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ESPNcricinfo has learned that Chetan Sharma and his panel had not received any communication from the board on the development

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Nov-20227:03

Newsroom: ‘Selectors alone are not to blame for India’s T20 World Cup exit’

In an unprecedented development, the BCCI has sacked the entire senior men’s selection committee led by former India fast bowler Chetan Sharma. The board sent out a media release on Friday evening stating it was inviting fresh applications for the positions of the five national selectors, setting November 28 as the deadline for applications.This is the first major decision taken by the BCCI administration headed by the former India allrounder Roger Binny, who was elected unopposed as board president in October.Related

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ESPNcricinfo has learned that the four national selectors – Sunil Joshi, Harvinder Singh, Debasis Mohanty and Sharma – who are currently watching the ongoing the Vijay Hazare Trophy games at various venues around India – had not received any communication from BCCI on the development.Although no specific details were provided in the media statement – there was no mention of the selection panel being reconstituted – the BCCI probably took the step as part of its early review of India’s performances at successive T20 World Cups – exiting at the group stage in 2021 and losing in the semi-finals in 2022.Since late 2021, the Sharma-led selection panel was reduced to four members after Abey Kuruvilla, the former Mumbai and India fast bowler, completed the maximum tenure of five years. While Kuruvilla moved on to the role of BCCI general manager (cricket development), the board did not appoint his replacement on the selection panel.It was in October, mid-way into the 2022 T20 World Cup, that the selectors announced India squads for the limited-overs series in New Zealand, which is now ongoing, and also the Bangladesh tour in December. It raised eyebrows since it was an unusual move for selectors to announce squads for two separate tours at the same time.Barring Mohanty, who is on the verge of finishing his term (he was also a national junior selector), the remaining three selectors had only served half – two years – of their four-year tenures.Technically, Sharma and the other selectors can reapply for the posts. The qualification criteria for applicants is that they must have played at least seven Tests or 30 first-class matches, or 10 ODI and 20 first-class matches; they should have retired from the game at least five years ago; and they cannot have already served for five years as a member of any of the BCCI’s cricket committees.The BCCI also listed the major job duties and responsibilities for the selection panel as follows:

• Select the best possible team in a fair and transparent manner.
• Plan and prepare a strong bench strength for the senior men’s national team.
• Attend team meetings as and when required.
• Travel to watch domestic and international matches.
• Prepare and provide evaluation reports of the respective team performances to the apex council of BCCI on a quarterly basis.
• Address the media on team selection as and when instructed by BCCI.
• Appoint captain for the team in each format.
• Adhere to the rules and regulation of BCCI.

Aaradhya Yadav, Shaik Rasheed and Manav Parakh join their captain and Siddarth Yadav in isolation

PTI21-Jan-2022Five Indian players, including captain Yash Dhull, have been ruled out of India’s final group-stage game of the Under-19 World Cup, against Uganda, after testing positive for Covid-19 in a fresh round of RT-PCR tests. Of the six players, who had isolated before the match against Ireland on Wednesday, only Vasu Vats has tested negative, a source in the ICC said.Dhull, Aaradhya Yadav and Shaik Rasheed had all returned positive Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) on Wednesday, while Manav Parakh and Vats had displayed symptoms of Covid-19 but returned negative RATs. Siddarth Yadav had, meanwhile, returned a positive RT-PCR test.Related

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• India's concerns: Depleted squad and travel worries

