With Rohit and Kohli retired, India’s selectors face a series of tricky calls ahead of the five-Test tour of England

Nagraj Gollapudi16-May-20254:11

‘Captaincy will not bear heavily on Gill’s shoulders’

The Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not only opened vacancies for their batting slots, but also given India an opportunity to address questions of critical importance, including the captaincy. The upcoming five-match Test series against England, from June 20 to August 4, then, is hugely significant. ESPNcricinfo looks at the questions the Ajit-Agarkar-led selection panel, which is expected to meet on May 24, will discuss as Indian cricket enters a new era.

Who will be the captain?

Shubman Gill is the frontrunner, but Jasprit Bumrah is in the race as well. Some even believe that KL Rahul is a wildcard. Gill, 25, has received favourable assessments from his peers, the selectors and India’s coaching staff, who collectively believe he is growing into a composed and assured player. Even if his batting overseas is still in its development phase, everyone agrees Gill has all the attributes to grow and become a long-term leader.Bumrah, on the other hand, has proved he can lead by example and gain respect from his players. He first captained India in the fifth Test against England in 2022, and then in the first and fifth Tests of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Bumrah, though, doesn’t have his own back (pun intended), with stress-related issues in the lower back forcing him to undergo surgery two years ago, and, in January, end his Australia tour early, on day two of the Sydney Test. He returned to action in the IPL after missing the Champions Trophy, and the medical advice for Bumrah is not to play every match in a long Test series like the one in England.There is also a left-field option available to the selectors: appoint Bumrah as the captain with Gill as his deputy, with Gill taking over the captaincy each time Bumrah doesn’t play.

Who will Jaiswal’s opening partner be?

Rahul’s success in Australia, which forced Rohit to bat in the middle order, means the former is set to be the frontrunner to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. In Australia, Rahul was originally picked as an extra batter for a middle-order role. While it is likely that he remains an option for both opening and middle-order roles again, Rahul has good numbers as an opener in England.Among the batters expected to tour England, Rahul is the most experienced. He has played nine Tests there over two series – first in 2018 and then in 2021-22 – and has opened in all but one of them, scoring 597 runs, including two centuries, at an average of 37.31.Abhimanyu Easwaran and B Sai Sudharsan are likely to be the other favourites for the opening slot, or go on tour as reserve openers. Vastly experienced and successful at domestic level, with over 100 first-class matches, Easwaran, 29, plays for Bengal, and has travelled as a reserve opener on several Test tours in the past. That includes replacing Mayank Agarwal on the 2021 tour of England. He is, however, yet to make his Test debut.Sai Sudharsan, the Tamil Nadu left-hand batter, has also impressed the selectors since scoring a century on first-class debut in 2022, and continuing to develop as an opener. Sai Sudharsan has also been among the best young top-order batters in the IPL, where he plays for Gujarat Titans. He has also represented Surrey in county cricket, and scored a century for them, although he had batted in the middle order then. Overall, as an opener in first-class cricket, Sai Sudharsan has scored 1397 runs in 33 innings at an average of 42.33 with four centuries.Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan are both part of the India A squad that will tour England for two first-class matches before the Test series, with Easwaran named as captain.

Who takes over Kohli’s No. 4 spot?

As Cheteshwar Pujara told ESPNcricinfo, there is no ready replacement to take up the No. 4 slot, which Kohli took over from Sachin Tendulkar in 2013. Kohli had never batted at No. 4 in Tests before that, but made the slot his own. Kohli proved, then, that experience of batting at that position really doesn’t matter as long as you have the pedigree. Currently, Rahul and Gill could be the top contenders for that position.After Kohli pulled out of the home series against England last year, Rahul batted at No. 4 in the first Test in Hyderabad, and made 86 and 22, before missing the remainder of the series due to injury.As for Gill, while he has never batted at No. 4 in Tests, he has strong numbers there for India A: in three innings, he has scored 287 runs, including a 204*, at an average of 143.50. However, in case Rahul opens and Gill moves down from his usual No. 3 slot to No. 4, then Sai Sudharsan could be looked at as the No. 3.In his debut series, Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a hundred at the MCG last year•Associated Press

Is there room for Nitish Reddy?

