Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a pretty disappointing outing in his Home Run Derby debut.
The New York Yankees star only ended up hitting three total home runs during his three-minute period and was eliminated in the first round. He swung 37 times, but only crushed three of those pitches out of Truist Park. His three homers traveled 463 feet, 409 feet and 400 feet, and he wasn't able to hit one out during the bonus round.
Chisholm's outing caused him to instantly be eliminated from advancing in the Derby. All of the other seven participants hit at least 15 home runs in the first round.
Here's a summary of Chisholm's hits, via Home Run Report.
Chisholm's three home runs hit from 37 swings were the fewest in the first round since 2014, according to Jayson Stark. It's important to remember the format was different then, too.
It doesn't seem like Chisholm took the advice from his Yankees teammate and 2017 HR Derby winner Aaron Judge in regards to having fun and pretending to just take batting practice. Judge was there on the field watching Chisholm, and he was there to console him right after his round.
They’re building towards a strong squad for the tournament, but some concerns linger
Andrew McGlashan08-Nov-2025The damp final match of the T20I series in Brisbane brought an end to a run of 16 T20Is for Australia since late July against West Indies, South Africa, New Zealand and India. They won’t play again until after the T20 World Cup squad is named next February. Having come away with 10 wins and three defeats over the last four months, and used 21 players, it’s a good time to ask where they stand heading into that tournament.”I think it’s been an amazing couple of months of cricket for our team,” Mitchell Marsh said after the washout at the Gabba. “We’ve had a lot of moving parts, probably to do with the Ashes build-up, but I think we’ve played some really good and consistent cricket, and I’m really proud of the run we’ve had.”We set out to create a squad that can hopefully win us the World Cup. We wanted to make some slight changes after what we saw as a couple of failed attempts, so we’ve been consistent with that.”
Power and depth, but is there an Achilles heel?
It’s hardly reinventing the T20 wheel to emphasise power, but Australia have clearly stacked their line-up with pure hitters. And it has worked. Since the last T20 World Cup, they are the second-fastest scoring Full Member, marginally behind England.They were already strong in the powerplay – in the 12 months including the previous World Cup they ranked top – but have pushed things even further. They’ve been happy to trade wickets for tempo, helped by the presence of many frontline batters as true allrounders. They can bat down to No. 7 and still have an abundance of bowling options.Related
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Josh Inglis has spoken about working on the strength side of his game to regularly clear the ropes, while Cameron Green’s brute force in the West Indies, albeit on smaller grounds, was eye-catching.However, one vulnerability showed up against India, especially on slower, turning surfaces. India’s spinners caused problems, posing the question of whether Australia have a Plan B to navigate such circumstances.”The Indian surfaces that we’ll face generally will be very good in smaller grounds, so we’ve certainly played a consistent style we want to continue and now it’s about carrying that into the World Cup,” Marsh said.
David’s new role
A subtle but key shift in Australia’s planning has been the elevation of Tim David. Once seen only as a finisher, he was sometimes underused, playing only a limited number of deliveries. But over the last four series he has batted at No. 5 and, in Green’s absence, at No. 4, with destructive results.”He’s just gone up another level in the last six to 12 months,” Nathan Ellis said during the India series. “The coaching staff deserve credit. They’ve empowered him to back his natural game, given him freedom higher up the order – just don’t change the way you play. It’s freed him up tenfold.”His century in St Kitts was spectacular and he followed that with 83 off 52 balls against South Africa when Australia were in early trouble but refused to consolidate. Against India, he hammered 74 off 38 balls in Hobart.Before July he had never batted in the powerplay for Australia, but this year his strike rate in that period is 215.15, behind only Namibia’s Jan Frylinck.”In the powerplay, any ball you hit past the field is a boundary,” David said in Hobart. “You don’t have to hit over the fielders, so it can be a bit easier. It’s a new challenge for me, having not done it much, but I’m getting experience up the order now and trying to make the most of it.”
Winning batting first?
