Category Sports News

England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow will replace compatriot Will Jacks at Mumbai Indians if they qualify for the play-off stages of the Indian Premier League.

Jacks is expected to return to England to play in the one-day series against the West Indies, which starts on Thursday, 29 May.

The IPL had to be paused amid political tension between India and Pakistan and the tournament’s rescheduling resulted in it clashing with England’s series.

The IPL resumed on Saturday and the play-offs begin on 29 May, with the final taking place on Tuesday, 3 June.

Mumbai Indians are in the fourth and final qualifying spot for the play-offs with two games left in the league phase.

They have also brought in English bowler Richard Gleeson and Sri Lanka all-rounder Charith Asalanka to replace South African duo Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch, who are also leaving for international duty with their country prior to the play-offs.

An IPL statement said Yorkshire player Bairstow, 35, will join Mumbai Indians for 5.25 crore Indian rupees (£458,000), while Lancashire’s Gleeson will join for 1 crore INR (£87,000).

Yorkshire said Bairstow would miss their next County Championship match against Nottinghamshire and up to two Vitality Blast games depending on Mumbai Indians’ progress.

“Whilst it is naturally disappointing to lose Jonny for the next few weeks, the opportunity for him to play in the final stages of the IPL at this stage in his career is huge,” said Yorkshire general manager of cricket Gavin Hamilton.

“Jonny has been open with us around his desire to play in the IPL from our very first conversation with him, and we’d like to wish him the best of luck in the coming weeks.

If the Mumbai Indians advance to the play-off rounds of the Indian Premier League, England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow will take their place in the team’s starting lineup.

The one-day series against the West Indies, which begins on May 29 and continues in England, is expected to feature Jacks.

Due to political unrest between India and Pakistan, the IPL had to be postponed, and the tournament’s rescheduling caused it to clash with England’s series.

The play-offs will begin on May 29 and the IPL will resume on Saturday, June 3rd, with the final game being on June 3.

With only two games left in the league phase, the Mumbai Indians are in the fourth and final round of qualifying.

In place of South African duo Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch, who are both departing for international duty with their nation before the play-offs, they have also added English bowler Richard Gleeson and Sri Lanka all-rounder Charith Asalanka.

In an IPL statement, it was announced that Yorkshire player Bairstow, 35, would purchase 5.25 crore Indian rupees (£458, 000), while Lancashire’s Gleeson would purchase 1 crore Indian rupees (£87, 000).

According to Yorkshire, depending on how far Mumbai Indians advance, Bairstow will miss their next County Championship game against Nottinghamshire and two Vitality Blast games.

The opportunity for Jonny to play in the final stages of his career is “disgusted,” said Yorkshire general manager of cricket Gavin Hamilton, “whilst it is naturally disappointing to lose him for the next few weeks.”

We’ve spoken to Jonny about his desire to play in the IPL from the beginning, and we want to wish him the best of luck in the upcoming weeks.

Erin Healy, an uncapped Adelaide United player, has been named in Ireland’s starting line-up for the upcoming Nations League games against Slovenia and Turkey.

Healy, who was born in San Diego and was accepted through her Monaghan-born grandfather, won the player of the year award in Adelaide’s first A-League season and scored eight goals.

Louise Quinn, who announced her retirement last month, has been included in the announcement. Quinn will “bring her leadership to the squad” ahead of her retirement this summer, according to the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

Megan Connolly is recalled after suffering an injury that prevented her from playing against Greece in April, but she is also injured against Heather Payne, Leanne Kiernan, Tara O’Hanlon, Jamie Finn, Lily Agg, and Jess Ziu.

Following her participation with Arsenal in Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona, captain Katie McCabe will join the squad.

In their final Nations League game, the Republic of Ireland travels to Slovenia on May 30 (both 17:00 BST) before playing in Cork on June 3 (both 17:00 BST).

Defenders: Jessie Stapleton (West Ham United), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton & Hove Albion), Louise Quinn (Unattached), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Megan Campbell (Unattached), and Katie McCabe (Arsenal).

Midfielders: Aoibheann Clancy (Shelbourne), Ruesha Littlejohn (Shamrock Rovers), Megan Connolly (Lazio), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Marissa Sheva (Sunderland), and Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage).

Uncapped Adelaide United forward Erin Healy has been called up to the Republic of Ireland squad for the upcoming Nations League matches against Turkey and Slovenia.

San Diego-born Healy, who qualifies through her Monaghan-born grandfather, scored eight goals in her first A-League season and was named Adelaide’s player of the year.

Louise Quinn has been included despite announcing her retirement last month. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) says Quinn will “bring her leadership to the squad ahead of retiring this summer”.

Megan Connolly is recalled after missing the wins over Greece in April because of injury, but Heather Payne, Leanne Kiernan, Tara O’Hanlon, Jamie Finn, Lily Agg and Jess Ziu are sidelined.

Captain Katie McCabe will link up with the squad following her involvement with Arsenal in Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona.

The Republic of Ireland face Turkey away on 30 May before hosting group leaders Slovenia in Cork on 3 June (both 17:00 BST) in their final Nations League game.

Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Unattached), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic).

Defenders: Jessie Stapleton (West Ham United), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton & Hove Albion), Louise Quinn (Unattached), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Megan Campbell (Unattached), Katie McCabe (Arsenal).

Midfielders: Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Ruesha Littlejohn (Shamrock Rovers), Megan Connolly (Lazio), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Marissa Sheva (Sunderland), Aoibheann Clancy (Shelbourne).

“It’s been absolute carnage. I don’t even know how to describe the last six months of our lives.”

