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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fast bowler Mayank Yadav is set to miss the first half of IPL 2025. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Mayank is recovering from a lumbar stress injury and has just resumed bowling at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, where he has been undergoing rehab after getting injured following his India debut in the T20I series against Bangladesh last October.There is no firm date set by the BCCI for Mayank’s return yet, but if he meets all the fitness parameters alongside increasing his bowling workload, he could feature in the latter half of the IPL.Mayank’s unavailability in the first half of the tournament is a setback for LSG, who had retained him for INR 11 crore ($1.31 million approx.) ahead of the mega auction. It was an astronomical leap monetarily for Mayank who had been bought for INR 20 lakh ahead of the 2024 season as an uncapped fast bowler.Mayank commanded such a huge salary primarily because of his ability to bowl at breakneck speeds, crossing 150kph-plus consistently, which earned him back-to-back Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two matches in the IPL. Encouraged by his potential talent, the national selectors added Mayank to the pool of quicks given fast-bowling contracts.Related

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Mayank’s time in IPL 2024 was limited to just four matches due to a lingering side strain in the last two matches he played. During rehab, Mayank picked a separate injury which delayed his comeback but he eventually played the Bangladesh T20Is. However, he picked up another injury immediately after which forced him to return to rehab. While the BCCI has not officially shared details on Mayank’s injury, it is understood that Mayank has a stress-related injury in his lower back on the left-hand side.In February, former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who has taken over as LSG’s team director, said that the franchise was working closely with the BCCI’s medical team to chart a roadmap for Mayank’s return. However, Zaheer stressed he would only want a totally fit Mayank back in the saddle. “As much as we are keen on having him [play IPL 2025], we want him 150% fit not just 100% fit so we’ll do everything possible to get him there,” he had said.LSG are set to play their first match of the season against Delhi Capitals on March 24 in Visakhapatnam, under new captain Rishabh Pant.

Cooper Connolly, 21, was playing the Champions Trophy semi-final against India in Dubai because of the injury to regular opener Matthew Short. Opening the innings with Travis Head, he faced nine balls from Mohammed Shami, making contact with only two of his first eight balls before edging behind for a duck. Here’s how the third over of the game played out:2.1 Shami to Connolly: wide outside off, Connolly drives over the top of it…142kph2.2 Shami to Connolly: plays and misses again! Connolly looking to drive, beaten on the inside edge this time as it angles back2.3 Shami to Connolly: 1 wide 140kph, short and wide, Connolly slashes and misses with a square cut but gets the wide call2.3 Shami to Connolly: four in a row! Connolly struggling. This one was nicely bowled, fuller outside off, feet not going anywhere as he pokes at it2.4 Shami to Connolly: make that five! Aims for a square drive on the up, slides past the edge2.5 Shami to Connolly: beaten again, six out of six…drives over the top of it as he targets square through the off side2.6 Shami to Connolly: OUT has he edged it this time?! India are very convinced. Wide outside off, Connolly playing a square drive, was it an under edge? Yes, it’s taken the toe end. They are just checking the ball has carried to KL Rahul. It’s cleanAustralia had chosen to bat after winning the toss in the first semi-final against India. They made two changes to their XI, bringing in Connolly and legspinner Tanveer Sangha for Short and fast bowler Spencer Johnson. India named the same XI that won their last group game against New Zealand, fielding a four-spinner attack.

