England's youngest male Test cricketer Rehan Ahmed will have a first chance to shine in white-ball internationals after being called up for next month's ODIs and T20I matches against Bangladesh.
The Leicestershire spinner was 18 years and 126 days old when he played against Pakistan in Karachi in December, taking seven wickets in the match as England completed a Test series clean sweep at the National Stadium.
He was left out of the squad heading to New Zealand for two Tests in February, but Ahmed will have the chance to make his debut in both short formats in March after being selected for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, which is followed by three T20I games.
England are World Cup holders in ODIs and T20Is, and Ahmed will be joined by a fellow uncapped player after Somerset batter Tom Abell was also included.
Lancashire paceman Saqib Mahmood features in the ODI squad as he returns to the England fold after recovering from a stress fracture of the back, while Jos Buttler captains the teams.
The series will see the teams play ODIs on March 1, 3 and 6, and T20Is on March 9, 12 and 14.
England ODI squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Tom Abell, Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
England T20I squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Tom Abell, Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
West Indies to host South Africa, England and Bangladesh in busy year of cricket
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced an action-packed schedule for the West Indies Men, featuring three international home tours against South Africa, England and Bangladesh, from May to December 2024.
The home tours begin with a visit from South Africa, for three (3) T20 Internationals (T20Is) at Sabina Park, prior to the start of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The Proteas then return to the region, after the West Indies Test Tour to England in July, with a two (2) Test Match Series to be played in Trinidad and Guyana, followed by a second three (3) match T20I Series at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, ahead of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Following a white ball tour away to Sri Lanka in October, the West Indies will welcome England to the Caribbean for a white-ball tour consisting of three (3) CG United One Day Internationals (ODIs) and five (5) T20Is. The series will be played across Antigua, Barbados and Saint Lucia with travel packages on sale from today from CWI’s Official Tour Operators.
Bangladesh then completes the action-packed year with an all-format tour before Christmas with two (2) Test Matches in Antigua and Jamaica, three (3) CG United ODIs in St. Kitts and three (3) T20Is in Saint Vincent.
CWI Chief Executive, Johnny Grave urge fans to rally around the West Indies team for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup, as well as for the three home series.
“West Indies will welcome South Africa, England and Bangladesh to eight of our host countries in the West Indies, including Saint Vincent for the first time since 2012. With significant improvements being made to the National Stadium in Grenada and Windsor Park in Dominica we were unable to host International cricket there this year, but we are already looking forward to returning to both venues in 2025," Grave said
"Fans can purchase tickets online from Friday for the first Series against South Africa in Jamaica and with our official travel partners for the England Tour later this year, with all other tickets expected to go on sale in July after the ICC Men’s T20 World. We urge fans to rally behind our Men in Maroon as we strive for a historic third T20 World Cup title and seek to secure all important points in the ICC World Test Championship," he added.
Full Schedule
South Africa Tour
May 23 – 1st T20I @ Sabina Park, Jamaica – 3 pm (Eastern Caribbean time)
May 25 – 2nd T20I @ Sabina Park, Jamaica – 3 pm
May 26 – 3rd T20I @ Sabina Park, Jamaica – 3 pm
July 31-August 4 – Four-Day warm-up @ Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad – 10 am
August 7-11 – 1st Test @ Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad – 10 am
August 15-19 – 2nd Test Match @ Guyana National Stadium – 10 am
August 23 – 1st T20I @ Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad – 3 pm
August 25 – 2nd T20I @ Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad – 3 pm
August 27 – 3rd T20I @ Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad – 3 pm
England Tour
October 31 – 1st ODI @ Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, Antigua – 2 pm
November 2 – 2nd ODI @ Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, Antigua – 9.30 am
November 6 – 3rd ODI @ Kensington Oval, Barbados – 2 pm
November 9 – 1st T20I @ Kensington Oval, Barbados – 4 pm
November 10 – 2nd T20I @ Kensington Oval, Barbados – 4 pm
November 14 – 3rd T20I @ Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia – 4 pm
November 16 – 4th T20I @ Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia – 4 pm
November 17 – 5th T20I @ Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia – 4 pm
Bangladesh Tour
November 15-18 – Four-Day warm-up @ Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua – 10 am
November 22-26 – 1st Test @ Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, Antigua – 10 am
November 30-December 4 – 2nd Test @ Sabina Park, Jamaica – 11 am (ECT)
December 8 – 1st ODI @ Warner Park, St. Kitts – 9.30 am
December 10 – 2nd ODI @ Warner Park, St. Kitts 9.30 am
December 12 – 3rd ODI @ Warner Park, St. Kitts – 9.30am
December 15 – 1st T20I @ Arnos Vale, St Vincent – 8 pm
December 17 – 2nd T20I @ Arnos Vale, St Vincent – 8 pm
December 19 – 3rd T20I @ Arnos Vale, St Vincent – 8 pm
Pant selected for India's T20 World Cup squad after car-crash recovery
Rishabh Pant will hope to lead India to T20 World Cup glory after being selected in their squad, just over a year after undergoing surgery following a concerning car crash.
