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Somerset battle their way to draw as both batters dig in for half-centuries

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2024Somerset 309 for 9 dec (Banton 92, Holder 3-72) and 190 for 4 (Lammomby 81*, Umeed 60) drew with Worcestershire 451 for 9 dec (Roderick 122, Libby 97, Ball 3-72)Tom Lammonby continued his excellent start to the season and played a major role in Somerset earning a hard-fought draw against newly promoted Worcestershire at Kidderminster.Lammonby dug in to score his third half-century of the season in addition to his hundred against champions Surrey. His unbeaten 81 lifted his run tally for the campaign past the 350 mark and he received excellent support from Andrew Umeed during a decisive fourth-wicket partnership.When the duo joined forces, Somerset were still 76 runs in arrears at 66 for 3 but they effectively blunted the attack and batted throughout the afternoon session in adding 117 in 39 overs.Lammonby enjoys facing Worcestershire and in 2020 during Covid became Somerset’s youngest player at the age of 20 to carry his bat through an innings in a crucial four-day Bob Willis Trophy game at New RoadHis efforts here helped seal a fourth successive draw for Somerset and a third in four games for Worcestershire – plus a defeat against Durham – since gaining promotion.Worcestershire now have a week’s break from action before facing Kent at Canterbury but they can take heart from their early season performances. They were in the ascendancy in rain-affected games against Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire and gave another good account of themselves in this fixture in accruing another 15 points.Somerset will also take encouragement from their resilience and application in battling away throughout the final day.They resumed on 5 for 1 after Jason Holder had removed opener Sean Dickson on Sunday evening. Holder could have struck again first thing this morning but Matt Renshaw survived a chance to second slip before he had scored.Nightwatcher Jake Ball proved a frustration to Worcestershire during the opening hour and also did the bulk of the scoring. He edged Holder wide of third slip for four but produced a more convincing cover drive to the boundary off the same bowler.Renshaw was content to blunt the attack and the second-wicket pair added 39 before Adam Finch made the breakthrough. Ball did not move to his feet to a delivery which jagged back in and was bowled.Club captain Brett D’Oliveira brought himself into the attack shortly before lunch and accounted for Renshaw. The Australian had battled away for 77 balls in making 12 but then attempted to sweep the legspinner and popped up a simple catch to Kashif Ali at short leg.At that juncture, Somerset were still 76 runs in arrears but Lammonby and Umeed ensure there was no clatter of wickets.The emphasis was almost entirely on defence with just the occasional boundary to keep the scoring rate at around two an over. But their efforts slowly but surely thwarted Worcestershire’s hopes of victory.Lammonby completed a solid half century from 126 balls and an afternoon session produced 73 runs from 28 overs and no breakthroughs for the home side. Umeed brought up his 50 – from 117 deliveries – at the start of the final session but then perished to a fine return one-handed reflex catch by Ben Gibbon.

Foxes sprint to seven-wicket victory with almost six overs to spare

ECB Reporters Network31-May-2024Leicestershire Foxes launched their Vitality Blast season in spectacular style with a thumping seven-wicket win over Yorkshire Vikings at the Uptonsteel County Ground in Leicester.Vikings had themselves started the season strongly with an eight-wicket win over Worcestershire Rapids the previous evening but were brought crashing back to earth in the East Midlands. They totalled a below-par 151 for 7, captain Shan Masood’s 45 off 32 balls standing out amid a bitty team effort which was heavily damaged by Josh Hull’s fiery 3 for 28.The moderate target soon appeared minuscule after Foxes openers Sol Budinger (50 off 22) and Rishi Patel (30 off 18) smashed six sixes and six fours in the first five overs. Their stand of 79 in 36 balls turned the chase into a cruise as Foxes galloped to 155 for 3 from 14.1 overs.After Foxes chose to bowl, Hull deployed his size 15s to excellent effect in a first over which cost just one run and brought the wicket of Dawid Malan, whose off stump was trimmed by a lovely ball. Ian Holland’s opening over also went for just a single in a sedate start by Vikings.Former Yorkshire allrounder Ben Mike struck first ball when he took a return catch from a spliced slog by Adam Lyth. That brought Joe Root to the crease for the 659th time in senior cricket and it isn’t a knock he will remember – three from nine balls before lifting Holland to long-on.Masood and Donovan Ferreira added 50 in 35 balls before Hull came back on to dismiss both in his first five balls. Ferreira gloved an attempted pull high to wicketkeeper Ben Cox and Masood top-edged a return catch. Both wickets owed something to the batters being surprised by pace in a highly impressive spell by the 6ft 7in left-armer.When Hull added a smart catch at short fine leg to dismiss Dom Bess off Scott Currie, Vikings were 116 for 7. Jordan Thompson smote Mike for successive sixes but Vikings’ bowlers were left with a tall task on a good batting pitch.They were hit by an immediate onslaught from Patel and Budinger who thrashed 50 from the first 22 balls. Patel lifted Dan Moriarty for successive sixes before the fourth over, from Thompson, went for 30 including three sixes for Budinger.Both openers perished in five balls went Patel skied Bess to long-on and Budinger sliced Jafer Chohan to backward point but they had left their side needing a comfy 67 from 80 balls. Louis Kimber and Wiaan Milder kept the momentum high with vibrant cameos and Foxes skipper Peter Handscomb was able to watch contently from the non-striker’s end as his side cruised home.

