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Having claimed full batting points, Essex now need to bowl out Surrey twice to finish third, ahead of Somerset

ECB Reporters Network28-Sep-2024Essex batters Dean Elgar, Tom Westley and Matt Critchley filled their boots with a century apiece as Vitality County champions Surrey suffered a post-title-winning hangover at Chelmsford.The former South African captain, batting ostensibly on one leg, led the way by posting 182, the highest of his four centuries for Essex this season during a stay at the crease that began on Thursday morning and ended 102 overs later on Saturday evening – five sessions having been wiped out by the weather on days one and two.Elgar and Westley put on a record 253 in 59 overs to eclipse the 95-year-old best of 206 for the second wicket against Surrey. Elgar then piled on further agony by adding 168 for the third wicket with Critchley, who played freely for his 112 from 171 balls before Essex declared on 508 for 8. Earlier, Westley had been in such explosive form that 106 of his 135 runs came in boundaries (25 fours, one six).Essex require 17 points from the game to finish ahead of Somerset in third place on games won. They have already pocketed the maximum five for batting and now need to bowl Surrey out twice on the final day of the season. Surrey finished the penultimate day on 30 for the loss of captain Rory Burns, caught at point off Simon Harmer.Under sunny skies, in contrast to the rain of the first two days, the third morning was only nine balls old when Elgar tweaked his left calf and required four minutes’ worth of treatment. He hobbled on manfully, picking the right moment to amble through for easy singles and the odd two but not contemplating anything too sharp.With Elgar largely incapacitated, Westley farmed the bowling in the lead-up to his century, hitting eight boundaries to every part of Chelmsford against James Taylor and Yousef Majid in a ferocious 21-ball blitz. He raced through the nineties and on to three-figures from 141 deliveries with three fours in five balls off Taylor, including one off the backfoot that rocketed past point.Westley twice waltzed down the wicket in three balls to deposit former Essex team-mate Dan Lawrence over his head for a one-bounce four followed by a maximum. Elgar watched the Westley show before finally driving Majid through the covers for a boundary of his own and then reaching his century from 169 balls, 28 slower than his partner.Westley was finally out just after the partnership went past 250 when he picked out Tom Lawes on the long-leg boundary to give Yousef Majid a maiden first-class wicket. The 21-year-old spinner did not celebrate the milestone, however, echoing the subdued mood within the fielding ranks. That feeling of after the Lord Mayor’s Show continued into the afternoon with a series of misfields as Critchley was the latest batsmen to tuck into some ordinary fare served up by a below-par Surrey attack.Nowhere did the Elgar limp look more noticeable than the quick single to reach his 150 from 234 balls. He took Essex to 400 with his 19th four, an audacious uppercut off Lawes to the boundary backward of point, but fell when chipping Ryan Patel to short extra cover to spark a middle-order collapse.Patel claimed three wickets in seven balls – and finished with 3 for 41 from 12 overs – when Luc Benkenstein played all around a slower ball and Paul Walter scooped to mid-on as Essex slipped from 425 for 2 to 433 for 5. Majid claimed his second wicket on debut when he had Adam Rossington lbw, but not before Essex had claimed all five batting points.Critchley became the third centurion of the day when he pulled Ollie Sykes to square leg, but was the first of two late wickets for Taylor, holing out in the covers. Shane Snater was then bowled to bring about the declaration.

Alastair’s unbeaten half-century builds on Sam’s three wickets as hosts begin reply unscathed

