Luke Wood was one of the busiest cricketers on the planet this winter, but the seamer describes being back at home to kick off Lancashire’s Vitality Blast campaign as his “pride and joy”.
Wood has been all over the globe since finishing runner-up with the Lightning in last year’s competition, making his England debut in a historic tour of Pakistan, travelling to Australia as a reserve for the triumphant T20 World Cup and picking up franchise deals in the Big Bash, the UAE’s IL20 league and the Bangladesh Premier League.
It has been the most lucrative and demanding period of the 27-year-old’s career, with new experiences, new team-mates and new responsibilities to bear.
But on Saturday he will be lining up for the Red Rose against Derbyshire in Edgbaston’s ‘Blast Off’, a double-headed curtain-raiser for the white-ball season that also sees hosts Birmingham Bears take on Yorkshire.
“I’ve certainly been claiming a lot air miles. I’ve been busy, but I’m back home,” he told the PA news agency with a smile of satisfaction.
“Whenever I come back to play for Lancashire, that’s my pride and joy. This is where I earned those opportunities in the first place. After four busy months away, it’s back to reality. Being here, this is my job.
“But I’ve enjoyed that franchise circuit so much, it can only grow your game as a player. You talk about the captains, the coaches, the different ideas…you’re learning all the time.
“My international career might be limited so far but I’ve been able to play against that calibre of player regularly and I feel my game has come on so much.
“Being an overseas player is a big thing. The expectations are on you and the drive now is the same as when I’m in that overseas role. I pride myself on meeting the same expectations.”
Wood admits Lancashire are a side with some frustrations to work out, be it from last season’s finals day where they gave up a winning position to lose the title to Hampshire or this year’s record of five consecutive draws in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
“You can see as a club we are hungry for a win,” he added.
“There aren’t too many draws in T20 cricket thankfully and we want to get the ball rolling. Coming second last year has almost given us a bigger drive for the Blast because finishing runner-up feels the same as losing.
“It’s always disappointing to lose a final, but it gives you a bit of extra motivation. We felt like we were cruising for a long time but you know it’s never over in T20. Next time is for us, I hope.”
Derbyshire’s head coach Mickey Arthur is another man with unfinished business in the competition.
His side enjoyed a strong run in the North Group of last year’s Blast, but dropped the ball in their quarter-final against Somerset as they were rolled over for 74 chasing 266.
“We did fall off the rails in the quarter-final but we’re better for that experience,” Arthur told PA.
“It did leave a bad taste, but it’s easy to forget we won nine games in a row against some big teams. The guys have learned. You can’t go to a supermarket and and buy experience, you’ve got to go through it.
“Our recruitment has been good too and I really think we’ve got a side who can shake up a couple of teams.”
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
Salt confirmed as England wicketkeeper despite Buttler return for West Indies T20Is
Phil Salt will be wicketkeeper in England’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies as white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks to improve his captaincy.
Buttler has been ruled out with a calf strain but will return to England's squad for the five-match T20I series that begins on Saturday.
Until now, Salt has kept in just 13 of his 59 England appearances across all formats but has taken up the mantle for the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Buttler, on the other hand, has donned the gloves in 106 of his 108 T20Is.
Salt, though, is enjoying his new role.
"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side," Salt said, as reported by ESPN.
"We've not had a chat about anything going forward. I'm just glad to be doing it at the moment."
While Salt is not guaranteed the gloves after this series, he will find comfort in Buttler's intent to optimise his captaincy by experimenting with a role in the field.
"I was going to give up the gloves and commit to being at mid-off and see how that felt. If it will help me with my captaincy it is something I am open to," Buttler told Sky Sports in September after being ruled out of the T20 series against Australia.
England are tied 1-1 in their ODI series against the West Indies with the decider to be played on Wednesday.
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