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Should a cricketer who is retired for five years be considered at par with an uncapped player at IPL auctions? The question came up during a meeting between the IPL and owners of the ten franchises on Wednesday, which was convened to discuss retention rules ahead of the 2025 auction.The question was brought up by the IPL while discussing the broader point related to uncapped players. As such, a rule that allowed exactly that – for players who had retired from international cricket for at least five years to be considered uncapped – was in place from 2008, the first season of the IPL. But it had never been put to use, and was scrapped in 2021. ESPNcricinfo has learned that when the suggestion was made on Wednesday, more than one franchise objected.Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) owner Kavya Maran is understood to have said that allowing a retired player to be retained as an uncapped player would be “disrespecting” the individual as well as their value, which could be much more at an auction. She said it would set a “wrong precedent” if an uncapped player were to be paid more than the former international (retained as an uncapped player). She suggested that the player in question be part of the auction, where the market would determine the price.Related

• IPL franchises ask for two-year ban on overseas players pulling out after being bought at auction

• Dhoni on his IPL future: 'Needs to be in the best interest of the team'

• IPL owners' meet: DC want Impact Player scrapped; SRH recommend seven players to be retained

At least one other franchise rep also expressed their reservations, regardless of the number of years the player had been out of international cricket.On Thursday, ESPNcricinfo had erroneously reported that the suggestion had come not from the IPL but from CSK, who could then use the rule to retain MS Dhoni, who retired from international cricket on August 15, 2020. Ahead of the following mega auction, before IPL 2022, Dhoni was the second player after Ravindra Jadeja on CSK’s list of retentions, at the cost of INR 12 crore. An uncapped player retained that year cost the concerned team INR 4 crore.The question of whether Dhoni, 43, will continue to play IPL cricket – the only tournament he plays – or not has been doing the rounds the last few seasons. After undergoing knee surgery in 2023, he handed over the CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the 2024 season and played a limited role with the bat, coming in late in the innings as a boundary-hitter. More recently, at an event, Dhoni said he and CSK would wait for the player retention rules to be finalised before taking a decision on his future as a player.

Retired India players might be able to lower base price

The franchises were, however, unanimous in agreeing that Indian players who had not played international cricket for five years should be allowed to lower their base prices at the auction. Currently, INR 50 lakh is the lowest base price set by the IPL for capped India players.The suggestion is understood to have come from the IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin, whose view was that a lower base price would give such players a greater chance of getting bought at the auction.A franchise head said that capped Indians who had not played internationals for several years were being forced to enter the auction at higher base prices and were therefore often going unsold despite going under the hammer more than once.

Archie Vaughan, the 18-year-old son of former England captain Michael, is set to make his Under-19 Test debut against Sri Lanka next week, having been named in a 14-man squad that includes a number of other familiar family connections, including Rocky Flintoff, Farhan Ahmed and Jaydn Denly.Vaughan, a top-order batter and offspinner, signed his first professional contract with Somerset earlier this season, having been part of the county’s academy set-up at Taunton since 2020.Though he has yet to make his Somerset first-team debut, he made his mark at age-group level last week, with an innings of 85 from 83 balls for a Young Lions Invitational XI in a warm-up match against the England U19 ODI squad, for whom Flintoff top-scored with 106.Vaughan and Flintoff Sr played alongside each other in 48 Tests between 1999 and 2008, and now their sons could begin their own partnership at age-group level in two Tests, at Wormsley on July 8-11, and Cheltenham on July 16-19.The team will be captained by Hamza Shaikh, who featured in two Youth Tests against Australia last year and is set to play against the touring West Indians in a Test warm-up at Beckenham this week. Shaikh has taken charge of Warwickshire’s second XI on several occasions already this summer, during which time he has captained the likes of Chris Woakes, Liam Norwell and Jake Lintott.”They’ve helped me and given me more confidence in my leadership on and off the field, advising on bowling options and field placements,” Shaikh told Warwickshire’s website. “I like to think I’m a fairly calm guy and captaincy doesn’t faze me. I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully coming away with a series win.”The team will also feature several players who have already been in ODI action against Sri Lanka, including Kesh Fonseka, Noah Thain, and Freddie McCann, who made a matchwinning 174 from 139 balls at Hove on Monday.England U19s Squad Hamza Shaikh (Warwickshire, capt), Farhan Ahmed (Nottinghamshire), Charlie Brand (Lancashire), Jack Carney (unattached), Jaydn Denly (Kent), Rocky Flintoff (Lancashire), Kesh Fonseka (Lancashire), Alex French (Surrey), Alex Green (Leicestershire), Eddie Jack (Hampshire), Freddie McCann (Nottinghamshire), Harry Moore (Derbyshire), Noah Thain (Essex), Archie Vaughan (Somerset).