Marsh now sits 21 from 21 in terms of winning the toss and bowling first in T20Is. But he insists he’s not wedded to the tactic if conditions call for batting first. In this series, the one time they were forced to bat – when India won the toss in Hobart – they made 186 but couldn’t defend it.”There’s been a bit of talk about that hasn’t there?” Marsh said with a wry smile. “I often ask would I get asked the same question if I’ve batted first every time, so I don’t necessarily see it as an unusual tactic that we employ. There will be times when the conditions suit and we will bat first so we’re not closed-minded by that in any sense. But a lot of the grounds and a lot of the conditions that we face we feel that we’re best suited to chasing. [On] the day it’s 40 overs of cricket so as long as we score more runs than the other team we’ll win.”Hazlewood’s metronomic bowling and T20 smarts makes him nearly unplayable on some days•Getty Images
Hazlewood’s cutting edge
Mitchell Starc has retired from T20Is and it remains uncertain if Pat Cummins will be available for the T20 World Cup, even if he plays in the Ashes. Australia have built their T20 pace depth, but Josh Hazlewood remains a vital strike weapon. His presence was missed in the last three games against India. Across three series (he was rested for the West Indies matches after the Tests), he has only once gone for more than 30, when Dewald Brevis had a day out in Darwin.In his most recent outing against India at the MCG, he was almost unplayable with 3 for 13 as the ball nipped and bounced. Among bowlers with 100-plus powerplay deliveries this year, Hazlewood has the fifth-best economy rate, of 6.72.
Ellis: the variation king
You can’t discuss Australia’s pace attack without mentioning Ellis. After biding his time for an extended run in the team he has grasped it with both hands. Against India he took nine wickets – the most for Australia in a bilateral series – at an economy rate of 8.02. While known for his death bowling, Ellis is now trusted at any stage.Ellis’ hallmark is variation – he has a full range of slower balls – but he can be sharp when he wants to, as he showed with the bouncer to Abhishek Sharma in Hobart. Across 12 matches since the West Indies tour, he has 18 wickets and has only once gone for more than 40, but Ellis tries to distance himself from the numbers.”I think the role I’m doing now, and it’s hard in a stat-based game, but I really try not to live and die on the numbers,” Ellis said. “I think there’ll be games where I bowl one in the powerplay and three at the death and I might bowl well and go for heaps. I think that comes with the role. I’m really trying to not associate a good night or a bad night with numbers.”
Places up for debate
Injuries could yet play their part, but the majority of Australia’s likely World Cup squad appear locked in. Green will return as a middle-order option and, fitness permitting, offer another pace option. Ben Dwarshuis should have done enough to secure his spot, especially with fellow left-armer Spencer Johnson still sidelined.One call for the selectors will be whether to carry a specialist reserve wicketkeeper. If so, Matthew Short or Mitchell Owen could be squeezed out. If Cummins isn’t available, one pace-bowling slot could open up. The upcoming BBL season could could be a chance for 50-50 players to sway the selectors.Possible T20 World Cup squadMitchell Marsh (capt), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Matt Kuhnemann, Xavier Bartlett/Pat Cummins.
Despite registering an assist against Nottingham Forest, Leeds United attacker Brenden Aaronson has struggled to find his best form this season. Indeed, that strike he set up at the City Ground was only the second time in 2025/26 he’s chipped in with a goal or assist, despite playing 11 Premier League games.
It might not be a surprise to see the United States international struggling for form in the Premier League. Despite a dominant season in the Championship last term, former Leeds man Jon Newsome told BBC Radio Leeds that he doesn’t think he is “good enough to play in the Leeds United team.”
With Aaronson’s poor form continuing, it might lead Daniel Farke to look at alternative options on the right wing against Aston Villa.
Farke's options to replace Aaronson
One candidate to replace the American international against Villa is Wilfried Gnonto. The 22-year-old Italian is on the cusp of returning from a calf injury which has kept him out for most of the season, but Farke confirmed pre-match that his side have “not one player injured” this weekend.
Assuming the former Inter winger is back, he could get some involvement this weekend. Last term, Gnonto was excellent, scoring nine goals and assisting six in 43 second-tier games, and his direct nature could offer a new threat for Leeds.
However, given his recent fitness issues, this game may have come too soon for him to start.
