Starting this 2025 thread about cricket.

 

You can discuss all things related to cricket from internationals to domestics.

India v England T20

 

Wednesday 22nd Jan

Saturday 25th Jan

Tuesday 28th Jan

Friday 31st Jan

Sunday 2nd Feb

 

India v England ODI

 

Thursday 6th Feb

Sunday 9th Feb

Wednesday 12th Feb

 

Champions Trophy

 

Saturday 22nd Feb Australia v England

Wednesday 26th Feb Afghanistan v England

Saturday 1st March South Africa v England

Semi Finals 4th & 5th March

Final 9th March

 

England v Zimbabwe Test Match

 

Thursday 22nd May at Trent Bridge

 

England v West Indies ODI

 

Thursday 29th May at Edgbaston

Sunday 1st June at Cardiff

Tuesday 3rd June at the Oval

 

England v West Indies T20

 

Friday 6th June at Durham

Sunday 8th June at Bristol

Tuesday 10th June at Southampton

 

England v India Test Series

 

Friday 20th June at Leeds

Wednesday 2nd July at Edgbaston

Thursday 10th July at Lords

Wednesday 23rd July at Manchester

Thursday 31st July at the Oval

 

England v South Africa ODI

 

Tuesday 2nd September at Leeds

Thursday 4th September at Lords

Sunday 7th September atSouthampton

 

England v South Africa T20

 

Wednesday 10th September at Cardiff

Friday 12th September at Manchester

Sunday 14th September at Trent Bridge

 

England v Ireland ODI

 

Wednesday 17th September at TBC

Friday 19th September at TBC

Sunday 21st September at TBC

 

Australia v England Ashes Test Series

 

Friday 21st November at Perth

Thursday 4th December at Brisbane

Wednesday 17th December at Adelaide

Thursday 25th December at Melbourne

Sunday 4th January at Sydney

 

https://www.ecb.co.uk/england/men/fixtures

The Women's Ashes squad has been announced: -

 

ODI squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

 

T20 squad: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

 

Test squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

 

11th, 13th and 16th January for the ODIs, 20th, 23rd and 25th January for the T20s and 30th January for the start of the Test. The latter marks the 90th anniversary of the 1st Women's Test Match.

 

 

Just a reminder of the squads for England in the Women's Ashes starting this weekend.

 

Two squads for Australia announced with the Test squad to be announced later: -

 

Australia

 

ODIs: Alyssa Healy (captain), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.

 

T20s: Alyssa Healy (captain), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.

Somerset all-rounder Archie Vaughan, son of former England captain Michael, will lead England Under-19s during their tour of South Africa which begins later this month.

 

England's Young Lions play three youth one-day internationals and two youth Tests against South Africa Under-19s, starting on 17 January.

 

"I found out that I was going to be captain during the training camp before Christmas and it was a very special moment," said Vaughan, 19, who signed his first professional contract at Somerset last May.

The position isn't great for the England women. They have lost the ODI series 3-0.

 

Australia 6-0 England.

 

The white ball element is worth 2 points and the Test is worth 4. England still have a chance, but have to win the remaining games.

 

The WPL (India) starts on the 14th February. English players to look out for: - Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Nat Sciver Brunt, Danni Wyatt Hodge, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Danielle Gibson.

Rather surprising defeats in Australia for the England women. They clearly missed out on having Kate Cross (back injury). I would also suggest that Lauren Filer has been a bit expensive in her overs for most of the games played so far. I think they missed a golden opportunity when they didn't use Alice Capsey as a bowler. Her bowling form in the WBBL was super. Also putting Capsey in too low down the order and using Dunkley who seems to have one string to her bow in the shorter formats.

 

Hopefully we can get a result with the Test Match, otherwise it'll be a 16-0 rout.

Australia batter Steve Smith passed the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket as he scored a century on the first day of his side's opening match in Sri Lanka.

 

The 35-year-old went into the first Test of the two-match series on 9,999 runs and, as captain in the absence of Pat Cummins, chose to bat after winning the toss.

 

He came to the crease after Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had been dismissed and nudged his first delivery to mid-on for a single to become the 15th batter to reach 10,000 Test runs.

 

"Fortunately hit that one in the gap so nice to get that one away," Smith told Australia's 7Cricket.

 

"Nice to tick that off," he added.

 

Smith went on to score 104 not out as he helped his side reach 330-2 at the close of play in Galle.

 

He is the fourth Australian to reach the 10,000 Test run landmark after Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

 

Smith missed a year from the game when he was banned for 12 months after being part of the sandpaper ball-tampering scandal in a 2018 Test match against South Africa.

England seamer Kate Cross has been ruled out of the one-off Women's Ashes Test starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.

 

Captain Heather Knight confirmed that Cross, 33, had not sufficiently recovered from a back injury that she suffered against South Africa in December.

 

Cross was not part of the T20 side for the Ashes series but missed the three one-day internationals which opened the tour with the same issue.

 

"Kate is pretty much close to full fitness now, but just not quite at the pace and the performance that we know she can reach at her best," Knight told BBC Sport.

 

"A Test match is four days, so she will miss out and it is a real shame for her.

 

"She's a really key part of our group, she loves playing Test match cricket and she's been so desperate to play. We're all really disappointed for her that she hasn't been able to make it."