Wicketkeeper-batter Pant was involved in a near-fatal car collision in northern India in December 2022 but comes back into the international fold just 16 months after the incident.
The 26-year-old's performances in this season's Indian Premier League have secured his place in the 15-man squad, having scored 398 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 158.6 for the Delhi Capitals.
Pant is one of two wicketkeepers named in the squad for the tournament starting on June 1 in the United States and West Indies, alongside Sanju Samson.
Despite not previously featuring in a World Cup squad, Samson has impressed in the IPL after accumulating 385 runs in nine innings, striking at a rate of 161.1 for the league-leading Rajasthan Royals.
India captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Hardik Pandya will lead the side in the United States and West Indies, though Pant and Samson's inclusion leaves no place for KL Rahul or Jitesh Sharma.
Yuzvendra Chahal did not feature in either T20I squad in the recent series against South Africa and Afghanistan but was another India star included based on their IPL showings this year.
Leg-spinner Chahal, who will be joined by Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the spin-bowling department, has 13 wickets at an average of 23.5 for the Royals this term.
Jasprit Bumrah heads the pace-bowling lineup with Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh, while Hardik and Shivam Dube present all-rounder options with the ball.
Dube offers a decisive alternative with the bat, too, having top-scored with 124 runs across three innings in the home series against Afghanistan in January.
At the top of the order, Yashasvi Jaiswal will likely open alongside captain Rohit, with Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav providing some high-class backup lower down.
India face Ireland in New York on June 5 to start their World Cup campaign before meeting rivals Pakistan, USA and Canada.
India's provisional squad:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Tape ball programme can help England find unorthodox talent – Richard Gould
The England and Wales Cricket Board hopes to unearth a new seam of talent beyond the game’s traditional league structure with a national tape ball scheme that allows players to thrive without “whites, willow and leather”.
The practice of using a soft ball wrapped in electrical tape to aid swing and variable bounce is a common one in Asia, where it has helped produce express pace bowlers like Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and spinners such as Rashid Khan and Shakib-al-Hasan, but has been slow to enter the mainstream conversation in the United Kingdom.
The Chance to Shine charity has long pioneered tape ball cricket as part of its engagement hubs and now, with the ECB keen to live up to its lofty aspiration of becoming the most inclusive team sport in the country, it is at the heart of a new core cities programme designed to engage ‘diverse communities in urban areas’.
Speaking at a launch event where games were hosted in a warehouse space in Birmingham, ECB chief executive Richard Gould was optimistic about reaching out to those with an interest in cricket but limited access to the pavilions and prepared pitches in the club setup.
“We talk about clubs with picket fences around them. In the past that has been seen as the preserve of the ECB. We’ve missed a complete trick on that,” he said.
“When we talk about the recreational game we’re not just talking about Premier League clubs and village cricket clubs now. We’re talking about all forms of cricket that take place.
“You can play the game anywhere, any time, with anybody, in any environment you want. You don’t have to have whites, willow and leather to do it. You can just pick up a bat and a ball and have some fun.”
As well as fulfilling its remit of reaching out to all comers at a grassroots level, Gould also believes there are benefits to finding cricketers with different styles who have learned the game outside the traditional, private-school heavy pathways.
“Without doubt there are,” he said. “We have to get out and try to find the talent. More to the point, we have to try and find talent in areas that we haven’t normally looked for it.
“I do think county pathways will be looking to make sure they don’t miss out on this talent. It’s just about punching through all of our normal procedures and finding ways to both get people in the game and unearthing that talent which may be unorthodox and great.”
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