An alternative option could be Jack Harrison. The 29-year-old Englishman has had a bit-part role this season in the Premier League, playing ten games, but featuring for just 262 minutes in total.
He is a player who certainly splits opinion at Elland Road. The former Everton loanee returned to the club this season after two years on Merseyside. He was not given a warm reception upon that return, though, and was booed by fans in preseason.
With Gnonto’s lack of game time and Harrison’s lack of form, there could be an ideal alternative to replace Aaronson.
Farke’s perfect Aaronson replacement
It would certainly be a fair call if Farke were to drop Aaronson from the side against Villa. He has struggled to have a real impact on the Leeds side this season, and has left a little to be desired creatively.
If the American were to be dropped from the side against the Villans, the man who could replace him is Daniel James. The Wales international has also not been fully fit this season, having racked up just eight Premier League appearances.
Yet, he played an hour for Wales over the last week as they beat Liechtenstein, a game in which he grabbed an assist, and North Macedonia, against whom he scored.
He is back fit and firing and in good form, which is a huge positive for Farke and Leeds.
Despite a lack of involvement this term, the former Manchester United star has previously impressed for the West Yorkshire side. In their Championship title win last term, he chipped in with a strong tally of 12 goals and nine assists in just 36 appearances.
He averaged 0.72 goal involvements per 90 minutes, which ranked him in the top 2% of Championship attackers.
James – 24/25 Championship stats
Stat (per 90)
Number
Percentile
Goals and assists
0.72
98th
Passes into penalty area
2.17
97th
Crosses into penalty area
0.9
96th
Goal-creating actions
0.52
90th
Progressive carries
4.04
87th
Stats from FBref
The Welsh international could hurt Villa in transition, too. It is no secret that he is lightning fast, with a top speed of 31kph, according to Speeds Database. Well, if Leeds decide to sit in a low block and hit Unai Emery’s side on the counterattack, James could be imperative to executing those fast transitional moments.
Statman Dave once described the 28-year-old as someone who is “unstoppable on the break.” If Leeds do decide their best way of winning is to try and hit the Villans on the counter, his pace and recent form in the final third could be pivotal.
It would be a bold call for Farke to drop one of his most trusted lieutenants in Aaronson, but James has the skillset to really hurt Villa and help his side pick up a huge win in dire circumstances.
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“The final is the biggest stage, that’s the game that matters,” Chinelle Henry says ahead of the WCPL final, where her team, Barbados Royals, will be looking for their third title
ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2025The Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) is in its fourth season, with the final lined up on Wednesday morning in Providence, and we will have the familiar sight of Barbados Royals in the middle, gunning for their third successive title. It’s a competition with just three teams, but Royals have been the dominant power, making all four finals, so “there was a lot riding on it,” when the WCPL began and Royals had to cope with the loss of regular captain Hayley Matthews. A shoulder injury left her on the sidelines and Chinelle Henry in the hot seat.”When she [Matthews] called me and asked me to be captain [because] she wasn’t going to be available, it was quite like, ‘yeah, just give me a moment to think about that’,” Henry said before taking on Guyana Amazon Warriors, the only team not to have won the title. Trinbago Knight Riders were the inaugural champions in 2022.”But I guess when [Matthews] asked, she was like, ‘you probably could be that person, because you have been around the team all the seasons before, as a senior player in the squad’, [despite] all the overseas players that we’ve had and even the captain in her own right in Chamari Athapaththu, who’s been brilliant helping me in the field in terms of decision-making and stuff like that.”Hayley is a big character, both on and off the field, and she has done a lot for us as a franchise. I think the girls have really stepped up. We’re in our fourth final, so that’s really something to talk about.”So far, the way we have been in the group games, there’s still a few areas to tighten up, but I think we are ready to compete in that final.”Royals have made the final winning all their four games this year, including the two against their opponents in the final, giving them a clear upper hand in the title fight.”Over the years, we have had a majority of the same girls playing on the team, so when it comes to culture, we already know what that’s like in terms of the players that we already have and the overseas players that we try to get into the squad,” Henry said. “Once they come in