“One positive out of this unfortunate situation is that the 11 who played against Ireland have all tested negative,” the ICC source said.Among the infected, Dhull has the worst symptoms but he, along with the other players, “should be fine” before their quarter-final on January 29 (if they top Group B, which they are currently leading), the source said.India registered a thumping win over Ireland in the second game, on Wednesday, to qualify for the knockouts after barely managing to field a team in the wake of the outbreak.All the infected players are required to undergo five days of isolation as per tournament protocols and can only rejoin their team after returning three negative tests within that period.How did the virus enter the bubble?
After winning the Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE, the Indian team had flown to the Caribbean via Amsterdam. A support staff member, who is fine now, had tested positive during the hard quarantine upon arrival in Guyana after catching the infection in transit and it is believed the players contracted the virus from him.The entire squad underwent a five-day hard quarantine in Guyana upon arrival and underwent three RT-PCR tests within that period. However, with the reports taking as long as 48 hours to arrive, the third test report was only made available on the seventh day.”The players mingled with the coach in that period and that seems be to be the most likely source of outbreak in the team,” the source said.It has also been learnt that the tournament’s bio-bubble could be stricter with team not being allocated dedicated floors in the hotel as it was during the Asia Cup in the UAE.However, despite a tight bubble in Dubai, the virus managed to enter the environment and a league game between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had to be abandoned after two officials involved in the game tested positive.

Shardul Thakur throws spotlight on crammed Ranji Trophy schedule after hitting game-changing ton against Tamil Nadu in semi-final

Shashank Kishore03-Mar-2024India allrounder Shardul Thakur has called for longer breaks between Ranji Trophy games to facilitate better recovery and preparation for players, keeping in mind the lengthy nature of the competition. Mumbai, for example, would’ve played 10 first-class games in under 10 weeks should they reach the final.Shardul termed the current schedule – where teams have had just three days between games – as “difficult” with schedules getting “tighter and tighter.””If boys keep playing like this for two more seasons, there will be a lot of injuries across the country,” he said after hitting a maiden first-class century to rescue Mumbai from 106 for 6, as they went on to open up a 207-run lead with one wicket remaining.”Next year, they [the BCCI] have to re-look at it, and give more [of a] break. When I remember playing Ranji Trophy back in the day, good seven to eight years back, [the] first three games used to have [a] three-day break, and then it was [a] four-day break, and knockouts were played [with] five-day breaks.”With the IPL window only getting bigger, the BCCI has had to force-fit all senior men’s competitions over a smaller window than usual. This has led to several prominent first-class cricketers lamenting privately about the relevance of tournaments such as the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy, the zonal first-class and one-day competitions, which open the domestic season.Injuries aside, teams have also had to grapple with travel fatigue because of this short window. Gujarat, for example, had their flight to New Delhi cancelled the following day after their home fixture against Karnataka in Ahmedabad.Then on the second day, their onward flight to Delhi was delayed, and when they finally arrived in the capital, they were stranded in the airport overnight. It meant driving amid heavy fog to Chandigarh on the third morning which left them with no net sessions prior to the game, which was eventually fogged out.”Now this year, we have seen that all the games have been played [with a] three-day gap. It is extremely tough on domestic players to expect them to play ten games in a row with just three-day gap if [a] team makes it to the finals.”Also, when nine teams were in the group [in the old format], one team would get a break in [the] round-robin system. Now with only eight teams being in one group, everyone plays each other, so that [extra] break has gone now.”Thakur cited Mumbai’s example, while explaining how it was particularly gruelling on fast bowlers. “Yeah, 100% because Mohit [Avasthi] also had an injury in the sixth game.” Avasthi was rested by Mumbai from the league stage contest against Chhattisgarh, believed to have developed a hamstring-related issue.”He played five games in a row. He had a huge workload because Tushar [Deshpande] was also selected for India A,” Thakur said. “He was not available. Dhawal [Kulkarni] was playing alternate games looking at his age and workload. Royston [Dias] is fairly new.”He [Mohit] operated a lot in those first five games, and then he had an injury so he had to miss a game. I think that is because there is not enough spacing between the games.”Tamil Nadu captain and left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore, who has led his side into Ranji Trophy knockouts for the first time in seven years while also crossing the 50-wicket mark this season, agreed with Thakur.”A few players feel the same thing,” Sai Kishore said. “Fast bowlers are extra tired because you travel on one day. For me, I don’t train much because of the three-day thing. I bowl directly match-to-match, so the load on my body is fine. I don’t strain myself in training pre-match. I am managing myself that way, but it should be harder for the fast bowlers.”

