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The allrounder has picked up a minor side strain during training but is expected to be fit to face South Africa next month

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2025Matt Short has been ruled out of the T20I series in West Indies due to a side strain while captain Mitchell Marsh confirmed he is unlikely to return to bowling ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.Short pulled up sore after training in Jamaica and given the condensed nature of the series it has been decided he will return home. However, the injury is described as “minor” and he is expected to be available to face South Africa in the Top End next month.Related

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Earlier this year Short picked up a quad injury during the Champions Trophy which ruled him out of the semi-final against India. Short has so far played 14 T20Is and is seen as a strong chance to feature in next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.His absence has opened the door for an unexpected opportunity for Jake Fraser-McGurk who was only recently added to the squad as a replacement for injured quick Spencer Johnson. Fraser-McGurk’s call-up came largely to act as wicketkeeping cover for Josh Inglis. He will now open alongside Marsh for the opening match at Sabina Park.Meanwhile, Marsh confirmed he will play as a specialist batter over the coming months. He has not bowled since the Test series against India late last year and has only been used once in white-ball internationals since March 2024.”Currently the bowling’s offline and we’ll just see where that gets to,” Marsh said. “But looking forward to just playing as a batsman for the moment.”Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are sitting out the West Indies series, while Cummins and Starc will also miss the South Africa matches in August, with Marsh confirming that various combinations of teams will be tried in the lead-up to the World Cup.”First and foremost, it’s always ‘we’re representing Australia, we’re here to win the series’ and culturally, that’s how we want to go about it,” he said. “There will be guys that get opportunities. We’ve obviously got a few guys missing for this series [for] a well-earned rest. We’ll see guys bat in different positions and get opportunities in certain positions.”Tim David will miss the opening match against West Indies as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury picked up at the IPL but it is hoped he will be available for the second game on Tuesday.

Nadine de Klerk, who is recovering from an Achilles’ injury, is also part of the Laura Wolvaardt-led side

Firdose Moonda03-Sep-2024South Africa have named 18-year-old uncapped legspinner Seshnie Naidu and 20-year-old seamer Ayanda Hlubi in an otherwise experienced 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE. Both players were part of the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup held in South Africa last year.The rest of the squad members, apart from wicketkeeper batter Mieke de Ridder, were part of the playing group that reached the final of the 2023 T20 World Cup. From those, Lara Goodall, Masabata Klaas and Delmi Tucker miss out, and Shabnim Ismail has since retired.Dillon du Preez will continue to coach the side in an interim capacity, after taking over Hilton Moreeng in June. South Africa have yet to appoint a permanent head coach.The squad will be captained by Laura Wolvaardt, and includes the experience of allrounder Marizanne Kapp, opener Tazmin Brits and seamer Ayabonga Khaka. Nadine de Klerk, who is currently recovering from an Achilles’ injury, is expected to be fully fit for the tournament. Having last played against India in July, South Africa will play three matches in Pakistan en route to the UAE.The inclusion of Naidu and Hlubi comes amid talk of a comeback by Ismail and former captain Dane van Niekerk, suggesting South Africa are looking forward. While Ismail retired after the 2023 T20 World Cup final, van Niekerk quit amid controversy after she failed to make the T20 World Cup squad over fitness concerns. Ismail continues to play in T20 leagues. Convener of selectors Clinton du Preez said there was “no conversation” around a comeback but van Niekerk has signed with Western Province for the upcoming season. She told ESPNcricinfo she has “no timeline” on a possible return to the national side, and du Preez reiterated that she would have to re-earn her place.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“The message is very clear,” du Preez said. “She has opted to come back and play provincial cricket and she has got to try and knock down the door, do whatever she does best, and then we will consider and see how it goes forward.”Du Preez called the current status of the squad as being in “transition”, and Naidu and Hlubi are among the first to benefit from that. Both play their cricket at the Durban-based Dolphins team, where Hlubi was among the top ten wicket-takers in 50-over cricket in Division One last summer. She also toured to Australia with the national team.”She’s got good attributes as a quick bowler,” du Preez said. “We followed her in the provincial competition, and definitely look at her excitement as a bowler, and going into a World Cup as a player that is not known to quite a few countries. We are looking at what she can bring towards and complement her bowling attack.”Naidu’s career is in its infancy but she has already played in a major continental tournament as well. She was part of the South African Emerging Women’s squad that competed at the Africa Games in Ghana earlier this year and has been identified as a future star.”Seshnie Naidu has shown significant growth as a bowler within our camps, and we see her as an X factor for the World Cup,” du Preez said. “She brings a unique element to our bowling attack, offering something different that could be pivotal.”Ayanda Hlubi made her South Africa debut last year•Getty Images

