Steve Smith, David Warner help Australia bowlers combat Kohli

Agencies
November 26, 2018

Sydney, Nov 26: Banned Steve Smith and David Warner won't be playing any of Australia's upcoming Tests against India, but they are being quietly eased back into the fold to help their bowlers combat Virat Kohli.

The duo, once national captain and vice-captain respectively, were suspended from state and international cricket for 12 months over the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

Despite a run of dire results, Cricket Australia last week ruled out relaxing their bans after a push to do so by the Australian Cricketers' Association.

Warner was welcomed back on Sunday, spotted in the Sydney Cricket Ground nets facing Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins with coach Justin Langer intently watching on in the umpire's position.

According to The Australian newspaper, he was also invited into the dressing room ahead of the team's Twenty20 defeat to India on Sunday evening, where a masterful Kohli smashed 61 to ensure his team levelled the series 1-1.

Fellow pace spearhead Mitchell Starc said Smith had also been asked to help the bowlers get ready this week.

"There's talking to bowling coaches then there's talking to the guys you're bowling to. That's a great opportunity to have him face us in our preparation leading up to the Tests," Starc told the Sydney Morning Herald Monday.

"It'll be great to bowl to him (Smith) in the nets. He's one of the best in the world, to even get his thoughts on how we're tracking will always be good for us."

Both Smith and Warner have been training with their New South Wales team while playing club cricket as they work their way back to fitness and wait for their bans to expire.

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News Network
January 12,2020

New Delhi, Jan 12: Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was on Saturday pulled out of the India A team's tour of New Zealand after he failed mandatory fitness tests in Mumbai.

The selectors had picked him in the squad without testing him in the Ranji games.

Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar has been drafted into the India A team and he has already boarded the flight to New Zealand where they will play two 50-over warm-up games, three List A games and two four-day 'Tests' against the home A team.

It has been learnt that Pandya failed a couple of mandatory fitness tests and his scores were well below the permissible range suggesting that he is far from being fit for international cricket. In this situation, pulling him out of the India A squad was expected.

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Melbourne, May 7: Australia opener Joe Burns is eyeing the Tests against India should they take place later this year, to stabilise his stop-start international career, saying "you want to play in and do well in" in this kind of series.

India is scheduled to play four Tests in Australia in December-January, a series which is currently in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 2.5 lakh lives across the world.

"They are obviously world class team. I think the two teams going at each other will be very exciting to watch and players playing against each other as well," Burns told reporters in a video conference on Thursday.

"You look at the world ranking, they were number one and now we have got to number one, so I know that series will be anticipated by everyone and as a player this is a sort of series you want to play in and do well in."

With the coronavirus also threatening the T20 World Cup, Cricket Australia is under financial stress and has gone on a cost-cutting drive, which included standing down 80 per cent of its staff at 20 per cent salary.

There are also speculations that the Sheffield Shield for 2020-21 would be curtailed to cut costs.

Burns, however, hoped it won't be tinkered with.

"I love the fact we have a really strong first-class system. The 10 games, where you play everyone twice," Burns, who was struck down by a fatigue illness after an indifferent season, said.

"It leads to world-class players coming into Test teams. You don't want to see that get changed.

"Obviously it is unique circumstances at the moment and There's a lot of things to work through ... the players' association is consulted on those things."

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