On a tricky pitch in a stop-start game, he stepped up with both ball and bat to KO defending champions England

Vishal Dikshit28-Jun-20241:40

Axar: Hitting big shots, sweeps, reverse sweeps was all tough

When Axar Patel got the ball in the fourth over of England’s chase of 172, he had already been told by his captain Rohit Sharma, India’s top scorer, that the pitch was keeping low and skidding, and hitting the big shots wasn’t easy. India were already feeling confident after posting a total that had “10-15 extra” runs on a pitch difficult for batting, and Axar thought since the batters were going to attack him early on, it was best to not do anything “extraordinary” and force the batters to try and do different things, which could work in his favour.That’s exactly what happened when Axar sent down his first delivery, from around the wicket to England captain Jos Butter, who went for a reverse sweep and ended up popping the ball to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Axar then went on to take down Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali in consecutive overs to leave England on 46 for 4 and finish with a stifling 3 for 23, which earned him the Player-of-the-Match award.”I hadn’t really planned to get a wicket on the first ball,” Axar said with a laugh at the press conference. “My mindset was to put the ball in the right areas. Obviously, when you play knockouts, you want to start and finish well with the first and last ball.Related

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“The plan in the powerplay was the usual. It’s tough to bowl in the powerplay, but when you know that you are getting help from the wicket, then without thinking much, without doing anything extraordinary, I thought that the more I keep it simple, the easier it would be for me. We spoke about it in the dressing room that it’s not an easy wicket [for batting], and I knew that the batsman will charge at me. It wasn’t going to be easy to hit me down the ground and hitting off the back foot wasn’t easy either because the ball wasn’t coming on the bat nicely. My plan was to make it difficult for them, force them to think of playing some other shots, and, that’s what happened on the first ball.”I think we knew we could defend 170, it was a par score. The way the wicket was behaving, and Rohit 1:33

Dasgupta: Axar a standout performer from game one

When Axar batted at No. 8 for six balls from Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer in the death overs, he saw that they were taking the pace off, and putting the balls away wasn’t easy at all, though he struck a six off one of Jordan’s slower ones.”Obviously, I got a clue from that as to what to do and what not to,” Axar said of the mental notes he made while batting. “Giving pace would have made it easy for them. It was ideal to bowl at good areas. No one has hit me when I’ve pitched the ball at a good length. It was important to pitch the ball on a good length and line and that’s what I tried to do in the powerplay.”His first delivery, to Buttler, wasn’t particularly quick at 91.5kmh. When he bowled one slightly quicker to Bairstow at 94.5kmh, he still stuck to his accuracy by pitching it around off stump, and the ball skidded on with low bounce to knock over the off stump. His third wicket was a reward, along with some luck, after he had conceded just 11 runs in his first two overs. England were 46 for 3 after seven overs and Moeen on 8 off nine balls when he tried to clip a delivery from Axar off his pads and took off for what he thought was a single. But the ball had only deflected off his pad towards Pant, who whipped the bails off when Moeen ventured out of the crease.”It’s also about pressure,” Axar said when he was asked if the England batters got more worried facing spinners compared to other teams, “when you are chasing, and you know that the wicket is helping the bowlers in that pressure. So, as an opener, or anyone in the top four, they must be thinking of cashing in on the powerplay as much as possible. I’m guessing that’s what they were thinking, but it didn’t work out.”I think it was difficult to hit big shots as well as the sweeps and reverse sweep because some balls were keeping low on this pitch so it wasn’t easy to connect. It creates a doubt in the batsman’s mind that if he sweeps and the ball keeps low, he’ll get hit on the pad. So it depends on what line and length you bowl. Mostly our spinners kept it stump to stump so it was very difficult to execute the sweeps and reverse sweeps.”Then, the batsmen think of hitting straight as an option but we had seen videos of their batsmen that they play a lot on the back foot, but on this kind of pitch you have to come on the front foot and play your shots.”

