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The allrounder could play his first Test in five years having not played first-class cricket since 2019

Andrew McGlashan25-Jun-2022Glenn Maxwell had always held out hope, if not always complete belief, that he would get another chance in Test cricket. But he did not want to tempt fate in Sri Lanka, so did not pack his baggy green. And as it turns out, he’ll need a new one in Galle with the original having not aged well.”I didn’t want to be presumptuous and it turns out I’m glad I didn’t bring it because it’s completely disintegrated,” Maxwell said. “So I’m going to have to get a new one for this Test tour. I’ll look like a first-gamer out there.”My last Test was a win in Bangladesh and [the cap] is full of all sorts of different things. It’s stayed in the little bag that we get. I took it out last year and had a look at it and it was deteriorating, thought that’s not a good sign. My wife took it out yesterday and said ‘I don’t think I can bring this’, it looked terrible, so think when I get home I’ll see if I can get it fixed up but it’s not looking great at the moment.”Maxwell was involved in squads briefly after his last appearance at Chattogram in 2017 – during the Ashes later that year, then as an emergency call-up in Johannesburg amid the ball-tampering scandal – but while it is not certain Maxwell will add to his seven Test caps the odds are narrowing after he was called up following Travis Head’s hamstring injury.Related

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Having seen how the pitches played in the ODI series with an expectation of more of the same – and perhaps even greater spin – in the Tests there is an increasing sense that – to quote Liam Neeson in – Maxwell has a very particular set of skills that Australia will need to call on.”I think I bring a lot of experience in these sorts of conditions and being able to tackle good spin bowling in tough conditions,” Maxwell said. “It’s something I pride myself on, having quick feet and being able to find a way through adversity in tough conditions.”Looking back to 2017, being able to get a Test hundred in India is something I’m extremely proud and to be one of only a couple of people in the last decade to do that is something I’m hoping holds me in good stead for this as well. My game plan probably isn’t going to change a whole lot, probably just going to be a little more time consuming, being able to spend more time at the wicket, without any run-rate pressure on and I’m certainly looking forward to that opportunity to bat long periods of time.”Glenn Maxwell will need a new baggy green•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Maxwell has not played a first-class match since October 19 due to a combination of his extensive role in Australia’s white-ball sides and the impact of Covid-19 on the domestic schedule over the last two years. Before last season, he trained with Victoria ahead of the Sheffield Shield season but believes the conditions in Sri Lanka are so foreign to Australian players that domestic cricket is of limited value.”[I was] always trying to stay ready just in case, knowing there was a fair few subcontinent tours coming up not just this year but next year as well,” he said. “At some stage you think you might give up hope but it’s just so nice to get the tap on the shoulder and have the faith I can do a job for this team.”Even looking at these ODIs, I don’t think anything we do in our domestic competition prepares you for what you are facing out there. It’s so totally alien to us. That’s the hard thing for people trying to pick a squad back home, people might have success against spin in Australia but it just doesn’t compare to over here. It’s doing all sorts. To be able to combat that in different ways, sometimes a play and miss is a good shot, thought we saw that [in the last ODI] with the way Marnus [Labuschagne] and Alex Carey went about their work then Cameron Green at the end.”Maxwell’s addition to the squad also provides another way for Australia to balance up their side with additional spin-bowling depth. It is likely another specialist will partner Nathan Lyon, but Maxwell could have an important role to play while also providing batting depth.”The work I’ve done with the other side of my game, the bowling, being able to contribute regularly with the ball is something I’ve worked really hard on,” he said. “I’ve been lucky to have [spin-bowling coach Sridharan] Sriram follow me in different parts of the world, able to work together at the IPL, and feel like we’ve got a really good grasp on how the ball is coming out of my hand.”With the batting, I just feel really comfortable with where my game’s at, been able to bat continually pretty well in these conditions and my footwork has been reasonable crisp. Certainly looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”