ECB Reporters Network19-Jul-2023Essex 106 for 0 (A Cook 64*, Browne 31*) trail Kent 207 (Compton 47, S Cook 3-19) by 101 runsSir Alastair Cook notched the 123rd half-century of his bejewelled career as he steered Essex into a commanding position on the first day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Kent.Cook, still there at the close on 64, was joined in an unbeaten first-wicket stand of 106 by Nick Browne, who was painstakingly attempting to rebuild his flagging form after a run of three successive ducks. He was on the path to redempton with 31 from 117 balls.Earlier, Kent elected to bat on a green-tinged pitch under heavy grey clouds that required the use of floodlights after an hour. Their innings lasted just short of two sessions for 207 as the lower-order threw away their wickets with some abandon.Only a sedate 58-run fourth-wicket partnership between Ben Compton, who recorded an 81-ball 47, and captain Jack Leaning interrupted a regular clatter of wickets with nagging seamers Sam Cook and Jamie Porter sharing six of them equally.Twanda Muyeye survived a decent chance to Matt Critchley at third slip before he was beaten for pace to present Sam Cook with the first of three wickets for 19 in 11 overs.Next ball Joe Denly’s miserable season continued when he played down the wrong line and was caught behind for his fourth duck of this campaign.To compound Kent’s problems, Harry Finch faced 15 deliveries without scoring when he set off for a non-existent single to gully where Paul Walter swooped and hit the single stump he could see.Compton and Leaning settled in for a stand that needed 17 overs to put on fifty, and that despite Compton hitting Doug Bracewell for three successive boundaries, two through the covers, the other a flick off his legs.However, to the last ball before lunch Compton attempted to dig out a fuller delivery from Simon Harmer and only succeeded in chipping the ball back tamely to the bowler.Leaning followed soon after the break when he got a thick edge to one from Sam Cook that went away from him and wicketkeeper Adam Rossington took a fine diving catch to his right. Joey Evison went shouldering arms to one that came back late from Bracewell.Grant Stewart smashed Harmer for two straight sixes in a brisk, seven-over stand of 43 with Jordan Cox before Porter found a peach of a ball to remove Cox.Porter then set a short-ball honey-trap for Stewart who hooked straight to one of an army on the boundary, and two balls later Matt Quinn skied rashly to midwicket. Arshdeep Singh swept Critchley for a huge six and wafted lazily at the next ball and was stumped without bothering to look back.When Essex replied in the evening session, Alastair Cook slipped into imperious mode after a watchful start, showing an array of shots around the wicket in depositing Stewart for three successive fours, though he was put down off the same bowler to a sharp chance in the gully.Of the fifty partnership in 17 overs, hecontributed 38 with Browne playing second fiddle with a dozen; of the century partnership Browne had 27 and Cook 63, passing fifty for the fifth time this season when he swept Hamid Qadri for his 10th boundary.Essex, incidentally, will be reinforced with the inclusion of Dan Lawrence in their batting line-up on day two as he returns south after being the spare man in the England XII for the concurrent fourth Test at Old Trafford. He will replace Robin Das.

Had Hasaranga not been picked for the Bangladesh Tests, the disciplinary ban that followed would have meant him missing the start of the global event in June

Madushka Balasuriya20-Mar-2024Wanindu Hasaranga’s surprise return from retirement to the Sri Lankan Test side was not a ploy to avoid the legspinner missing T20 World Cup games later this year, according to Sri Lanka Cricket.Hasaranga was suspended from international cricket after stacking up demerit points for showing dissent against an umpiring decision in Sri Lanka’s defeat to Bangladesh on March 18. But immediately after the game and before the sanction was handed out by the ICC, Hasaranga came out of Test retirement to be named in Sri Lanka’s Test squad to face Bangladesh. The ICC ruling that followed took his demerit points up to eight, which meant he would have to miss two Tests, four ODIs or four T20Is, depending on which came first.Had Hasaranga not been named in the Test squad, the ban would have seen him miss the start of Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign in June. But as it turned out, his return to the Test fold – despite not having played a first-class match in over a year – ensured that his ban would be served during Sri Lanka’s next two Tests instead.Related

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According to SLC, Hasaranga had informed them in an email on March 16 of his desire to be considered for Test cricket selection going forward, citing his improved fitness levels.Ajantha Mendis, a member of Sri Lanka’s selection committee, meanwhile stated that Hasaranga had in fact intimated his desire to play Test cricket even earlier.”It was about two weeks ago that he told us he was open to playing Tests again,” Mendis told ESPNcricinfo. “We know how it looks, but this decision was taken well before the final ODI.”The ICC is believed to have been in touch with SLC about the matter, to confirm Hasaranga’s Test return more than anything else. Though there is awareness of the circumstances and possible intentions of Hasaranga’s Test return, there is also an acknowledgement that no rules have been broken and so little can be done about it.Had Hasaranga actually played the Tests, it would have impacted his early availability with Sunrisers Hyderabad at IPL 2024. ESPNcricinfo has learned, however, that Sunrisers were unaware of Hasaranga’s plan to play those Tests.This is not the first time Sri Lanka has benefitted from a technical loophole. In the 2012 T20 World Cup, Kumar Sangakkara stood in as captain for one game to ensure that had the side been reprimanded for a slow over rate, it would be him instead of regular captain Mahela Jayawardene copping any sanction. Jayawardene had already been sanctioned for the same earlier in the tournament and would therefore have received a ban if he were to receive another sanction.