Nonkululeko Mlaba, another Dolphins player, who was once ranked second in the world in T20Is, will lead the spin attack. South Africa have several seam-bowling options, including Kapp, Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune and de Klerk. If there is a concern, it may be around batting depth with the squad overly reliant on Wolvaardt, Kapp and Brits especially as Sune Luus has struggled for form. Luus has not scored more than 19 in any of her six innings in T20Is this year and has been dismissed in single figures four times.Luus’ dip came after she led South Africa in their stunning run to last year’s T20 World Cup final and as a team, their performances have followed suit. Since that tournament, South Africa have only won five out of 18 T20Is and have lost series to Pakistan, Australia and Sri Lanka.At the upcoming World Cup, they will not play any of those teams in the group stage. They are in Group B and will open their campaign against West Indies in Dubai before playing England in Sharjah. They will then return to Dubai to play Scotland and Bangladesh.Like all the other teams at the tournament, South Africa have never played a T20I in Dubai but Luus and Khaka have some experience of Sharjah. They were in the squad that played against Pakistan in a T20I series in 2015.”The management group has consulted in depth in the past week around all the conditions and all the potential factors that could impact things,” du Preez said. “It’s going to be difficult to adapt. However, we feel that the squad that we have got will be able to complement us on the field of play.”

South Africa squad for Women’s T20 World Cup 2024

Laura Wolvaardt (captain), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Sune Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Seshnie Naidu, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloe Tryon
Travelling Reserve: Miane Smit

The legspinner picked up 4 for 28 before Taylor anchored the chase with an unbeaten 28 off 26 balls

Madushka Balasuriya26-Jun-2024Stafanie Taylor scored an unbeaten 28 off 26 balls after Afy Fletcher’s four-for had kept Sri Lanka under check, as West Indies secured a six-wicket win in a rain-affected game in Hambantota to level the three-match T20I series 1-1. This was also West Indies’ first win of the tour.Chasing a DLS-adjusted target of 99 in 15 overs, Taylor and captain Hayley Matthews provided the visitors with an ideal start of 44 runs in 6.5 overs, and in the process ensured West Indies were always ahead of the DLS-par score.After Matthews fell to a Sachini Nisansala arm ball, Taylor then ensured she was around to anchor the chase.In an 18-ball 24-run second-wicket partnership with Shemaine Campbelle, she took a backseat choosing to give strike to her more aggressive partner, who contributed 16 off 13. The subsequent dismissals of Campbelle, Qiana Joseph and Chedean Nation came about as a result of West Indies’ positive approach, but the required rate was always below run a ball.Aaliyah Alleyne then finished off any lingering hopes Sri Lanka might have harboured with a trio of boundaries off Kavisha Dilhari in the penultimate over of the innings.At no point though had West Indies let the game get out of hand. While Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu were going strong in their 44-run opening partnership, that had still come at a touch under run a ball. And once Fletcher spun one past Athapaththu to disturb her stumps, none of the other batters could up the scoring rate on a sluggish surface.Gunaratne hung around for a laboured 24 off 35, but was trapped lbw in the 14th over by a Fletcher googly. Earlier, the legspinner, who had utilised the strong cross breeze to good effect, snuck one under Imesha Dulani’s attempted sweep and then had Harshitha Samarawickrama top-edging on the way to figures of 4 for 23.Dilhari had briefly shown some promise of a late counterattack scoring 14 not out off just six balls that included two boundaries when rain brought the first innings to an abrupt end after 15.2 overs.

Earlier, a handy knock from Pat Cummins kick-started Australia’s comeback

Tristan Lavalette23-Feb-2024Josh Hazlewood bowled superbly with the new ball before legspinner Adam Zampa returned to form as Australia tore through a shorthanded New Zealand batting order to wrap up the T20I series in Auckland.While their thrilling victory in the first game was highlighted by a magnificent chase, Australia’s disciplined bowling attack shone here with Hazlewood’s terrific opening spell setting the tone. Zampa then took over with four wickets as Australia clinched the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with a thumping victory, with a match to spare.It was a stellar comeback for Australia, who were staring down the barrel at 138 for 7 after being sent in at Eden Park.New Zealand’s woes were compounded when wicketkeeper-batter Devon Conway injured his left thumb early in the match and was not able to bat. An X-ray did clear him of a fracture, but he will be further reviewed.The series finale will be played at the same venue on Sunday.

