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The former allrounder, now president of the ACA, believes outside investment can bring fresh ideas and approaches

Daniel Brettig16-Feb-2021Shane Watson, the Australian Cricketers’ Association president, believes Cricket Australia should re-examine the notion of private ownership of BBL clubs, a decade after the governing body’s initial “float” of stakes in the T20 league met a quiet end.Private ownership of BBL clubs, the tournament model favoured by a large portion of overseas domestic leagues including the IPL, PSL, CPL and BPL, was a contentious issue at the time CA elected to move towards new identities for eight T20 teams, with a prospectus drawn up and a business mission taken to India to gauge private interest in the idea. Some of the initial structures of the BBL clubs, namely the independent boards and chief executives of the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades, were drawn up partly with private investment in mind.CA’s executives, led by the then CEO James Sutherland and former head of strategy Andrew Jones, were cooler about the idea than some members of the CA board, and the idea fizzled out as the league was launched on a trajectory towards securing a far larger slice of an A$1.2 billion broadcast rights pie in 2018. Three years on, with CA embroiled in a battle with Seven West Media over the network’s campaign for a discount to its fees and Covid-19 affecting events more broadly, Watson reckons the concept should be revisited.Related

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“Yes, it 100% needs a revisit, and it’s a way to continue to get a cash injection as well,” Watson told ESPNcricinfo. “Obviously they’d need to set things up to put things in place to make sure CA still have control that they desire across the franchises and the playing group, but absolutely, it’ll bring in an influx of different people, new money as well, to be able to continue to grow the game. So I think that absolutely would be a big step forward.”There are plenty of other backers of private investment around the ACA board table: chairman Greg Dyer and director Neil Maxwell – also a Cricket New South Wales board member – have both publicly advocated for the concept in the past. Others with considerable knowledge of the area include the NSW Cricket chairman John Knox, who in his former role with Credit Suisse drew up the prospectus when privatisation was first mooted in 2010-11. Much of the opposition to private investment focused on differing priorities between team owners and governing bodies.Other models are emerging however. Private equity investment, as is currently being explored by New Zealand Rugby to exploit the All Blacks brand, presents the opportunity to somewhat tilt the balance in negotiations over a whole range of commercial areas for a club or tournament.”I’ve seen it in a lot of the tournaments I’ve played in, one thing when you have private owners is it brings in a new type of person, a new type of industry, new money streams into a very traditional cricket environment,” Watson said. “It’s the same sort of sponsors, the same people who’ve always been around cricket in Australia for example, so if you open it up to privatisation it means you’re getting some very successful people or business with different ideas on how to be able to expand things, make them better, challenge the status quo.”Not just from a financial point of view but also just from a brand and evolution point of view. I’ve always been very surprised it hasn’t been something that CA have looked at, and gone for. I’ve seen it work so incredibly well in the IPL and the PSL for example, because it brings in new, successful people, new money into something that’s been, in CA’s case, the same sort of status quo for a long period of time.”Speaking on other issues around the game, Watson expressed his disappointment that dressing room questions about the mentoring style of the coach Justin Langer had reached the public domain, but said that it was incumbent on administrators to be “proactive” about how the national team’s leaders were operating relative to the ever-changing nature of the dressing room.”The biggest thing is having the right person at the right time, the right coach or the right captain at the right time,” Watson said. “People retire, people come in and out of the team and as soon as a couple of people move in and out of the team, that can change the whole dynamic of what’s required from a coaching or leadership perspective. That’s where we have to make sure we are really proactive, because when the decision-makers aren’t proactive around what’s required right now, that’s when we can get into trouble.”Watson noted that it was vital for the game’s custodians to be aware also that – whatever might be said publicly – leadership roles in Australian cricket were highly sought-after as prizes with rich rewards for their holders, meaning that it was critical that open discussions were had about whether anyone might be hanging onto them for too long.”That is one of the biggest things – are the people who want to be the captain of Australia doing it because that’s just been their whole goal and that’s all they want, and they’ll do anything they can to get to the top, and that’s not just in the Australian cricket team, that’s leadership in general,” he said.”What are the reasons why you want to be in the top position, is it because it’s all about you and you’ve always wanted that and you’ll just make sure you get there and then you make sure you stay there. For all different reasons, whether it’s sponsorship or marketing, whether it’s just because you love being the main man.Or whether it’s the other side of things: you love helping people, you love getting the best out of them, you weren’t chasing it, but once you got an opportunity, then you loved helping people out and guiding people. The person who stands out straight away to me there is Ricky Ponting; he was never chasing the captaincy, a great team man, but then when he got it, yes he was a leader, but he still cared about others, it wasn’t just about him.Shane Watson has branched out into producing cricket equipment•T20stars