and get a feel of what the girls are about, everybody just fits right in and that’s what’s been the core thing for us this season.”Yes, Hayley’s not here, but how we play, how we come together as a group… she was here a few days ago, she had a few words for us, she will talk to me to say what she thinks, give a bit of advice, but it’s never anything to question my ability to lead the team. And that’s where she is really that person that trusts and believes in players and believes that players can step up when they need to. And, having done that, leading the Royals this season, it was just stepping into that spotlight and still playing my game.”The big star for Royals has been Athapaththu, who is 15 runs clear at the top of the run-scorers’ list with 169 runs in four innings, to go with seven wickets (second only to Amazon Warriors’ Laura Harris who has eight). Henry and Qiana Joseph have done their bit with the bat, but it has, at times, been a one-woman show.Chinelle Henry has played her part with the bat in Royals’ winning streak•CPL T20/Getty Images
“We have a lot of big characters in this group, and she is very passionate, and she loves what she does,” Henry said of Athapaththu. “To be the opener for this team and constantly coming up with runs for us and in the middle, when we are bowling, you can call on her and be like, we need to break a partnership or something, which happens, you know.”She is that person, you know, whenever you call on her, she puts up her hand and is ready to perform and is ready to do her all for the team. With somebody like her, a lot of us, a lot of the younger ones that we have, we really look to her in terms of advice, how she plays, how she thinks when she goes out, and she keeps it simple.”Going by the form Royals have shown in the earlier games this season, they are runaway favourites for the final.”The final is the biggest stage, that’s the game that matters. If we go into that game with a calm and clear mind, things that we have to do as a team and, I have said in a previous interview, we still haven’t got all the areas that we want to tick, all three boxes, the final will be the game to do that,” Henry said. “We know that and we have that in the back of our minds, and we go into Wednesday’s game with everything that we have and the girls are ready to fight. We’ve been in the finals and we know what it feels like to win finals, and we want to make it another one for us, so we go into the final with no complacency, we’re just going out there to fight and bring that trophy back home.”
Australian power-hitter belts five sixes before Welsh Fire mess up chase of 130
ECB Media20-Aug-2025A 19-ball half-century from Hilton Cartwright led Southern Brave to victory over Welsh Fire in a tight game in The Hundred.Cartwright made an unbeaten 51 to help Brave rally to 129 for 8, before Brave’s bowlers closed the game out with the ball in a topsy-turvy chase.Electing to bowl first in helpful conditions, Welsh Fire’s new-ball pairing of David Payne and Matt Henry were exceptional, bowling 20 of the first 25 deliveries.Henry in particular was relentless, dismissing Leus du Ploy and Jason Roy on the way to a remarkable return of 2 for 5 from 20 balls – the second-most economical figures in the short history of the Hundred.Brave skipper James Vince dug in, helping his side recover to 53 for 3 at halfway before eventually falling when he pulled a short ball from Chris Green straight down Saif Zaib’s throat at deep midwicket for 29.Enter Cartwright. The Aussie big-hitter went on the attack immediately, hitting five sixes, mixing power and innovation, as he reached a 19-ball half-century, finishing 51 not out as the Brave made 129 for 8.Jonny Bairstow’s lively start was not enough for the Fire•ECB/Getty Images
In the run chase, Jonny Bairstow came out swinging, hitting Craig Overton for two fours and a six in the first set. He then smashed Reece Topley for two fours as the Fire raced to 23 for 0 from the first 10 balls before he fell for 22, skying Overton to du Plooy in the ring.The chase ebbed backwards and forwards and with 20 balls left, Fire needed 27 to win with three wickets in hand and just the tail for company for Tom Kohler-Cadmore.Five wides from Jordan took some of the pressure off before four were taken from Jofra Archer’s final five, including Laurie Evans putting down David Payne behind the stumps to leave 16 required off 10.Kohler-Cadmore (25) then found Cartwright in the deep off Coles, leaving Payne and Henry – Fire’s heroes with the ball at the top of the day – to find the crucial 12 runs to take Fire to victory, from final five to be bowled by Jordan. He delivered a fine last five to ensure it was the Brave who got over the line.”That was an absolute thriller. It ebbed and flowed that whole second innings. The crowd got a bloody good game tonight,” Cartwright said. “I took the game on and it paid off, thankfully… It was an all-round team effort tonight. I thought the bowlers did an outstanding job to defend a small total.”
