Category Uncategorized

The fourth edition of UAE’s T20 tournament is also beginning earlier than usual to avoid clashes with the BBL and SA20

Abhijato Sensarma01-Dec-2025When does it start?The finalists from last season – Dubai Capitals and Desert Vipers – meet in Dubai to kick off proceedings on December 2. Most of the fixtures begin at 6.30pm local time, with the afternoon fixtures – on double-header days – starting from 2pm.The last time these two teams met, Capitals chased down a target of 190 thanks to a 38-ball 63 from Rovman Powell, and a bruising 34 off 12 from Sikandar Raza, in a thrilling last-over finish.Sikandar Raza took Dubai Capitals to their maiden title win last year•ILT20Is there a clash with BBL and SA20 this time too?To avoid a major clash with these two tournaments, in fact, the ILT20 has decided to start this season earlier than the January window in which it has been previously played: the matches are being played between December 2 and January 4. This gives players more leeway to appear for the entire duration of the competition, before the new year brings around a hectic franchise calendar with it.Australia’s Big Bash League is starting on December 14, and a few players might leave the tournament midway through to fulfill their commitments down under. The SA20 starts on December 26 which means former MI Emirates captain Nicholas Pooran might head out, among others, to appear for the MI franchise on another continent.The tournament runs on for a total of 34 matches – 30 league games, followed by the knockouts. The teams that finish first and second will meet in Qualifier 1, in Abu Dhabi on December 30 – the winner of this encounter proceeds to the final. Then, the third- and fourth-placed teams from the group stage face off in the Eliminator, on January 1 in Dubai.Related

Kieron Pollard to captain MI Emirates in ILT20

ILT20: MI Emirates sign Pooran, Pollard as wildcards

R Ashwin goes unsold in inaugural ILT20 player auction

ILT20 games in future seasons could be held in Saudi Arabia

The Eliminator’s winner then takes on the loser from the opening knockout match in Qualifier 2, on January 2 in Sharjah. The final will be played two days later.How are the teams shaping up this year?The same six teams as the previous season form the line-up for this edition: Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Desert Vipers, Dubai Capitals, Gulf Giants, MI Emirates and Sharjah Warriorz.The tournament has had healthy competition so far: Gulf Giants won the inaugural title, MIE dominated during their second season run, and Capitals joined them as a third new winner during the competition’s first three years.Kieron Pollard will be MI Emirates’ new captain•ILT20And their captains?There’s been quite a shuffle this year, in fact: Kieron Pollard takes over from Pooran as MIE captain. Dasun Shanaka takes over from Sam Billings to lead defending champions Capitals, while Jason Holder takes over from Sunil Narine as the captain of Knight Riders.On the other hand, Lockie Ferguson continues as captain for Desert Vipers – he is on a comeback trail after an injury layoff, and his performances here will be crucial to his roadmap to playing for New Zealand in next year’s T20 World Cup. James Vince stays on as Gulf Giants’ captain too, while Tim Southee will continue leading Warriorz.Who are the other players to watch out for?ILT20 had its first player auction in October, and the squads are stacked with exciting talent. West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Andre Fletcher fetched a record bid of USD 260,000 from MIE, who retained him for a fourth successive season of explosive batting at the top of the order.Muhammad Waseem, Sikandar Raza, and Waqar Salamkheil pose with championship belts during the previous edition•ILT20Emirates opted to retain Muhammad Waseem too – he is a compulsive six-hitter from UAE, having hit 187 T20I sixes, trailing only Rohit Sharma (205).Pakistan-born UAE pacer, Junaid Siddique, was also part of a bidding war at the auction – Warriorz eventually snatched up a bowler who has been in great form, finishing as the third-highest wicket-taker at this year’s Asia Cup.Development players at ILT20

From Saudi Arabia: Usman Najeeb (Dubai Capitals), Abdul Salam Khan (Sharjah Warriorz), Zain Ul Abidin (MI Emirates), Abdul Manan Ali (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), Faisal Khan (Desert Vipers) and Ishtiaq Ahmad (Gulf Giants)

From Kuwait: Mohamed Aslam (Sharjah Warriors), Mohamed Shafeeq (MI Emirates), Bilal Tahir (Desert Vipers), Meet Bhavsar (Gulf Giants), Adnan Idrees (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), and Anudeep Chenthamara (Dubai Capitals)

