It’s not Tuesday, but I have a minute, so here we go!
The IPL has been postponed due to you know what. There have been all sorts of speculation as to when and where it might resume, including at English county grounds, which would be…something. Delhi Capitals were leading the points table when several Kolkata Knight Riders players and others were diagnosed with COVID-19. All good thoughts to India as they deal with this massive humanitarian crisis.
The County Championship is in Round 5. Birmingham, Gloucestershire and Lancashire lead the three groups. Yorkshire and Somerset have the next highest point totals. In light of the IPL postponement, Middlesex v. Gloucestershire was moved off YouTube (well, it’s still on YouTube) to Sky so that even the technically challenged could watch on their tellies.
Pakistan traveled to Zimbabwe and took the T20 series 2-1 and won the only Test played so far by an innings and 116 runs. Fawad Alam had 140 in the Test and Mohammad Rizwan had 81 and 92 in the two Pakistan T20 wins. They are playing another Test this weekend. Pakistan is batting first after winning the toss. Abid Ali and Azhar Ali have already gotten centuries, with Abid still batting.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh played two Tests. The first was drawn, and the Lions won the second Test by 209 runs. Lahiru Thirimanne and Dimuth Karunaratne had centuries and Praveen Jayawickrama had a 5-fer in the winning effort.
Not much happening on the Women’s side, as we’ve started to become accustomed to during this pandemic, unfortunately. There were a couple of demonstration matches in The Hundred format, but little else that counts in any standings. The England Women’s Regional T20 doesn’t start until June 26th, and the first Women’s The Hundred game is July 21st.
There was an U19 tournament held near me in Prairie View, Texas to determine the US national U19 champions, which ended up being the Mid-Atlantic team. This tournament will go a long way to determining who plays in this summer’s Minor League Cricket competition and 2022’s inaugural Major League Cricket season. The tournament was a huge success and a big step forward for USA Cricket to get back into international competition whenever the ICC allows the associates to play again.
