It was great to be at Wantage Road yesterday for Saif Zaib's first century of the season. He says, after a tough start to the season, that some mental tweaks helped him return to hundred-scoring form.

James Fuller's hamstring injury, suffered playing T10 cricket this winter, felt like an "explosion" in the back of his leg. Back to full fitness, the allrounder has an important role in trying to turn Hampshire's red-ball season around - starting against Surrey tomorrow. Chat with him 👇

"Whether my body will actually let me get there and be the best I can be at red-ball cricket, I don't know." Spoke to John Turner, nearly a year since his last competitive game, about his long, long road to recovery, including disconnecting from the game and the challenge of rehab.

Liam Dawson retires from first-class cricket as a Hampshire legend. I spoke to him shortly after he informed his teammates ⬇️

Hampshire expect to rely heavily on five "high-performing domestic cricketers" this season. Therefore, it could prove to be a tough one after a "solid" campaign in 2025. But it'll be a "summer of opportunity" for their young players

"If people improve as people, they improve at cricket" Really enjoyed chatting to the new Essex Women's head coach, Stephen Parry, about how he plans to shift the culture at Chelmsford this season. Plus, the decision to leave Lancashire after 16 years

Before the end of his first spell in Test cricket, Wiaan Mulder was compared to Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn. No pressure! Spoke to him ahead of his stint at Essex about a fascinating, albeit at times very tough, journey to becoming a South African record-breaker.

With recent focus on England's environment, how would the "inquisitive" Asa Tribe, tipped for a Test call-up this summer, fit in? Interesting to chat to him about being himself, as well as his love for batting and his goals for the season.

Just 20 days after the T20 World Cup final, the true pinnacle of T20 cricket returns... Given its constant growth, should the competition be feared or embraced? And why should we care? The first of weekly IPL columns 👇

"If you hold your length long enough, you'll be successful." So interesting to speak to Mick Lewis, Yorkshire's bowling coach, about the importance of length, including Eng's Ashes struggles and how hard it is to do consistently.

It was great to speak to Delray Rawlins, three and a half years on from his last Sussex appearance. Covered a return to county cricket, his T20 World Cup hopes with Bermuda and the Sussex T20 side in 2018 (one of the most fun teams in Blast history imo)

This was a fascinating insight from Jade Dernbach as he did a ball-by-ball breakdown of Sam Curran's match-winning final over against Nepal

Excellent first over of the Under-19 World Cup final from Sebastian Morgan. I spoke to him yesterday about being inspired by Ben Stokes and his ability to handle pressure.

It was really good fun to chat to Faraaz from The Traitors earlier this week about his club cricket career.

Two wickets in an over for Ralphie Albert against Bangladesh in the Super Sixes. Having a really good competition after making his professional debut for Surrey last summer. Good to chat to him during the Under-19 World Cup:

"It's the first time I've ever been properly proud of myself" Really enjoyed speaking to Liam O'Brien, England's mixed disability vice-captain, about his momentous summer, his mindset, and striving to be the best player in the world.

"It's the first time I've ever been properly proud of myself" Really enjoyed speaking to Liam O'Brien, England's mixed disability vice-captain, about his momentous summer, his mindset, and striving to be the best player in the world.

It was a pleasure to speak to Davina Perrin, who is nominated for the Young Sports Personality of the Year award this evening, about dealing with expectation, being an inspiration and that century in The Hundred Eliminator.

"The world of cricket moves on without you, and you're left struggling along in the background" Really grateful to Somerset's Emma Corney for speaking to me about her rupturing her ACL, partially tearing her MCL and tearing her meniscus last season and the subsequent recovery ⤵️

"The mental battle is greater than the physical" 💬 Emma Corney details recovery from "horrendous" ACL rupture | @oscarress.bsky.social 🔗 tinyurl.com/3bpcrspz

"The world of cricket moves on without you, and you're left struggling along in the background" Really grateful to Somerset's Emma Corney for speaking to me about her rupturing her ACL, partially tearing her MCL and tearing her meniscus last season and the subsequent recovery ⤵️

“The belief it instils in you that when those big games come, we've been here before, we've had success, I think that's a hugely positive impact.” Great to speak to Hampshire’s Jimmy Adams and Ben Mayes ahead of the One Day Cup final tomorrow.