Sri Lanka fought back well, adding 89 runs for the last two wickets and then removing the Pakistan openers cheaply

Madushka Balasuriya16-Jul-2022Stumps Sri Lanka dislodged both of Pakistan’s openers in the final hour of play on day one in Galle, as the hosts fought back hard on a day that had largely belonged to the visitors.Kasun Rajitha got one to nip back in from around the wicket to trap the left-handed Imam-ul-Haq lbw – a delivery that’s fast becoming a hallmark of Rajitha’s bowling – while Prabath Jayasuriya accounted for Abdullah Shafique, who was also dismissed leg before, rapped on the pads by one going on with the arm.From that point on, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam shut up shop and looked to bat out the rest of the day, though with the wicket starting to show some assistance for the spinners, Sri Lanka would have no doubt been encouraged.Related

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Pakistan would end the day 198 runs behind, a deficit that could have been significantly less if not for the efforts of Dinesh Chandimal counterattack and Maheesh Theekshana rearguard, who scored 76 and 38 respectively.Chandimal’s counterattack and Theekshana’s resolute rearguard had managed to cajole a respectable total after Pakistan’s bowlers, led by the excellent Shaheen Shah Afridi – who finished with 4 for 58 – had at one point threatened to blow them away; Sri Lanka’s final two wickets added 89 runs as they recovered from an ignominious 133 for 8 to a more respectable 222.Chandimal’s innings was reminiscent at times of the blitzkrieg effort he had mounted against Australia less than a week prior. The battle-worn former skipper cut, pulled, swept and drove his way to a 115-ball 76, even if he was forced to share much of that knock with Theekshana – ostensibly a tail-ender, even if some of his strokeplay at times belied that definition.The zenith of his knock came when Sri Lanka were at their lowest, having just a few overs prior lost their eighth wicket. Chandimal, realising that runs were at a premium, took on the challenge, lacing Naseem Shah for three consecutive boundaries. The first two were short balls disdainfully dispatched in front of square leg, while the final brought up his 22nd Test fifty, a delightful front-foot clip piercing deep square leg and deep fine leg that reached the ropes on the bounce. He saved his best stroke, though, for left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz, who he slog-swept for a maximum over square leg.Had Chandimal had his way, though, he probably would have played a more watchful knock on a wicket that needed patience, even if it wasn’t quite the raging turner Galle is known for. The wastefulness of his team-mates, however, had forced his hand.Dinesh Chandimal raises his fifty•SLC

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Sri Lanka got off to an inauspicious start, with skipper Dimuth Karunaratne playing on to his stumps.He became the latest victim of Afridi’s trademark early-overs blitz. Afridi had probed the line outside Karunaratne’s off stump, and having spotted his propensity to push towards cover, got one to nip back just enough to catch the inside edge off the forward defence on to pad and then the off peg.This early blow, however, wouldn’t slow down the Sri Lankans, as Kusal Mendis and Oshada Fernando, who came in for the indisposed Pathum Nissanka, found boundaries with regularity, and the seamers struggled for the most part to keep to consistent lines and lengths.At the height of their 49-run stand – which would be Sri Lanka’s best of the innings – the hosts were going at around four an over. However, they fell in the space of three deliveries after the first drinks break. Kusal was the first to go, getting a faint bottom edge through to Mohammad Rizwan behind the stumps, as he looked to cut one that was pushed through quicker by Yasir. Oshada followed, as a tentative defensive push to one wide outside off from Hasan Ali at the start of the next over found the edge – thicker than Kusal’s – to Rizwan, who had to put in a dive to cling on.Angelo Mathews followed soon after; frustrated after 14 scoreless deliveries, he chipped a simple catch to mid-on off Yasir.Those four wickets came in the morning session alone; Sri Lanka would lose four more post-lunch, a session which had started with Sri Lanka on 80 for 4.Dhananjaya de Silva, back in place of Kamindu Mendis after recovering from Covid-19, fell in the fifth over after the break, chopping on a somewhat casual attempt at a cover drive off Afridi – his second such wicket of the day.Afridi then dismissed Niroshan Dickwella off the first ball of his very next over, angling one into the left hander’s off stump, coaxing the drive, only to seam it away just enough to grab a thick outside edge to gully, where debutant Agha Salman completed an impressive low take.Ramesh Mendis then joined Chandimal at the crease, and the two ground out a 27-run stand before Ramesh gloved a short one from Naseem Shah down leg. It was yet another avoidable dismissal.Pakistan were then on the home stretch, and having been held off for most of the day – largely down to how well the rest of the bowlers did – the left-arm orthodox spin of Nawaz finally came into play, as he trapped Prabath Jayasuriya lbw with one that skidded through.Babar Azam and Azhar Ali have a job to do on the second day•AFP/Getty Images

