Franchise Cricket

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England's James Vince, Chris Jordan and David Willey have been retained for the 2025 Pakistan Super League.

Vince, 33, will stay at Karachi Kings, while Jordan, 36, and Willey, 34, will play for Multan Sultans again.

Other overseas players retained include New Zealand's Colin Munro at holders Islamabad United and South Africa's Rilee Rossouw by Quetta Gladiators.

The player draft to complete squads takes place on 11 January in Gwadar.

Some of the English players hoping to earn a deal are Dawid Malan, Luke Wood, Jason Roy, Tom Curran and Sam Billings.

Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Australia's David Warner, Sean Abbott and Alex Carey and South Africa's Rassie van Der Dussen and Temba Bavuma are among the other players available.

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England's Dan Lawrence made an unbeaten 64 as Melbourne Stars beat Brisbane Heat by five wickets for their first win of the Big Bash season.

Lawrence, who has signed as an injury replacement for Tom Curran, hit seven fours and two sixes in his 38-ball knock as Stars chased 150 with 11 balls to spare.

He was supported by Marcus Stoinis, who made 62 off 48 balls, but England's Ben Duckett made a first-ball duck.

Lawrence had earlier taken 1-6 - helped by a superb boundary catch by Glenn Maxwell - as Heat posted 149-7, with Max Bryant hitting 77 not out.

Stars remain bottom despite the win, while defending champions Heat are sixth.

In the other game on New Year's Day, Hobart Hurricanes thrashed Sydney Sixers by 50 runs.

They posted 161-6, before bowling Sixers out for 111, with Chris Jordan taking 3-22.

Hurricanes move up to fourth while Sixers remain top despite their first defeat of the season.

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The BBC's commentary on the men's Big Bash League, via its partnership with ABC Grandstand in Australia, will continue in the first week of January.

Wednesday, 1 January: Hobart Hurricanes v Sydney Sixers (04:30 GMT) & Brisbane Heat v Melbourne Stars (08:30 GMT)

Thursday, 2 January: Melbourne Renegades v Adelaide Strikers (08:00 GMT)

Friday, 3 January: Perth Scorchers v Sydney Thunder (10:00 GMT)

Saturday, 4 January: Melbourne Stars v Melbourne Renegades (07:30 GMT)

Sunday, 5 January: Hobart Hurricanes v Adelaide Strikers (07:30 GMT)

Commentaries will be available on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website and app.

All times are commentary start times, and subject to change. All commentaries are available to UK users only.

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Australia all-rounder Cooper Connolly continued his fine start to the Big Bash as his unbeaten 48 guided Perth Scorchers to a seven-wicket win over Adelaide Strikers.

Connolly hit three fours and two sixes in his 35-ball knock and the left-hander is the tournament's leading run-scorer with 229. James Vince is next best on 164.

Scorchers, who go second in the eight-team table with the win, chased 143 with 33 balls to spare as Finn Allen made 50 and captain Ashton Turner an unbeaten 35 off 18 balls.

Strikers, who are seventh, had posted 142-8 with England duo Ollie Pope, who was opening, and Jamie Overton both making one.

Lancashire's Matty Hurst made three as he was dismissed in the second over of Scorchers' chase.

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David Warner made an unbeaten 86 off 57 balls as Sydney Thunder beat Melbourne Renegades by eight runs in the Big Bash League.

Warner, who is captaining Thunder for the first time since 2011, had only scored 43 runs in their opening three games but found form with 10 fours and two sixes in his knock.

He helped Thunder post 156-4, with Matthew Gilkes the next highest-scorer with 23 not out.

In reply, Renegades were restricted to 148-8 with Laurie Evans making 40 off 26 balls.

England all-rounder Jacob Bethell made just two as Renegades suffered their second defeat in four matches.

Thunder move up to second in the table after their third win in four games.

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Sam Billings' 72 from 39 balls helped Sydney Thunder beat Melbourne Stars by 18 runs in the Big Bash.

England wicketkeeper Billings hit nine fours and two sixes to lift the Thunder to 182-8.

The next highest score was 33 from Jason Sangha and Billings should have been run out for 16 but the Stars did not appeal after a direct hit.

England opener Ben Duckett scored 67 from 49 balls in the Stars' reply, his second fifty in a row in the competition, but regular wickets hampered their chase.

Marcus Stoinis was caught at extra cover for 22 and Glenn Maxwell top-edged a sweep on six.

The Stars needed 56 from the final five overs but Duckett was caught behind attempting a pull and Wes Agar ran through the lower order, taking three wickets in the 19th over.

The Thunder move up to third in the table with a second win in three matches but the Stars are bottom, winless in five attempts.

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Ollie Pope's 39 from 27 balls was not enough for Adelaide Strikers as they slipped to a 11-run defeat by Hobart Hurricanes.

Jamie Overton added a lively 30 from 16 balls but the Strikers finished short of their victory target on 203-6.