Matheesha Pathirana was released by CSK last month, but this has freed him up to slot in as a replacement player for Warriorz. England batter Jordan Cox – who scored 367 runs at an average of 61.16, and an explosive strike-rate of 173.93 at The Hundred – will fly in to play for Capitals.Moeen Ali – will be turning out for Giants alongside Vince, while Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, who recently retired from the IPL, will continue to lend their services to Knight Riders in the ILT20.Jordan Cox has been in great T20 form this year•Getty ImagesWait… …R Ashwin isn’t playing?Nope, your notes are quite correct. He went unsold, as the only player with a base price in six figures at the auction. However, that doesn’t mean there is a dearth of Indian action at the tournament: Dinesh Karthik is the biggest name on this roster, heading to Sharjah Warriorz as their keeper-batter.Former Under-19 captain, and current USA player, Unmukt Chand will be turning out for Knight Riders. Piyush Chawla, meanwhile, was announced as a wildcard for Knight Riders.Anything else to keep in mind?Yes – Vipers bid for Pakistan players Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, and Hasan Nawaz, but their availability for the tournament was in jeopardy after PCB declared that they would not be granting NOCs to their players for tournaments outside Pakistan. However, it is understood that PCB has granted the certificates to these three players, and they will now appear at the tournament.The ILT20 has started to expand its footprint in the Gulf and has cobbled tie-ups with the cricket associations in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Six young players each from each country were bought by the six ILT20 franchises as development players at the auction recently.

Shane Watson, the former Australia allrounder, has parted ways with the San Francisco Unicorns after a three-year stint as head coach of the Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise.The Unicorns have not announced Watson’s successor yet. “In an effort to strengthen the Unicorns’ long-term strategy, the organization is shifting to a year-round coaching model,” the franchise said in a statement. “Watson’s ongoing commentary commitments and the rapid growth of his acclaimed performance coaching brand, BEON Performance, prevent him from taking on a full-time role with the Unicorns.”Under Watson, the Unicorns finished fifth out of six teams in the inaugural edition of the MLC in 2023 before reaching the playoffs in both 2024 and 2025; their best finish came in 2024 when they lost the final to Washington Freedom.”It has been a true privilege to lead the San Francisco Unicorns over the last three seasons,” Watson said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished, and am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with world-class stars and incredible young talent in Major League Cricket, which continues to be an exciting new frontier for the sport.”Apart from the Unicorns stint, Watson has also coached in other franchise leagues; he was assistant coach of Delhi Capitals in the 2022 and 2023 seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and head coach of Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2024.”Shane was the natural choice to be our first Head Coach, and he played a key role in building the Unicorns from the ground up,” Unicorns CEO David White said. “We are eternally grateful for Shane’s dedication across his three seasons in charge, and the Unicorns wish him every success in his future endeavors.”

Luis Reece shows why he is leading wicket-taker by claiming 4 for 67, while Anuj Dal finishes with 3 for 29

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay16-Sep-2025Derbyshire 17 for 0 trail Glamorgan 259 (Carlson 94, Reece 4-67, Dal 3-29) by 242 runs Kiran Carlson rescued Glamorgan on a hard-fought second day of the Rothesay County Championship match against promotion rivals Derbyshire at the Central Co-op County Ground.After high winds prevented any play on Monday, Derbyshire made up for lost time by reducing Glamorgan to 99 for 6 in helpful bowling conditions.But Carlson combined watchful defence with selective aggression to score 94 from 178 balls and shared a seventh wicket stand of 94 with Timm Van der Gugten who made 37 as the visitors recovered to 259.Luis Reece showed why he is the leading wicket-taker in Division Two by claiming 4 for 67 while Anuj Dal finished with 3 for 29 from 16 overs.Derbyshire, who need to win to have any chance of overtaking second-placed Glamorgan, closed on 17 without loss.After rain delayed the start by 30 minutes, Derbyshire’s decision to bowl first on a green pitch was quickly rewarded with Glamorgan’s openers falling in the space of seven balls.Reece claimed his 40th first-class wicket of the season when Asa Tribe played across the line in the fifth over and Zain Ul Hassan quickly followed, edging Ben Aitchison behind.There was plenty of assistance for the bowlers and Derbyshire exploited the conditions by bowling a challenging length to put pressure on the batters.Sam Northeast edged Reece just short of second slip before he had scored and with Carlson was starting to rebuild the innings until Zak Chappell claimed Derbyshire’s first bowling point.Chappell brought one in to trap Northeast lbw which brought in Colin Ingram who reached the milestone of 10,000 first-class runs before lunch.Glamorgan did well to go in at the interval only three down but they collapsed at the start of the afternoon session, losing three wickets in six overs.Reece found some inswing to get the ball between Ingram’s bat and pad before Dal struck twice in consecutive overs.Dal’s consistent off stump line forced Billy Root to steer to gully and when Chris Cooke edged his first ball to first slip, Glamorgan were in serious trouble.But not for the first time, Van der Gugten played a valuable innings to help Carlson guide the visitors towards respectability.He was solid in defence while Carlson became more expansive after reaching 50 from 120 balls.He twice pulled Rory Haydon for six and at tea, the pair had added 77 from 144 balls to take Glamorgan to 176 for 6.Carlson deserved what would have been a fourth hundred of the season but he was denied by a brilliant one handed catch at slip by Aitchison who plunged to his left to hold an edge off Dal.Aitchison then ended Van der Gugten’s stubborn innings by finding some lift to have him caught behind but Andy Gorvin and James Harris continued the lower order resistance.Derbyshire took the second new ball but the pair secured a batting point before Reece had Harris caught behind and the innings ended when Gorvin miscued to mid on.Reece then opened with former Glamorgan batter Aneurin Donald and they safely negotiated five overs to end an absorbing day 242 runs behind.