At that point Sri Lanka were 133 for 8, on the floor, struggling to beat the 10 count. Chandimal and Theekshana though would not be cowed, as they putting on a 44-run stand off just 65 deliveries. And while Chandimal would fall shortly after tea – caught in the covers courtesy an excellent take by Yasir, diving full stretch to his right, off Hasan – Theekshana and last man Kasun Rajitha would continue to frustrate the visitors.On the way to 70-ball 45-run stand, the pair would show defiance some of their more illustrious teammates would do well to take note off. The pair would bat for over an hour, comfortably dealing with the short stuff the seamers threw their way, while also occasionally finding the gaps in the covers. In between the forward defence was frequently employed against the spin of Yasir and Nawaz.Theekshana was very enterprising, his 65-ball 38 including four boundaries and a six, a jaunt down the track and hit over long-off off the bowling of Yasir. The boundaries came mainly square of the wicket on the off side, Theekshana capitalising on Pakistan’s persistence with shorter lengths.Pakistan looked to be growing increasingly vexed, when Rajitha top edged to deep square-leg only to be dropped by Hasan at deep square-leg. Pakistan might have that been feeling a sense of de ja vu, with yet another instance of wagging tail thwarting them. But in the end that drop didn’t prove too costly. Theekshana would fall a few deliveries later, getting a tickle on an attempted uppercut off Afridi.By that time though, his job had been done, as Sri Lanka will feel they now have some sort of foothold in a game that for much of the day looked to have been slipping away.

“He has played better than anybody else in the Indian team for the last couple of series”

PTI15-Aug-2022Suryakumar Yadav has received high praise from the great Ricky Ponting, who compared the Indian batter with AB de Villiers, for possessing a 360-degree game.Ponting suggested that Suryakumar should bat at No. 4 in the Indian line-up.Related

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“Surya (Yadav) scores 360 degrees around the ground, a bit like an AB de Villiers did when he was in his actual prime. The lap shots, the late cuts, you know, the ramps over the keeper’s head. He can hit down the ground,” Ponting said on the latest episode of .”He hits really well over the leg side, flicks to deep backward square particularly well, and he’s a good player of fast bowling and is a good player of spin bowling.”Suryakumar, 31, has scored 672 runs at an average of 37.33 and a strike rate of 175.45 in 23 matches and now sits at No.2 in the ICC T20I batting rankings, behind Pakistan captain Babar Azam.”I think you’d find him in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, not just their squad. And if he’s in that team, then I think all the fans in Australia are going to see a very, very good player,” Ponting, who has seen Suryakumar up close in his early years at Mumbai Indians, said.”He’s quite a confident person. He backs himself and he’s never going to step down from a challenge or any situation that arises in a game. I feel he thinks he can win that situation and therefore go on and win the game for his team.”Asked whether Suryakumar would make India’s best XI, the former Australian captain said he has “played better than anybody else in the Indian team for the last couple of series” and should be slotted at the top order.”It’s got to be in the top four, I think. I said stick with him (Virat Kohli) in his traditional spot, which has been No. 3,” Ponting, a two-time ODI World Cup-winning captain, said.”For Surya, it’s one, two or four. I think he can open, but I think he’s probably, you know, if you could probably just keep him away from the new ball, let him control the middle part of the game outside the Powerplay, through in the middle, and if he’s in at the end, you know what can happen.”Suryakumar’s strike rate rises to 258.82 in the death overs in T20Is — in 34 balls he has smashed 88 runs with 15 of those deliveries going for boundaries.Ponting said: “I think in the top four is, well, actually I’ll go out on a limb: I don’t want him to open. I think number four is his best spot.”Australia will host the T20 World Cup in October-November.

