All posts by n8rngtd.top

England white-ball seamer will miss Big Bash, South Africa tour

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2020Pat Brown, the 21-year-old seamer, has been ruled out of all cricket for the winter after suffering a second stress fracture of the lower back in as many years.Brown, who enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2018 when he took 31 T20 wickets for Worcestershire to finish as the Vitality Blast’s leading wicket-taker, was unable to play franchise cricket last winter after playing through pain towards the end of the county season.He developed a recurrence of the symptoms while preparing to play for Melbourne Stars, and a scan revealed a partial stress fracture.Brown was due to replace Dale Steyn as the Stars’ overseas player in time for Wednesday’s game against the Thunder, but will miss the whole competition and return to the UK to start his rehabilitation.He will also miss the white-ball leg of England’s South Africa tour, having been named in both the ODI and T20I squads. Brown had impressed in his maiden series in New Zealand, taking three important wickets despite conceding 9.84 runs per over, but his chances of being named in their squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia this October are likely to suffer due to his injury.England will name a replacement for Brown in due course, while the Stars could hand another opportunity to Haris Rauf, the Pakistan fast bowler who starred during his three appearances as Steyn’s replacement.”Gutted to be ruled out of the Big Bash and England’s white-ball tour of South Africa with a stress fracture,” Brown tweeted. “Will be doing everything to get back on the park as soon as possible.””It’s really disappointing for Pat,” said Trent Woodhill, the Stars’ list manager. “We were very excited to have him on board this season to replace Dale Steyn and it’s disappointing we won’t get to see him in action for the Stars.”It’s been great having him around the group and we’ve enjoyed welcoming him into the Stars family. We wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully we can work on seeing him in green in the future.”

With several players called up for international duty, one-day trio will remain on tour of Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2020​Tom Abell, Brydon Carse and Tom Kohler-Cadmore will remain with the England Lions in Australia for their upcoming red-ball matches to cover for players departing for, or already on, England duty.None of the three were in the Lions’ original red-ball squad named to tour Australia but all were part of the one-day squad which went undefeated in three completed matches against a Cricket Australia XI and New South Wales XI.Abell and Kohler-Cadmore will act as batting cover for Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Keaton Jennings, who were all named on Tuesday in England’s Test squad for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka and will leave after the Lions’ second red-ball match, against Australia A at the MCG from February 22-25.Spinner Dom Bess and captain Lewis Gregory also will also leave Australia after the match in Melbourne with Bess also travelling to Sri Lanka for the Test series and Gregory joining Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League. Gregory claimed two wickets and scored a half-century to lead the Lions to a 52-run victory against a NSW XI in the final one-day match of the tour this week.ALSO READ: Foakes, Jennings recalled for Sri Lanka, Moeen unavailableCarse was retained to cover for Saqib Mahmood, whose involvement in the three-match T20I series against South Africa starting on Wednesday will determine his availability for the final two matches of the Lions tour.The Lions play a four-day match against a Cricket Australia XI in Hobart starting on Friday night UK time (Saturday Australian time), followed by the day/night fixture with Australia A in Melbourne and a match against a NSW XI in Wollongong in early March.England begin their tour of Sri Lanka with two warm-up matches from March 7 ahead of the first Test starting in Galle on March 19, followed by the second and final Test in Colombo from March 27.

The battle between India’s batsmen and Pakistan’s bowlers battle will be riveting but the one between India’s bowlers and Pakistan’s batsmen might prove equally decisive