Martin O’Neill has now confirmed that he will “step aside” when Celtic find their next manager and revealed that there has not been any talks with the club about taking a permanent role.

O’Neill insists he has no idea whether he will remain at the helm for Celtic’s next match against St Mirren amid reports that the Hoops have stepped up their search for a new permanent manager.

The 73-year-old has been in caretaker charge of the Scottish champions for the last four games since Brendan Rodgers resigned two and a half weeks ago.

It has been reported this week that the Celtic board have been interviewing candidates, with Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy emerging as the new bookmakers’ favourite.

Other names mentioned includes Kieran McKenna at Ipswich Town and Kjetil Knutsen. Whether the Hoops can lure either of those names away from their current positions at Portmand Road and Bodo/Glimt is the question that everyone’s asking.

Reports have claimed that Knutsen wants to at least complete his side’s Champions League campaign, which could end in January in the earliest scenario. Meanwhile, there have been no signs that McKenna will be leaving Ipswich anytime soon.

As Celtic’s search goes on, O’Neill has continued to roll back the years. In his four matches, the 73-year-old – assisted by Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham – has overseen two Scottish Premiership victories, a Europa League defeat by Midtjylland and an extra-time win over 10-man Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.

Celtic now tracking Maeda replacement who Jamie Carragher called "special"

The Bhoys are in search of attacking quality.

ByTom Cunningham Nov 14, 2025

The final against St Mirren takes place on December 14 and there are some who would like to see the veteran remain in charge for the Hampden showdown in order to add to his trophy haul from his glittering first spell in charge in the early Noughties.

O'Neill insists no talks with Celtic board

To no surprise, O’Neill has been questioned a number of times about the Celtic job, but his answer remains the same. He will “step aside” as soon as the club no longer need him and, despite rumours, there have been no talks about the permanent job.

The 4-2-3-1 tactician has done a solid job so far and may yet get the chance to continue that job after the international break, but admitted that he’s not bothered whether he’s in charge for the Scottish Cup final in December, saying: “I am a romantic and have been a romantic all my life. I know the history of football and all of those particular things but that doesn’t bother me one jot.”

Celtic hold talks to sign "talented" manager who's like a young O'Neill

The 20-team tournament will be played at three venues in Sri Lanka and five in India

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2025The ICC has finalised Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai as the venues in India for the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka as well. It is understood the ICC has shortlisted two venues in Colombo and Kandy as the three venues in Sri Lanka.The T20 World Cup is set to begin on February 7 and will conclude with the final in Ahmedabad on March 8. According to PTI, the ICC is likely to release the schedule next week, with just about three months to go for the start of the tournament. It is understood that the majority of the participating countries have been waiting for the ICC to inform them about the grouping of teams as well as the schedule. The ICC is also yet to release ticketing information for the tournament.Pakistan will play all their games in Sri Lanka as per the agreement reached between the BCCI and PCB for India and Pakistan to play at neutral venues during multi-nation tournaments hosted by the other country. If Pakistan make the final, the fixture will be held in Sri Lanka.The 2026 T20 World Cup will have the same format as the previous edition – 20 teams split into four groups of five each, with every team playing the others once. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super-eight stage, where they will be placed into two groups of four. The top two sides from each Super-eight group will then qualify for the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-final will meet in the final.Apart from hosts India and Sri Lanka, the other teams with automatic qualification to the tournament were the top seven teams from the 2024 T20 World Cup – Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, United States of America and West Indies. The three teams that qualified on the basis of their T20I rankings were New Zealand, Pakistan and Ireland.Canada took the lone spot from the Americas Qualifier. Italy, first time T20 World Cup participants, and Netherlands qualified from the five-team tournament in Europe. Namibia and Zimbabwe grabbed the two spots from the eight-team Africa qualifier before Nepal, Oman and UAE made it from the Asia-EAP round.India are the defending champions, having beaten South Africa in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados.