Australia are now looking for a new person to lead them into the 2023 ODI World Cup

AAP10-Sep-2022Aaron Finch insists there should be no reason why Steven Smith or David Warner can’t replace him as Australia’s ODI skipper, adamant the scars of sandpaper-gate have long healed.Finch’s announcement of his retirement from the 50-over format has again put leadership back on the agenda, with Cricket Australia on the search for another captain before next year’s ODI World Cup.Officials opted to hand back some leadership responsibilities to Smith last summer, when they made him new skipper Pat Cummins’ deputy for the Test team. But from that moment it was clear another long-term captaincy call was only just around the corner.Related

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In the press conference where his Test appointment was announced, Cummins made it clear he had no interest in leading Australia’s white-ball teams as well. Finch on Saturday said he believed Cummins could juggle multiple roles, but the fact the fast bowler has missed 28 of 65 ODIs since the start of 2018 suggests he would be an unlikely option.Beyond him, Alex Carey would loom as another candidate, having previously held the vice-captaincy in the one-day team and stood in for Finch last year. However the fact he is not part of the T20 team suggests Australia will ultimately need three separate captains when Finch eventually retires from that format.Mitchell Marsh and Adam Zampa could also be potential ODI skippers, with selectors having two months before Australia’s next match in the format after Sunday’s finale against New Zealand.None however have the experience of Smith, who captained all formats before the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and was still helping set fields on his return.Finch said he had no preference but could not see why the Cape Town 2018 saga should stand in Smith’s way, believing he still had several years ahead of him.”I don’t think [it would be an issue],” Finch said. “He captained a Test match in Adelaide after Pat was out with Covid. “So I think that’s all been put to bed.”Warner would present a different issue for CA. He still has a lifetime leadership ban from the scandal, but there has been every indication recently that could be reviewed after Warner signed up for the BBL. Last month Warner said “it would be great” to have a conversation with the board.Finch on Saturday revealed he was of the view the ban should be lifted, and that his opening partner would be a sound option.”He [Warner] is someone I have played under a few times for Australia when he has had the opportunity to captain,” Finch said on . “He has been fantastic. He is an unbelievable tactical captain and someone at the time the lads loved playing under.”Would I like to see [his ban] overturned? Yeah, absolutely. What he can offer not just now as a player but going forward for him to be able to coach and help the next generation of players coming through is so important. You do your time, and he has well and truly done that.”

Between them, Markram, van der Dussen and Verreynne scored 46 runs in first Test at Lord’s

Firdose Moonda24-Aug-2022South Africa’s middle-order batters are “under pressure” to score runs at Old Trafford after none of them got an individual score over 25 at Lord’s. While Test captain Dean Elgar supports backing the same batters who did duty in the first Test, he acknowledged that there needs to be more runs from them if South Africa are to play to their full potential.”As long as we are still getting the results on our side, backing is extremely important for those guys. We have given them a decent run of late and I am sure they know they are under pressure to perform,” Elgar said. “They are proper batters. They are here for a reason.”If they are firing in the middle order and we conduct ourselves like we have been doing of late, our Test side can only grow. But they are here, they are being backed. I don’t see a change. Consistency is key to success, and even consistency in selection. It’s a tough series playing against England away from home. You need to back your horses that you’ve been backing for a while now.”South Africa have opted for Aiden Markram at No.4, Rassie van der Dussen at No.5 and Kyle Verreynne (who batted lower at Lord’s after his grandfather took ill in the stands) at No.6. Between them, they scored 46 runs and, with Test vice-captain Temba Bavuma due to return from an elbow injury later in the year, could end up competing for two spots. The choice could become between Markram and van der Dussen, who have both had lean runs, and who selection convener Victor Mpitsang is particularly concerned about. Earlier in the week, Mptisang told South African media: “If they are putting up big numbers, and contributing it would help the conversation around them.”Related

