Ali Martin

London

Cricket Reporter at The Guardian

Desk Editor at The Christian Science Monitor

Cricket correspondent for @Guardian_sport. SJA Cricket Journalist of the Year 2021. #nffc

Articles

England open to hosting IPL after border hostilities prompt suspension

5 days ago | theguardian.com | Ali Martin |Simon Burnton

The England and Wales Cricket Board is open to hosting the remainder of the Indian Premier League in September after escalating cross-border tension between India and Pakistan prompted the suspension of the world’s most lucrative Twenty20 tournament on Friday. In a chaotic 24 hours matches in both the IPL and the Pakistan Super League were cancelled or abandoned, schedules torn up and foreign players told to start packing and book flights home.
Pope Leo’s challenge: How to build unity in a fragmenting world

6 days ago | csmonitor.com | Sara Miller Llana |Ali Martin |Erika Page |Peter Ford

The selection of Robert Francis Prevost as the first American pope stunned Vatican watchers around the world. Many had long believed that an American would never be chosen to lead an institution with 1.4 billion followers because the United States already wields so much global power. Taking the name Pope Leo XIV, he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as tens of thousands gathered below him.
Sam Cook selected for England Test squad as injured Chris Woakes misses out

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Ali Martin

Sam Cook has been selected for England’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe later this month – reward not only for his excellence in the County Championship but also a commendable, unwavering desire to play the longest format. Aged 27 and having finessed a truckload of wickets for Essex at just 18 runs apiece, Cook could have been forgiven for wondering if the call would ever come.
Stick or twist? England’s selectors weigh up options for Zimbabwe Test

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Ali Martin

It may be viewed as an amuse-bouche before the main course of India in June, but England’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe is fast approaching. Selection is imminent – for the four-day match Trent Bridge that gets under way on 22 May and a training camp in Loughborough that precedes it – and after four rounds of the County Championship, the contenders are beginning to take shape.
Nat Sciver-Brunt named England Women’s captain and vows to empower team

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Ali Martin

Nat Sciver-Brunt has said she will empower her players to be the “best version of themselves” after being appointed as the new captain of the England women’s team. As first reported by the Guardian last week, the 32-year-old all-rounder has stepped up to fill the vacancy left by Heather Knight’s departure in March – the first appointment by the new England women’s head coach, Charlotte Edwards.
Thousands were abused in LA County juvenile homes. A historic settlement opens a new era.

2 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Ali Martin

Ladaro Pennix is anticipating his freedom later this year. After nearly 30 years in prison, he hopes a resentencing hearing will result in his release. And if he gets out, he says, he will reclaim his life with help from the largest sex-abuse settlement in U.S. history. “They say that second chances don’t exist. Well, in this case it does,” says Mr. Pennix.
Tariffs are jamming the US-China supply chain. Who that hits first.

2 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Ann Scott Tyson |Ali Martin

Sitting behind her cramped stall inside China’s sprawling Yiwu wholesale market, Huang Youping pours another cup of oolong tea, and waits for customers. Surrounded by shelves of colorful Christmas crèches, carousels, and snow globes, Ms. Huang says that under normal circumstances, half of the exports from the factory she represents are bound for the United States.
Winter ‘beasting’ has England’s Josh Hull firing for new cricket season

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Ali Martin

Josh Hull returns for Leicestershire this week, his first outing since that fast-tracked Test debut against Sri Lanka last summer. A winter “beasting” by the England Lions fitness coaches has the giant left-armer feeling stronger, with a more robust base from which to attack a potentially huge year of cricket.
Wisden calls World Test Championship a ‘shambles’ and makes case for reform

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Ali Martin

Wisden hits the shelves this week and, as well as unveiling its latest batch of award winners, it has trained its sights on the International Cricket Council. The World Test Championship, the book argues, is a “shambles masquerading as a showpiece”. The publication of the sport’s annual bible is timely, with the future of the WTC discussed recently at ICC meetings in Zimbabwe. In typically opaque fashion, the sport’s governing body is yet to announce the outcome of the debate.
California designs a trade plan to blunt tariffs. Be careful, China expert says.

4 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Ali Martin

| As President Donald Trump takes fast-changing swipes at U.S. trade relationships around the world, California Governor Gavin Newsom is challenging the president’s authority and taking steps to curb economic blowback. California launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration Wednesday, aimed at the executive privilege President Trump has cited to impose tariffs without Congressional approval under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. At the same time, Mr. Newsom has said...