All posts by h79snht.top

William Perkins has been suspended for the remainder of the CPL for handing his Players/Match Official Access pass to a third party for the side’s league game against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Lauderhill

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2016

Trinbago Knight Riders batsman William Perkins has been suspended for the remainder of the CPL for handing his Players/Match Official Access pass to a third party for the side’s league game against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Lauderhill on Sunday.Perkins accepted the charges for breaching the ICC’s Minimum Standards for Players and clauses 10.1.1 and 10.1.2 of the player contract. Members of the CPL security team along with ICC Anti-Corruption manager Richard Reynolds had obtained Perkins’ pass, resulting in his immediate suspension. Perkins played four CPL games this season and scored 75 runs at an average of 18.75.Knight Riders face St Lucia Zouks in the second playoff match in Basseterre on Thursday.

Joe Root, England’s Test captain, has said he blames the system, not the individuals, for the growing trend towards white-ball specialisation

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2018

Joe Root, England’s Test captain, has said he blames the system, not the individuals, for the growing trend towards specialisation that has tempted the likes of Alex Hales and Adil Rashid to accept white-ball-only county contracts.But, Root added, there could still be a future for such players to help reinvigorate the fortunes of England’s Test team, so long as the game’s authorities can find a way to restructure the international schedule to enable all three formats to co-exist more easily.Hales and Rashid both confirmed earlier this month that they would not be turning out for Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire respectively in this year’s County Championship, effectively putting their Test careers on indefinite hold. Rashid, who was overlooked for the Ashes squad despite being England’s leading wicket-taker in India and Bangladesh last winter, admitted this week that he had lost the “buzz” for playing red-ball cricket.However, Root – who has himself had to sit out of England’s T20 side in recent months in a bid to balance his own priorities in Test and 50-over cricket – believes that the current trends in international cricket suggest that players who stand out in the shorter formats should not be discounted from making an impact in the five-day game.”Players like Alex and Rash, who get pigeon-holed as white-ball specialists, I think there’s a future for them in Test cricket,” Root told Sky Sports. “You look at how the game has changed in the last five years – with scoring rates and the things you now need to do with the ball – the skills you have to have, a lot of them have come from white-ball cricket.”That cross-over, I think, can be there if guys have the attitude and determination to play Test cricket. There’s no reason, if you are suited to the white ball, you can’t tailor yourself into a red-ball cricketer. It’s just about having that want and drive, and to have enough opportunity to play red-ball cricket in the county system and around the world for that to develop.”At present, however, there is very little opportunity for any elite cricketer to excel in all three formats concurrently, with India’s Virat Kohli perhaps the exception that proves the rule. Australia’s Steve Smith, for instance, joined Root in missing the recent T20 tri-series in the wake of a busy winter in which his Test form invited comparison to the great Donald Bradman. He now faces a struggle to regain his place among a team of specialists who took that competition by storm.”It’s very difficult to stop guys doing it,” Root said of the temptation to specialise in white-ball cricket. “You can’t place blame on individuals, there’s an issue higher up than that, and I think schedules will have to be tampered [with] and changed slightly.”If you’re playing all three formats, somewhere down the line you’re going to have to miss some cricket. Personally, mine’s been in T20 series – I’m obviously not going to miss any Test cricket now and, with a 50-over World Cup next year, there’s a big focus on playing that.”So it can feel like a long time until you play that next format, and guys want to be playing everything as much as possible. Maybe there is something that needs to be looked at there. Give guys a chance to play all three formats and not have to make that decision.”As for the long-term viability of Test cricket, Root remained optimistic about its future – even if Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, believes that the time to save the format may already have been and gone.”I really hope [it will still be played], it’s called Test cricket for a reason,” said Root. “It challenges you, you find yourself in every scenario you can do in cricket. It would be a real shame if it was not there.”I think the challenge is to make sure you keep it current, and make sure people want to turn on the telly, come to grounds, and watch it. Day-night Tests are great ideas, not necessarily in England but around the world, because you’ve seen the impact it’s had. If we can find ways to keep people interested and excited, we need to do it.”