Jhye Richardson has announced his triumphant return to bowling, taking four wickets in his second game back from injury as Australia A punished a hapless England Lions.The hosts went to stumps on day one of their four-day match in Brisbane at 155 for 2, after Richardson had taken 4 for 35 to help bowl the Lions out for 166.Richardson would almost certainly have figured in Test contention for this summer, had he not been recovering from shoulder surgery. He went wicketless during 20 overs for a CA XI against the Lions late last month, but was back bowling at pace at Allan Border Field on Friday.Richardson had Ben McKinney dropped at first slip in his third over of the day, before running through the tourists in the second session. He bowled James Rew for 7 when the left-hander inside-edged a ball that angled across him onto his stumps, before Richardson’s pace had Ben Kellaway playing on.In almost comical fashion, Kellaway defended a delivery from the quick before he was unable to stop the ball rolling back onto his stumps.Richardson then had both Matthew Fisher and Nathan Gilchrist edging behind the wicket, as the Lions fell from 72 for 1 to all out for 166 in 50 overs.Richardson played his last Test in December 2022, but has battled constant shoulder and hamstring injuries since then. His recovery from last season’s dislocated shoulder ruled him out of contention for the start of the Ashes, with Brendan Doggett debuting in Perth.Todd Murphy and Xavier Bartlett also took two wickets each for Australia A, before Campbell Kellaway flew to 71 off 75 balls in the final session.Earmarked as a Test opener of the future, Kellaway’s runs came after he also hit a half-century for the Prime Minister’s XI against England last weekend.Kellaway produced one of the shots of the day with a cracking pull shot off Gilchrist, before he later pulled the quick straight to mid on.England spinner Shoaib Bashir meanwhile had an unhappy afternoon, taking 0 for 22 from three overs after being overlooked for the Gabba Test.Nathan McSweeney (40 not out) pulled Bashir’s first two balls for four, before Kellaway also took to him in the next over and he was dragged out of the attack.

New Zealand’s bowling spearhead Matt Henry (calf strain), seam-bowling allrounder Nathan Smith (side strain) and spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner (groin injury) have all been ruled out of the rest of the home Test series against West Indies.Glenn Phillips, who joined the squad in Christchurch early as a substitute fielder, has officially been added to the Test squad for the remainder of the series, New Zealand Cricket confirmed. This after he proved his match fitness in the Plunket Shield before joining the squad for the first Test, and he could be in contention to be selected in the XI for the second Test.In another bit of good news for New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell, who put in a long shift as a substitute fielder in the first Test, is set to be available for the second and slot back in as their middle-order mainstay.Related

• Plunket Shield: Glenn Phillips impresses on return from injury

• Michael Rae called up to bolster injury-hit New Zealand attack

• Blundell, Smith, Henry sustain injuries in Christchurch

Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell had already been sidelined from the second Test in Wellington after suffering a hamstring injury while batting on day one in Christchurch. Mitchell Hay has been added to the squad and could make his Test debut.Also, a day after uncapped seamer Michael Rae was called up to the Test squad, Kristian Clarke, a seam-bowling allrounder from Northern Districts, was added to it. With Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke managing “return to play” protocols, New Zealand were left scrambling for last-minute replacements, with the Wellington Test set to begin on November 10.Both Rae and Clarke were pulled out of the third round of the Plunket Shield. Clarke didn’t bowl for ND in the final innings against Otago in Hamilton, with rookie James Naylor stepping in as his replacement.Clarke, 24, is uncapped in Test cricket, but was recently part of the ODI series against England as a replacement player after Henry had suffered a separate calf injury. He has now earned his maiden Test call-up as a like-for-like replacement for Smith.Kristian Clarke could be in line for a Test debut•Getty Images