Manchester City have now identified a “top-level midfielder” as a priority target, joining a number of Europe’s top clubs in the race for his signature.
Man City set sights on Yaya Toure-esque midfielder
Despite his well-documented fallout with Pep Guardiola, Yaya Toure is undoubtedly a Man City legend, winning three Premier League titles, three EFL Cups and one FA Cup during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
The Ivorian, who is now working as Saudi Arabia’s assistant manager, posed a threat going forward throughout his time in England, scoring a whopping 20 goals during the 2013-14 Premier League season, while also amassing nine assists.
Since then, City’s style of play has changed, with Guardiola’s side reliant on Erling Haaland to provide the majority of their goals, and the Norwegian certainly hasn’t disappointed so far this season, averaging 1.05 goals per 90 in the Premier League, having found the back of the net 15 times.
However, Man City have now joined the race for an up-and-coming central midfielder with shades of Toure, according to a report from TEAMtalk, which states they have identified Trabzonspor’s Christ Inao Oulai as a priority target.
Bayern Munich and Manchester United are also rivalling City for the 19-year-old’s signature, with all three clubs identifying him as one of their key teenage targets in Europe.
In his hometown of Yopougon in the Ivory Coast, the teenager is known as ‘Le Petit Yaya’, while City view him as a long-term partner for Rodri in midfield, and believe he could replace the Spaniard on a long-term basis.
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It could be difficult to get a deal over the line, however, with Trabzonspor unwilling to sanction a departure in January, and looking to receive £35m.
Christ Inao Oulai already a "top-level midfielder"
Former Premier League midfielder Michael Essien is a keen admirer of the Trabzonspor star, saying: “He’s a top-level midfielder, and he’s only 19 years old. I hope to see him one day wearing the Chelsea jersey.”
The two-time Ivory Coast international has emerged as a key player for the Turkish side this season, displaying his attacking prowess by chipping in with one goal and two assists in eight Super Lig matches.
Bernardo Silva’s future at Man City is up in the air, given that his contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and it has been suggested that Guardiola is willing to let the Portugal international move on.
As such, it could be a savvy move to bring in a central midfielder with attacking qualities in January or the summer, and Inao Oulai is exhibiting very promising signs in the Super Lig.
Kuldeep Yadav achieved his career-best ranking in Tests after taking 12 wickets against West Indies
ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2025Afghanistan wristspinner Rashid Khan has become the No. 1 ranked bowler in ODIs following his team’s 3-0 sweep of Bangladesh this month in Abu Dhabi.Rashid, who was previously No. 1 in November 2024, took 11 wickets in the series at an average of 6.09 and economy rate of 2.73. His performance helped him rise from sixth place, and with 710 ratings points he is 30 ahead of South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj.Full rankings tables
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Ibrahim Zadran, who was the Player of the Series against Bangladesh for top-scoring with 213 runs at an average of 71 in three innings, has moved up eight places to No. 2 in the ODI batting rankings – the best ever by an Afghanistan batter. He has 20 ratings points fewer than Shubman Gill at No. 1 and eight more than Rohit Sharma at No. 3.In the ODI rankings for allrounders, Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai reclaimed the top spot from Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza after taking seven wickets – the second-most in the series – and scoring 60 runs in the three ODIs against Bangladesh. He had been ranked No.1 between February and August too.India’s left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav has achieved his career-best ranking among Test bowlers, rising seven places to 14th after finishing the two-match series against West Indies as the top wicket-taker. Kuldeep took 12 wickets at an average of 19.50. India’s opener Yashasvi Jaiswal rose from seventh to fifth after scoring 175 in the first innings of the Delhi Test.
