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Josh Hazlewood’s hopes of playing a part in the Ashes series have suffered another setback after he reported Achilles soreness during the early stages of his return from a hamstring injury.Hazlewood had been due to join the Test squad in Brisbane to continue his recovery but that trip has been shelved. He had returned to bowling off a few paces in Sydney last week having been ruled out of the start of the series after picking up the hamstring injury against Victoria last month.”Josh Hazlewood reported achilles soreness this week during his rehabilitation from recent hamstring injury,” a Cricket Australia statement said. “It is a low-grade issue and he is expected to recommence running and bowling next week.”Related

• Hazlewood returns to training, Cummins arms himself with pink ball

• Hazlewood set to miss Brisbane, Cummins pushes hard for return

• Hazlewood out of Ashes opener with hamstring injury

Hazlewood was never a realistic prospect of featuring in Adelaide but now could face a race to feature in Melbourne or Sydney.It continues a running theme with Hazlewood in recent years of other injuries flaring in the immediate aftermath of a significant injury, and a continuation of calf and Achilles issues.In 2022-23 he suffered a side strain in the first home Test of the summer and missed three Tests before returning. He then suffered ongoing Achilles soreness after his first Test back in early January and missed the entire tour of India in early 2023 and was not selected in the World Test Championship final in June as he was slightly underdone in his recovery.Last summer, Hazlewood suffered a side strain in the opening Test against India and missed the second Test in Adelaide. But after rushing back for the third Test in Brisbane he strained a calf and missed the final two matches of the summer, the tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy before finally returning midway through the IPL.He had an uninterrupted run from there playing in the IPL, the WTC final, three Tests in the Caribbean and the five white-ball series, including different formats, against South Africa, New Zealand and India, until his only Sheffield Shield game of the summer in the lead-in to the Ashes.He strained his hamstring playing for New South Wales against Victoria, which a scan did not initially detect, and there were concerns about a tendon issue. However, Australia coach Andrew McDonald was confident he could still play a part later in the series. But a delay in his running and bowling loads due to Achilles soreness will narrow his chances to appear in either of those Tests.Australia’s pace-bowling depth has been tested in the early stages of the Ashes with Sean Abbott also sidelined by a hamstring injury. Pat Cummins was close to a return at the Gabba but has been held back until Adelaide.

Graeme Cremer will end a seven-year hiatus from international cricket having been picked in Zimbabwe’s T20I squad to face Afghanistan across three matches starting October 29.Cremer, the 39-year-old legspinner and former captain, last represented Zimbabwe in 2018. He had given up cricket for golf, moving to the UAE where his wife Merna works as an airline pilot. Earlier this year, however, he returned home and took part in club competitions again with a view to push for national selection.Cremer missed out on being part of the squad that won the Africa Regional Qualifiers, which confirmed Zimbabwe’s place at next year’s T20 World Cup, but has been picked now as the team gears up for the ICC event.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Zimbabwe’s selectors have kept faith in the same 15-member team that went unbeaten in the qualifying tournament, with Cremer being the only change, replacing fast bowler Trevor Gwandu. A Zimbabwe Cricket press release on Friday also added that “Sean Williams remains unavailable as he continues to attend to personal matters.”The series will be played entirely in Harare, which also hosted the only Test of the Afghanistan tour. The first T20I is on October 29, followed by the second and third on October 31 and November 2.The 2026 T20 World Cup will take place in India and Sri Lanka and will comprise 20 teams. It is likely to be held between February and March.Zimbabwe squad: Sikandar Raza (capt), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Brad Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor.

Allrounder Flora Devonshire, who is uncapped at ODI level, has been included in New Zealand’s squad for the upcoming women’s ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.Polly Inglis, Bella James and Bree Illing, who have just eight ODIs between them, have also been included for their first World Cup campaigns.Devonshire, a 22-year-old left-arm spinner, made her T20I debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year and was part of the New Zealand A tour of England in June and July. Her inclusion in the 15-player squad meant that fellow left-arm spinner Fran Jonas, who has 26 ODIs to her name, was a notable omission.Related

