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Former India bowling coach has previously had an IPL stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2022Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun has been appointed in the same position by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the upcoming 15th edition of the IPL.”We are very excited to have someone of the calibre of Bharat Arun joining us as our bowling coach,” Venky Mysore, Knight Riders’ CEO & MD, said in a statement. “He will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to KKR’s strong support staff. We are delighted to welcome him to the Knight Riders family.”Related

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Arun, a medium-pacer who played two Tests and four ODIs between 1986 and 1987, brings with himself considerable coaching experience, having had two stints with India’s national side – first from 2014 to 2015, and then from 2017 till the end of the T20 World Cup in 2021.Before that, he was part of the India team which won the Under-19 World Cup in 2012, and has also been a part of the coaching staff at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, other than being with India’s domestic teams Tamil Nadu and Bengal.”I’m very excited and looking forward to becoming part of a highly successful franchise, such as the Knight Riders,” Arun said. “I have admired the Knight Riders franchise for not only being very successful in the IPL and around the world in T20 leagues but also for the way it is very professionally run.”His time with Knight Riders will not be the first time in the IPL. He spent three seasons – 2015 to 2017 – with Royal Challengers Bangalore as their bowling coach before he became part of the India set-up.”With a strong and successful pedigree in the international game, I’m sure Arun will complement the current staff we have and I look forward to working with him,” Brendon McCullum, the Knight Riders head coach, said. “His experience at international level and the ability to give confidence and clarity to our bowling group will be important, as we attempt to quickly align a new group of players to the values and style of play for KKR.”

Sophie Devine made a fifty and Amelia Kerr made 40 off 67 for the White Ferns in Bengaluru

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2025India chased down 237 to beat New Zealand by four wickets in their second Women’s World Cup warm-up match in Bengaluru after a heavy loss to England in their first match.After a solid start, where they reached 54 for 0 in the eighth over, India lost Pratika Rawal and Uma Chetry to leave the score at 71 for 2. Harleen Deol (74) and Harmanpreet Kaur (69) then put on a 132-run third-wicket partnership, guiding India towards the target. Despite a late collapse from 203 for 2 to 230 for 6, India held on to win with ten balls to spare.Earlier, after a rain delay, New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat. India struck early, reducing them to 38 for 2 by the eighth over. Sophie Devine’s 54 and Amelia Kerr’s 40 steadied the innings, taking New Zealand to 132 for 3. They finished on 232 for 8 in a 42-overs-a-side contest.For India, N Shree Charani claimed three wickets, while pacers Kranti Goud and Arundhati Reddy – back in action after suffering a blow to her leg in the previous match – each took two.

The home side fed Hayley Matthews’ off-side strength and paid the price

AAP03-Oct-2023Australia do not have an issue halting the momentum of rival batters, captain Alyssa Healy insists, despite falling victim to a Hayley Matthews masterclass in the second T20I against West Indies.Matthews clubbed 132 from 64 balls on Monday night to help West Indies pull off the biggest chase in women’s T20I history, as the tourists ran down their target of 213 at North Sydney Oval.The loss marked Australia’s third defeat in four T20Is, having previously enjoyed a 12-match winning streak before being shocked twice by England in this year’s Ashes.Related

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Matthews’ knock came after Australia faced similar challenges in that series, with England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt twice hitting a century in the ODIs.Australia bowled too full and wide to Matthews on Monday night, with the West Indies’ captain hitting 11 fours and three sixes between backward point and cover. The hosts also dropped Matthews twice, as the momentum of the match swung away from them.”I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. They’re really good players, right?” Australia’s stand-in captain Healy said.  “It just comes down to execution. If you’re only hitting the stumps like 20 percent tonight, you’re asking for trouble knowing how small [this] ground is.”We said all along that there’s going to be periods where we could potentially lose games of cricket, and that’s happening. It’s a good opportunity for us to learn from what is going wrong and try and fix it for the next one.”Australia identified the need for a Plan B with the ball as a key issue after India star Harmanpreet Kaur knocked them out of the 2017 ODI World Cup.Changes with the ball and a more attacking approach with the bat prompted a six-year era of dominance for Australia that had not been seriously challenged until this year’s drawn Ashes.Healy insisted ‘Plan B’, or the lack of one, was not the issue at North Sydney Oval.”We’ve got all the plans that we could possibly have in our heads and we’ve got the skills to be able to do it out there,” she said. “We’re just not executing when we need to, which we need to fix.”We were too wide. You look at the way [Matthews] swings the bat, she’s batting on leg stump, basically trying to open up the offside. 
“We probably gave her a little bit too much room in that department.”Australia must win on Thursday night in Brisbane to avoid their first series defeat to West Indies.

