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Just weeks after forecasting a record year ahead, Cricket Australia is facing a multi-million dollar drain from the rapid-fire two-day Ashes opener.A combination of Travis Head’s all-time Ashes knock and Bazball’s cavalier, reckless approach to batting led to the first game of the blockbuster series in Perth ending late on day two.CA are headed for an estimated loss of more than AU$3 million from ticket revenue for days three and four.Related

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A record 101,514 attended the Test – 51,531 on Friday, then 49,983 – to surpass the record set of 96,463 in Perth last year when India won in four days. Day three was also almost sold out.After his innings Head said: “Feel sorry for the people that can’t come tomorrow. I think it was a full house again.”Speaking before play on Saturday, when Australia’s first innings hadn’t even finished, CA chief executive Todd Green half-joked he was worried about the Test not making it to day three.”It’s difficult for a number of different groups,” Greenberg told SEN when discussing the financial impact of a match finishing early. “Our broadcasters first of all.  Certainly us, on ticket sales and our partners and sponsors. There’s a big economic impact on this series.”At the annual general meeting last month, CA announced a loss of AU$11.3 million and took strong criticism from Cricket Victoria chair Ross Hepburn for the financial performance.The loss took in a summer that included a five-Test tour from goliath India.”In a normal scheduling, you’d have the white-ball cricket as part of that [Test] tour, but that’s being played in this financial year,” CA chair Mike Baird said after the meeting in October. If they were in the same financial year, you would have seen a different position.”We’re in a position where it’s a significant uplift, an over $20 million improvement. Hang on to your hats because next year we are going to have a record year in cricket. You’re going to see the most attendance, the most viewership, the most sponsorship.”Foxtel said their broadcast on Friday was the most watched first day of a first Test in their history The Seven Network also reported strong ratings for their coverage on day one.

For about 10 overs, Pakistan threatened what has become rare in recent years, a memorable cricketing contest against India, but ran out of gas against the depth of India’s bowling. Still, 171 was the highest total Pakistan have ever posted batting first against India, but it ended up as all their defences against India have: in defeat, this time with seven balls to spare.Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill crushed the total without ever looking in trouble, starting with a six first ball and adding 105 for the first wicket in just 59 balls, making sure the middle order didn’t have too much to do when scoring became difficult against the older ball. Gill scored 47 off 28, and Abhishek, who had dropped Sahibzada Farhan in the first over of the match, carried on to 74 off 39, and left India just 49 to get off 46 when he was dismissed.Farhan went on to score a fifty to promise a contest but it felt like he had to play out of his skin to get there. He was also culpable in Pakistan’s slowdown, adding just 7 off 11 after reaching fifty as Pakistan went 39 legal deliveries without a boundary.Abhishek Sharma’s explosive innings contained six fours and five sixes•AFP/Getty Images

Even though the chase appeared a walk in the park, the simmering tensions between the sides rose to the surface on the odd occasion. India’s batters appeared to be extra mindful of reassuring each other as the players from the two sides engaged with each other for the first time in more than one-and-a-half matches.India remained the cooler of the sides: Farhan wielded his bat like a gun after reaching fifty, Abhishek blew kisses after reaching his. The celebrations were indicative of the effort taken to reach the respective milestones.

Bumrah’s costliest powerplay

Pakistan protected the struggling Saim Ayub from opening the innings, and it worked with Fakhar Zaman getting off to a flier, after which Farhan carried on. Pakistan raced away to their best powerplay against India, scoring 55 for 1. Jasprit Bumrah bowled three overs in the first six for the third straight match, and registered his costliest T20I powerplay: 34 runs.Sahibzada Farhan slowed down after getting Pakistan off to a quick start•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan get over middle-overs muddle… just about

Coming into this match, the only teams in this Asia Cup slower than Pakistan in the middle overs were Oman and UAE. Pakistan had gone at under a run a ball, but this time they managed to hit three four sixes in overs 8-10, off Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel. The fourth six brought up Farhan’s half-century.Having done the hard work, Pakistan slumped. The slide began against Shivam Dube, whose progress as a sixth bowler through this tournament will satisfy India immensely. Dube didn’t provide the batters any pace, stayed away from their swinging arc, and took out both Ayub and Farhan after they had put on 72 for the second wicket. The quality of Varun and Kuldeep then shone through, as they tied Pakistan down despite taking just one wicket between them. Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten 20 off 8 added respectability to the score, but it always looked light.

