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Hobart Hurricanes opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s unbeaten half-century secured a thrilling four-wicket win over Adelaide Strikers.Wyatt-Hodge, the golden cap owner for most runs for the season, paced her 72 not out off 57 to perfection to get the undefeated Hurricanes home with two deliveries to spare.Strikers fast bowler Darcie Brown (4 for 16) had threatened to win the match for her side with equal career-best figures, which allowed her to wear the golden cap for most wickets for the summer to date.Hurricanes pace bowler Hayley Silver-Holmes hit consecutive boundaries in the last over off Megan Schutt to secure victory at Bellerive Oval as they chased down Adelaide’s 134.Related

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Wyatt-Hodge, who now has 251 runs in just four games this season, took 18 runs from 19-year-old Eleanor Larosa’s first over in the WBBL, including four boundaries in a row highlighted by some delightful timing through the offside.Lizelle Lee (12 runs) flicked a six with ease over deep square leg before chopping on a Brown delivery after a breezy 33-run opening stand. Brown had her rhythm working and bowled stump-to-stump. Nat Sciver-Brunt tried an ill-conceived ramp and heard the death rattle.Next on Brown’s hit list was Nicola Carey who was well caught at first slip by Amanda-Jade Wellington. Then a fast Brown yorker went straight through Heather Graham.Though wickets fell at the other end, Wyatt-Hodge kept finding the boundary when she needed to and picked up her ones and twos as well.Hurricanes are doing everything right in the early stages of the season. Their bowlers are picking up wickets with regularity and their fielders are backing them up with quality work.Strikers never got going early in their innings after being sent in and the pressure built and built. Carey’s inswingers tied up the Strikers and she made the early breakthrough to get rid of Tammy Beaumont.Adelaide’s best batter Laura Wolvaardt was well caught at mid-off by skipper Elyse Villani from the crafty offspin of Lauren Smith. Seamer Heather Graham (2-23) knocked over Madeline Penna with a peach of a delivery that seamed in and after 10 overs the visitors had dawdled to 3-45.Captain Tahlia McGrath appeared to be finding the form that has eluded her in the opening round but couldn’t kick on. Wicketkeeper Bridget Patterson (24) was another who failed to make the most of a start.Strikers legspinner Wellington (33 not out off 21) was the most creative and effective batter in her late cameo. Left-arm orthodox turner Linsey Smith (1-11 off four) gave nothing away in a wily spell for the Hurricanes.

England captain Heather Knight has become the latest player to agree terms with Somerset ahead of the launch of Tier 1 professional women’s county cricket next summer.Knight had previously represented Berkshire, having come through the Devon pathway, and captained Western Storm to two Kia Super League titles in the regional system. She was appointed to the Somerset board in an advisory role earlier this year.Her signing follows that of England spinner Charlie Dean and allrounder Danielle Gibson, a Western Storm team-mate of Knight’s, whose moves were announced earlier in the week. All three are centrally contracted to England, and will play for their county when international commitments allow.”Somerset is a club that holds a special place in my heart, so I’m incredibly excited about this opportunity,” Knight said. “The South West has played an integral role in my journey and it’s a privilege to be able to represent the region that means so much to me.”We have a genuine opportunity to create something special. This is the first Somerset women’s team of the professional era, and we have a duty to those who have gone before and laid the foundations to make sure that we are a team that competes on the field and inspires young people across the region. There is a special heritage surrounding the club and that is something that we will be taking very seriously.”The Cooper Associates County Ground is a special place to play, and I can’t wait for some of the younger players to experience the atmosphere that the members and supporters can generate. The Taunton crowd is passionate and knowledgeable, and we will be doing everything that we can to win games of cricket and give them something to celebrate.”A World Cup-winner, Knight has captained England across formats since 2016, and is currently leading the team on their tour of South Africa.Somerset Women head coach, Trevor Griffin, said: “Heather is a player I’ve worked with for many years, and I’m delighted she will be playing for Somerset when her England commitments allow. She is a true professional who impacts games both on and off the pitch and is an invaluable addition to any side.”I’m sure our supporters will be looking forward to seeing Heather in a Somerset shirt and winning games of cricket for us.”Somerset’s director of cricket, Andy Hurry, added: “Heather is a world-class performer who has shown her quality on the biggest stages across the world. She is hugely respected within and outside the game, and the experience she can share both on and off the field will have a major impact on the team, the club and the region.”It’s an honour to have the England captain committed to the club, and there is no doubt that she will inspire future generations of Somerset players, members and supporters.”

