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South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has served a one-month ban, commuted from three months, for drug use during the SA20 earlier this year.A statement issued by the South African Institute for Drug Free Sports (SAIDS) confirmed Rabada had failed a doping test on January 21, after the match between MI Cape Town and Durban Super Giants, and he was notified of the result on April 1 when he was in India for IPL 2025. On April 3, his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) said Rabada had returned to South Africa for personal reasons after playing only two matches this season.According to SAIDS, Rabada has since participated in an education and awareness programme to prevent further substance abuse. He can resume playing immediately and could return to action as soon as Tuesday, when GT play Mumbai Indians (MI).Rabada’s sanction is in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) punishment for use of a recreational drug – including cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine or diamorphine. A similar punishment was handed to New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell last year after he tested positive for cocaine during the Super Smash.Related

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• Kagiso Rabada returns home from IPL 2025 for personal reasons

However, there are instances of longer suspensions, which are up to individual boards. Last year, Zimbabwe’s Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta were banned from playing for four months each and fined 50% of their salaries for three months after testing positive for a recreational drug. In that instance, Zimbabwe Cricket chose to impose a sanction longer than the WADA recommendations.It is not expected that Cricket South Africa will impose further punishment on Rabada after it issued a statement on Saturday afternoon calling the incident “regrettable”. CSA is satisfied with Rabada’s “commitment to upholding professional standards” after he apologised through the South African Cricketers’ Association when news of his positive drug test broke at the weekend.”I am deeply sorry to all those that I have let down,” Rabada said. “I will never take the privilege of playing cricket for granted. This privilege is much larger than me. It goes beyond my personal aspirations.”With the matter considered closed, Rabada will be available for South Africa for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia next month, where he is crucial to their chances. Rabada was South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the 2023-2025 WTC cycle with 47 wickets at an average of 19.97.However, not everyone considers the case to be as open and shut as CSA.Kagiso Rabada had left the IPL after playing just two games for Gujarat Titans•IPL

Speaking to SEN Radio, former Australia captain Tim Paine was critical of the statement initially issued by GT to explain Rabada’s absence from the IPL.”It stinks. I don’t like this use around ‘personal issues’, and it being used to hide stuff that isn’t a personal issue,” Paine told SEN Radio on Monday. “If you have a professional sportsman that’s tested for recreational drugs during a tournament in which he is playing, that doesn’t fall under personal issues for me. That falls under you have broken your contract.”That is not a personal issue, that is something that is happening in your personal life. Taking drugs – recreational or performance enhancing – is not a personal issue that can just be hidden for a month. A guy can be taken out of the IPL, moved back to South Africa, and we just let it slide under the rug. Then we will bring him back once he’s already served his ban.”ESPNcricinfo contacted CSA and SACA officials multiple times after Rabada returned home from the IPL and were told he was dealing with a “personal issue”, while some officials claimed not to know anything about why he had come home.

Gujarat Giants’ batting might trumped an all-international Delhi Capitals bowling attack and made up for their own sloppy fielding to clinch a thriller and take a step closer to their maiden playoffs berth. In a stiff chase of 178, Beth Mooney, Harleen Deol and Deandra Dottin came together to pull off a stunning effort by ransacking 103 runs in the last 10 overs that helped them to a five-wicket win with three balls to spare.By taking down the table-toppers who are already in the playoffs, Giants overtook Mumbai Indians to go second on the points table with a better NRR, although MI still have two games in hand compared to Giants’ one. Giants’ win also meant it was the end of the road for UP Warriorz, who can’t make it to the playoffs anymore. Giants and MI will now face-off in a crucial penultimate league game on March 10 in Mumbai.The Giants chase was set up by a steady 44 from Mooney, a wonderfully-paced and unbeaten 70 off 49 from Deol and a power-packed 24 off 10 from Dottin before Kashvee Gautam stole the show when they needed 13 from seven.The combined effort put in vain a classy 92 from 57 from Meg Lanning that was studded with 15 fours after she was gifted two lives by Giants.