Abhishek, Gill blitz through

It began looking even lighter when Abhishek hooked the first ball of the chase for a six. Gill and Abhishek laced the bowling, making full use of the new ball and whatever pace Shaheen Shah Afridi provided them. India’s 69 for 0 was the best powerplay of this Asia Cup, and India’s best against Pakistan.Abhishek kept clearing the infield while Gill kept finding the gaps, and all the while they made sure they stood together whenever a confrontation threatened to materialise. It eventually came to a head with Abhishek and Rauf in each other’s face after Gill pulled the latter for a four.Ashraf provided Pakistan the breakthrough with a ball that seamed in to bowl Gill immediately after he had taken treatment for cramps. Suryakumar Yadav then fell for a duck, but Abhishek kept striking the ball cleanly, taking down Abrar Ahmed, potentially Pakistan’s most threatening bowler. Even though Abrar finally got his wicket, Abhishek took him for 32 off 12 balls including four sixes.

Tilak labours through the last mile

India experienced a brief slowdown similar to Pakistan’s as Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma struggled to come to terms with the old ball not coming onto the bat. Samson managed just 13 off 17, but Tilak saw India through with sixes off Rauf and Afridi in the 18th and 19th overs.

Deepti Sharma gave India the upper hand against England again, although in more conventional style this time, with a match-winning half-century at Southampton for a 1-0 lead in their three-match ODI series.The last time these sides met in an ODI in England, in 2022, Deepti scored an unbeaten fifty to rescue her side from an early stumble then ran out Charlie Dean while backing up on the last ball to seal a 3-0 ODI series sweep at Lord’s.On Wednesday night, Deepti’s unbeaten 62 off 64 balls allowed India to chase down 259 to win by four wickets with 10 balls to spare. Her 90-run partnership for the fifth wicket off 86 balls with Jemimah Rodrigues trumped the corresponding century stand between Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson-Richards, who both passed fifty to take England to 258 for 6.Both sides made a scrappier start than they might have liked to their build-up for the World Cup, which starts in India and Sri Lanka in 11 weeks’ time. India missed chances in the field and made hard work of their pursuit early, while England were forced to defend a modest total after suffering an early batting collapse and ultimately couldn’t take the wickets they needed.India’s top order made starts but could not convert. Lauren Bell removed the threat of Smriti Mandhana, the leading run-scorer by some way on the T20I leg of the tour, via a faint edge to wicketkeeper Amy Jones for a 24-ball 28 in the eighth over.Fellow opener Pratika Rawal faced 51 deliveries for her 36 before she was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone to make it 94 for 2 in the 19th.When Harleen Deol was unnecessarily run out via a direct hit from Davidson-Richards because she left her bat hovering off the ground well beyond the crease while her foot was short of the crease, England were in the contest.And Dean bettered the hosts’ position when she got one to grip from outside off and strike Harmanpreet Kaur on the knee-roll, England’s review bearing fruit when the ball was shown to be hitting middle stump. At that point, India needed 135 runs at just under a run a ball.Deepti took control, striking the only six of the match when she launched Bell over deep midwicket to move into the 30s.She was on 40 when Bell beat her attempted pull and hit the pad, the ball racing away for four leg byes when replays suggested she would have been given out lbw had England reviewed.Rodrigues was on 48 when she messed up an attempted scoop of Lauren Filer, gloving the ball to Jones to give England another opening.Sophia Dunkley’s fifty lifted England•Getty Images

