Captain ecstatic as Australia seal the Ashes with a thrilling 185-run win at Old Trafford

Daniel Brettig at Old Trafford08-Sep-2019Australia’s players loosed a blood-curdling collective scream upon Manchester when umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s finger raised to deliver them an Ashes victory on English soil for the first time since 2001. If there was a brief moment’s purgatory while DRS confirmed the news, it contributed to a far more exhilarating moment than on that last distant occasion.That corresponding instant 18 years before had been the apogee of anti-climax, as the winning run at Trent Bridge arrived from an Andy Caddick no-ball delivered to Mark Waugh: 3-0 in three Tests, six Ashes series wins in a row for the world’s best team. Quite ho-hum really.Just as so much has changed in the intervening years, there could not have been circumstances much more different in how this victory was finally achieved: all adrenaline, broken tension and sheer elation at doing something none of these players had experienced as anything other than schoolboys staying up late to watch on television back home. It had been a more similar sensation in 1989, when the Australian team, also at Old Trafford, launched into collective celebration on the team balcony upon the achievement of a nine-wicket victory.Steve Smith, holding a souvenir stump, celebrates victory•Getty Images

Whether or not this win sets up 17 years of domination over England, as that one did, remains to be seen. But it was an entirely fitting finish all the same: Josh Hazlewood, alongside Pat Cummins, Australian twin pillars of pace strength in this series, followed up a stinging short ball to Craig Overton by bowling his umpteenth scrambled seam ball in the three Tests he has played, moving the ball late and sharply off the pitch to find England’s No. 8 the plumbest of lbws.It had been harder for Australia than England to win lbw verdicts across this series – at the end of the match the ledger read 18-8 in favour of the hosts – but an ever-increasing and improving focus on hitting the top of the off stump had been central to how Australia found a way to close out the series the very next match after their enormous trauma at Headingley. That day, against a rampant Ben Stokes, Australia’s bowlers had failed to look for the stumps enough, and had also lost their heads tactically.This time, however, the mistakes were not repeated, neither by the bowlers nor the captain Tim Paine, who enjoyed one of his very best days of the series to help ensure the urn was retained without the need for a decisive closing encounter at The Oval. On day five of a Test, with the ball getting old and not too much happening, captains occasionally need to make things happen – throw bowlers round to opposite ends, use some part-timers, change up their fields. It’s something the likes of Mark Taylor, Michael Clarke and Michael Vaughan were considered masters at, less so Ricky Ponting and Alastair Cook.Paine had it all to do in terms of his leadership reputation after the conclusion of the Leeds Test, where by his own admission he had got plenty of things wrong. Here though he gained the morning’s first breakthrough with a last-moment decision to replace Mitchell Starc with Cummins, and did the trick again in mid-afternoon when he broke up a tandem between Starc and Nathan Lyon. First, he introduced Marnus Labuschagne in place of Lyon. Next, he replaced Labuschange with Travis Head. Thirdly, he swung Labuschagne around to the opposite end for the final over before drinks. Lastly, he brought Starc back on from the other to the one from which he had operated in the first place.This all had very little to do with Starc getting his first ball of the over bang on target to Bairstow, but the chopping and changing may well have disrupted the batsman’s rhythm just enough to miss it. The lbw verdict from Kumar Dharmasena took England past the last pair of recognised batsmen, and gave the Australians hope that a quick ending would eventuate.But the 2019 Ashes have confounded expectations consistently ever since Edgbaston, turning this into the perhaps the greatest and certainly the most enthralling series since 2005. Jos Buttler and Craig Overton pushed keenly into line, surviving Australian thrusts with pace and spin beyond the tea break and allowing conversations to start about how long there was remaining, how likely the light was to hold, and whether the tourists were starting to tighten up again as per Headingley.Paine, though, worked in concert with Hazlewood to make the best use of a ball changed when the original went out of shape, finding themselves the beneficiaries of its greater hardness and, for a rare time this series, a tendency towards reverse swing. Buttler had been defending sturdily, covering the movement, but the deployment of a silly point for Hazlewood brought the extra pressure and judgment error required – as Hazlewood’s well-disguised inswinger snaked into off stump, Buttler resembled no-one so much as Michael Clarke when confounded by Simon Jones on this very ground 14 years before.Jofra Archer fell victim to fifth-day variation, lbw to a Lyon delivery tunnelling under his bat, before Overton found another ally in the celebrity tail-ender Jack Leach, promoted above Stuart Broad. Fifty balls Leach defended, taking the strike confidently, and seldom looking under major threat even against the second new ball. Once more, though, Paine made a bold and ultimately beautiful call, calling up Labuschagne with a little over an hour remaining. Finding turn out of the footmarks, his fifth ball spat and jumped up at Leach’s gloves, claiming the penultimate wicket in the manner of a latter-day, right-arm Michael Bevan.At this point, with only one more wicket to get, the Australians might have tightened up once more, but they had learned the hard way to both be more attentive to the mores of playing cricket in England, and to try to relax as much as possible with victory just a wicket away. Paine agreed in the aftermath that this had been a team that put ego to one side and learned, slowly and methodically, how to win in this part of the world. It’s a feat that has been beyond four previous touring teams.The route to this glory had been pockmarked by the Newlands scandal, a blow to the national team’s psyche but also a valuable moment of reflection, but had also been characterised by plenty of measures intended for learning. Dukes balls in the Sheffield Shield, Australia A tours of England, an internal trial match in Southampton to make a late call on the final squad of 17, and a tactical commitment to shutting down the scoreboard of England, bowling accurately and trying most of all with the bat to survive.”This group has done it better than most if I am honest, hence the result,” Paine said. “We’ve known for a while England play different than we do over here. This team has made a real effort of putting their ego aside and roll up their sleeves and do the job asked of them, rather than worry about how it looks or the brand or style we play. We want to play winning cricket and need to adapt to conditions that allow us to do that, and this group have done that superbly.”So the still-newish ball was handed to Hazlewood with 14 overs remaining, and as he had done all series, he tried to move it off the seam and not through the air. Overton was pinned in front, the air cracked with Australia’s scream and the Ashes urn was retained. Paine was elated, pumping his fist as he ran, while nearby the batsman of the series Steven Smith could not stop jumping for joy.”It’s been a long, long time,” said Paine. “We know how difficult it is to win over here. We are the lucky ones who have been here. Every player has some story or sacrifice which is what makes moments like this so great. It doesn’t happen, retaining the Ashes in England, very often but we’d like to win next week.”There was a period in recent Australian cricket history when winning the Ashes in England felt like a birthright; this team have deservedly regained what was somehow lost along the way.