And does Sunil Gavaskar hold the record for scoring the lowest percentage of career runs in wins?

Steven Lynch26-Aug-2025Matt Breetzke just scored his fourth half-century in his fourth ODI. Has anyone else done this? asked Harvey Osborne from South Africa
By scoring 88 against Australia in Mackay last week, South Africa’s Matthew Breetzke became the first man to reach 50 in all of his first four one-day internationals: he started with 150 against New Zealand in Lahore in February, added 83 against Pakistan two days later, and then started last week with 57 against Australia in Cairns.Although Breetzke is the first to reach 50 in his first four ODI matches, there is another man who did it in his first four innings: India’s Navjot Singh Sidhu started his ODI career during the 1987 World Cup with innings of 73, 55, 51 and 55 – but that run included a match against Zimbabwe in which he did not bat.Only two other men have scored half-centuries in their first three ODIs, and both were representing Netherlands: Tom Cooper and Max O’Dowd.Australia’s top three all made centuries in the recent ODI in Mackay. Was this a first? asked Mike Roberts from Australia
Australia’s huge total of 431 for 2 against South Africa in Mackay last weekend included 142 from Travis Head, a round 100 by captain Mitchell Marsh, and an unbeaten 118 from Cameron Green. It was the fifth ODI innings to contain three centuries, but only the second time these had come from the top three in the order, after South Africa (439 for 2) against West Indies in Johannesburg in 2015, when Hashim Amla made 153 not out, Rilee Rossouw 128 and AB de Villiers 149 from 44 balls at No. 3. De Villiers’ century needed only 31 deliveries, the ODI record: Green’s 47-ball ton in Mackay puts him joint 11th on that list.Here are some more statistical highlights from the weekend’s match.No batter is repeated in Kraigg Brathwaite’s (left) haul of 29 Test wickets so far•AFP via Getty ImagesWhen Sam Konstas made his Test debut he was the youngest player in the side by about 11 years. Was this a record? asked Dean Harrison from Australia
Sam Konstas made his Test debut for Australia in Melbourne last year at 19: unusually, there was no one in their twenties in that Australian side; the next youngest was Marnus Labuschagne, who was 30 at the time.The age difference between Konstas and Labuschagne (about 11 years three months) is indeed a record for the youngest member of any Test side. Previously the record was nine years four months, between Aaqib Javed (aged 16) and Saleem Malik (25) for Pakistan against New Zealand in Wellington in 1989.There are a few bigger gaps between the most senior member of a Test team and the next oldest. The biggest of all is 17 years nine months, between Miran Bakhsh (aged 47) and Pakistan’s captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar (30) in two Tests in India early in 1955.In the very first Test, against Australia in Melbourne in 1877, England’s James Southerton – the oldest Test debutant of all, at 49 – was nearly 14 years older than his team-mate Tom Emmett, who was 35.Although Sunil Gavaskar scored more than 10,000 Test runs, only 1671 of them came in winning causes. Is that the lowest in terms of percentage in a career, among players who scored a minimum of 3000 runs? asked Kumar Bhagat from the UAE
You’re right that only 1671 of Sunil Gavaskar’s 10,122 Test runs came in victories. That’s 16.51%, which actually isn’t too bad for a time when India won rather less often than they do now. Among those who scored 3000 Test runs, there are 11 men whose percentage in wins is lower than Gavaskar’s: they include four other Indians – Vijay Manjrekar (270 out of 3208, or 8.42%), Polly Umrigar (456/3631, 12.56%), Ravi Shastri (492/3830, 12.85%) and Chandu Borde (504/3061, 16.47%).Lowest of all is Bangladesh’s Habibul Bashar: he scored 3026 Test runs, but only 149 (4.92%) came in wins. Two famous names come next: Hanif Mohammad made 3915 Test runs for Pakistan, but only 285 (7.28%) in wins, while John Reid’s 3428 runs for New Zealand included just 297 (8.66%) in victories.Who has taken the most Test wickets without ever dismissing one batter more than once? asked Ayan Ghosh from India
The leader here is a current player, although he’s out of favour at the moment and so might not get the chance to add to his tally. The West Indian opener Kraigg Brathwaite has taken 29 Test wickets so far, all of them different batters.Mohammad Ashraful of Bangladesh dismissed 21 different batters, and Sajeewa de Silva of Sri Lanka 16. Travis Head of Australia has dismissed 16 different men so far. The Surrey and England pair of Mark Butcher and Gareth Batty both took 15 Test wickets, all different people.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Chelsea have made a solid start to the season under Enzo Maresca despite being presented with a fair few obstacles, and the Blues briefly climbed to second in the Premier League table last weekend.