Deepti brought up her fifty off 52 balls sweeping Dean to deep square leg.When Dean had Richa Ghosh stumped advancing down the pitch in her final over, India needed 30 runs off 33 balls but Deepti and Amanjot Kaur saw them home.Dunkley, reprieved on 23 and 43, reached 83 off 92 deliveries before she fell on the final ball of the innings. She shared a 106-run stand for the fifth wicket with Davidson-Richards, who scored 53, to rescue England from 97 for 4.It could have been worse for the hosts had India held their chances. Davidson-Richards was on 16 when Kranti Goud fumbled an attempted return catch and Nat Sciver-Brunt, England’s captain back from a groin injury which kept her out of the last three T20Is, was put down by Mandhana at midwicket off Sneh Rana before going on to score 41.Off-spinner Rana went wicketless from seven overs across her four appearances in the T20Is in her comeback to the format after more than two years. But she took 2 for 31 from 10 overs to be the pick of India’s bowlers in this match, Goud the other multiple wicket-taker with 2 for 55 from nine.Unable to reprise the success of their opening partnership which yielded 424 runs in two matches against West Indies earlier this summer, Jones and Tammy Beaumont both fell cheaply as England slumped to 20 for 2 in the first four overs.That was thanks to Goud, the 21-year-old right-arm seamer making just her third international appearance. She started inauspiciously with a dot ball then three consecutive wides before sending down an absolute gem that nipped back off the seam, beat Jones’s bat and crashed into the top of off stump.It took an India review to give Goud her second when she rapped Beaumont on the front pad as she strode across her stumps, with ball-tracking confirming impact on the top of middle and off.Sciver-Brunt and Emma Lamb repaired the damage with a 71-run partnership for the third wicket. They struggled to find the boundary through overs 13-17, however, as India mixed up their bowling options and it was Rana who removed both in the space of 12 deliveries.Lamb tried to break the shackles and picked out Harmanpreet at mid-off, and a wonderful catch by Rodrigues at short midwicket sent Sciver-Brunt on her way.Shree Charani, Player of the Series with 10 wickets in the T20Is, broke the union between Dunkley and Davison-Richards when she had the latter stumped, despite a fumble from wicketkeeper Ghosh.Dunkley fell on the last ball, bowled by Amanjot’s full-length cutter, a neat cameo of 23 not out from 19 balls by Sophie Ecclestone adding valuable runs but it wasn’t enough.

Angelo Mathews had played more Test cricket than anyone else on the field in Galle, and even he thought the worst Bangladesh could do after making 495 in the first innings was end up with a draw.Sri Lanka did have a small window in which they could have pushed for victory. But having been 4 for 377 at one stage in the first innings, they were all out for 485, which meant they actually registered a ten-run deficit in the first dig. Najmul Hossain Shanto made twin centuries in this game, hitting 148 in the first innings, and 125 not out in the second.”Once you get 400 in the in the first innings, it’s really difficult to lose a game,” Mathews said. “After losing three early wickets, I thought Shanto batted beautifully in the first innings. But it was a tough wicket for the bowlers, to be honest.”Related

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Shanto agreed with Mathews about the state of the surface. Galle is generally a spin-bowlers’ paradise, but even with a lot of sunshine falling on this deck through the Test, it did not produce the kinds of batting collapses it usually does.”The wicket on day five wasn’t as we expected,” Shanto, the game’s top-scorer, said. “We were batting comfortably even on day four. We wanted to get into a position which allowed us more possibilities of winning, and take losing out of the equation.”Their victory push was weakened by rain. Showers came through soon after 11am on Saturday, and play could only resume at 2.10pm. That lost time would have been useful for Bangladesh.”Rain forced us to change our plans,” Shanto said. “I think we were always playing to win the Test. We took our time in the morning as we wanted to see how much the wicket would change. We were batting at three runs an over. If we could bat till lunch, the scenario would have been different. We needed at least 60 to 70 overs [to bowl at Sri Lanka] given the pitch conditions on the fifth day. I am still happy that we took four wickets in the limited time we had with the ball.”Thanks in part to the rain delay, Bangladesh only had 37 overs at Sri Lanka’s batters. The hosts survived, losing four wickets in 32 overs.

