Jacob Bethell underlined his importance to England's T20 World Cup hopes as he spun them to a hard-fought 12-run win over Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 clean sweep at Pallekele on Tuesday.

The past and ongoing week offered a striking mix of sport intersecting with politics, cricket delivering a moment of confusion, and football once again underlining why transfer deadlines rarely lack drama. Here is a look at three stories that drew attention for very different reasons.

Costs of elite bats have spiralled in recent years with price tags often approaching £1,000

India are a popular pick as tournament favourites, coming off scintillating form that has seen them win 48 of their last 56 T20I games dating back to October 2023.

Bangladesh's white-ball stars have been rewarded for their unbeaten run at the recent ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier event by making giant strides on the latest ICC Women's T20I Player Rankings.

David Hemp, the batting coach during the Tigresses’ successful campaign in Nepal, shared his thoughts on the team’s performance in a conversation with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan on Monday.

He added that the ICC has allowed double standards in the past and failed to address such situations.

The game against India A is scheduled for February 15 at 2pm local time, the same day the Pakistan men’s team was originally set to face India in the T20 World Cup before a boycott was announced by the Government of Pakistan.

The Sydney Morning Herald, citing industry sources involved in confidential negotiations, reported that each India-Pakistan game carries an estimated value of around USD 250 million, given its billion-plus global audience.

There have been suggestions that the A-plus category may be scrapped altogether, but BCB officials have clarified that the category will remain.

Sri Lanka on Monday dropped Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva from their 15-man T20 World Cup squad led by Dasun Shanaka.

The High Court on Monday issued a rule questioning the inaction and failure of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and other respondents concerned in ensuring a safe, harassment-free and gender-sensitive sporting environment for the country’s women cricketers.

The spark that lit this wildfire wasn’t a war, a border clash, or even a match. It was the quiet exclusion of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from an Indian Premier League franchise in early January -- a decision that, at the time, felt like just another cricketing call.

England and Sri Lanka will play again on Tuesday in their last game before both teams kick off their T20 World Cup campaigns next Sunday against Nepal and Ireland respectively.

“Nothing much, just preparing for the football World Cup.” That was Bangladesh middle-order batter Tawhid Hridoy’s playful post on his official Facebook page yesterday, posted alongside a picture of national cricketers taking part in a football session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a statement on Sunday in response to Pakistan’s decision to boycott their T20 World Cup match against India, saying it expects the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to find a “mutually acceptable resolution” to the situation.

The government of Pakistan decided on Sunday to allow its cricket team participate in the Men’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 but barred it from playing against India on February 15.

Saim Ayub and Babar Azam hit half-centuries and Mohammad Nawaz took five wickets as Pakistan thrashed Australia by 111 runs to sweep the T20 series 3-0 on Sunday.

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty welcomed the Tigresses’ unbeaten qualifiers triumph but warned that sustained and competitive preparation will be crucial if the team are to make a meaningful impact at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in June.

“Nothing much, just preparing for the football World Cup,” Bangladesh middle-order batter Tawhid Hridoy joked on Facebook on Sunday, sharing photos of national team players kicking a football around at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.