Spinner’s over-step is a symptom of wider problems in the England camp

George Dobell in Manchester05-Sep-2019It looked, for a moment, like the perfect delivery. Not just a perfect delivery, but a perfectly executed plan.Jack Leach, bowling round the wicket, had drawn Steve Smith forward and, having found just a little drift into him, gained just enough turn away from him to see the ball take the edge of the bat and carry to slip. Smith had already scored 118 by then but, such is his form and so great his dominance, England might have settled for that. Besides, Australia were 273 for 6 and England could, perhaps, anticipate bowling them out for little more than 320.But then came the replays. And after that came the realisation. Leach, despite the most gentle of run-ups, despite bowling at a 51 mph, had over stepped. Smith was reprieved and England’s joy turned to despair. We may look back on it as the tipping point in this series.Maybe that’s unfair on both Leach and Smith. Certainly Leach, at times, bowled really nicely. His misjudgement was, it its way, tiny: no more than a rash shot from a batsman or a dropped catch from a fielder. But the consequences were significant and it was avoidable. An unforced error, as they say in tennis.Jack Leach with his team-mates after his dismissal of Steven Smith of Australia is shown to have being a no ball•Getty Images

Most of all, when we come to reflect on this series in years to come, we’ll almost certainly conclude that the difference between the sides was one man: Smith. England have thrown pretty much everything they have at him in not just this series but the previous couple. The fact is, while most other batsmen have struggled, Smith has gorged on runs. Yes, the pitches might have offered England more assistance. And yes, James Anderson’s availability might have tested Smith more. But to a large extent, England just have to accept he has been too good for them.There will be nagging irritation, however, that England did not do themselves justice. For there were moments on the second day when they became more than a little ragged in the field. Tim Paine was also reprieved twice – he was dropped on 9 and 49, once at slip by Jason Roy and once at mid-on by substitute fielder Sam Curran; both relatively straightforward chances – with Jofra Archer also missing a tough caught and bowled chance offered by Smith when he had 65. England keep dropping catches. Leach’s no-ball is a symptom of a wider malaise.Most of all, England didn’t seem able to build or sustain pressure in the field. With Ben Stokes, suffering from a sore shoulder, unable to replicate the match-shaping spell he produced in Leeds and Smith managing to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps with his unique skill, England leaked 124 runs in 32 wicketless overs after lunch.Archer, only five months into his England career, already looks as if he is in danger of being ruined – news that he required a pain-killing injection after normal play in the World Cup final and before the super-over should have alarm bells ringing – with his pace dropping by the match. Not for the first time in this series, it seemed England’s captain, Joe Root, had no way of lifting his team and no answers to the questions raised by Smith. It was agony from an England perspective; a session where you could feel their Ashes hopes slipping away.And then there’s that no-ball. Spinners – certainly finger spinners with a gentle approach to the crease, shouldn’t be bowling no-balls. Ravi Ashwin, for example, has never bowled a no-ball in Test cricket. And while Moeen Ali has, they have all been head high full tosses rather than front-foot no-balls. In all, finger spinners have, on average, bowled one no-ball – including head-high no-balls – every 1,236 deliveries in Test cricket since the start of 2010.So while we must be careful not to pin too much blame on Leach – he’s not responsible for England’s enduring inability to bat, or catch, after all – we can’t just dismiss it as ‘one of those things.’ That’s too cosy; that’s too laissez-faire. For we know that, in ODI cricket, England went more than 10,000 deliveries without conceding a front-foot no-ball. We know that, if there are free-hits at stake and they make it a priority, it can be done. But in training in recent days, England’s bowlers have regularly over-stepped in the nets without any of the coaching staff acting as umpires and notifying them of their error. As a consequence, instead of good habits becoming ingrained, bad habits can take root. It seems just a bit sloppy and just a bit unnecessary. The team management have to take some responsibility.England’s issues extend beyond playing matters. At some stage, if England are to make any meaningful use of home advantage, Ashley Giles, the director of England’s men’s cricket, will have to improve the communication between the team and the groundsmen.England turned up in Manchester expecting to find a hard pitch offering pace and carry. Just as they turned up for the World Cup final expecting a batting paradise. On both occasions – and several more in between – they have been disappointed. Indeed, one member of the England team management noted that this surface – offering little of the grass coverage that might have encouraged England’s seamers – would have delighted Australia. If England are to have any hope of dismissing Smith, they require lateral movement and the carry to ensure nicks make it to slip. They didn’t really have either here.Everyone understands that the job of groundsmen is desperately tough, with poor weather and an unrelenting schedule combining to reduce preparation time. But at some stage it would surely make sense for the left hand to know what the right hand is doing in English cricket. It would surely make sense for Giles to make it clear what groundsmen are expected to provide and hold them accountable if they do not.England’s Ashes hopes aren’t over yet. Not quite. They only need to escape with a draw here to make it to The Oval with their chances alive and it may well be that poor weather comes to their aid. But, for the second Test in a row, you get the impression they’re going to require something special to keep them in it. They can’t keep expecting Stokes to bail out their substandard batting and fielding.

