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David Saker has been appointed as England’s fast-bowling coach for the upcoming Ashes series, reprising a role he has held regularly over the last 15 years.Saker’s appointment comes with confirmation that Tim Southee, England’s current fast-bowling coach, will leave the squad after the first Test in Perth to play in the ILT20.Saker and Southee will work together for the warm-up fixture against the Lions in Perth as well as the opening Test, before Saker will take on the role himself. It has also been confirmed that Paul Collingwood, who has been absent from the coaching staff across the summer due to personal reasons, will not be part of the touring party. The rest of the support staff remains unchanged.Saker has long been a coach that England have turned to. He was the fast-bowling coach from 2010 to 2015, and played a key role when England last won an away Ashes in 2010-11. More recently, he was brought back into the fold for their T20 World Cup victory in 2022 and for the Ashes and ODI World Cup in 2023.The Australian’s official title will be “Specialist Skills Consultant” but he has been brought in specifically to work with the fast-bowling group and to provide local knowledge of how to succeed Down Under.It continues a theme of English, and world wide, coaching appointments where teams opt to hire on a short term basis to provide specific insight into the conditions they are about to face. England themselves hired Mike Hussey and Kieron Pollard for the recent T20 World Cups in Australia and the Caribbean respectively, while earlier this year South Africa hired Stuart Broad as a consultant for their World Test Championship final at Lord’s.While Saker’s appointment comes at the eleventh hour, it is a continuation of England’s long-term plan to take a “battery” of fast bowlers to Australia in an effort to win only their second away Ashes since 1987.England will take arguably their fastest ever seam attack to Australia, with Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts in the squad. Furthermore, with the England Lions also touring at the same time, they will be able to call upon the likes of Sonny Baker, Josh Hull and Matt Fisher if they so wish.Josh Tongue chats to Saker during the 2023 Ashes•Philip Brown/Getty Images

Speaking in September, managing director Rob Key spoke of his excitement for a bowling group “on the up”, with, subject to any late fitness issues, England taking a full-strength attack.”We’ve worked so hard to get to this point,” Key said. “It is the last little step. So we get this bit right and hopefully we have every option available to us going into that First Test in Perth.”England also confirmed that Gilbert Enoka, the mental skills coach who is most famous for coining the All Blacks famous “no d*ckheads policy”, will work with the squad in the lead up to the first Test.Enoka, who lives in Christchurch, worked with the Test squad for the first time earlier this year, and is currently with the white-ball team as they prepare for their series against New Zealand.Related

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“He’s awesome,” white-ball captain Harry Brook said of Enoka. “He’s been around the Test side a little bit and he’s a great bloke. He brings a lot of knowledge to the mental side of the game which is a vital part of cricket and professional sport. To have him in the ranks, just to be able to pull for a chat for five or 10 minutes is awesome.”Ahead of this three-match T20 and ODI series, Brook also spoke of a desire to change his white-ball approach, saying that he’d been “disappointed” with his recent performances in the shorter formats.”I feel like I’ve been premeditating quite a lot,” Brook said to talkSPORT. “And there’s one goal for me this series is just to try and play on instinct as much as possible.”When I’m at my best, I’m hitting straight and then I’m adapting to line and length.”Brook made just one white-ball half century for England across the summer from 11 innings, although his average remained above 30 and his strike-rate was healthy across both formats.New Zealand cricket announced that Saturday’s opening T20 at Hagley Oval will be a sell-out. It is a coup for the series, given the cold evening weather in October and a clash with a domestic rugby final featuring Canterbury that had threatened to hurt ticket sales.”It’s pretty outstanding,” New Zealand’s captain Mitchell Santner said. “Hopefully we can put on a bit of a show and it’ll be a great contest.”Santner also announced his XI for the match, with himself and Rachin Ravindra returning, while Bevon Jacobs, Zak Foulkes and Devon Conway miss out from the squad of 14.New Zealand XI 1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Mark Chapman, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Tim Robinson, 5 Michael Bracewell, 6 Daryl Mitchell, 7 Jimmy Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Matt Henry, 10 Kyle Jamieson, 11 Jacob Duffy

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has suggested that Usman Khawaja could be considered as a middle-order option in Adelaide after overcoming the back spasms that ruled him out of the Gabba contest as the selectors face a key decision over the batting line-upKhawaja’s return to fitness will create an intriguing conversation ahead of the third Test. He will turn 39 during the Adelaide Test and will be the first Australian Test player in 40 years to play at that age if selected.However, the success of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald at the top as created a conundrum. The new pair have shared two 70-plus stands in Perth and Brisbane in rapid time to take both games away from England. Australia had only had three half-century stands in their previous 14 Tests since David Warner retired, with Head involved in one of them with Khawaja in Sri Lanka.Related