أشاد الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم ”فيفا” بنجم نادي ليفربول، محمد صلاح، وبما قدمه مع الريدز على مدار الموسم الماضي والذي حقق فيه الفريق الأحمر لقب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

ويعتبر محمد صلاح من ضمن المرشحين للحصول على جائزة ذا بيست لأفضل لاعب في العالم العام الحالي، إلى جانب عشرة لاعبين آخرين.

وجاء ترشيح محمد صلاح لجائزة أفضل لاعب في العالم في ذا بيست، بسبب مستواه الرائع مع ليفربول خلال الموسم الماضي، والذي قاد فيه اللاعب الريدز للفوز بالدوري الإنجليزي.

اقرأ أيضًا .. نيفيل: أود رحيل محمد صلاح عن ليفربول.. وسلوت تصرف على طريقة فيرجسون

وأبرز فيفا هيمنة محمد صلاح، الملك المصري كما وصفته، على الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز خلال الموسم الماضي، حيث قاد اللاعب الريدز إلى اللقب رقم 20 في البطولة المحلية، والتي فاز بها رفاق الدولي المصري بفارق 10 نقاط كاملة عن آرسنال صاحب المركز الثاني، وبفارق 13 نقطة عن مانشستر سيتي الثالث.

كما أفاد فيفا، أن محمد صلاح وصل إلى 47 مساهمة تهديفية مع ليفربول في الدوري الإنجليزي ، حيث سجل 29 هدفًا وقدم 18 تمريرة حاسمة ، ليحصد جائزة الحذاء الذهبي، ويتوج بجائزة أفضل لاعب في الموسم.

ويأمل محمد صلاح في استعادة بريقه المفقود خلال الفترة المقبلة، بعدما دخل في خلاف مع ليفربول عقب انخفاض مردوده، مما أدى لجلوس ابن الـ33 عامًا على مقاعد البدلاء.

ويمكن مطالعة المرشحين لجائزة ذا بيست، أفضل لاعب لاعب في العالم لعام 2025، من هنا.

The Women’s Big Bash League 2016-17 kicks off with a “carnival weekend” in Sydney on December 10 and 11 with six matches, of which four will be telecast on free-to-air television

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2016

Following a highly successful debut last year, the Women’s Big Bash League is set to receive greater exposure in 2016-17. The tournament kicks off with a “carnival weekend” in Sydney on December 10 and 11 with six matches, of which four will be telecast on prime time free-to-air television in Australia.Each WBBL team will play at least two matches that will be broadcast live. Overall, that number has increased from 10 to 12 this season, including the semi-finals and final. With an eye towards bringing in a larger audience, 14 of the 59 women’s matches will be held simultaneously with the men’s Big Bash League, which begins on December 20 with champions Sydney Thunder taking on Sydney Sixers.Most significantly, the Ten Network will broadcast the WBBL match between the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder live in prime time on their main channel. This timeslot is believed to be a first for women’s sport in Australia. “We will for the first time broadcast the Melbourne Stars taking on the reigning premiers the Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League, live from 6.00pm,” Ten chief executive Paul Anderson said. “That will be the first time a standalone women’s sporting competition has been broadcast in prime time on a commercial free-to-air television network’s primary channel.”Among the WBBL-BBL double-headers are the Melbourne derbies on January 1 and 7 and the second Sydney derby on Jaunary 14. The Sydney derby that kicks off the BBL will be a stand-alone event. Last season’s Melbourne derby drew record crowds with over 90,000 people coming to the MCG for both BBL and WBBL matches.Adelaide will host the New Year’s eve matches, with the men’s and women’s Strikers taking on Sixers and Perth Scorchers respectively. Boxing Day features two women’s matches – Strikers v Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat v Melbourne Stars – and one from the men’s tournament – Hurricanes v Stars. Both leagues will have their semi-finals on January 24 and January 25 and their respective finals on January 28.”We operate on a ‘one club, two teams’ mentality with the men’s and women’s Big Bash Leagues to give fans greater options with this integrated schedule,” CA’s executive general manager of operations Mike McKenna said. “The Big Bash League has become a family-favourite during the summer school holidays and the way the public embraced the Women’s Big Bash League last year shows there is strong demand that this schedule is designed to grow.”The number of BBL matches remains the same at 35, with start and finish dates of December 20 and January 28 as opposed to last year’s December 17 opener and January 24 final. Five matches will be played before Christmas, but there will not yet be any match on Christmas Eve or Christmas night, both ideas having been floated by CA last summer.With television rights negotiations for the next round of cricket fixtures in Australia set to heat up following this tournament, Anderson spoke glowingly of the competition’s effect on his network. “The BBL has become an integral part of summer in Australia,” he said. “Cricket Australia has created and built an incredibly popular and successful competition, and we are thrilled to be able to bring it to all Australians.”Network Ten has always been a leader in broadcasting women’s sport and we are leading the way again this summer. We are proud to further cement our commitment to women’s sport through a landmark deal that will see Network Ten broadcast 12 matches of the Women’s Big Bash League – including four of the matches that launch the 2016-17 season from Saturday, 10 December, live and exclusive on Ten. Ten of the 12 matches will be seen on the main Ten channel.”