Malan celebrates England recall with unbeaten fifty as Middlesex move into strong position at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network23-Sep-2019Sam Robson and Dawid Malan hit half-centuries as Middlesex built a solid platform on a truncated first day against Derbyshire at Lord’s.Robson batted fluently for his knock of 93 from 163 balls, sharing a 90-run third-wicket partnership with Malan, who remained undefeated on 51 when bad weather brought proceedings to a premature close.The Middlesex captain, who has been named in England’s T20 squad for their tour of New Zealand, still requires another 16 to pass the landmark of 1,000 County Championship runs for the season.Derbyshire exercised their right to bowl first and gained an initial success in the fifth over when Nick Gubbins pushed forward to Luis Reece and was caught behind without scoring.Reece and Fynn Hudson-Prentice bowled tightly to squeeze Middlesex’s scoring rate to around two an over, but Robson and Max Holden dug in as they gradually put together a partnership of 52.However, Derbyshire struck again shortly before lunch when the pacy Sam Conners – making his first appearance at Lord’s – unleashed a rising delivery that Holden could only deflect into the hands of Wayne Madsen at first slip.Robson, who looked comfortable on both sides of the wicket, nudged a two to third man to pass 50 for the sixth time this season in the second over of the afternoon session.Meanwhile, Malan – who hit a career-best 199 when the sides met at Derby earlier in the season – settled quickly at the crease, clipping Reece for a boundary through midwicket as the Middlesex total progressed into three figures.The skipper survived an lbw appeal from Anuj Dal, who looked the pick of the Derbyshire bowlers, regularly getting the ball to fizz past the bat without any tangible success.There was another close call for Malan on 34 when he edged medium-pacer Alex Hughes to slip, but this time Madsen – who is only five catches short of the Derbyshire record for an outfield player – spilled the chance.Yet it was Hughes who made the breakthrough in his next over as Robson attempted to cut him and Harvey Hosein, standing up to the stumps, snapped up the edge.Bad light prompted the umpires to call for an early tea soon afterwards but, when play resumed, Malan swiftly advanced to reach his half-century from 94 deliveries.He and Martin Andersson moved their side’s score along to 176-3 before a further deterioration in the light, coupled with the arrival of rain, halted play for the day.

