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John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, wants his batsmen to “start living above the line” of averaging above 40 on their tour of England and Scotland and beyond. He is counting on a young side, including the uncapped Aaron Redmond and Daniel Flynn, to flourish if New Zealand are to do well.”We’ve got to work above the line, and the line to be successful as an international batsman is 40-plus,” Bracewell told NZPA in Christchurch on Tuesday. “We’ve got to start moving in that direction. We’ve got to start living above the line.”Four New Zealand batsmen averaged above 40 in their latest Test series, against England earlier this year. Thirteen half-centuries were shared among seven batsmen, but only one – Ross Taylor – made a century.Redmond and Flynn now have their chance for debut. Redmond, 28, is almost guaranteed a start, as Bracewell has previously confirmed he will be the first-choice opener. 23-year-old Flynn made his ODI and Twenty20 debuts for New Zealand against England earlier this year but has yet to feature in a Test.Five players will join up with the squad in England on May 1, having been allowed to play in the IPL. Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills will arrive in time for the first-class warm-ups against Essex and England A. The first Test, at Lord’s as is tradition, is one of three and begins on May 15. They will miss two practice matches: a one-dayer against MCC in Arundel on Sunday and a three-day fixture against Kent which starts on Monday.However, Bracewell was excited about the experience the IPL offered, denying that it wasn’t good preparation leading into a Test series. “It’s going to be great for us,” he said of the experience the players would gain playing alongside such players as Australia’s Ricky Ponting.”We go from Twenty20 stuff to one-dayers to Test matches at the drop of a hat on a travel-to-play basis now and these guys are our most experienced players. They’ll be comfortable with their return to the team and what they’ve gained from that. It’s a landscape we’re reasonably used to, but not necessarily at this hype.”Bracewell is excited by “the adventure” of playing in England, and hopes this will fire up his squad. “I loved that bonding culture that you get out of busing around the place,” said Bracewell, who toured there three times between 1983 and 1990. “Those sorts of grounds, so steeped in history… It’s something that scratches my itch and I hope that it scratches the itch of some of our young players.”New Zealand head to England having lost 2-1 at home in their recent Test series. Their last tour of England, in 2004, resulted in a 3-0 win for the home side.

Haryana were in a position of considerable strength at stumps on thesecond day of their North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy match against Jammu& Kashmir at the MA stadium in Jammu on Monday. After being in arrearsby 218 runs on the first innings, J&K were 31 for two in their secondinnings at close.Resuming at 61 for no loss, Haryana declared at 346 for seven.Manvinder Bisla (45) left early but the other opener Bhuvnesh Sharmaand captain Ishan Ganda added 114 runs for the second wicket off 31overs. Sharma was then out for 78. He faced 137 balls and hit 12fours. Sumeet Sharma (13) did not last very long but Ganda and DeepakJoon compounded J&K’s agony by some fine strokeplay. Ganda reached hiscentury but retired hurt when his score was 101. He faced 186 ballsand hit 12 of them to the ropes. Joon’s 40 was compiled off 70 ballsand Amit Mishra contributed a valuable 28 inclusive of two fours and asix.In J&K’s second innings, opening bowler Nitin Aggarwal dismissedMudassar Ashraf and Vimarash Kaw in the space of three deliveries forducks, leaving the home team an uphill task to stave off defeat on thefinal day.

