Cricket news

• Somerset aim for history in revamped T20 Blast

  21-05-2026 15:01 via bbc.com
  The 2026 T20 Blast campaign gets under way on Friday with a new-look format and defending champions Somerset aiming to make history.
  
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• England v New Zealand: first men’s cricket Test, day one – live

  04-06-2026 16:09
  Updates from the first day of the series at Lord’s
  Sign up for The Spin | Follow us on TikTok 2nd over, first ball: England 4-0 (Duckett 0, Gay 4) It’s Kyle Jamieson and he has a present for Emilio Gay: a full toss! Gay guides it away behind square and smiles like a man who wasn’t expecting that.1st over: England 0-0 (Duckett 0, Gay 0) The bowler is Matt Henry, the first ball a damp squib – a grubber outside off. Duckett leaves it, and the next one, which at least reache
  
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• Did moving behind Sky’s paywall 20 years ago save or stifle Test cricket?

  04-06-2026 14:52
  The decision to leave free-to-air TV has become English cricket’s Brexit. But what could have been done differently?By Wisden Cricket MonthlyAs Rudi Koertzen and Billy Bowden removed the bails at The Oval and celebrations began across the country after a grandstand finish to an epochal Ashes, it signalled not only the end of England’s 18-year wait to claim back the urn, but the last rites of live Test match cricket on terrestrial TV in the UK.In December 2004 the ECB had announced a
  
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• Is Ollie Robinson the chaos English cricket needs in a team stuffed with Nice Young Lads? | Jonathan Liew

  04-06-2026 08:47
  With the Test team under pressure and desperately craving engagement, a returning firebrand could salvage the summerThe winged elephant swoops down Deansgate towards the ship canal, its wings glowing neon orange, a feral roar rising and falling unevenly in volume. A black taxi drives the wrong way down a rain-moistened street. A menacing urchin child with a dozen fingers stands in front of a disused steampunk factory, holding an outsized Victoriana bat.Now there’s a bowler, who’s act
  
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• England in thrall to franchise world before visit of tricky New Zealand

  03-06-2026 21:00
  Debate over Jofra Archer’s absence after his IPL stint and at least one new face in Emilio Gay add to enticing storylinesLord’s hosts its 150th Test match this week and, like its famous lunch menu, there are plenty of enticing options as regards storylines. England are seeking redemption and refinement, apparently, following that god-awful Ashes winter. New Zealand are both familiar opponents and a tricky first assignment.There is at least one new face for England, with Emilio Gay co
  
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• Three Lord’s of London: 150 Tests at cricket’s grand, complicated citadel

  03-06-2026 19:55
  
  It may be the closely guarded private fiefdom of the MCC, but weight of history makes the ground a true institutionThere are three Lord’s in London. The first is six feet under Dorset Square next to Marylebone station, where these days a square foot of a single-bed flat will set you back a thousand pounds. The second is buried beneath the Lisson Grove moorings on the Regents canal, where the canal boaters grow tomatoes along the towpath. And the third, the current world-famous ground, is t
  
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• Stokes defends Archer’s Test absence and warns strictness risks England exit

  03-06-2026 15:54
  Critics have called situation ‘ludicrous’ and ‘frustrating’‘Jofra may not play for England if handled differently’Ben Stokes has defended England’s decision to excuse Jofra Archer from the start of the Test summer so he could compete in the Indian Premier League, saying a more militant approach risks a situation where “players like him might not play for England again”.On Wednesday Archer was strongly criticised by the former New Zealand bowl
  
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• The Spin | ‘Nobody likes to be belittled’: how New Zealand’s ‘Ilford seconds’ made history in 1986

  03-06-2026 11:37
  Jeremy Coney’s tourists 40 years ago lacked the resources and professionalism of their opponents but got under England’s skin to claim a famous series winJeremy Coney is barking with laughter recalling the story of winding up England’s Phil Edmonds at Trent Bridge 40 years ago.“We needed about 70-odd runs to win the match and go 1-0 up in the series. Edmonds was bowling to myself and Martin Crowe with this rather garish sponsored wristwatch on.” Continue reading...
  
