December 19 Morning Brief: Today's Top news and headlines from cricket world

1. WI vs ENG: Shimron Hetmyer excluded from last leg of T20I series due to dismal form

West Indies' T20I squad sees changes as Shimron Hetmyer faces exclusion due to a dip in form while Alzarri Joseph gets a breather ahead of their upcoming tour to Australia (Read More)

2. Steve Smith will not get picked up in auction this year, Mitchell Starc will break all-time auction record: Tom Moody

Tom Moody made a surprising claim that Australian batting maestro, Steve Smith, might find no takers in the upcoming IPL 2024 auction (Read More)

3. Reports: Rohit Sharma still first choice skipper for T20 World Cup 2024 despite MI's captaincy change

According to reports, a BCCI official denied any such claim saying that the decision of an IPL franchise will impact the captaincy choices of the team management (Read More)

4. IPL 2024 introduces two bouncers per over rule for bowlers

In a bid to level the playing field between bat and ball, the IPL 2024 season is set to implement a significant change, allowing bowlers to unleash two bouncers per over (Read More)

5. Trevor Bayliss to skip Sydney Thunder game for IPL 2024 auction

Trevor Bayliss is set to represent Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction, which is scheduled in Dubai (Read More)

6. It’s possible that Mitchell Starc will go for a sum like INR 18.5 crore: Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan represented the 10 IPL franchises in a mock auction and provided an indication of the bids that some of the top players are likely to attract on Tuesday (Read More)

7. Ireland Under-19s Men's squad aiming high as World Cup approaches

Ireland’s 15-player squad was named last week, and it features ten players who toured South Africa in March 2023 (Read More)

8. Picture of auction sheet from 2008 breaks the internet, MS Dhoni's iconic winning bid from CSK mentioned

Richard Madley, who conducted the auction in 2008, shared the picture of the "first-ever auction sheet" (Read More)

9. IPL 2024 likely to begin from March 22, Josh Hazlewood, Mustafizur Rahman partially available for the league

The exact dates of commencement of the IPL 2024 are yet to be finalized due to the general elections in 2024 in the country next summer, with the schedule dependent on the election schedule (Read More)

10. IPL 2024 Auction: First auctioneer Richard Madley sends benevolent wishes to Mallika Sagar before her debut

Madley recently took to social media to extend his benevolent wishes to the new rising star of the auction world and reminded her of the golden opportunity by saying that this was the ultimate honour in any auctioneer's life (Read More)