Gerald Majola, the chief executive of Cricket South Africa (CSA), has confirmed Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, cannot be axed from the national selection panel as he is under a contract. The board’s general council, which reaffirmed its stand on the transformation policy, had “removed” Arthur from the panel on Saturday. However, only the board’s professional arm, headed by Majola, had the power to remove him.”Mickey Arthur is contracted by Cricket South Africa (Pty) Ltd, and his contracted duties include being a national selector,” Majola said in a statement. “Only the board of directors of CSA (Pty) Ltd can change this, and therefore the resolution taken at General Council’s teleconference on Saturday to remove Mr Arthur from the selection process is unconstitutional.”I have been in contact today (Sunday) with the convenor of selectors, Joubert Strydom, and have informed him that the same selection panel will finalise the team to tour Bangladesh. The panel comprises Joubert Strydom (convener), Mickey Arthur (national coach), Vincent Barnes (assistant national coach), Graeme Smith (captain), Mustapha Khan (selector) and Shafiek Abrahams (selector). The team will be announced tomorrow (Monday) after three players have undergone fitness tests, namely Hashim Amla, Andre Nel, and Neil McKenzie.”With any luck, Arthur and Norman Arendse, the CSA president with whom he has been having a running battle, will bump into each other in a deserted parking lot sometime soon. Maybe then, with no one watching and nothing more lethal than a pair of jabbing index fingers, we might get to the bottom of this week of Monty Python mayhem. Until then, let’s try and make sense of what has happened.On Tuesday Arendse rejected the squad selected for South Africa’s imminent tour to Bangladesh. He did so, we believe, on the grounds that only four black players were included in the squad and not seven as called for in terms of CSA’s plan for the ongoing racial transformation the game. It doesn’t matter if we euphemise that bit of legislation as a policy or a target: what matters is the number. And that number is seven. Four isn’t even close.Where was Herschelle Gibbs in the wake of his spectacular century in the last one-day international against West Indies, Arendse wondered. And didn’t Monde Zondeki deserve some recognition for the 54 wickets he took in 10 SuperSport Series matches this season? Both are black, which would leave us just one short of the required number.Arthur countered with a similarly sharp perspective. The South Africans return home briefly from Bangladesh before returning to the subcontinent for what is sure to be a challenging series against India. Arthur wanted his best team on the field in Bangladesh to ensure they hit the ground running when they encountered the big brothers next door.Arendse countered that, with a lengthy tour of England looming after the Indian venture, South Africa needed to find out whether players like Zondeki – and other bowlers – were up to international standard.At this point, non-South African readers might wonder what all the fuss has been about. Even allowing for what in other countries would be the novelty of a racially based selection policy, this is the stuff of the average committee meeting, surely. Why all the acrimony?The upshot was that Arendse laid disciplinary charges against Arthur, who duly fired back a salvo of charges of his own against the president. Except that Arendse, as an elected official, was not subject to the same set of rules and regulations as CSA employees like Arthur. So the coach’s charges are unlikely to stick. Instead, Arthur is likely to find himself on the carpet on charges of bringing the game into disrepute in the next day or so, and he might well find himself out of a job shortly after that.

Cameron Green became the highest priced overseas player in IPL history, bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 25.20 crore (AU$4.2 million approx).At Tuesday’s player auction for the 2026 season the Australia all-rounder was the subject of intense bidding between KKR and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before being purchased by the three-time champions.Related

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Green became the ​third most expensive ‌IPL player overall, after India internationals Rishabh Pant (AU$4.46m) and Shreyas Iyer (AU$4.42m).His earnings are capped at just under AU$3 million under a new IPL regulation with the rest of the money paid by KKR going to the BCCI to support player welfare.Green received the news of his lucrative signing while preparing for the third Test against England starting on Wednesday.But Steven Smith headed a list of Australians who went unsold, in his case he did not even come up for offer with none of the teams requesting to bid on him.Unlike Green, whose deal was one of the first completed, Josh Inglis had to wait until approaching 2am Adelaide time to discover his fate. Smith’s fruitless wait was even longer.Cameron Green has earned a bumper deal•Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

