3:00 AM ET Big picture After the first Test in Antigua ended a couple of hours before the Brazil-Belgium World Cup quarterfinal last week, there was some mock appreciation from Bangladeshi fans; at least their cricket team didn’t clash with the football. Some even suggested that if the second Test ends by the third afternoon,
Cricket
3:46 PM ET Andrew Fidel Fernando Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusingha and manager Asanka Gurusinha have accepted they will not participate in the Test series against South Africa, after the ICC concluded its hearing on the trio, who had pleaded guilty to a level three spirit of cricket offence. The ICC tweeted
7:52 AM ET To get your mind around exactly how ridiculous South Africa’s pace gifts are at present, consider this: Dale Steyn, almost certainly the greatest fast bowler of his generation, has the worst average among the frontline quicks in his squad. His 419 wickets have come at 22.32; Vernon Philander averages 21.46, Kagiso Rabada,
1:52 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Cricket Australia have withdrawn Shaun Marsh from the rest of his county contract with Glamorgan after a scan on his shoulder injury revealed ligament and joint damage which threatens to be the start of another lengthy lay-off. Australia will be anxious for Marsh to regain full fitness in time for
3:00 AM ET England 241 (Beaumont 67, Sciver 54) beat New Zealand 118 (George 3-36, Ecclestone 3-14) by 123 runsScorecard England’s women sealed their third limited-overs trophy in as many series this summer, as New Zealand were condemned to a 123-run defeat in the second ODI at Derby. A one-sided contest was sealed with 12
7:00 AM ET Umar Farooq The PCB has confirmed that opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad is the player who tested positive in a recent dope test. Shehzad has been issued a notice of charge. The issuance of the notice comes over two months after the test but Shehzad now has 14 days to respond. Shehzad originally
1:00 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Paul Farbrace, England’s interim coach, has backed Joe Root to bounce back strongly after being dropped for the series-deciding T20I against India at Bristol on Sunday, but reiterated that “runs are the currency” by which all of England’s batsmen need to be judged in the current clamour for white-ball berths.
12:17 PM ET Mohammad IsamESPN Zimbabwe’s tour of Bangladesh, originally slated for January 2019, will be brought forward to October this year. The BCB and Zimbabwe Cricket are in discussion for a new schedule of two Tests and three ODIs. As things stand, Zimbabwe will be in South Africa until at least mid-October, but the
6:17 AM ET Umar Farooq in Lahore Over two months on from the dope test, and three weeks since the results of that test became public, the Pakistan player who tested positive for a prohibited substance is yet to face any action. The player in question underwent a test in Faisalabad during the 50-over Pakistan
Football might be coming home, but cricket isn’t. Not for a while, anyway. After their success against a diminished Australia – defeated 6-0 across limited-overs formats – England were brought crashing down to earth by an India side that look significantly better than anyone England have played since 2015. The real worry for England is