Mooney and Deol lay the base

Giants are not known for their power-hitters at the top of the order and they didn’t change their template even in a steep chase. They were 15 for 1 after four overs as Mooney and Deol aimed to stay steady after the early loss of D Hemalatha, whose wretched run of form continued.Mooney went over the infield consistently to collect boundaries and it was the fifth over that kicked things off for Giants. Deol got going with two fours in a 13-run over and repeated the feat in the next over when she used the pace of Annabel Sutherland to push the run rate past six as the powerplay ended.Beth Mooney and Harleen Deol were top scorers for Gujarat Giants•BCCI

With the asking rate at an exact ten, Giants had a mountain to climb. Mooney made Deol run hard between the wickets and when the duo collected four fours in the space of seven balls just before the halfway mark, the chase was truly alive.Capitals had their forgettable moment of fielding too when Deol, on 27, lofted Jess Jonassen down the ground and Shafali went to her right from long-off but the ball burst through her hands and let go of a chance that potentially cost them the match.

The big hits from the big names

Giants were handed a big blow when Mooney found Sutherland at long-off off Minnu Mani in the 12th over, but that meant Capitals had to try and constrain Giants’ big hitters now. And they couldn’t. Gardner got off the mark with a four before smashing a glorious straight six off Marizanne Kapp that brought the equation down to 73 off 43 which soon became 66 off 36.Deol then got a second life, on 45, when Sutherland failed to hold on to a return catch. Gardner unleashed another six, this time off a Sutherland slower ball over midwicket. Deol brought up her first WPL fifty since 2023, off 38 balls, with a boundary to point; and even though Gardner holed out for 22, Dottin and Deol smashed back-to-back sixes to make it 36 off 23. The Capitals quicks took pace off the ball, brought Jonassen back but nothing helped. Dottin smoked Jonassen for 4, 6 and 4 to different parts of the leg-side boundary that shrunk the equation to 16 off 14.Capitals thought they had a chance when Jonassen finished the over with the wickets of Dottin and Phoebe Litchfield, before Shikha Pandey gave away just two off five balls of the 19th over, but Gautam dispatched a length ball over wide long-on. Deol followed it with a four before Gautam hit the winning runs.

Another Lanning and Shafali half-century stand

Lanning and Shafali were living dangerously right from the start. If Lanning’s first scoring stroke was a thick edge off an outswinger for four in the first over, Shafali’s straight loft in the next over just beat a sprinting mid-on to fetch her a boundary too. Lanning took off after that, and even though Shafali didn’t, they brought up their 12th half-century stand in the WPL, easily the most by any pair and for any wicket.Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning added 83 off 54 balls•BCCI

Lanning continued to pepper the boundaries on either side off the front foot as Giants continued to pitch the ball up. Shafali got a life on 15 when Tanuja Kanwar couldn’t hold on to a return catch in the sixth over despite a full-length dive. She looked a lot more confident with two sixes after the powerplay but holed out for 40 off 37 to deep midwicket where Phoebe Litchfield completed a well-judged catch.

Another Lanning masterclass

Lanning, meanwhile, struck seven fours in the powerplay and continued to punish Giants for their lapses. There was action at the other end too – Shafali’s wicket was followed by Jonassen’s when she missed a swinging yorker from Dottin, soon after the batter had survived a stumping chance.Just before that, Giants had also given Lanning a life when Deol almost clung to a juggling attempt after a perfectly-timed leap at mid-off at the start of the 12th over. Deol leapt straight up to intercept the ball with her right hand, attempted a left-handed grab and then even caught the ball with both hands while rotating but the ball popped out when she landed on her elbows. And as the cliché goes, Lanning rubbed salt on the wounds with a glorious inside-out six over the covers for her 34-ball fifty.Giants’ sloppiness wasn’t done for the day though. Soon after Jemimah Rodrigues fell for 4, Lanning could have been run-out on 63 when a mix-up with Sutherland meant Lanning was terribly late on reaching the bowler’s end. But a wayward throw combined with Priya Mishra’s failed attempt to collect the ball extended Lanning’s stay.She next punished Kanwar for two fours in the 18th over and Dottin for another pair of boundaries in the last over. Lanning was on 92 with two balls left in the innings but missed out on becoming the WPL’s first ever centurion as she was bowled by a Dottin legcutter. Sarah Bryce carved the last ball for a six that gave Capitals a total that was strong but not enough.