The RetroPreview by Saurabh Somani06-Apr-2020

Big picture

It has become a bit of a trend to have one of showpieces matches of the World Cup around one month into the tournament. From a logistics and broadcasting point of view it makes sense: either India v Pakistan injects new life into a tournament that might be flagging a bit, or it boosts an already high-flying tournament further. In 1996 and 1999, the match up happened after the group stages, and so owed a bit to luck. This time, both India and Pakistan are in the same group, and the end of the first round is in sight.This is India’s last league match. Pakistan have one more in hand, against Zimbabwe, for which the forecast is not too bright.India are better placed, having shrugged off the starting blues of a huffing and puffing victory over the Netherlands and a crushing nine-wicket defeat to Australia to string together wins against Zimbabwe, Namibia and England. Pakistan have had almost the same results as India – with the key difference being they were beaten by England.The more subtle difference to this India-Pakistan match-up is that for the first time in World Cups, India enter this game as favourites. Through the 1990s, Pakistan were the stronger side. Even though they never managed to beat India in a World Cup match – an aberration that is threatening to take on the shape of a bogey now – they had the better results bilaterally and overall. Now, it’s India who are the stronger side. The resurgence that began at the turn of the century under the charge of the Sourav Ganguly-John Wright duo has meant India have steadily become a greater force.That has coincided with Pakistan’s cream of the 1990s having passed their peaks.That said, the Pakistan bowling is still one that inspires awe. Wasim Akram already has 12 wickets, second-highest in the tournament. Shoaib Akhtar isn’t too far behind, but his ten wickets have come at a high economy of 5.29. Captain Waqar Younis has had a quieter time.As has historically been the case, the battle that will get the most attention is that of India’s batsmen against Pakistan’s bowlers. That high economy rate of Akhtar’s will need to be reined in against the Sachin Tendulkar-Virender Sehwag opening combo. Tendulkar, in particular, has hit the zone in this tournament. Already the leading run-scorer, his 371 runs are nearly thrice as many as Pakistan’s leading run-getter Yousuf Youhana, who has 128.Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have also been among the runs. With India’s Big Three in form, and the sparkling talents of Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif around them, India’s batting looks settled after their rocky start. The bowling might be what gives India an edge. Their pace trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra might not quite have the ring of Akram-Akhtar-Younis to it, but they’ve come together nicely in this tournament. Nehra, particularly, will be flying high. He slipped and fell on after bowling just one ball against Namibia. There were injury fears about his seemingly always-brittle body, but three days later, he destroyed England with 6 for 23.So while the India’s batsmen against Pakistan’s bowlers battle will be riveting, the one between India’s improved bowlers and Pakistan’s faltering batsmen might prove equally decisive.

Form guide

India WWWLW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)Pakistan WLWLL

In the spotlight

He was the key wicket in this match-up in 1996 and 1999. He was an important wicket in 1992, and won Man of the Match then. And Sachin Tendulkar continues to be the wicket all opposition captains want above all others in 2003 as well. He has already gone where no man has in ODI cricket, the first to cross the 10,000-run mark, and it’s remarkable how central he has been to India’s fortunes for more than a decade now.He has been a rejuvenated man in this tournament, back at his favourite opening spot. From May 2002 till the New Zealand series just before the start of this World Cup, Tendulkar has batted at No. 4 (twice at No. 3). But on the double principle of ‘give your best batsman as many balls to face as possible’ and ‘let your best batsman bat where he feels most comfortable’ – India have handed the opening spot back to Tendulkar. The results have shown immediately. His lowest score in five matches so far is 36, and he’s hit at least a half-century in each of the other innings.Pakistan need to do what no other bowling attack has managed so far in the tournament, and get Tendulkar before he hits his stride. It’s a vanishingly small window.Wasim Akram bowled Matthew Hayden for 27•Getty Images

Wasim Akram went wicket-less in 1992, was forced to pull out just before the match in 1996 to a huge controversy, and had a decent outing in 1999 without his usual wizardry. Now 37, it’s unlikely he will get another tilt at India in a World Cup game. He needs to summon up one magic burst, preferably at the top of the innings to put India’s vaunted batting line-up on the back foot. He’s coming off a five-wicket haul – albeit against Namibia – but he’s shown that flashes of the old genius still remain. Akram had to cop massive criticism in the wake of the 1996 loss. He has seen more than most how an India-Pakistan match can make or mar fortunes. His legacy won’t get affected by a failure in this game, but success here might just add a nice little bow to a legendary career that is in its twilight.