“For some of these coaches, [Australia] is a huge job. You’re the one who’s pointing the ship of Australian cricket in one direction, you’re making the call, that’s your vision filtering down through all the layers. You’re dealing with the media, with the board, with the playing group to get the best out of them, and then your coaching staff as well. So of course, the coach of Australia does get paid incredibly well, and there’s no question that’s going to be one of the reasons why some people hang in a bit longer, because it’s such a big carrot dangling in front of them.”In addition to his ACA role, Watson has ventured into the bats and equipment game, arguing he is trying to “break the model” of established brands and high overheads with a direct-to-customer model based largely upon online sales under the T20 Stars umbrella with which he has also launched a podcast.”I’ve always been a cricket gear tragic since I was a kid, so I’m very particular about every little detail of my gear,” he said. “When it comes to challenging the pricing model that’s out there, it’s just something that when I really started to dig into it I had the realisation of just how expensive cricket gear has got from when I first started playing in my early years. My parents certainly weren’t wealthy, they just got together enough money for me to be able to feel like I never went without.”But nowadays there’s no way they could’ve afforded the top of the range gear. So when I dug into why things have got so expensive, there is a really simple way to be able to break that model down, which is going direct to consumer…and that means the people buying the equipment because they want to get into the game, can actually get it more affordably, just because it’s going directly to them.”The biggest challenge is that everyone’s used to going to cricket shops to try the gear and feel the bats. Absolutely there has to be a way for people to touch and feel the gear as well. I’m getting some guys I played cricket with around the states to be like the agents to get gear into people’s hands, and in Sydney I’ll be getting out to schools and clubs to allow them to see the products.” Shane Watson’s cricket equipment is available at shop.t20stars.com

England captain split webbing on his hand in first ODI, while Billings suffered shoulder injury

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2021England captain Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the remaining two ODIs against India with a hand injury suffered during the opening match in Pune on Tuesday. Jos Buttler is set to take over the reins, with Liam Livingstone in line for a debut.Sam Billings, who sustained a shoulder injury in the field in the first ODI, will not be considered for Friday’s second game but could still return to play a part in the series. Dawid Malan, who was with the touring group as cover, has been drafted into the squad and is available for selection.Related