Hazlewood stars early, Zampa bounces back

Australia were seemingly defending a sub-par total, but Hazlewood was on the money with trademark accurate line-and-length bowling. After being carted by Finn Allen for a six on his third delivery, Hazlewood exacted revenge when Allen unluckily played on.Hazlewood relished the surface’s bounce and zeroed in on a nervy New Zealand top order with his initial three-over burst capped by a maiden. Astonishingly he bowled 15 dots in his first 18 deliveries. It was an important hit-out for Hazlewood, who won’t be playing in the IPL due to the birth of his first child.Josh Hazlewood bowled 17 dot balls in his four overs•Getty Images

With Mitchell Starc rested, quick Nathan Ellis had his opportunity as he eyes a spot in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad. He bowled his usual array of offcutters mixed with piercing yorkers to finish with 2 for 16 from three overs.Zampa slammed the door shut on New Zealand with the wickets of Josh Clarkson and Adam Milne on successive deliveries. It was a relief for Zampa, who had been pummelled for 107 runs across his last two T20Is.Australia’s strong performance in the field was highlighted by returning wicketkeeper Matthew Wade sprinting towards fine leg and completing a fine diving catch to remove opener Will Young.

New Zealand struggle without Conway

Without opener Conway, who returned to form with a half-century in game one, New Zealand’s batting order was out of sync as they crashed in the powerplay.Skipper Mitchell Santner promoted himself to No. 3, but it backfired and their hopes rested on Clarkson and Glenn Phillips.Clarkson could not get going in his first T20I innings before being bowled by Zampa, who ripped apart New Zealand’s middle order, including Phillips for 42.

Smith fails to impress, Australia’s hard-hitting backfires

After being overlooked in the series opener, Steven Smith appears to not be in Australia’s first-choice XI for the T20 World Cup. But with their campaign to be played on slower and turning surfaces in the Caribbean, Smith will almost certainly make the squad.Pat Cummins pulls behind square during his 28 off 22 balls•AFP/Getty Images

With Australia trialling their line-up, Smith was given an opportunity at the top of the order while David Warner was rested.After not scoring off his first two deliveries against Milne bowling over 140kph, Smith decided to go for broke. He carved a cut over backward point then scooped a six over fine leg in an audacious manner reminiscent of the stroke he unfurled in the waning moments of the thrilling Gabba Test against West Indies.Smith’s most inventive stroke was a scoop to wide fine leg after shuffling well outside off stump. But he fell in the next over to a wicked inswinger from Lockie Ferguson on review to end his brief 11 off 7 balls.Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh then tried to smash almost every delivery to the boundary in a rapid half-century partnership. Australia were eyeing a huge total after clubbing 74 in the powerplay, but Head’s dismissal for 45 off 22 balls triggered a collapse of 6 for 53 amid a slew of miss-hits.Tim David, Australia’s hero at the death in the first game, came out at the halfway point and he was clearly not as comfortable coming to the crease earlier than expected.David made just 17 off 19 balls, but a handy late knock from Pat Cummins kick-started Australia’s comeback.

Boult cops early punishment, Ferguson and Sears restrict Australia

Experienced seamer Trent Boult returned to international cricket for the first time since last year’s ODI World Cup. But he has been playing plenty of T20 franchise cricket and hoped to provide New Zealand with a spark after their attack copped a pounding in the first game.Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne are all smiles after bowling Australia out for 174•AFP/Getty Images

Boult, however, had a torrid first over when he leaked 20 runs, including unluckily being hit for two sixes that flew off Head’s outside edge. Things didn’t improve much for Boult, who finished with 0 for 49 off four overs.But Boult played his part with tough catches at long-on to dismiss Marsh and Glenn Maxwell. New Zealand clawed back with Ferguson backing up his impressive performance in the first game to finish with 4 for 12 – the best T20I figures for a New Zealand bowler against Australia.He bowled mostly a tight length to restrict Australia’s power-hitters with his bowling effort marked by 13 dot balls.Ferguson was well supported by fellow speedster Ben Sears, who proved an inspired selection with 2 for 29 from four overs. He mixed his pace superbly with numerous slower deliveries frustrating Australia’s batters in the middle overs.