India had plenty of positives to take from their warm-up game; Bangladesh not so much

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Jun-2024Having endured a difficult IPL season on multiple fronts, Hardik Pandya served up a reminder of his elite all-round skills as India warmed up for the T20 World Cup with a 60-run win over Bangladesh in New York.Hardik scored an unbeaten 23-ball 40 and took 1 for 10 off his first two overs before conceding 20 in his third. But it was heartening for India to have their main allrounder influence the game as he did, in conditions – the pitch was two-paced and the outfield slow – that helped his bowling but not necessarily his batting. The other headline acts came from Rishabh Pant, who retired out after scoring a breezy 32-ball 53, and Arshdeep Singh, who took two wickets in a spell of incisive new-ball swing.

No Kohli, no Jaiswal either

Virat Kohli only landed in New York on the eve of this match, so it was expected that he wouldn’t play the warm-up fixture. It wasn’t expected, though, that Yashasvi Jaiswal – the other candidate to open alongside Rohit Sharma – didn’t play any part either. India opened, instead, with Rohit and Sanju Samson.It could have been an audition for first-choice wicketkeeper. On the day, Samson scored 1 off 6, and was lbw in the second over to a Shoriful Islam in-ducker. There seemed to be a chance that this ball may have gone on to miss leg stump, but DRS was not in use so Samson had to go.

Pant fires at No. 3

Pant replaced Samson, and proceeded to play the most fluent innings of the day. India were 33 for 1 in five overs when he began their acceleration with three sixes off Shakib Al Hasan in the sixth. He hit four fours and four sixes in all, and targeted the area behind the wicket with aplomb, using the reverse-sweep and his trademark no-look scoop over short fine leg to telling effect.Pant kept wicket too, rather than Samson, and by the end of the day it seemed fairly certain that he would take the big gloves on Wednesday, when India begin their tournament proper against Ireland.Arshdeep Singh took two wickets with the new ball•ICC via Getty Images

Allrounder watch

Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik were the other major contributors to India’s total of 182 for 5, scoring a combined 71 off 41, while Shivam Dube, who batted between them at No. 5, struggled with the conditions. Dube swung at the spinners repeatedly, but only made one true connection, a massive six over wide long-off, while scoring 14 off 16.Then, having only bowled just the one over in 14 games during the IPL, he proceeded to bowl three here and pick up two wickets, though Bangladesh were already 42 for 5 when he came on.Ravindra Jadeja batted at No. 7, but Axar Patel, India’s other left-arm fingerspinner, bowled before him and picked up a wicket. It remains to be seen which of the two feature in India’s first XI, or if they go with both and leave out the wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav.India play three of their four group-stage games in New York, and if conditions remain broadly similar, they may be able to get quite a bit of bowling out of their four allrounders – Hardik, Jadeja, Axar and Dube.

Arshdeep vs Siraj

Jasprit Bumrah is the first name on the bowling end of India’s team sheet, but who partners him with the new ball? On this day, Arshdeep made a serious case for himself, swinging the new ball prodigiously and getting Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das out in Test-match manner.Mohammed Siraj was excellent too, getting the ball to behave awkwardly from a hard length, and dismissing Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto with one such delivery that cramped him for room. On the evidence of their displays here, India will have a hard task picking just one of these two, assuming they go with two frontline quicks and Hardik as the third seamer.

Problems for Bangladesh

For Bangladesh, who came into this match on the back of a shock series defeat to USA, the result reinforced major worries going into the World Cup, chiefly their long-standing lack of power-hitting. India hit ten sixes in their 20 overs, and Bangladesh just one. Of the four batters who faced at least 10 balls in their chase of 183, only one – Mahmudullah, who top-scored with a 28-ball 40 – went at above a run a ball.Mahmudullah also bowled two tidy overs and dismissed Rohit, and took the catch of the day to send back Dube, sprinting to his right from long-on and juggling the ball expertly while stepping out of and then back into the field of play. All in all, it was a good day for the 38-year-old.Bangladesh suffered an injury scare when left-arm quick Shoriful left the field five balls into India’s final over when he attempted to stop a straight hit from Hardik and took a painful hit to his left hand. The extent of his injury wasn’t clear by the time the game ended.The margin of India’s victory, however, may have been inflated by the resources available to the two teams. India’s quicks did the bulk of their early damage, picking up four wickets between them to reduce Bangladesh to 41 for 5. Bangladesh, however, only bowled five overs of genuine pace – and one of gentle medium-pace from Soumya Sarkar. This was because they rested both Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman, both of whom could have caused India problems on this pitch.