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Morgan required stitches after splitting the webbing between his thumb and index finger attempting to stop the ball, and was able to bat in England’s unsuccessful run chase. But he declared himself unfit after taking part in a fielding drill at training on Thursday.”I had the hand re-dressed before the start of training today but it quickly became apparent that I found myself protecting the injury and getting into the wrong positions to catch the ball,” he said. “There’s nowhere to hide on the field in international cricket these days, especially in limited-over formats so it didn’t require any great thought to make myself unavailable.”It was a freak injury and it’s extremely frustrating but there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s now just a case of letting the cut heal. I have every confidence in Jos and the rest of the squad coping without me.”Billings, too, came out to bat in the first ODI but did not train on Thursday as he continued to recover from a bruised collar bone. A decision on his availability for the third and final match, to be played on Sunday, will be taken in due course.Both players are due to be involved in the upcoming IPL, with England confirming that Morgan would remain in their bubble before joining up with Kolkata Knight Riders, where he is captain for the tournament that begins on April 9.Livingstone, the Lancashire batsman, played two T20Is for England in 2017 but is set to win his first cap in the 50-over format, on the back of a strong Big Bash with Perth Scorchers.”It’s obviously really exciting,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time around the group over the summer and winter so it’s nice ot finally get a chance and really looking forward to tomorrow. It’s never nice to see team-mates get injured but fingers crossed they’re not quite as serious as they could have been so speedy recoveries for them and hopefully they’re back fit for the IPL.”I’ve said before, the first time around was very different. I’ve been waiting for this chance for a while now so really excited. India have played some really good cricket, the back end of the T20 series and the one-dayer the other day so it’s a great chance to test myself against one of the best teams in the world.”It’s not just any old team that you’re trying to get into [with England]. The team are world champions and probably the best white-ball side in the world at the moment, so it’s not something you walk into. Being around the group, it makes you feel more familiar and comfortable about playing for England. I’ve really enjoyed my time around the group, even though I haven’t been playing, so now it’s my turn to go out and perform.”

The city is the frontrunner to stage the Games in 11 years and could be confirmed by mid-2021

Reuters and ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2021The Gabba is slated for an A$1 billion (USD777 million) rebuild before hosting the opening and closing ceremonies as part of Brisbane’s bid for the 2032 Olympics, officials said on Tuesday.Queensland state capital Brisbane was named preferred bidder for the 2032 Games in February and could be confirmed as host as early as July.Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Gabba would likely have its capacity boosted from 42,000 to 50,000 as part of a renovation to cost “around the A$1 billion mark”.”Every games needs a home,” she said in a statement. “The Gabba has been home to our sport since 1895. “A home for the 2032 Olympic Games could be its crowning glory.”Located in Brisbane’s inner-city suburb of Woolloongabba, the refurbished stadium would be linked to a new railway station under construction via a pedestrian plaza.Australia’s defeat against India earlier this year was their first at the Gabba since 1988. The ground will likely host the first Test of the Ashes in December although the schedule is still to be confirmed.Nick Hockley, the interim CEO of Cricket Australia, said: “The Gabba is one of the most important, iconic and historic cricket grounds in Australia and we are delighted that the Queensland Government has agreed to a major redevelopment should Brisbane win the right to host the 2032 Olympic Games.”Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison endorsed Brisbane’s bid last month and told the International Olympic Committee all levels of government in the country were firmly behind it.Palaszczuk said on Monday the bid was still “contingent on guarantees” from the federal government.Though Brisbane is the frontrunner for 2032, South Korea’s Seoul said this month it had sent the IOC a proposal for co-hosting the 2032 Games with North Korea’s capital Pyongyang.The postponed Tokyo Olympics start on July 23. Paris will host the 2024 Games, with Los Angeles hosting the 2028 event.

Leicestershire win by an innings and 93 runs as Parkinson claims career-best match figures of 10 for 108

ECB Reporters Network05-Jun-2021Leicestershire crushed group leaders Gloucestershire by an innings and 93 runs as a one-sided LV=Insurance County Championship match ended before tea on the third day with Gloucestershire bowled out for 200 following on.At 5 for 1 overnight, they slipped to 31 for 5 inside the first hour before Ian Cockbain and Jonny Tattersall held up the home side in a defiant stand that lasted two hours and 20 minutes, both making half-centuries in adding 119.But Player of the Match Callum Parkinson eventually dismissed both in quick succession, Gloucestershire losing their last five wickets for 50 as left-arm spinner Parkinson finished with 5 for 63 for career-best match figures of 10 for 108.Related