Two teams who have traversed contrasting paths in the 2024-25 Super Smash will meet on Sunday, for a title that has been eluding them for years.Central Districts, unarguably the form team of the tournament, with six wins in their eight completed games, will be chasing their first T20 trophy since 2018-19. Though Canterbury have only snuck into the final this season they’re more familiar with this territory. They made the final in the past four seasons, but the title kept slipping away from their grasp.Canterbury had last won the T20 title way back in the inaugural edition in 2005-06, when Peter Fulton, their current coach, was an active player along with the likes of Brendon McCullum, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris and Nathan Astle.Will 2024-25 finally be Canterbury’s season? Their captain Cole McConchie believes so. “I don’t think it [being runners-up in the last four seasons] affects our approach,” he said in the lead-up to finals weekend. “That determination and motivation factor is always high. I think any time you get the chance to compete for silverware, you know, we always want to add it to our cabinet.”I think [winning the title] would mean a lot. I think, if we’re honest, we’ll put a big tag on the T20 title. And, you know, it would certainly mean a lot to the boys and the association. You know, very fortunate with the support that we get at Hagley with our friends and family and the cricketing community. And, we’ve had plenty of messages of support from the Canterbury cricket community.”The stars are aligning and shining for Canterbury. After a washout at the Basin Reserve KO’d Wellington and helped Canterbury sneak into the Eliminator, Canterbury’s all-New Zealand attack, led by Matt Henry and a fit-again Kyle Jamieson, pinned Northern Districts down to 110 for 9. At one point in that game, Henry was threatening to emulate Lockie Ferguson by bowling four maidens, but two runs off his final over saw him miss the record. Nevertheless, his 4-3-2-2 was the most-economical four-over spell in New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition.Matt Boyle then cracked 48 off 25 balls to fortify his status as the breakout player of this season. In all, the tall, big-hitter has scored a chart-topping 375 runs at an average of 41.66 and strike rate of 158.22 going into the final. His captain McConchie is enthused by his progress.”You know, [in] the last few years, he showed glimpses in games,” McConchie said. “All of us lads have seen what he does at training, and, you know, he’s a quality striker of the ball, and a quality player. And, you know, he’s worked really hard at his game, and to see him get the rewards is not surprising for us, because we know the sort of quality that he is.”Jack Boyle has been a strong presence at the top for Central Districts•Getty Images

Boyle vs Boyle in battle of the brothers

Tom Bruce, the Central Districts captain, slots in right behind Matt Boyle as the second-highest run-getter so far this season, with 325 runs at an average of 65 and strike rate of 164.14. CD have had other heroes as well: seamer Blair Tickner tops the wickets charts till now, while Jack Boyle, formerly of Canterbury and Matt’s elder brother, has done the job at the top, setting up the platform for Bruce and Co. to launch. In CD’s last league fixture against Auckland, Angus Schaw, Jack’s landlord, brought a challenging chase home.The battle between Matt and Jack will divide the family’s loyalties and add more spice to the final.”Yeah, I think the good part is it’s been different guys have been contributing every game, and that’s all you’re after,” Bruce said. “Obviously as captain, it’s nice to score some runs myself as well and be consistent, but at different games and different times, other guys have stepped up and have really led the way. So really pleasing to see some of the guys show a bit of consistency there and sort of lead from the front, which has been awesome.”For Bruce, who had captained CD to Super Smash glory in 2018-19, the focus is on adding another trophy to his kitty.”Yeah, look, 2018-19 season was the last time we lifted the T20 trophy and it’s the only time in my ten-year career,” Bruce said. There’s a few guys there that played in that game as well, so obviously fond memories for those guys. And saying that, the previous year we got our pants pulled down a wee bit from ND as well, so some not-so-fond memories there. So a lot of guys, it’s their first finals experience, so awesome to see them and to see how they’ll come through the day and through the opportunity.”