Katherine Sciver-Brunt is in a hotel in Canterbury and baby Theo has just been passed to her wife Nat. It is two days before Nat’s first game as the new full-time England captain.

Nat will soon head to training, in the evening and under lights, to prepare for the first T20 against West Indies.

When Nat walks out to toss the coin on Wednesday, she will do so as only the fourth permanent England skipper this century.

For Sciver-Brunt, it is the culmination of an eclectic journey. Her early years were shaped by the diplomatic career of her mother Julia, now the UK’s ambassador to Japan.

Nat Sciver, as she was then, went to school in Poland and the Netherlands before ending her education at Epsom College in Surrey.

Izzy Westbury, who would become Middlesex captain, then a cricket writer and commentator, was two years above Sciver-Brunt at The British School just outside The Hague.

“I thought I was the tomboy, the only girl that played in the football team, then this little upstart popped up,” Westbury tells BBC Sport.

“Not only was there another girl in that sphere, but she was really good. She played basketball and tennis, but, in terms of her sporting career, it could have been football instead of cricket.”

For Sciver-Brunt, whose idol was David Beckham, there were football trials with Chelsea before she joined Surrey.

“I had that glimpse into her playing sport as a young teenager, then I didn’t see her again until we were playing county cricket,” says Westbury.

“When I saw her again, I thought: ‘Oh, help.’ She dislocated my finger with one of her cover drives. She hit it so hard, even then.”

Sciver-Brunt played county cricket as a 17-year-old and was picked by England three years later. Such was the humble nature of the women’s game at the time, her one-day international debut against Pakistan was at Louth Cricket Club in Lincolnshire.

“Very quickly she became one of my favourite team-mates to bat with, mainly because of her calmness,” says former England batter Lydia Greenway, now the national selector.

Making an impression on the field, and off it.

“She’s a bit of a hustler,” adds Greenway. “You’ll be playing table tennis and all of a sudden she’s won 21-0. One of the questions we regularly got asked was ‘who is the best dancer?’ and Nat always came out on top of that.”

In 2016, England went through a revolution not dissimilar to the soul-searching of the past few months. Back then a T20 World Cup semi-final exit was the catalyst for change and Sciver-Brunt was identified as a key component of the new-look team.

Given the recent questions England have faced over their fitness, Sciver-Brunt’s early interaction with then-coach Mark Robinson has further similarities to the present day.

“She was one of six players who came back not very fit from the Women’s Big Bash,” says Robinson. “One of my first dealings with her was addressing what had gone on. After that, she was a breeze to work with.”

Before Robinson took over, Sciver-Brunt had only once batted in England’s top five in a one-day international. Since then, she has never been out of the top five.

“It was pretty obvious she could be somebody special,” says Robinson. “Mark Davis, the former Sussex off-spinner and head coach, came with us on a tour and was calling her Jacques Kallis. ‘Kallis will get us some runs today,’ he would say.”

For Sciver-Brunt, Robinson and England, everything built towards the 2017 World Cup triumph on home soil. While Tammy Beaumont and Anya Shrubsole produced stellar performances, it was Sciver-Brunt who captured the imagination with a shot she invented – the Natmeg – jamming down on a full-length delivery and hitting the ball between her legs.

“The only person who took it personally was Ali Maiden, the batting coach. He felt it was a technical flaw that she got into a bad position and had no choice but to squirt it out between her legs,” says Robinson.

“Ali spent all the time with her hitting straight, holding her balance. He wasn’t happy that all the work he was doing was being undone because when she got it wrong she was lauded as a hero for inventing a new shot. For Nat, it was water off a duck’s back.”

“I first met Natalie when I was working at Loughborough University,” says former fast bowler Katherine. “She was trialling at the National Cricket Performance Centre there.

“She came in with an arm brace on because her elbow hyper-extends. Mark Lane, the England coach at the time, was trying to wind me up saying she could bowl faster than me. I thought ‘she’s not all that’. Laney’s wind-up worked, because I took notice.”

Katherine and Nat became housemates and business partners. They invested in a property and rented it out to England team-mates Amy Jones, Beth Langston and Fran Wilson. The group were so tight the other players nicknamed them ‘Little Mix’.

Whereas the rest could see the potential relationship developing, Katherine took her time.

“It’s not like we wanted to hide anything from anyone, it’s just that me and Nat didn’t really know either,” says Katherine. “We were and still are all so close, that I didn’t want to mess up any of that. It was me holding back.

“One day, I realised she was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Nat and Katherine went public about their relationship, engagement and eventual marriage. Last year, Nat had egg-freezing treatment, and they announced the birth of Theo, carried by Katherine, in April.

“We felt it was important to touch on subjects some people would find helpful,” says Katherine. “We cover a lot of difficult bases in the public eye, playing international sport, being gay, being women.

“We ticked a lot of boxes that touched areas where people could struggle. We felt if we could help people feel a little less uncomfortable, why not?”

With two huge life events – becoming a parent and becoming England captain – happening at the same time, there are simultaneous struggles at play.

Katherine was able to travel with Nat on England’s winter tours, but was too deep into the pregnancy to go to the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in February and March. As Katherine spent time in hospital, Nat was in India becoming the leading run-scorer and player of the tournament. If Katherine had gone into labour, Nat would not have made it home in time.

There was an initial plan for Nat to miss the West Indies series, but after England sacked Heather Knight, they needed a captain.

“Watching the WPL and how she dealt with what we were going though, that showed me she will be fine as England captain,” says Katherine.

“We know her for being calm, calculated and being able to pull off her best performances in the worst situations. For that alone, if there is anyone for the job, it is Nat.”

And Katherine?