Your news blast from Round The Stumps’ latest Power Play Podcast: Alyssa Healy calls time on her career, Bangladesh have boycotted the 2026 Men’s ICC T20 World Cup and England will take on India in the U19s World Cup final.
After a long and successful career as one of the most influential female players in the sport, Australia’s Alyssa Healy has called time on her playing career. She will take part in the bilateral series against India at the end of the month, with her last international appearance, and on field appearance, being the Test against India in March.
Just a few weeks ahead of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup getting underway, Bangladesh have boycotted the competition. They cited security concerns about travelling to India and asked for their matches to all be rescheduled to be played in Sri Lanka, which was not accommodated for by the ICC. Due to this, Bangladesh have stated that it is not safe for them to travel to India so they will not take part in the T20 World Cup. Scotland have been promoted into the competition and will take Bangladesh’s spot in Group C.
The U19 World Cup has been taking place in Zimbabwe and Namibia and comes to its conclusion this weekend. England are chasing their first win since 1998, whilst India look to take a record sixth U19 World Cup title. India became the team with the most U19 World Cups (five) in 2022, beating England, so the record books are in India’s favour. All eyes will be on 14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi who can be a menace with the bat, as he showed in the semi-final, and Thomas Rew who has had a fantastic competition for England.
