Month: July 2020

11:20 AM IST South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers would have their cricket programs combined and grade cricket clubs be reduced from 13 to as few as eight under recommendations made by Mike Hussey in a blunt independent review of the underperforming state association. In an executive summary of the review, Hussey stated that a “culture of mediocrity” was deeply entrenched in South Australian cricket, particularly in terms of the…

Josh Philippe, Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams were part of Australia’s large training squad  10:18 AM IST Australia have begun making plans for a possible limited-overs tour of England in September by naming an expanded 26-player training squad. As is the case with the enlarged squads required in the current climate there are some interesting names thrown into the mix. Some experienced players have been given hopes of a recall…

7:02 AM IST Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis have returned – at least loosely – to the national team fold after being named in a 26-man preliminary squad for Australia’s proposed white-ball tour of England in September. Test batsman Travis Head has also been named in a white-ball squad for the first time since he missed selection for the 2019 World Cup, while Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe and Daniel Sams…

Head of BBL optimistic of having overseas players (1:33) Alistair Dobson says the BBL and WBBL are working on protocols to bring in overseas players and keep away Covid-19 (1:33) 6:11 AM IST Another small building block was put tentatively in place as part of cricket’s comeback from Covid-19, with the announcement of the WBBL and BBL fixtures for the 2020-21 season. Things could yet change, and plenty remains to…

1:14 AM IST In the course of his long and not-entirely-lustrous career, Joe Denly has come to know all about being on the outside looking in – he spent nine years and an England-record 384 matches in the wilderness, after all, before his remarkable recall in Sri Lanka in 2018. For the next two weeks in Manchester, however, he can brace for something of the inverse experience – a wistful,…

12:24 AM IST The question left Jason Holder somewhat disgruntled. The question, asked during the virtual media briefing on Wednesday, was: “The West Indies, you are pretty much on the verge winning a Test series. I mean it is unbelievable to be saying this, but are the guys gee-ed knowing that they are just one Test win away from winning a Test series in England in some 30-odd years?” Holder…

12:21 AM IST Every virtue becomes a vice eventually. Just as a relaxed attitude can start to look like laziness over time, so a single-minded desire to succeed can, eventually, be interpreted as selfishness. A willingness to listen can be interpreted as a lack of conviction and, after a while, continuity can be perceived as a resistance to change. Might we be in this territory now with the England team?…

11:15 PM IST Kagiso Rabada and Sisanda Magala have had to pull out of the exhibition 3TC match on July 18 due to the death of immediate family members. Chris Morris is also unavailable, although no reason has been given for his absence. Thando Ntini, son of former pacer Makhaya Ntini, Bjorn Fortuin and Gerald Coetzee have been named as the replacements. Heinrich Klaasen, who was in the original 24-player…

10:16 PM IST Big picture What a comeback that was for Test cricket. After the world was plunged into chaos and uncertainty became the only certainty, we wondered if it would even happen this summer. But it did happen – and how! So the first Test wasn’t the hands-to-head-in-disbelief nail-biter of last year’s Ashes contest at Headingley, although in fairness, not many are. No, England vs West Indies at the…