Maresca’s approach has been defined by extensive squad rotation, a strategy that has drawn both praise and criticism.

The Italian has made 93 changes in total this season, a staggering number and more than any other Premier League side. This rotation policy could reflect Chelsea’s depth and ambitions to compete on all four fronts, even if Maresca reportedly isn’t completely satisfied with the squad right now.

That being said, injuries and suspensions have significantly tested that depth this term.

Levi Colwill remains a long-term absentee after sustaining an ACL injury during pre-season training in August, ruling him out for most of the campaign and likely England’s Euro 2026 preparations. Superstar forward Cole Palmer has also been sidelined with a niggling groin injury since September, with Maresca initially expecting him to return shortly after the last international break before the recovery timeline was extended by six weeks.

The England international missed a full month of action and was targeting a return in December, but he is now expected to return before the end of this month and could feature against Barcelona in the Champions League.

The striker department has been particularly affected by injuries. Summer signing Liam Delap sustained a hamstring problem early in the 2-0 win over Fulham in August, leaving him out for two months, and following his return from a lengthy layoff, the forward’s comeback quickly turned into a disaster.

Delap picked up two needless yellow cards against Wolves, prompting fury from Maresca, who labelled his conduct ’embarrassing’.

After Roméo Lavia’s latest in a long line of injuries since joining from Southampton, Chelsea’s medical room is starting to feel overcrowded again, but the west Londoners have done well to navigate it with Colwill, Palmer, Benoit Badiashile, Enzo Fernández, Pedro Neto, Dario Essugo, Delap, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos and Josh Acheampong all missing at various points.

Chelsea became the first team in history to win all five UEFA club tournaments back in May, and as Maresca looks to build upon that feat, their form on paper suggests the club have every chance of doing so.

BlueCo’s ownership appears to finally be reaping dividends, but it hasn’t always been this way.

There’s been a fair few trial and error, high-profile mistakes since Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly took over the club in 2022, not least their deal for ex-Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang admits Chelsea transfer was a "big mistake"

Speaking to YouTube content creator Troopz, via ESPN, Aubameyang himself has now admitted that joining Chelsea was a “big mistake”.

Aubameyang signed for Chelsea in September 2022 for a reported fee of around £10 million, reuniting with his former boss at Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel. However, Tuchel was sacked just days after the Gabonese’s arrival, setting the tone for a disastrous spell.

He was handed his first Premier League appearance in October, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-1 away victory over Crystal Palace. The now-Marseille striker made 21 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, scoring just three goals, and all three of them came in the space of ten days that October.

By February, he was dropped from the Champions League squad by Graham Potter, highlighting his fall from grace, and he didn’t fare any better under Frank Lampard either. Aubameyang struggled for form and consistency, and just 10 months after signing, the 36-year-old left Chelsea and signed a three-year deal with Marseille on a free transfer.

He’ll go down as one of, if not the worst signing of BlueCo’s tenure — so the feeling of regret will be pretty mutual in London.

How the cricketing world reacted to the news of Kohli’s Test retirement

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-20251:38

AB de Villiers: ‘I did get a hint that Kohli would retire’

Virat Kohli on Monday announced his retirement from Test cricket, sparking reactions from the rest of the cricketing world. Cricketers, both current and retired, took to social media to pay tribute to Kohli, who played 123 Tests in 14 years.

As you retire from Tests, I'm reminded of your thoughtful gesture 12 years ago, during my last Test. You offered to gift me a thread from your late father. It was something too personal for me to accept, but the gesture was heartwarming and has stayed with me ever since. While I… pic.twitter.com/JaVzVxG0mQ

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) May 12, 2025