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“It worked at this point in time,” McDonald said. “Pink-ball Test at the Gabba, we felt like that combination was right for those conditions and the opposition. We will always ask ourselves the question that the selection table as we move in. At our strategy meetings, we’ll continue to ask questions on what the best line-up is for that point in time. And we’re taking this Test by Test.”The assumption is that Uzzie can only open as well. So I think that he does have the flexibility. And we like to think that all our batters have the flexibility to be able to perform anywhere in that order. So we’ve got a collective sort of group of batters there that as a series wears on, the opposition may create some different challenges for us. We’re open to what it will look like for us moving forward.”Usman Khawaja didn’t recover in time for the second Test•Getty Images

Khawaja’s form was under scrutiny heading into the series – he is now averaging 31.84 since the end of the 2023 Ashes with one century in 45 innings – but he had been consistent for Queensland earlier in the season.When Khawaja was recalled to the Test side in early 2022 during the previous Ashes in Australia he came in at No. 5 when Head missed the SCG Test with Covid. Twin centuries made him undroppable and he moved up to open in place of Marcus Harris when Head returned.McDonald said that since that time there had not been consideration given to returning Khawaja to the middle order. Much of the focus after Warner’s retirement in early 2024 has been finding a partner for Khawaja, which was set to be Weatherald until Khawaja suffered back spasms in Perth.”He’s been a stable piece up there, so we haven’t discussed moving him previously,” McDonald said. “But we’re open to what the batting model would look like moving forward should there be any moving parts. Whether Trav opens, whether he goes back to the middle, that will all play out. We’re taking it Test by Test.”One of the themes of this season has been talk, led by McDonald and Pat Cummins, of potentially having flexible batting line-ups with both coach and captain believing set positions are over-rated.If Khawaja was to return it would be at the expense of Josh Inglis who batted at No. 7 at the Gabba where he made an uncertain 23. However, he pulled off a brilliant direct hit run out to remove Ben Stokes on the opening day.Australia’s squad is expected to be confirmed on Wednesday with Cummins set to be added to the 14 who were on duty in Brisbane ahead of a likely return for the captain.

Prabhsimran Singh’s 68-ball 102 was backed up by half-centuries from captain Shreyas Iyer and Riyan Parag as India A chased down 317 to clinch the three-match unofficial ODI series against Australia A 2-1 in Kanpur.India A were placed comfortably on 262 for 3 in the 35th over during their chase, but they lost five for 39 to lose grip. Vipraj Nigam and Arshdeep Singh then took them over the line, adding an unbroken 21 for the ninth wicket and helping India A win the decider by two wickets.Prabhsimran had set the tone for the victory by adding 83 for the first wicket with Abhishek Sharma in just 11.2 overs. Abhishek and Tilak Varma fell in quick succession but Prabhsimran continued to bat aggressively. He struck eight fours and seven sixes before falling to legspinner Tanveer Sangha in the 20th over.Iyer and Parag launched from the platform Prabhsimran had set, adding 117 off 92 balls for the fourth wicket. While Iyer hit 62 off 58 balls, his second fifty-plus score in three one-dayers ahead of the Australia tour, Parag smashed 62 off 55.However, Sangha dismissed both batters in successive overs, bringing Australia A back into the game. Sangha proceeded to remove allrounder Nishant Sindhu before Todd Murphy struck twice in two balls, sending back Ayush Badoni and Harshit Rana in the 42nd over. Nigam (24*) and Arshdeep (7*), though, ensured that India A closed out the chase with 24 balls to spare.Earlier, Arshdeep and Rana had Australia A in trouble, reducing them to 44 for 4. While Arshdeep removed openers Mackenzie Harvey and Jake Fraser-McGurk, Rana dismissed Harry Dixon and Lachlan Hearne. Cooper Connolly’s 49-ball 64 then resurrected Australia A’s innings, but the hosts found themselves in trouble again at 135 for 6 in 21 overs.Captain Jack Edwards and Liam Scott then added a 152-run stand off 123 balls for the seventh wicket to take Australia A forward. Some useful runs down the order helped Australia cross 300 before they were bowled out for 316 in 49.1 overs. Arshdeep and Harshit picked up three wickets apiece for India A.

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium will host cricket matches for the first time since a stampede outside its premises on June 4 claimed 11 lives during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory celebrations.The venue is one of the hosts for Karnataka State Cricket Association’s (KSCA) K Thimmappiah Memorial Trophy, a red-ball multi-day pre-season tournament comprising 16 teams. The Chinnaswamy Stadium will host six matches in the competition, including one semi-final and the final from September 26. However, fans will not be allowed in the stadium.Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Vijay Shankar, Shashank Singh are among the top Indian stars in participation. The tournament features teams from Mumbai, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal, Chhattisgarh among others.Related