Lancashire chase fizzles out despite half-century from Jos Buttler

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay11-Jul-2025Jonny Bairstow hit 10 sixes in a stunning career-best 116 off 54 balls as struggling Yorkshire shocked high-flying Lancashire Lightning by claiming an entertaining 19-run Roses Vitality Blast win at Emirates Old Trafford.Yorkshire won in Manchester for the first time since 2014, claiming only their fourth win in 11 North Group games this season on the back of 236 for 6.Opener Bairstow shared 167 with up-and-coming Will Luxton, who finished 90 not out off 46 balls with seven sixes. Their second-wicket partnership was Yorkshire’s highest ever in Blast history and helped maintain their slim quarter-final hopes.Lancashire dropped out of the top two places in the group courtesy of a fourth defeat in 11, despite former England white-ball captain Jos Buttler’s season’s best 55 off 33 balls. Lightning finished on 217 for 7, with Jordan Thompson striking twice.Yorkshire, who lost Dawid Malan early to Luke Wood, started brightly by reaching 33 for 1 after three. Bairstow pulled James Anderson for an early six and later launched him over long-on as he reached 50 off 24 balls inside the powerplay, which ended with Yorkshire 72 for 1.The charge continued as Bairstow and Luxton, who also posted a career-best score, increased the pressure on the home attack, particularly England white-ball spinner Tom Hartley, whose only two overs went for 39. The pair took him on successfully down the ground, hitting three sixes as 24 came from the 10th and Yorkshire reached halfway at 115 for 1.Bairstow was at his belligerent best, savage on anything full or short. He was struck a nasty blow to the neck by a Jack Blatherwick bouncer, but it was only a minor inconvenience en-route to a 49-ball century – the fifth of his career.Meanwhile, Luxton was dropped three times as Lancashire’s fielders struggled to deal with the sun. Luxton was equally as dynamic as Bairstow, though obviously had more fortune. He was noticeably dominant down the ground.After Bairstow was caught at deep midwicket off Chris Green’s offspin, Luxton was starved off the strike late on and was unable to follow his partner to three figures.Australian Green claimed three of four wickets to fall in a final over which went for only three runs, finishing with 4 for 34.There was no doubt, however, that Yorkshire were in pole position in front of a crowd just shy of 15,000. Lancashire also started brightly with the bat, but Keaton Jennings was the subject of a smart back-peddling catch from Dom Bess at mid-on off Will Sutherland – 31 for 1 in the third over.Buttler and Salt then shared 72 in seven overs to raise home hopes, but the latter was caught at long-on by Bess off Thompson’s seam as the score reached 106 for 2 after 10 overs.Thompson and Bess, with his offspin, then struck twice in as many overs as Yorkshire took control. Buttler was caught behind off a top-edged pull and Luke Wells brilliantly held by James Wharton diving forwards at long on – 133 for 4 in the 13th.From there, Yorkshire comfortably wrapped up a third straight Roses win following two in the last two seasons at Headingley. One key factor was the visitors hitting 18 sixes to Lancashire’s nine.Bess claimed one wicket, two catches and half a hand in a run out.

Cricket Australia’s chairman Jack Clarke has conceded that the game could be better served with a less crowded international calendar when the new Future Tours Programme (FTP) is devised