The margin of victory will suggest the defending champions have got their campaign back on track. But it was a less-than-perfect performance from Australia as they beat Ireland by 42 runs to join New Zealand on five points at the top of Group 1. Their net-run rate remains below England’s, which could come into play when semi-final spots are decided.After being asked to bat, Australia recovered from a slow start thanks to a half-century stand between Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh. But Ireland made regular incisions and Australia only brought up their 100 in the 14th over. It was then that Marcus Stoinis and Finch lashed out, against a hapless Mark Adair, whose third over cost 26 runs, to put Australia within sight of 200. The pair shared 70 runs for the fourth wicket before Ireland hauled them back at the death to keep them under 180.Importantly for Australia, Finch notched up his highest score in T20Is since March 2021 and highest in T20 World Cups since 2014. But he injured his hamstring in the process and was off the field from the seventh over of Ireland’s reply. Tim David and Stoinis also picked up niggles, and there will be concerns about how quickly they will heal up. Australia’s next match is in four days’ time, against Afghanistan.In Finch’s absence, Matthew Wade marshalled an attack which was outstanding upfront but took their foot off the gas later on. Ireland were 25 for 5 before Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany got together for a sixth-wicket stand of 43. Tucker ensured Ireland were not dismissed for any record-lows or bowled out for 104 or less (which would have put Australia’s net run-rate higher than England’s). He scored his fifth T20I half-century and was eventually stranded on 71*. Ireland’s semi-final hopes are slim. They have one match left to play, against New Zealand on Friday.Australia’s scratchy start
Australia were slow off the blocks against a disciplined effort from Ireland and took 14 balls before finding their first boundary. David Warner was tentative up front, followed a Josh Little delivery down leg but did not connect, slashed at an Adair full toss but only got it as far as cover and then pulled Barry McCarthy straight to short fine leg to depart for 3. He is yet to get going in this tournament, with 19 runs from three innings so far. Australia were 14 for 1 after three overs and added 24 runs in the next three overs to end the powerplay on 38 for 1 before Marsh smoked two sixes off Fionn Hand. Marsh was looking good but then didn’t move his feet when he tried to cut McCarthy and edged it behind. The Finch-Marsh partnership was worth 52 off six overs and laid a foundation for another strong stand later in the innings.Aaron Finch goes big•ICC via Getty Images

Adair’s awful over
Ireland had mostly kept a lid on Australia, with the run-rate below eight an over until the end of the 14th. And then things went awry. When Adair stepped up to bowl the 15th, Finch and Stoinis tucked in. Stoinis slammed a drive down the ground off Adair’s first ball, then lofted him to long-on – where McCarthy pulled off a great save – and then pulled Adair through short fine. Under pressure, Adair went on to deliver three successive wides before adjusting to back of a length, which Finch pulled for four. He finished with a full toss which Finch deposited over deep backward square to bring up his first T20I fifty of this tournament. In total, Adair bowled 11 balls in that over and conceded 26 runs. Little goes big
There’s plenty of hype around left-armer Little, who will play in the SA20 in the southern hemisphere. He put in another impressive showing against high-profile opposition. He started with two tight overs of mostly hard lengths in the powerplay and then struck in the middle and at the death to ensure Australia did not completely run away from Ireland. After his opening burst, Little was brought back for the 11th over where he set up Glenn Maxwell and removed him for 13. Australia were 84 for 3 and not progressing as smoothly as they may have hoped. He delivered the penultimate over, removing Stoinis and conceding only four runs to finish with 2 for 21 – Ireland’s most economical on the night.Australia on the attack
Ireland got away with one when Josh Hazlewood flicked Andy Balbirnie’s offstump but the bails did not fall. But that was as lucky as they got. In the next over, Balbirne shuffled across his stumps to flick Pat Cummins through fine leg only to be bowled. Two balls later, Paul Stirling toe-ended Glenn Maxwell to mid-off. At the end of that over, Maxwell got Tector to pull one straight to square leg. There was no let up at the other end, where Starc replaced Cummins and blew the Irish middle-order away. He bowled Curtis Campher and George Dockrell with almost identical deliveries that swung into them and beat the edge. Ireland were 25 for 5 inside four overs and chances of another upset had all but evaporated.Tucker shines alone
Throughout the tournament, Balbirnie has referred to Tucker as the batter who will lead Ireland’s line-up into the future and, with his team in disarray, he showed why. He hit Cummins over mid-on for four, two balls after the fifth wicket fell. He was similarly dismissive of Starc and picked up on any small errors in length. Overpitched on the pads? Tucker flicked. Back of a length? He pulled. He took 11 runs off Starc’s third over and 16 off this fourth and got more adventurous as his innings went on. Tucker scooped Starc over Wade, lofted him over the infield and then over mid-off and in total scored 35 runs off the 18 balls Starc bowled to him.