David Willey will miss England’s three-match ODI series against West Indies in the Caribbean next month

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2017

David Willey will miss England’s three-match one-day international series against West Indies in the Caribbean next month.The Yorkshire allrounder had surgery on his left shoulder on Friday to further assess the injury he sustained while bowling in the third ODI against India last month. He has suffered a partial tear of a tendon and will be out of action until April.Willey will be replaced in the England squad by Middlesex seamer Steven Finn, who is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League in the UAE.England fly to the Caribbean next Wednesday, where they play two warm-up matches and three ODIs against West Indies.Willey, lightly used throughout the one-day series against India – bowling over 13 overs in three matches – was only able to manage two overs in the final ODI in Kolkata before leaving the field.He has only completed a full 10-over spell in seven of his 25 ODIs, with his captain, Eoin Morgan, seemingly reluctant to use him beyond his threat swinging the new ball.He remained behind in Kolkata for scans when the rest of the squad travelled to Kanpur for a three-match T20 series, with England Cricket tweeting that “a scan didn’t show up significant damage to his left shoulder”.That initial diagnosis proved to be overly optimistic and he returned home for an operation, the extent of which has now been revealed.Willey’s latest injury also threatens to disrupt his involvement at the start of Yorkshire’s season and will not help him claim a place in the Championship side for a county where Ryan Sidebottom, a fellow left-armer, shows few signs of deterioration at 39 and, at the other end of the age scale, Matt Fisher, if he can shake off the injury worries that have curtailed his involvement in the England Under-19 tour of India, is ambitious to prove himself England’s brightest fast bowling prospect.

Barbados and Combined Colleges and Campuses kicked off their 2017 WCIB Regional Super50 campaigns with victories on day one of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2017

Kraigg Brathwaite’s 101 off 146 balls helped hosts Barbados off to a winning start in the 2017 WICB Regional Super50 as they trounced Guyana by 145 runs at Kensington Oval. Brathwaite’s maiden List A hundred in his 31st match anchored the Barbados innings as they eventually finished on 302 for 7.The bulk of the runs came during a 122-run third-wicket stand between Brathwaite and Jonathan Carter, who dominated their partnership while making a brisk 75 off 63 balls. Jason Holder took two wickets with the new ball to make early inroads in Guyana’s chase before the twin spin tandem of Ashley Nurse and Sulieman Benn did the rest of the damage. Offspinner Nurse claimed 4 for 42 while left-arm spinner Benn finished with 4 for 35 as Guyana were bowled out for 157 in just 32 overs.Combined Campuses and Colleges caused a stir at Three Ws Oval earlier in the day as they upset Jamaica by 75 runs. Amir Jangoo top-scored with 64 off 114 balls in CCC’s battling total of 215 for 8, which turned out to be more than enough in the end.Keon Harding wiped out Jamaica’s top three inside the first seven overs before Mark Deyal took three more to wreck the Jamaica middle order. Jamaica were still in with a reasonable chance of chasing down the total at 103 for 5 after 24 overs with Brandon King on 48, but left-arm spinner Larry Edwards struck with the first ball of the 25th to remove King, sparking a collapse of 4 for 20 over the next six overs and Jamaica ultimately subsided for 140 in 35 overs.

Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali produced impressive spells to subdue Kane Williamson and set England up for a six-wicket victory in Mumbai

Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai12-Mar-2016
ScorecardAdil Rashid finished with 3 for 15 to help tie down New Zealand•Getty Images

After seven overs New Zealand were 78 for 1, steadily marching towards another 200-plus target like they had posted two evenings ago against Sri Lanka. Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s captain, was knocking runs effortlessly as the England fast bowlers struggled to find the right length in the early overs.Eoin Morgan, the England captain, had already tried all his quicks: Chris Jordan, Reece Topley, Liam Plunkett and Ben Stokes. Against each of them, Williamson had waited till the last minute before reacting to the ball.Williamson, always easy on the eye, looted 19 runs from the third over, delivered by Plunkett. He started with two sucessive fours: the first went over Plunkett’s head, followed by a deft flick to the right of Adil Rashid at short fine leg. A double that sailed over the outstretched hands of Alex Hales at midwicket and was then followed by a fluent cover-driven four. Plunkett continued to err and pitched full again, allowing Willimson to drive over midwicket for another four.When the left-armer Topley pitched short and wide outside off stump, the New Zealand captain, up on his toes, cut bluntly for a sweetly timed four. Stokes replaced Plunkett but Williamson first stroked him over cover to bring up New Zealand’s 50 and then moved outside the line of the ball to hit over mid-off for another easy four.Moving inside the line of the ball, Willamson then hit Stokes into the Sachin Tendulkar Stand at deep midwicket for his first, and only, six. It brought up his 50 off just 26 balls and comprised ten boundaries.Morgan did not wait any further before introducing his spin twins: Moeen Ali and Rashid to stem the flow. Moeen struck immediately when he removed Henry Nichols, who went for the sweep shot, top-edged and was caught at short fine leg by Rashid. The legspinner, too, got into the groove when he had Luke Ronchi drive into the hands of Morgan at point.Still Williamson was lurking at the other end but England need not have worried. Rashid reserved his best for the best batsmen, a perfect legbreak that caught Williamson out of the crease and gave Jos Butler enough time to whip off the bails. Surprisingly, and disappointingly for Willamson, New Zealand stagnated thereafter.If England were wondering how their two best spinners would fare on Indian wickets they will have been heartened by the first audition. Both Moeen and Rashid kept a tight line, utilised the spin of the pitch and made use of the drift wisely to expose the weakness of the New Zealand batsmen against slow bowlers.After 10 overs New Zealand were 101 for 2. After 15 overs they were 123 for 5. England’s spinners had nicely washed away all the gains scored Williamson in the first ten overs. Only 45 runs came in the middle segment of the New Zealand innings, comprising eight overs bowled by Moeen and Rashid. It was there England snatched the match out of New Zealand’s hands.”It was pretty important for us, we look to win every game whether it’s a warm-up or not,” Rashid said. “We always want to play at 100% and this was a good workout,” he said. “If you’ve got a spinning wicket you’ve still got to execute your skills and bowl your variations.”These are different conditions that we’ve got to adapt to. In India you’ve got to adjust your lines and lengths and field placings.”A target of 170 did not prove to too difficult for England, who bat deep. The opening combination of Jason Roy and Alex Hales did not disappoint as they gave England the aggressive start they were looking for: after the Powerplay they were 53 for 0. At the halfway stage England needed a further 81 runs with nine wickets in hand. Roy had departed having hit a robust 55 off 36 balls, which included two massive sixes, one of which went out of the ground in the passage separating the Vijay Merchant and Sachin Tendulkar stands behind deep midwicket.The match did get exciting towards the end, however, with England needing 42 runs from the final four overs. Eoin Morgan took charge and looked like taking his team home till he went for one shot too many. Having reverse swept Nathan McCullum for a four Morgan attempted a slog sweep the very next ball but was caught on the ropes by Williamson: 22 runs from 16 was now the target. It became 20 from the final two overs.Jos Buttler picked Trent Boult’s slower delivery to hit it flat over deep midwicket for a six. Then Stokes punched a low full toss for a one-bounce four that beat Mitchell Santner at wide long-on. With the target down to six from six, Buttler wrapped up the issue with a straight four against a low, slow full toss from Tim Southee.

Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath are the only men on tour to have played more than 30 Tests, but it is two inexperienced players who have buoyed Sri Lanka ahead of the first Test

Andrew Fidel Fernando at Headingley18-May-2016Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath are the only men on tour to have played more than 30 Tests, but it is two inexperienced players who have buoyed Sri Lanka ahead of the first Test.Both are young players who were picked on potential, despite modest first-class records. A former captain of Sri Lanka’s Under-19 team, and a Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, 21-year-old Kusal Mendis has been spoken of as a potential No. 3 for the series. He has now strengthened his claim on that role with two half-centuries in three warm-up innings.Mathews support for landslide victims

Angelo Mathews said his team extended “love and support” to the people affected by floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, following sustained torrential rains that have caused the Kelani river to burst its banks, leading to a feared death toll of 150.
“We’re so sad to hear about all the casualties and those who were affected by the landslides and floods. There are hundreds of thousands of people who were affected and we want to show our love and support. We will wear a black armband for all of them. Unfortunately we are here, but our thoughts and prayers will be with them. People have been really affected.”
The black armband will also be a show of support for bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake, whose brother has died of natural causes in the past few days. Ramanayake is expected to remain with the squad for the duration of the tour.

Lower down the order, 24-year-old Dasun Shanaka has made a push for the No. 7 batting position. Having made his name as a limited-overs hitter, Shanaka struck 112 from 132 balls against Leicestershire, to lift the visitors from 192 for 8 to 367 all out. His seam bowling may also be viewed as an asset – to be used when the frontliners have tired.”Dasun Shanaka was a standout for me, and so was Kusal Mendis,” Angelo Mathews said on the eve of the Headingley Test. “They are both still very young. Their first tour to England, and it’s never easy, but they’ve showed a lot of character in the first two practice games.”We’ve got lots of new players, but also 7 or 8 who were there in the 2014 tour. We’ve got a fearless set of players who are willing to take the English on.”Acclimatisation is one of the major pre-Test objectives for Sri Lanka sides touring England. Having had relatively good weather towards the south of England in the warm-up games, the forecast suggests they are in for a colder, wetter week at Headingley. Temperatures are not expected to climb further than the low teens, and rain is predicted to make an appearance during the weekend.”We all know that you can’t get comfortable in England straightaway,” Mathews said. “You’ve got to work your way through, so experience also counts. We’ve got so many guys who are touring England for the first time with the national team.”But no matter how long you spend in the cold you can never get used to it. We’ve had a few good days in Essex and also in Leicester, where the sun was out. Hopefully the nice weather will come back to us. Whether it’s the cold weather or the sunny weather, we do have to take on the challenge. The weather will be our main challenge.”Though no bowler in Sri Lanka’s seam attack has more than 80 wickets to his name, there is significant expectation on the likes of Suranga Lakmal, Shaminda Eranga and Nuwan Pradeep to cause trouble for England’s top order, in helpful bowling conditions. Dhammika Prasad has been ruled out of the match with a shoulder complaint, however.”Prasad’s injury is a setback for us,” Mathews said. “He’s our premier fast bowler. He’s performed well against England here at the same venue. He’ll be a big loss. Hopefully he can be ready and fit for the second Test.”Mathews will see some familiar faces across the battlements during this tour. England coach Trevor Bayliss had been Sri Lanka’s coach from 2007 to 2011. England’s current assistant coach Paul Farbrace had been Bayliss’ assistant in Sri Lanka as well, before he took the top job himself for two months at the beginning of 2014.”Those coaches have played a massive part in my career,” Mathews said. “Trevor was the first coach of my international career. He didn’t fiddle with my batting or bowling abilities too much. He just wanted me to go and express myself, play with a lot of freedom. Farby was the same. They are great human beings and great coaches, whom I really enjoy working with. We’ve seen the impact that they’ve had in the past 12 months with England.”