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Gloucestershire won four of their first five Group Two matches but have now suffered back-to-back defeats, each by an innings, having been beaten by Surrey in the last round.The Foxes, who failed to win any of their first six matches but chased down 378 in the fourth innings to beat Middlesex last Sunday, recorded consecutive victories in first-class games for the first time since 2018 and the first back-to-back wins in home matches since 2006.Leicestershire sensed they could finish the job rapidly as they took four wickets in the first 52 minutes of the day after Gloucestershire resumed, needing to reach 293 just to make the home side bat again.Chris Wright, getting movement off the seam, had Miles Hammond caught at first slip and Tom Lace behind the stumps in consecutive overs.
Parkinson picked up his first of the day when Glenn Phillips, who had been much more watchful than in the first innings, stepped across his stumps in trying to work to leg and was given out leg before, making his unhappiness with the decision obvious to umpire Nick Cook.Ryan Higgins fell to an unwise slog-sweep to his second that saw him caught at mid-wicket, but Cockbain and Tattersall frustrated Leicestershire until midway through the afternoon session, both hitting seven fours.Tattersall played well against the spin but eventually edged a slightly wide ball from Parkinson to Colin Ackermann at first slip, and soon afterwards Cockbain reached to defend one outside off stump, falling to a smart, one-handed catch to his left by Ackermann at second slip as Parkinson completed his second five-for in the match.With his off spin, Ackermann then bowled David Payne and had Tom Smith leg before and, after a brief flourish of big hitting by Dan Worrall and Josh Shaw, bowled Worrall to finish the job.

Dasun Shanaka the only batter to pass 20 in another below-par display

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Jul-2021Sri Lanka’s last innings on a horror tour of England was perhaps their most abject yet, but rain saved them the indignity of a whitewash. Under cloudy Bristol skies, Sri Lanka nosedived in the early overs, continued to plummet once the fielding restrictions were relaxed, and never seriously threatened to scramble out of the pit of tragicomedy, where they have wallowed more or less since the start of the (preceding) T20 series.This time, they were 166 all out in the 42nd over. Dasun Shanaka produced the only competent innings, finishing 48 not out – most of those runs having come in the company of the tail. Rain had caused a stoppage during Sri Lanka’s own innings, but returned in force during the innings break to make an England chase impossible.Although the pitch held no real terrors, England’s bowlers extracted seam movement and bounce – particulary in the early overs – to skilfully exploit the substantial technical shortcomings of Sri Lanka’s top order. Both openers were out largely due to poor footwork, and two middle-order batters were bounced out playing wild hook shots. Although Sri Lanka were 33 for 3, then 42 for 4, then 63 for 5 (and on in such fashion), there was no concerted effort to hunker down and rebuild – several batters getting out playing expansive strokes.With his brother having claimed a five-for on Thursday, it was Tom Curran who was England’s most penetrative bowler, his 4 for 35 gutting the middle order after Chris Woakes and David Willey had prospered with the new ball. Tom Curran was accurate, used the short ball well, and frequently got a touch of away-movement to the right-handers.Willey and Woakes claimed two wickets apiece, and Jonny Bairstow was excellent behind the stumps, taking diving catches to dismiss Pathum Nissanka and Chamika Karunaratne, and pulling off a stumping when Dushmantha Chameera dragged his back leg marginally out of his ground against Adil Rashid.Sri Lanka’s collapse began in the third over, when after a couple of decent early boundaries, a flat-footed Kusal Perera dragged Woakes back on to his stumps. Avishka Fernando was out soon after, falling over to the off side as Willey swung one into his pads – the not-out decision overturned on review. Nissanka then edged Willey behind, and Woakes bounced out Dhananjaya de Silva, who had played the short ball reasonably well in his previous innings, at the Oval.Also out to the hook was Wanindu Hasaranga, making it three times out of three this series he has fallen to that shot. This time, the bowler was Tom Curran (Sam Curran dismissed him this way in the second ODI, and Woakes got him in the first).There wasn’t much to say about the remainder of the innings, as Shanaka hung around and struck a few late boundaries to take Sri Lanka limping across the 150 mark. Rain, which had caused a delay of the toss, also caused a stoppage when Sri Lanka were eight down. No overs were lost. But a much heavier downpour at the break left the outfield sodden, and the match was abandoned at around 4.15pm local time.