The extra official will be separate from the third and fourth umpires and will use technology to help the on-field officials

Vishal Dikshit05-Nov-2019The IPL is planning to have an exclusive TV umpire to monitor no-balls from the 2020 edition. It is understood this extra match official will be separate from the third and fourth umpires and will use technology to help on-field officials monitor no-balls.The decision to use technology more in order to reduce the errors made by the on-field umpires was taken by the newly-formed IPL governing council, headed by former India batsman Brijesh Patel, at a meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday.One governing council member confirmed that they were first looking to try out this additional umpire in a domestic tournament. With the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament beginning on Friday followed by the Ranji Trophy next month, the official said the new idea could be tried out in either of the tournaments.The development is likely to be welcomed by players and teams considering umpiring standards in the IPL have been a talking point for several years, which saw the introduction of DRS in the tournament in 2018. In IPL 2019, India’s two senior-most players – Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni – pulled up match officials in separate matches over controversial no-ball decisions.Kohli called a missed no-ball opportunity “ridiculous” after a match against Mumbai Indians when Royal Challengers Bangalore needed seven off the final ball and Shivam Dube only managed a single. TV replays on the big screen later showed Lasith Malinga had overstepped, and had the no-ball been called, AB de Villiers, who was on 70 off 41, would have taken strike and faced a free hit with five needed off the last ball.”We are playing at IPL level, not club cricket,” Kohli had said at the post-match presentation. “That’s just a ridiculous call off the last ball. The umpires should have their eyes open.”MS Dhoni stops the game to confront the umpires over a revoked no-ball call•BCCI

Earlier in the tournament, in Chennai Super Kings’ away match in Jaipur against Rajasthan Royals, Dhoni controversially walked on to the field to engage with the on-field umpire Ulhas Gandhe over a no-ball call. The incident took place in the final over of Super Kings’ chase with the visitors needing 18 to win. With eight needed off the last three balls and new man Mitchell Santner on strike, Ben Stokes bowled a full toss and Gandhe first signalled a no-ball for height, only for his square-leg colleague Bruce Oxenford to overrule the decision.The IPL’s idea comes on the back of a similar decision taken by the ICC which recently decided to conduct trials in which a TV umpire will monitor front-foot no-balls. The ICC said it was looking to try it out in a few limited-overs series first, similar to how it was used during an England-Pakistan ODI series in 2016.

Victoria and New South Wales played out a sedate final day at the MCG before the teams shook hands on a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2019Victoria and New South Wales played out a sedate final day at the MCG before the teams shook hands on a draw.Daniel Hughes and Nick Larkin put on an unbroken opening stand of 129 with no chance of a result being forced. New South Wales started marginally behind, but once they avoided losing any early wickets the action fizzled out.The draw consolidates New South Wales’ position at the top of the table after they started the season with four consecutive wins although the gap to second has been narrowed after Queensland’s two-day victory over Tasmania.There is one more round of Sheffield Shield matches before the BBL break.

Coach’s message to county’s supporters appeared to suggest links between the teams

Matt Roller17-Dec-2019Lancashire have removed an “inadvertently misleading” statement from Manchester Originals head coach Simon Katich from their website amid fears about the blurring of lines between the the county and the new Hundred team based at Old Trafford.Katich’s ‘open letter’, written to Lancashire supporters with the intention of encouraging them to attend games in the new competition, claimed that “the Originals are an extension of this great county” and that “the squad…is built around a core group of Red Rose players”.Lancashire share a senior member of coaching staff with the Originals, with the county’s head coach Glen Chapple set to work as an assistant to Katich, while four Lancashire players are also in the Originals’ squad: Jos Buttler, Matt Parkinson, Saqib Mahmood and Dane Vilas.ALSO READ: Blast stars frustrated by Hundred draft as smaller counties struggle for attentionKatich also told the last week that he “would have liked to have drafted a few more Lancashire boys, but the way the draft panned out a few things didn’t go to plan”.Andy Nash, a former ECB board member and an outspoken critic of the Hundred, claimed on Twitter that the letter represented “clear evidence [that the Hundred] elevates the eight hosts and leaves ten counties as bystanders”.The potential for concern is particularly notable in the case of the Manchester team. Every other Hundred team has at least two counties affiliated with it, but Lancashire are the only county linked with the Originals. The overlap in senior members of coaching staff raises the fear that players who impress for Lancashire are more likely to be signed in future drafts, providing players with an added incentive to sign for the county.Jos Buttler of Manchester Originals looks on prior to The Hundred Draft•Getty Images