After a thrilling last-over finish in Hyderabad, India romped to an eight-wicket victory in Raipur on the back of an inspired performance from their quick bowlers to take the series 2-0 with one match to go. India’s domination started with a display of swing and seam with great accuracy to bowl New Zealand out for 108 in under 35 overs in an international debut for the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium. Two sharp return catches also helped matters.India chased it down in 20.1 overs after a 51 off 50 from captain Rohit Sharma, who struck seven fours and two sixes before Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan saw the hosts through. It was India’s seventh consecutive bilateral ODI series win at home.Stifling Test-match style bowling from Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj caused the early damage, after India won the toss, to reduce New Zealand to 9 for 3. Hardik Pandya bowled three maidens and picked up 2 for 16 from six overs as New Zealand slipped to 15 for 5, with their top five falling in single digits, after 10.3 overs. Glenn Phillips stretched the score past 100 with the help of Michael Bracewell and Mitchell Santner, but 108 was a total too low to trouble a team that had scored 349 and 390 in their last two games.

Replay – Ind vs NZ, 2nd men’s ODI

You can watch the replay of the second ODI between India and New Zealand on ESPN Player in the UK and on ESPN+ in the USA.

Shami was the first to strike when he followed a few outswingers with one that came in and bowled Finn Allen for a duck in the first over. His swing and Siraj’s wobble seam tied up the top order, and Siraj had Henry Nicholls edging one to first slip in the sixth over.Four balls after Nicholls’ fall, Shami grabbed a sharp return catch with his left hand off Daryl Mitchell to finish his first spell with 4-1-5-2 while Siraj’s read 4-1-4-1. Shardul Thakur and Hardik also got breakthroughs soon after being brought on and kept the pressure on the visitors.1:17