Relinquishing the T20 World Cup has done nothing to weaken Australia’s standing in world cricket, according to Danni Wyatt-Hodge, the England batter who knows them best.She is set to contest her eighth Women’s Ashes series, and believes Australia’s batting depth, ruthlessness and home conditions will make them as dangerous as ever in the 2025 edition, which gets underway in Sydney this weekend.Since last year’s failure to reach the final of the T20 World Cup for the first time since 2009, Australia have won all five of their completed matches during the home summer so far – all ODIs – defeating India 3-0 and New Zealand 2-0. During that time, they unearthed the outstanding talent of 21-year-old opening batter Georgia Voll, who averages 86.50 and scores at a strike rate of 108.80, including a century in just her second international match, against India in December.The extent of Voll’s role in the Ashes remains to be seen after captain Alyssa Healy’s return from injury for the rain-affected tour of New Zealand in a batting-only capacity, with Beth Mooney keeping wicket. But Voll was drafted into the Ashes white-ball squads to replace injured allrounder Sophie Molineux after proving herself to be an excellent option for the hosts and a shining example of their still enviable depth, which also includes the more firmly established 21-year-old opener Phoebe Litchfield and 23-year-old allrounder Annabel Sutherland.So Wyatt-Hodge isn’t buying into any suggestion that Australia’s shock World Cup exit leaves them as a diminished side.Danni Wyatt-Hodge comes into the women’s Ashes after a strong finish to 2024 in South Africa•ICC/Getty Images

“No, not at all, they’re a quality squad,” Wyatt-Hodge said in Australia on Monday. “Anyone in their squad that comes in performs. Look at Georgia Voll, she’s had an outstanding start to her ODI career. Anyone in their line-up is capable of match-winning performances. So it’s going to be a massive challenge for us, but one that we really can’t wait for, and especially playing them in their conditions as well adds another challenge.”England proved that they could compete hard with Australia by winning both white-ball legs of the home series in 2023 after losing the Test, which meant points finished level on eight-all and Australia retained the trophy. During that series, Wyatt-Hodge was the second-highest run-scorer in the T20Is, trailing Mooney by just six runs.”We’re going to take confidence from what happened,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “But we’re starting a new Ashes, obviously it’s in their conditions as well. We all know how good the Aussies are, they’re a real quality team, full of world-class players, but we’re really looking forward to the big challenge ahead.”They bat so deep, don’t they, the Aussies? Anyone that comes in is capable of getting some valuable runs for their team. They’re just so ruthless, they just fight and fight till the end, and they are a very hard team to beat.”England went some way to overcoming their own World Cup disappointment when, having been knocked out in the group stages with an uncomposed performance against West Indies in October, they finished 2024 with a successful tour of South Africa. There, they comprehensively won the Test, swept the T20Is 3-0 and dropped just one of their three ODIs. Wyatt was the leading run-scorer in the T20Is and second on England’s batting charts for the tour overall.England won both white-ball legs in 2023 but Australia won the one-off Test and retained the Ashes level on points•Getty Images

On tight schedule: ‘We can’t moan about it’

The 2025 Ashes kicks off with three ODIs from January 12, followed by three T20Is, and then a four-day pink-ball Test at the MCG, which is due to finish on February 2.The schedule of seven matches – potentially 10 days’ play – in the space of 22 days with plenty of travel in between has come under criticism from Jon Lewis, the England head coach, who would have preferred more time to prepare, particularly for the Test. The only warm-up fixture, however, will be a 50-over match on January 9 between England and a Governor General’s XI, where Healy hopes to test recovery on her knee while taking the gloves.”We can’t moan about it, just got to embrace it and make sure that we are prioritising our rest and once we’re on it, we’re on it,” Wyatt-Hodge said of the tight schedule. “We always speak about wanting to be calm and relaxed, but everyone’s different. Someone might need to be the opposite, so it’s going to be a matter of what works for you at the end of the day.”But there’s a lot of hype around the Ashes and the first game. There’ll be a few nerves around, but I think it’s just going to be a matter of who stays calmest for sure and then get your head down. I definitely play a lot better when I’m feeling chilled and calm and relaxed. Obviously I get nervous and there’s a few nerves around, but yeah, definitely whoever stays the calmest will benefit more.”

Questions around India’s batting order for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth grew after Shubman Gill hurt his left thumb on the second day of India’s intra-squad training match at the WACA.He picked up the injury while fielding in the slips and left the field, not to return. It could not be confirmed if the injury will affect Gill’s selection for the first Test, starting November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.Gill has been bating at No. 3, but has also been lined up as an option for the opening slot alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in case Rohit Sharma is not available for the first Test because of the birth of his second child.It has also been learnt that Devdutt Padikkal, who was part of the India A group in Australia, will stay back with the Test squad*. It could not be confirmed, however, if Padikkal will be part of the main squad or the reserves.