Cricinfo staff06-Nov-2009Cricket Australia’s chairman Jack Clarke has conceded that the game could be better served with a less crowded international calendar when the new Future Tours Programme (FTP) is devised. His comments came as a stiff and sore Peter Siddle arrived home in Melbourne for the first time after more than five months on tour.Siddle has been one of the hardest-working members of Australia’s squad this year, having not been at home since April, when he enjoyed a brief spell following the Test series in South Africa. Since then he has been in England for the World Twenty20, the Ashes, and the one-day series, then went straight to South Africa for the Champions Trophy and from there dashed to India to play for Victoria in the Champions League Twenty20 and stayed on for the ODI series.”It has been a long tour, I guess,” Siddle said in the Age after touching down in Melbourne. “The guys have been away for a long time now and we’ve probably played a bit too much cricket, but we will see how we go and I’m sure the boys will go well in the next three matches and come home with a [series] win.”The biggest thing is probably the mental side of things. Just being away from family and friends, all the normal stuff you do when you’re back home. You’re always changing hotels, different sceneries and living out of a suitcase, those are probably the things that take their toll the most. It’s always going to be a lot of games and a lot of cricket played, that’s what the spectators want to see and that’s our job.”The questions over Australia’s packed schedule have become more intense due to the high injury rate over the past couple of months. Five men have flown home from India mid-series and four first-choice players were unavailable in the first place, but in several cases the injuries appear not to be due to over-use.Tim Paine and Brad Haddin both broke fingers, Callum Ferguson wrenched his knee in the field, while James Hopes and Moises Henriques tweaked hamstrings despite not being part of the long Ashes tour. But Jack Clarke said it was still worth pushing for a less packed FTP when the current programme expires after 2012.”It is not fixed yet as to what’s going to happen, that’s been one of the hold-ups in releasing the FTP, the ICC events,” Clarke told the . “The type of events and the regularity is one of the things.”I suspect the game can’t support an ICC tournament every year, but the ICC’s also got to get money to get countries dividends, and not just the Test-playing countries but the associates and affiliates. So hopefully less will be more, and I’d be surprised if there’s an ICC event every year, going forward in 2013-2020.”When the Australians – those who haven’t departed already – fly home from India after next Wednesday’s final ODI, they will have only a fortnight to prepare for the first of six home Tests of the summer. The coach Tim Nielsen said the crammed schedule had made things hard and a seven-match ODI series was probably too long, but the squad had to keep doing its best under the circumstances.”It does make it difficult but at the same time I think it is the same for pretty well everyone around world cricket at the moment,” Nielsen said in the . “Five [games in India], to me, would be probably about right but … we know the reasons for seven-game series. There’s television involved, all different things.”

The opener picked up a quad injury in the field and is unlikely to recover in time for Australia’s next match

Andrew McGlashan01-Mar-20251:23

Agar: Johnson lived up to Starc comparisons

Australia are likely to have to alter their top order for the Champions Trophy semi-final after Matthew Short picked up a quad injury against Afghanistan which is expected to rule him out.Short suffered the injury late in Afghanistan’s innings and though he did open the batting alongside Travis Head, laboured between the wickets and was largely restricted to trying to hit boundaries.He managed to club his way to 20 off 15 balls in what became a useful opening stand of 44 in 4.3 overs before being caught at mid-on but captain Steven Smith admitted time wasn’t on Short’s side.”I think he’ll be struggling,” Smith said at the post-match presentation. “I think we saw tonight he wasn’t moving very well. I think it’s probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover.”Related

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Jake Fraser-McGurk, himself a replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh, is the spare batter in the squad and would be a like-for-like swap for Short at the top of the order. However, there are other options Australia could consider with allrounder Aaron Hardie a possibility if someone else is moved up to open.”We’ve got a few guys there to come in and we’ll be able to fill a job,” Smith said.Cooper Connolly, the left-handed batter and left-arm spinner, is a travelling reserve and could come into the squad if Short was officially ruled out for the rest of the tournament.Matt Short injured himself in the field•AFP/Getty Images

Short’s absence would also remove a spin-bowling option from the attack. He did an excellent job against Afghanistan with his seven overs costing just 21. However, Australia do have a number of batters who can bowl spin with Head and Marnus Labuschagne, who took two wickets against England, not used on Friday.Australia suffered a number of injuries leading into the tournament with Marsh (back), Pat Cummins (ankle), Josh Hazlewood (hip) and Mitchell Starc (ankle) all missing while Marcus Stoinis announced his retirement.A complicating factor for both the teams who qualify from Group B – South Africa are favourites to join Australia – is that they won’t know whether they are playing the semi-final in Dubai or Lahore until the conclusion of the India-New Zealand game on Sunday night.Group B finishing positions will be known after South Africa play England on Saturday but while India (Dubai) and New Zealand (Lahore) are locked into their venues for the semi-finals their final group position will determine who they face.If South Africa beat England and top the group, Australia will play the winner of New Zealand-India; if England win, Australia will face the loser of that game.Both qualified teams will fly to Dubai early, to give whoever plays the first semi-final an extra day to prepare, but one side will then have to return to Pakistan*. Conditions in Dubai, where India play all their matches, have provided some assistance for the spinners. Australia do have legspinner Tanveer Sangha as another frontline option in their squad.Playing in Lahore would provide more familiar conditions for Australia with two of their group matches having taken place there including the one victory when they chased 352 against England. But there would still be a chance of them needing to travel to Dubai with the final hosted in the UAE should India qualify, otherwise it will be played in Lahore.10.30am GMT: This story was updated after confirmation of travel schedules