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Markram has only recently moved into the No.4 role after effectively being dropped as an opener in New Zealand following a poor run. He had scored 140 runs at 15.56 in five Tests before that. But, Keegan Petersen contracted Covid-19 and missed the trip, which opened up a spot for Markram to bat at No.3. He scored 76 runs in four innings on that tour and 16 runs at No.4 at Lord’s. Van der Dussen has done better, but only slightly. He has scored 233 runs in his last six Tests at 23.30 and has not scored a half-century since his unbeaten 75 in West Indies last year.Verreynne is the player with a lot more slack. Not only is he the wicketkeeper and likely to be in that role for the long haul but he is one of only four South African batters to score a century in their last 11 Tests. His only serious competitor at the moment is Ryan Rickelton, though he is not thought to be South Africa’s first-choice gloveman. While South Africa have won eight of those matches, they remain concerned with the line-up, especially in difficult conditions.Though he has not said it outright, that was one of the reasons Elgar chose to bowl in cloudy, humid conditions at Lord’s, even though he is usually a bat-first captain. England are expecting Old Trafford to present more challenges for batters with Ben Stokes explaining Ollie Robinson’s selection as being due to extra pace and bounce in Manchester.Elgar brushed that off as tactical talk, and, as he so often does, leaned on South Africa’s stronger suit to counter that. “I love the mind games,” he said. “If there is going to be extra pace and bounce, I am pretty sure our fast bowlers will extract it.”

Cheteshwar Pujara to turn out for Saurashtra in the fixture in Rajkot from October 1-5