Bangladesh vice-captain feels the bowling performance was a positive from this T20 World Cup campaign

Mohammad Isam28-Jun-2024Poor form from the batters was the primary reason for Bangladesh’s disappointing T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, according to vice captain Taskin Ahmed. He said that almost everything went according to plan except the batting during Bangladesh’s 47-day tour of the Americas.In a tough environment for batters across the tournament, Bangladesh’s batting unit had the lowest collective average among the Super Eight teams.Bangladesh’s top three failed to give them a start in any of their innings with Litton Das scoring the lone fifty from those positions. Towhid Hridoy’s 153 runs at 128.57 was their best batting performance but Shakib (111 runs at 106.73 SR) and Mahmudullah (95 runs at 94.05 SR) couldn’t provide him with enough support in the middle order.Related

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“The seniors’ off-form had an effect on the team but not off the field,” Taskin told reporters at the Dhaka airport, after the Bangladesh team’s arrival on Friday morning. “They are great team men. We stayed as a team for 47 days. Everything was fine off the field. It is quite normal that a team will have problems when important players are not in form. I am hopeful that we can recover from this, and play better soon.”Taskin said that the batters only found better pitches when they reached the West Indies but even then he said that he hadn’t seen such a long batting slump by Bangladesh in his international career.”When you talk about the batting, if you look at the statistics, I think every [teams’] batting department suffered in the USA this time. Bowlers got a lot of help. We got better [batting] wickets in the West Indies.”I haven’t seen such a long bad patch for the batters in my ten years playing for Bangladesh. I hope it goes away quickly.”We never had great numbers in T20s. We are improving slowly. We cannot just look at minus points; we are in the negative already. We are trying to get a ‘plus’. Your frustration is expected. We will give you a good win. You have to keep faith in us. We will give it our best.”Taskin was part of a strong bowling display from Bangladesh. He was returning from injury but Tanzim Hasan and legspinner Rishad Hossain led the bowling charts; Rishad remains in joint-third position among the tournament’s top wicket-takers, ahead of the final. Taskin said that it proved talented cricketers are coming up from Bangladesh.”The bowling unit has been doing well for the last few years. We have been consistent. It will keep getting better.”Tanzim and Rishad are among the tournament’s top wicket-takers. It is a positive. We have some future stars emerging from Bangladesh. It says that we have ability. What has taken place has hurt us and the fans, especially our inability to win certain matches,” he said.Taskin said that they were left disappointed with the last game against Afghanistan especially, when Bangladesh had to chase down their target in 12.1 overs to make it to the semi-finals but couldn’t get the job done.”We could have done a lot better. We were all quite disappointed with the last match. We tried to win it in 12 overs, but when we realised it wasn’t possible, we tried to win the game. We still couldn’t win.”There are positives from the campaign. Our bowlers did very well throughout the tournament. We qualified to the Super Eight. We won three matches in the T20 World Cup for the first time. So there are positives, but there are negatives too. We are disappointed like the rest of you. We didn’t play up to expectations.”