The India A coach says Abhimanyu “stays very motivated to challenge himself,” as he has been on the fringes of Test cricket for years now
Daya Sagar16-Sep-2025
Abhimanyu Easwaran was in the India squad for the England tour recently•PTI
Abhimanyu Easwaran first turned out for India A in July 2018. Over the years, he has played 30 first-class matches for India A – KS Bharat is second with 21 – but the Test cap has not come his way yet, despite being in five Test squads, including the one in England earlier this year. He is back with India A, for the two four-day games against Australia A, and back to the grind, which can’t be getting easier at 30. But Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the India A coach, expects Abhimanyu to “stay very motivated to challenge himself,” as always.”Abhimanyu is an experienced player. He has captained Bengal and played a lot of cricket at the higher level. So there isn’t much need to say a lot to him because he knows how cricket is played,” Kanitkar said at a press conference ahead of the first four-day match in Lucknow.”It was not a big challenge to talk to him because he is already prepared. He knows what to do if opportunities don’t come. One good thing is that he stays very motivated to challenge himself, push himself, perform well. And if he gets a chance at the higher level, do well there too. He is mentally very strong, prepared, and is also playing well.Related
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“He is batting well. He is in good form and in good touch. He is a very, very good player who has done it [for India A] many times. So I think he is ready for the challenge now. He is in a good place right now in terms of batting and the way managing his cricket.”Lucknow is a city that will evoke fond memories for Abhimanyu. He has played three first-class matches there, and has scored a century each time to average 117.75, with a total of 471 runs in five innings.Last year, while playing in Lucknow for Rest of India in the Irani Cup match against Mumbai, Abhimanyu scored 191 while opening the batting. Ten days later, he played a Ranji Trophy match at the same ground for Bengal against Uttar Pradesh and scored an unbeaten 127. The call-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad followed.No one in India has possibly been on the fringes of Test cricket for this long without making the cut. But now, with India A again, Abhimanyu will walk out to open and will be expected to play the same sort of calm, responsible, long innings he has made a name for, and hope the Tests at home against West Indies next month are the ones he had been waiting for.
The head of the Silicon Valley technology consortium that bid £144 million (US$193 million approx.) for a 49% stake in London Spirit in January believes that the Hundred can become “a multi-billion dollar product” to rival the IPL.Nikesh Arora, the CEO of cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks, leads Cricket Investor Holdings Limited – better known as the ‘Tech Titans’ – and is a newly-appointed board member at Spirit after they completed their lucrative deal for a minority stake. They will run the franchise as a joint venture with MCC, who hosted the consortium at Lord’s this week.The consortium has grown in number since seeing off significant competition from Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group in a virtual auction earlier this year, with Arora estimating that 15 of its members were at Lord’s to watch the Hundred’s opening match day – which saw Spirit’s women beat Oval Invincibles, but the men’s team bowled out for 80.Related
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They met Justin Langer and Kane Williamson at a training session on Monday, and dined in the pavilion that evening before lining a hospitality suite in the Edrich Stand on Tuesday. The CEOs of Adobe, Google and YouTube are all involved; Satyan Gajwani, the vice-chairman of Times Internet, suggested that not even the World Economic Forum could bring them all together.Arora and Gajwani walked across the outfield and posed by the pitch after Tuesday night’s games, a display of power which laid bare the new era that awaits English cricket. “This is a way to get involved with one of the most storied and hallowed grounds in the world,” Arora said at Lord’s, while watching his new team for the first time. “It’s like bringing our passions to our work.”We’ve never had buyer’s remorse. We’ve never been stressed about what we paid. I have more people who want to be part of the consortium now than I had before I made the investment, so it’s not a problem. Many of them are here; they flew from the US to come watch it. This is a passion for every one of us… It’s going to be fun.”Chair Mark Nicholas has promised MCC members a “major relaunch” of the franchise once the joint venture assumes operational control from the ECB on October 1. The London Spirit name is expected to remain for the time being but new sponsors and new kits have been lined up, potentially incorporating egg-and-bacon trim or piping as a nod to the club’s famous colours.Justin Langer, David Warner and Kane Williamson arrive before the game•Getty Images
The eight Hundred franchises were sold at a combined valuation of around £975 million ($1.3 billion approx.) earlier this year. Six deals have now been signed off, with Cain International and Reliance Industries expected to complete their purchases of stakes in Trent Rockets and Oval Invincibles respectively after the 2025 season is complete.Arora believes that the arrival of eight new investors simultaneously can “optimise” the Hundred and turn it into a “product” that rivals the most lucrative league in the world: “The IPL started from nowhere, and became a multi-billion dollar product. Why couldn’t this be that product? It’s not just us, there are eight new shareholders, give or take, across eight new franchises.”They all have successful businesses or cricket operations somewhere in the world. If that energy, that passion, that creativity, that innovation is brought to this, imagine what they could do? The ECB incubated it, which is great. But I’m sure there are ways to optimise things a bit better. I don’t think the Hundred is a bad product… It’s about creating the excitement around it.”