There are set to be five rounds of Sheffield Shield matches before the men’s international season begins

Andrew McGlashan06-Jul-2021State batters should be “licking their lips” at the prospect of pushing for an Ashes batting spot according to Test captain Tim Paine with vacancies in Australia’s top order.ESPNcricinfo understands that more than half the Sheffield Shield, which is scheduled to return to its full 31-game season after being truncated by the pandemic in 2020-21, is due to be played before the first Ashes Test with six rounds taking place ahead of the BBL.The last of those will run concurrently with the Afghanistan Test in late November so in all likelihood it leaves Test contenders – and others looking for pre-series form – up to five matches before switching to Australia colours. For those who don’t make the initial Test squads, it’s also understood there will be an Australia A vs England Lions match taking place at the same time as the first Test at the Gabba.There were only three specialist Test batters named in the central contracts list earlier this year – David Warner, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne – along with allrounder Cameron Green. Fitness permitting all four seem certain to start against England although Warner and Smith may yet miss the Afghanistan Test beforehand due to quarantine after the T20 World Cup.It means there are likely two batting spots vacant in the Ashes and potentially more for the Hobart encounter against Afghanistan, a match that could yet have a big say in the final shake-up.Related

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“[It should be] very competitive, there’s a few spots up for grabs there’s no doubt about that,” Paine said as international tickets went on sale ahead of the new season. “We are lucky that we get four or five Shield games before the Afghanistan Test, and some away in the T20 World Cup, so they’ll be opportunities for guys to press their case in the first few rounds of Shield cricket. The Afghanistan Test will be an important game as well if some of our guys are not here.”It will be up for the guys to grab their opportunity and think every batter around the country will be licking their lips at the moment thinking there is an Ashes series in Australia with a couple of spots up for grabs.”Will Pucovski remains favourite to open alongside Warner if he recovers from the shoulder reconstruction he underwent following an impressive debut against India at the SCG. If he suffers any setbacks Marcus Harris, who is the incumbent from the Gabba Test and has impressed in county cricket for Leicestershire, could be in the frame.The No. 5 spot cycled between Travis Head and Matthew Wade against India before both lost their central contracts although Head had been named in the Test squad to tour South Africa. However, he has not yet been able to back up a prolific season for South Australia with meaningful returns for Sussex and it feels the middle-order race is very open.Travis Head will be hoping to regain his middle-order spot•Getty Images

Paine will be hoping that there isn’t another batting vacancy to fill and that Smith is able to fully recover from his elbow problem having recently admitted he would miss the T20 World Cup if it ensured he was at full capacity to face England.Paine acknowledged Smith being in prime shape for the Ashes would be his priority but is confident the batter will make the best decision.”What’s important to me is he’s fit to go, whether that’s the T20 World Cup or the Ashes,” Paine said. “From a selfish point of view I’d love him to be 100% fit, if that means he misses that tournament then Steve is a professional, he’ll know where his body is at.”Clearly he’s the best player in the world and if you take the best player from any side out, it creates a bit of a hole. Fingers crossed his elbow comes good. He’s been dealing with it for a while now, but as he gets older probably a bit harder to keep pushing through it.”It’s important now that he’s got the time that he takes it and tries to get it 100% right, not just for the Ashes but to try and prolong his career for another four, fix, six years.”While those not in the T20 mix will have a substantial build-up to the Test season that won’t be the case for players at the World Cup who, if they aren’t available to face Afghanistan, will start in Brisbane without any red-ball preparation.”It’s part of modern-day cricket. You have to be able to chop between tournaments and formats,” Paine said. “Normally those players doing it, the three-format players, are the very best at it and are used to doing it. I don’t see it as a huge issue.”We know the conditions here in Australia. If we can get a few games into those guys would be ideal but they are really experienced and either way our team will be ready to go.”