Irfan: Siraj has become Rohit’s go-to bowler in ODIs

Devon Conway eased some nerves by registering the first boundary of the innings in the ninth over but Hardik sent him back with another one-handed return catch in the following over. Thakur also struck when Tom Latham, who had left nearly half of his first 16 balls, chased a wide delivery and handed Gill his second catch at first slip.Fifteen was the lowest score at which India have picked up five wickets in a men’s ODI and it was also New Zealand’s lowest score at five down.Phillips, Bracewell and Santner all bothered India but only briefly. Phillips started with back-to-back fours off Hardik – including a top-edge over the wicketkeeper – before Bracewell dispatched consecutive low full-tosses for fours off Shami in the 19th over. Shami immediately changed from around to over the wicket and banged in a bouncer that ended the stand of 41 when Bracewell nicked behind for 22.From 56 for 6, Phillips and Santner put on a patient stand of 47, thanks to two lives Santner got off Kuldeep Yadav. The first came when Rohit couldn’t hold on to a tough chance while diving to his right at midwicket, and Kuldeep later put down an easier return chance despite getting both hands to the ball over his head.Phillips scored at a good clip during his 36 with boundaries whenever he got loose deliveries from Thakur. Santner, too, chipped in with two fours off Kuldeep after the halfway mark of the innings, but he fell just after New Zealand crossed 100.Hardik started the 31st over with a 112.8 kph slower ball which Santner chopped on off the inside edge, and New Zealand collapsed again. Two long-hops from Washington Sundar saw Phillips and Lockie Ferguson hole out to deep midwicket, and Kuldeep trapped Blair Tickner in front in his eighth over to wrap up the innings.In the chase, Rohit and Gill started patiently as the new ball swung around. Soon though, Rohit turned aggressor, starting with a pull in the second over off Henry Shipley before also pulling Ferguson for six in the fifth over. Whenever the scoring would quieten for India, Rohit would either unleash another pull or manufacture room to dispatch the ball on the off side, including a stunning six over the covers off Tickner. Rohit also used the cut with perfect timing to collect boundaries as Gill waited more patiently for the loose balls to pick boundaries. Rohit also swept and reverse swept Santner to reach a 47-ball fifty but was trapped lbw when a Shipley delivery stayed low in front of off stump.Kohli was stumped off Santner for 11 after he struck Shipley for two fours and Kishan and Gill wrapped up the win by smashing three fours in the space of 11 balls.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has signed with Melbourne Renegades for the upcoming WBBL season.In five of the past seven years, Matthews has played for Hobart Hurricanes where she scored 865 runs at 18.02 and took 41 wickets.Her signing means she will team up with Harmanpreet Kaur in Renegades’ top order.”Any team that I’m part of, I try to bring a bit of West Indian flair to it,” Matthews said. “I really like to go out there and have fun every time I’m out on the field.”As a West Indian, our culture is big hitting and excitement in the field – that’s exactly what I’m looking to bring to the Melbourne Renegades.”James Rosengarten, Melbourne Renegades general manager, said: “Alongside Harmanpreet Kaur, we see Hayley playing an important role in our top four. She brings a wealth of experience at international level and in the WBBL.”Hayley’s ability to impact the game with the bat, ball and in the field – combined with her leadership attributes – makes her an exciting addition to our team.”Although Australia fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck is part of Renegades’ squad having moved from Hurricanes she won’t be available this season as she continues her recovery from the stress fracture of her foot sustained earlier this year.Current squad Sophie Molineux (capt), Sarah Coyte, Josie Dooley, Ellie Falconer, Ella Hayward, Harmanpreet Kaur, Carly Leeson, Hayley Matthews, Rhiann O’Donnell, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb

Pakistan will host seven Tests in 2024-25 in what is set to become their busiest red-ball international home season this century. Bangladesh, England and West Indies will all play Test series in Pakistan between August this year and January 2025.The PCB announced the dates and schedule for the entire home season, which also includes hosting the Champions Trophy. However, it has released only a draft schedule for the Champions Trophy, which is expected to be held from February 19 to March 9 next year.Pakistan’s home season will begin with the arrival of Bangladesh to play two Tests – one each in Rawalpindi and Karachi – from August 21 to September 3, even though Pakistan don’t play home internationals in August traditionally because of high heat and humidity. It is also in the middle of the monsoon season, which makes any cricket more vulnerable to weather interruptions. Pakistan have played only two Tests at home in August in their history – also against Bangladesh, in 2003.Related

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After the Bangladesh tour, England will arrive to play three Tests in Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi from October 7-28.That will be followed by Pakistan’s limited-overs tour of Australia and Zimbabwe, and an all-format tour of South Africa. While the three ODIs and three T20Is in Australia will take place from November 4-18, Pakistan play a further three ODIs and three T20Is against Zimbabwe, all in Bulawayo from November 24 to December 5.Their tour of South Africa will begin with a T20I series from December 10, and ends with the two Tests from December 26 to January 7 in Centurion and Cape Town, respectively.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The home Tests against West Indies will start nine days later. West Indies, whose tour of Pakistan was due in January this year but was postponed due to a busy calendar, will play their matches in Karachi and Multan from January 16-28. However, the three T20Is that were also in the original tour will not take place.All seven home Tests will be part of the World Test Championship, where Pakistan are currently No. 5 on the points table. But the 2024-25 home season is a marked contrast to the one that preceded it, when Pakistan played no home Tests. The last Test in Pakistan was in January 2023, when Karachi hosted a two-match Test series against New Zealand.After the West Indies Tests, Pakistan will also host an ODI tri-series, which will have South Africa and New Zealand as the visiting teams. That will take place from February 8-14, and will comprise four games, all in Multan.Lahore, where the headquarters of the PCB is situated, is not scheduled to host a single fixture in any format until the Champions Trophy, owing to the Gaddafi Stadium being redeveloped. The PCB has said it is confident that the Stadium will be ready for the Champions Trophy, the first ICC event Pakistan will host in 29 years.However, it remains to be seen if India, the only team in the Champions Trophy to not have travelled to Pakistan since international cricket resumed in the country in 2015, agree to make the trip.