“He adds lot to our team, especially with our new power coach Andre Russell, very nice to have a young allrounder,” said KKR’s CEO Venky Mysore of Green. “Him having had IPL experience, we know what he does with bat and ball. Couldn’t be happier.”Green previously played for Mumbai Indians (MI) and ​Royal ​Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but ​missed the 2025 season ​after back surgery,In 29 IPL matches he has averaged 41.58 with the bat at a strike rate of 153.69, with a top score of 100 not out, while he’s taken 16 wickets at 41.50 and an economy rate of 9.07.Green’s price eclipsed Australia team-mate Mitchell Starc’s AU$4m figure for 2024, when also bought by KKR.Starc, now with Delhi Capitals (DC), was not in this year’s auction. He was one of 10 Australians already retained, along with Test team-mates Pat Cummins and Travis Head, both at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).Josh Hazlewood, currently injured, has unsurprisingly been kept on by defending champions RCB.Four other Australians were also recruited. Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings added Ben Dwarshuis (AU$725,000) and Cooper Connolly (AU$500,000) to their coterie of Australians. Matthew Short (AU$250,000) joined CSK and SRH made New South Wales allrounder Jack Edwards (AU$500,000) the only uncapped overseas hire.That brought to 16 the number of Australian players involved in the 19th edition of the IPL, which begins on March 26, with several others among coaching staff, notably Ponting and Justin Langer.

Wellington will host the State Championship final against Canterbury after they used their severely rain-affected match against Auckland as nothing more than batting practice. Grant Elliott, fresh from his Test debut, compiled a career-best 196 not out and Neal Parlane continued his prolific campaign with 110 as Wellington reached 444 at the Basin Reserve. Auckland needed a victory to have any chance of overtaking Canterbury on the points table but there was little they could do as bad weather meant no play was possible until well into the third day. Auckland barely had time to have a bat, fizzling out to 23 for 1 when bad light ended their season.Canterbury were pleased with the rain in Wellington as they conceded first-innings points in their last preliminary match against Otago in Dunedin. They struggled against the all-round efforts of Warren McSkimming, who collected 5 for 56 as Canterbury stumbled to 247 having been sent in. McSkimming then helped rescued Otago from a precarious 134 for 6, scoring 71 and putting together valuable partnerships with Derek de Boorder and Bradley Scott to secure the lead. Todd Astle made an unbeaten 79 in Canterbury’s second-innings 215 for 3 as the match petered out to a draw.At McLean Park, the defending champions Northern Districts managed to avoid finishing on the bottom despite giving up first-innings points to Central Districts, who were left propping up the table. Brent Arnel finished with ten wickets for the match, his first such haul in first-class cricket, but the star was Ross Taylor. His 152 from 111 balls – he reached triple-figures from 85 – brightened up a game that was always heading for a draw. Taylor’s effort came as Central Districts piled on 392 for 9 in their second innings, having scored 390 in the first, when Peter Ingram made 112. Arnel grabbed 6 for 82 in the first innings and four in the second, however his batting colleagues could not quite push in front of Central Districts and finished their only innings at 365, led by Daniel Flynn’s 109. Arnel finished the preliminary rounds as the competition’s leading wicket taker, with 33 at 20.93.

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Central Zone, riding on Faiz Fazal’s 95-ball 58, and a fine all-round display from Piyush Chawla, who took 3 for 47 before scoring an unbeaten 33, defeated South Zone by five wickets to clinch the 2007-08 Deodhar Trophy. Central lead the standings with 15 points after three consecutive wins, and though there’s a chance of West finishing on equal points, Central will keep the title by virtue of having defeated West.Chasing 164 for victory, Central began aggressively, with Naman Ojha leading the way with a 30-ball 29. Central lost Naman and Suresh Raina within the space of three overs, but Fazal did not let that affect his concentration, picking up runs without taking any risks. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, briefly threatened with two quick wickets: he had Mohammad Kaif top-edging a slog-sweep before having Himalaya Sagar stumped with a well-flighted ball.Chawla quickly diminished South’s hopes, blasting two fours and a six as he countered the spinners. Central lost a wicket against the run of play when Fazal holed out to Pragyan while trying to take on S Badrinath’s offspin. But with only 24 runs required, Rohit Sharma made his way to a brisk 21 not out, finishing things off by launching Vinay Kumar beyond the midwicket boundary.South were in trouble as soon as their innings began when both Robin Uthappa and Bharat Chipli fell victim to the swing of Praveen Kumar. Seamer Rajesh Kanojia then struck twice in quick time, dismissing Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik as South collapsed to 41 for 4. But Rahul Dravid, who looked solid during his 70-ball 51, and Arjun Yadav (41) led the rescue act with 56-run fifth-wicket stand.Once Dravid departed, South’s lower order folded up without putting up a fight. Chawla bowled C Raghu and Vinay, both of whom failed to pick up his wrong ‘un before Kanojia returned to have Yadav caught behind. Chawla picked up his third when he had Saurabh Bandekar nicking to the keeper, and soon enough, Raina brought the innings to a close when he dismissed Pragyan.