Gajwani, a co-founder of Major League Cricket, agrees. “Bringing in stakeholders beyond governing bodies has almost always improved products,” he said. “You’ve got eight best-in-class investors, operators; people who understand business, consumer, sport, globally, locally. You’ve got all of it in terms of the membership that’s going to be on the board of the Hundred.”Relative to almost every other sport, cricket has less private power… The NBA is run privately, the NFL is privately, La Liga, EPL (English Premier League football) are private. Generally, the influx of diverse views, different stakeholders, these are things that will bring innovation in its own form.”Gajwani believes that the Hundred’s “core” audience will always be based in the UK, rather than overseas: “It starts with a strong domestic product.” But Richard Thompson, the ECB chair, said last week that it is “a matter of time” before India men’s players feature in the Hundred, a change which would create a significant spike in the value of overseas broadcast rights.”It’s a question for some of the people in the BCCI, and maybe the ICC,” Gajwani said. “But as these leagues outside of the IPL become interesting, more meaningful and more substantial, I can tell you personally, there are a number of players in India that are super excited about the idea of playing out here. The economics, commercials, contracts and all that stuff is complicated.”Nikesh Arora heads the ‘Tech Titans’ consortium that has bought a 49% stake in London Spirit•Robert Perry/PA Images via Getty Images
The Tech Titans only hold three out of seven director seats on Spirit’s new board: Arora, Gajwani and Egon Durban (co-CEO of private equity fund Silver Lake) will join Robert Lawson (MCC chief executive), Julian Metherell (incoming committee member), Eoin Morgan (incoming chair of cricket) and one other MCC nominee, with Metherell acting as chair.Arora emphasised his consortium’s status as minority partners: “They [MCC] are 51% shareholders. We let them take the lead, which is good. They understand their cricket, they understand the stadium, they understand the locals. From our perspective, we bring a) passion, for sure; and b) knowledge and experience.”Arora and Gajwani followed India’s last-gasp win over England at The Oval remotely on Monday, and both describe themselves as genuine cricket fans. “I would have been the first to say everything’s moving this way [towards short-form cricket],” Gajwani said. “But the last month has shown how much frickin’ energy there can be behind Tests.Eoin Morgan is a director on London Spirit’s new board•Getty Images
“Cricket has this interesting tension between history and future, probably more than other sports… They are different audiences. You look around here, I’d say the average age is younger, more family-oriented, more female. Test cricket is probably more of a classical and more traditional crowd overall, but they both have their place.”And Arora insists that his consortium’s investment in the Hundred is nothing to fear for traditionalists who have no interest in the shorter formats. “Don’t underestimate the fact that around 50% of our consortium grew up in India 30-35 years ago,” he said. “We grew up watching people like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, and we like watching Ben Stokes now.”Part of it is just being able to associate with your idols; being able to associate with a sport that you grew up watching in the middle of the night. We still watch cricket in California at 3am or 4am. This is our sport.”