Zimbabwe hampered by batting collapse after looking good for 200 at one stage

Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2021
Bangladesh made a trifecta of winning their 100th matches in all three formats after beating Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the first T20I. Their pace bowlers took eight wickets to engineer a batting collapse, before Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar put together the team’s first-ever century opening stand in the format.Zimbabwe paid the price once again for fielding errors and conceding too many extras, but mainly lost out due to a batting collapse. They slipped from 91 for 2 to be bowled out for 152, at least 40 short of what they looked set to get.Naim’s 66 not out – his second T20I fifty – was a matured effort, in which he not only played the role of the aggressor upfront but also finished the game off. The match was sealed when he slapped a boundary over mid-off in the penultimate over. He had Nurul Hasan at the other end when victory was achieved.Naim’s three fours off Richard Ngarava in the fourth over fuelled Bangladesh’s innings. Sarkar joined in the fun by then whacking two big sixes, eventually getting to a half-century off 45 balls. He would fall soon after as Regis Chakabva’s back flick after collecting a throw from the deep caught Sarkar short of the crease as he tried to complete a second run.Zimbabwe could have had Naim on 49, but for Sikandar Raza’s misjudgment when he stopped a throw from the deep with Naim well short of the crease behind him.Zimbabwe eventually effected a run out when Blessing Muzarabani scored a direct hit from short third man to dismiss Mahmudullah, but it was all too late.Earlier, Nurul Hasan played a critical role in bringing Bangladesh back into the game after Regis Chakabva took off like a bullet train, hitting a 22-ball 43. He drove, pulled, scooped and nurdled runs during the course of a second-wicket stand worth 64 with Wessley Madhevere. Just when Zimbabwe looked set, Madhevere lobbed a simple return catch to Shakib in the ninth over.But Zimbabwe started to decelerate when Hasan’s throw towards the non-striker’s end ran out the rampant Chakabva in the eleventh over. Raza fell later in the same over, caught behind off Shoriful Islam to turn a wobble into a full-blown collapse.After a little recovery, Zimbabwe lost their last four wickets in 11 balls. After Mohammad Saifuddin bowled Luke Jongwe, substitute Shamim Hossain ran hard to his left at long-on to take a brilliant catch to leave batter Ryan Burl stunned.Apart from Islam, Rahman struck some late blows to ensure Bangladesh finished well short of what they would’ve aimed for. They also didn’t utilise one full over of their innings. Eventually their collapse – 8 for 61 in 13 overs – cost them an opportunity to take a lead in the series.

Australia coach concedes that India his team was behind for the best part in the one-off Test, points to dropped catches as part of the reason for it

Andrew McGlashan03-Oct-2021Australia coach Matthew Mott has admitted that his team had been playing catch-up since the first hour of the day-night Test against India after a wayward display with the new ball, and were also left to rue the number of dropped chances.”We knew India would be a great challenge for us, and we thought we’d hit happy times winning the toss and the wicket had a tinge of green,” he said. “We had a very good pace attack, but we probably just missed our mark in the first hour and they got away to a really good start. From there on we just felt like we were clawing back a little bit.”Related