Durham opener stars on second day of tour game but CAXI openers made inroads in chase

ECB Reporters Network15-Jan-2025Cricket Australia XI 176 (Hearne 106, Cook 4-15) and 97 for 1 (Ward 39*, MacMillan 11*) need another 164 runs to beat England Lions 223 (Davies 54, Gannon 5-27) and 213 (McKinney 94) Durham’s Ben McKinney fell just short of a century for England Lions, as a Cricket Australia XI took control of their four-day encounter at the Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane.On a day when wickets continued to tumble, with 12 falling in all, the 20-year-old McKinney stood tallest to strike a composed 94 as the Lions were bowled out for 213 in their second innings.The home side reached 97 for one at the close, needing another 164 runs on day three to seal victory. Tim Ward was unbeaten at the close on 39 from 80 balls, having added 77 for the first wicket with Jayden Goodwin.Sonny Baker had earlier wrapped up the CAXI first innings without addition to their overnight 176. He dismissed centurion Lachlan Hearne with his first ball of the day to finish with four for 43, as the Lions took a 47-run lead. Sam Cook, who ran through the top-order yesterday, finished with four for 15.A youthful Lions batting line-up, featuring nine players aged 22 or under, were then unable to fully capitalise on their advantage aside from former Under-19s captain McKinney.The left-handed opener reached his half-century with a textbook cover drive to the rope but had been left with the tail when he pulled Gabe Bell and was caught on the boundary just short of his century. Last man Cook made a handy 23 from 19 balls as he and Baker added 28 for the last wicket. The CAXI wickets were shared around, with Bell and Charlie Anderson claiming three apiece.Bashir claimed the only wicket of the home side’s chase when Goodwin, son of former Zimbabwe and Sussex batter Murray, was trapped lbw on the back foot by Bashir for 35. Raf MacMillan was 11 not out at the close.

Mir Hamza and Faheem Ashraf have made comebacks to the squad, which will be led for the first time by Shan Masood

Danyal Rasool20-Nov-2023Opening batter Saim Ayub and fast bowler Khurram Shahzad are in line for Test debuts after being included in Pakistan’s squad for their upcoming tour of Australia.Pakistan, under newly-appointed red-ball captain Shan Masood, will play three Tests on the tour, in Perth (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7).The 21-year-old Ayub has already played eight T20Is for Pakistan, and comes into the Test team with 1069 first-class runs at an average of 46.47, including scores of 203 and 109 in his most recent game in October, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final. Shahzad has also been picked on form, having ended the 2023-24 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as its top wicket-taker with 36 at an average 20.30.Left-arm quick Mir Hamza was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament (32 at 20.87), and this has earned him a recall. The last of his three Tests was against New Zealand in January. Also back in the squad is the seam-bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf, the last of whose 16 Tests was in December 2022.Pakistan Test squad for the tour of Australia•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Apart from Naseem Shah, who continues his recovery from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the recently concluded World Cup in India, Pakistan’s pace attack will also be without Haris Rauf, who has made himself unavailable for selection. Newly appointed chief selector Wahab Riaz made his disappointment clear while announcing the squad: “Haris pulled out at the last moment, and I feel this will hurt Pakistan cricket.”Both wicketkeepers Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan were part of the squad, with Sarfaraz understood to be first choice. He replaced Rizwan in the Test side last year, and has retained his place in the last four Tests across two series.Abrar Ahmed’s selection further cements his place as Pakistan’s premier red-ball spinner, with Noman Ali chosen as his back-up option. Spin options across formats have been a matter of intense scrutiny in Pakistan, with legspinners Shadab Khan and Usama Mir turning in disappointing performances through the World Cup. Abrar went to the World Cup as a reserve player, but was not called up to the main squad.Pakistan have an unenviable record in Australia, having lost their last 14 Test matches on the bounce there.Pakistan squad for Australia Test series: Shan Masood (capt), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi

Total of 26 players picked up in open market ahead of August competition

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2023Grace Scrivens, England Under-19 captain, has been retained by London Spirit for this year’s Women’s Hundred, with several of the Under-19 team that recently reached the World Cup final in South Africa also signed for their maiden campaigns.A total of 26 players have been picked up in the open market, following the inaugural Women’s Draft, which took place in March.And Scrivens – who was one of the stand-out players in South Africa with 293 runs and nine wickets across England’s seven games – will once again be heading for Lord’s, where she’ll be captained by her senior counterpart, Heather Knight, when this year’s Hundred begins in August.”I’m delighted to be back,” Scrivens said. “Playing at Lord’s in front of such a big crowd was so exciting last season and I can’t wait to do it again.”Ryana MacDonald-Gay (Oval Invincibles), Liberty Heap (Manchester Originals), Josie Groves and Alexa Stonehouse (both Trent Rockets) are among the other Under-19 players to be picked up for the tournament.”I’m happy to see a lot of the Under-19 team being announced,” Scrivens added. “We really enjoyed the World Cup campaign and it’s great to see everyone continuing their professional progression in a world class competition like The Hundred.”Birmingham Phoenix have picked up a trio of non-England players, in Abtaha Maqsood (Scotland), Sterre Kalis (Netherlands) and Erin Burns (Australia).Other notable signings include the USA’s Tara Norris, a breakout star of the inaugural WPL, who has also joined London Spirit, while Georgia Adams Southern Vipers’ captain, returns to her original team, Southern Brave.

Full list of signings

Birmingham Phoenix: Abtaha Maqsood, Erin Burns, Chloe Brewer, Sterre Kalis

London Spirit: Grace Scrivens, Tara Norris, Niamh Holland

Manchester Originals: Liberty Heap, Phoebe Graham, Fi Morris
Northern Superchargers: Marie Kelly, Aylish Cranstone, Phoebe Franklin

Oval Invincibles: Eva Gray, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Kira Chathli

Southern Brave: Georgia Adams, Rhianna Southby, Danielle Gregory

Trent Rockets: Josie Groves, Emma Jones, Naomi Dattani, Alexa Stonehouse

Welsh Fire: Alex Griffiths, Claire Nicholas, Sarah Bryce

England’s old stage-seizer sparks anarchic scenes on thrilling fourth day at Edgbaston

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jun-2023The devil on Joe Root’s shoulder just before 11am. The demon terrorising Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith just before 7pm. A day in the life of Stuart Broad is rich and varied.On Monday, Broad added a new entry to his roller-dex of Ashes moments. A vital top-order dual hit on Labuschagne and Smith in the space of 12 deliveries means we enter the final day of a compelling first Test with victory as likely for England as Australia.Removing the No.1 and No.2-ranked batters in the world is worthy of dedicating a thousand words to Broad, particularly at a time when England were desperate for something to take with them into Tuesday. Most of those words might as well be Broad’s own from back in April, when he claimed he’d invented a mystery outswinger in order to get Labuschagne and Smith uncertain outside off stump … which is exactly what they proved to be when they came into his sights this evening.But we know the 36-year-old Broad does not simply bowl ‘top-of off wobble-seam, top-of-off wobble-seam, surprise outswinger’. He is a rambunctious spirit possessing an inner light that is less soothing and more strobe – and evidently infectious, as Root found out before walking out to play a reverse-ramp to the first ball of the morning, delivered by Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins”I sit next to Rooty in the changing room, and he just went, ‘I fancy a reverse-scoop for six, first ball’,” Broad revealed. “I said, ‘If it’s in your gut, you’ve got to go for it – that’s what we’re about.’ And he goes, ‘I’ll decide when I’m walking out’. Obviously he didn’t change his mind.”Root missed with that initial gambit. But the statement had been made. The dressing-room and crowd were immediately dialled up to 11. For that agenda-setting first half-hour, he remained a batter possessed, going on to successfully scoop Scott Boland for six and four in successive deliveries, until – with the field now dancing to his beat – he reverted briefly to more typical accumulative nudges. But then, on 46, he skipped down the track to Nathan Lyon and was stumped for the first time in his career.Stuart Broad wheels away in delight after dismissing Steve Smith during an inspired spell•AFP/Getty Images

