Lauren Winfield-Hill is set to feature in Sunday’s Big Bash final for Brisbane Heat.
The Heat will face Melbourne Renegades at the MCG at 2.20am UK time, to be televised by Sky Sports.
Yorkshire women’s wicketkeeper-batter Winfield-Hill signed for Heat as an international replacement player before the start of the tournament and has played five times for them, including in this morning’s semi-final victory over Sydney Thunder at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
Winfield-Hill played at the start with Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues unavailable and has returned to the side over the last week to cover for South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk, who is on international duty against England.
Winfield-Hill has a best score of 24 in three innings in the ongoing WBBL.
She wasn’t required to bat today as Heat won by nine wickets in reply to Thunder’s 133-7.
Picture by Albert Perez/Getty Images. Yorkshire’s Lauren Winfield-Hill celebrates with her Heat team-mates after taking the catch of Thunder batter Georgia Adams in this morning’s WBBL semi-final win.
England’s hundred hero Harry Brook was one of 12 English players sold at auction earlier this week to play in the 2025 Indian Premier League from the middle of March to late May.
The Yorkshire batter was re-signed by Delhi Capitals, the team he was due to play for earlier this year before he was a late withdrawal from the competition following the passing of his grandmother, Pauline.
Brook joins the likes of Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt in the event which clashes with the first half of the county season.
Unfortunately for Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow, he went unsold at the auction in Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday.
The Pakistan Super League also clashes with the IPL next year. The draft for that competition is likely to take place at the end of December or at the start of January. It remains to be seen which players will put themselves forward.
Brook’s brilliant 132 not out during today’s second day of the opening Test against New Zealand in Christchurch was his seventh Test hundred in only his 22nd appearance since debuting in September 2022.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Harry Brook is heading to the IPL next March.
Sterre Kalis and Noah Kelly have continued their fine form in Australian club cricket.
Yorkshire women’s batter Kalis is playing for Gordon CC in their women’s first grade competition in Sydney and has posted scores of 21, 136. 52, 64 and 38 in five innings across T20 and 50-over cricket.
The Dutch international and left-hander Kelly, who is playing for Melbourne side Beaumaris in the Southern Bayside competition, have enjoyed the most consistent success out of the six county stars wintering in Australia.
Kelly has posted three half-centuries – 69, 71 not out, 59 not out – in two-day and 40-over cricket (five innings) alongside scores of 27 and 38 in a pair of T20 knocks.
Dom Bess also in Sydney with Mosman in men’s first grade cricket and Ben Cliff (Greenvale), Harry Duke (Essendon) and Will Luxton (Greenvale) are in Melbourne playing Victorian first grade cricket.
Cliff, Duke and Luxton will be playing T20 cricket this weekend after a mixture of two-day and 50-over cricket so far.
Duke has a top score of 31 in six innings, while Luxton has posted scores of 42 and 57 in four innings opening for his side and Cliff has taken six wickets in three matches, including a best of 3-37 in 10 overs with the new ball.
Playing for Mosman, Bess has featured in three two-day matches and has taken one wicket and posted scores of 49 and 41 opening the batting.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Sterre Kalis is enjoying some excellent form in Australian grade cricket.
Jonny Bairstow smashed 70 off 30 balls batting at three for Team Abu Dhabi in today’s Abu Dhabi T10 League clash with Morrisville Samp Army, though it wasn’t enough to prevent a three-run defeat as they chased 110.
Bairstow, who hit six sixes in his latest knock, has scored 159 runs in six innings for the home team and is one of four Yorkshire players involved in the event which concludes on Monday.
Dawid Malan (49 runs in five innings) is playing for UP Nawabs, Adam Lyth (40 in four) for Delhi Bulls and Adil Rashid (three wickets in six matches) is playing for UP Nawabs alongside Malan.
All of the Yorkshire stars remain in contention for the finals series which is being played on Sunday and Monday.
The competition is being televised on Sky Sports.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Bairstow bats for Yorkshire during this summer’s County Championship.
Former Yorkshire captain Shan Masood has signed a short-term overseas deal to play for Hampshire in the ongoing Global Super League T20 competition in Guyana.
Hampshire have been invited to take part in the five-team competition which started yesterday and runs through until next Friday.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors are taking part, as are Lahore Qalandars, Rangpur Riders and a team from Victoria.
Masood left Yorkshire at the end of the most recent season after two campaigns at Headingley.
The Pakistan Test captain impressed on his debut for Hampshire with 56 off 41 balls batting at four in their win over Bangladesh Premier League side Rangpur.
Hampshire were bowled out for 132 before the Riders finished on 132-8, the Blast side going on to prevail in a Super Over.
Hampshire face Pakistan Super League side Lahore tomorrow evening, the Qalandars being coached by Darren Gough, who forged strong links with the franchise during his time as Yorkshire’s director of cricket.
The top two teams advance to the final of a competition being televised in the UK by TNT Sports.
Picture by Ashley Allen – Global Super League via Getty Images. Shan Masood bats for Hampshire in the opening GSLT20 fixture.
The England and Wales Cricket Board will continue with the use of the Kookaburra ball in next season’s Rothesay County Championship.
The Kookaburra ball has replaced the more regular Dukes at stages during the last two summers, and that will be the same again for 2025.
The news was confirmed as the full county fixture list was released earlier this week, with Yorkshire starting their summer with a Division One Championship match against Hampshire at Southampton’s Utilita Bowl on Friday April 4.
During the summer just gone, the Kookaburra ball was used for two Championship rounds at the start and then two rounds later on.
Instead, next year, it will be used in rounds nine to 12 from late June to early September.
Yorkshire face Essex at York and Surrey and Sussex at Scarborough. Their only away game with the Kooka’ will be against Somerset at Taunton at the start of September.
Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images. The Kookaburra ball will remain in next season’s County Championship.
NO BALL…..FREE HIT!
Anthony McGrath has been replaced by former Yorkshire and England fast bowler Chris Silverwood at Essex.
Silverwood has returned to Essex as their director of cricket.
He was a title-winning coach between 2016 and 2018, winning the County Championship in 2017, before being replaced by McGrath when he moved to England.
“It’s a club that holds very special memories for me, with the success we enjoyed in 2016 and 2017, and it’s been great to see the success Anthony McGrath has had in the years in between,” said Silverwood, who has also been in charge of Sri Lanka’s national team since first leaving Chelmsford.
“There is work to be done around the squad, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead.”
Picture by Alex Davidson – ICC via Getty Images. Chris Silverwood has returned to Essex as their director of cricket.