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While the weather was a large factor in the game ending in stalemate with the first two days severely impacted by storms – twice preventing Australia from bowling for an extended period under lights – the Australians also had themselves to blame after putting India in, something Mott insisted was the right decision from Meg Lanning.At the end of the first hour, India were 70 for 0 from 15 overs with Smriti Mandhana having brought up a run-a-ball half-century, which she would convert into a dominant 127 as India ended up batting for 145 overs. Before dinner on the opening day, Australia had to rely on their spinners, Sophie Molineux and Ash Gardner, to give them some control.”I thought India played really well,” Mott said. “Mandhana’s innings was exceptional. But we were behind for the rest of the match and they held all the aces, they earned the right to put us under pressure. And we never really got back in the game.”Think our catching was a bit of an issue, obviously had upwards of eight chances in the first inning so the bowlers created the opportunities but unfortunately we weren’t good enough to capitalise so left to rue that. But I was really proud of the way we hung in there we kept our standards right the end.”For much of the opening session of the final day, it looked as though Australia would comfortably avoid the follow-on when Ellyse Perry, who continued her astonishing Test run-scoring record going back to 2017, and Gardner were making good progress against the old ball. However, they were shaken by Meghna Singh’s new-ball spell, and when Pooja Vastrakar removed Georgia Wareham to leave them eight down, they still needed five more runs.”Batting-wise, we were under the pump today but we showed a bit of fight, making sure we got past that follow-on because that could have made it really interesting,” Mott said. “Ellyse Perry again showed her skill and determination to get us over the line there… and it’s something the rest of the group could probably learn a little bit from.For a while, India looked like they might be able to enforce the follow-on•Getty Images

“We don’t get exposed to that too often but I’m sure the batting group will reflect on what worked for her in this Test and why she was able to keep out more good balls. We probably played at a few we didn’t have to, but the pressure that India built up led us that way as well.”Australia had included four debutants with Stella Campbell and Annabel Sutherland producing impressive spells, while legspinner Wareham was able to sneak in for her maiden Test wicket shortly before India’s second-innings declaration having only had 11 overs in the match.”Georgia probably didn’t get as many overs as she would have liked and that was a talking point, but the rain didn’t help her,” Mott said. “Darcie [Brown], that’s her first crack at this format and think she’ll get better and better. Stella really showed what she could do and is also someone who probably wasn’t on the radar 12 months ago. Annabel Sutherland, I thought she was extraordinary in the first innings. Everything we talked about that we got wrong in the first session, she then delivered throughout so thought she was a real beacon.”At times it felt as though Lanning had too many bowling options and that there was room for another specialist batter (the injured Rachael Haynes was replaced by allrounder Sutherland) but Mott said that the selection had been partly based on being able to spread the workload around a young attack. There will likely be a number of changes for Australia’s next Test, against England in the Ashes in late January, with Haynes, Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen certain to return if they are available.

No warm-up games to acclimatise – India captain says centre-wicket practice and match simulation should do the trick for visitors

Shashank Kishore15-Dec-2021India are yet to win a Test series in South Africa. But India’s think tank, led by Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli, have in the past got a taste of Test success in the country, both in Johannesburg, in 2006 and in 2018 respectively. And this time, Kohli feels India can cross the line and “do something special” if they can get their confidence game right.The team’s quest to win a series, however, has just become that much more challenging, because unlike in Australia late last year or in England earlier this summer, India won’t have any warm-up games and acclimatisation time. It’s a bit like what they did when they last toured South Africa: land, train, and play.Related

