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Ashwin out of BBL, Suryavanshi in IND A and Wolvaardt no 1 – November 4 Cricket highlights

Aakash Saini

Ravichandran Ashwin and Laura Woolvardt [Source: AFP, @ProteasWomenCSA/x]Ravichandran Ashwin and Laura Woolvardt [Source: AFP, @ProteasWomenCSA/x]

Ravichandran Ashwin has been ruled out of the upcoming BBL 2025-26 season owing to an injury. The BCCI Senior Men’s Selection Committee unveiled the entire India A squad for the upcoming ACC Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025. In other news, South Africa Women’s captain Laura Woolvardt has dethroned Smriti Mandhana on the ICC ODI batting rankings.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Tuesday, November 4.

Ravichandran Ashwin ruled out of Sydney Thunder team in BBL 2025-26

Legendary Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been ruled out of the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) 2025-26 season from the Sydney Thunder owing to his knee injury. The cricketer was initially slated to become the first-ever capped Indian player to take part in the BBL, before the unexpected injury dashed his hopes. Despite his injury, Ravichandran Ashwin can still join the Sydney Thunder team in a non-playing capacity during BBL 2025-26, as per Thunder general manager Trent Copeland.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi picked, Jitesh Sharma to lead India A

The BCCI Senior Men’s Selection Committee has unveiled a 15-player India A squad for the upcoming ACC Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025 in Doha. While the selection committee picked teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the squad, they announced blistering wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma as team captain. The team also features the likes of fellow star performers Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, Harsh Dubey, Ashutosh Sharma and Suyash Sharma among others. The Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025 will be played between November 14 and November 23 at the West End International Cricket Stadium in Doha.

Jacob Bethell among new names in England’s central contract list

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced their 30-player central contract list for the 2025-26 season. In a surprising move, the board excluded ace spinner Jack Leach and senior batter Jonny Bairstow from the list. Warwickshire star Jacob Bethell was rewarded with a two-year contract following his white-ball heroics. Senior pros like Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Test captain Ben Stokes, star all-rounder Sam Curran were among the other players to feature in England’s two-year central contract, a term that will last up until September 2027.

Sean Williams banned by Zimbabwe for drug abuse

Senior all-rounder Sean Williams will not be considered for Zimbabwe selection, as Zimbabwe Cricket recently confirmed that the board will not be renewing his central contract beyond 2025. The board cited Williams’ “history of disciplinary issues and repeated unavailability, which has impacted team preparations and performance”. Aged 39, the Bulawayo-born cricketer played 24 Tests, 164 ODIs and 85 T20Is for Zimbabwe ever since making his international debut back in February 2005. In his illustrious career spanning two decades, Sean Williams aggregated nearly 9,000 runs across all formats and picked up 161 wickets.

Laura Wolvaardt dethrones Smriti Mandhana in ODI rankings

South African captain Laura Woolvardt gained two rungs to dethrone prolific Indian opener Smriti Mandhana and become the new number one ranked ODI batter as per the latest ICC Women’s rankings. Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, previously ranked second, also slipped to number three in favour of a rising Woolvardt. The legendary South African opener recently plundered consecutive centuries in the semifinal and the final of the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. However, despite her best efforts, South Africa fell short by 52 runs in the final. Overall, Laura Woolvardt aggregated 571 runs in the tournament at an astonishing average of 67.14.