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• Melbourne Stars and Renegades killed off in latest Big Bash League privatisation move

  03-06-2026 03:20
  Cricket Victoria to operate just a single BBL team in futureSecond franchise to be sold off to private investor to raise fundsCricket Victoria has killed off both the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades in an extraordinary reset triggered by the privatisation of Australian cricket.Chief executive Nick Cummins confirmed on Wednesday that Cricket Victoria would only operate a single BBL team from now on, potentially known as the Bushrangers, while the second franchise would be sold off to rais
  
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• England seal six-wicket win against India in deciding women’s T20 international –as it happened

  02-06-2026 23:07
  Alice Capsey and Heather Knight take England to a soaring win against India at Taunton to top off their World Cup preparations and pose selection questions3rd over: India 31-1 (Mandhana 8, Bhatia 9) Two wides and two fours from Bell’s second over as she gets some punishment from Bhatia, through point and deep third.Verma is eager for more runs but cramped for room, gets an outside edge ball which holds up in the wind and Charlie Dean collects at point. Clever bowling Continue reading...
  
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• Capsey and Knight’s mighty partnership guides England to T20 series win over India

  02-06-2026 23:02
  England 184-4, bt India 180-5, by six wicketsVictory perfectly timed before World Cup openerEngland pulled off a statement run chase against India on Tuesday evening at Taunton, reaching their target of 181 with nine balls to spare thanks to a brilliant 137-run partnership from 76 balls between Alice Capsey and Heather Knight.This was England’s highest successful T20 international run-chase in eight years and it could not have been more perfectly timed, providing the perfect confidence boo
  
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• Nathan Ellis stars with 4-33 as Australia beat Pakistan in second ODI

  02-06-2026 21:37
  Pace bowler leads rout of hosts for 190 in 41-run winJosh Inglis and Cameron Green helped set 232 targetAustralia turned the tables on Pakistan, battling their way to victory on a difficult track at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium to level the ODI series one-apiece with one to play. On a surface catered for spinners seamer Nathan Ellis was the star, returning 4-33 in his nine overs with some key wickets.In the absence of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Starc Ellis stepped up to lead the att
  
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• Cricket Canada suspended over allegations of gang-linked corruption

  02-06-2026 20:10
  ICC’s decision comes amid growing concerns the team is being influenced by members of a notorious gang in IndiaCricket’s international governing body has suspended Canada over what it described as “serious breaches of its membership obligations”, dealing the latest blow to an organization that critics say has become a “laughing stock” within the sport.The suspension also comes amid growing concerns that one of Canada’s fastest-growing sports is being inf
  
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• Bazball comes full circle with a promise to ‘evolve slightly’ as New Zealand roll into town

  02-06-2026 20:00
  Four years to the day after England’s first Test under Brendon McCullum began at Lord’s, England are adopting a fresh approach against the same oppositionFour years to the day after England’s first Test under Brendon McCullum began against New Zealand at Lord’s, the start of a summer when players reached new heights and observers reached for new words to describe them, the latest incarnations of the two teams gathered in St John’s Wood as preparations ramped up for
  
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• England weigh up Test debut for Sonny Baker with one eye on the weather

  02-06-2026 17:45
  Brendon McCullum backs quick bowler to bring ‘noise’Gus Atkinson could play if conditions less hot at Lord’sEngland have announced a slimmed-down squad of 12 for their first match of the summer, against New Zealand at Lord’s starting on Thursday, postponing until the last minute a decision over whether to reward the “full noise” approach of Hampshire’s Sonny Baker with a Test debut.The approach mirrors that at the first Ashes Test last November, when Eng
  
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• T20 specialists show their worth as surprise packets thrive in Blast

  02-06-2026 13:53
  Some unexpected teams lead the way as the group stage of the T20 Blast approaches its halfway pointBy the 99.94 Cricket BlogThis article is from The 99.94 Cricket Blog Continue reading...
  