Nitish Kumar Reddy was the fourth-leading run-scorer in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and scored a memorable maiden Test century in front of a nearly-full MCG. Reddy, Easwaran and Harshit Rana were the three uncapped picks on that tour.Picked as an allrounder, Reddy grabbed headlines for his belligerent batting even as he admitted he did not stand up to the task as a bowler. However, in England, if Reddy could find some purchase in seaming conditions, he becomes an attractive choice to bat in the lower order and double up as the fifth bowling option.Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur, showed his prowess with both ball and bat in a strong finish to the Ranji Trophy just before the start of the IPL. He could be another option the selectors might ponder over as a bowling allrounder or even as a travelling reserve. Thakur, 33, has played four of his 11 Tests in England, including the World Test Championship final defeat to Australia at The Oval in 2023. Thakur, though, would retain better memories of the venue during India’s win in 2021, where his half-centuries in both innings proved vital.Reddy and Thakur have both found places in the India A squad touring England.

What about the fast bowlers?

A five-match Test series calls for a bigger fast-bowling pool. That becomes even more crucial because of the fitness issues of Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, which makes it unlikely that either of them features in all five Tests. Apart from those two and Mohammed Siraj, the contenders among the fast bowlers are M Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Rana, and the left-arm trio of Khaleel Ahmed, Arshdeep Singh and Yash Dayal.Kuldeep Yadav was a key figure in India’s 4-1 home-series win over England last year•Getty Images

Is there room for Kuldeep?

The England tour will be India’s first full Test series after R Ashwin’s retirement midway through the Australia tour. With the selectors likely to include at least one spinner other than Ravindra Jadeja, in the squad, they could have an interesting choice to make. One option is Washington Sundar, who was recalled midway through the home series against New Zealand last year, and who featured in three of the five Tests in Australia, though he played more as a batting allrounder.Will the selectors, though, consider Kuldeep Yadav, who missed the tour of Australia after undergoing hernia surgery? Kuldeep achieved significant success in India’s 4-1 win against England at home in 2023-24, and was the joint-third-highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets at a strike rate of 36.05.That was only marginally better than Ashwin (36.11), but much better than Jadeja (46.26). While Kuldeep had a forgettable experience in the Lord’s Test in 2018 – only his second overseas Test – he has shown he can be a match-winner in all conditions, picking up a five-for in the Sydney Test of 2019 – and that was before he tightened his lengths, added a yard of pace, and became the rounded wristspinner of the last two years or so. Kuldeep has 56 wickets in 13 Tests at an average of 22.16 and, most impressively, a strike rate of 37.3 – the best among all spinners in Test history with at least 50 wickets.

A year on from his dream debut, he has had to again start from the bottom in what has been a frustrating summer

Vithushan Ehantharajah31-Jul-2025

Gus Atkinson appeals for a wicket on the opening day•Getty Images

Last week was a reminder to Gus Atkinson that the game of cricket does not love you.The 27-year-old had been working behind the scenes to return from a hamstring injury picked up during the first Test of the summer, against Zimbabwe. Now, ahead of the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford, England’s player of 2024, who seduced the format for 55 wickets, a century and a hat-trick, looked primed to come into the XI. A welcome addition of extra thrust and oomph. And above all else, fresh legs.England, though, decided to ignore Atkinson. Uncertainty over his robustness, having not played since Trent Bridge, meant featuring alongside the likes of Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and skipper Ben Stokes – all missing the fifth Test – was too much of a risk. Worse still for Atkinson, Surrey thought so too.Related

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Usually, a player unselected from an international squad would slot into their county side, especially if they average 22.30 with the ball. But Surrey, a day before facing Yorkshire, needed their own guarantees, that each member of their attack could put in a shift given the Kookaburra ball was in play. Jamie Overton, playing his second game of the season and first in a month, was deemed risk enough.So, Atkinson had to make do with a go in the second XI. It was his second game since injury. The first was a Saturday game during the Lord’s Test for his club, Spencer, when he was ignored the first time having been recalled. At least then he was in the ones.It was a humbling experience but one that the seamer, by all accounts, had taken in his stride after some understandable dismay. Atkinson keeps his emotions in check, comfortably the most inscrutable of England’s cricketers. Bottom of the list of players you would want to play poker against (Harry Brook top, if you were wondering).But there was proper, unmistakable joy throughout Thursday. Atkinson’s 2 for 31 from 19 overs was a threat laced with the kind of unerring accuracy that, remarkably, left him with just a single boundary against his name.Second years, like second albums, are always difficult. But it would still be quite something if Atkinson’s 2025 was even half as statistically impressive as his 2024.2:37