Four Glamorgan batters passed 50 to put the hosts in a dominant position for a three-day finish against Northamptonshire at Sophia Gardens.A 141-run partnership between in-form Ben Kellaway and Sam Northeast, scoring 95 and 67 respectively, asserted the lead for the hosts to go with Kiran Carlson’s 54 and Timm van der Gugten’s 61 either side of lunch in a ruthless performance to get the hosts to 424.Andy Gorvin took two wickets in the penultimate over of the day to rue Northants’ chances of a sustaining final 14 overs, leaving the visitors 49 for 3 and trailing by 190 runs.Glamorgan resumed on the morning of day two at 82 for 3, recovering from a wobble of three wickets for two runs the previous evening with Northeast and Carlson carrying on from their day one foundations. Carlson the stroke player of the two reached his 50 in no time, flicking a short ball from Julian Broad for 4, a rare loose delivery for the 3-fer taking bowler, rectifying his mistakes from day one.Carlson frustrated he couldn’t kick on however as he flicked a leg-stump directed delivery directly to square-leg who had been positioned there before the dismissal delivery.The 96-run partnership ending didn’t stop Glamorgan’s momentum however. Kellaway, on the back of three progressively improving career-best scores in three consecutive matches showed deft touch with late cuts off both seam and spin, combined with destructive hitting over long on to come close to catching his skipper up before lunch.A 134-run first session completed with a gritty third 50 of the season for Northeast assured Glamorgan’s dominance in the all-important first couple of hours.Northing would change after lunch unlike on day one. The hosts carrying on their fast-scoring momentum, Kellaway passing 50 with a quick single off loanee, Calvin Harrison, only introduced into the attack in the 58th over.Kellaway’s second consecutive century looked imminent, the only slight of giving his wicket away coming on 89 when Lewis McManus sparingly diving full stretched off a top-edged-hook, that until Harrison found one to rise on the youngster attempting to cut just short of his milestone.With Northeast falling shortly after for a frustrating season best, unable to kick on to three figures, it brought two new batters and seemingly momentum for Northants, still nothing changed.Chris Cooke and van der Gugten next to add a partnership just shy of 100 to the crease proved the pitch to be nullified for when the visitors would eventually get a chance to use it again. Cooke looked aggrieved to give his wicket away on 36 despite a valiant contribution and Northants continued to catch well when the chances did come to wrap up the Glamorgan innings before long, unfortunately the damage done.With a 239-run deficit heading into their second innings after winning the toss, Ricardo Vasconcelos went early. Just 14 overs to survive, James Harris in just his second over removing the opener. The Glamorgan veteran then allowed Luke Procter to settle and score freely until a double-change brought a mini-collapse before close, the Northants top order struggling once more, with the captain the exception.

Surrey dismissed Essex for 217 as events on day one at the Kia Oval followed a familiar pattern.Having won the toss, the champions fielded first on a well-grassed surface and despite Michael Pepper’s 75 they bowled Essex out in two sessions.Australian left-hander Kurtis Patterson led the reply with 51 as Surrey reached 94 for three at stumps, 123 behind.Pepper provided much of the resistance in front of a crowd of 5,861 and helped Essex’s last three wickets add 71 while at the start of the day Surrey didn’t use the new ball particularly well. But Surrey have got themselves into a familiar position and will try to bat into the third day before putting Essex back under pressure in their second innings.There had been the promise of a different story unfolding in the first half hour when Dean Elgar and Paul Walter helped themselves to ten boundaries in the opening eight overs as they posted a half-century stand with few alarms against some unusually indifferent new-ball bowling by Dan Worrall and Nathan Smith. But when Sam Curran, who was making his first Championship appearance of the season, replaced Worrall at the Vauxhall End he broke through with his second ball, which darted off the seam and Elgar edged it to second slip.From 50 without loss Essex slipped to 95 for four as the Surrey seamers profited from bowling a better length. Walter played well for his 38 but was one of three wickets to fall in 7.4 overs for seven runs as the champions tightened the screw before lunch.Wicketkeeper Ben Foakes snapped up a simple opportunity when Walter poked at Jordan Clark’s outswinger but there was nothing ordinary about his next intervention when he dived in front of first slip to remove Charlie Allison after Smith had switched ends – a fine way for Foakes to claim his 450th catch in first-class cricket.Smith had a second wicket before lunch and Foakes a third catch after skipper Tom Westley was surprised by extra bounce and Essex would have been in further strife had Jamie Overton, like Curran playing his first Championship game of the season, not dropped straightforward catches at slip to reprieve first Pepper and then Matt Critchley off successive deliveries. Overton took himself out of the cordon but Pepper apart, Essex failed to make the most of their good fortune.Critchley, aiming to leg, was beaten by Tom Lawes’ late inswing and Foakes had his fourth catch – and Worrall his first wicket – when Noah Thain followed an away swinger. Simon Harmer was lbw unwisely offering no shot when Curran switched ends.But from 146 for seven Pepper led a tail-end revival, first with Shane Snater with whom he added 51 in 65 balls. Snater contributed 28 before edging to second slip in Overton’s third over but Pepper brought up Essex’s 200 by driving Overton handsomely over long-on for six while adding another 24 with Sri Lankan Kasun Rajitha. Rajitha eventually played on to Smith and Pepper holed out to deep mid-wicket for a season’s best 75 from 94 balls with nine fours.Burns was caught at slip aiming an expansive drive at Jamie Porter and Surrey suffered a setback when Patterson was squared up by Porter shortly after the Australian left-hander had reached an attractive half-century. Nightwatchman Lawes fell in the penultimate over but Surrey are still well placed.