Rohit Sharma welcomes second child but still not confirmed to play in Perth

While they await a proper assessment of Gill’s injury, the Indian camp received the good news that Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh had given birth to their second child on Friday. With the due date for delivery close to the Perth Test, Rohit had communicated to the BCCI and the selectors that he might not be available for the series opener.Related

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In the wake of the 3-0 whitewash India suffered against New Zealand recently, Rohit, it is learnt, even considered travelling to Australia to train with the team and return for the birth of his child.It’s not clear yet if he will travel to Perth in time to be available for the first Test.Another opening option, KL Rahul, had left the field during the first day of the simulation match after being struck in the elbow by a short ball. He did not come out to bat later in the day as India’s main batters had another turn at the crease. Rahul did not take the field on Saturday either.Abhimanyu Easwaran is the other option India have for the top of the order.Gill, who batted twice on Friday, made 28 in his first go before being caught at gully off a Navdeep Saini back-of-length delivery. He made an unbeaten 42 upon his return to the crease.

Former New Zealand captain Tim Southee will be at the centre of a selection debate ahead of the first Test against India as the visitors ponder the balance of their attack for Bengaluru and weigh up whether to play three quicks.Southee stood down from the captaincy after the 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka last month and there’s a chance he loses his place in the XI straightaway after a lean run in format where he has taken eight wickets at 73.12 this year.Related

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He is working to discover the “snap” in his bowling action but though be boasts a handy record in India with 20 wickets at 28.70, including his career-best 7 for 64 in Bengaluru 12 years ago, his place will likely be under scrutiny whichever way New Zealand structure their bowling attack.If they opt for just two quicks Matt Henry has a strong case to partner Will O’Rourke who was impressive in Sri Lanka, while if they played three the choice would then be between Southee’s experience or the extra pace of Ben Sears who made a mark on his debut against Australia in March.Head coach Gary Stead said that the discussions between him and Southee after the Sri Lanka series would remain private but acknowledged they were “delicate” and did concede that without Southee as captain it allowed greater flexibility in selection.Matt Henry will be in the mix to return to the side•AFP/Getty Images

“Like all Test tours and series we have reviews at the end of it and Tim and I had a conversation around it, then he made the decision to stand down,” Stead said. “He thought it was in the best interests of the team. I supported his decision around that.”It allows different players to be considered in roles and as a selector and coach you are always trying to put what you think is the very best team out there. With Tim as captain, he was the guy who was starting for us and leading that team and think we were always looking at the options that were best for the team going forward.”An additional factor with the balance of New Zealand’s attack is the impact on the lower-order batting. Mitchell Santner batted No. 8 against Sri Lanka while Michael Bracewell would be another spin-bowling option, but Bengaluru turns out to help fast bowlers, and three quicks were selected, then either Henry or Southee would need to take on the role of chipping in with some runs down the order.”They’ve both scored fifties so that’s always the balance that possibly in New Zealand you think about more, especially if it’s going to be real seamer-friendly,” Stead said. “Think here the first thing you want to do is make sure you’ve got the bowlers you think can take 20 wickets.”Southee is working with bowling coach Jacob Oram on trying to rediscover his wicket-taking form and has been studying video from successful periods in a career which has so far brought 382 Test wickets, leaving him on the brink of becoming just the second New Zealand bowler to 400.”From my conversations with Tim he recognised he hasn’t been at his best but there’s certainly no desire to not get back there,” Stead said. “He’s working hard in the background, he’s doing everything he can and trying to rediscover what that little thing he feels is missing is.”There’s a couple of little technical points Tim’s working on. He’s working with [Jacob] Oram around them. We’ve looked back at quite a bit of video from previous years and times he’s played in India and had success. It’s just trying to rediscover that and find a little bit, I guess you could call it snap back into his action.”Stead added that Will Young was likely to bat No. 3 in the first Test in the absence of Kane Williamson who is recovering from a groin strain. There remains hope that Williamson will be available for the second Test with a call likely to be made during the first few days of the Bengaluru game.India will be without Mohammed Shami but Stead noted the depth of talent India were able to call on. “If they have an injury it doesn’t seem to effect them like other teams. There’s someone else who can come in who is equally adept,” he said. “They have the mass of numbers they can call but they are also very skilful and are an experienced team with a lot of Test caps. They play a brand of cricket that makes it very difficult for you over here but that’s the challenge that’s ahead of us.”