Several leagues ran simultaneously at the start of 2024, and the ICC Champions Trophy is expected to further complicate the picture in February 2025

Matt Roller08-May-2024The Caribbean Premier League (CPL)’s chief executive has described overlaps between franchise leagues as “a nonsense”, and has called for regular meetings among their owners and administrators in an attempt to solve cricket’s global scheduling crisis. The CPL has overlapped with the Hundred in recent years but will avoid a clash this season after holding talks with the ECB earlier this year.And Pete Russell, one of CPL’s co-founders and the league’s CEO since 2021, believes that such collaboration should be commonplace to minimise the frequent clashes between the T20 leagues.”[The ECB] have a defined window that they have to play in, and it happened that we could move everything out to ensure that we didn’t clash [with the Hundred],” Russell told ESPNcricinfo. “It makes absolutely zero sense if you’ve got [Sunil] Narine and [Andre] Russell having to fly back the day before the final of the Hundred. That’s in no one’s interests, and certainly not the Hundred’s.Related

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“I hope that [collaboration] continues. It’s not rocket science; it’s what should happen with all leagues. It’s just a nonsense that we’ve got all this overlap when it just needs to be worked through. Scheduling is a challenge, I know, but it can’t be that you have two leagues going at each other at the same time. To my mind, it doesn’t make any sense.”There is a precedent for leagues negotiating to manage potential clashes as shown by the PSL and ILT20.Several different leagues ran simultaneously at the start of 2024. Australia’s BBL and New Zealand’s Super Smash finished in mid-January; South Africa’s SA20 and the UAE’s ILT20 started in January and ran into February; the Bangladesh Premier League started in January and finished in March; and the Pakistan Super League ran from mid-February to mid-March.The ICC Champions Trophy is expected to further complicate the picture when it returns in February 2025. The ILT20 is expected to confirm its dates for 2025 in the coming days following recent discussions with franchises, while the PCB has stated its intention to stage the PSL alongside the IPL in April-May 2025.There is broad support among players worldwide for global scheduling windows for franchise leagues and international cricket, thus minimising overlap between the two. The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) player survey will be published soon, and as confirmed to ESPNcricinfo by Tom Moffat, FICA’s CEO, will show that 84% of the 330 respondents support introducing windows.The MLC this year is set for a six-day clash with the Hundred•Sportzpics

“Unless the game can come together to find a system in which the domestic leagues and international cricket can co-exist, we will end up with two separate calendars running in parallel,” Moffat told ESPNcricinfo.”That will split the player employment-market, given most of the leagues rely on the inclusion of international players to be successful commercially. We currently don’t think that’s the right thing for the whole sport given it – and most professional players’ employment – is still largely funded by international cricket.”While representatives of national governing bodies meet regularly at ICC level – most of whom control their own leagues – there is no specific forum for the owners and administrators of franchise leagues to discuss scheduling.”It’s the logical way to go – because we’re all maturing, and we’re all getting to a point where we are sustainable,” Russell said. “They are generally regarded now as being part of the domestic calendar, wherever they are played. I think it is a case of, ‘OK, let’s have that group of people and say how do you figure out the schedule to the benefit of everyone?'”I think it’s workable. Others might think it’s not, but I just think the conversations at least need to take place, just to make sure [there’s no clash].”Moffat said: “With the exception of CPL and a couple of others, the controlling stake in most of the major leagues is generally owned by the same national governing bodies who schedule international cricket. That means co-ordinating scheduling between the leagues and international cricket to avoid scheduling overlap is possible – if there is a will to come together and do that.”Russell used the recent release of Major League Cricket (MLC)’s 2024 fixture list – two months before the tournament starts – as evidence of a shortage of “joined-up thinking” among administrators. MLC begins on July 5, and is thus set for a six-day clash with the Hundred.”They’ve only just come out with their schedule,” he said. “Why does it take leagues so long to put a schedule together? We have all year to figure it out.”Russell also encouraged administrators to find a solution to the perverse incentives that emerged for players earlier this year.”It can’t be right: I saw the other day that where leagues were overlapping, a player who got knocked out before the semi-finals or finals could actually make more money by going to another league. That shouldn’t be a thing.”