• Sri Lanka select Prabodhani, Dulani for Women's World Cup

• Devine to retire from ODIs after the World Cup

• Bree Illing and Bella James earn maiden New Zealand contracts

• New Zealand Women begin World Cup prep with Chennai camp

“It’s never easy when you have multiple players pushing for the same spot and that of course made for some tough selection calls,” head coach Ben Sawyer said. “Having to leave out the likes of Fran in favour of Flora was a tough decision. We know Fran is a quality player and at 21 we believe she still has her best years in front of her.”Left-arm seamer Illing took four wickets in her first ODI series against Sri Lanka, while James made her ODI debut against Australia late last year. Inglis, who hit an unbeaten 34 off 21 balls in her second outing against Sri Lanka in March, will also provide wicketkeeping back-up to first-choice Izzy Gaze.”I’d like to especially acknowledge the four players set for their first World Cup – they’ve all earned this opportunity and I’m excited to see what impact they can have on the tournament,” Sawyer said. “I’m really pleased with the balance of the squad. I think we’ve got the right mix to tackle what we’ll come up against in terms of conditions and opposition.””Bree puts batters under pressure early with her swing and has great ability with the new ball. Her and Flora have both shown they can consistently bring the stumps into play, which will be effective in the conditions we’re going to face.”Flora’s got an attacking mind and skillset with the bat, which is valuable down the order. Bella’s a versatile batter who can hit 360 degrees around the ground and can bat in most places in the line up.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Polly gives us another option with the gloves within the squad, and she possesses great grit and determination, which are qualities that will be important in trying conditions.”The experienced core of the squad includes captain Sophie Devine, who will retire from ODI cricket after the World Cup, Suzie Bates, Lea Tahuhu, Maddy Green and Amelia Kerr.”I can honestly say that in the four world events I’ve been part of with this group, we are the best prepared we’ve ever been,” Sawyer said. “Having no international cricket in our calendar since April has given us the ability to work really hard on our physical skills in particular, which is something that could be the difference in India.”The squad leaves for the UAE on September 13 for a pre-tournament camp, which includes two warm-up matches against England, before heading to India. Their opening World Cup match is against Australia on October 1 in Indore.

New Zealand for Women’s ODI World Cup

Sophie Devine (capt), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Jess Kerr, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu

Brett D’Oliveira’s 107 gave Worcestershire Rapids the platform for a 16-run victory over Leicestershire Foxes, clinching a top-three finish while eliminating the home side, who finished 312 for nine in reply to the Rapids’ 328.D’Oliveira’s second hundred of this year’s 50-over competition came off 105 balls and contained 15 fours and two sixes. He had shared a stand of 119 for the first wicket with 19-year-old Daniel Lategan (34 off 59). Rob Jones (67 off 59) made the next biggest impression on the Foxes attack.After Leicestershire had sunk to 23 for four in reply, Shan Masood (88 off 87) hit 14 fours and Ben Cox (76 off 80) a dozen as the pair put on 163 for the fifth wicket in a determined fightback.Ben Mike, batting with a runner after sustaining a hamstring injury while bowling, defied the pain to hit five sixes in a brave unbeaten 72 off 45 balls but it proved in vain, with seamer Ben Allison taking three for 87 to keep the Rapids in with a chance of topping Group A with one match to come.Occasional spinner Rishi Patel’s five for 65 for the Foxes was his maiden five-wicket haul in senior cricket.Rapids won the toss, after which D’Oliveira and Lategan dominated the first 80 minutes of the contest.Patel eventually had Lategan lbw sweeping, the breakthrough in the 20th over quickly followed by Kashif Ali and Libby falling cheaply. The former was beaten by a Patel leg break and stumped, Libby tamely caught and bowled by Trevaskis.D’Oliveira, who had swatted both his sixes in one over off the expensive Mike before the all-rounder limped off the field, was 100 from 99 balls out of 176 for three in the 29th.He was caught at mid-off soon afterwards, after which Ethan Brookes was leg before to Trevaskis reverse sweeping. But Jones holed out to long-on as Worcestershire lost wickets in each of the last four overs.Holland bowled Cullen (32 from 27) off a bottom edge, Patel saw Allison caught at long-on and bowled Ben Gibbon to complete his five. Matthew Waite hit Tom Scriven straight to cover.Nonetheless, the Rapids had thrown down a challenge which looked enormous as the Foxes found themselves four down for 23 inside six overs, despite the visitors resting two senior bowlers.Gibbon, who missed the 2024 competition through injury, struck with his third delivery as Patel dragged on, the Foxes opener brought down to earth with a duck.Lewis Hill was caught at point as Gibbon struck again, while Allison removed Sol Budinger, caught at cover, and skipper Peter Handscomb, who edged to second slip.Yet Worcestershire’s new-ball pair then surrendered runs rather easily, Masood and Cox reeling off six consecutive fours – three apiece of each of the bowlers – and putting on 50 in just 26 balls in a confident counter-attack.Waite and Brookes slowed their progress yet, as the silky Masood (50 from 41) and the busy Cox (50 from 53) stretched their partnership into three figures, a difficult caught-and-bowled chance offered to Brookes by Cox on 48 had been their only moment of jeopardy.But when Brookes returned for a new spell, Cox tickled one on the leg side to be caught behind with Cullen standing up. Four balls later Cullen, now standing back to Allison, dived to his left to snare Masood off a thickish edge, leaving 141 needed, four wickets left, and less than 18 overs remaining.Holland, top-edging to fine leg, and Trevaskis, slicing to third man, gave 19-year-old Jack Home two wickets. Mike was in obvious discomfort but after Scriven had picked out the fielder at deep midwicket he kept clearing the rope to keep the home crowd interested but 29 off the final Allison over was too many.