Rutherford and Motie put on a WI record ninth-wicket stand but it was in vain

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Oct-2024Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie put on a record-breaking 119-run ninth-wicket stand, before Motie and Alzarri Joseph struck once apiece inside the powerplay. Aside from these stretches of dominance though, Sri Lanka ran away with the game.Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Asitha Fernando had sent West Indies crashing to 58 for 8, before that ninth-wicket resistance came. Then, after the loss of two early wickets, Sri Lanka recovered through a 62-run partnership between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Nishan Madushka, before the in-form Charith Asalanka came in to produce a fluent half-century, and take Sri Lanka to a substantial victory, and another series victory under his fledgling captaincy.Though the pitch for this 44-over match – drizzle had delayed the start by two hours – was exceedingly spin friendly (it was the same track used for Sunday’s game), 190 was always going to be a challenge to defend. Where Sri Lanka’s spinners were able to be consistently menacing, often getting significant turn even off faster deliveries, West Indies’ slow bowlers did not quite have the same impact.Motie was their best slow bowler, conceding only 18 from his nine overs, and taking the wicket of Kusal Mendis. But legspinner Hayden Walsh was underwhelming, guilty of pitching far too short and being picked off – he went for 41 runs off his five overs. Roston Chase was also only moderately effective. In fact it was seamer Alzarri Joseph who collected the innings’ best figures of 2 for 30.Although Hasaranga would go on to get more wickets, it was Theekshana who was the best of Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers, and Theekshana who set the collapse in motion with a gorgeous offbreak that beat the outside of left-hander Alick Athanaze’s bat and clip off stump. The offbreak turned big on this surface, and he threatened both right-handers and left-handers with it, going to the carrom ball only occasionally. The lines Theekshana bowled were mostly impeccable.Later, a big offbreak would sneak between Keacy Carty’s bat and pad and rattle his stumps as well, before a slider beat the wild reverse-swipe that Walsh attempted off Theekshana in the 15th over. He collected figures of 3 for 25 off nine overs.Hasaranga’s googlies were doing their usual damage, with Chase suckered in by one that was flighted beautifully. Hasaranga had to work less hard for the wickets of Romario Shepherd, and Alzarri Joseph, who didn’t fancy picking him. He’d take the final wicket of the innings too, getting Jayden Seales caught and bowled, and took home the game’s best figures of 4 for 40.Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie put on a record 119 runs for the ninth wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Fernando’s 3 for 35 was especially impressive on a track that did not favour him. He dismissed Brandon King with a surprise bouncer that King played at too early, before bowling Shai Hope with a slightly back of a length delivery that the batter dragged on to his stumps. That he broke the big Rutherford-Motie stand was also significant, even if the wicket of Rutherford came off a low full toss.In fact, Rutherford had been struggling terribly before Motie joined him at the crease in the 16th over and provided the early impetus for their partnership. The No. 10 struck important boundaries, off Hasaranga especially, and by the end of the 25th over had 35 runs to Rutherford’s 33, though Rutherford had been there longer and faced more balls.This is the point at which Rutherford began to attack however, having earlier seemed bewildered by every spinner Sri Lanka employed against him. There were suddenly sixes down the ground and on the legside from Rutherford – one hoick over deep square leg off Asalanka’s bowling taking him to his half century, off 57 balls. He continued to hit out until he was caught on the deep square leg boundary in the 35th over, having hit four sixes and seven fours. His 80 off 82 was the highest score in the game.Later, after Samarawickrama and Madushka – both of whom made 38 – had lifted Sri Lanka out of immediate danger, Asalanka’s entry into the game sent them smoothly off towards the five-wicket victory that would eventuate with 34 balls remaining.The hallmark of a good Asalanka innings is his early boundary-striking ability, and so it was here – spotting a full delivery outside off from the opposition’s best seamer second ball, Asalanka creamed it through point for four. In Joseph’s next over, Asalanka crashed him through square leg and drilled him through cover for two more fours, having also slog-swept Roston Chase for a boundary in between. In a flash he was on 20 off 14.Though the tempo slowed, he got to his half century off the 48th ball he faced, and went on to shepherd Sri Lanka home, remaining not out on 62 off 61 balls.

“When, as a batsman, you start taking pride in hitting those singles into the gaps, that’s when you know you’re playing good cricket”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2025Virat Kohli cut through the tension in yet another crucial chase to confirm India’s spot in the final of the Champions Trophy. His 84 off 98 in Dubai helped them chase down 265 against ODI World Cup holders, Australia, on a tricky pitch.”This game is all about pressure, especially big games like semis and finals, and if you go deep into the innings, and you have enough wickets in hand, the opposition usually gives in, and the game becomes easier,” Kohli said after picking up the Player-of-the-Match award. “It’s very important to control your impulses while the game is going on.”For me, what’s important is to know the number of overs and the number of runs left, even if the gap’s 25-30 and it comes to six an over, I’m not bothered if we have seven or six wickets in hand, because then you know, two set batters and we can turn the game around. The opposition can only come into the game with wickets. That was the plan out there.”Related