Marsh will return at No. 3 against West Indies but initially as a batter-only after an ankle injury

Alex Malcolm04-Oct-20222:48

Hodge: Green might go on to become one of the best Australia has produced

Mitchell Marsh is set to return at No. 3 for Australia but as a batter only in the first T20I against West Indies as he continues to recover from his ankle injury, while Marcus Stoinis is expected to be fit for Sunday’s opening T20I against England, with the pair of allrounders vital to the balance of their World Cup side.Captain Aaron Finch confirmed that both men were tracking well for the World Cup after missing the recent tour of India meaning that it looks unlikely there will be an opening for Cameron Green.However, Finch did note that Stoinis’ absence from this two-game series against West Indies and Marsh’s inability to bowl could change the structure of the side in the short term, given they will have fewer bowling options in their top seven, but he was adamant Marsh would play as a specialist batter.Related

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“Hundred percent, yeah,” Finch said. “He’s made that No. 3 spot his own in T20 cricket and I think the way that he played in the lead-up and then through the World Cup [last year] is so important for the way that we want to play and gives us a lot of flexibility through that middle order.”I think he had his second bowl yesterday and he felt really good. He pulled up well from it. So that’s a really positive sign. I think for the balance of the side, it’s better when they’re both bowling because you can get caught a little bit short if you go in with five bowlers. But we’ll work that out.”Marsh last played on August 28 in an ODI against Zimbabwe. He missed the three-match series against New Zealand and the three T20Is against India and did not bowl at all while recovering in Perth in September.Finch explained that the decision to leave Stoinis in Perth was a logistical one given the short turnaround time between the two matches against West Indies in Queensland. The second game is at the Gabba on Friday while the first of three matches against England is in Perth on Sunday. The team will have a five-hour flight across the country on Saturday after playing on Friday night.”He’s at a level where we think that he’ll be fully fit for that first game against England,” Finch said. “We were just conscious of the travel with a quick turnaround…it can be quite a high-risk game for some guys with some soft tissue injuries so he’s just still planning and preparing there. He’s such an important part of our side and the make-up of it, especially with his bowling.”Mitchell Marsh was back with the Australia squad•Getty Images

