Ridiculous selections must stop, says Shane Warne

Agencies
January 4, 2019

Sydney, Jan 4: Spin legend Shane Warne on Friday criticised the Australian team picked for the three-match ODI series against India, terming the selections ridiculous and senseless for not keeping in mind the upcoming World Cup.

Australia named a revamped 14-member squad, including veteran pacer Peter Siddle, Usman Khwaja and Nathan Lyon.

"Just saw the Aust ODI squad that was announced & was absolutely staggered at some of the players that were left out & some of the inclusions - they don't make any sense whatsoever.These ridiculous selections must stop in all forms of Australian cricket - end of!" Warne tweeted.

Shortly after Warne named his own ODI side on Twitter.

The 49-year-old put his weight behind all-rounder D'Arcy Short.

"I cannot believe that D'Arcy Short has been left out of the side. I don't know what he's done wrong. He can bowl and his batting at the top is dynamic. He's in terrific form, and he and Finch make an awesome partnership at the top," Warne was quoted as saying by foxsports.com.au.

Warne insisted that the correct combination of players should have been selected keeping in mind the conditions the side will face in England during the World Cup in May-June this year.

"When you're picking this team you want to look at some players you are interested in, but you've also got to look at those players with the World Cup in mind and the conditions you're going to have in England," he said.

"Those conditions are going to be flat wickets that will probably spin a bit, so you need clever bowlers and you need some bowlers with pace. And they're little grounds. So a mixture of power hitting and people that can bat time; you need that right combination."

Warne was also critical of pacer Peter Handscomb's treatment by Cricket Australia.

"I don't think it's fair on Peter to keep putting him out into the international arena, even for the Sydney Test match here. Whether he makes 100 or 200, it's still not the right selection or the right message that you're sending to the rest of first-class cricketers."

Handscomb was dropped for the Boxing Day Test after scoring 68 runs at 17 across his first four innings of the series before being brought back for the fourth and final Test.

"To say you haven't got a technique that's good enough for international cricket and you're dropped, just like last year, and then you put him back in again a week later. It doesn't make any sense," Warne said.

Apart from Short, Warne named Aaron Finch,wicketkeeper Alex Carey, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, either Ashton Agar or Mitchell Marsh depending on conditions followed by James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Adam Zampa

"I would have liked to see them go with a bit more youth and a bit more pace with the ball in Meredith and Pattinson to add to Jhye Richardson, I think those three are very good. Behrendorff with his left arm is okay, but I think there's better options."

Completing Warne's 14-man squad are spinner Nathan Lyon and Chris Lynn.

"Lynn is there if you need a bit more power at the top, then I've got Nathan Lyon that I'd like to see with the white ball as well at some stage."

Warne, who has been critical of the Australian pace attack in the ongoing Test series, also denied holding any "personal vendetta" against the pacers.

"The bowlers when you look back at 2018 and all the numbers they have put in for an attack that is meant to be one of the best in the world, the numbers don't stack up," he said.

"That's facts, it is not a personal vendetta or anything like that. We have nothing against these guys, we are just dealing in facts."

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Agencies
July 7,2020

Mumbai, Jul 7: Australias second largest city Melbourne is set to go for another round of lockdown — for six weeks — from midnight Wednesday as the coronavirus has reared its ugly head in Victoria. And this has further confirmed that this years T20 World Cup in Australia is practically not possible. Even as the ICC keeps delaying the announcement, BCCI hopes that the official call will now be taken with this latest development.

Despite ICC's Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) chief Ehsan Mani as well as Cricket Australia making it clear time and again that hosting a T20 World Cup in the October-November window is practically impossible, the ICC hasn't made an official announcement and that hasn't impressed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to media persons, a BCCI official said that it is only the ICC which has kept speaking about delaying the inevitable — announcing a postponement — even as Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote to the international body that it looks highly unlikely that a T20 World Cup can be hosted in these trying times.

"As it is there were so many logistical difficulties and that is perfectly understandable. The Australian government has been addressing the public health issue efficiently and there are regulations in place which are crucial to address the challenges. In that background even Cricket Australia has been practical in their assessment of the situation.

"With this present situation where Melbourne is in lockdown, the ICC really must take the final call of closure on the issue if they have any concept of responsible decision making," the official said.

Not just CA chairman Eddings, but also Mani — who is also the PCB chief — recently told the media that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in a bio-secure environment.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023, so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event. God forbid if some player(s) falls ill or mishap occurs during the tournament, it will have a big impact and create panic in the cricket world and we can't take that risk. Having a bio-bubble environment is feasible for say a bilateral series like Pakistan in England, but it is very difficult when 16 teams are involved," he had said.

Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley echoed the sentiments when he said the biggest challenge was to get the players from so many teams into the country.

"Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country. If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise," he had said.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

BCCI released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

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