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Kohli went out to bat in the fifth over with India on 30 for 1. His 91-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer, followed by 44 and 47 with Axar Patel and KL Rahul respectively, took India close, before Rahul and Hardik Pandya applied the finishing touches.Fifty-six of Kohli’s 84 runs came in singles, and his 98-ball knock included just five fours and no sixes. Kohli, who had steered the chase against Pakistan at the same venue earlier in the tournament, said that the conditions dictated his approach.”It was pretty similar to the other day against Pakistan. That was about seven fours when I got to the hundred. For me, it’s about understanding the conditions, preparing my game accordingly, just rotating strike because partnerships – on this pitch – are the most important thing,” he said. “My only effort that day and today was to string in enough partnerships. It’s all dependent on the conditions; the pitch tells me how the cricket needs to be played and I just switch on and play accordingly.”And so Kohli didn’t go chasing the boundaries, up until the 43rd over, when he backed himself to deposit Adam Zampa’s wrong’un beyond long-on but found the fielder.”My timing, the composure at the crease, I wasn’t feeling desperate,” Kohli said. “I was happy knocking ones around. When, as a batsman, you start taking pride in hitting those singles into the gaps, that’s when you know you’re playing good cricket, and you know you’re in for a big partnership, settle the nerves down a little bit, and head towards chasing the total down. That, for me, in the game against Pakistan and today, was the most pleasing thing for me.”Now India will wait on the winner of the New Zealand-South Africa semi-final, which will take place in Lahore on Wednesday. On Sunday, they will meet the winner of that bout in the final in Dubai.

Seam-bowling allrounder Johann Layne has replaced him in the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2025West Indies seamer Matthew Forde has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Pakistan that starts in Tarouba from Friday. Forde suffered a shoulder dislocation earlier on Wednesday while attempting a catch during a training session.Johann Layne, the West Indies academy seam-bowling allrounder, has replaced Forde in the squad. Layne is among the seamers that impressed Ian Bishop, who called him “rangy, tall and intelligent”.Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph, Romario Shepherd and Jediah Blades are the quicks in their ODI squad with Gudakesh Motie as their frontline wristspinner. Alzarri Joseph has been rested. West Indies would also miss Forde’s talent with the bat lower down the order; he holds the ODI record for fastest fifty (16 balls), achieved in May against Ireland.Related

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West Indies lost the T20I series against Pakistan 2-1 in Lauderhill, but are looking to claim a fourth-straight ODI series with the tour moving to Trinidad & Tobago. It is only their fifth ODI series since the start of 2023, but come into the contest having beaten England twice (2-1, on both occasions) and Bangladesh once (3-0).The 50-over game has been a difficult format for West Indies in recent history, missing out on the last two ICC tournaments for ODIs. Their qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup is also far from guaranteed as they are ranked tenth in the rankings. West Indies realistically need to finish within the top nine – one place higher than they are – to secure automatic passage at the cut-off date. A series win against Pakistan, ranked six places above them, would help them significantly.

No Williamson yet but Southee and Ferguson are likely to be fit; for Netherlands Van Beek might miss out due to a hamstring injury

Ashish Pant08-Oct-20232:03

Should New Zealand look to get Southee in for Chapman?

Big Picture: Can Netherlands thwart New Zealand?

Hand on heart, how many expected New Zealand to trounce England the way they did in the opening fixture of the 2023 World Cup? But then that’s what New Zealand do. Fly under the radar, without making much of a splash, but deliver when it matters.And they didn’t do it the conventional way. With Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson out injured, New Zealand opted for just three frontline bowlers, four part-timers and no Ish Sodhi. Yet they restricted the power-packed England batting unit to 282 for 9. Then, despite no Kane Williamson, they needed just 36.2 overs to wipe out the target.As New Zealand now move to Hyderabad for match No. 2 of their World Cup campaign to face Netherlands, they will still be without Williamson, but Ferguson and Southee are likely to be fit and available according to head coach Gary Stead. Williamson, meanwhile, is targeting a return in New Zealand’s third game against Bangladesh.Related

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If numbers are anything to go by, New Zealand definitely have the upper hand going into the clash. They have met Netherlands four times in ODIs, winning on all four occasions – three of those games by a margin of 100-plus runs. The most recent ODI series between the two teams in 2022 went New Zealand’s way by a 3-0 margin.But it will be silly to take Netherlands lightly. Not after their stellar run at the World Cup Qualifier where they finished second ahead of three Full Member nations and certainly not after troubling Pakistan in their first outing. They did fall short but were no pushovers.Netherlands have another chance come Monday but have their task cut out against a side raging with confidence. For the record, New Zealand have never lost a World Cup game – ODI or T20I – against an Associate nation in their history.But streaks and stats are meant to be broken and changed. Netherlands showed spunk in their first game. Also, they have been in Hyderabad longer than New Zealand and know the conditions better. Now to translate all that into results and take a step towards the semi-final spot they had their eye on ahead of the tournament.