The Green question is a vexing one for Australia. He is currently not in the 15-player World Cup squad but is with the team in Queensland and available to play on Wednesday. If Stoinis and Marsh are fully fit there is almost no chance he can come into the 15, according to Finch.”I don’t think so,” Finch said. “It’s just one of those things. He had a really good tour of India. It was good for him to get an opportunity to open the batting so he’ll get more opportunities. I think he’ll get an opportunity at some point in this series. Obviously his batting is exceptional and he shows a lot with the ball. He keeps improving every time he gets an opportunity but over the next few weeks, he’ll get a run no doubt.”It leaves Australia contemplating playing five specialist bowlers at Metricon Stadium on Wednesday. It is something they have barely done since abandoning the strategy ahead of last year’s World Cup. But Glenn Maxwell is the only genuine bowling option in the top seven with Marsh unavailable to bowl and Stoinis absent, unless either Green, Daniel Sams or Sean Abbott slot in.If that does happen it would need to be the expense of Steven Smith or Tim David, given David Warner will return to the top to partner Finch and Marsh is at No. 3.”It’s never easy when you’re trying to balance up the side, particularly when the allrounders aren’t fully fit at the moment,” Finch said. “So that gives us an opportunity to keep tinkering with the squad. We feel as though we’ve got our best XI in the back of our mind, but it’s just not everyone’s 100% fit at the moment.”But we’ve still got a little bit of time for that over the next two and a half weeks. There’s five games plus the warm-up game against India. I think it’s important that we keep making sure that we’re giving ourselves enough options, because if something does happen in the World Cup the last thing you want is to be caught short in playing only one style of team or only one structure of team.”Mitchell Starc is fully fit after resting from the India tour due a minor knee issue. Ashton Agar remains in Perth with Stoinis as he also recovers from a side issue. Kane Richardson is back training with the squad but won’t play against West Indies.

Allrounder Nishant Sindhu, who led in Dhull’s absence, has, however, tested positive ahead of the quarter-final against Bangladesh

Sreshth Shah28-Jan-2022India’s Under-19 allrounder Nishant Sindhu will miss the quarter-final against Bangladesh after testing positive for Covid-19. However, India are set to be led by regular captain Yash Dhull on Saturday after he and four others, including vice-captain Shaik Rasheed, returned negative Covid tests. Earlier, the five players were forced to miss two group games after returning positive tests.In another development, Aaradhya Yadav has replaced Vasu Vats in India’s squad ahead of the Bangladesh fixture. Vats has sustained a hamstring injury and will be unable to take any further part in the tournament.Meanwhile, players who test positive at the competition are expected to serve at least seven days of quarantine, which means Sindhu is also likely to be unavailable for the semi-final – against Pakistan or Australia on Wednesday – if India get there.Related

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Despite Sindhu’s absence, the availability of the five previously positive players has bolstered India’s squad. Dhull and Rasheed are expected to slot into a batting line-up that averages nearly 315 runs per innings; Siddarth Yadav and Aaradhya Yadav are up for selection in the playing XI too. So far, Sindhu has played a key role as an economical left-arm spinner, taking four wickets at an average of 14.25 and an economy rate of 2.75.India currently have 21 players to choose from. Sixteen of the 17 from the main squad remain available for selection, along with the five travelling reserves who were flown into the Caribbean following the first Covid-19 outbreak in the squad. If India need to dip into the pool of reserves, they will have to make a formal request to the ICC event technical committee for a temporary change in the squad.Sindhu’s positive result makes it the fourth time that the Under-19 World Cup has been affected by Covid-19. Before the competition started, four Zimbabwe players tested positive before members of the Indian camp also returned positive results. West Indies, too, had to replace two players before their final group match because of Covid in their squad.

Seamer had no doubts about pushing through the final Ashes Test despite damaged shoulder

Andrew McGlashan27-Jul-2023Mitchell Starc had no interest in finding out the full extent of his shoulder injury before the final Test at the Kia Oval. Instead he was fully focused on seeing out an Ashes series which has now become his most successful away from home.Starc landed heavily on his shoulder on the second day at Emirates Old Trafford but was able to bowl through the pain there and has now done the same again as Australia look to open up a 3-1 margin.”I’m not interested in getting scanned or anything like that,” Starc said. “We’ll worry about that at the end of the week. Just a bit of discomfort there, something going on there in the AC [joint]. Nothing major and I’m still able to bowl and do what I need to do.”Related