Team news

India have shown a marked preference for an attack comprising three seamers and a spinner so far, and there’s no reason to believe that will change. Khan, Srinath and Nehra have manned the pace attack, while Harbhajan Singh has been preferred over Anil Kumble, no doubt gaining an edge due to his greater batting and fielding chops. India can afford to go with four specialist bowlers only because several of their batsmen bowl. They can call on any of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Ganguly or Dinesh Mongia to deliver a few overs.Having strung together a winning sequence since that loss to Australia, India might want to stick to their combination and tactics.India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Dinesh Mongia, 5 Rahul Dravid (wk), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Ashish NehraPakistan haven’t had as settled a line-up as India, though they might want to consider bringing back the mercurially talented Shahid Afridi for this encounter. In a match of nerves, his insouciant X-factor could tilt the scales towards Pakistan. If they bring back Afridi, the man to miss out could be either Taufeeq Umar or Saleem Elahi, though being an opener might give Umar some cushion.Pakistan (probable): 1 Taufeeq Umar, 2 Saeed Anwar, 3 Abdul Razzaq, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq, 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Rashid Latif (wk), 8 Wasim Akram, 9 Waqar Younis (capt), 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Saqlain Mushtaq

Pitch and conditions

The SuperSport Park in Centurion may be in the Highveld in South Africa, but it’s going to have a subcontinental air to it come March 1. India beat South Africa in the very first ODI held here in 1992, but their thrashing by the hands of Australia a week ago was also at this venue. The pitch should be a good one-day wicket, with runs on offer, and the match isn’t going to be threatened by rain.

Stats and trivia

• Tendulkar’s average as an opener in ODIs is 49.53, with a strike rate of 89.87 – better than his career figures of 44.30 and 86.41.
• Since his debut, Saeed Anwar is one of only three openers to have made more than 8000 ODI runs as an opener. Only Tendulkar (9114) and Sanath Jayasuriya (8302) are ahead of him in that period.

The wicketkeeper-batter lost her NZC central contract earlier this month

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2020New Zealand wicketkeeper Rachel Priest has announced her retirement from international cricket and has signed to play for Tasmania in Australia’s Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL).Priest was dropped from New Zealand’s central contracts list earlier this month having been part of the T20 World Cup squad. Overall she played 87 ODIs – including a top score of 157 against Sri Lanka in 2015 during which she scored both her one-day hundreds in the space of four days – and 75 T20Is in a career spanning 13 years.She had returned to the New Zealand set-up in late 2019 after a gap of more than two years.”Having been involved in the White Ferns environment for 13 years, most of it enjoyable, it is with much consideration that I have decided to retire from international cricket,” Priest said. “I am really looking forward to the next chapter of my cricketing journey with Cricket Tasmania and the Tigers program and feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity.”Speaking to the website, she added: “I’m in a position where I’ve played a fair amount of cricket at the age that I’m at around the world, so I’m certainly hoping to add some of that experience and bring a bit of the mongrel that [coach Salliann Briggs] spoke to me about.””Experience is massive but it’s also about trying to bring a positive belief into the team, where the girls can be whoever they want to be and back themselves when they perform.”Priest follows Heather Graham (Western Australia) and Naomi Stalenberg (New South Wales) in moving to Tasmania ahead of the 2020-21 season.Meanwhile, pace bowler Sammy Jo-Johnson has switched to New South Wales after nine years with Queensland. She was part of the Australia A set-up last season and also a key component of the Brisbane Heat’s second consecutive WBBL title. Her WBBL future remains undecided with her currently out of contract but the embargo period remains in place.”The [NSW] Breakers have lost some talented Australia players lately and have an exciting young squad so I hope my experience can help them on their journey,” she said. “I harbour an ambition to play for Australia and believe the Breakers can help me achieve that goal by playing a key role for them.”Cricket Australia confirmed yesterday that the women’s domestic competitions would retain their current format and number of matches having previously been considered under threat from cuts amid cost-savings forced by Covid-19.