Chris Guest, head coach of The Blaze, has been appointed as England Women’s U19 Performance Lead.Guest, 40, spent three years as head coach of Loughborough Lightning, and latterly The Blaze following the region’s move to Nottinghamshire in 2022, and guided the team to victory in this season’s Charlotte Edwards Cup.Alongside his regional commitments, he also led the England Women U19 World Cup programme as head coach in 2023, as well as the U19 tri-series between Sri Lanka, England and Australia earlier this year.He has also served as assistant coach at Northern Superchargers during the previous three editions of The Hundred.Guest’s new role will incorporate a coaching role, including overseeing the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia next year, while also leading on talent identification from the academy and senior programmes, which will feed into England’s U19 activity.Guest previously worked in ECB pathway coaching at both Derbyshire and Staffordshire.”The pride and excitement of wearing the Three Lions over last few years has been immense and to be able to do so in this new role is an incredible feeling,” Guest said.”With the growth of the women’s game, it’s a privilege to take on this role as it will focus on ensuring our young cricketers get the cricket they need at the right time which I am extremely passionate about.”I thoroughly enjoyed my time at The Blaze. It’s a great place to work and has been massive part of my development and I wish them every success in the future.Richard Bedbrook, the head of England Women Performance Pathways, said: “We are delighted to have Chris on board.”He has vast experience in the women’s game, strong relationships with and knowledge of all our domestic teams and this new full-time role will allow him to help shape the development of our highest potential players in a collaborative fashion before, during and after any international U19 activity.”His qualities have hugely affected the previous England Women U19 environments and we are all looking forward to his inspirational methods influencing future programmes and systems in a positive way.”Director of England Women’s Cricket, Jonathan Finch, added: “The ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup provides fantastic opportunities for our young talent to experience tournament match play against their peers from other countries.”Chris’s appointment allows us to build on those experiences, through closer relationships with the counties, to enhance the support the players get at this age group.”Chris brings a wealth of experience from the women’s domestic game and will play a key role in shaping the experiences young players have on their journey to international cricket.”

Marcus Trescothick will act as England’s interim head coach in their T20I and ODI series against Australia next month, but has not yet decided whether he wants to be considered as a long-term option for the white-ball role.Trescothick, one of England’s assistant coaches, is working with the Test team during their series against Sri Lanka and will leave the team during the third Test at The Oval. He will then link up with the white-ball squads – which are due to be announced next week – at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton ahead of the first T20I on September 11.”It’s not something I’d ever thought about before, until I got this opportunity now,” Trescothick said. “I’m not necessarily thinking any further ahead than the end of the Australia series. I’ve been very much focused on the job we’re doing here [with the Test team].Related

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“You plan your winter: we’re off to Pakistan, then New Zealand. I’m so ingrained in that at the moment, I’ve not really sat down and said, ‘right, this is where I’ll try to go, this is what I’ll try to do’. I’m looking forward to the opportunity, for sure. I’m really excited about doing the job. We’ll work it out a little bit more from there.”Trescothick has never previously worked as a head coach but has expressed an interest in graduating to that role. He spent 18 months as an assistant coach at Somerset after his retirement as a player in late 2019, and has been involved in England’s staff since early 2021.He will be involved in selection and has a close relationship with Jos Buttler – who has retained the white-ball captaincy – from their time at Somerset together. Buttler returned to full training this week after a calf injury ruled him out of the Hundred, and could feature for Lancashire in their T20 Blast quarter-final against Sussex on September 4.England’s T20I series against Australia starts 24 hours after the scheduled close of play on the fifth day of their third and final Test against Sri Lanka, necessitating separate squads – though Jordan Cox may be included in the T20I squad if he is not required at The Oval. “They have a busy schedule,” Trescothick said. “The two series very closely overlap.”The ECB has yet to formally advertise the white-ball role vacated by Matthew Mott’s sacking at the start of this month, but Trescothick could become a strong contender if England perform well against Australia. Kumar Sangakkara is considered the early favourite but has not confirmed – or denied – whether he will apply.Andrew Flintoff, whose Northern Superchargers team missed out on the Hundred’s knockout stages on net run rate in his first role as head coach, could also be a contender. But he will not reprise his recent role in England’s coaching staff against Australia, with the reporting on Thursday that he has not “gelled” with Buttler.