A landmark moment for English cricket will move a step closer on Thursday as the final stage of the sale of teams in The Hundred begins.

 

With fixtures for the 2025 season announced on Wednesday, a day later Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix will become the first two of the eight franchises matched to preferred investors.

 

The other six teams will follow suit in the coming days, with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) set to announce the eight successful investors next week.

 

Owners of Premier League football clubs and Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, along with figures from technology and entertainment, are among those vying for a stake.

 

Preferred bidders will then have an eight-week exclusivity period in which to finalise a deal with a franchise, meaning the sale process will officially be completed in the late spring.

 

The 2025 season begins with a London derby, with London Spirit hosting Oval Invincibles at Lord's on 5 August. The final of the fifth staging of the competition will take place on the same ground on 31 August.

The England women have lost 16-0 in the Ashes. My thoughts on the first 6 games are above.

 

The absence of Kate Cross (back injury) and (to me) the surprising omission of Charlie Dean from the Test side. I would have been tempted to give Alice Capsey a go at Test cricket. Her bowling in Australian conditions were impressive during the WBBL.

Manchester Originals have become the second Hundred franchise to partner with an Indian Premier League team after Lancashire agreed a deal with Lucknow Super Giants.

 

RPSG group, owners of the Super Giants, put a total value of £116m on the Originals in Monday's virtual auction.

 

They agreed to take a 70% share in the Originals, meaning Lancashire have become the first host to hand over a controlling stake.

 

To go with the four deals last week, the sale of shares in five Hundred teams comes to about £366m.

 

RPSG were in the running to buy a stake in London Spirit, only to lose out. In investing in the Originals, they are believed to have beaten off bids connected to IPL sides Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Matthew Breetzke became the first player to make 150 on their one-day international debut but South Africa lost to New Zealand by six wickets in Lahore.

 

The right-hander made exactly 150 from 148 balls at the top of the order as the Proteas posted 304-6 in a match that is part of a tri-series that also contains Pakistan.

 

He hit 11 fours and five sixes and eclipsed West Indies legend Desmond Haynes, who made 148 against Australia on his debut in 1978. The next highest score on debut is 127.

 

The highest score in a women's ODI on debut is 136 not out and was made by USA's Chetna Pagydyala against Zimbabwe last October.

 

Breetzke, who has played one Test and 10 T20s for South Africa, opened the batting and was dismissed in the 46th over by Matt Henry.

 

The 26-year-old is not part of South Africa's squad for the Champions Trophy, which starts on 19 February, and is playing in a weakened squad as the Proteas balance workload after their franchise T20 tournament, the SA20, concluded on Saturday.

Ireland clinched a 63-run victory on a tense final day in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo as Matthew Humphreys' seven-wicket match haul proved crucial.

 

Zimbabwe started day five requiring 109 runs for victory as they chased 292 but left-arm spinner Humphreys dismissed Newman Nyamhuri for the addition of only five runs.

 

Crucially Humphreys then bowled Wesley Madhevere for 84 in a massive blow to the hosts' hopes of chasing down the Ireland tally.

 

That left Zimbabwe still requiring 73 runs for victory but they only added 10 more before Andy McBrine's dismissal of Richard Ngarava secured a third straight Test win for Ireland.

England are already out of the ICC Trophy. The bowlers are more at fault than the batsmen as they did score more than 300 in both matches.

Jos Buttler has since resigned as white ball captain. Harry Brook seems to be the favourite to take over from what I have been reading.

Steve Smith has ended his ODI career.

Australia's Steve Smith retires from ODI cricket after Champions Trophy exit - BBC Sport

Brydon Carse has been ruled out of the IPL.

IPL 2025: England bowler Brydon Carse to miss tournament through injury - BBC Sport

Jon Lewis has had his tenure as the coach of England women terminated and Heather Knight's time as captain has also come to an end.

Tips for the captaincy include Nat Sciver Brunt (current vice captain) and Charlie Dean as a long term replacement. Sophie Ecclestone was mentioned but it seems unlikely after her refusal to be interviewed.

Charlotte Edwards has since been appointed coach of the England women's team. She has since resigned all her domestic coaching roles to concentrate on the England role. Her predecessor Jon Lewis stayed as coach of UP Warriorz in the WPL whilst coaching England.

This just leaves the role of captain to be decided.

ECB reached compromise deal with the prospective Hundred franchise owners.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/10/ecb-set-to-retain-control-over-domestic-tv-rights-the-hundred-cricket

ECB retain rights to sell UK domestic rights to The Hundred so can continue to bundle with their other home domestic and international rights as all wrapped up in one deal with Sky today.

The World Test Championship (WTC) is a "shambles masquerading as a showpiece", says Wisden editor Lawrence Booth.

Writing in the 162nd edition of the yearly book, Booth also set his sights on the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Booth questioned Jay Shah's promotion from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary to ICC chairman in August - at a time when India were refusing to play Champions Trophy matches in the ICC-appointed host nation of Pakistan.

"The communal shrug [that met Shah's appointment] confirmed a sorry truth: 2024 was the year cricket gave up any claim to being properly administered, with checks, balances, and governance for the many, not the few," Booth wrote.