The offspinner underwent testing in Brisbane last week following his January ban

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2020The Sydney Thunder offspinner Chris Green has been cleared to resume bowling after his action was found to be legal following biomechanical testing in Brisbane.Green was suspended from bowling in all Cricket Australia competitions for three months in January, with his offspinner and faster ball the deliveries under scrutiny, but last week all his deliveries were found to come “significantly below” the permitted 15 degrees of elbow extension.Being banned from bowling meant Green missed the majority of last season’s Big Bash and it also put in doubt his IPL deal with Kolkata Knight Riders, although subsequently that issue was overtaken by Covid-19 shutting down the sport. Now cleared, Green would have no problems taking up his KKR stint if the IPL were to be played later this year.”To have to sit on the sidelines and not be able to play or help the team was really difficult,” Green said. “But at the same time, it was also a big factor of my motivation to get back to playing as quickly as possible. I am very grateful for all the support from the Thunder and Cricket NSW coaches.”I feel like I’m in peak physical condition, my batting is going really well and now I’m really excited to get back bowling competitively again. I just can’t wait to play again. I’m so excited to get back out on the field and repay the faith that has been shown in me the best way I know how – by putting out my best effort.”Last year Green signed a record-breaking six-year deal with the Sydney Thunder.

In the CPL, he’ll be looking to take on the role Shoaib Malik performed for Guyana

Deivarayan Muthu11-Aug-20201:24

Will be strange to play without crowds – Ross Taylor

This February Ross Taylor became the first New Zealand men’s player to feature in 100 T20Is. Taylor celebrated the occasion with a half-century, studded by three successive signature hockey-swiped boundaries in a 34-run over off India allrounder Shivam Dube at the Bay Oval.Taylor floated in the middle order at No.5 or No.6 in New Zealand’s most recent T20I series at home against India, and struck 166 runs in five innings at an average of 41.50 and strike rate of 131.74. He will be 37 when the T20 World Cup, which has now been pushed back to 2021 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, gets underway. So, does he see himself making that World Cup next year?”Oh! Not sure,” Taylor told ESPNcricinfo in a video interview from Trinidad where he will be based for a month to play in the CPL 2020, playing for Guyana Amazon Warriors. “As you get older, things slow down a little bit, but your training and experience and your mind become even more important.”There had been questions over Taylor’s T20I future after the previous T20 World Cup as well, in 2016, when he managed only 91 runs in five innings. In 2017, then-coach Mike Hesson explained that players on the fringe were putting too much pressure on Taylor.Coming into the CPL, Taylor reckoned all players involved would face a sense of unease, having not played competitive cricket for a long time. Taylor had last played competitive cricket in March 2020, when New Zealand faced Australia in a closed-door ODI in Sydney before the rest of that tour was called off. Last month, Taylor was part of New Zealand training camp at the Bay Oval before heading to link up with five-time finalists Warriors.”Yeah, it has been a strange time all around,” he said. I haven’t gone this long without playing any cricket since I was in high school. So, yeah obviously isolation and all those other things are a little bit strange, but it is what it is.”You know it’s going to be strange for everybody at the CPL. Nobody has played international cricket for a while, so everyone is going to be nervous, I’m sure. So, the training and early games are very important. The atmosphere in Twenty20 cricket is a lot of what you play and we get the best crowds in that format. So, to play in front of nobody but knowing that people at home will be watching and cheering us on, it’s going to be a bit strange, but at the same time something that we’re going to get used to.”Taylor is expected to fill the void created by the withdrawal of CPL veteran Shoaib Malik, who is currently on tour with Pakistan in the UK. With last season’s breakout star Brandon King at the top, followed by the power-hitting pair of Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer in the middle order, Taylor said that his role this season would be to draw on his experience and anchor the innings.”Shoaib Malik has got a fantastic record, especially in Twenty20 [cricket] and especially for Guyana as well,” Taylor said. “I think he has got that anchor role – and a role that I’ll be looking to do as well. Hetmyer and Pooran… I’ve played with him [Pooran] before; they are not just exciting players in West Indies cricket, but in the world as well. I’m looking forward to see how they go and grow. It’s an exciting team to play for and every time I played against Guyana in the past, they’ve always been tough competitors.”‘Expect spin to play a big part’With CPL 2020 set to be played in just two venues in Trinidad & Tobago, the pitches are likely to deteriorate faster than usual. As a result, nearly all sides have packed their sides with spinners and slower-ball specialists. Taylor admitted that tackling spin could have a major impact on the tournament.”Every team is stacked with quality spinners and we expect spin to play a big part and probably reverse-swing throughout the whole tournament,” he said. “Traditionally, it does spin a lot here anyway, so the way you play spin is going to be very important. Some of the world’s best spinners are here, and it’s going to be a good test for us batsmen going forward.”You’ve just got to adjust as quickly as possible and adapt as quick as possible as well. I think regardless of whether you’re playing on bouncy wickets or spin-friendly wickets, you got to adjust to what kind of total you’re chasing or what you think is a par total is as well. So, hopefully the experience and reading the situation [helps] going forward, and also taking to your partner as much as possible and helping him out as well.”