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Chinnaswamy’s return to the cricket calendar also coincides with RCB having broken their social media silence over the tragic stampede. Last week, the franchise communicated to have extended a sum of INR 25 lakh to the families of those who died, while also committing long-term action towards better crowd safety and management.The venue has been at the centre of an ongoing tussle between the KSCA, Karnataka government and the state police – all of whom have been under investigation, along with the franchise, by a one-man tribunal following the June 4 incident.Additionally, KSCA have also run into issues with the local regulatory bodies, including the electricity supply department (BESCOM) that has cut-off power to the venue due to non-compliance of fire safety regulations. An NOC hadn’t yet been received as of Wednesday (September 3). The venue uses generators and solar power for its needs.As a result, the KSCA was denied permission by the police to host the Women’s World Cup, with Chinnaswamy losing out on five possible games, including the tournament opener, a semi-final and the final on November 2.The Maharaja Trophy, the state’s franchise-based T20 competition, had to also be moved out of Bengaluru for the same reason, after the police rejected KSCA’s proposal to stage the tournament behind closed doors. The tournament was eventually staged in Mysore under a similar closed-door arrangement.Late last month, a committee tasked by the state government to investigate the stampede deemed the Chinnaswamy “unsafe” for large-scale events. The commission “strongly recommended” that large-scale events be relocated to venues that were “better suited” to handle significant crowds.Subsequently, Karnataka’s deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar unveiled the government’s grand plans of building a cricket stadium capable of housing 60,000 fans inside a massive 75-acre sports complex in the city’s industrial suburbs.

Essex 366 for 6 (Westley 118, Benkenstein 74, Allison 64) beat Derbyshire 322 for 9 (Came 139, Montgomery 108, Critchley 3-63) by 44 runsHarry Came’s highest List A score of 139 from 120 balls was in vain as Derbyshire Falcons lost to Essex by 44 runs in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup Group A game at the Central Co-op County Ground.But victory for Essex was not enough to qualify for the knock-out stages as Hampshire’s win at Bristol denied them a third-place finish.Came shared a second-wicket stand of 225 from 178 balls with Matt Montgomery, who made 108 off 91, but once Simon Harmer (2 for 45) broke through, the Falcons’ chase of 367 stalled as former Derbyshire all-rounder Matt Critchley claimed 3 for 63.The home side finished on 322 for 9 with all-rounder Martin Andersson unable to bat after injuring a hand in the field.Essex’s 366 for 6 was built around Tom Westley’s 118 from 110 balls, 74 off 48 by Luc Benkenstein and Charlie Allison’s 64 with Zak Chappell taking 2 for 64.Essex chose to bat on a pitch which was used for Friday’s high-scoring game against Surrey and lost Critchley in the second over.Critchley made only 2 on his return to Derby for the first time since he left the county four years ago when he missed a full length ball from Ben Aitchison.Paul Walter marked his first List A game since 2021 by flicking Rory Haydon over the deep square leg boundary and pulled the young spinner Joe Hawkins for two sixes in the 14th over.The Falcons were relieved to see him get a big leading edge to mid-off in the next over but Westley and Allison were soon finding the ropes or clearing them with regularity.After Westley went to his 50 from 60 balls, Allison reached his off 46 by dispatching Hawkins for successive sixes.Hawkins failed to cling on to a difficult chance running back from mid-off when Allison was on 57 but the Falcons broke the stand three overs later.Allison tried to drive the medium pace of Amrit Basra over cover but Caleb Jewell took a good catch above his head.Westley edged a drive at Jack Morley to reach his 100 which came off 98 balls and contained 14 fours and a six but was well caught at deep midwicket off Haydon in the 42nd over.Benkenstein initially struggled to beat the fielders but when he found his range, he did so spectacularly, driving and pulling Haydon for six to reach 50 from 38 balls.He dispatched Morley for two more sixes before a mistimed pull was taken at long on but Harmer’s unbeaten 29 off 20 balls took Essex to an imposing total.The Falcons’ chase started badly when Charlie Bennett moved one in to bowl Jewell in the third over but Came and Montgomery got them back on track.Came advanced to drive Jamie Porter for six and then Montgomery dismissed a free hit over wide long on for another maximum.Montgomery nudged Harmer to the third boundary to reach 50 from 37 balls with Benkenstein’s leg-spin coming in for some harsh treatment.Came completed his 50 off 61 balls and after 25 overs, the game was in the balance with the Falcons on 168 for 1, needing another 199.Essex were struggling to exert any control with Came driving Critchley for six, the pair reaching their hundreds in consecutive overs as the 200 stand came up off 163 balls.Harmer made the breakthrough when Montgomery dragged a drive into his stumps and four balls later he turned one through Basra’s defence.Came drove Shane Snater for six but Essex struck again when Walter’s throw from cover ran out Brooke Guest, leaving the Falcons to score 90 from the last 10 overs.Critchley gave the contest a decisive twist when he bowled Chappell and with the asking rate above 10 an over, Came was stumped to end the Falcons hopes.