A fast bowler who has 25 Test wickets at 22.68 for the year (Lahiru Kumara), a left-arm swing bowler who averages 24.12 in South Africa (Vishwa Fernando), a skiddy right-arm quick with 68 career wickets at 25.97 (Asitha Fernando), and more good options on the bench.Sri Lanka have likely had better quicks than they have now – Chaminda Vaas took 355 Test wickets, and Lasith Malinga burned hot until the injuries overtook him. But Sri Lanka have probably never had the fast-bowling depth they currently command.In Durban, for example, they left out Kasun Rajitha, who himself averages 25.00 in South Africa and is probably their tallest bowler. They also omitted Milan Rathnayake, who made impressive strides – with bat and ball – in England earlier this year.Dhananjaya de Silva knows few other Sri Lanka captains have commanded these kinds of seam-bowling resources.”I’m very happy, because they know their games now, and what they need to do for the team,” de Silva said of his fast-bowling battery. “I think I need to give a lot of credit to Dimuth Karunaratne, because he was the previous captain, and it’s under his leadership that a lot of these bowlers started and developed. As captain I’m able to reap those rewards, so I’d like to give Dimuth aiya the credit for that.”Sri Lanka are about to begin a Test on a green-tinged South African surface, in Gqeberha, and although they may still choose to pick an XI that features their specialist spinner – Prabath Jayasuriya – they have the option of picking four seamers, as they had done at The Oval earlier this year, to excellent effect.Lahiru Kumara has taken 25 wickets in six Tests this year, at an average of 22.68•AFP/Getty Images

“So far we’re still talking about how many fast bowlers we will play and will only make a decision on that later,” de Silva said. “The track here is quite green.”I think in that England series we learned that we can win matches overseas with our pace attack. They’ve been improving day by day, and we saw the results of that at The Oval. We can’t blame our fast bowlers for the loss in Durban – that’s all on the batsmen, who got out for 40-odd. You can’t win a Test like that.”It was in fact in Karunaratne’s first series as captain that Vishwa took four wickets in a match that Sri Lanka won, in Gqeberha, in 2019. Vishwa isn’t the only Sri Lanka fast bowler in the likely XI for Thursday that has tasted success in South Africa, however. Kumara first burst into the international consciousness with a spectacular nip-backer at Newlands, which crashed into the stumps of no less a batter than Hashim Amla.Kumara has had more modest showings in South Africa since then, and has also been plagued by injuries, particularly with hamstring strains and tears. If he plays on Thursday, which seems exceedingly likely, he will have played seven Tests in 2024, which is his highest tally for a calendar year.”From what I see, Lahiru has been consistent in the last two years, and he’s played a lot of matches,” de Silva said. ” He’d been in and out of the team because of injuries, but now he’s been able to play consistently and learn what his strengths and weaknesses are. He’s able to back those strengths now because he’s played matches at a stretch. I think that’s the main thing that has contributed to his success.”The huge loss in Durban, de Silva said, was almost totally down to the failure of the batting group. Though he himself is a spinner, he’s been a fast-bowling captain, insisting that Sri Lanka play at least two quicks even at home, so they can be more competitive in SENA nations. He’s hoping to reap the rewards of that in Gqeberha.

India will have a two-day pink-ball warm-up match ahead of the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide when they face the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.The floodlit fixture will take place on November 30 and December 1 at Manuka Oval in the gap between the first and second Tests.In the last two seasons the Prime Minister’s XI fixture has a four-day contest featuring West Indies in 2022 (which was also a day-night game) and Pakistan in 2023, having traditionally been a limited-overs match, but the India game has been trimmed to just two days.Related