Injury-hit Australia retained the Women’s Ashes after Beth Mooney’s assured innings led them to a thumping 57-run victory in the first T20I at the SCG.A spirited 59 off 30 balls by Sophia Dunkley kept England in the contest with superb placement and power after they were asked to equal their highest successful run chase in T20Is. But spin duo Alana King and Georgia Wareham claimed five wickets between them as England were bowled out for just 141 in 16 overs.The hosts were missing regular captain and keeper Alyssa Healy, who was ruled out with an injury to the same right foot in which she ruptured the plantar fascia at the T20 World Cup in October, and Ashleigh Gardner, the star of their 3-0 ODI series sweep, to a calf strain.It was the first time Australia had played a T20I without both Healy and Gardner in their XI in 12 years and the first international match both had missed since an ODI in February 2016. That gave young opener Georgia Voll her T20I debut after she had impressed in Australia’s ODI series against India in December, replacing Healy who had a knee injury at the time.But it was Mooney, also standing in as wicketkeeper for Healy, who anchored Australia to an impressive 198 for 7 in their 20 overs with her 51-ball 75 amid a spate of sloppy fielding from England. Tahlia McGrath was Australia’s next-best batter with a rapid-fire 26 from nine deliveries. Mooney also claimed two catches.With Australia now holding an eight-points-to-nil lead, the best England can hope for is to win both remaining T20s and the Test to draw the series, which would still see the hosts retain the trophy.While a crowd of 9,279 turned out on a pleasant Monday night in Sydney during the summer school holidays, the lopsided Ashes contest overall doesn’t auger particularly well for Cricket Australia’s hopes of luring a big crowd to the MCG for a day-night Test that could well be a total dead rubber.

Handy replacement

Voll planted her front foot and heaved the fourth ball she faced in T20Is – off Freya Kemp – powerfully over mid-on for four. A couple of fielding errors by England were exacerbated when Lauren Bell dropped Voll on 13. Bell couldn’t look as the ball ran down to fine leg for a second of three consecutive fours off Charlie Dean, bookended by two convincing slog-sweeps through square leg.But Bell made amends when she pinned Voll in front of leg stump for 21 off just 11 balls in the next over with the Australian burning a review in the process. Voll’s exit brought Phoebe Litchfield to the crease and, as she foretold in the lead-up to the match, she took a liking to England’s spin attack. She slammed legspinner Sarah Glenn’s third ball through cover for four, followed immediately by a stunning switch-hit for six over cover point.Beth Mooney swings into the leg side•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Mooney shines

Mooney, meanwhile, rode her luck, dropped by wicketkeeper Amy Jones on 16 after overturning an lbw decision, she skied the last ball of Glenn’s opening over towards cover only to see the two close-by fielders watch it fall to the ground between them. But then Heather Knight saved England’s blushes straight after the drinks break with an excellent direct hit from mid-off to remove a diving Litchfield at the non-striker’s end as she chanced a single.England’s fielding picked up for a time, albeit from a low base, with Jones completing a sharp stumping to remove Ellyse Perry, Danni Wyatt-Hodge proving reliable running in from deep midwicket as Annabel Sutherland holed out and Maia Bouchier almost coming to grief with a good diving effort at long-off to prevent a four by McGrath. Bouchier appeared to hurt her shoulder badly but recovered to remain on the field. All the while, Mooney kept the Australian innings going apace. She brought up her fifty off 37 balls and she and McGrath helped themselves to 17 runs off Bell’s third over. While Sophie Ecclestone ended McGrath’s innings with an excellent delivery that dipped and skidded onto the stumps between the batter’s legs, Mooney pressed on until she was stumped strolling past a Kemp delivery, by which point, her work was done.Georgia Wareham and Alana King took five wickets between them•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Dunkley keeps England in it

England’s pursuit began poorly when Bouchier sent the second ball of the innings, from Megan Schutt, straight to deep backward square and Wyatt-Hodge followed driving a Kim Garth outswinger to Litchfield in the slips. Dunkley picked off three sixes and 22 runs in all off Garth’s next over though. King, playing her first T20I in nearly two years, struck with her first ball, a short legbreak that beat Nat Sciver-Brunt’s attempted pull and clattered into middle stump. But Dunkley’s timing was superb as she picked gaps with precision and cleared the boundary four times. She raised her fifty off just 24 balls, the second-fastest scored against Australia in T20Is and equal to second-fastest in the format.King claimed her second wicket straight after drinks when Australia appealed to the DRS to remove Knight lbw trying to reverse-sweep and McGrath’s cutter crashing into Dunkley’s leg stump felt like the end for England. So it proved as the visitors lost their last five wickets for 25 runs in 3.1 overs with Wareham removing Jones, Ecclestone and Dean.

Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, will rejoin the touring party in Australia on Tuesday, having flown out of India after having returned home because of “personal reasons”.Gambhir missed India’s two-day tour game – which was later reduced to a limited-overs contest following rain on the first day – against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, having flown back home at the conclusion of the first Test in Perth on November 25. Gambhir left on November 26, the scheduled final day of that Test.The second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a day-nighter in Adelaide, will start on December 6.Related

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In Gambhir’s absence, the support staff of Abhishek Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel had overseen the team’s training, and were part of the Canberra fixture, which the Indians won by six wickets, with Harshit Rana (4 for 44) and Shubman Gill (50 in 62 balls) playing key roles.Now, Gambhir will have to be part of the tricky discussions around India’s playing XI, with Rohit Sharma, the full-time Test captain, having linked up with the team after skipping the first Test to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. Jasprit Bumrah had led India to the comprehensive 295-run win in the Perth Test in Rohit’s absence.Gill, who had also missed that Test after fracturing his right thumb during a training session, is also back in the reckoning.Even if India bring in Rohit and Gill for Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel, who were part of the XI in Perth, there is the question of the opening combination, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul having put on a double-century first-wicket stand in India’s second innings in Perth. Indications from the pink-ball tour game, though it wasn’t a full-fledged contest, are that Jaiswal and Rahul will continue to open with Gill replacing Padikkal at No. 3, and Rohit possibly going in the middle order behind Virat Kohli. Rishabh Pant is the other certain starter in the middle order.

Zafar Gohar, the former Pakistan spinner, has joined Middlesex on a two-year contract after qualifying as a local player.Gohar spent four seasons with Gloucestershire as an overseas signing, but has now received British citizenship. He last played for Pakistan in 2021, when he won his sole Test cap in Christchurch. He was also capped in an ODI against England in 2015.”Zafar is a player that we have admired for some time now and have been keeping a watchful eye on,” Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, Alan Coleman, said. “We are delighted to have secured his services as a local cricketer for the next two seasons.”In Championship cricket we have identified the need to increase our wicket-taking threat in all conditions and adding an international quality spinner to our line-up will strengthen us and add a greater threat on all types of surfaces.”Adding a senior bowler to our white-ball teams will also help the side in those situations where we’ve lacked some experience in the shorter formats in recent years.”The addition of someone like Zafar to our squad adds not only quality, but also invaluable experience, and our young spinners will benefit enormously from having him in the playing group. We are excited to see what Zafar can do for Middlesex and are delighted to have him on board.”Gohar claimed 118 wickets at 31.71 in first-class cricket for Gloucestershire, as well as 17 List A and nine T20 wickets, while also contributing handy runs down the order. He was only involved in six County Championship fixtures in 2024, however.Gohar said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Middlesex and making Lord’s my home ground for the next two years. It’s a club steeped in history and to be a part of this next chapter is hugely exciting.”The opportunity to contribute to both the red-ball and white-ball teams formed a big part of my decision to make Middlesex my home, and I can’t wait to play my part in what I hope will be a successful 2025 for the club.”

Australia have been dealt a potential injury concern heading into their title defence at the Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, with batter Phoebe Litchfield being ruled out of the warm-up games with groin soreness. The news came in ahead of Australia’s first warm-up fixture against England in Dubai on September 29.Grace Harris, who has not played competitive cricket since April 2024 because of calf strains in both legs, was also deemed not quite ready to take the field yet because of a “new niggle”, though she is back in training.”Grace has resumed training following a new niggle sustained in her preparation to return to play,” Cricket Australia’s (CA) update said.Harris is making her way back after a first calf strain kept her out of the Women’s Hundred in the English summer, and then a second, in the other leg, kept her out of the recent series against New Zealand.CA said an update on both players’ availability for the T20 World Cup opener will be provided over “the next few days”.Australia play a second warm-up on October 1 against West Indies, before opening their tournament against Sri Lanka on October 5.India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand are the other teams in Australia’s group – Group A. The top two teams from each group will proceed to the semi-finals on October 17 and 18, before the final on October 20.

