Leicestershire have been deducted 27 points for a poor pitch rating. The Cricket Regulator upheld the charge against the club after the Grace Road surface was rated poor during their win against Glamorgan last month. The penalty includes the 19 points earned from that victory plus eight additional points as punishment.

The deduction leaves Leicestershire at the bottom of the County Championship table, 38 points from safety. Hampshire lead by 225 runs with seven wickets remaining at Grace Road, making Leicestershire's survival hopes slim. The club said it is reviewing its position and considering all available options.

Warwickshire moved to the top of the table with an eight-wicket win over Essex at Chelmsford. Manav Suthar took five for 75 for Warwickshire in the second innings. Craig Overton scored 64 not out for Somerset against Yorkshire at Headingley.

Middlesex chair Mike Sykes will resign from his position. The announcement came on day two of the County Championship as the penultimate round of matches reached its conclusion.

A total of 123 wickets fell on the first day across the country. Somerset finished day one at Headingley on 68 for five after Jonny Bairstow scored 79 for Yorkshire. Nottinghamshire reached 148 for seven at Hove, with Brett Hutton making 59. Warwickshire held a 17-run lead over Essex after Ethan Bamber took six for 26. Kent reached 149 for seven chasing Lancashire's 161 at Canterbury.

Glamorgan and Surrey both collapsed at The Oval, with neither side reaching 140. Ian Holland claimed six for 38 for Leicestershire against Hampshire, while Mayank Agarwal scored 177 for Durham against Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Romario Shepherd said Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the toughest batters he has faced after the IPL 2026 season. Shepherd, who played for RCB in both title-winning seasons, made the comments while playing for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League. He also named West Indies teammate Shai Hope among the most difficult opponents.

Shepherd said playing alongside Kohli gives him insight into how a great player thinks and prepares. Kohli scored 675 runs for RCB in IPL 2026 at an average of 56.25. He remains the leading run-scorer in IPL history with 9,336 runs.

Shepherd has taken seven wickets in four matches in the ongoing CPL at an economy rate of 9.98.

Former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousuf has criticised India's decision not to accept the Women's Asia Cup trophy from ACC president Mohsin Naqvi. Yousuf posted on social media that a team may win but a nation without humility remains a loser.

India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final but stayed in the dressing room during the presentation. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the board had informed Naqvi in advance of the decision. Only the Sri Lankan team collected their runners-up medals.

Naqvi handed the runners-up cheque to Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu after the ceremony was delayed by nearly an hour. Yousuf's comments add to the ongoing debate over the trophy standoff.

The Women's Premier League 2027 auction will take place on October 29 in Kochi. The BCCI confirmed Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai as one of the venues for the season.

The second venue remains undecided between Vadodara's Kotambi Stadium and the new stadium in Varanasi. A BCCI operations team will assess the Varanasi venue for readiness. Brabourne Stadium will also host matches in the ICC Women's Champions Trophy 2027 scheduled for February 14 to 28.

The IPL Governing Council deferred its decision on the Impact Player rule until next month. Most franchises expressed reservations about continuing with the rule after submitting feedback to the board.

Ajit Agarkar will chair the BCCI senior selection committee meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. The panel will pick India's squads for the upcoming West Indies white-ball series and the Irani Cup. His contract expires on October 4 and the board has not confirmed any extension.

Agarkar was appointed chairman in July 2023 and had his contract renewed for one year in April 2026. He missed the BCCI review meeting in Mumbai on September 3 after being out of station and unable to join online. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia stated the meeting had been called at short notice.

The panel must finalise squads for three ODIs and three T20Is against West Indies, beginning on September 27 in Thiruvananthapuram. Parthiv Patel and Pragyan Ojha have been named as frontrunners to replace Agarkar if the board decides against an extension.

The BCCI confirmed that the Women's Premier League 2027 player auction will take place on October 28 at the Grand Hyatt in Kochi. Franchises must submit their retention and release lists by September 28 ahead of the mini-auction.

The fifth edition of the tournament is scheduled from January 14 to February 7, 2027. Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium and Vadodara's Kotambi Stadium are the frontrunners to host matches, while the new Varanasi stadium remains under consideration pending inspection.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru enter the season as defending champions after beating Delhi Capitals in the 2026 final. The WPL will conclude a week before India hosts the inaugural Women's Champions Trophy from February 14 to 28.

Nic Maddinson will captain New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield and Lachlan Shaw will lead the one-day side in 2026-27. The appointments follow Jack Edwards stepping back from captaincy duties to manage his workload. New head coach Brad Haddin announced the changes after taking over from Greg Shipperd.

Maddinson returns to the captaincy after missing the entire 2025-26 Shield season while recovering from testicular cancer. The 34-year-old previously led the Blues in six first-class matches in 2015-16 and has captained Melbourne Renegades in the BBL. Shaw, 23, takes on the one-day role after 14 List A matches.

Sean Abbott will serve as vice-captain across formats. Kurtis Patterson, who stood in during the second half of last season, will focus on his batting.

India captain Shreyas Iyer said the team may give opportunities to players who have not featured in the first two matches of the T20I series against Afghanistan. India have already secured the series 2-0 and will play the final match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday. Iyer said it is important for the bench players to get used to the conditions.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has not played since Sanju Samson returned to the side. The 15-year-old made his debut during India's tour of Zimbabwe and was named player of the series there. Samson responded to a poor first outing with 57 off 22 balls in the second match.

Iyer also reflected on his early results as T20I captain. India lost series to Ireland and England before winning against Afghanistan. He said maintaining balance and enjoying the moment are key to handling the fluctuations of captaincy.

Sanju Samson completed 1,000 runs in T20Is as an opener during his 57 off 22 balls against Afghanistan on Tuesday. He became only the fifth Indian to reach the milestone, joining Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Abhishek Sharma.

Samson scored his runs at a strike rate of 181.59, the highest among the five openers on the list. Rohit Sharma leads the list with 3,750 runs in 125 matches as an opener.

Samson reached his fourth T20I fifty of 2026 in just 20 balls during the innings that helped India chase down 160 with seven wickets in hand.

India's selectors are expected to spend considerable time on Wednesday discussing whether to bring back Ravindra Jadeja for the three-match ODI series against West Indies starting 27 September. Axar Patel will be on Asian Games duty, leaving a gap in the spin-bowling all-rounder slot.

The team management and selectors want to move on from Jadeja, but with Axar's unavailability and Harsh Dubey injured, the selectors may consider Jadeja for ODIs. Jadeja's bowling in white-ball cricket has not been up to the mark for a while, according to a BCCI source.

The selectors are also expected to decide on the second wicketkeeper, with KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya's availability also a factor. Rishabh Pant may get another opportunity in ODIs since Ishan Kishan will be at the Asian Games.