The first trial of a pink cricket ball took place at Lord’s today with MCC taking on Scotland in a 50-over friendly, as the lawmakers of the game investigate ways to find a more durable ball than the existing white one used in limited-overs cricket.Last year MCC, who have spent £10,000 on cricket balls for the 500 games they will play this year, approached Dr Anthony Bull, a bioengineer from Imperial College, to work with the ball manufacturers Kookaburra and produce a more durable alternative.The white ball has long caused contention with players and officials. Although much more visible than the traditional red-dyed ball against the backdrop of players’ coloured clothing, it is liable to discolour and deteriorate. Outfielders and batsmen are the obvious victims, but the other principle concern is with the delays involved in replacing the ball mid-game. No two balls are the same, either. The pink ball, as Bull explained, is a work in progress. Unlike traditional red balls, whose leather is dyed in a paraffin wax, other colours such as pink are painted on the surface which makes them liable to chip and fray. “For me, it’s about how the colour can stay in the leather, but clearly the technology is not there,” Bull said. “The manufacturers are just doing a paint job, a surface treatment.”Cricket is no stranger to pink in these metrosexually modern days. Matthew Hayden uses a bat with a pink grip to promote awareness of breast cancer, and last year Middlesex’s Twenty20 side strode out to Lord’s sporting salmon-pink kit. The colour of the new ball, however, is incidental. “It could be any colour, that’s the point,” Bull said. “If you can get something into the leather, it could be any colour.” Any colour but orange, it would seem, which was trialled without success in the early 1990s.The lush carpeted outfield and a spongy, green Lord’s wicket in April were not the most testing of conditions for the bright pink ball – abrasiveness is the white ball’s greatest enemy it seems – though it was impressively luminous on a very dull London day. Scotland didn’t appear to have much trouble picking it up, reaching 253 for 7 from their 50 overs, though MCC’s bowlers didn’t appear to gain the same prodigious swing which has characterised one-day cricket with a white ball.The experiments are being driven by MCC, but also by the manufacturers who, as Bull points out, are understandably keen to find a solution.”Manufacturers are very careful about their processes,” Bull said. “They’re putting all their technology into creating the pink ball, but they could apply all the same processes into producing another coloured ball. The red ball is dyed and it goes into the leather. For the pink ball, it is painted on in a very smart way, but therefore it’s very similar to the white ball in the way it is achieved.”Bull and his students have also begun exploratory investigation into the future of bats. The ICC banned Kookaburra’s graphite-reinforced bat on October 1 2006, but Bull is convinced that improvements can be made within the law. “The question for cricket is: do you want bats that allow a nick to go for six,” he says. “That’s the question. We’ve started looking at this very seriously. You could ‘hole out’ bats, or the surface covering of a bat could be of a certain stiffness to influence the characteristics of the bat. Does the sport want to allow that, though?”Most intriguingly of all, Bull believes it would be possible to enhance bats to make a ball travel “20% further” in the current definition of the law. The ramifications of this are obvious and undoubtedly exciting, but the question remains: does cricket want to allow batsmen yet another advantage, and whose responsibility is it to regulate such drastic technological advances in the sport?A pink ball, however, is rather less revolutionary and results from this first trial were encouraging. Bull’s dream goal – indeed, cricket’s too – is to exactly replicate the traditional red ball, which opens up the possibility of having one ball for all cricket.”We’re being led by the cricket world,” Bull said, “where the red ball is the optimum. The whole art or science of bowling, and swinging the ball, [happens with] the red ball, so what we need to do is simulate that with whatever colours we can get. The optimum would be to have one ball, of course, which behaved in the right way [for all cricket].”