Josh Brown and Will Sutherland have been included in the Melbourne Renegades Academy squad for the Top End T20 series in Darwin while Australia quick Scott Boland will be part of Melbourne Stars Academy.Sutherland, who made his ODI debut against West Indies last season, will captain Renegades. He has spent the winter recovering from another stress fracture of the back which ruled him out of a second consecutive county stint having lined up a deal with Somerset.Brown, meanwhile, was one of the big off-season moves after he was lured away from Brisbane Heat having lit up last season’s BBL with some spectacular innings include a stunning 140 off 57 balls against Adelaide Strikers. While the much-anticipated pairing with Jake Fraser-McGurk will have to wait for the BBL in December, the Top End tournament will be Brown’s first outing with his new club.Renegades have also included Kane Richardson and Victoria opener Marcus Harris who does not currently have a BBL deal. Harris made one appearance for Perth Scorchers last season, in the Eliminator final, having been signed as a late replacement.Meanwhile, Boland will have a dual role for Stars having been included in their academy squad for the tournament where he will also serve as a bowling coach. Should Boland play it will be his first competitive cricket since April when he had a county deal with Durham cut short by a heel injury.Stars have also included the experience of Hilton Cartwright who is part of their BBL squad.Alongside the Stars and Renegades academy sides, the Top End T20 features Northern Territory Strike, Adelaide Strikers, Perth Scorchers, Tasmania, ACT Comets, Pakistan A and a Bangladesh High Performance side.Jake Weatherald (Tasmania and Adelaide Strikers) and D’Arcy Short (Western Australia and Strikers) will play for NT Strike.

All the squads for the Top End T20 series

Northern Territory StrikeJacob Dickman, Lachlan Bangs, Harshtik Bimbral, Connor Carroll, Isaac Conway, Coby Edmonstone, Matt Hammond, Hamish Martin, Cadell McMahon, Tom Menzies, D’Arcy Short, Charlie Smith, Caelan Maladay, Jake WeatheraldMelbourne Stars AcademyAustin Anlezark, Max Birthisel, Scott Boland, Dylan Brasher, Liam Blackford, Ashley Chandrasinghe, Hilton Cartwright, Sam Elliott, Jaga Koduru, Reiley Mark, Joe Medew-Ewen, David Moody, Arjun Nair, Connor RutlandMelbourne Renegades AcademyWill Sutherland, Tom Brooks, Josh Brown, Xavier Crone, Harry Dixon, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Matt Hennig, Jai Lemire, Blake MacDonald, Fergus O’Neill, Tyler Pearson, Kane Richardson, Callum StowAdelaide StrikersLiam Scott, James Bazley, Jordan Buckingham, Hamish Case, Josh Kann, Ryan King, Harry Manenti, Harry Matthias, Tim Oakley, Tom O’Connell, Lloyd Pope, Sam Rahaley, Jake WinterPerth ScorchersSam Fanning, Keaton Critchell, Joel Curtis, Baxter Holt, Luke Holt, Bryce Jackson, Matthew Kelly, Lucas Martin, Declan Power, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Spoors, Josh Vernon, Corey Wasley, Teague WyllieTasmaniaGabe Bell, Lachlan Clark, Zac Curtain, Nick Davis, Jake Doran, Kieran Elliott. Rafael MacMillan, Jack Montgomery, Will Prestwidge, Nivethan Radhakrishnan, James Scott, Louis Smith, Charlie Wakim, Tim WardACT CometsTyler van Luin, Scott Murn, Nick Allen, Nic Broes, Kai Brunker, Tom Hogan, Zak Keogh, Tyler Hays, Hanno Jacobs, Zac Maron, Mikey McNamara, Esam Rahman, Jake Smith, Hayden WatlingPakistan AMohammad Haris, Abdul Faseeh, Arafat Minhas, Arif Yaqoob, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Imran, Mubasir Khan, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan.Bangladesh High PerformanceTanzid Hasan, Jishan Alam, Parvez Hossain Emon, Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Ariful Islam, Akbar Ali, Wasi Siddiquee, Rakibul Hasan, Al Islam, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby, Abu Hider, Mukidul Islam, Ripon Mondol, Maruf Mridha

Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson, overlooked for England’s Test squad, bounced back to equal his season’s best tally of four wickets for 42 as Northamptonshire were skittled for 97 on an eventful opening day of this Vitality County Championship match at Wantage Road.Robinson, who claimed identical stats against Yorkshire at Hove, took some stick in his opening overs, but found more control and a better line as he switched ends amid a Steelbacks collapse. This after the hosts had raced to 43 without loss inside six overs before Nathan McAndrew started the slump with two wickets in two balls.On a day which saw 22 wickets fall, Sussex had themselves been bowled out earlier for 143, Northamptonshire seamer Jack White striking with four wickets for 23 runs, his first scalps of the summer since returning from injury. The visitors were undone by some testing seam bowling on a green top with bare ends, the bowlers finding plenty of movement to beat the bat consistently with Sussex losing six wickets for 47 in 19 overs after lunch, despite a series of dropped catches from the hosts.The clatter of wickets meant Sussex were batting again at 5.20pm when, with the sun putting in a late appearance, conditions started to ease. Tom Haines took advantage, hitting 45 as Sussex closed on 83 for 2, 129 ahead.Earlier Haines was first to go in Sussex’s first innings, flashing outside off stump, caught at fourth slip by Matthew Breetzke to give White his first wicket.Daniel Hughes top scored with 35, stroking five boundaries before he was dropped by a diving Prithvi Shaw at second slip off Luke Procter. His reprieve was shortlived as he edged the next delivery behind. Procter soon picked up another when James Coles fell to a good low catch by Breetzke at midwicket.Tom Alsop then departed on the stroke of lunch when tried to work Justin Broad off his hip and was caught behind.After the interval, in-form Sussex captain John Simpson took Sussex into three figures, before the innings swiftly fell apart.Oli Carter was first to go. He had hit consecutive boundaries through the covers before lunch but was undone when White used his height to gain some extra bounce drawing him into pushing outside off stump, keeper Lewis McManus taking the catch.Simpson almost fell soon after, but Shaw shelled a simple chance at second slip off White. The bowler persevered, striking later in the same over when he jagged one back in to trap Fynn Hudson-Prentice lbw.Simpson offered a second chance in the slips off Ben Sanderson, but this time a diving Breetzke could not hold on. He finally fell when Broad gratefully pouched a catch at second slip to give White his fourth wicket. Next Procter had McAndrew caught behind by a diving McManus before Robinson fell first ball, top-edging a return catch to Sanderson.Jack Carson meanwhile took the aggressive route as wickets tumbled around him. He clubbed the ball through the on side and scooped for six before holing out off Sanderson.When Northamptonshire batted, Ricardo Vasconcelos pummelled 16 off the opening over from a wayward Robinson, including a six and two fours before pulling Sean Hunt out of the ground for another maximum. He had moved to 33 when he tried to steer Hunt past fourth slip, Carson taking a superb diving catch.McAndrew then picked up two wickets in two balls thanks to some stunning fielding at third slip from Haines, who first took a good low grab to dismiss Emilio Gay, before an even more spectacular diving catch away to his left as Procter went first ball. South African T20 international Breetzke, playing his first Championship match, was then adjudged lbw to give McAndrew, Northamptonshire’s fourth wicket to fall for 16 runs in three overs.Shaw looked a class apart, driving his first two deliveries from Hunt square for four. He took a liking to McAndrew too, smashing him through the covers and cracking him away off the back foot.But Robinson found a better line and control from the David Capel End and struck on the stroke of tea, Rob Keogh falling to a juggling catch by Coles at slip. He struck again soon after the interval when McManus drove loosely outside off stump and was well caught by a leaping Simpson.Hudson-Prentice made the key breakthrough, removing Shaw, caught by Carson off the leading edge for 31, before Robinson claimed a third wicket, shaping one back in to bowl Sanderson. In his next over he had Raphael Weatherall brilliantly caught by Carson at short cover before taking a catch in the deep himself as Broad holed out off Hudson-Prentice.When Sussex batted again, Northamptonshire made an early breakthrough when White trapped Hughes lbw for 13. Haines though decided attack was the best option, smashing eight boundaries as he and Alsop shared a stand of 63 before he was caught behind off Sanderson.