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“As much as centre-wicket practice as possible, match simulation,” Kohli said of the team’s plans. “Those kinds of things really help when you play in conditions that are in my opinion the most challenging, because of the pace and bounce on offer.”And the conditions can be tricky with swing as well, we’ve seen that in South Africa. So as much simulation as we can have, understanding which areas we’re hitting the ball, getting into good shapes, with the bowlers as well, with slips set in place, what areas they want to bowl, cut down easy singles, boundary options – all those things help you get into a good space when you have no warm-up games.”India will begin this tough examination without two key players: Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Rohit, the designated Test vice-captain, is out with a hamstring injury; Jadeja has a forearm injury. Rohit leaves a void at the top, Jadeja’s absence could affect team balance.”Will miss his abilities a lot,” Kohli said of Rohit. “He’s proven in England already that he’s really worked his Test game out, and the opening partnership was very important for us to play in that series. Obviously, with his experience and skill, we will miss those qualities. That said, it’s an opportunity for Mayank [Agarwal] and KL [Rahul] to step up and solidify that start for us and make sure the good work is carried on in this series.”Jadeja is a very important player for us, he contributes to all three departments, which is invaluable overseas, and he will be missed. That said, we do have the quality in the side to be able to create the best combination possible and still be able to win Test matches, because we’ve created that bench strength and environment where people coming in are seizing opportunities, grabbing it with both hands, and making sure the team is helped by their performances. As much as we’ll miss him, it won’t be a deciding factor.”That 2018 tour, which India lost 2-1, Kohli said, was the start of a new era in terms of setting the benchmark for Indian touring teams. Their Test win in Johannesburg on that tour, Kohli felt, “came in the toughest conditions” and the team could bank on the “confidence and belief” they got from there as they gear up for the three-Test series this time.Virat Kohli led India to a Test win in Johannesburg on the 2017-18 tour•BCCI

“South Africa was really the start for us as a team, travelling and starting to belief we can win series overseas,” he said. “We built it up nicely in England, and Australia was an accumulation of all those efforts.”South Africa presents a different kind of challenge. The wickets have a lot of pace and bounce, and you have to be at your absolute best to perform there and get runs, get difficult runs. It’s something we’ve tried to do as a team but probably left ourselves a bit too much to do at certain times, and when sessions have gone bad, they have gone very bad, which we have controlled well in the recent past with more experience and guys understanding conditions. So, I think we’re well-placed in terms of experience, belief, and confidence that this time around we can do something special and get results we want as a team and overcome conditions to go and win a series.”We can take a lot of motivation from that [Test win in 2018]; of course we probably won in the toughest conditions on that tour. So that should give us a lot of confidence that if we have the right mindset, and we start off the series with confidence and belief, we can stand up to any challenge that comes our way and take a lot of heart from it.”South Africa is one place where we have not won a series yet, so we’re motivated to do that, and the mindset is to go out there and win a series in any country that we play. We don’t anymore think of just winning a Test match here and there, and we will do our absolute best that we can as a team to make sure we keep contributing towards that cause.”

Teams to be spread across nine venues: Chennai, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Rajkot, Cuttack, Guwahati, Kolkata, Hyderabad.

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Jan-2022The league phase of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy is likely to be played between February 16 and March 5. As per the plan devised by BCCI, the 38 teams that take part in the Ranji Trophy are likely to be spread across nine shortlisted venues. These venues include: Chennai, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Rajkot, Cuttack, Guwahati, Kolkata and Hyderabad.Keeping in mind the tight window in which it has to conduct the premier first-class tournament, the BCCI shortlisted venues with several grounds so that simultaneous matches could take place within a particular group.More than one state association, which houses the shortlisted venue, confirmed that they had unofficially heard the BCCI planned to have four teams per venue in the Elite Group. It could not be confirmed whether the six teams in the Plate group would be housed in one venue or more. The state associations said they were expecting an official confirmation from BCCI imminently.On January 27, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had confirmed that the board had decided to host the Ranji Trophy in two phases. While the league stage was set for February-March, the knockouts were slated for June, leaving the April-May window for IPL 2022.Related

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The Ranji Trophy was originally scheduled to start on January 13, but had to be postponed indefinitely because of rising Covid-19 cases in India. When making the decision to hold the Ranji Trophy, Shah said that recovery rates from the third wave of the pandemic were encouraging, but the BCCI would continue to have biosecure bubbles for the tournament to mitigate any risks.”Ever since the decision on postponement was made, the board was working on several models to ensure that the tournament takes place as soon as the environment is safe and conducive,” Shah had written in a letter to state associations. “We will continue to have biosecure bubbles to mitigate any potential risk. The board is committed to providing a healthy and secure environment and seeks your support in ensuring a safe tournament for all our key stakeholders.”