Bangladesh captain expects Shakib, whose political future is up in the air, to be fully professional during the series

Mohammad Isam20-Aug-2024Bangladesh have just been through some political turmoil, which has saw their prime minister resign, and a caretaker government take charge of the country. The unrest has even cast a doubt on them hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in October.Bangladesh’s national side will be in action for the first time since those turbulences, as the men’s team is on a tour of Pakistan, their first fixture in two months. The two Tests form part of the World Test Championship, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto couldn’t afford to dwell too much on the incidents back home, even as one of the consequences of the government getting toppled was his team-mate Shakib Al Hasan’s stint as member of parliament coming to an end.But Shakib hasn’t spoken publicly about it yet, instead focusing more on his cricket. Shanto, too, expects Shakib to remain himself – as professional as possible.Related

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• Muted Rawalpindi shows little love for a Pakistan in rehab

• Bangladesh pacers vs Pakistan batters: a song of ice and fire

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• Shakib and Mushfiqur: the yin and yang of Bangladesh cricket

“Shakib is in a good shape – in practice and preparation. He has the desire to do well,” Shanto said on the eve of the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. “He has showed his commitment in every practice session. He is a professional cricketer. We all treat him as a cricketer. He [has] played this game for so long that he knows his role; he knows how to prepare himself. I am not thinking about his political career. I hope that he will do something special in this series.”Given his all-round role, Shakib remains key for Bangladesh, although the visitors also have with them Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who is a respectable batter in the lower order. Mehidy is likely to be included in the XI too to prevent Bangladesh from having a long tail. Batting him at No. 8 might allow Bangladesh to play three fast bowlers and two spinners, including both Shakib and Mehidy. Shanto hinted that one of those quicks could be Nahid Rana, considered Bangladesh’s fastest bowler with speeds up to 150kph.”There’s a chance of him playing. He is in good shape,” Shanto said. “We will have our normal combination, it seems. Pacers will have an extra advantage on this wicket, so we will look at that when thinking about our XI. [Shadman Islam] is batting very well. He is preparing well. He made runs [recently against Pakistan A] in Australia.””It is true that we haven’t been batting well in the last few months”, Shanto on himself and Litton Das’ form•AFP/Getty Images

Bangladesh are in dire need of a batting revival. The understanding that Rawalpindi could be a favourable pitch for batters is giving them encouragement. Shanto said that they have done enough preparation to get better, which also includes his own form, as both Shanto and Litton Das have been in the headlines after playing poorly in the T20 World Cup a few months back.”We are not looking to do anything extra, but it is true that we haven’t been batting well in the last few months,” he said. “We didn’t go well in our last Test series [against Sri Lanka, in March-April]. Having said that, I think we are well prepared for this Test series. The players have used the opportunities to prepare properly. They believe that we can do better with the bat.”I have always looked to develop my skills as a batter. Every practice session has been about improving in those areas where I lack. I am hopeful that it will help me in the matches [against Pakistan].”Shanto, meanwhile, remained positive that Bangladesh have enough reason to be confident for the series opener in Rawalpindi, especially with their fast-bowling unit.”Records can change. It won’t be easy [for Pakistan],” he said. “We have a balanced side. We believe we can do special things this time. We are excited to play here. We have developed a good pace-bowling unit, we have four quality spinners, [and] we covered all the bases that will help us make the team tomorrow. The seamers get a bit of benefit here, so they are excited to do well in this condition.”