Joe Root has scores of 42, 62 not out, 143, and 103 so far in this series. In general, he averages 67.55 against Sri Lanka, having hit 186 and a 228 in his last series against this opposition as well, those mammoth scores coming in Galle.He sweeps and reverse-sweeps well, tends to be proactive against the seamers, and on the occasions in which he chooses to defend, has one of the best techniques in the game.It is no surprise, that in the approach to the third Test, much of Sri Lanka’s team discussion has centred around this question: “How do we get Root out?”Related

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• Josh Hull, 6ft 7in left-arm seamer, handed England Test debut

• Hull receives first Test call-up as Wood is ruled out with thigh strain

According to senior batter and former captain Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka have rifled through several plans to Root already, but have been forced to go back to square one by Root’s consistent excellence in this series. They are brainstorming again.”We’ve tried a few things against Joe but they were always unsuccessful,” Karunaratne said. “I think the turning points in the matches have been those Joe Root innings. Even when we’ve played at Galle, he’s hit big runs, but the batters around him haven’t scored as heavily. We really need to minimise the runs he’s scoring.”Homework for Sri Lanka’s bowlers is likely to have been dominated by watching replays of Root bat, with analysis of the likeliest strategies that will bring about his dismissal.”We need to look at his past performances more closely, see where he’s got out, and what kinds of things we can do on these pitches. We need to make a new plan based on that.”Counterintuitively, Karunaratne thinks perhaps this can come about by attacking him less.”Maybe sometimes we attack him too much and he takes advantage of that. Some players don’t like it when we ask them to be less aggressive. Sometimes boring batters out can also be a tactic.”Sri Lanka’s other major problem, however, has been the failure of their senior batters, who between them have produced six fifties in 16 combined innings. Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dhananjaya de Silva – have all had a fifty-plus score, and yet have not made significant impressions.”The seniors have talked a lot about how to perform and ease the pressure on the juniors. The juniors have been doing well, especially Kamindu Mendis. Some people adapt very fast to conditions and some struggle. That’s the way the game is. Every game is quite tough.”For Karunaratne, the fact that Root has scored 153 more runs than the next-best England batter, is proof that batting has been difficult.”In England the conditions are tough for batters, and we saw that even their openers struggled, as well as their No. 3. Apart from Joe Root the others also struggled despite this being home conditions for them. We’re playing after a very long time here.”

The West Indian top three of Stafanie Taylor, Hayley Matthews and Shemaine Campbelle ensured a triumphant end to a challenging tour of Sri Lanka, as they anchored a six-wicket win in the third and final T20I in Hambantota to complete a come-from-behind 2-1 series win.Campbelle remained unbeaten at the end on a 30-ball 41 as West Indies chased down a target of 142 with just one ball to spare. The margin of victory however belies the control the visitors exuded in the chase.Taylor and Mathews put on a 60-run opening stand in just 48 deliveries, after which Matthews paired up with Campbelle for a 44-ball 51-run stand. When Matthews fell, trapped leg before attempting to swipe one from Kawya Kavindi across the line, the West Indies were on 111 for 2.With the requirement at roughly run-a-ball, Campbelle navigated the remainder of the chase expertly. The late wickets of Chedean Nation and Aaliyah Alleyne in the 18th and 19th overs conjured some late drama – both dismissed trying to hit out – but some smart running in the final over when just six runs were required ensured there were no further blips.Earlier, having put Sri Lanka in to bat, West Indies got off to the ideal start dismissing Vishmi Gunaratne off just the second ball of the innings, the aggressive 18-year-old top-edging an attempted pull of Chinelle Henry.Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama however responded well to the early setback with a partnership of 55 off 54, before Samarawickrama chipped one back to Afy Fletcher. This was followed by a 25-ball stand of 34 between Athapaththu and Kavisha Dilhari, but then Athapaththu would also fall, caught excellently in the deep by Shamilia Connell – making up for her drop of the same batter a short while earlier.Athapaththu’s wicket in the 14th over and Dilhari’s (26 off 22) in the 16th – caught brilliantly by a leaping Henry at mid-off – fell at inopportune moments for the hosts, just as they might have been looking to accelerate.Some late blows from Ama Kanchana and Nilakshi de Silva pushed the total to 141, but Player of the Series Matthews and co eventually made light work of what could have been a tricky chase.