Pakistan’s home season 2024-25

Tests against Bangladesh
Aug 21-25: First Test, Rawalpindi
Aug 30-Sep 3: Second Test, KarachiTests against England
Oct 7-11: First Test, Multan
Oct 15-19: Second Test, Karachi
Oct 24-28: Third Test, RawalpindiTests against West Indies
Jan 16-20, 2025: First Test, Karachi
Jan 24-28: Second Test, MultanODI tri-series vs NZ and SA
Feb 8: Pakistan v New Zealand, Multan
Feb 10: New Zealand v South Africa, Multan
Feb 12: Pakistan v South Africa, Multan
Feb 14: Final, MultanChampions Trophy
Feb 19- Mar 9

Former UAE captain Ahmed Raza, 34, has announced his retirement from international cricket. Raza is UAE’s most successful captain in the shortest format, with the team winning 18 of its 27 T20Is under him. UAE also secured a place at the 2022 T20 World Cup under his leadership, which he stated was “a significant achievement of mine.”He is now set to take up a new role as UAE’s assistant coach.”It is with great pride that I’m announcing my retirement from all forms of cricket,” Raza wrote on social media. “After much thought, I believe this is the right time to step away from the game that has given me so much love and respect over the last 17 years. “Representing and leading my country in the great sport of cricket has been one of the greatest honors of mine. I must thank the Board, my colleagues, coaches, selectors and most importantly my late father, who supported and enabled me to live my dream to the fullest. Also, my mother, my siblings and my friends who were there through it all. Lastly and most importantly to my wife, Mehreen, who has been my biggest support system over the last few years.”It’s hard to pinpoint a moment over the course of 17 years, however, leading the UAE to the T20 World Cup will always be a significant achievement of mine.”Whilst there are many that supported me throughout my career – I would like to say a special thank you to Aqib Javed, who contributed greatly to my success and turned a rookie into a thorough professional.”I am looking forward to what the future holds.”Raza’s international career began in 2006 when he debuted at age 17 in the EurAsia Cricket Series against an India A side that included the likes of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. He made his ICC tournament debut the following year against Scotland in the four-day Intercontinental Cup competition and later went on to represent UAE in 108 games across the ODI and T20I formats. One of the highlights of his career was leading the team to an undefeated run in the 2022 T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Oman. It came just under years after one of the most tumultuous periods in UAE Cricket history when he was thrust into the captaincy on the eve of the same T20 World Cup Qualifiers in 2019 where Mohammad Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, and Qadeer Ahmed were suspended for match-fixing just days before the start of the competition. Naveed immediately stood down as captain following the corruption scandal.In August last year, CP Rizwan replaced the left-arm spinner Raza as UAE captain in T20Is with the board deciding to appoint captains with “sole-format focus”. However, Rizwan subsequently was named ODI captain soon after to take over from Raza in that format as well.In the 53 ODIs he played, Raza took 64 wickets and scored 409 runs; in 55 T20Is, he accounted for 37 wickets.

Meg Lanning will continue her break from the game as the Australian domestic season gets underway with the expanded WNCL, but a host of international players will be on display during the opening rounds which take place ahead of the WBBL.Even though they are missing Lanning, Victoria can still call on Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland from their contracted Australia names when they face South Australia while Sophie Molineux will captain the side having taken over during the winter.Related

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South Australia, meanwhile, are stocked with international names. Megan Schutt has been named captain while the side could feature Tahlia McGrath, Darcie Brown and Amanda-Jade Wellington.New South Wales will be captained by Alyssa Healy who will be joined by Ash Gardner against Queensland at North Sydney Oval. Others with international experience include Hannah Darlington and Erin Burns, while pace bowler Maitlan Brown has featured in squads without yet making a debut.

