• Bowler missed the early weeks of county season• Willey calls chance to join Super Kings a ‘no-brainer’David Willey says Yorkshire threatened to rip up his contract over the 11th-hour move to the Indian Premier League at the start of the season.The al…
Over-by-over commentary from the IPL decider in MumbaiPakistan thump woeful England in first TestAli Martin: Hundred trials could take place in UAEEmail your thoughts to rob.smyth@theguardian.com 11.38am BST Hello. Let us give thanks to England: their …
It is depressing to think that the ECB believes that a great game can only be saved by reinvention in a ‘popular’ formThe announcement of a 100-ball form of cricket is yet more mildly depressing evidence that the glorious game is splitting into two for…
England are missing a trick by waiting until the gifted Sussex all-rounder is 27 and need to put a yorker through the rule bookEven with a week to sit on it there is no obvious easing of the dunder-headed inanity that surrounds the England and Wales Cr…
South Africa’s master batsman says the worldwide response to Australia’s ball-tampering was ‘taken to a level where it really hurt them individually – the way Steve Smith was punished was harsh’With its intense travel schedule, high-speed cricket and e…
The England all-rounder’s appraisal of his Ashes and New Zealand tour reveals something of an identity crisis but he is relishing the IPLWhen Moeen Ali was taken aside by Joe Root in Christchurch last month and told he would sit out the final instalmen…
While the Test side and their counties miss them, the players are making the most of their Indian Premier League experience“I don’t think it will ever be straightforward. It’s down to you as a player to be very honest with yourself and if you want to b…
The England all-rounder recalls his emotional England return after missing the series defeat in Australia, and explains why playing in the IPL is not about the moneyIt’s 6pm at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. A drowsy sun has already slunk below …
• England all-rounder joins Chennai Super Kings as injury replacement• Yorkshire call for cut-off point on such signingsYorkshire have bemoaned “an impossible situation” and demanded the introduction of a cut-off point for Indian Premier League deals a…
‘It’s amazing how quickly things can change in cricket,’ says Sunrisers Hyderabad’s late pick-up for the 2018 IPLWhen Cameron Bancroft took sandpaper to the ball on the third day in Cape Town, it was not just the spark for a funeral pyre that a seeming…
• Yorkshireman urges ‘making it easier to play all three formats’• England likely to be unchanged for fourth ODI against New ZealandJoe Root has spoken for the first time about his disappointment after going unsold in the Indian Premier League auction …
Cricket was set on its lucrative path to the IPL by sport’s first super-agent and an all-star Sunday afternoon competition that forced the MCC into desperate actionIt was exactly 50 years ago this week that the MCC’s Advisory County Cricket Committee t…
• One-day captain and opener remain unsold at second day• Mark Wood and Sam Billings both signed by Chennai Super KingsJoe Root and Eoin Morgan will miss the 2018 Indian Premier League after both were unsold during the tournament’s auction.A total of 2…
• England captain Joe Root goes unsold, along with Chris Gayle• Jos Buttler also signs for Rajasthan, while Woakes fetches £820,000Ben Stokes’ pending court case did little to affect his market value at the Indian Premier League auction in Bengaluru as…
Fresh from success in New Zealand, the 29-year-old is one of many England cricketers among the 578 players up for auctionWith the salary cap up by 20%, 578 players up for grabs and no team having retained more than three members of their last squads, t…
The England all-rounder has no issue with being recalled and missing the tournament’s final and remains focused on the ODI series against South Africa
There are 5,000 miles between England and India and for Ben Stokes, just back from the IPL, Leeds seems a world away from Pune. He is here to prepare for England’s ODI against South Africa on Wednesday and, though Yorkshire is one of the few places on earth aside from India where cricket could fairly be described, to borrow Stokes’ phrase, as “a religion”, they are a little more solemn in their observance of it round Headingley way. “It’s completely different to England,” he says. “They go mad for it. They’ll queue up for five hours just to see Dhoni walk out on to the pitch.” It’s a relief, he says, to be able to “walk across the road and get a coffee” without having everyone pester you for “selfie, selfie, selfie”.
Related: Ben Stokes leads England charge of the IPL brigade against South Africa
• England all-rounder says Kolkata campaign has sharpened his game
• Chris Woakes confident T20 skills can help him in Champions Trophy
Chris Woakes returns to England duty emboldened by his time in the Indian Premier League, having relished the pressured environment of the world’s most high-profile Twenty20 league and the expectations that come with being an overseas cricketer.
Woakes has joined his international team-mates for their pre-Champions Trophy training camp in Spain this week after an encouraging IPL debut in which he took 17 group stage wickets for Kolkata Knight Riders, the franchise who paid £500,000 for his services.
• England all-rounder smashes 103 off 63 balls after coming in at 10 for three
• Stokes fights cramp to live up to his £1.7m price tag against Gujarat Lions
Ben Stokes hit his maiden Twenty20 century despite battling cramp in his calf to lead Rising Pune Supergiant to victory against Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League.
The IPL’s most expensive foreign player was back after missing two games with a shoulder injury, and he lived up to his £1.7m price tag by smashing a brilliant unbeaten 103 off 63 balls as RPS chased down 161 to win by five wickets.
The commentary is awful and the fielding is terrible but T20 franchise cricket positively writhes with energy – the counties cannot ignore the heat and light
Ben Stokes held his nerve pretty well for the first half of the opening over of his Indian Premier League career in Pune on Thursday afternoon. Gliding up to the wicket in aubergine pyjamas, pumped and sweating, endorsing at least seven high-end products and services simultaneously, the most expensive overseas import in the history of domestic cricket fizzed down a couple of tight, straight dot balls and a single to the Mumbai Indians openers Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel.
His fourth ball was pitched up. Buttler stood still and clubbed it hard and flat over long-off for six. The next was short, and Buttler produced something ludicrous, pirouetting outside his off stump and persuading the ball away for a six looped straight back over his left shoulder. Cue bedlam, squeals, flashes, thunder, Kevin Pietersen on comms cooing about “wonderful, wonderful cricket shots” and what looked close to a small riot in the stands.
The commentary is awful and the fielding is terrible but T20 franchise cricket positively writhes with energy – the counties cannot ignore the heat and light
Ben Stokes held his nerve pretty well for the first half of the opening over of his Indian Premier League career in Pune on Thursday afternoon. Gliding up to the wicket in aubergine pyjamas, pumped and sweating, endorsing at least seven high-end products and services simultaneously, the most expensive overseas import in the history of domestic cricket fizzed down a couple of tight, straight dot balls and a single to the Mumbai Indians openers Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel.
His fourth ball was pitched up. Buttler stood still and clubbed it hard and flat over long-off for six. The next was short, and Buttler produced something ludicrous, pirouetting outside his off stump and persuading the ball away for a six looped straight back over his left shoulder. Cue bedlam, squeals, flashes, thunder, Kevin Pietersen on comms cooing about “wonderful, wonderful cricket shots” and what looked close to a small riot in the stands.