An ECB spokesperson reiterated that there is no overlap in the two teams’ governance, that Katich is not employed by the club, and that it has introduced safeguards to ensure that no conflict of interests arises. Each new side will be run by a team board with an independent chairman, and regulations have been put in place to make sure contracts with counties and with Hundred teams cannot be linked.”Lancashire Cricket Club is wholly supportive and committed to the Hundred and the opportunity to attract a new and diverse audience,” a spokesperson said.”The letter was taken down as it was inadvertently misleading. We look forward to hosting Manchester Originals in the same way we’re looking forward to hosting England v Pakistan for the Specsavers Test next year and delivering a first class experience here at Emirates Old Trafford.”December 18, 1300 GMT – This article was updated to reflect the fact Mark Chilton will no longer be working for the Originals in the Hundred

Mohammad Wasim, the 18-year-old fast bowler, has replaced him

Umar Farooq01-Jan-2020Naseem Shah has been withdrawn from Pakistan’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup. Mohammad Wasim, the 18-year-old fast bowler who has been an Under-19 regular in recent months, has replaced him.Naseem, the 16-year-old fast bowler who has played three Test matches since making his senior international debut in November, was named in the original Under-19 squad last month. Pakistan head-coach-cum-selector Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis, however, were not in favour of releasing him for age-group cricket.ALSO READ – Naseem Shah caught in tug-of-war between Pakistan’s senior and Under-19 teamsThe senior and junior selection committees have now come to an agreement, and Naseem will not travel to South Africa for the tournament, which begins on January 17.”The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup is a stepping stone for future stars and a platform for budding youngsters to graduate to international cricket,” said Wasim Khan, PCB’s chief executive officer. “Naseem has recently broken that glass ceiling and has established his credentials as an international cricketer. As such, the PCB has taken a pragmatic approach and decided to withdraw him from [the] competition to provide this opportunity to another promising cricketer so that he can show his mettle and potential at a global stage.”In his short time so far as an international cricketer, Naseem has marked himself out as a special talent with his precocious pace and venom. He made his debut in Perth, in the first Test of Pakistan’s recent tour of Australia, and dismissed centurion David Warner with a brute of a short ball. He missed the second Test with a knee niggle that is understood to have hindered his rhythm in the nets, but played both Tests of Pakistan’s home series against Sri Lanka, taking seven wickets in the two Tests including a match-winning five-wicket haul in the second Test in Karachi.Naseem Shah bowls•AFP

That performance made him the second-youngest bowler, behind compatriot Nasim-ul-Ghani in 1958, to take a five-for in Test cricket, and the youngest fast bowler to do so.The junior team management, headed by coach Ijaz Ahmed, wanted Naseem to be freed up for the Under-19 World Cup, and he was meant to link up with his team-mates at a preparatory camp in Lahore after the series against Sri Lanka. But he did not attend the camp, and was also rested from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final in Karachi.After extensive discussions with the senior team management, the national junior selection committee, headed by Saleem Jaffar, have agreed to withdraw Naseem and include Wasim in his stead. Wasim has taken 10 Youth ODI wickets in eight matches, at an average of 27.40.”This should not deter Pakistan’s chances at next year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup as the selectors have picked a side that is experienced and bubbling with confidence to perform strongly,” said Khan. “Naseem will now remain in Pakistan and continue to work on his skills under the watchful eyes of bowling coach Waqar Younis. Furthermore, he will remain available for the home series against Bangladesh.”Pakistan, the 2004 and 2006 champions and three-time runners-up, are slotted in Group C along with Bangladesh, Scotland and Zimbabwe in the 16-team Under-19 World Cup. They will kick off their campaign against Scotland on January 19 in Potchefstroom.After a month-long camp followed by a break, the players regrouped in Lahore on Wednesday for the final leg of the camp. The team will depart for Johannesburg on January 10 from Lahore.

