All posts tagged: County Championship

Why James Anderson despises The Hundred tournament

Why James Anderson despises The Hundred tournament

Published by Parlour News

3 min readApr 2, 2026 10:10 AM IST Senior England fast bowler James Anderson has revealed that he didn’t have a good time while playing in The Hundred, England’s marquee franchise cricket league. Anderson said he “hated every minute” of featuring in the competition, where he represented the Manchester Originals in 2025. Anderson was signed as a ‘wildcard’ for the Originals last year, playing three matches in The Hundred and managing two wickets. “It was a mixture of hating every minute of The Hundred last year, if I can say that, and especially being captain this year. I think it’s really important that I focus on being as fit as I can be for the four-day stuff. I want to play in the Blast as well again,” Anderson told The Independent. “When The Hundred is on, I’m hopefully going to be on holiday somewhere,” he added. While Anderson didn’t give the exact reason for what went wrong in the tournament, there has been a sudden shift in his view of The Hundred. After being signed …

Why England’s rising star Jamie Smith is actually relieved to be snubbed by the IPL | Cricket News

Why England’s rising star Jamie Smith is actually relieved to be snubbed by the IPL | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readMar 19, 2026 03:02 PM IST England wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith believes missing out on the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year might turn out to be “a blessing in disguise” as he prepares for an important red-ball season in his home country. The 25-year-old, who went unsold at the auction for IPL 2026, said that he still aspires to play in the cash-rich league, but due to the unexpected time off from the game, he is now focused on preparing to play his best possible cricket in the longer formats ahead of England’s Test matches this summer, beginning in June against New Zealand. “At the time, I would have definitely liked to have gone, it’s an ambition of mine to strengthen all sides of my game, and I see the IPL as something that can really enhance the white-ball side and does have benefits for the red-ball game,” the Surrey gloveman said on ESPNcricinfo. “But in hindsight, it’s fantastic to have a block of red-ball cricket. Towards the back end of the summer …

Counties write to ECB to consider visa rules changes considering First Class matches for Overseas players | Cricket News

Counties write to ECB to consider visa rules changes considering First Class matches for Overseas players | Cricket News

Published by Webster

With the England Home office having qualification rules for overseas non-international players to be eligible for work visa in the country relying on the players having played at least 20 domestic T20 games in Full ICC Member nations, the England domestic scene sees most of the overseas players not meeting such eligibility. Without the eligibility, overseas players are limited to a maximum of 30 days contract with an English domestic side under the Permitted Paid Engagement (PPE) visa scheme and some of the English county teams have written to ECB to reconsider the rules and to take first class experience into consideration. The recent rule change requests have come after Australian Fergus O’Neil, who took 21 wickets at an average of 17.9 for Nottinghamshire in Division One Championships, was forced to leave England after 30 days. “We didn’t want him for T20s, we wanted him for four-day cricket. It is crazy. T20 seems a bizarre format for Fergus to have had to play when we didn’t want to sign for that form of the game …

Shardul Thakur signs with Essex, set to make debut in English county cricket | Cricket News

Shardul Thakur signs with Essex, set to make debut in English county cricket | Cricket News

Published by Webster

India’s Shardul Thakur is set to make his debut in English county cricket with the allrounder scheduled to play 7 matches for Essex in Division One from the beginning of the 2025 season. Thakur has impressed with his batting as well as his bowling in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, scoring 51 and 119 for his second First-Class century last month against Jammu and Kashmir and a 84-run innings against Meghalaya. The 33-year-old, who has played 47 ODIs, 11 Tests and 25 T20Is for India, also recently took a hat-trick in the match against Meghalaya. “I am feeling excited to join Essex this summer. Personally it brings new challenges and opportunities to showcase my talent and skills. County cricket is something I always wanted to experience and I am glad that I’ll be representing the Eagles,” Thakur was quoted as saying by Essex on their website. ✍️ Welcome to Essex, Shardul Thakur! 🦅 #FlyLikeAnEagle pic.twitter.com/mUGQCCBJIC — Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) February 18, 2025 Essex’s director of cricket and former England and Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood …

Who was Worcestershire cricketer Josh Baker, who died at the age of 20? | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Worcestershire left-arm spinner Josh Baker has died at the age of 20. Baker was found dead by a friend in his apartment after he did not answer his phone. The youngster has made two County appearance this season and on Wednesday, he had taken 3 for 66 in the first innings of Worcestershire’s four-day 2nd XI Championship match against Somerset at Bromsgrove School. Baker made his first-class debut in 2021 and played 47 games in all formats, taking 70 wickets. Worcestershire County Cricket Club is heartbroken to announce the untimely passing of Josh Baker, who was aged only 20 years old. The love and prayers of everyone at the Club go out to Josh’s family and friends at this time. ➡️ https://t.co/p5C9G0apV0 pic.twitter.com/DNNOnG4Gy7 — Worcestershire CCC (@WorcsCCC) May 2, 2024 Baker was born in Redditch, and he came through the ranks at New Road and represented England at U-19 level. He signed a three-year contract last year, having recovered from a back injury that he suffered in 2022, and played five Championship games to help …