More uncertainty for Bangladesh’s domestic cricketers as the hope of staging the 2019-20 DPL seems all but over

Mohammad Isam16-Aug-2020Bangladesh’s domestic cricketers have been driven into more financial uncertainty after BCB president Nazmul Hassan said on Saturday that the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh would determine whether they can allow the Dhaka Premier League to take place in the coming months. In March, the outbreak of the coronavirus had forced the domestic one-day competition for the 2019-20 season to be postponed, and as the situation deteriorated in the country, it affected livelihood of the majority of cricketers.The BCB directly employs around 108 cricketers through 16 central and 92 first-class contracts. But with no cricket since March, those who only play the DPL, a 12-team competition that sits atop the Dhaka league system, have had to make do with very little payments from their clubs and the BCB in the last four months. With the 2020-21 season now drawing nearer, the hope of holding the 2019-20 season’s competition is all but over.According to batsman Shahriar Nafees, it might not be possible to stage two DPL tournaments in the upcoming season. “There’s usually one Dhaka Premier League every year, so if it doesn’t happen this year, I don’t think there will be two DPLs next year,” Nafees told ESPNcricinfo. “That will put all the players in financial uncertainty. DPL is our main source of income.”Apart from the DPL, all other tournaments across the country, mostly unsanctioned but highly popular one-day and T20 competitions, were also called off due the pandemic. For the average DPL cricketer, that meant no extra income, which usually complements the main payment from the club.Bangladesh’s sports ministry announced last week that sporting activities could start on a limited scale but Hassan, who also heads one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies, was clear that the situation wasn’t good enough for a cricket tournament or even a training camp without utmost precaution. The overall situation may put the 2020-21 domestic season also in jeopardy.Left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr said that most uncontracted players had to settle for a very low income in 2020 as a result of all the postponed tournaments.
“Some of us senior cricketers may be able to manage but it is a major cause for concern for the large number of players who only play the DPL. It has been a tough year for many players because apart from two or three clubs, most of the players have had to make do with only 10-15% of their total payment.”Haque, who played for Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club in the 2019-20 DPL, said that now all hopes were pinned on the likelihood of the NCL, the first-class competition, which could be held in October to kick off the 2020-21 season.”The BCB has been really helpful during the pandemic, and they have genuinely tried to bring back cricket,” Haque said. “We are pinning our hopes on playing the NCL in October, about which I read in the newspaper recently. They may hold it at two venues and in total lockdown. If that happens, it might help bring back cricket.”The BCB are currently hoping that their planned Sri Lanka tour, both for the senior men’s team and the High Performance side goes off without a hitch. It will keep the majority of Bangladesh’s top cricketers engaged from September to November.

Sciver led England’s run charts at T20 World Cup but keen to work on “a few tactical things”