“On the cricket field, I’m a bowling allrounder, you know, and I pride myself on trying to offer as much as I can in the game,” Clarke said in October after breaking into the ODI side. “I just want to be a good person around the group also and just offer as much as I can.”Clarke has played 27 first-class games so far, taking 77 wickets at an average of 33 and scoring 893 runs at an average of 23.50. He was also part of a New Zealand A tour to Bangladesh during the winter. Though bowling is his primary skill, Kristian is also a capable batter and had notched up his maiden century in senior cricket, against Central Districts in the one-day Ford Trophy, in October.Clarke hails from Te Awamutu, a small town in the Waikato region and played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup before rising up the ranks in New Zealand cricket. His brother Matti Clarke has also played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup.Daryl Mitchell could be back in action in the second Test against West Indies•Getty Images

“Yeah, so [I was] born and raised in Te Awamutu, [and I] still live in Te Awamutu, still at home,” Clarke said. “I hold Te Amuru very dear to my heart – it’s a cool little town and yeah, quiet little place. Just sort of grew up through the cricket system there and then yeah, sort of just went from there.”While Blair Tickner, who was the reserve seamer at Hagley Oval, comes into the selection frame for Wellington, there might be a toss-up between Rae and Clarke for a potential Test debut at Basin Reserve.The first Test was drawn after West Indies, faced with a 530-run deficit in the fourth innings, held on for 163.3 overs to pull off a draw, with Justin Greaves (202 not out) and Shai Hope (140) their main men with the bat

New Zealand squad for second Test vs West Indies

Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell, Zak Foulkes, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner, Michael Rae, Kristian Clarke

Pat Cummins’ Ashes preparation has been compromised after a scan revealed lumbar bone stress in his lower back which has ruled him out of the three white-ball series against New Zealand and India. It leaves the potential that he won’t play any cricket ahead of the England series which starts on November 21 in Perth.Cummins, Australia’s Test and ODI captain, has not played since the Test tour of the Caribbean where his bowling workloads were significantly lower than usual. He missed the five T20Is against West Indies and both series against South Africa that followed which was a long-held plan to given him a 10-week physical build-up to the Test summer in a similar vein to last year.Related

• Doubts over Cummins' fitness for first Ashes Test grow, return remains unknown

• Inglis out of T20 tour of New Zealand with a calf strain, Carey called up

• Vidler ruled out of Australia A tour of India with a partial stress fracture

• Cummins may 'take a few risks' to be able to play Ashes

• Australia's pace depth: Who's in the Ashes mix if Cummins and co run aground?

But Cummins experienced some back soreness post the Caribbean tour that lingered much longer than expected and a routine scan on Monday showed the bone stress, otherwise known as a hot spot, which can be a precursor to a stress fracture. However, he has been cleared of any fracture in his lower spine and there remains confidence he will be fit for the opening Test against England.”There always was a de-load planned for him post that West Indies Test series, and then he’s just reported that he had a little bit of ongoing back soreness as part of that, and [the scan] just identified a little bit of lumbar bone stress,” chair of selectors George Bailey said. “I think the focus for him has and will continue to be just preparation for that [Ashes] Test series.”So there’ll just be some further management and a little bit of rehab around that. But in terms of plan for the Ashes, I don’t think too much will change. There still feels like there’s plenty of time. But there’s full expectation that Pat will be right to go come the first Test.”Cummins was plagued by stress fractures across the first six years of his international career and did not play a Test match between his debut in 2011 and his second Test in India in 2017.Since that time he has been incredibly durable with various minor issues, including an ankle injury and a hamstring issue, being managed without him missing large chunks of cricket.This back issue will be a concern given his overall bowling loads have been much lower in 2025. He had bowled 400-plus overs in all cricket in each of the last three calendar years but has only bowled 175.1 overs through nine months of 2025, including just 95.1 across the four Tests recently in June and July against South Africa and West Indies. Even with a handful of ODIs and a possible planned Sheffield Shield game as well as the first four Ashes Test before the end of the year he was likely to fall well short of 400 overs this year.Pat Cummins has missed very few Tests since returning to the side in 2017•Randy Brooks/AFP/Getty Images

