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The seed was planted in Nelson back in March, when a bungled run-chase saw England squander the chance to go 3-0 up in a T20I series against New Zealand.England ended up winning 4-1 and, while the White Ferns threw on some fertiliser with a consolation win in the last of three ODIs, England captain Heather Knight believes the root of her team’s domination of the return tour can be traced back to that third T20I.Now, England are on the cusp of securing an undefeated home summer at Lord’s in the fifth and final T20I after sweeping the ODIs against New Zealand 3-0 and beating Pakistan 3-0 and 2-0 in T20I and ODI series respectively.Related

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“That T20 that we lost in New Zealand, Amy Jones actually spoke brilliantly after that and talked about her fears in T20 chases, and actually made a conscious effort to address that mentally and how she wants to go about chasing,” Knight said at Lord’s on Wednesday.”She spoke really well in front of the group around that, and I think that was quite infectious really, and was a bit of a fire-starter for us wanting to be a bit more ruthless and really nail teams when we are on top. That’s something that’s going to be so important in tournament cricket.”I think our skill level has continued to improve as well. That New Zealand loss in the T20 series where we didn’t chase down a score that we should have was a bit of a catalyst for us to ultimately not let that happen again, and when we’re really on top, to really nail teams.”Against Pakistan, the ‘nailing teams’ objective remained beneath the surface with England winning but without the ruthless streak that has blossomed while hosting New Zealand.England went unbeaten against Pakistan and can do the same against New Zealand•Getty Images

“A lot of people have said to me, ‘New Zealand haven’t been great’. But I think we’ve been awesome,” Knight said. “I think the way we’ve kept their key players quiet probably needs a little bit more credit, to be honest.”The way we’ve played and put them under pressure, and been relentless when we’ve been on top and trying to keep them quiet has been great. We are desperate to finish this summer unbeaten. It’s not something we’ve done very often. It’s our last game of the summer and we want to continue what we’ve done.”The White Ferns’ batting has let them down against England’s top-class bowling attack, led by spinners Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn and Charlie Dean. That has coincided with the hosts showing off the depth of their line-up, with several batters finding form. It has also left England with some difficult selection decisions ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October.Maia Bouchier appears to have secured an opening berth alongside Danni Wyatt, with both having rested at various stages of the T20I series to give Sophia Dunkley a chance to show her improvement after losing her place following the tour of New Zealand and rediscovering her touch in regional cricket.In both matches she has played, Dunkley has made solid starts with 35 and 26 and her versatility in being able to bat up and down the order could earn her a place in the squad as the spare batter.”She’s looked completely at home again,” Knight said. “She’s got us off to some brilliant starts in the two games that she’s played and that is something that Sophia does give us when she’s at her best. For me, it looks like she’s back towards her best. That decision is pretty tricky around the players that we have and that’s a really good place to be.”Sophia Dunkley has won her place in the squad back•ECB via Getty Images

Mahika Gaur, England’s teenage left-arm seamer, has thrown up another conundrum after missing the early part of the summer to complete her high school exams, then picking up a side strain which has kept her out and prompted her to withdraw from the Hundred to continue her rehabilitation.”It’s tricky,” Knight said. “She hasn’t played a huge amount for England because of her exams and then injury. We were hoping she could get a few games in this series, but that side issue has obviously come back and I think the thing with young players, you have to be really careful – particularly young, fast bowlers – with how you manage them and not push them too far.”She’s not completely out of our plans, but it does make it harder for us to pick her now obviously with those seamers that we’ve got performing really well.”England look set to take a spin-heavy attack to Bangladesh. Lauren Filer offers raw pace to offset her relative inexperience at international level, fellow seamer Lauren Bell is starting to see the benefits of changing her action and Nat Sciver-Brunt is increasing her bowling load after a knee problem. Freya Kemp, who has added to England’s batting depth, is also returning to her allrounder role after a back injury.If Pakistan and New Zealand’s performances have made putting England’s into context difficult, it’s worth looking back to their tour of India late last year, where they lost the Test but won the T20I series 2-1, and last year’s Ashes, where England won both white-ball series in a drawn campaign after Australia won the Test.”I guess we’ve proved in the last 12 months that we can beat anyone on our day,” Knight said. “The Ashes series last summer showed that, particularly in the white-ball series, how we played, winning those series 2-1.”But ultimately we’re just trying to keep improving as well. That’s been a really pleasing thing: [not just] the way we’ve played, but also the fact that as individuals, we’re still trying to get better, we’re still trying to work on things.”We know other teams around the world are going to be doing that. We can only look after ourselves as a team and try and keep moving the game forward and playing how we want to. Bangladesh will be a tough test to see if we can do that in a big tournament as well.”