The left-arm spinner picked up 6 for 90 in the third innings of the Galle Test, his second five-wicket haul in Sri Lanka

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Sep-2024Ajaz Patel has 70 Test wickets at 28.50, but he has only featured in 17 of the 45 Tests New Zealand have played since his debut. This is down to New Zealand’s seam-focused strategy at home. If they need a spinner at all on pitches that tend to start out with plenty of grass on the surface, plus bounce and carry that often lasts through the course of the Test, they tend to prefer spinners who can offer more with the bat – Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, and the like.Patel, therefore, has become something of an Asia specialist, playing more than 70% of his Tests on the continent. He has thrived in Sri Lanka in particular, and on Sunday he wrapped up a second five-wicket haul in the country to finish with 6 for 90 in the second innings in Galle. Only Richard Hadlee has previously taken more than one five-wicket haul on the island for New Zealand.Related

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• Ajaz 'grateful' for 'world class' Ravindra keeping New Zealand in the contest

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Patel conceded that there was “an element of frustration” at having played so few Tests despite his record. But “the hunger grows more every time you don’t get an opportunity that you want”, he said. “Every time you do get an opportunity you’re pretty hungry.”That hunger has allowed him to make the best of being in a unique subset of cricketers – an Asia specialist from New Zealand.”As a spinner you have the luxury of the ball doing a little more in these conditions,” he said. “It can be challenging as well, because when you come to these conditions you’re up against good players of spin as well. It’s a double-edged sword.”It’s about presenting the ball in good areas for long periods and using what is available to us on the day – sometimes it may be the breeze, it may be the surface, it may be the pace of the wicket.”It is responsibility I thrive on, and something I really enjoy.”Control was of course a key component of Patel’s success, but at a venue such as Galle, which presents unique conditions, so was working with his environment. There is almost always a breeze across the venue as it is bordered on two sides by the ocean. Patel needed to know how to use it.Patel has played only 17 of New Zealand’s 45 Tests since his debut•Associated Press

“Bowling into a strong breeze as a spinner is sometimes quite nice because you know you can hang the ball up there and the wind will do some work to bring it down. It’s just about using the subtle changes of pace, and using that to your advantage.”The Galle surface is also one of those on which spinners find more purchase when the seam is harder. In the second innings, Patel got to use both the new and old ball, opening the bowling alongside Will O’ Rourke before coming back when the seam was softer.Four of his wickets came with the second new ball.”There two separate phases – one with the old ball, and one with the new ball. With the old ball it was really about trying to get as much overspin as I could and trying to get something out of that surface. As the ball gets older and softer it doesn’t react off the surface as much.”Patel and the other New Zealand spinners have been working with Rangana Herath through this tour, with the Sri Lanka great having taken up the role of spin consultant. Herath, having taken 102 Test wickets at this venue, has had plenty to add, Patel said.At the end of day three, Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne said he suspected Herath to be directly responsible for his own downfall in the second innings, with Patel taking that wicket.”It’s awesome having Rangana in our side,” Patel said. “He’s someone I grew up watching bowl. In terms of stature and build we’re very similar, and he was world class. So [it has been great] having him in our corner and being able to talk me through the conditions and what’s given me success in Galle previously, and what conditions to expect.”He’s also helped me tackle different angles, different fields, and different mindsets. It’s been a privilege and we’re very fortunate to be able to tap into that knowledge. He’s been very successful at this ground.”

V Chamundeswarnath nominated by Indian Cricketers Association as player representative on IPL governing council

PTI29-Sep-2024Members present at the BCCI’s 93rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Bengaluru on Sunday requested incumbent secretary Jay Shah to speed up the process of finding his successor to make the transition as smooth as possible. Shah is expected to step down from his post in the last week of November to take over as chairman of the ICC for a three-year period from December 1.While selecting the new secretary was not on the AGM agenda, it has been learnt that the attendees discussed the succession plan among themselves.”It was a normal request to keep all due processes in place at the earliest as [then] there will be clarity for us,” a state association representative who attended the AGM told PTI.As things stand, Rohan Jaitley, president of Delhi and District Cricket Association, BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar, joint-secretary Devajit Saikia and Gujarat Cricket Association secretary Anil Patel are in the mix to succeed Shah.The primary focal point of the AGM was the nomination of India’s two representatives to attend ICC meetings. Currently Shah is the BCCI’s representative on the ICC Board and IPL chairman Arun Dhumal has the same role in the Chief Executives’ Committee.The AGM entrusted the general body members with recommending two names for the posts at the earliest.Arun Dhumal and Avishek Dalmiya were also elected to the IPL Governing Council (GC) as general body representatives, with the former set to continue as the league’s chairman till at least IPL 2025.Former Andhra cricketer V Chamundeswarnath was nominated by the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) as a player representative and was inducted into the IPL GC.The AGM also ratified the annual budget for the 2024-25 season, and the members unanimously resolved to maintain BCCI’s legal status as a society, an item which was originally not on the agenda of the meeting. “The members further resolved that the tournaments of the BCCI, including the IPL, shall not be converted into a company,” a BCCI statement said.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that Avram Glazer, co-owner of Manchester United, also submitted a bid last week