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• McCullum and Key are lucky to have kept their jobs. Now they have to nail England’s rebuild | Mark Ramprakash

  01-06-2026 20:00
  Series against New Zealand will be a litmus test to see if the leadership team’s failed approach has really changedThere’s a quote from Legacy, James Kerr’s book about the All Blacks, that I have always liked: “Our values decide our character, our character decides our value.” As England’s Test side sets about its great post-Ashes reset, I think it is applicable.Culture is a work in progress and always will be, and the positive that has emerged from their wint
  
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• Virat Kohli hits winning runs as Royal Challengers Bengaluru retain IPL title

  31-05-2026 21:01
  Final: Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 161-5, beat Gujarat Titans, 155-8, by 5 wktsFormer India captain scores 75no off 42 ballsVirat Kohli’s unbeaten 75 and inspired bowling led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second straight Indian Premier League title with a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans on Sunday.Bengaluru restricted Gujarat to 155 for eight, a total they chased down with 12 balls to spare after Kohli reached his fifth half-century of the season in a lopsided final in Ahmedabad
  
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• Pakistan ease to victory in first ODI as Arafat Minhas puts Australia in a spin

  30-05-2026 21:03
  First ODI: Pakistan (5-202) beat Australia (200) by 5wktsDebutant Minhas claims five-wicket haul in RawalpindiPakistan’s debutant Arafat Minhas bagged a stunning five-wicket haul and then smashed the winning runs to secure a comprehensive victory over Australia in the first of three one-day internationals.Josh Inglis, handed the white-ball captaincy after Mitch Marsh was ruled out with an ankle injury, saw his side struggle to handle Minhas’ tricky left-arm variation. The 21-year-old
  
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• England’s Freya Kemp makes mark with bat and ball to level series against India

  30-05-2026 19:06
  2nd T20i: Eng, 168-5, bt India, 142-9, by 26 runsIndia’s decision to retire out Bhatia in run chase backfiresFreya Kemp smashed an unbeaten 39 from 13 balls as England finally unleashed some batting firepower to post 168 for five and beat India by 26 runs in the second T20 international. Kemp found able support from Dani Gibson as England’s two finishers added 39 from the final two overs to level the series.The pressure told on India’s fielders, who – after offering Sophi
  
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• England beat India by 26 runs: second women’s T20 international – as it happened

  30-05-2026 18:53
  Freya Kemp shines with bat and ball as England draw level in the pre World Cup series against India4th over: England 21-0 (Dunkley 10, Wyatt-Hodge 9) Time for spin already, with Shreyanka Patil. Wyatt-Hodge is eager for runs but can’t quite get enough welly or broad enough bat to reach the rope.3rd over: England 14-0 (Dunkley 9, Wyatt-Hodge 3) Dunkley picks up the first boundary of the day with a huge yahoo down the ground for six. A couple of singles to complete the over. And England tick
  
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• England in-tray: McCullum says he knows what went wrong in the Ashes – but can he fix it?

  29-05-2026 18:51
  The England head coach has five key challenges to address in the buildup to next week’s first Test against New Zealand at Lord’sFor all that the series was obviously a failure, England were competitive for periods of most of the Ashes Tests. But McCullum has repeatedly conceded that in the key moments when matches tend to be decided his side have a habit of stumbling. The question is why, and on Friday he made the telling admission: “I thought some of our guys were more ready f
  
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• India beat England by 38 runs: first women’s T20 cricket international – as it happened

  28-05-2026 23:16
  England were comfortably beaten in Chelmsford after producing an erratic performance with bat and ball1st over: India 7-2 (Bhatia 5, Rodrigues 0) That was the last ball of a pr-etty eventful first over.Two wickets in the over! After getting off the mark with a streaky mishit over the off side, Shafali Verma drags Bell towards mid-on and is caught by the stooping Alice Capsey. Continue reading...
  