Quinton de Kock attributed his match-winning 65 off 38 balls against England to his Caribbean Premier League experience, which informed his attacking intent in the powerplay.De Kock has only played seven CPL games, all of them for Barbados Royals in the 2022 season. But three of those came at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia, including two day games and one under lights.Related

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It gave him enough evidence to believe that a par score would be significantly lower in South Africa’s game against England – which started at 10.30am local time – than in the previous four T20 World Cup fixtures at the venue, which were 8.30pm starts. He also quickly realised that the powerplay would be the best time to bat, and so it proved.De Kock scored 49 runs off 20 balls in the powerplay, including sixes off Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer (twice) and Sam Curran, and believed that his fast start had made a “massive” impact. “I’ve played a lot of day T20 cricket in the West Indies and generally that is the most important time to score runs,” he said.South Africa’s total of 163 for 6 looked under-par in the context of the four games in St Lucia across the previous six nights, where Australia and England both chased totals of 181 and Sri Lanka and West Indies successfully defended scores in excess of 200. But de Kock said that when he walked out to bat, he was clear that they would only need a slightly lower total.”I don’t know if the rest of the guys knew, but I had a fair sense: I’ve played here quite a bit in the Caribbean league and it’s the same thing: the wicket looks beautiful. At night, it plays most different but in the day, 160-170 are winning scores here in the day. Generally, it goes like that in the Caribbean: I think the lights and maybe a bit of dew at night help the ball skid on a bit better.”The easier time to score runs is in the powerplay. When the ball’s old and as the wicket deteriorates, it gets harder.” Asked if that phase proved match-winning – as Jos Buttler believed – de Kock said: “There were other moments, but obviously that’s probably one of our better powerplays in this whole World Cup – so it could be.”Quinton de Kock raced away in the powerplay•ICC/Getty Images

He also used the stiff cross-breeze to his advantage, with the wind helping to carry the ball over the boundary when he hit back-to-back sixes off Archer. “Wind’s definitely a big factor, especially opening the batting when you’ve only got two guys out,” de Kock said. “You’ve got to use that wind as much as you can: don’t fight it, just try and use it.”None of England’s XI on Friday have played a CPL game in St Lucia but they have significant experience in the Caribbean due to regular away series against West Indies. They also have significant local knowledge in their dressing room, with Kieron Pollard – the most capped T20 player in the format’s history – involved as an assistant coach at this World Cup.Yet Buttler suggested they were surprised by how the pitch played on Friday, compared to how it had under lights two days previously. “It looked a similar wicket,” he said. “This has been, so far in the tournament, the best batting pitch… I think the wicket was probably a little bit slower than everyone expected. 160 was about a par score. We bowled really well in the back 10-15 overs to restrict them.”South Africa adjusted more quickly to conditions with the ball, limiting England to 41 for 1 the powerplay compared to their own score of 63 for 0. Jonny Bairstow was caught at point off Keshav Maharaj for 17 off 20 in the seventh over, while Buttler himself fell in Maharaj’s next over for 16 off 20 while slog-sweeping to deep midwicket.”I felt like the powerplay was the difference in the game, and the way Quinny could bat at the rate that none of us could bat at… I think the way Quinny played at the top really put us under a lot of pressure,” Buttler said. “[He] played some great shots and we weren’t able to match that.”