Opening WNCL fixtures

September 23 SA vs VIC, Karen Rolton Oval; WA vs ACT, WACA; NSW vs QLD, North Sydney

September 25 SA vs VIC, Karen Rolton Oval, WA vs ACT, WACA; NSW vs QLD, North Sydney

September 30 NSW vs WA, North Sydney

October 1 QLD vs ACT, Bill Pippen Oval

October 2 NSW vs WA, North Sydney

October 3 QLD vs ACT, Bill Pippen Oval

October 4 VIC vs TAS, Junction Oval

October 6 VIC vs TAS, Junction Oval

Queensland will be captained by Jess Jonassen and their squad features Grace Harris who was a key part of the Commonwealth Games success. Georgia Redmayne has been a regular reserve player for Australia.Western Australia will be able to call on Beth Mooney, who made the big off-season move by switching from Queensland, and breakout bowling star Alana King. Their first opponents, ACT, are the only side without an Australia-listed player.Tasmania, who begin their title defence next month, have Nicola Carey as a current Australia representative while Heather Graham has also featured in recent squads.From the players in Australia’s contracts list announced earlier this year, Rachael Haynes won’t feature having announced her retirement along with the Victoria pair of Tayla Vlaeminck (foot) and Georgia Wareham (ACL) who remain long-term injuries.The WNCL has increased to a 12-game tournament this season with each side playing each other twice before the final. The competition begins on Friday with six sides in action with the fixtures repeated on Sunday. Tasmania and South Australia will play twice in these opening rounds while the other teams have four games.The tournament then resumes in mid-December when Australia will be in India for T20Is, but there should be another opportunity for those players to appear after Christmas before the visit of Pakistan in January. The latter part takes place in February when the T20 World Cup is on in South Africa.

The Hundred will run from August 1-27 in 2023, a shorter window than in its first two seasons as the competition avoids a clash with England’s home international cricket for the first time.England men’s Tests against India (2021) and South Africa (2022) have been previously played alongside the Hundred, overlapping with the second half of the competition, but the tournament will instead dominate the month of August in 2023.A draft fixture schedule obtained by ESPNcricinfo sees the tournament launch in Nottingham, where defending men’s champions Trent Rockets play Southern Brave on Tuesday, August 1, the day after the scheduled fifth day of the fifth men’s Ashes Test at The Oval.The group stage is due to finish on August 24 with the eliminators on August 26 and the finals on August 27. Both knockout rounds are likely to be staged in London following criticism over the travel time involved in the 2022 schedule.The tournament will span 27 days in 2023, compared to 32 in its first two seasons. That shift may be held up as a victory for the counties, some of whom asked the ECB to explore a shorter window for the Hundred as part of their feedback on the reforms to the county schedule proposed unsuccessfully by the Andrew Strauss-led High Performance Review.In practice, the Hundred was always likely to last a shorter period of time in 2023 due to the avoidance of any overlap with international fixtures, opening up broadcasters’ schedules. As a result, there are due to be eight double-matchdays – which see two venues host men’s and women’s fixtures on the same day – in 2023, compared to three in 2022.The Hundred’s future has been in the spotlight this weekend after Sky News reported that a private equity firm had approached the ECB with a £400 million bid for a 75 percent stake in the competition. It appears unlikely to proceed at this stage with the board hopeful that the tournament’s value will continue to increase in coming seasons.The tournament’s critics argue that the Hundred has not been worth the significant investment it has required, pointing to underwhelming free-to-air broadcast figures and a disappointing standard of overseas players; its proponents counter that strong attendances, commercial interest and its transformative impact on the women’s game have vindicated the ECB’s decision to launch its own short-form tournament.Related

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The appointments of Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, two outspoken critics of the Hundred during their time at Surrey, as the ECB’s new chief executive and chairman, might have suggested a change of direction from central leadership, but the tournament is locked into the terms of the broadcast deal with Sky which runs until the end of the 2028 season.Provisional fixtures for 2023 were circulated to Hundred teams’ general managers last week and discussions with players around retentions have already begun. Men’s teams are expected to have the option to retain up to 10 players at a mutually agreed salary band before the draft in March, while the women’s retention mechanism was recently confirmed.Salaries have been frozen and the overseas wildcard has been scrapped after one season. Teams in both the men’s and women’s competition will only have three overseas players in their squad rather than four, with all three allowed to feature in any given playing XI.As a result, the availability of overseas players will be particularly important. New Zealand’s international schedule is clear during August across the next two years and tournament officials hope that Trent Boult will enter the draft as a potential top-bracket pick. Bangladesh, Ireland and Sri Lanka’s players should also be fully available while South Africans and Australians may miss the final week for a bilateral series.While the England men’s schedule is clear during the Hundred’s window, organisers accept that the likelihood of multi-format players being available for more than a handful of fixtures is low. The tournament starts immediately after the Ashes and England’s busy limited-overs schedule in September leads straight into their 50-over World Cup defence in India, meaning some players could skip the Hundred entirely.The ECB held talks with the Caribbean Premier League earlier this month to discuss the competitions’ windows and it is understood that all parties are keen to avoid future clashes. However, they are expected to overlap again in 2023, with space during West Indies’ home season limited by the World Cup in October.The 2023 county season will follow a similar pattern to 2022: the T20 Blast’s group stages will run from May 20 until July 2 with the quarter-finals held the following week and Finals Day at Edgbaston on July 15, while the Royal London Cup will be staged at the same time as the Hundred, with the final at Trent Bridge on September 16.Men’s county and women’s regional fixtures will be released in full on Wednesday, with the Hundred’s fixtures announced at a later date.