Shashank Kishore27-Sep-2022After a century on debut in both the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy, Delhi batter Yash Dhull will have an opportunity to enhance his red-ball credentials at the Irani Cup. He has been selected as part of a strong 15-member Rest of India squad, led by Hanuma Vihari, for one-off fixture against Saurashtra in Rajkot from October 1-5.Dhull, India’s 2022 Under-19 World Cup winning captain, has already racked up 770 runs in nine first-class innings, with four centuries, including a best of 200 not out. He will pitch for a berth in a strong middle order, consisting of Vihari, the in-form Sarfaraz Khan and KS Bharat, the first-choice wicketkeeper.The Rest of India squad also consists of four openers – Mayank Agarwal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal. Among them, Jaiswal, Easwaran and Panchal have been in excellent nick in red-ball cricket recently.Jaiswal will be heading into the game fresh off a career-best 265 for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone last week. Like Dhull, Jaiswal has also had a roaring start to his first-class career. In fact he became the joint-fastest Indian to 1000 runs in the format, getting there in only 13 innings at an average of 84.58, with five hundreds and a half-century.Easwaran and Panchal, meanwhile, were among the runs for India A during their 1-0 home series win over New Zealand A. Both batters have been India A regulars for the past three years and have been on the fringes of the national team.Easwaran, who captains Bengal in first-class cricket, was part of the Test squad in England last year as a reserve opener, alongside Agarwal, who will be itching to hit top form after slipping under the radar following a string of low scores leading to his omission from the fifth Test against England earlier this year. He showed a semblance of good form in the Duleep Trophy, with scores of 49 and 64 in the semi-final against North Zone.The pace attack, meanwhile, is raw. All of five first-class matches old, tearaway quick Umran Malik has continued to receive the backing of the selectors despite an underwhelming start to his red-ball career; he’s picked up all of eight wickets so far. He will be part of a four-man pace attack, alongside Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Sen and Arzan Nagwaswalla. Jayant Yadav and Saurabh Kumar are the two frontline spinners.Among the bowlers, Mukesh, Bengal’s pace spearhead, has been the most impressive in recent times. Last month, he picked up his fourth first-class five-for against New Zealand A in Bengaluru. Nagwaswalla, meanwhile, has been a regular feature in the Indian team as a net bowler over the past two seasons.The match is belatedly being held after being postponed due to Covid-19. Played between the Ranji champions and Rest of India, the match was to be a follow-up to Saurashtra’s maiden Ranji Trophy win in March 2020 but was postponed indefinitely owing to a national lockdown in the week following their win.The Rest of India squad will be coached by Sitanshu Kotak, the former Saurashtra captain, who is currently part of VVS Laxman’s larger coaching group at the National Cricket Academy. Kotak, who was with the senior Indian team as assistant coach on their tour of Ireland earlier this summer, has just finished a stint with India A, who he coached to a 3-0 sweep in the white-ball leg of the New Zealand series at home.Pujara named in Saurashtra squad
Saurashtra, meanwhile, have named Cheteshwar Pujara in their squad, which has ten of the 15 members who were part of their maiden Ranji title win in March 2020.The squad, led by Jaydev Unadkat, includes established names such as Sheldon Jackson, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Chirag Jani and Chetan Sakariya. The team will be without Avi Barot, who starred in that campaign. Barot died of cardiac arrest last October. They will be coached by former player Niraj Odedra, who was assistant to Karsan Ghavri during that memorable 2019-2020 season.Rest of India squad: Hanuma Vihari (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yash Dhull, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KS Bharat (wk), Upendra Yadav (wk), Jayant Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, R Sai Kishore, Mukesh Kumar, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Sen, Arzan NagwaswallaSaurashtra squad: Jaydev Unadkat (capt), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Prerak Mankad, Arpit Vasavada, Chirag Jani, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Chetan Sakariya, Parth Bhut, Snell Patel (wk), Harvik Desai, Vishvaraj Jadeja, Kamlesh Makvana, Kushang Patel, Kishan Parmar

Australia captain does not feel it is an option to avoid rain scuppering consecutive games as happened in Melbourne

Andrew McGlashan30-Oct-2022Aaron Finch has pondered whether removing double-header match days at a single venue would be a worthwhile option to avoid rain scuppering consecutive games as happened in Melbourne although conceded the logistical challenges of staging a World Cup were vast.The Australia-England contest at the MCG was abandoned, a decision that had felt inevitable for much of the day as the outfield became unplayable with the first match, Ireland against Afghanistan, having already been called off. It meant there had been three abandoned games in Melbourne following the loss of the New Zealand-Afghanistan fixture.Related