Cummins went into last summer deliberately underdone playing one 50-over match for New South Wales and two ODIs against Pakistan before the first Test against India. He was rusty as a result in the first Test in Perth when Australia were beaten heavily. But his freshness showed at the back end of the series as he was Player of the Match in the fourth Test in Melbourne and took five key wickets in the final Test in Sydney while India’s Jasprit Bumrah went down with a back injury following an unsustainable bowling load.Cummins said after the West Indies series in July this year that he planned to play in New Zealand and then against India in the ODIs, as well as potentially play a Sheffield Shield game.He now has just 11 weeks for the hot spot to settle and it would seem highly unlikely, although not impossible, that he could play any cricket before the Ashes starts. There is a domestic one-day game between NSW and Queensland in Sydney on November 3 that could present a chance for some capped competitive overs if his back has settled in time, without being locked into a four-day Sheffield Shield game. NSW’s last Sheffield Shield match before the first Test, against Victoria at the SCG, starts on November 10.”I think he’s one, certainly skill wise, that has entered summers at different stages without a great amount of match balls at different times,” Bailey said. “Given how far out we are there’s the potential for some Shield cricket in the lead-up. There’s still options there. If it got to the stage where they were taken off the table, I still think that we’d be comfortable with Pat’s experience and skill level.”The injury also presents a possibility that Cummins will not be able to play and captain all five Tests. There are eight-day breaks following each of the first and second Tests but those breaks shorten to just four days after the third and fourth, putting major strain on the ability of fast bowlers on both sides to back up later in the series.Steven Smith will likely captain Australia if Cummins were to miss any of the Tests. Smith led Australia in the two Tests against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka earlier this year when Cummins missed due to an ankle issue and the birth of his second child. Smith also captained one Test in the last Ashes series in Australia in December 2021 when Cummins was ruled out of the second match in Adelaide due to the Covid-19 rules in place at the time.Overall, Smith has captained six times in Cummins’ absence since returning to the vice-captaincy in 2021. Travis Head is also formally a Test vice-captain but it would be unlikely he would be called upon to deputise if Smith is in the XI.Steven Smith would likely captain if Pat Cummins missed a Test•Getty Images

On a bowling front, Australia have a ready-made replacement in Scott Boland, but should another injury occur to either Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc then the likes of Michael Neser and the uncapped pair of Brendan Doggett and Sean Abbott will come into the frame.Jhye Richardson is hopeful he can be fit by the time the Ashes starts but he is recovering from shoulder surgery and has only just started bowling again and won’t be able to throw properly. Lance Morris is out for the summer after opting to have back surgery following another stress fracture.Hazlewood and Starc’s management will become critical in the lead into the Ashes. Starc’s retirement from T20Is means he will likely play the ODIs against India and at least one Shield game for New South Wales before the first Test, as he did last summer.Hazlewood will play the T20Is in New Zealand, but almost certainly won’t play all three in four days. He, too, will likely play some of the ODIs and at least one Shield game before Perth. Last summer he played one Shield game and one ODI but broke down with a side strain in Perth before returning for the third Test in Brisbane only to injure his calf and miss the rest of the summer.CA will also be extra vigilant in managing allrounder Cameron Green ahead of the Ashes as he returns to bowling for the first time since back surgery last year. Green will not tour New Zealand and will instead play the first Shield round for Western Australia starting on October 4. It is likely he will play three Shield games and potentially only one ODI before the Ashes begins to build up his bowling loads.Cummins’ back issue could also influence Australia’s selection in the Ashes. There had been a thought that Australia did not need the luxury of two allrounders in the same Ashes XI with Green’s return to bowling potentially making the in-form Beau Webster surplus to requirements. But having two allrounders in the same XI could significantly aid Cummins’ chances of playing while managing his workloads given Australia could have five genuine seam options plus Nathan Lyon to spread the overs across.