‘England would be a little disappointed with the score’

That debut against West Indies at Lord’s, 7 for 45 and 5 for 61 – 12 for 106, the fourth best bowling figures by a men’s player on debut – was the best intro since Mick Jagger (watching on at the Kia Oval on Thursday) and his pals knocked out . Doing so in James Anderson’s retirement Test felt particularly prescient. Grand closing, grand opening, and now involved at the sharp end of a series bearing Anderson’s name.So it proved, at least for the next six months. He returned to Lord’s against Sri Lanka to put himself on the batting honours board, and then, in Wellington, became the 15th England player to take a Test hat-trick. With 52 wickets by the end of that tour of New Zealand, he became only the second Test cricketer to register 50 dismissals in their debut year.There were signs of issues to deal with within those first 11 appearances. That schedule meant he played 16 first-class games in a calendar year, having never featured in more than five (2022 and 2023). Naturally, he struggled to maintain his high 80s pace, which made his high release point and snap gather-cum-delivery that much more potent. Nothing summed the drop-off better than the fact his average speed on debut (85.89mph) was higher than his fastest delivery in last year’s final appearance in Hamilton (84.0mph).There was a similar drop-off across Thursday, despite the hours of rain delays that broke up England’s 64 overs in the field. Atkinson’s four spells saw his average speeds reduce steadily: 85.6mph (six overs), 84.8mph (six), 84.0mph (five), 82.0mph (two).Atkinson has had a stop-start summer•Getty ImagesA nod, perhaps, to the need for more game time to build up his endurance. His nimbleness was clear for all to see when he followed-through to run out Shubman Gill. A bonus for England given the India captain’s prolific run on this tour.The lbw dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal – 85mph – was his first in more than two months after dismissing Zimbabwe’s Brian Bennett. Dhruv Jurel was undone by an 84mph full-of-a-length ball that surprised him with lift, right after surviving an lbw dismissal on review that scuttled in from a scrambled seam that has been fruitful for Atkinson at this level.While happy to return, and get back on the board, Atkinson was not overly pleased. “Being hyper critical, I could have maybe bowled at the stumps a bit more,” he said, matter-of-factly.The good news is those dismissals, and 17 of his overs, came from his lesser preferred Pavilion End, where he averages 31.6 here for Surrey since the start of 2022. The bad news is his two overs from his Vauxhall End (22.6) came about because of a shoulder injury sustained by Chris Woakes. He had domain over that end, having chosen it to open proceedings.1:48

What will be a good score for India?

It is Woakes, ultimately, that Atkinson was going to replace, particularly in Australia later this year. That was initially as a new-ball bowler with more pace, before his batting came on to the point where he and, say, Carse could go some way to replacing Woakes’ batting at eight. Now, Atkinson will have to carry more of the burden with Woakes unlikely to take any further part in this match, certainly as a bowler.The worse news, however, is that on the day when England welcomed Atkinson back with the best seaming conditions of the series, they fluffed their lines.His excellence was unable to make-up for Josh Tongue, who was wayward even with his worldies. Nor Overton, whose lack of feel for the appropriate lengths was what you would expect from someone with just two first-class wickets since September 2023 (as many County Championship matches he has played for Surrey since then).Atkinson might be fresh and hungry for more. But he will now have to step up as the leader of the attack. Just over a year from his debut, he will have to grow up quick and help orchestrate a crucial win in this series decider.

In a year with the most 200-plus totals and the highest economy rate, Bumrah has towered over all other bowlers

Sidharth Monga31-May-20252:13

Moody: Ridiculous how far ahead of the rest Bumrah is

People on X have been calling him Josh Hazlegod since Ashes 2017-18, but it is Mumbai Indians (MI) that have got the closest to a religious experience. You can almost always neatly divide any given match of MI, any given campaign, or their entire IPL history into Before Bumrah and Anno Domini.In hindsight, MI made a mistake at the toss in the Eliminator against Gujarat Titans (GT), had to fight heavy dew and were being carted all around; GT’s run rate at the end of the 14th over was higher than the asking rate, and they had eight wickets in hand. And then appeared the lord, Jasprit Bumrah. The miracle of Bumrah created what might yet be the image of IPL 2025: Washington Sundar in a variation of the spreadeagle having failed to negate a yorker, and his stumps all over the place.In this year’s IPL, Bumrah missed the first four matches. MI won only one of those. Since Burmah’s introduction to this year’s IPL, they have won eight out of 11 matches. Basically, that is the same number of losses in the four matches Before Bumrah and 11 matches after his return.Related