Afghanistan booked their place in Super Eight, thereby knocking New Zealand out of men’s T20 World Cup 2024, after a seven-wicket win over PNG in Tarouba.Their win was set up by new-ball spells from fast bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq that saw PNG lose five wickets inside the powerplay. A total of four run-outs did not help PNG’s cause either as they were dismissed for 95.Afghanistan romped home with 29 balls to spare with Gulbadin Naib staying unbeaten on 49. The result meant that for the first time since 2014, New Zealand bowed out before the semi-final stage of a men’s World Cup – ODI or T20.With six points and a net run rate of 4.230, Afghanistan lead Group C.

Naib douses a brief spark from PNG

A target of 96 would not have worried Afghanistan. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran had added century stands for the opening wicket in each of their first two games. Gurbaz had struck fifties in those outings. As a result, the middle order had barely had time in the middle. On Thursday, Afghanistan’s worst fears nearly came true.Semo Kamea, brought in for vice-captain Charles Amini, almost struck first ball when Ibrahim was ruled out lbw. He used the DRS to his benefit but lost his stumps three balls later while trying to attack an inswinger from Kamea. In the next over, fast bowler Alei Neo knocked over Gurbaz, who also charged down to heave one across the line. PNG could have put even more pressure on Afghanistan had wicketkeeper Kiplin Doriga hung on to Naib’s outside edge in the fifth over.PNG were left to rue those chances on a surface with dry grass, which, as Daren Ganga had said in his pitch report, contributed to variable bounce. The proof was in Azmatullah Omarzai’s dismissal when a length ball from Norman Vanua barely got up and bowled him.But Naib, in the company of Mohammad Nabi, countered the conditions to ensure Afghanistan faced no further hiccups.

Vala run-out triggers collapse

PNG made almost the right start after being sent in. A double through fine leg, a single through point, a cut shot for four – they were ticking along without any risk. But it all went south when captain Assad Vala was run out in the second over. Going for the third run, his bat was in the air at the non-striker’s end when Gurbaz nailed a direct hit at the bowler’s end. Had Vala slid his bat, he would have been safe.Papua New Guinea lost four wickets, including Norman Vanua, to run-out•Associated Press

Farooqi then did what he does best: flummox batters with swing. He had Lega Siaka caught behind by Gurbaz diving full length to his right and then, on the next ball, Sese Bau also nicked one behind.When Naveen got Hiri Hiri to chop one onto his stumps on the first ball of the fourth over, PNG had lost four wickets in nine balls. Batting first on a used surface that hosted the West Indies-New Zealand clash just 24 hours ago, that was handing over advantage on a platter.

Doriga leads mini-recovery for PNG

When Naveen crashed through Tony Ura for his 50th T20I wicket, PNG were reduced to 30 for 5. PNG needed to bat a few overs safely at that point, and Chad Soper and Doriga did that for 24 balls while scoring 16 runs. But in the tenth over, both were guilty of ball-watching, which resulted in Soper being run out.Doriga then used the slog sweep and sweep to rotate strike against Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad. Neo punished the seamers when they bowled on his pads. The pair was effective without being enterprising and added 38 off 34 balls.Once Doriga was done in by a wrong’un from Noor to be trapped lbw, PNG lost their last three wickets for just seven runs.

Kane Williamson is set to replace Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam at Durban’s Super Giants (DSG) ahead of SA 2025-26, ESPNcricinfo understands. DSG had bought Taijul for R500,000 (approx. US$28,858) at the mega auction in September, but he’s set to miss the upcoming fourth edition of the SA20.Williamson, meanwhile, had made his debut in the tournament when he represented DSG last season, but was released by the side despite being their highest run-scorer. He scored 233 runs at an average of 46.60 and a strike rate of 118.87 in eight games. DSG finished at the bottom of the table.Williamson’s return to the SA20 continues his foray in the franchise world. Last month, he was appointed Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) strategic advisor in the IPL. Earlier this year, after his maiden stint at the SA20, he played in the Hundred for the first time in his career and in the Vitality Blast after seven years. Soon after, Williamson signed only a casual agreement with New Zealand Cricket to have flexibility in playing overseas.Related

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Last week, he also retired from T20Is with the T20 World Cup only three months away.At the SA20 next year, Williamson will join Noor Ahmad (retained), Sunil Narine and Jos Buttler (both pre-signed), among others, as DSG look to improve on their performance from last season.The fourth edition of SA20 begins on December 26, with DSG playing the opening game against MI Cape Town in Cape Town.

Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful has been named as batting coach for the team’s upcoming series against Ireland.Ashraful was part of one of Bangladesh’s greatest moments in history. He was only 20 years old when he led the team to a stunning upset of Australia in 2005. That century was part of a career which spanned 177 ODIs and yielded 3468 runs, the fifth highest for his country. Ashraful also played 61 Tests – becoming the youngest player to score a hundred – and 23 T20Is and was active in domestic cricket as recently as two years ago.Mohammad Salahuddin resigned as assistant coach on Wednesday and will depart at the end of the Ireland series next month. He was brought in to support head coach Phil Simmons in November 2024. Salahuddin was in charge of the batting unit having spent nearly three decades coaching at various levels in Bangladesh and developing strong relations with the current group of players.Related

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A difficult 2025, where the team suffered T20I series defeats to UAE, Pakistan and most recently West Indies, ODI series defeats to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and Test match losses to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe added pressure on the team and its management. Salahuddin had pushed back against it during a press conference in July when he said “after coaching for 27-28 years, I am hearing that there are lots of complaints in the team against me. I really would like to know about those complaints. Best if it was given to me in writing.”Ashraful’s own career was not without its ups and downs. In 2013, he received a lengthy ban from all BCB related cricket activities for match-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League. He was eventually brought back to the fold three years later and lately has branched out into coaching. Last month, Ashraful had voiced displeasure at the trend of Bangladesh top-order batters not providing enough for the team. Now he has been given the chance to do something about it.

Harry Brook is ever the straight-talking Yorkshireman. He will fly to New Zealand on Friday night to captain six white-ball internationals but knows that there is one question occupying England fans’ minds more than any other: when he returns home from Australia in January, will he bring the Ashes urn with him? His response: “I bloody hope so.”England’s recent record in Australia is dreadful, but their quiet optimism about this winter’s series has been reinforced by the revelation that Pat Cummins is increasingly unlikely to play in the first Test. Australia have played down the severity of his back injury, but Andrew McDonald conceded on Friday that Cummins is “running out of time” before November 21.Cummins’ absence would be a shame for the series, but can only be seen as a boost to England’s chances. Brook said that Australia have “a hell of a lot of good bowlers” who could deputise, but Cummins’ package of leadership, pace and skill is impossible to replicate and England know as much.”He is an amazing bowler and has been for many years,” Brook said at Thursday night’s PCA awards ceremony, in partnership with Toyota. “He bowls at high pace, with high skill. With him out of their side for the first game, from what we’ve seen, hopefully that plays into our hands… [But] we can’t take anybody lightly.”Related

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The series will be the biggest challenge of Brook’s career to date: it is his second Ashes series, but his first in the country where England have lost 13 of their last 15 Tests. He has built a remarkable away record – he has scored seven hundreds in his first 11 overseas Tests – but has only played in Pakistan and New Zealand, and will head down under with his eyes open.”I don’t know what I’m stepping into,” Brook said. “I know it’s a massive thing, but I’m still trying to get over that India series. That was awesome to be part of: to play 25 days out of 25 was mega. That was the most intense series I’ve ever been part of. If the Ashes tops that, I will be a very happy man.”It is obviously intense. I can’t even remember much about the 2023 Ashes, if I’m honest. It’s a very similar group of players that we’ll come up against: a very strong bowling attack and on home soil they’ll present different challenges. I haven’t had too much experience of the pitches out there, so I have to stay in the moment as much as possible and play what’s in front of me.”England’s series against India was the “most intense” that Brook has experienced•Getty Images

Brook’s experience in Australia is limited to a short spell at Hobart Hurricanes as a 22-year-old where he did “horrendously”, and a walk-on role (56 runs in five innings) in England’s T20 World Cup win three years ago. “I see white-ball and red-ball as completely different sports, if I’m being honest,” he said. “I’m going out there with a clear mind.”He started manically in his first Ashes series, hooking compulsively as England let a strong position slip at Lord’s, but played priceless innings in their wins at Headingley and The Oval to secure a 2-2 draw. His return of 363 runs at 40.33 featured four half-centuries in nine innings, and Brook played down the potential significance of scoring his first Ashes hundred on this tour.”That’s not something I really think about,” he said. “I want to be a match-winner. If the team is in a little bit of trouble, I want to get us out of it, which so far in my career I’ve done fairly well. If that’s getting 75 and getting us out of trouble for a little while and gets the team into a better position, I’d rather that than get a hundred and lose the game.”Brook’s captaincy experience in the white-ball team may yet be called upon in the Ashes•Getty Images

Another potential challenge for Brook in Australia is the prospect of captaining a Test match for the first time, after his appointment as Ben Stokes’ deputy. He described the role as “an honour” but does not expect to be called upon: “I see Stokesy playing all five Tests, if I’m being honest. I think he’ll power through, even if he has a little niggle.”Brook’s promotion means a return to the ranks for Ollie Pope, whose position at No. 3 looks increasingly precarious – even if Brook described him as a “vital part” of England’s side: “I dropped him a couple of messages a couple of weeks ago, talking about golf mainly. I don’t think he’s too bothered. He’s just happy to still be in the squad.”Stokes has not played competitively since damaging a shoulder muscle while attempting to bowl England to victory in the drawn Manchester Test against India; perhaps Brook’s biggest role as deputy will be to save him from himself: “Because he wants to bowl long spells, that can sometimes be to his detriment… Everybody in the world knows what he’s like.”