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A Crying Shame Swann Doesnt Want Anderson To Be Wasted Away Coaching Womens Teams

A crying shame: Swann doesn’t want Anderson to be wasted away coaching ‘women's’ teams

Former England spinner Graeme Swann wants James Anderson to get involved with the senior national team as a head coach or bowling coach instead of whiling away his time coaching women’s national team or counties’ second elevens ‘to earn the stripes’.

“If Jimmy Anderson finishes playing cricket and they make him do England Women, or Lancashire seconds or something like that, to get his stripes, it will be the biggest crying shame in the world,” Swaan told The Cricket Analyst.

This statement of his sure to draw ire from the people who feel passionate about the game and especially the women’s game, that too in teh times when ECB is making all efforts to raise the women’s game to the same standard as that of the men’s.

“And before anyone cries foul, I’m not having a go at the England Women team, or the Lancashire second team. You know my point,” the 41-year-old was quick to race to teh damage control.

Reasoning that Anderson, who is currently the leading wicket-taker among the fast bowlers in teh world and only paceman to cross 600 scalps, would be fresh after he retires, Swann said, “The second he finishes, he is fresh, he knows all the players, he knows the game currently. He’s not had to take a few years off. He should go straight in as a head coach or head bowling coach for England.”

Swann, one of the most successful English spinners (410 international wickets in 178 games across formats) to have ever graced the field believes that he was not utilized properly after his retirement and doesn’t want Anderson to go through teh same process.

“Arguably, I should have been asked immediately to coach all the spinners [when I retired]. Because that was me, I was relevant, I knew the game, I knew everyone inside out. That’s when you can impart everything,” he said.

“You don’t get that if you’re a few years out of it. You lose that straightaway and become run of the mill, you become humdrum, which is a crying shame,” Swann added.

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He should have been the man of the match; Pandya in awe of Natarajan

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who won the man of the match in teh last game against Australia feels that it should have been the fast bowler T. Natarajan who should have got the honours, as he was more deserving. “I thought he should be the Man of the Match because the bowlers struggled here and he had a really good game. He gave us a target that was about 10 or 15 runs lower than what it would have been. He keeps it simple and I prefer people who don’t complicate things,” Pandya praised teh Tamil Nadu born, who gave away just 20 runs in his four overs and also picked up two wickets. He did that at a time when the rest of the Indian bowlers went for more than 9 runs an over. Talking about his ability to finish games and how he has improved from teh years gone by, the 27-year-old thanked the lockdown, for sanity in his game and life. “During the lockdown, I wanted to focus on finishing games where it matters the most. It doesn’t matter whether I score or don’t score more runs,” said Pandya. “I have been in these situations many times and I learned from my mistakes in the past. My game is always around the confidence which I carry, it has that fine line where I back myself and not become overconfident,” he added. The Baroda born hit two sixes in teh last over of the game when the team required 14 runs to seal the game. Describing what was going on in his mind, Pandya said, “It was not about what they are doing, it was about what I can do. It’s a matter of two big shots and today it came off.”

Breaking: SA vs ENG ODI series postponed due to covid-19

The ODI series between South Africa and England has been postponed due to teh covid-19 scare. The decision was made with mutual consent of both the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket South Africa, the governing bodies of cricket in respective countries The International Cricket Council, in a tweet through official handle confirmed it. “JUST IN: The #SAvENG ODI series has been postponed. The decision was taken jointly by the two boards to ensure the mental and physical health and welfare of players from both teams. A decision will be made between the boards as to when the series will now take place,” tweeted ICC. Earlier both the first and second t20is were postponed after two of the hotel staff of the hotel in which the English team was lodged, were found positive. Later on, two of the English team members were also doubtful and as the Test results confirmed the doubt, no option remained apart from canceling the series. Now the boards would decide when can the remaining games be played. The T20I series was clean swept 3-0 by England, which took place in the first leg of the tour.

ICC Rankings: Williamson reaches joint second with Kohli, closes in on Smith

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, on the back of his career-best score of 251 against West Indies has reached the joint second spot in the ICC Test rankings for the batsmen. In the latest update, released by the International Cricket Council on Monday, 7 December, Williamson reached 886 rating points and equalled Kohli, while Smith has still maintained a good enough lead at the top with 911 points. In the list of top 10, the only other Indian is Cheteshwar Pujara (8th) while Ajinkya Rahane and Mayank Agarwal, once part of the top 10, have now moved out to 11th and 12th spot. Tom Latham is the new entrant in the list with 733 points, creeping up to occupy the 10th spot. In the all-rounders’ list there was yet another change as Holder lost vital rating points (down to 434) after a poor showing in the first Test against New Zealand where he couldn’t get even a single wicket and in the two innings combined, could only score 33 runs. Stokes 446 rating points occupy the first spot while Jadeja is at the third spot with 397 rating points. Australia’s Pat Cummins is still at the top of the bowlers ranking with 904 rating points. Neil Wagner has replaced Stuart Broad at the top. India will be up against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy starting 17 December in Adelaide. Powered by Froala Editor

Kane Williamson to take paternity leave; coach Gary Stead says 'other things are much more important'

New Zealand’s skipper in Tests and ODIs, Kane Williamson may well miss out from the few games of the series against Pakistan that will be the ongoing series against West Indies, and the team management will not have any problem with him prioritising the family over cricket. Head coach Garry Stead has hinted that Williamson will opt for paternity leave and that the move will be justified as in his words ‘other things are much more important’ than playing the game when the family is in need. The series against Pakistan will comprise three T20Is from December 18 and Two Tests and starting December while Williamson and his partner Sarah Raheem are expecting their first child later this month and this may force the right-hander to miss some of the matches of the series in ‘worst-case scenario.’ Garry Stead said that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be around your family at the occasion of the first child and that then the moment will be special for Williamson as well. "Worst case scenario, Kane misses some matches. As a dad, as a parent, you only get that opportunity once in your life to be there for your (first) child's birth and I know that it's important for Kane too. At the end of the day, we play cricket, and other things are much more important. And that is much more important," Stead said after the completion of the first Test against West Indies that the hosts won by a whopping margin of an innings and 134 runs. The discussion around prioritizing family over cricket dominated headlines as the debate ignited on the issue of players opting for personal life over professional and patriotic commitments. Pandemic related travel restrictions and compulsion for players to be in travel bubbles to be able to play cricket. Earlier last month, Indian captain Virat Kohli, too, opted for paternity leave after the scheduled end of the first test between India and Australia as he and his partner Anushka Sharma are expecting their first child back in India and the travel restrictions will mean that the most important batsman of the Indian batting line up will miss out of the remainder of the Test series. The year that has been plagued by pandemic has forced players to weigh options such as their and their families' safety over playing cricket and it has been a serious departure from early days when players kept on playing irrespective of the situations in their families back home.