“The quality of the player is one thing, but the quality of the character is equal, if not beyond, the skill that they can potentially provide.” 💬 Tom Moody and Sam Billings on the famed Oval Invincibles culture that helped win back-to-back titles

"You always want to be that person who changes the game." Good to chat to allrounder, gun fielder and big moment player Phoebe Franklin, who has played a significant part in Surrey's success this season, ahead of the Women's T20 Blast Finals Day 👇

"I see all my failabilities, probably clearer than most, and there's a lot of them. I guess that's also the thing that makes me continue to want to be involved, is that there's always an opportunity to get better and contribute." Chat with Ellyse Perry ahead of her T20 Blast debut today⤵️

“God blessed me with the talent to play cricket” Really enjoyable chat with Dewald Brevis, Hampshire’s new overseas, about County Cricket, his faith and how he rediscovered himself 👇

Spent the last County Championship round at Trent Bridge and Derby. On day one of Nottinghamshire v Sussex I watched Brett Hutton and Josh Tongue take their wickets in very different ways and saw Middlesex almost implode against Derbyshire on the fourth day. Reports below ⬇️

Didier Drogba, Luis Suarez and Kyle Abbott... The Hampshire seamer spent the morning session haunting Somerset again to take his first-class record against them to 71 wickets at an average of 16.63 (40 wickets at 12.27 at Utilita Bowl)

Another thoroughly enjoyable round of County Championship action, with three days at Canterbury to watch Kent make it two wins out of two and day four at Hove for Sussex's first top flight win since 2015... Reports, news and interviews ⬇️

Another thoroughly enjoyable round of County Championship action, with three days at Canterbury to watch Kent make it two wins out of two and day four at Hove for Sussex's first top flight win since 2015... Reports, news and interviews ⬇️

Busy start to the County Championship season with three days at Hampshire watching the Ben Brown era start with a win over Yorkshire and then a Josh Tongue-inspired Notts beat Durham at Trent Bridge on the final day… Reports and interviews from all four days ⬇️

"I think we need to change those rules on the visas to allow me to play a full season, or at least longer than a month." Fergus O'Neill has called for tweaks to be made to visa restrictions for overseas players in the County Championship | @oscarress.bsky.social

Busy start to the County Championship season with three days at Hampshire watching the Ben Brown era start with a win over Yorkshire and then a Josh Tongue-inspired Notts beat Durham at Trent Bridge on the final day… Reports and interviews from all four days ⬇️

This season marks the dawn of a new red-ball era at Hampshire, which leaves many at the club feeling a bit "underrated" as potential title challengers | ✍️ @oscarress.bsky.social

"In both words and actions, the club barely managed to keep the most open secret in cricket, secret" | ✍️ @oscarress.bsky.social

Enjoyed speaking to Chris Guest and Richard Bedbrook about last month’s Women’s Under-19 World Cup 📏 How to measure success at the Under-19 level 📈 Taking the “positive option” 🇲🇾 Dealing with “developing conditions”

"If Young's century was an act of defiance against cruel selection, then Latham's was a routine demonstration of one of the team's most important cogs" | ✍️ @oscarress.bsky.social #ChampionsTrophy | #PAKvNZ

How will ICEC affect age group cricket? County coaches speak out | ✍️ @oscarress.bsky.social

Tom Banton: Right place, right time or much-needed boost for England's Champions Trophy hopes? | ✍️ @oscarress.bsky.social

Great to speak to Scotland's Andy Umeed about facing the USA and Nepal in Dallas in October, including scoring 98* in the first match 6️⃣ "Filthy slog" trying to get to his century ⚪ His One-Day Cup turnaround 🏏 Trips to Sri Lanka and Abu Dhabi to "challenge" himself this winter

"Few county cricketers have had a more interesting winter than Somerset's Andy Umeed" | ✍️ @oscarress.bsky.social 🔗 tinyurl.com/ndc9phej

"We can use the publicity of a day like Blue Monday to encourage people to connect with those they might not keep in touch with, without a reminder" | Mark Boyns, founder of @openingupcricket.bsky.social

Another push for this... "Sometimes it's a detriment of other boys...but if that's going to help him then it's my job to produce players to go on and play professional cricket" ✍️ tinyurl.com/nhczxx48

"When England's youthful ODI team used nine bowling options against West Indies, it told the story of their all-rounder depth, originating in the pathway system which champions multi-faceted cricketers" | ✍️ @oscarress.bsky.social FULL STORY → tinyurl.com/nhczxx48

"In this era, the constant message to our age group players and academy players is that you must have more than one thing going on in your game" I spoke to pathways directors from around the country about the county academy system which increasingly champions multi-faceted cricketers 👇

"In this era, the constant message to our age group players and academy players is that you must have more than one thing going on in your game" I spoke to pathways directors from around the country about the county academy system which increasingly champions multi-faceted cricketers 👇

Wrote about James Anderson’s potential Lancashire return. What it might mean for him, the team and county cricket…. 🖊️ www.thecricketer.com/Topics/count...

Really enjoyed speaking to Kate Cross this morning Despite her back injury, she’s happy to be the “crazy aunty” to England’s young bowlers as they try to win back the Ashes. ✍️ www.thecricketer.com/Topics/women...

Just three Test draws in 2024, matched as the lowest in the 21st century by only the covid-reduced 2020. A look at the dying art of batting out for the draw... www.thecricketer.com/Topics/premi...

My moment of the year was a 1.30 am shift when I witnessed Aaron Jones' brutal 94 to beat Canada in the men's 2024 T20 World Cup opener. The competition as a whole split opinion but maybe it just peaked too soon... www.thecricketer.com/Topics/premi...