Overton had earlier taken 2-27 as the Hurricanes posted 214-5, with Ben McDermott top-scoring with 68 from 34 balls.

Chris Jordan added 17 from 10 deliveries for the Hurricanes, who move up to fifth in the table after a second win of the season.

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James Vince hit a sparkling unbeaten century to help seal an eight-wicket win for Sydney Sixers over Melbourne Stars in the Australian Big Bash League.

Vince's 101 from 58 balls included 12 fours and four sixes as the Sixers made it three wins from three to go top of the table, while the Stars slump to the bottom after a fourth successive defeat.

England opener Ben Duckett had earlier hit a 22-ball fifty to help Stars post 194-9 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Duckett's brutal knock included two sixes and 10 fours - six of which came in one over from Akeal Hosein - before he departed for 68 from just 29 deliveries.

He was supported by Glenn Maxwell's 32 from 17 balls, while Tom Curran hit 15 from 14 in a lively late cameo.

In reply, Vince put on 83 for the first wicket with Josh Philippe, who holed out to Duckett at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of Curran for 42.

Captain Moises Henriques then picked out Duckett at long-off from Usama Mir to depart for 11 and further stem the home side's momentum.

But Vince and Jordan Silk saw the Sixers home, with Silk hitting a four to secure the win with 11 balls to spare.

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The BBC's commentary on the men's Big Bash League, via its partnership with ABC Grandstand in Australia, will continue over the Christmas and New Year period.

Here's the schedule after the competition takes a two-day break on 24 & 25 December for the Christmas festivities:

Thursday, 26 December: Sydney Sixers v Melbourne Stars (07:05 GMT) & Perth Scorchers v Brisbane Heat (10:30 GMT)

Friday, 27 December: Adelaide Strikers v Hobart Hurricanes (07:30 GMT)

Saturday, 28 December: Melbourne Stars v Sydney Thunder (07:30 GMT)

Sunday, 29 December: Brisbane Heat v Sydney Sixers (07:30 GMT)

Monday, 30 December: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Renegades (07:30 GMT)

Tuesday, 31 December: Adelaide Strikers v Perth Scorchers (08:00 GMT)

Commentaries will be available on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website and app.

All times are match start times, and subject to change. All commentaries are available to UK users only.

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England Test captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the SA20 with a hamstring injury.

The 33-year-old will miss at least three months with the injury he sustained while bowling in the third Test against New Zealand earlier this month.

Stokes was due to play for MI Cape Town and feature in the tournament for the first time.

Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley are among the England players due to take part in the tournament, which takes place from 9 January to 8 February.

Joe Root and Liam Livingstone have also been signed but their involvement is expected to be limited by England's white-ball series against India and the Champions Trophy.

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England's Jacob Bethell made 30 off 22 balls to help Melbourne Renegades beat Perth Scorchers by two wickets and move top of the Big Bash League table.

The 21-year-old hit two fours and two sixes and helped Renegades be well set in their chase of 144.

However, his dismissal left them 96-4, and Renegades lost four more wickets but crawled over the line with six balls to spare.

Scorchers had posted 143-8, with Australia's Cooper Connolly making 66 off 50 balls.

Lancashire's Keaton Jennings made nine from 12 balls, but Matty Hurst was left out.

On Sunday, Bethell was named in England's squad for their white-ball tour of India in January and February's Champions Trophy in Pakistan and United Arab Emirates.

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Nathan McSweeney responded to being dropped from the Australia Test squad with an unbeaten 78 to help Brisbane Heat beat Adelaide Strikers in a final-ball thriller in the Big Bash League.

McSweeney hit 10 fours and two sixes in his 49-ball knock as defending champions Heat chased 175.

The right-hander made his international debut in the series against India and averaged 14.40 in the first three Tests, but has been replaced by 19-year-old Sam Konstas for the final two matches.

He was supported by Matt Renshaw's 54 from 27 balls, while Essex's Paul Walter added 19.

Strikers had posted 174-6 with England's Jamie Overton making 45 not out from 24 balls and Ollie Pope 34 off 29 balls.

"It is nice to get the boys home. It was probably a bit over par so it is a really good win for us," McSweeney said on Sky Sports.

"It is always nice to bounce back. I loved my time in the Australia cricket team, sharing the changing room with some of Australia's greatest players was awesome and hopefully I can learn from the experience and get back there soon.

"Marnus [Labuschagne] told me 'it is not where it starts, it is where it ends' and every good story has its ups and downs so hopefully I can look back on this as a great learning curve."

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Somerset batter Tom Banton has replaced Sussex's Tom Alsop at defending champions Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash.

Alsop, 29, has been ruled out with a quad injury, and Banton, 26, will replace him until 6 January, when he is set to play for MI Cape Town in the SA20.

Banton played for Heat in the 2019-20 Big Bash and scored 223 runs in seven innings, at a tournament-high strike-rate of 176.98.

He is part of Heat's squad for Sunday's game against Adelaide Strikers.

Heat beat Melbourne Stars in their opening game on Thursday.