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• Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues overpower England in first T20 international

  28-05-2026 22:59
  India 188-7; England 150-8. India win by 38 runsEngland’s Amy Jones makes 67 but lacks supportHalf-centuries from Yastika Bhatia and Jemima Rodrigues helped India post 188 for seven and overcome England by 38 runs in the first T20 international.The seamer Nandani Sharma, who took a hat-trick in ­January’s WPL, could not quite repeat that feat here, but three wickets in the space of five balls was nevertheless an ­impressive outing for the 24-year-old. “We all felt
  
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• Teenage star Sooryavanshi smashes 97 as Rajasthan advance in IPL playoffs

  27-05-2026 21:55
  Fifteen-year-old hits 12 sixes in 29-ball knockJofra Archer wickets help Royals past SunrisersThe teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed a staggering 12 sixes to lead Rajasthan Royals to a 47-run drubbing of Sunrisers Hyderabad in Wednesday’s Indian Premier League eliminator.The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi, who won the regular season’s orange cap for the most runs scored (680), destroyed Hyderabad’s famed bowling with an incredible 29-ball 97, around which Rajastha
  
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• McCullum vows to keep ‘firm grip’ on England players after ‘mistakes’ in winter tours

  27-05-2026 18:25
  Head coach ‘confident our best cricket is in front of us’Issues with alcohol among tourists due to ‘distractions’Brendon McCullum has promised to use “a firm grip” to eradicate issues with alcohol and attitude among the England squad, admitting that “there were some mistakes made” by his players during last winter’s tours of New Zealand and Australia.In his first interview since returning to England for the start of the international summer,
  
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• The Spin | I became a detective in women’s cricket and found treasure in an old Lancashire cowshed

  27-05-2026 13:02
  The MCC Library has gone from three books to a proper archive with scrapbooks, letters, diaries and newspaper cuttingsIn the spring of 2011, I went to the MCC library at Lord’s – the world’s largest collection of printed material on cricket. I was near the start of a PhD on the history of women’s cricket and I wanted source material: this, surely, would be where I would find it?Nope. When the MCC’s Neil Robinson took me to the section of the shelves on women’s
  
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• Letter: MJK Smith obituary

  26-05-2026 18:00
  In the early 1970s, the cricketer MJK Smith offered me 50 pence per half day for sweeping squash courts and other odd jobs at Wootton Court, the Warwickshire hotel and country club that he and his wife had opened. I was 14, and asked how many hours half a day would comprise. He said he would leave that to me and so I experienced the light, but effective, touch of his trust and leadership.Once, I was painting in the gents loo, when MJK arrived with gloves, bleach and wire wool, and began removing
  
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• Sophie Devine sparks New Zealand’s recovery to foil nervy England

  23-05-2026 19:05
  2nd T20i: NZ, 170-5, bt England, 156-6, by 14 runsWhite Ferns recover from 11 for fourNew Zealand staged a miraculous comeback to win the second T20 at Canterbury having begun the game by collapsing to 11 for four. Their recovery came by virtue of a 159-run partnership from 98 balls between Sophie Devine and Maddy Green – a record against England in T20 internationals.The partnership rollicked along so quickly that the scorebox operators struggled to keep up, with the numbers repeatedly ge
  
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• New Zealand beat England by 14 runs to win second women’s T20 international – as it happened

  23-05-2026 18:55
  A big-hitting Sophie Devine leads New Zealand to a 14-run victory over England and levels the series 1-1Gaze has a hasty heave and loses her middle stump to a cracking ball that nudges in.1st over: New Zealand 4-1 (Plimmer 0) Bell, blond hair in an immaculate bun, hoop earrings in each ear, starts with a perky away swinger. Four dots to start then Gaze pulls a short ball whippily to the rope. But that’s her lot. Continue reading...
  
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