It was from that point on England began losing their grip on the game, having had a fist-full of it at 129 for three – a lead of 136 – with Root and Harry Brook at ease and scoring freely. Were it not for important late-order runs, this game might be skewed much further Australia’s way. Broad finished unbeaten on 10 but ensured that 44 more were added during his time at the crease, alongside Ollie Robinson and James Anderson.”Today’s just been one of those days that sums up Ashes cricket really,” Broad said. “You’re getting ahead of the game, then you lose a wicket, you think you’re getting ahead of the game, then you lose a wicket again.”As for those key dismissals, Broad was asked if he has a mental edge over both, particularly after handing Labuschagne a first golden duck of his career in the first innings, as part of a haul of three for 68 that included bagging David Warner for a 15th time. “Be nice, wouldn’t it?” he said with a smile. “I’ve had a lot great battles, and they’ve probably won most of them.” He’s certainly winning this one.Related

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“One thing we know as a bowling group, you’ve got to try and put them under pressure early,” he added. “They’re the sort of guys, if they get to 30, 40, they don’t give it away cheaply. We know as a group we want to try and make them play as much as we possibly can early. They’ve scored a lot of runs against us as a group, so to see the back of them twice in this Test match without too much damage is awesome.”For Broad to have had the match he has so far is a testament to Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. As much for the rejuvenation in the quick’s career under their tenure as for the decision to select him in this fixture. Smith’s demise – the ball seaming away after angling in to catch an edge through to Jonny Bairstow – was Broad’s 50th wicket under the new regime, taking him to 587 overall.There is one more day for Broad to impose himself on this game, then plenty more beyond that, with four Tests to come. And as much as his own individual plans to the likes of Usman Khawaja and Travis Head will determine who ends up on top, there is a more collective approach to be adopted around striking a balance between attack and defence with unconventional fields, bordering on rascal.”When you’ve got a set target to defend, you’ve got to keep one eye on the boundaries as well,” Broad said. “And actually, on a pitch like this, where it’s quite slow and hard to create a mistake from a batter, you don’t want to leak too many runs easily waiting for that ball to break through. I think we’ll be smart with the fields we use. We need to protect the boundaries in certain players’ strengths. But ultimately our No.1 focus is to take wickets, and how do we do that? From creating pressure.”You’ll probably see more fielders scattered around, almost like in-out fields. You know how Warnie used to bowl?” he added. “He’d have four people around the bat and three people on the boundary. Three an over is not hurting you, then you get the wicket and you can apply some pressure.”Joe Root was egged on by Broad to deploy his ramp shot to the first ball of the day•Getty Images

Citing Shane Warne felt like a deliberate nod to the 2005 fixture here, which England secured by two runs on a pulsating final day. The similarity between the targets – 282 then, 281 now – and the fact Tuesday is also sold out adds to the sense that this Ashes series will recreate that great spectacle of 2005.”I’m quite conscious I don’t want to build up too much hype of that ’05 Edgbaston because I’m not sure we want that going to two runs tomorrow from our point of view, do we?” Broad said.But a veteran whose success has fundamentally come from his unrivalled feel of the game is all too aware of how the cards are lining up, on the field and off it. Four days in, it’s not hard to imagine that day five will be every bit as gripping as what’s gone before.”It does feel like the same energy as ’05,” Broad said. “And if we have a series like that we’re going to inspire a lot of kids to play the game, aren’t we?”