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Overall, MI had zero titles in five years Before Bumrah; they are now gunning for the sixth one in 13 seasons with him in the side.There is no mistaking correlation with causation here. Even in a format with as limited agency for bowlers as T20, Bumrah creates a massive impact. The overall economy rate and average in all T20 matches involving Bumrah are 8.12 and 27.7, respectively. Bumrah, though, has gone at 6.86 and 20.09. When you are that much better than what the average bowler is doing in the same conditions, you can create a massive impact even in T20. Bumrah’s teams have to be really ordinary for him not to have an impact on the result. They usually aren’t.This year has been extra special for Bumrah. Bear in mind, it has been the year with the most 200-plus totals and the highest economy rate, and will end up with the most sixes. Among those who have bowled at least 25 balls in this IPL, Bumrah holds the best economy rate: 6.36 per over as against the overall 9.61. To turn in his most economical IPL ever in the big 2025 is phenomenal. Only three bowlers with as many or more wickets than him are still alive in the tournament.T20 is a format where batters hit you regardless, making it difficult to define what a good ball is, or to ascertain cause and effect. That’s not the case with Bumrah, though. Just one look at his pitch map, and you know why he has done well. A total of 43.41% of Bumrah’s deliveries have been full tosses, yorkers, or in the 2-4m bin. These can safely be assumed to be attempted yorkers. His unique action gives Bumrah the opposite of dip – the lift, which makes it difficult to line up any error in attempted yorkers.The miracle Bumrah created, what might yet be the image of this IPL•BCCITo have that higher margin for error because of a physical irregularity is one thing, but to hammer it home so beautifully is another. Bumrah’s full tosses have gone at just 7.42 runs per over (11.58 for all other fast bowlers), his yorkers at 5.49 per over (6.66 for others) and 2-4m deliveries at 5 per over (8.2 for others). Others have bowled only 22% of their deliveries in these three zones because if they miss their yorker, they get punished.The worst region to bowl in this year’s IPL has been 4-6m, which is the aggressive good length on a seaming pitch but just a slot ball on the T20 pancakes. Bumrah has veered into that zone only 7.75% of the time for 8.1 runs an over, while others have made the mistake nearly twice: 13.83% for an economy rate of 11.82.Bumrah has basically bowled defensive good lengths or hard lengths or attempted yorkers 36.82% of the time. This is incredible control over what you want to do. Hyperextension gives you certain benefits, but not this rate of execution and awareness of your game and the game in general.2:58

Cricinformed: Bumrah, the gold standard for a T20 bowler

Apart from the lift on his on-pace deliveries, Bumrah generates alarming dip and cut on the slower ones. He is streets ahead of the slower balls bowled by other bowlers. For others, only those slower balls that end up as yorkers have gone for under a-run-a-ball. For Bumrah, the whole band from 0-8m, plus 10-12m, is under a-run-a-ball. His slower balls in the slot have yielded a batting strike rate of just 50.Against his next opponents, Punjab Kings (PBKS), Bumrah bowled four overs for just 23 runs earlier in the season even as PBKS chased down 185. Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who are in the final, Bumrah went for just 29 runs in his four overs even as they scored a match-winning 221.So, for MI to win the title, they have to beat the two rare sides that have risen above Bumrah in the league stages. In both those matches, both Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner went either for or above ten runs an over. That tells you the scale of heavy lifting the batters have to do off the others.In a batters’ format, in a year that belongs to batters more than any other, Bumrah has two possible shots at making this arguably the greatest IPL for a bowler despite missing the first four matches. Still, there are many things that can go wrong: the toss, the dew, bad day for others around him, or a batting failure, but Bumrah is not likely to be one of them.