Travis Head had “robust” conversations with Australia’s selectors after he was surprisingly dropped for the opening Test in India but believes he has shown he can find success in challenging conditions amid a hasty switch to opening the batting.Head was left out in Nagpur despite a prolific home summer based on his poor returns in Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year. He admitted that having worked hard to adapt his game ahead of the tour, he was shocked by the decision but swiftly returned to the side in Delhi albeit the reasoning was curiously linked as much to his bowling as batting.”The conversations were robust, I guess, and everyone has different opinions,” Head said. “But I respect the coaching staff and selectors. I have a really strong relationship with them so think that’s what made the conversations the way they went because there’s respect both ways and we are able to voice our opinions.Related

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• Green '100% ready to go' for the Indore Test

• Cummins to miss third Test against India after remaining home

“It’s something I didn’t expect coming here, but sometimes that happens and thought I was able to go through that week and prepare myself for another chance… Now it’s making the most of that.”Head made 12 in the first innings in Delhi before edging Mohammed Shami to slip and then produced a sparkling 43 when he opened in place of the concussed David Warner. It was an innings that had put Australia ahead in the game, only for things to come crashing down on the third morning after Head edged R Ashwin.Head’s outstanding form at home – where he has averaged 73.50 over the last two seasons – has come with a blistering approach which has seen him strike at 91.20. He struggled to replicate that in the subcontinent last year, going at 48.40 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but was encouraged by the way he was able to counter Ashwin in Delhi where he scored at better than a run-a-ball against him during the second evening flurry.”I was pleased with the way I was going forward and back, watching length, and a few things I’ve worked on,” Head said of his innings. “It was a small sample piece but over here small sample pieces can be a little bit of gold to hopefully push forward for the next two Tests.”Felt like the way I played the other day was a step forward in that direction. Would have loved to have done it in the previous series, but that’s development, that’s understanding, that’s watching other teams go about it and other players and trying to learn on the go with not much experience in the subcontinent.”Head feels the attack-first mantra that is now instilled in his Test-match batting also puts him in a better position defensively and it was not being able to commit to that philosophy that brought his downfall on earlier tours.”[In] Sri Lanka, especially, when it was more spin-friendly than Pakistan, I found myself sitting on the crease a little bit and probably looking more to defend and waiting to attack, whereas here I’ve come with the approach that I want to attack first and defend second,” he said. “When I do that, and I’ve found it in Australia, my feet move better and I’m in better positions.”With Warner having been ruled out of the final two Tests, Head is all but certain to continue to open the batting in Indore next week. While Warner was defiant about his own future when he returned to Australia, it is far from guaranteed he will have the opportunity to resume his Test career in the World Test Championship final – should Australia qualify – and the Ashes.Whether Head is a viable long-term option remains to be seen – he appears inked in as the ODI opener heading towards the 2023 World Cup – but having been jolted by his omission in the first Test, he is more determined than ever to make himself valuable in any role.”Honestly, after missing out in the first Test, I would bat anywhere the team needed me to get a game. I’ve always said that. I didn’t come here expecting to open the batting last innings but whether it’s opening or No. 5, I’ve got to find a way in both of them if needed for the team.”Australia had a final training session in Delhi on Saturday before flying to Indore, which was hurriedly handed the third Test in place of Dharamsala. Mitchell Starc is expected to return to replace absent captain Pat Cummins who has remained in Australia with his seriously ill mother while Cameron Green will also be back from injury.