Being overlooked for central contract left retiring bowler feeling like “a third wheel” on tournament eve

Matt Roller11-Nov-20233:29

Harmison: England squad for WI will have fresh faces

David Willey signed off from his international career by taking his 100th ODI wicket in England’s win over Pakistan in Kolkata – then revealed he had considered pulling out of the World Cup as late as the day that the team flew to India at the end of September.Willey announced before England’s defeat to Australia in Ahmedabad last week that he would quit international cricket after this tournament at the age of 33. He was told in September that he had not been offered a central contract for 2023-24, then learned that he was the only member of the World Cup squad without an offer.He was incensed, and soon decided that he was no longer interested in feeling like “a third wheel” as a fringe player. He said that constant uncertainty over his schedule had taken its toll on him, his wife and their two children, and has therefore opted to “take control”.Related

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Willey started the World Cup running the drinks for England but replaced Sam Curran for their fourth match, a 229-run loss to South Africa in Mumbai, and has played every game since. He finished the tournament with 11 wickets at 23.54, second only to Adil Rashid in England’s squad, and signed off with 3 for 56 in his 10 overs.”It was mixed emotions,” Willey said. “My time is done… but it’s with deep regret. Anybody looking in has probably looked at the way I’ve gone about my business and [seen that I am] probably playing the best cricket of my career. I’m 33, as fit as I’ve ever been.”One of the reasons that I wasn’t offered a contract was them going in a different direction after the World Cup – I don’t know why [they are]. It’s been a period for some time now… not knowing quite where I stand with England and it’s just taken its toll, and becomes very tiring.”David Willey was Player of the Match in his international swansong•AFP/Getty Images

Willey believes he would have been able to play a valuable role for England at the T20 World Cup next June, had he been offered a contract. “[If there is] an injury or two, they’re going to be calling on someone with very little to no experience in World Cups,” he said.”Never say never, but right now, I’m very confident [in] my decision that today was my last game of cricket for England. Do I want to go to the Caribbean and run drinks, and not know where I stand, and just feel like a third wheel again – which is very much what I felt like when I turned up at Lord’s, being the only one without a contract? Probably not, so I’m done.”Willey said he had doubts over whether he should travel to India after learning that he was the only squad member without a central contract: “I wasn’t sure whether I was going to come to the World Cup, even to the 11th hour. The morning that we were joining up at Lord’s, I still wasn’t sure whether I’d make the trip or not.”He added: “From then on, it [retirement] was something that was on my mind. It’s not just that I haven’t been offered a contract; it’s how I feel valued as an England player, when I look down that list of other guys that have got contracts… I came to the decision that the time was right for me to call it a day.”Willey removed both Pakistan openers – Abdullah Shafique and Fakhar Zaman – in his new-ball spell on Saturday, then returned to have Agha Salman caught at mid-on to become the 15th Englishman to reach 100 ODI wickets. He also became the second England men’s player after Alastair Cook to win the Player of the Match award in his final international appearance.”On the phone to my wife this morning, she said, ‘Go on – just get to 100 wickets. It’d be a nice way to finish,'” he said. “To do that was a nice way for me personally [to sign off].”He said he wanted to leave international cricket on his own terms, and hoped that he had proved Rob Key – who, as managing director, was ultimately responsible for central contract offers – wrong. “Keysy said to me, ‘I hope you can prove me wrong.’ Maybe I’ve done it over the last few games,” Willey said.”The timing [of his retirement announcement], people may have looked at it and frowned upon my timing there. But for me personally, there’s not many opportunities you get to walk away from [international] cricket on your terms, and I wanted to really enjoy my last three games of cricket [for England] and play without looking over my shoulder, thinking, ‘One bad performance and I’m out of the side.'”Willey will continue to play domestic and franchise cricket. He captains Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast and has a contract with Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for the ILT20 in January-February. He is also likely to be retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, and by Welsh Fire in the Hundred.