Matt Roller20-Sep-2020September 19 had been in Nat Sciver’s diary for a long time: before Covid-19 struck, it was the date that she had picked alongside Katherine Brunt for their wedding, chosen specifically to avoid a clash with the England women’s series against India.Instead, they spent the day in Derby, locked in the biosecure bubble two days before the start of their hastily-arranged series against West Indies.In the event, it had rained in Chamonix, the mountain resort in France where they had booked their big day, and the sun shone in ‘Derbados’. Amy Jones, Heather Knight, and media manager Henry Cowen had put their heads together, meaning Brunt and Sciver celebrated the day with cakes and bridal veils in front of their team-mates.”It was a slow morning,” Sciver laughed in Sunday’s virtual press conference. “It was bittersweet – a bit of a weird one, but a really nice surprise from Amy, Heather and Henry who coordinated some things for us. It was nice in the end, a nice celebration.”We were going to be in the mountains, hopefully the weather was going to be nice. I actually looked at the weather and it said it was going to rain in the afternoon. So maybe [the postponement was] not a bad thing.” With the ‘wedding’ out of the way, it is time for a series that Sciver will hope can act as a honeymoon: she was England’s star with the bat in the T20 World Cup earlier this year, making 202 runs to finish as the tournament’s third-highest run-scorer, and warmed up for this series with 104 for Northern Diamonds in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.While her aggregate in the T20 World Cup was impressive, Sciver admitted that she was hoping to find a slightly better tempo at the crease in this series, after making those runs at a relatively sedate strike rate of 113.48.”Before we went back to training, we each individually had a meeting with Lisa [Keightley, the head coach] and the coaches to go through anything that we wanted to work on, and through the stats we’d had in the last few years to see if there were any areas we could improve,” Sciver explained.ALSO READ: DRS to make maiden appearance in a women’s bilateral series“There was a little thing with bowling, [regarding] making my action a bit more efficient, but it was more about my mindset with batting: going through the gears, and knowing when to kick on or when to hold back a bit.”Sciver remained tight-lipped when asked about England’s likely batting order, after the decision to use Tammy Beaumont as a finisher backfired in the T20 World Cup and was scrapped before the end of the group stage. Beaumont herself has expressed a desire to move back up to open, with Jones expected to move down into the middle order.And while England will be flexible with their line-up, it seems as though Sciver is likely to continue to hold the innings together at No. 3, acting as an insurance policy against an early collapse and tasked with accelerating towards the back end.Nat Sciver was England’s leading run-scorer at the T20 World Cup•Getty Images

“In the World Cup, I was coming in quite early a lot of the time, so it was about trying to swing momentum back in our favour. Hopefully, if there is a partnership that’s happened before I get out there, I can continue that momentum and not let the other team have a sniff, really.”It’s about going through the gears at the right time, knowing if there’s a bowler we’ve looked at as someone to hit more boundaries against, or if there’s an end with the wind or it’s slightly shorter [on one side]. There’s a few more tactical things to work on.”And while England were dominant in their most recent series against West Indies, Sciver insisted that they will not be taking their opponents lightly. They were beaten by them on a slow St Lucia pitch in the 2018 T20 World Cup, and know that they will be particularly useful if the Derby wickets are slow and low.”We can never take West Indies lightly. They’ve got people who can change the game all the way down the order with the bat, and once they get a few wickets in a row they just squeeze you and make it really difficult for you as a team.”They’re a great opposition, and one that you can’t take lightly at all. As a team, we’ve got to be ruthless right until the end.”

Agar, though, cautioned against burdening the allrounder with too much expectation