Harry Brook conceded his side had been “hammered” by New Zealand, with the white-ball captain at a loss to explain England’s struggles in the format.For the first time during Brook’s tenure as captain, he failed to hide his disappointment after England slipped to a sixth ODI series defeat in seven and the second of his brief captaincy career.For all the talk of wanting to entertain, Brook’s disappointment was tangible as he responded to a question as to whether the result in Hamilton was the first time he had been frustrated with his players.”It’s disappointing, isn’t it,” Brook said. “You go round every single player there and you think, ‘bloody hell, there aren’t many teams that they don’t get into in the world’. It’s disappointing we haven’t performed as well as we could. It happens. They’ve played well and sometimes you’ve got to hold your hand up and say they’ve been the better team.”England were bowled out for 175 in the second ODI, three days after they had fallen to 234 all out at Mount Maunganui – a total saved by Brook’s own superb 135.It is a concerning trend for an England side who have been bowled out in seven of their eight away ODIs this year. In a remarkable statistic that was raised on the podcast, in 2025 they have failed to reach 250 in any innings where Joe Root hasn’t made a half-century himself. Furthermore, their commitment to “going hard” is borne out by the fact that when batting first this year, they have either made 350, or failed to bat their overs.Related

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For years, England had the excuse of their frontline players rarely competing in the ODI format, and the consequent difficulties that players face when adapting back to the format. That excuse doesn’t hold this year, with a settled batting line-up who have been available throughout. Furthermore, with five of England’s ODI top six also in the Test squad, the theory is that their natural attacking game should be well suited to the rhythms of one-day cricket, although this has also failed to be the case.”It’s not too dissimilar to the way we play Test cricket, really,” Brook said of the difficulties of switching formats. “We play aggressively in Test cricket and it’s not too far off. Obviously we haven’t played much one-day cricket in the last however many years. I can’t quite put my finger on why we haven’t batted well enough. It’s just one of those things. You come to play the second-best team in the world on their own patch and they’ve hammered us.”Brook also refused to be drawn on losing both tosses against New Zealand, where the chance to bowl first in the opening ODI at Mount Maunganui would have been a significant advantage.”That’s just an excuse,” Brook said. “I haven’t won many tosses, I’d have liked to have had a bowl today [in Hamilton] but that’s just an excuse. Everybody in that batting line-up is good enough to be able to face a swinging and seaming ball, cope with that and score runs against that.”There was one promising sign for England during the second ODI, with Jofra Archer returning to England colours for the first time this winter and producing a fantastic display of bowling where he claimed three for 23 from his ten overs.Having only arrived in the country a few days previously, Archer’s speeds were high as he averaged 88mph across his first spell. There was one moment of concern, when Archer appeared to injure himself diving for a ball in the outfield, but it later transpired that he had merely winded himself heavily, and he returned soon after to bowl out his remaining overs.”He’s gone back-to-back five-over spells there, after just getting off the plane a few days ago,” Brook said. “So hopefully he recovers alright. But thankfully he did run in for me. That’s all I asked from him and he was bowling wheels. He’s going to be good to touch for the rest of this winter.”England will hope to respond to the series defeat in a similar manner to how they bounced back in their last ODI against South Africa in September, where they put on 414 for 5, a game which Brook hopes they can take confidence from.”It’s disappointing for the fans, who want to watch us, we entertain people, because they know that we play such an exciting brand of cricket.”It was only a couple of games ago against South Africa in the summer when we got 400, so we’re not a million miles away. It’s just about a couple of scores here and there and then we nail it down and hopefully we do find that template.”