A classy all-round performance from skipper Liam Livingstone took Birmingham Phoenix to victory against an off-colour London Spirit in a statement victory that breathes new life into their campaign.Starting the day at the foot of the table, the Phoenix knew defeat would effectively end their hopes of progressing and they played with the requisite urgency of a team fighting to stay alive.A run-rate enhancing demolition of Spirit with 35 balls to spare puts them back in the mix ahead of a defining week for the tournament. They now join their opponents in a four-way tie on eight points, with three teams above them on 12. This competition is wide open.This was Livingstone’s match. After Trent Boult squeezed a yorker under Jamie Smith’s bat to remove the Spirit dangerman for a duck in his first set, the skipper took centre stage, demonstrating his range of skills to induce a mishit from David Warner with an offbreak, and then outfoxing Ollie Pope, on the sweep, with a legspinner.Boult, leading his Kiwi cohort of quicks, then slipped back in to upend Ashton Turner’s leg stump just as the Australian was looking to open up; tellingly, Turner hit one of just two sixes across the whole of the Spirit’s innings.When Will Smeed was yorked by Luke Wood from the second ball of the Phoenix innings, the pressure could have suffocated the batters to follow, but instead the occasion galvanised them. Ben Duckett was again subdued, departing for just 11, but Joe Clarke was immediately into his stride, careening to his maiden half-century for Phoenix in a blaze of clean hitting, notably down the ground.Clarke took Spirit for nine fours and two sixes to break the back of the chase, leaving Livingstone and Jacob Bethell to enjoy themselves in front of a typically boisterous Edgbaston crowd, smashing an unbeaten partnership of 63 in just 25 balls, with Livingstone launching five sixes to leapfrog Jos Buttler at the top of this year’s men’s run-scoring chart.Livingstone, who was named the Meerkat Match Hero, was thrilled with the performance and result. “We needed a win, but we had some confidence coming in to this one having played really well last game here at Edgbaston. The crowd are amazing, they get behind us every time we go out and play, so it’s always nice to put on a show for them.”Our seam bowlers were phenomenal. I don’t think they missed a single yorker at the end, and then we managed to see it home with the bat. Sometimes it can be quite difficult going in after an early wicket and getting the tempo right, but Joe [Clarke] was brilliant today.”We brought him in through the draft to do that role, to take bowlers on at No. 3 and give us some momentum, so he’s been fantastic, and he broke the chase for us.”Back-to-back wins now. We know we’re up against it, all we can do is win our remaining games and see where we are.”

Twenty-year-old Eyman Fatima has been called up to the Pakistan T20I squad to tour Ireland following her success in the National T20 tournament in May.Fatima was the fourth-highest run-scorer in that tournament, amassing 287 runs at a strike rate in excess of 155. She had earlier played in the inaugural women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup in 2023 and was Pakistan’s highest run-getter there (and fourth overall) with 157 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 126.61.Fatima Sana will lead the side that will play three T20Is in Dublin. Sana was both the highest run-scorer and the player with the highest strike rate at the National T20 tournament. These will be the first T20Is Pakistan play this year; the last time they played in the format was at the T20 World Cup last year.Related

• Nida Dar takes indefinite break from cricket

Allrounder Nida Dar, the highest wicket-taker in Pakistan women’s T20I history, and behind only Australian Megan Schutt globally, took an indefinite break from cricket following a breakdown in the relationship between her and the board and last played for Pakistan at that T20 World Cup. This squad, though, is similar to the one which, under new head coach Mohammad Wasim, stormed through the ODI qualifiers at home earlier this year, winning all five games.The squad was chosen from among the 24 players, who have taken part in a skills camp in Karachi that concludes on July 27. Following that, the 15 players selected will undergo an additional pre-series training camp before leaving for Ireland.The three T20Is take place on August 6, 8 and 10.

Pakistan squad for T20Is vs Ireland

Fatima Sana (capt), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Tuba Hassan, Waheeda Akhtar