Andrew McGlashan21-Oct-2020Cameron Green’s Western Australia team-mate Ashton Agar believes the 21-year-old will be able to cope with the jump to international level, but has cautioned against burdening him with too much expectation after a career-best 185 not out against New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield.It was Green’s fourth first-class century since the start of last season from when he is currently the leading run-scorer in the tournament. And despite currently not being able to bowl – he holds a first-class average of 21.53 with the ball – the debate around whether the time is already right to elevate him to the Australia squad will only intensify.Green batted throughout the third day at Park 25 in Adelaide, resisting a range of tactics thrown at him by the New South Wales attack that – while missing Test stars Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – still boasted considerable quality, including Australia’s lead long-format spinner Nathan Lyon.”He’s got a great cricket brain,” Agar said. “They threw everything at him out there: bouncer plan, bowling wide channel, attacking the stumps, Nathan Lyon bowling a lot of overs – the best spinner in the world – and he had a really solid plan for everyone he faced. Even talking to him in the middle, he’s really calm and composed.”Whenever he does get the opportunity at the next level, I think he’ll certainly be ready for that when it’s there. But I just hope we don’t put too much pressure on him, just let him go about his business because he’s a beautiful player and [I] think he’ll be [an] absolute superstar.”To go in there and be 185 not out for a very young player, just shows he has maturity beyond his years and so much skill. The best part about it is he’s a great kid – a great young guy. He learns, listens, works extremely hard on his game and assesses situations really nicely. And he looks really calm at the crease, nothing seems to faze him too much. For him to go out and get a really big hundred, again, is pretty special.”Cameron Green on a roll•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Australia head coach Justin Langer has previously cautioned against promoting Green too early – particularly while he recovers from the back problems that are restricting his bowling – but that is unlikely to temper the talk ahead of the proposed Test series against India in December despite Australia’s XI being very stable.”It would be hard not to hear bit of hype,” Agar said, “but all I know is when he’s out on the cricket field, he’s just watching that ball as hard as he can. [He] loves batting, loves playing cricket and the scary part is that he’s not bowling at the moment. He’s a great bowler when he’s up and running. To be able to play as a top four batsman and a frontline fast bowler is a great combination.”There is a hope that Green may be able to bowl in match conditions in this opening stage of the Sheffield Shield, which is being played entirely in an Adelaide hub. He already has two five-wicket hauls in first-class cricket, including a best of 6 for 30, but hasn’t bowled since last November when scans revealed the early signs of stress fractures. His preparation for this season then involved tweaks to his action, which has taken time to settle.”It’s been awesome for his batting because he’s just had time to nail that down and for us cement the batting spot for the team,” Agar said. “[He has] amazing maturity, but for young fast bowlers you have to give their bodies time – they’ll have some hiccups now and again, he’s really tall and bowls quite fast. Whenever his body is right, he’ll be able to manage both pretty well, I think.”Lyon, who had bowled the equivalent of 15 overs to Green during the innings, added to the praise and despite being on the receiving end of a day in the field, said it was good to see a young batsman with the ability to produce such a long innings.”He was very, very impressive,” he said. “Last time I saw him we had the big three quicks [Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins] bowling at him. So [today is] a different story, but obviously very impressive. [He’s] very clear in his plans, played spin very well.”[He has] a big future. It was really good to see, actually. He’s 21 and not flustered by anything. Under pressure, he looked calm and clear in his plans. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due and he definitely deserves that.”

She is confident of being ready for the Sydney Sixers’ opening game on October 25

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2020Ellyse Perry is confident she will be fit for the start of the upcoming sixth edition of the WBBL, after missing the series against New Zealand to continue her recovery from the hamstring injury sustained at the T20 World Cup in March, and is determined to play a full part with the ball.Perry suffered a small tweak to her hamstring in training before the home series against New Zealand which ensured she would not take part in it, although it was always going to be a tight time frame for her despite talking positively in the build-up.Ellyse Perry in her delivery stride•Getty Images

One of the key elements for Perry during her recovery has been making sure she can return without compromising anything on the field. Speaking during the New Zealand matches, Australia head coach Matthew Mott discussed her bowling role and suggested there could be some managing of her workload but Perry is unlikely to hold anything back in the WBBL, which starts on October 25 in Sydney.”We ended up taking a pretty conservative approach to the New Zealand series in the hope I was 100% good to go for the start of the WBBL, and it’s looking that way,” she told reporters at a Sydney Sixers training session.”I’m not quite 30, so still feel like I have a lot left. I just need to get on the park again and keep playing then all of this [the injury] will be forgotten. The only way I want to play cricket is as a batter and bowler. I don’t think I’d offer enough as a batter to keep playing, and don’t think I’d enjoy it to be honest.”From my perspective I’ve been really keen that when I do play again it’s not at a lower level of capacity than what I’m used to. Besides the little blip in Brisbane, it’s all gone to plan, so fingers crossed that keeps going.”Perry will line up in a Sydney Sixers side that includes Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner, Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk. The entire tournament will be played a Sydney hub, meaning the two teams from the city – the Sixers and the Thunder – will have home advantage throughout, with all teams based at a WBBL village in the Olympic Park.”The hub poses lots of really great opportunities for every team and some new challenges,” Perry said. “Keeping fresh and getting over the monotony of being in the same place for an extending period will be tough, but think there’s some great bonus there in terms of spending a lot of time together.”