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Oct-2024Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants are among the IPL franchises that have submitted bids expressing interest to buy teams in the ECB-run Hundred.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the GMR Group, recently unveiled as the new owner of Hampshire, and Avram Glazer, co-owner of Manchester United Football Club, also submitted bids last week after the ECB set an October 18 deadline for potential investors to register their interest in buying stakes in the eight Hundred teams.Related

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• ECB 'confident in our product' as Hundred bids deadline looms

The bids submitted last week by potential investors is a one-time sum to buy a 49% stake, which the ECB holds in each of the eight teams. Expressions of interest could be for all eight teams, which would be culled to four in the next step which will start in November when the investors get to meet the host counties of each Hundred franchise. Following that, investors would need to prune their wishlist to four teams, as part of the second stage, which will then come down to two teams of which they would need to make their final choice.While the ECB is keen to announce the final set of investors by early 2025, it has stressed that it won’t be rushed and risk “underselling” what it believes is a valuable product. Recently, ECB chairman Richard Thompson said the board would even be open to adopting a hybrid model next year. This would mean the ECB owning some teams and private players the others.Still, not everyone rushed to bid as the October 18 deadline closed. While virtually all IPL teams had shown curiosity in the Hundred a few months ago, not all have submitted bids. Punjab Kings have opted out of bidding for Hundred teams, while there has been no confirmation on whether five-times IPL champions Chennai Super Kings and equity major CVC, which owns Gujarat Titans, have submitted bids.Global sports investors INEOS, owned by Jim Ratcliffe, which owns a 27% stake in Manchester United and run the football club’s operations wing, have also opted out of bidding.Among the biggest reservations, at least as far as the IPL franchises were concerned, was whether they would be happy being passive investors.Recently, Lalit Modi, the architect of the IPL, rebuked the ECB’s financial projections for the Hundred’s growth beyond 2026, as listed in the prospectus distributed to potential investors, calling them “overly optimistic and disconnected from reality.”But the ECB brushed off the criticism, saying over 100 potential investors from not just India but also the USA had sought information on the privatisation. “The investment base is way broader and bigger than they expected,” Thompson said last wek.

The trio are among seven players banned by CSA for their involvement in attempts to fix matches during the 2015-16 Ram Slam Challenge

Firdose Moonda29-Nov-2024Former South Africa cricketers Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Thami Tsolekile, along with former Titans bowler Ethy Mbhalati, have been arrested and charged with five counts of corruption under Section 15 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004.They have been charged under section 15 of the Act, which relates to corrupt activities relating to sporting events, including accepting or offering to accept any gratification from another person for engaging in any act which threatens to undermine the integrity of a sporting even or influence the run of play.Related

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The charges date back to the match-fixing saga surrounding the 2015-16 Ram Slam Challenge. These three players are among seven who were banned by Cricket South Africa in 2016 and 2017 for their involvement in attempts to fix matches during the domestic T20 tournament.Gulam Bodi has already served time in prison while Jean Symes and Pumi Matshikwe were given suspended sentences after pleading guilty in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The cases against Tsotsobe, Tsolekile and Mbhalati are postponed until February 2025.There are no details on any action against the seventh player, Alviro Petersen.All seven players were also given bans of between two and 12 years by CSA, related to their involvement in the game.The Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act came into effect in the aftermath of the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal in 2000, and it is understood that this is the first time it is being used to charge sportspersons with offences. The charges have been laid following an investigation by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), known as the Hawks, a special branch of the South African Police Service that investigates organised and economic crime.”Corruption undermines the integrity of sport, and the Hawks are determined to safeguard the values of fairness and professionalism in all areas of society. We thank Cricket South Africa for their cooperation and commitment to addressing this scourge,” Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, National Head of the DPCI, said in a statement issued on Friday.At the time of initial investigation, CSA said none of the matches in the tournament were affected by fixing after the conspirators’ plans were foiled. It has since been established that Bodi, in collusion with bookmakers from India, approached several players to participate in fixing three matches in the tournament and also understood that none of the fixes actually took place.

Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix will be first teams for sale on January 30

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Jan-2025The Hundred’s sales process is approaching completion, with the ECB inviting prospective investors in the eight franchises to submit final bids over the next two weeks, starting with two teams – Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix – as soon as Thursday (January 30).On Sunday, the ECB shared the formula for the final round of bids with the group of investors who were shortlisted by the eight host venues for 49% stakes in their franchise. A live, virtual auction process will be held for the franchises where more than two investors remain in the process. For those where only two parties remain, both will submit sealed bids.ESPNcricinfo has learned that two-time men’s Hundred winners Invincibles and Phoenix will be the first two franchises to go on sale, as part of the ECB’s third and final round of the bidding process. As per the schedule, the final round of bidding will be conducted online between January 30 and February 10.It is understood that the Invincibles and Phoenix bids will be held at separate times, but both on the same day. London Spirit and Welsh Fire will be put up for bidding on Friday (January 31). Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets are slated for Monday, February 3, while Southern Brave are listed as the last franchise up for bidding, on February 10.

How will the winning bid be decided?

In its latest communication to the shortlisted investors, the ECB is understood to have said it was “revising” the approach in the final round to pick the winning bid for franchises where there are more than two investors in the fray. In such a case, a live auction will be conducted to pick the winner.The investors will make incremental bids online, but, importantly, the starting bid, the ECB said, will be above the “agreed” floor price or reserve price. The winning bidder will emerge once the rival investors drop out. For franchises with only two investors on the shortlist, each will need to make a sealed bid with the winner determined based on the highest entry value.Successful bidders at this final stage will enter into a period of exclusivity with their respective host venue. Both parties will negotiate long-form agreements with the ECB, a process which is likely to take several weeks. Even if deals are completed before the Hundred starts in August, the 2025 season is expected to be a transitional year with no changes to team names or kits, for example.The ECB added that the roster for the sale of the teams was sequenced in such a manner that both the investor and the host county were best placed to land their “preferred partner”.

Manchester United co-owner eyes London Spirit

London Spirit, the defending champions in the women’s Hundred, are expected to emerge as the most valuable franchise in the process. Their home ground is Lord’s and their host club is MCC, who have stated their intention to remain majority shareholders in the franchise after their members voted to accept a 51% stake late last year.ESPNcricinfo understands that Lancer Capital, owned by Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer, is on the shortlist for a stake in the Spirit. Glazer made his first successful foray in the T20 franchise circuit when he bought Desert Vipers in the UAE-based ILT20 in 2021, having previously missed out on an IPL franchise when the league expanded.Glazer will be vying for a 49% stake in Spirit with Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group, which owns Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, and a consortium of global tech giants including the chief executives of Google and Microsoft. Cain International, who have also been linked with a bid for a stake in the Spirit, were contacted for comment.ESPNcricinfo has also learned that Capri Global Holdings, an India-based non-banking financial company, is on the shortlist for Welsh Fire. The company owns Sharjah Warriorz in ILT20 and the UP Warriorz in the WPL. Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings, who had originally shown interest in the process, have since opted out.The ECB hopes to raise a minimum of £350 million from the sale process, which will be split between all 18 first-class counties, MCC and the recreational game. Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, said last month: “The aim is to raise significant investment that’s going into the game. My hope is this will recapitalise the county game for the next 20-25 years.”

The seamer underwent surgery last week and will be sidelined for up to three months

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-2025New Zealand seamer Molly Penfold has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury meaning she will miss the series against Sri Lanka and Australia.Penfold, 23, sustaining a torn meniscus to her left knee while playing in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield earlier this month and has undergone surgery with a recovery time of up to 12 weeks.Related

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• Bella James ruled out of Sri Lanka ODIs; Down named replacement

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• Sophie Devine to miss ODIs and T20Is against Sri Lanka

• Athapaththu to leave WPL early to play for Sri Lanka

“We’re all gutted for Molly,” Ben Sawyer, the New Zealand head coach, said. “It’s a really unfortunate way for her summer to end, especially after strong contributions during the Rose Bowl series. The positive is that her recovery timelines should see her fit for our winter training schedule.”Penfold has taken nine wickets in 14 ODIs and seven in 10 T20Is. In the ODI series against Australia last December she took a career-best 4 for 42 in the second match at the Basin Reserve.New Zealand will also be without Sophie Devine for the Sri Lanka matches as she continues her break from the game with her participation against Australia yet to be confirmed.New Zealand play three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka next month followed by three T20Is against Australia.Chamari Athapaththu will leave the WPL early to take part in the tour but Amelia Kerr will remain in India.