The country’s first dedicated and fully equipped cricket venue will host its first international match this weekend

Firdose Moonda10-Oct-2025Never before have Namibian cricketers had their own facility to train and play at, but as of 2025, that’s changed.Construction of the Namibia Cricket Ground (NCG) was finished in August, and it’s now officially open, complete with an indoor centre and a gym. On Saturday it will host its first international match, between Namibia and their neighbours South Africa, the highest-profile fixture on Namibian soil to date.”It really feels like a new dawn and new age for the sport,” Gerhard Erasmus, Namibia’s captain says. “It’s our first high-performance venue and the first time that as sportsmen, we don’t have to drive around to two or three different venues in a day to go to different training sessions. That’s what it means for the players, but what it means for the community is also massive.”Cricket isn’t even one of the biggest sports in the country [but] all the tickets [for the one-off T20I] were sold out so quickly. People are buying their blue Namibia Eagles shirts in numbers from the offices, so we feel very proud. Usually, rugby and soccer are sports where you hear stories about full stadiums and lots of vibe, and it’s so cool that this is our first event and we’ll have 4000 people and everybody’s almost fighting each other in town for a ticket. I never thought I would say that as a cricketer.”Related

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The draw of seeing a South African side headlined by Quinton de Kock’s international return could be one reason for the interest in the match, but the thrill of watching their own national side at a brand new, centrally accessible venue is another. The NCG has been built in the heart of the country’s capital, Windhoek, in a precinct where the streets are named after different sporting codes. There’s Netball Street, Rugby Street, and even, you guessed it, Cricket Street, where a new paved road leads into and out of the stadium. The ground itself features one main building and grass embankments, giving it a hybrid feel – part big stadium, part club ground. All of this infrastructure is ensconced in an area dedicated to physical activity.Just next door is the national rugby stadium and a few blocks away is Independence Stadium, which hosted some of Namibian cricket’s early matches. Since then, fixtures have been played about five kilometres away at a privately owned club ground called Wanderers, which Cricket Namibia had to rent to use. Wanderers is a multi-sport facility that is also used by club members, which Erasmus has previously described as “not ideal” to have as a home base.Captain Gerhard Erasmus is hopeful of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup, part of which will be played in Namibia•ICC via Getty”We’ve all grown up at Wanderers and trained around there, but we didn’t really have our own home,” he says. “Now we have one and it’s right next to the other stadiums. Because it’s newly built, it really feels like a refreshment in that vicinity.”For Erasmus, the unveiling of a cricket-specific venue – especially when other sports are seeing a downturn – is also a reward for what Namibian cricket has achieved since 2021, when they qualified for their first T20 World Cup. The national rugby team have missed out on automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup for the first time since 1999, and the football team are on the verge of being knocked out of contention for the next year’s World Cup. But cricket continues to enjoy success.Last week, Namibia secured a fourth successive T20 World Cup qualification and dominated all their opposition until they lost to Zimbabwe in the final, a result that was irrelevant to their participation at the World Cup. In the four matches that mattered, Namibia posted totals over 200 twice and JJ Smit and Jan Frylinck both registered maiden T20I hundreds. Though their batting strength throughout the qualifiers was notable against opposition like Kenya, Nigeria and Malawi, none of whom have played at a T20 World Cup, Erasmus is careful not to get too far ahead of himself. “In all fairness, it was probably one of our easiest qualifications. It felt like it was written in the stars that we had to qualify because there’s lots of things going for us,” he says. “We’ve played most of our games at Harare Sports Club, so there were no upsets in terms of conditions. We really had it nice. As cricketers, you always tend to moan when it goes badly. This time around, it all went swimmingly.”Again, the importance of a dedicated venue was underlined but it is not the only reason Namibia enjoyed a good week in Zimbabwe. Erasmus also credited a change in approach, which has come with new management and head coach, Craig Williams, Namibia’s leading all-format run-getter. “With the new set-up and the new coach in the last couple of months, pressure has been taken off us in terms of having to score, having to bat a certain way or having to do a certain thing. It’s more of an assess-and-react blueprint we tend to follow,” he says. “Guys are much calmer and they’re setting a better foundation. We’ve always been known to hit the ball very well. We’ve got power and everybody knows our six-hitting ability, but [the ability] to construct an innings has sometimes been lacking. It feels like it’s really changed in the last couple of months. Even domestically, we have lots more hundreds over the recent past.”Wanderers, a multi-sport facility that also hosts rugby, hockey and netball, among others, was the principal venue for cricket in Namibia earlier•Getty ImagesNow that needs to translate into the 50-over game, because Namibia are not guaranteed a place at the 2027 ODI tournament – played across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia – and have a long way to go in qualifying. They are currently in sixth spot on the eight-team ​​World Cricket League Two table, 11 points off the leaders Scotland, with 12 matches left to play. Irrespective of where they finish on that table, they will still have a chance to get to the World Cup. The top four teams progress directly to the World Cup Qualifier and the bottom four to the playoffs, so the possibility of playing in a home World Cup is still alive and Erasmus knows how crucial it is that they give it their best shot.”For Associate nations it’s very important to qualify to stay relevant in world cricket,” he says. “Obviously we have fewer opportunities than Test nations, and in T20 World Cups we have the carrot dangling every second year, but even then, like you would have seen with Scotland, there’s big repercussions to not qualifying. As players as well, you feel like you’re missing out.” And missing out on their own party and their own venue in two years’ time is not something Namibia want at all.