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He needed to go off the field on the opening day at The Oval for some extra strapping but returned to produce a stunning delivery to remove Ben Stokes – “it swung a little bit late and managed to hit the stumps,” Starc said – before inducing England’s top-scorer, Harry Brook, to edge to slip.It’s the second time in less than a year that Starc has defied an injury, after bowling with a badly damaged tendon in his finger against South Africa at the MCG. That problem would rule him out of Australia’s next three Tests. After this series there is at least three weeks off for the multi-format players, while Starc may also be rested from the T20Is in South Africa before the build-up to the ODI World Cup begins.”I’ve played for over ten years and been through a few niggles and injuries over the time,” he said. “There’s been times when I’ve left the team a man down or other people have. We all push through niggles and whatnot. No difference this week, it’s just a little bit of discomfort and away we go.”This tour had already been a marked contrast from the 2019 series in which Starc played just once, in the Ashes-retaining victory at Old Trafford, but was surprisingly overlooked for the next Test at The Oval where Australia stumbled and ended up sharing the series 2-2.On this trip he was left out at Edgbaston, where a fit-again Josh Hazlewood was preferred, before being called up for Lord’s in place of Scott Boland. He claimed six wickets in that Test where Australia took a 2-0 lead then claimed another seven at Headingley, but was not able to help his team across the line. The four-wicket haul on the opening day at The Oval has taken him to 19 for the series, the most for any bowler, one ahead of his 2015 tally.”It’s not the most comfortable thing,” he added of the shoulder problem. “But I don’t think any bowler [in] international cricket is going to say it’s something that’s comfortable for the body. So just push on. We’ve got a big week ahead of us to try and win this Ashes series and then a few weeks off so there’s no reason not to get up for this week.”

Seamer went off the field midway through an over on the first day and did not return

Vithushan Ehantharajah07-Jul-2023Ollie Robinson is fit to bat in England’s first innings after suffering a back spasm on day one of the third Ashes Test at Headingley.The seamer had to leave the field in 43rd over of Australia’s innings after feeling what has been described as a shooting pain up his back after bowling the second delivery of his 12th over. Robinson alerted Ben Stokes to the issue and the England captain insisted he should leave the field. Stuart Broad finished the over.Following an assessment from the medical team and rest overnight, the 29-year-old was said to be in better shape on Friday morning and will be able to bat when required. England resumed day two on 68 for 3 after bowling Australia out for 263. Robinson was wicketless.Related

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Similar issues have blighted Robinson in the past. A back spasm in the Hobart Test on the previous Ashes in 2021/22 led then-bowling coach Jon Lewis to publicly urge him to improve his fitness. Further such issues on the subsequent tour of the Caribbean meant Robinson could not play any of the three Tests against West Indies.With the help of Stokes as a mentor, Robinson returned for the second Test of the South Africa series last summer a more robust bowler, and showcased his renewed fitness by maintaining his pace across spells during a day’s play. Though he has not quite been at the races in this series, he still has 10 wickets at an average 28.40, taking him to 76 at 21.71 across 18 caps to date.England are optimistic that Robinson will be able to return with the ball, though much will depend on how much rest he can bank. The onus is on their middle order to break down Australia’s overnight lead of 195 and fashion one of their own, allowing Robinson and the rest of the bowling attack to keep their feet up for most of Friday.

Hundred returnee makes light work of Lancashire to set up Leicestershire clash

ECB Reporters Network25-Aug-2023Miles Hammond blazed his way to a breathtaking maiden List-A century as Gloucestershire trounced Lancashire by eight wickets at Bristol to secure a place in the semi-finals of the Metro Bank One Day Cup.Chasing a modest 178 for victory, the home side reached their target with 25.1 overs to spare thanks to a hard-hitting 109 not out from Hammond, who shared in a match-winning stand of 125 with Ollie Price in a one-sided play-off contest.Lancashire’s bowlers simply had no answer as Hammond helped himself to six sixes and 11 fours in a whirlwind 85-ball knock, while Price contributed 39 in 43 balls to help Gloucestershire secure a last-four showdown against Leicestershire at the Grace Road next Tuesday.Hammond’s innings was made all the more remarkable because he has spent most of the last month running drinks for Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred. He did not make an appearance for them all season, though was released to play two group games for Gloucestershire.