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On their previous tour of Australia in 2020-21, India lost the day-night Test in Adelaide by eight wickets when they were bundled out for their lowest Test score of 36 in the second innings but famously came back to win the series 2-1 with an historic display in Brisbane.On that occasion Adelaide was the opening Test of a four-match series – which was completed despite the challenges of Covid-19 border closures – whereas this time the series will begin in Perth and includes five Tests.Overall India have played just four day-night Tests, with their most recent in 2022 against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, while Australia have featured in 12 (all at home) with last season’s eight-run loss to West Indies in Brisbane their first defeat against the pink ball.In recent seasons the Prime Minister’s XI has been a strong side which has effectively been an Australia A team. Matt Renshaw has had a particularly profitable time in the last two fixtures with scores of 81, 101 not and 136 not out against West Indies and Pakistan.However, last season’s pitch at Manuka Oval came in for criticism from Pakistan when it was very slow and low and did not provide ideal preparation for the Test in Perth although poor weather had made life difficult for the groundstaff. The final day of the game was abandoned after an overnight storm and ripped off the covers.India have an intra-squad warm-up at the WACA from November 15-18 ahead of the first Test on November 22. They will arrive in Australia on the back of a three-match home Test series against New Zealand.An India A squad will tour Australia from late October and play two four-day matches in Mackay and Melbourne.

Diminishing Test returns after being promoted to a leadership role is not just an Ollie Pope problem.Since assuming the vice-captaincy for the Sri Lanka series, Harry Brook has not been his usual, ruthless self. Starts have been given away throughout and an average of 39.50 from four innings is comfortably his lowest of any series in which he has played more than one match.The struggle is relative, of course. Pope would swap his 7.50 average in a heartbeat, or barter one of his deputy’s three thirty-odd scores that followed an accomplished 56 in the first innings at Manchester. And it is fair to say they are dealing with their new roles very differently.Fresh from victory at Lord’s that gives England an insurmountable 2-0 lead ahead of the third and final Test on Friday, Pope spoke of needing to “block out the criticism”. Balancing captaincy and batting remains a challenge, if only for one more game. The subsequent judgements on his personality, particularly set against the inspirational figure of regular men’s Test captain Ben Stokes, will take longer to dispel.Related

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Brook, on the other hand, seems as he always does. In good touch even without a score of note, and typically unflustered. “It’s not a massive role really, is it?” he said of vice-captaincy.”I haven’t had to do much, to be honest. I think Popey has done an amazing job. I’ve tried to give him a few ideas here and there; he’s taken some and he’s shrugged some off so it’s been good so far.”As for the runs, he is not worried: “[It’s] frustrating to get starts obviously, but I feel like I’m batting really well. And hopefully it’s just a matter of time when a big one comes.”The contrast in dispositions is stark. Irrespective of this secondment as captain, Pope’s England career has been one of spikes even during a consistent run at No. 3 under Stokes. Brook, on the other hand, has churned consistently. Even a 14-innings wait for his fifth Test century – which came against West Indies earlier this summer – featured match-winning half-centuries in last summer’s third and fifth Ashes Tests.It is worth going back to the summer of 2022 for a moment. Upon Stokes’ appointment, Pope picked up and phone and asked for the No. 3 spot. Stokes respected the proactiveness and that Pope was willing to bite the bullet at first-drop. With the top six locked in, Brook carried drinks until he got one innings in the seventh and final Test of that season, against South Africa, after Jonny Bairstow broke his leg.Having been dropped on the 2021-22 Ashes tour, Pope regards that call to Stokes as a sliding doors moment in his career. But it also had a knock-on effect for Brook. Had he featured earlier that summer, there is every chance he would have been the man named as Stokes’ official vice-captain in May of last year, not Pope.Brook has taken a relaxed approach as Ollie Pope’s vice-captain•Getty Images