The opener’s blistering 64-ball 124 was instrumental in England gunning down a chase of 199 against India in Mumbai

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2018

by seven wicketsOpener Danielle Wyatt’s blistering 64-ball 124 was instrumental in England gunning down a record chase of 199 against India at the Brabourne Stadium. Wyatt was the cornerstone of a rousing chase that saw her bat till the end of the 17th over. England went over the line with seven wickets in hand and eight balls to spare.During the course of her knock, which included 15 fours and five sixes, Wyatt was involved in two sizeable stands. She first put 61 runs in 5.2 overs for the opening wicket with Bryony Smith. Then, she raised 96 runs for the second wicket with Tammy Beaumont, who slammed a 23-ball 35. Deepti Sharma dismissed Wyatt, but captain Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver knocked off the remaining runs with little difficulty. Four of India’s bowlers went for more than 10 runs an over.Danielle Wyatt’s second T20I hundred set England on course to breaking their own record•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

England’s bowlers couldn’t avoid a similar fate early on, as India’s batsmen went on the rampage after being sent in. India prospered from a 129-run stand for the opening wicket between Smriti Mandhana (who smashed the fastest T20I fifty by an India women’s player en route to her 76 off 40 balls) and Mithali Raj (53 off 43). Captain Harmanpreet Kaur then carried on the momentum with a 22-ball 30 even as India ransacked 45 runs off their last 19 balls.Pooja Vastrakar finished the innings with a flourish by slamming an unbeaten 10-ball 22. Tash Farrant was the pick of the England bowlers with 2 for 32. Sophie Ecclestone and Sciver claimed a wicket each.

England and South Africa will kick off the tournament at The Oval on May 30, and Lord’s will host its fifth World Cup final on July 14

Nagraj Gollapudi25-Apr-2018June 16, 2019. Mark the date. Two years after clashing in the Champions Trophy final, India and Pakistan will meet at Old Trafford in the marquee contest of the 2019 World Cup. The tournament returns to the format used in 1992: all 10 teams play each other in the league stage with four of them progressing to the knockouts.The schedule for the 2019 World Cup•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

England will meet South Africa to unveil the most prestigious event in cricket at The Oval on May 30. The tournament will be played at 11 venues across England and Wales with Lord’s hosting its fifth World Cup final on July 14.Even though the World Cup will be played during the first half of the English summer, the ICC has insured the knockout matches – both semi-finals and the final – by having reserve days for the three games. Old Trafford will host the first semi-final (No. 1 v No. 4) on July 9 with the action shifting to Edgbaston two days later for the other semi between the second and third-placed teams on the league table.The eleven venues that will host the tournament are Lord’s, the Oval, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Headingley, Old Trafford, Taunton, Bristol, Chester-le-Street, Southampton and Cardiff.Defending champions Australia will play qualifiers Afghanistan in Bristol on June 2 under lights. That match is one of seven day-night contests scheduled for the tournament, including the June 29 clash between 2015 finalists Australia and New Zealand at Lord’s. In all, the tournament comprises 48 matches to be played across 46 days.The India-Pakistan contest, at the same venue that hosted their Super Six clash in the 1999 edition of the tournament, is expected to once again attract record eyeballs, as was the case during both their meetings during last year’s Champions Trophy.PA Photos

By the time India play their first match of the tournament – against South Africa on June 5, in Southampton – some of the other teams will already have played two matches. This is the result of a request from the BCCI, who wanted India’s first match pushed back to comply with the Lodha Committee’s recommendation that there needed to be a 15-day window between the IPL and India’s participation in any international series or tournament. Next year’s IPL is scheduled to take place between March 29 and May 19. According to the first draft of the schedule, India were supposed to play in the first few days of the tournament, but the ICC accepted the BCCI’s request and pushed back the date of their first match.The return to the 1992 format, and the schedule, were approved by the ICC’ chief executives committee (CEC) during the ICC’s quarterly meetings on Monday and Tuesday. The ICC Board, which meets on Thursday, is yet to ratify the CEC’s decisions.Along with hosts England, seven other countries – Australia, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka – secured a direct entry to the World Cup last September. In March, Afghanistan and West Indies booked the final two slots after finishing as the top two teams in the World Cup Qualifier.Key fixturesEngland v South Africa (opening match) – May 30, The Oval; India v Pakistan – June 16, Old Trafford; England v Australia – June 19, Lord’s; Australia v New Zealand – June 29, Lord’s; Semi-final 1 – July 9, Old Trafford; Semi-final 2 – July 11, Edgbaston; Final – July 14, Lord’s