For two excellent pace-bowling units, the conditions will be a challenge, making draws a possibility

The Preview by Sidharth Monga20-Feb-20205:32

Questions for India: Pant or Saha, Jadeja or Ashwin?

Big picture

Test series these days – ones between sides at close to full strength – start along predictable lines. Home sides are usually so dominant that they are overwhelming favourites or they are so weak that strong sides such as India can steamroll them. Draws are hardly a possibility either. Rarely comes along a series where a proper victory march comes across a fortress that has stood tall for years without looking that formidable once.In New Zealand over the next two weeks, anything is possible: 2-0, 0-2, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 0-0. For two excellent pace-bowling units, the conditions will remain a challenge, making draws a distinct possibility. Don’t go by New Zealand’s annihilation in Australia, these sides are pretty evenly matched. If India have arguably the best all-conditions bowling attack, New Zealand’s quicks know how to get wickets at home better than anyone else. The same bowlers that seemed pedestrian in Australia where you need to bash the hard length will be effective with their kiss-the-surface swing. Or at least they won’t suffer in comparison with the opposition quicks as much as they did in Australia.ALSO READ: Why Test cricket in NZ is unlike anywhere else in the worldThat doesn’t mean India don’t have the attack to take wickets in New Zealand. Just that in these conditions, their added advantages over a slightly limited New Zealand attack will not be apparent. It is in the second innings that their familiarity with the conditions has tended to trump their opponents. Test cricket in New Zealand is played in the reverse with batting getting progressively better on pitches that don’t break up, and it is in those second innings that New Zealand’s bowlers have found ways to dismiss oppositions. This is when New Zealand bowlers have managed to average in the mid-20s since December 2013, but one of the key components of that attack, Neil Wagner, will be missing for the season opener at Basin Reserve as he awaits the arrival of his child, and the other, Trent Boult, has had no competitive cricket since breaking his right hand in Australia.In most other places, India would start as favourites, but at home, New Zealand have lost just two Tests in their last 14 series, a record second only to India’s at home. Then again, India haven’t lost a series anywhere since the 4-1 reverse in England in 2018. Let there be no further ado then.

Form guide

New Zealand LLLDW
India WWWWW

In the spotlight

Since December 2013, when this New Zealand team started coming together, Trent Boult has been the second-best to Wagner in second innings. The importance of a successful return for him cannot be overstated for New Zealand. These are the series you play for, he has said, to get players such as Virat Kohli out.If you want to identify a point of difference, look no further than Jasprit Bumrah. In his brief Test career, Bumrah has tended to get the better of every challenge the conditions have thrown at him. He has the hyperextension, he has the deceptive pace, he has all the other bowling tricks, and he has a sharp bowling mind.

Team news

Kyle Jamieson will become New Zealand’s 279th Test player as he replaces Wagner. By leaving Matt Henry out of the XII, New Zealand have made it clear they are looking for a Wagner-like point of difference in the second innings. Jamieson brings those hard lengths and extra bounce with his height. Depending on what they read of the pitch of the morning of the match, New Zealand will choose between Daryl Mitchell and Ajaz Patel, the lone spinner in the squad.New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham, 2 Tom Blundell, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Daryl Mitchell/Ajaz Patel, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Jamieson, 11 Trent BoultRishabh Pant and Hanuma Vihari could both feature in the XI•AFP / Getty Images

As you would expect with visiting teams, equations are not simple for India. However, there is great news for them in the sooner-than-expected return of Ishant Sharma after he had torn a ligament in his ankle in December. After a long bowling session in the nets two days from the Test, Sharma didn’t bowl in the nets on match eve; instead he was put through a fitness test. Clearly, India want to be sure. If he doesn’t make it, Umesh Yadav is the favourite to take his spot.India seem to have settled with the opening combination of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal. With fewer vagaries in New Zealand pitches, India seem to be going with the batting prowess of Rishabh Pant ahead of the wicketkeeping purity of Wriddhiman Saha. Unlike New Zealand, India are sure to play at least one spinner. If they do play only one, R Ashwin is the favourite from the trends in the warm-up game and in the nets. He could use the wind to his advantage.Given how difficult it is to pick 20 wickets at Basin Reserve, there might be temptation to play both the spinners and form a second lower middle-order of Ravindra Jadeja, Pant and Ashwin, but this India is slightly different from the one that used to take such risks in the first Test of a series.India (probable): 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Hanuma Vihari, 7 Rishabh Pant (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ishant Sharma/ Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions

The novelty of telling the pitch apart from the outfield in New Zealand has long worn off. The 15-18mm of grass makes for a menacing look, but the pitch should become friendly after early exchanges. Except for the general windiness, perfect weather conditions for Test cricket have been forecast after two days of intermittent rain in the lead-up to the match.

Stats and trivia

• In 28 Tests in New Zealand since December 2013, teams have decided to field after winning the toss on 25 occasions. They have won 12 and lost eight of these Tests. In the rest of the world, over the same period, teams have decided to field in 58 out of 253 Tests.
• Kohli averages 66 against Boult, and 46.5 against Southee in Tests. His average against Wagner, who is missing the first Test, is 20.
• Ross Taylor will become the first player to 100 matches in each international format.

Quotes

“It’s about bringing the focus to the smaller steps rather than some of the loftier goals that can be achieved, but you do need to take care of the next moment rather than you getting too far ahead of yourselves. As a unit, it was a tough series [in Australia] in terms of a result to swallow but you know you can’t change the past but you can use it definitely to improve as individuals and as a team.”

Kane Williamson looks to bounce back from the sweep in Australia“It doesn’t matter how much patience the opposition has. Then we obviously have to show more patience than them. We can’t prepare in a manner that New Zealand might be more patient than other teams and then put pressure on us. Our fitness levels are such and concentration levels are such now that we can compete against anyone and anywhere in the world.”

Virat Kohli on a possible battle of attrition

Nine out of ten rounds had been completed, with New South Wales the comfortable leaders

Daniel Brettig14-Mar-2020Australia’s domestic first-class competition, the Sheffield Shield, is set to be cancelled before its conclusion due to coronavirus, the first such event since the Second World War.Cricket Australia officially announced the decision to cancel the final round of the regular season on Sunday morning. The players are understood to have been informed on Saturday night, before they travelled to venues. The final, scheduled to be hosted by New South Wales in Wollongong, is also set to be cancelled, although CA have said an update will be provided “in due course”.Concerns about the risk of contracting coronavirus while travelling by air is thought to be a part of the decision, with South Australia to host Queensland in Adelaide, Western Australia to host New South Wales in Perth and Victoria to host Tasmania in Melbourne.With nine of 10 rounds completed, NSW sit clearly atop the table, with Victoria second and then little separating Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia. It is not yet clear whether NSW will be awarded the Shield as the top team, or no winner declared.The Shield has been contested every season since 1892, only stopped by the First World War from 1915 to 1919 and the Second World War from 1940 to 1946.”At times like this, cricket must take a back seat for the greater good,” the CA chief executive Kevin Roberts said. “We have been in consultation with relevant government agencies, our own medical team and an infectious-diseases expert for quite some time now, and we have taken all their advice into account in making these decisions.”In recent days, it has become evident that we must play our part in helping limit the spread of the virus by reducing person-to-person contact wherever possible. These measures reflect that.”The decisions made this week are not something we are accustomed to in cricket. But by making them, we hope we can contribute to the global effort to slow, and eventually stop, the spread of coronavirus.”After hosting an ODI between Australia and New Zealand at an empty SCG on Friday, CA was forced to cancel the remainder of the series due to the visiting team being called home, with the New Zealand government imposing emergency travel measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.An Under-19s women’s tour of South Africa has also been cancelled, after the decision to abandon a senior women’s tour of the same nation, and the men’s team’s trip to New Zealand for Twenty20 matches.

