With England staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat against NZ, Brendon McCullum could perhaps be forgiven for starting to look ahead to his newly-extended role as he takes the reins of the white-ball set-up from 2025.
There aren’t many bigger days in the county calendar than the T20 quarter-finals, which take place later this week. I say quarter-finals, but really it feels like a semi because the prize is Finals Day at Edgbaston, to my reckoning still the biggest day of the domestic summer.
SOUTHERN BRAVE beat Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred Eliminator in a nail-biting Super 5 contest after the sides couldn’t be separated after 200 balls in a thrilling match at The Kia Oval. The Brave will meet Oval Invincibles in the final at Lord’s.
A James Vince masterclass and another brilliant performance by their battery of quicks sent Southern Brave to the top of the Men’s Hundred group and served notice that the competition’s inaugural champions are this year’s team to beat.