Pope’s credentials at the time were aligned with his standing in the team; comfortable in a new batting spot, popular in the dressing room through familiarity having debuted in 2018, and, at 25, the ideal age to act as a conduit between the older team-mates and newer players coming through. Had Brook (25 now) picked up more than the six caps at the time of that vice-captaincy selection, he might have been the one leading against Sri Lanka.Nevertheless, captaincy has been a feature of Brook’s 2024 after taking the reins at Northern Superchargers in the men’s Hundred. “It was different, but it was good fun,” he said of the experience, which included working with new head coach Andrew Flintoff.Superchargers narrowly missed out on making the top-three spot on Net Run Rate, losing just two matches. Brook, absent from the first defeat to Trent Rockets as it coincided with the end of the West Indies Test series, impressed tactically, with a matter-of-fact demeanour that allowed him to stay level in a volatile format. He was also Superchargers’ second-highest runscorer with 163.”Obviously I’ve played with Stokesy quite a bit now and watching the way he goes about it I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take a few learnings from him,” Brook said of his captaincy inspiration. With Jos Buttler suffering a setback in his injury recovery for the white ball fixtures against Australia, Brook may get his chance to apply those learnings on the international stage.Asked if he was keen to captain more, Brook responded with a diplomatic “we’ll see”. But it is clear leadership is on the horizon. In a Test squad that currently features seven players aged between 23 and 27, along with a 19 (Josh Hull) and 20-year-old (Shoaib Bashir), Brook is a vital part of the nucleus of England’s present and future.It remains Stokes’ show, of course, reinforced by the allrounder’s presence on the balconies at Emirates Old Trafford and Lord’s. He will be just as visible at the Kia Oval as the hosts chase a first flawless Test summer in 20 years.Should that be achieved, it will be a shared feather in the caps of Stokes and Pope. The lack of resistance from West Indies and Sri Lanka will make it hard conclude England are a force to be reckoned with as they taper towards the 2025-26 Ashes.But the main takeaway already is a clearer idea of England’s next Test captain. And it is Pope’s vice rather than Stokes’.

Gloucestershire 196 for 5 (Hammond 42, Gregory 3-34) beat Somerset 194 for 6 (Banton 77*, Green 47) by five wicketsBen Charlesworth hit the penultimate ball of the match for six to give Gloucestershire a thrilling five-wicket Vitality Blast South Group victory over arch-rivals Somerset at Taunton.The visitors chased down a target of 195, including 13 off the final over bowled by Ben Green, Charlesworth hitting an unbeaten 24 off 13 balls at the death. Miles Hammond contributed 42 and Beau Webster 39.The home side had posted 194 for six, 32 of them coming off a last over that saw Josh Shaw removed from the attack for two full-toss no-balls above waist height. Tom Banton hit six fours and four sixes in his 77 and shared a sixth-wicket stand of 88 in 6.4 overs with Green, who blasted 47 off just 25 deliveries.Somerset reached 58 for two in the six-over powerplay after losing the toss, seeing Will Smeed depart to a catch at cover off David Payne and Tom Kohler-Cadmore caught at mid-off for 22 in the fifth over, bowled by Shaw.Banton was dropped on 11, 12 and 20, Gloucestershire skipper Jack Taylor twice spilling chances at mid-off and Ollie Price failing to hold onto an opportunity at fine-leg.Even so, the visitors continued to take wickets, Marchant de Lange producing three sharp overs. Boundaries dried up, and at 148 for 5 at the end of the 18th over, with Tom Abell, Sean Dickson, and Lewis Gregory dismissed cheaply, Somerset looked short of a competitive total.That changed when Payne went for 14 off the 19th and more so when Green smacked 6,4,4,2 off the first four balls of the final over, sent down by Shaw. Two of the deliveries were above waist high on the full and resulted in no-balls, as well as the umpires ordering the seamer out of the attack.Off-spinner Price was asked to bowl the last four deliveries of the innings and Green collected another four and a six before holing out to wide long-on. Banton had played a key role and Somerset ended their innings with momentum.Cameron Bancroft fell for a five-ball duck at the start of Gloucestershire’s reply, caught at mid-off off Gregory. But by the end of the powerplay, the visitors had raced to 55 for one, James Bracey having hit Riley Meredith for three successive fours and Hammond looking in fine touch.The pair had added 66 in 5.2 overs when Hammond skyed a catch to long-on off Roelof van der Merwe, having hit the previous delivery for six. Bracey, on 31, followed in the next over, miscuing a catch to point to give Gregory a second wicket.Taylor and Webster then kept Gloucestershire on course for victory with sensible cricket before taking 20 off the 15th over, bowled by Jake Ball. Their stand of 65 in 6.1 overs ended when Taylor skyed a catch off Josh Davey with 44 needed from 27 balls.Webster fell to brilliant catch by wicketkeeper Banton off Gregory at the start of the 18th over, the Somerset skipper becoming their leading all-time wicket-taker in T20 cricket, before back-to-back boundaries from Price left Gloucestershire needing 21 off two overs.With Meredith off the field due to a back spasm and unable to send down his last two overs, it fell to Green to bowl at the death and both Price and Charlesworth smashed sixes to seal a remarkable victory.