England’s men’s Ashes stars will be assessed before a decision is made on their availability for The Hundred, but those who have had heavy workloads are likely to miss the first couple of matches at least.
A congested schedule that has compressed five Tests into less than seven weeks is set to conclude at the Kia Oval on Monday, with the third edition of the 100-ball competition beginning the following day.
Ben Stokes did not feature at all last year and England’s Test captain mentioned in his pre-match press conference he would be going on holiday at the conclusion of the series against Australia.
Longstanding concerns about Stokes’ left knee – he is planning to have “serious conversations” about having an operation as England are not playing another Test until January – means the Northern Superchargers might not see their talismanic all-rounder for the entire four-week campaign.
Such an outcome would be a blow to the tournament that has faced questions over its long-term viability, although the England and Wales Cricket Board has publicly quashed any concerns, while none of the touring Ashes squad will feature this year.
Fast bowlers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have also had injury niggles before and during the Ashes, so their availability for London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix respectively could be impacted.
Another consideration is the fact the pair are crucial to England’s defence of their 50-over World Cup crown later this year, as is Jonny Bairstow, who plays for Welsh Fire but may be in need of rest after being an ever-present in England’s failed pursuit of the urn on his return from a horrific broken leg.
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Moeen Ali, who has been nursing a sore spinning finger throughout the Ashes, are the others unlikely to be thrust into duty in The Hundred straight away.
An ECB spokesperson said: “Players who have featured in the LV= Insurance men’s Ashes will be assessed at the end of the series and their availability for The Hundred decided accordingly.
“Assessments are made by the England science and medicine team, in consultation with the player.”
Lauren Bell will be absent for Southern Brave’s first two fixtures, as will Sophia Dunkley for new team Welsh Fire, but all other England players that were involved in the women’s Ashes series which finished last week are available from the off.
The men’s and women’s Hundred runs concurrently, with the group stage lasting until August 24, with the eliminator and the final taking place two and three days later.
Roach’s grabs second innings 6-46 as Surrey defeat Warwickshire by nine wickets
A six-wicket haul from Kemar Roach propelled Surrey to a nine-wicket win over Warwickshire on day four of their County Championship Division One clash at the Kennington Oval in London on Monday.
Roach took figures of 6-46 off 14 overs to restrict Warwickshire to 209 all out in 59 overs in their second innings, leaving Surrey needing only 89 to win.
Dom Sibley with 46* and Rory Burns with 30 then led the way as Surrey reached 89-1 in the 23rd over.
Earlier in the game, Warwickshire made 343 in 102.5 overs in their first innings thanks to an excellent 108 from Ed Barnard.
Roach also took 2-81 in the first innings in support of Jordan Clark and Sean Abbott who took 4-64 and 2-51, respectively.
Surrey then replied with 464 in 111.4 overs thanks to 155 off 179 balls from Jamie Smith as well as half centuries from Dom Sibley and Sean Abbott.
Full scores:
Warwickshire 343 off 102.5 overs (Ed Barnard 108, Jordan Clark 4-64, Sean Abbot 2-51, Kemar Roach 2-81) & 209 off 59 overs (Rob Yates 52, Ed Barnard 44, Kemar Roach 6-46)
Surrey 434 off 111.4 overs (Jamie Smith 155, Dom Sibley 64, Sean Abbott 50*, Craig Miles 5-43) & 89-1 off 22.4 overs (Dom Sibley 46*, Rory Burns 30)
Matthews wins third ICC Women’s Player of the Month award
Hayley Matthews has been named as the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for April after spearheading the West Indies’ success in Pakistan across both ODI and T20I series.
Matthews celebrates her third ICC Women’s Player of the Month award after previously winning in November 2021 and October 2023.
Her most recent success comes thanks to an array of eye-catching all-round performances resulting in 451 runs and 12 wickets across both shorter formats.
The West Indies began their tour of Pakistan with three ODIs, and skipper Matthews set the tone early with a dominant display in the opening encounter, blasting an unbeaten 140 from atop the order and following up with three wickets for 17.
More success followed with Matthews replicating her heroics in the third fixture, scoring 141 in 149 balls and taking two wickets for 26 in another comfortable victory to seal the ODI series sweep.
When the attention turned to the subsequent T20I series, the 26-year-old reinforced her position as the top-ranked Women’s T20I allrounder.
Back-to-back half-centuries in Karachi and six wickets at an average of 10.50 told the tale of her series, as she inspired the tourists to another emphatic 4-1 series triumph.
“I am really happy to win the award again. These performances resulted in the team’s success and that’s the most important thing for me as captain,” Matthews told ICC.
“To win in Pakistan was always a big goal. I wanted to perform well and contribute to the team’s success so to be able to have performances and get the results, that was really good and showed that the hard work and the concentration in Pakistan paid off.
“Being able to set some new records and achieve some new milestones as well was good for me so I’m extremely happy. We have confidence and we will take this with us going into the tour of Sri Lanka and look to secure more crucial points in the ICC Women’s Championship.”
Republic Bank CPL launches broadcast talent search
The Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) have launched a region wide talent search to find a presenter for their broadcast of the 2024 season. The CPL Talent Search is open to all Caribbean residents and the prize for the winner will be a contract to be a pitch side presenter for this year’s event.
This groundbreaking initiative will be searching for the next sports presenting super star from within the region with training on offer for the winning participant so that they can hone their talent and use this amazing opportunity as a springboard to a career in broadcasting. This is one of the many CPL initiatives that look to develop the next generation of Caribbean talent, but this is the first time that the focus will be on the CPL broadcast which was watched by 853.5million viewers in 2023.
Those wanting to submit a performance into the contest can do so by sharing them in front of the camera presenting or interviewing someone on social media with the hashtag #CPLTALENTSEARCH.
Paul Pritchett-Brown, CPL’s Head of Production, said: “We are really looking forward to seeing the submissions from the next generation of broadcasting talent from across the region. This is an amazing opportunity to showcase your skills in front of the camera and we are hopeful that we will get a lot of submissions as we search for the next on screen talent.”
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