Form guide

Netherlands LLWWL
New Zealand WWWLLDevon Conway has a stellar record in India•Getty Images

In the spotlight: Devon Conway and Vikramjit Singh

Devon Conway’s 2023 has been all or nothing. In 11 innings this year, he has stacked up 601 runs in 11 innings at 66.77 with four centuries and a fifty. But in the other six innings, Conway has failed to breach the 20-run mark even once. The best bet for Netherlands will be to see the back of Conway quite early because when he gets set, it’s usually for the long haul. Easier said than done, though.Vikramjit Singh has been Netherlands’ rock at the top of the order this year. Their highest run-getter at the World Cup qualifiers with 326 runs in eight innings at 40.75, he followed it up with 52 on ODI World Cup debut. The left-hander has a solid technique and more importantly a lot of time in his hands. He’ll want to go one better than what he managed in the game against Pakistan.Logan van Beek has been struggling with a hamstring injury•ICC via Getty Images

Team news: Van Beek a doubt

New Zealand’s batting line-up is likely to remain the same with Rachin Ravindra slotted in at No. 3 and Will Young to retain his place at the top. While Southee did have a bowl in the nets on the eve of the game, Ferguson didn’t. It is likely New Zealand will end up playing one of the two in place of either Mark Chapman or James Neesham.New Zealand (possible XI): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt, wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Tim Southee/Lockie Ferguson, 9 Mitchell Santner, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Trent BoultThere is an injury cloud over Logan van Beek – he is struggling with a hamstring injury. With still a long way to go in the tournament, Netherlands might not be willing to take a risk on one of their premier fast bowlers just yet.Netherlands (possible XI): 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Colin Ackermann, 4 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 5 Bas de Leede, 6 Teja Nidamanuru, 7 Saqib Zulfiqar, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Aryan Dutt, 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Ryan Klein

Pitch and conditions

The Hyderabad surface has historically been a high-scoring one with an average first-innings score of 288. The pitch had a light biscuit brown tinge to it on the eve of the game with no grass whatsoever. It had a nice sheen on it under the lights.The temperature should revolve around the mid-30s in the afternoon while the evenings will be slightly cooler. There are no chances of rain.

Stats and trivia

• Devon Conway has scored 307 runs in four ODI innings in India. He averages 102.3 in the country with a strike rate of 121 and has two centuries to his name
• Devon Conway averages 274 against spin in ODIs this year.
• Matt Henry has picked up the most wickets for New Zealand in ODIs since the start of 2022 – 35 in 21 innings at 26.20.
• Max O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh are one and two in Netherlands’ run-charts in ODIs this year.
  

  Quotes

  “Kane is progressing really well and we are pretty confident he will be playing the third match for us. We have got another training to get through today so we will finalise the team once we have got through that training. At this stage with Kane, we are looking like the third game is when he will start the tournament.”

Sydney Sixers have said they will file an appeal against the sanction

Tristan Lavalette21-Dec-2023England allrounder Tom Curran has been banned for four BBL matches after being found guilty of intimidating an umpire in a pre-match altercation, but Sydney Sixers will appeal the sanction.Curran was charged with a Level 3 offence under Cricket Australia’s Code of Conduct for an incident before Sixers’ match against Hobart Hurricanes on December 11 in Launceston.According to CA, Curran completed a practice run-up and ran on part of the pitch during the warm-up before being verbally instructed by the umpire not to do so again.CA said Curran moved to the other end of the pitch to complete another practice run-up forcing the umpire to take position next to the stumps in an attempt to block him.”[The umpire] gestured to Curran to move away from the pitch,” CA’s statement said. “Curran was seen in the footage gesturing to the umpire to move away from the pitch.”Curran then attempted to perform a practice run-up and run at pace straight towards the umpire who stood in the bowling crease facing Curran. The umpire stepped to his right to avoid the risk of collision.”