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While New Zealand’s match against Si Lanka was played in glorious Sydney weather on Saturday as was Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in Brisbane on Sunday, the weather threatens to again play a part in the coming days.The forecast for Australia’s crunch game against Ireland in Brisbane is promising with only a small chance of a shower. But Tuesday, which is another double-header day where Sri Lanka face Afghanistan and England play New Zealand in the city, has a forecast of 100 percent chance of rain and up to 35mm falling. Adelaide, where the tournament travels next week, is forecast to be cool and showery although the early indication for the game days is more encouraging.”I think with how condensed the schedule is, it’s really difficult to have reserve days for round games,” Finch said. “Saying that…it’s kind of interesting when you have back-to-back games in the same city, if one is washed out, we saw the other night then both get washed out, whereas if they’re in different cities, you potentially get one game on. Is that an advantage? I don’t know.”All I know is a lot of planning and effort goes in from the ICC to make these tournaments go ahead, and they’re extremely difficult to navigate through all the logistics and stuff as one nation, let alone controlling it for…16 teams. That’s an incredibly challenging position to be in.”The tournament is being staged early in the Australian season with previous World Cups in the country hosted in the February-March window. The east and south-east of the country is also feeling the effects of another La Nina, with Melbourne being especially badly hit with record-breaking October rainfall.It has not gone unnoticed that in Melbourne, just across town from the MCG, there is a ground with a roof which has raised the notion of whether Marvel Stadium, which is Melbourne Renegades’ home ground in the BBL, could have been used as an alternative venue, but the logistics of moving games mean that it is virtually impossible to do at short notice.”It’s not just as easy as seeing the forecast and moving a wicket over there,” Finch, who plays for Renegades, said. “There’s a lot more that goes into it than that. But that has been an absolute belter of a wicket for the last couple of years of Big Bash. I’m sure there are reasons behind it all.”Melbourne will host two more matches in the tournament: India against Zimbabwe during the final day of group games on November 6 then the final on November 13. Extra standing-room-only tickets have been released for the India game which is expected to attract another huge ground after the 90,293 who attended the India-Pakistan game. It is currently the only game on the ground to be completed without rain.

The Australia teenager has heaped praise on the India batter for the insights she shared during their time together in the WBBL

S Sudarshanan07-Dec-2022Australia’s uncapped teenaged batter Phoebe Litchfield has heaped praise on India opener Smriti Mandhana for sharing insights during the Women’s Big Bash League last year and termed her one of her “favourite left-handers to watch.”Mandhana led the charts for for Sydney Thunder in WBBL 2021-22 with 377 runs at a strike rate of 130.44. Litchfield, who became the youngest batter to hit a WBBL half-century in 2019, was next on the list with 263 at a strike rate of 109.12. While Mandhana opted out of the WBBL this season, Litchfield was Thunder’s top run-getter with 280 at a rate of 117.64, with two half-centuries. Those runs contributed to a call-up to the Australia side that is now in India for a five-match T20I series.Related

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“Smriti was awesome to play with. She is a class above,” the 19-year-old Litchfield said in Mumbai on Wednesday. “As a lefty I learnt a lot off her. She helped me through those innings. I definitely made the most of her [time] over there [and] picked her brains. She’s one of my favourite left-handers to watch.”She actually gave me one of her bats at the end of the series. I used that and it was a peach! [The chat with her was about] just batting insights around how to go about a game. Sometimes you shank some, sometimes you go well. You’ve got to stick in there and put an innings together. She helped me with that.”Litchfield has been regarded as a bright prospect ever since her WBBL debut. She stroked her maiden List A century this season for New South Wales Breakers in the Women’s National Cricket League, underlining her next-big-thing status in Australian cricket. While the tag sits comfortably on her, she admitted to the occasional pressure that it brings.”I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t cross my mind,” she said. “The pressures of scoring runs always plays on the mind, especially as a young player. With the media going ‘oh, you are the next big thing’ and I hope like I don’t go nowhere or something like that. But as soon as I hop on the field it disappears, which is nice.”I focus on scoring runs and actually having fun around the group and seeing players like Rach [Rachael] Haynes, Alyssa Healy play and mirror my game to the T and have fun.”Litchfield is looked at as a like-for-like replacement for Haynes, who retired from professional cricket this season. Having had her first practice session in India on Tuesday, Litchfield, who’s into her first full season as a full-time cricketer – and not having to juggle the sport with school – said she was still getting to grips with subcontinental surfaces.”I am like-for-like for Rach – as in a top-order, middle-order batter, lefty and a fielder,” she said about her possible role. “I guess that’s the spot that is free in the Aussie set-up. But I am not looking for anything at the moment and just relishing the time in the group.”It wasn’t the greatest hit on these spinny, slow wickets but it’s my first hit in the subcontinent. It is not going to be perfect but yeah, it was lots of fun batting with Midge [Healy], who was smacking it down at the other end while I was struggling to get off the mark.”