West Ham could oversee a host of exits when the winter window reopens for business, including some pretty noteworthy names.

January is set to be vital for Nuno Espirito Santo and co, with reports suggesting that chairman David Sullivan and the board are prepared to back their new manager to the hilt.

The Hammers have just been given some real encouragement they can avoid a dreaded drop to the Championship, having secured back-to-back home wins for the first time since October last year whilst scoring six goals in their last two games.

West Ham’s crucial wins over Newcastle and Burnley at the London Stadium have relieved some major pressure on Nuno, with the January window set to hand him another potential lifeline amid reports that the club are looking to sign a new defender and striker at the very least.

Nuno has also been given “confirmation” that West Ham will have money to spend mid-season (Sky Sports), and ExWHUemployee has backed this up recently whilst confirming that the club are scouting heavily in Belgium.

That being said, incomings are not the only item on West Ham’s agenda at the turn of the year.

After being axed from the squad, pretty much immediately after Nuno replaced Graham Potter, midfielder James Ward-Prowse is now resigned to leaving in January, despite being a vice-captain and first-team regular at the start of 2025/2026.

The 30-year-old, who is just one free-kick goal away from equalling David Beckham’s all-time Premier League record of 18, is not in Nuno’s long-term plans.

Meanwhile, The Times recently reported that Lucas Paqueta is keen to leave West Ham in the winter, with Fabrizio Romano also stating in his GiveMeSport newsletter that an exit for the Brazil international isn’t ruled out in the slightest.

Now, as per a report from El Intransigente, midfielder Guido Rodriguez could follow them out the door.

Guido Rodriguez wants to leave West Ham in January

The Argentine, signed on a free deal from Real Betis last year, is another who’s suffered from Nuno’s axe — having managed just 19 minutes of action since the tactician’s arrival.

He was largely a bench player under Potter as well, and El Intransigente reports that Rodriguez is looking to leave West Ham as he aims to battle his way into Argentina’s squad for the 2026 World Cup.

River Plate boss Marcelo Gallardo also “dreams” of signing Rodriguez and could offer him a route out of London, but he isn’t alone, as Real Betis, Espanyol and Club América are also actively targeting the 31-year-old World Cup winner whose contract expires at the end of the season.

West Ham could be forced to sell him on the cheap in January because of this, but considering they signed him on a Bosman deal in 2024, any fee received for Rodriguez would go down as pure profit through the lens of PSR.

Selling him is a real no-brainer, and Sullivan will be particularly keen to get his £75,000-per-week wages off the books to free up space for a potential striker.

As well as Rodriguez, Ward-Prowse and Paqueta, it is believed that Niclas Fullkrug has told West Ham he wants a January transfer, so they’ll need to replace the German.

Alan Gardner is joined on the pod by Andrew Miller and Valkerie Baynes to discuss the England Test squad and Nat Sciver-Brunt’s appointment as captain

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2025The international season is fast approaching, with fresh starts for the England men’s and women’s teams. On Friday, the squad for the men’s Test against Zimbabwe was announced, while earlier in the week, Nat Sciver-Brunt was confirmed as new women’s captain. For the latest episode of Switch Hit, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Valkerie Baynes to discuss matters arising. On the menu: Sam Cook’s potential Test debut, a return for Jordan Cox, and how Sciver-Brunt can reinvigorate England alongside new head coach, Charlotte Edwards.