Board says decision taken “owing to the current threat” of Covid-19

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2020India’s tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, scheduled for June and August respectively, have been called off by the BCCI owing to the “current threat of Covid-19”, board secretary Jay Shah said in a statement on Friday.India were scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is starting June 24, and then to Zimbabwe for three ODIs starting August 22.The BCCI’s decision was made public a day after SLC said it was still hopeful of hosting India in August. With Sri Lanka seeing just over 700 active Covid-19 cases currently, the board was pushing hard to restart cricket in the country by also holding a residential training camp for 12 of its players earlier this month.In the circumstances, India are also unlikely to travel to South Africa at the end of August to play three T20Is, a series proposed by CSA recently. At the time, the BCCI had not committed one way or other, but had told CSA that if there were no quarantine restrictions, India could think of stopping by after the Zimbabwe tour.The Indians have not played any competitive cricket since mid-March, when the BCCI was forced to call-off the three-match ODI series at home against South Africa. After the first match in Dharamsala had been rained off, the BCCI had planned to conduct the remaining two games behind closed doors. But the two boards decided to reschedule the series because of the Covid-19 situation. With the IPL also being indefinitely postponed, there has been no cricket in the country for three months.On Friday, the BCCI reiterated that it would conduct a camp for its contracted players “only when it is completely safe to train outdoors”. It added: “The BCCI is determined to take steps towards the resumption of international and domestic cricket, but it will not rush into any decision that will jeopardize the efforts put in by the Central and State governments and several other respective agencies in containing the spread of the coronavirus.”The spread of Covid-19 has played havoc with the cricket schedule globally, and in India, the BCCI is trying its best to host the IPL at some stage this year, even if in front of empty stands. President Sourav Ganguly had recently written to the state associations that the BCCI was on the verge of finalising guidelines for the return of cricket in India.

Six venues to be used as 24 players prepare for return to training

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2020England women’s hopes of salvaging an international season in 2020 have been boosted by the confirmation that 24 players will return to training later this month across six venues.The ECB were forced to postpone the series against India, initially scheduled to start at the end of June, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, and have since been in talks with the BCCI and CSA about turning the South Africa tour in September into a tri-series.And with that objective in mind, the players are due to resume practice on June 22, initially on an individual basis and later in small groups.The training sessions will take place at Loughborough, Headingley, The Oval, Bristol, Hove and Chester Boughton Hall CC, all under the same medical guidelines and bio-secure conditions as have been in place for England Men.Jonathan Finch, the ECB’s director of women’s cricket, said: “We remain hopeful of playing cricket this summer and it’s exciting for this group of players to be able to return to training.”We’ve had great support from the First-Class Counties with the use of their venues, and we’re grateful to them for that, and hopefully this is one step closer towards England Women returning to the field this summer.”Squads for specific formats will be named in due course, subject to confirmation of the proposed series. But the 24 names include both Lauren Winfield and Amy Jones, both of whom recently arrived back in the UK after being stranded in Australia after the Covid-19 outbreak.”We will get some international cricket, all being well,” Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, told the BBC’s Tuffers and Vaughan Show last week. “We’re talking to the BCCI and to Cricket South Africa about bringing their women’s teams over to play a tri-series, so we have something really to celebrate with the women’s game in September.”England Return to Training squad Tammy Beaumont (Kent/London Spirit), Lauren Bell (Berkshire/Southern Brave), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire/Trent Rockets), Kate Cross (Lancashire/Manchester Originals), Alice Davidson-Richards (Kent/Northern Superchargers), Freya Davies (Sussex/London Spirit), Sophia Dunkley (Surrey/Southern Brave), Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire/Manchester Originals), Georgia Elwiss (Sussex/Birmingham Phoenix), Katie George (Hampshire/Welsh Fire), Sarah Glenn (Worcestershire/Trent Rockets), Kirstie Gordon (Kent/Birmingham Phoenix), Amy Jones (Warwickshire/Birmingham Phoenix), Heather Knight (Berkshire/London Spirit), Emma Lamb (Lancashire/Manchester Originals), Nat Sciver (Surrey/Trent Rockets), Anya Shrubsole (Berkshire/Southern Brave), Bryony Smith (Surrey/Welsh Fire), Linsey Smith (Sussex/Northern Superchargers), Mady Villiers (Essex/Trent Rockets), Fran Wilson (Kent/Oval Invincibles), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire/Northern Superchargers), Issy Wong (Warwickshire/Birmingham Phoenix), Danni Wyatt (Sussex/Southern Brave)