CA made the decision following consultation with the Australian government citing Taliban’s “further restrictions on women’s and girls’ education”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2023Cricket Australia has withdrawn their men’s team from a scheduled three-match ODI series against Afghanistan to be played in the UAE in March following consultation with the Australian government.Australia were scheduled to play Afghanistan as part of the ICC Super League following the tour of India. But CA released a statement on Thursday stating that it had withdrawn from the series following a recent announcement from the Taliban that it was banning university education for girls, which ICC CEO Geoff Allardice described as concerning.”Following extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Australian Government, Cricket Australia has decided that it is unable to proceed at this time with the upcoming ICC Super League three-match Men’s ODI series between Australia and Afghanistan scheduled for the UAE in March 2023,” the CA statement said.Related

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“This decision follows the recent announcement by the Taliban of further restrictions on women’s and girls’ education and employment opportunities and their ability to access parks and gyms.”CA is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country.”We thank the Australian Government for its support on this matter.”The ICC has also expressed its concern over the situation in Afghanistan. “We want to see men and women safely playing cricket in Afghanistan and have consistently held the view that the best way to achieve this is by supporting our Member, the Afghanistan Cricket Board, in its endeavours to develop the game in the country,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “We are concerned by recent developments in Afghanistan and the ICC board will consider the implications of these developments at its next meeting and we remain in contact with other global sporting organisations who share our aim of seeing men and women playing sport in Afghanistan.”This is the second time in two years CA has cancelled a bilateral fixture with Afghanistan due to the Taliban government’s policies on women following the postponement of the one-off Test that was scheduled to be played in Hobart in November 2021.Australia did play Afghanistan in Adelaide during the recent T20 World Cup. The two sides have met four times in international cricket but never in a Test match and only once in a bilateral match in 2012, with the other three meetings coming in World Cups.Australia are slated to meet Afghanistan twice more in the next Future Tours cycle with three T20Is scheduled for a neutral venue in August 2024 and Afghanistan due to tour Australia in August 2026 to play one Test and three T20Is.

Beth Mooney made short work of the small chase after another underpowered effort from Pakistan

AAP26-Jan-2023Australia wrapped up a T20 series victory over Pakistan on the back of a clinical bowling effort and clean strikes from Beth Mooney.The hosts used nine bowlers on Thursday night at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena, restricting Pakistan to 96 for 7 and chasing down the target in 12.4 overs with eight wickets in hand.Mooney returned to the top of the order after not batting in the first game of the series because of soreness, and hit 46 from 29 balls. She shared a 60-run opening partnership with skipper Meg Lanning to iron out most of the total.The win clinches the three-game series for Australia, following their eight-wicket win in game one, with the final match to be played in Canberra on Sunday.Lanning shared the ball around in Australia’s final series ahead of the T20 World Cup in South Africa beginning in February.Spinner Alana King came on in the middle to late stages with great effect, picking up 2 for 10 from two overs. King dropped Ayesha Naseem in the 13th over, but made up for it in the 14th when she trapped her plumb lbw for 5.Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Jessica Jonassen, Grace Harris and Annabel Sutherland all chipped in with a wicket each.Star allrounder Gardner, who earlier this week expressed her discomfort with playing on Australia Day, was one of just two players to bowl four overs.Gardner, a proud Muruwari woman, said January 26 was a day of hurt and mourning for Indigenous people. Australia’s squad attended a smoking ceremony and completed a walking tour of kunanyi/Mt Wellington in Hobart, and wore an Indigenous jersey, socks and wristbands for the match.Megan Schutt, who took 5 for 15 in the first game, conceded 10 runs from her one over.Pakistan opener Muneeba Ali top-scored with 33 from 43 balls, but was one of only three in her side to reach double figures.There was an awkward moment not long before the first ball, with the on-field sprinklers briefly coming to life.