Former England captain feared missing out on World Cup, but is back in situ after patient rehab
S Sudarshanan01-Oct-2025Imagine the dread. The one thing you worked for so dearly is threatened to be snatched away from you. Imagine the fear. Of missing out of an event you so looked forward to.Imagine being Heather Knight in May.Having relinquished England’s captaincy after nine years, she was looking forward to a summer of cricket back in the ranks, with the goal of the Women’s World Cup at the end of it. She remained a vital cog for England under the new leadership of head coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. But an innocuous turn for a single threatened to ruin it all for her. She heard something pop while batting in the 19th over of a T20I in Chelmsford but did not walk off the field until the innings ended.Knight had suffered a right hamstring tendon tear, in which the tendon had detached from the bone. Recovering from such injuries takes anywhere between four to six months; the World Cup was only 17 weeks away, with England’s departure for a pre-tournament camp in Abu Dhabi a week ahead of that. Opting for surgery would have definitely put the former captain out of the competition. So, alongside England’s team of physios and doctors, she decided to try the rest-and-recovery method.”She’s very, very passionate about playing cricket for England and very passionate about the World Cup,” Angela George, National Lead for Physiotherapy – England Women, tells ESPNcricinfo. “So we knew that it was quite simple for us, really, that we needed to explore the conservative management. And we knew also that, if it wasn’t going to work, we would know about it and at least we would have tried. We went for the conservative option, which if you looked at the injury at the time, was about 50-50 as to whether it would be better to surgically repair or more conservatively manage.”Knight had already suffered a hamstring tear on the same leg in 2013. So that left her slightly more prone to injury. The other factor was an increase in her workload. England’s new regime places an importance on players’ participation in domestic cricket, with Knight featuring in the Women’s One Day Cup for Somerset. Of course, she was not left unmonitored. England use a workload monitoring system called Insights 360 that helps to mitigate injuries. But not all injuries can be predicted, let alone prevented.Knight made 37 against India as she continued her comeback•Getty Images”Her feedback to us around April was that her hamstrings had been in the best place that they felt for a long time,” George says. “We’ve done a lot of work on strength, motor control, hip mobility and just making sure that her hamstrings are in tip-top shape. But she probably had played a bit more cricket domestically than she had done at this point. So we knew we were on a bit of an edge with it, but fundamentally, sometimes these things just happen. The human body is so complex that, we can’t just say, right, that’s going to go at that point, so stop doing that.”The limited time added to the challenge. There were periods when they could push but also time they had to bide their time in order for her tendon to heal. There were no shortcuts. It was not just about getting Knight fit to board the plane; it was about making sure she was at her best for the World Cup.”As week by week went, we were quite slow to start off with and that caused a bit of frustration for Heather because she just wanted to get going,” George says. “She wasn’t looking for us to take shortcuts because, fundamentally, she has a lot of trust in our team to look after her. Whenever we debated something, we came back to the point that, if we push too early and things break down, she was not going to be happy.”Although Heather was coming to us with frustrations – as I would expect her to, as I would hope her to – and wanted to push us as fast as she can, we were always able to justify our decisions that fundamentally, the body needed to heal and put that part of the tendon back onto the bone.”Related
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Progress was slow for the first three months. They used MRI imaging at every step of her recovery. Knight worked on her upper body strength and on her other leg in this period. They finally pushed forward mid-August.”That was the time that the MRI started looking really good and we were happy that anything that we were putting through her body, the tendon wasn’t reacting to it.”Knight’s work with London Spirit as a team mentor also kept her occupied. Two weeks before England were to depart for Abu Dhabi, they accelerated her recovery through increased workload.”When we brought back a lot of cricketing skills, that’s when she could really show herself that her hamstring did not let her down,” George says. “We knew that because we’d done a lot of work, but she needed to show her own body that, actually, everything was fine.”Throughout the recovery, England’s management remained adamant that, if fit, Knight would be in straightaway for the World Cup. A lack of game-time was not considered a hindrance, given her previous form in the domestic season and the T20Is against West Indies.”We knew that she would not need an awful lot of game-time to get back to her very best,” George says. “Her hamstrings were in such a good place that, actually, we sort of knew that we could afford not to push the playing beforehand. That didn’t sit all that well with Heather because she just wanted to get playing, but we knew we had it in the back of our locker, really.”In her first knock after recovery, Knight made a 48-ball 41 in England’s unofficial warm-up match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi, and a fluent 37 in the official warm-up against India in Bengaluru.Imagine the dread in the opposition. Imagine a fit Heather Knight at her best at the World Cup.