Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Pakistan's Shadab Khan signs for Yorkshire as Ballance takes a break

Pakistan's Shadab Khan signs for Yorkshire as Ballance takes a break

Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan has signed to play for Yorkshire in the Twenty20 Blast, the English county announced Friday.

The 23-year-old leg-spinner will be available for the club's first five and last six fixtures of the domestic T20 competition.


Shadab has represented Pakistan in all three international formats, including 64 Twenty20s where he has taken 73 wickets and boasts a batting strike-rate of 136.81.

Subject to obtaining international clearance, he will now join Pakistan team-mate Haris Rauf at Yorkshire, with the fast bowler available for the first five matches of the Blast.

"Shadab Khan is someone who can bat at the top, bat in the middle order and hits the ball a long way," said Darren Gough, Yorkshire's interim managing director of cricket.

"He is also an unbelievable spinner," the former England fast bowler added.

Shadab said: "I'm really excited to be heading to Yorkshire for the Blast. Ever since I started my cricketing journey it has always been a dream of mine to play county cricket.

"It will be made even more special with me being able to play alongside my good friend, Haris."

- Ballance break -

But Gary Ballance is set to miss the start of Yorkshire's season by taking a break in order to improve his mental health.

The batsman, who featured in 23 Tests for England between 2014 and 2017, faced fierce scrutiny in November after last November after admitting he had used racist language towards former Yorkshire team-mate Azeem Rafiq.

Pakistan-born spinner Rafiq accused Yorkshire of failing to deal adequately with the abuse he suffered while playing for the county side, saying he had been driven to thoughts of suicide.

His revelations led to a mass clear-out of senior boardroom figures and coaching staff at the club, with former Yorkshire quick Gough called in while new chairman Kamlesh Patel became the face of a fresh regime.

Yorkshire hope Zimbabwe-born Ballance, 32, will return to action later in the season, with the left-hander having come back from a stress-related break in 2020.

"He's still a Yorkshire player," Gough told Britain's Press Association news agency. "He's off with his mental health, he's struggled with that in the past as well.

"We will support him in any way possible to hopefully, sometime this season, represent Yorkshire again."

Gough was speaking just hours after Yorkshire's members approved a reform package at an extraordinary general meeting.

English cricket chiefs were so dismayed by Yorkshire's initial response to Rafiq's revelations they threatened to withdraw lucrative England fixtures from Yorkshire's Headingley headquarters in Leeds.

But Thursday's EGM votes mean that threat has been lifted, with Gough saying: "It was a relief that happened and now we can move forward.

"It's about accepting what's happened in the past, never forgetting it and making sure something like that doesn't happen again."

More For You

ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal posted a net profit of £605 million for the first quarter, beating analyst expectations.

Tariff uncertainty could cause disruption, says ArcelorMittal

STEELMAKER ArcelorMittal on Wednesday said ongoing uncertainty around global tariffs could lead to further economic disruption, even as its global presence helped it remain steady in the first quarter.

The company said the US administration’s 25 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel imports, along with broader trade measures that are still under negotiation, may affect global growth as both businesses and consumers delay purchases.

Keep ReadingShow less
bangladesh-rally-getty

Activists of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, the labour wing of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) take part in Labour Day rally in Dhaka on May 1, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Bangladesh begins three-day political rallies ahead of elections

THREE days of political rallies began in Dhaka on Thursday, with rival political groups holding mass demonstrations to mobilise support ahead of national elections.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, has been leading the interim government since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country in August after protesters stormed her palace. Yunus has said that elections could take place as early as December, or by mid-2026 at the latest.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pratham's teaching method among finalists for global grant

Pratham envisions a world where every child is in school and learning well (Photo: Pratham.org)

Pratham's teaching method among finalists for global grant

GLOBAL charity Pratham's educational approach called 'Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) has been selected as one of five finalists in the global 100&Change competition, organisers announced on Wednesday (30).

Run by the MacArthur Foundation, the competition will award a £75 million ($100m) grant to fund a solution to a significant global challenge. Pratham reached the final round alongside four other organisations from 869 applicants.

Keep ReadingShow less
asda recalls sandwich filler

Notices are being displayed in all Asda stores

Getty

Asda urgently recalls sandwich filler over wrong use-by date warning

Asda has issued a product recall for one of its ready-to-eat meat items due to an incorrect use-by date, sparking a food safety warning from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The recall applies to Asda hot and spicy chicken breast slices, sold in 160g packs, which have been mistakenly labelled with a use-by date of 30 May 2024. Customers are being advised not to eat the product and to return it to their nearest store for a full refund.

Keep ReadingShow less
agatha christie

The AI-generated video series will be available exclusively on BBC Maestro

Getty

BBC uses AI to recreate Agatha Christie for new writing course

Aspiring crime writers now have the opportunity to be taught by Agatha Christie herself, at least in a virtual sense. A new online writing course on the subscription platform BBC Maestro features lessons “delivered” by Christie, who died in 1976, using a combination of artificial intelligence, licensed images, and restored voice recordings.

The AI-powered course was developed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, in collaboration with the Agatha Christie estate. The project aims to present writing advice directly drawn from Christie’s own interviews, letters, and other archival material. The end result is a reconstructed version of the author offering guidance on how to craft mystery stories, including structure, suspense, and plot twists.

Keep ReadingShow less