upfront,” Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “Whether it’s form or poor shot selection, whether it’s selection alone, and maybe throwing around too many players and those players might be feeling like, ‘I don’t know if I’m in or out’, and that could be something we’re not used to when looking at a Chennai team. Usually, they’re stable, a good decision-making team and franchise. The team is like they’re a bit rattled at the moment.”With captain Ruturaj Gaikwad dropping himself to No. 3, CSK opened with Rachin Ravindra and Rahul Tripathi in the first three games. But with Tripathi making a total of just 30 runs, he was replaced by Devon Conway. The move did not pay off against DC, with the top-three batters falling inside the powerplay, which brought in Shivam Dube while they needed 143 runs at an asking rate close to ten runs an over. But after Dube fell for 18 in the tenth over, CSK found it hard to get going.Related

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• Stats – CSK go six years without chasing a 180-plus target

“If their top order doesn’t fire and Dube gets out, it looks like they shut shop very quickly,” Jaffer said. “They feel really, really behind the game and it doesn’t even look like they’re trying. That approach has been the most surprising to me; it’s twice in two games, where they shut shop too early. That’s a major concern for CSK.”Dube’s dismissal was followed by an 84-run stand between MS Dhoni and Vijay Shankar, but they didn’t look like they would get close to chasing down the target. They were risk-averse, scoring just three fours and a six between overs ten and 18.This was CSK’s second faltered chase at home. They suffered a 50-run loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where they were reduced to 26 for 3 in the fifth over after conceding 196 for 7. They also failed to chase 183 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati, falling six runs short after batting out 20 overs.They have also used 17 players this season – more than they did in the entirety of the 2015 (14) and 2021 (16) IPL editions.”Their top order is really struggling,” Boucher said. “And we talk about your lower order which has been historically very strong and finishing off games, the [Ravindra] Jadejas, the Dhonis – the Dhoni little cameos that they usually have – they’re walking in just after ten overs. So, there’s a lot left to do from just a batsmanship perspective, and that’s where they’re getting it wrong.””The players that they had picked in the auction before – they picked Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, [Ambati] Rayudu who are way past their prime – and they came and performed,” Jaffer said. “But that is not happening with this CSK: they picked Tripathi, they picked Deepak Hooda, and even Vijay Shankar. But things are not happening the way it used to.”

The ICC has denied Usman Khawaja’s latest attempt to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by knocking back his application to display the image of a dove and an olive branch on his bat and shoes.Khawaja displayed the logo on his right shoe and the back of his bat during Australia’s main training session on Sunday at the MCG ahead of the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan starting on Tuesday.The logo is a reference to article one of the Universal declaration of Human Rights which reads, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”Related

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Khawaja had checked with Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association before displaying the logo on his gear and was granted approval but his application to the ICC to display the logos during the Test match was denied.”The ICC, after giving due consideration to Usman Khawaja’s request for a personal message logo on his bat for the remainder of the Test series against Pakistan, did not approve the application,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “Personal messages of this nature are not allowed as per Clause F of the Clothing and Equipment Regulations, which can be found on the ICC Playing Conditions page.”The ICC is supportive of players using their platforms outside of the playing arena to promote human rights, peace and equality and would encourage him to continue to use alternative platforms.”Khawaja was charged by the ICC with breaching the same Clause F of the Clothing and Equipment Regulations after wearing a black armband during the first Test against Pakistan in Perth. He said he would challenge the charge having told the governing body it was for a “personal bereavement” but added that he won’t continue to wear one in the MCG Test.Khawaja wore the armband having initially planned to take the field with writing on his shoes which he had worn in training stating “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Speaking at the MCG on Friday, Khawaja said that he did not believe ICC were implementing their own regulations consistently.”They asked me on day two [in Perth] what it was for and told them it was for a personal bereavement,” he said of the armband. “I never ever stated it was for anything else. The shoes were a different matter, I’m happy to say that. The armband makes no sense to me. I followed all the regulations, past precedents, guys that put stickers on their bats, names on their shoes, done all sorts of things in the past without ICC approval and never been reprimanded.”I respect the ICC and the rules and regulations they have. I will be asking them and contesting they make it fair and equitable for everyone and they have consistency in how they officiate. That consistency hasn’t been done yet. I was very open and honest with that. I’ll deal with that with the ICC.”There was no official statement when Khawaja wore the armband on the first day in Perth, but at the time it was understood to be in relation to the video he had posted on social media after being told he could not show the messages on his shoes.The ICC’s decision to bar Khawaja’s gesture ahead of the first Test in Perth came in for scathing criticism from Michael Holding. The former West Indies fast bowling great, a prominent voice on racism during the Black Lives Matter movement and author of the prizewinning book on racism in sports ” told the he was not surprised by the ICC’s stance.”If it had been most other organisations that showed some semblance of consistency with their attitude and behaviour on issues I could claim surprise, but not them,” Holding said. “Once again they show their hypocrisy and lack of moral standing as an organisation.”