Alex Carey on course for Test debut in the Ashes

Mainstay in the Australian ODI team as their first choice keeper, Alex Carey is set to make his Test debut against England in the Ashes. The 30-year-old left-hander, who has been earmarked as the successor for the gloves for a while, will finally be getting to wear the Baggy Green, close to four years after his white-ball debut.

Carey will have taken over Tim Paine who resigned from his role after a sexting controversy and went on an indefinite break.

Carey has been a well-regarded commodity in world cricket, known for his versatility in the middle order. He has the ability to play both as an aggressor or as an accumulator depending upon the conditions of the game.

Coming into the Test squad, Carey will have competition from his younger compatriot, Jos Inglis, who has been in tremendous form in the franchise leagues. However, considering Inglis’ age (26) the selection panel might have swayed towards a more proven performer in Carey.

The first Ashes Test begins on 8 December at The Gabba.

Discover more
Top Stories
news

It’s just a matter of one inning: Rahul Dravid confident of Rahane getting back in form

Newly appointed Indian coach Rahul Dravid is not worried about the form of Ajinkya Rahane, the vice-captain of the team. He is expecting Rahane to get back in form and feels that he is a quality player who is just one inning away from hitting his way home. "I don't get worried, you don't get worried. Of course, you would like more runs from Ajinkya. I am sure he would like a few more runs. He is a quality player. He has done well for India in the past. He is one of those guys who has that quality,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference after the end of the 1st Test in Kanpur. “He has the experience. Hopefully, it's just a matter of an innings, a matter of a game where he can turn it around. Certainly, he would like to score more runs. He knows that. And we know that” Dravid added further. The performance of Shreyas Iyer in which he became the only Indian player to hit a century and a half-century on debut in Tests has made things difficult for coach Dravid to select the playing XI. Virat Kohli in whose place Iyer played, will be back and hence to accommodate both an opener, most likely Mayank Agarwal would have to make way, but Dravid refused to comment on it. "We haven't decided the playing XI for Mumbai. It will be too early to talk about it. We have only been thinking about this Test till now,” he said. “When we get to Bombay, we will look at the conditions, the pitch. We will look at the guys' fitness. Virat Kohli will also join us so there will be consultation with him. Then we will decide who will be in the playing XI,” the coach added signalling that the captain Kohli would have a larger say in how the combination looks like in the all-important second Test. The series which starts the World Test Championship 2021-23 circle for defending champions New Zealand is now tied at 0-0 with one game to go.

news

BAN vs PAK | Abid Ali misses out on consecutive centuries but guides Pakistan to easy win

Chasing more than 200 in a Test match is a dangerous proposition and in the subcontinent, it becomes even more precarious given the amount of turn that the pitches offer. However, for Pakistan openers, it turned out to be a walk in the park as they chased down the target of 203 set up by the Bangladeshi team in the fourth innings with much ease. Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique, the two openers played a great role in the victory as they did not give even a window of opportunity for the Bangladeshi bowlers to make inroads. Taking a leaf out of their first innings partnership of 146, the duo stitched together 151 this time around. They remained unbeaten on the fourth day, making the fifth day just a formality as only 93 runs were required for the win. Bangladesh, on the other end, might have harboured hopes of getting back into the game on the last day with their spin duo of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam. However, it took too late for them to come to action and even as Mehidy broke the opening partnership by removing Shafique for 73. Tailjul also removed Abid for 91, but by that time Pakistan required only 31 runs to win. Skipper Babar Azam and senior Azhar Ali made sure that the target was reached without any further breaches. Earlier Bangladesh, even after claiming 44 runs lead in the first innings courtesy of Islam’s brilliant 7-116 spell, wasn’t able to capitalise on it and could only make 157 in their second innings. Even getting to that would have been difficult if it wasn’t for the half-century from Liton Das as the rest of the batters literally threw their wickets away. Courtesy of this win, the Pakistani team moved to second position in the Points Table of the World Test Championship 2021-23. They have 66.66 Percentage of Points courtesy of two wins from three completed games. Sri Lanka lead the table with one win from one match.

news

SL vs WI | 2nd Test: Spin duo Permaul and Warrican dismantle Sri Lanka for 204

Sri Lanka started the second day’s proceedings of the second Test at Galle at the overnight score of 113-1 and were looking to capitalise on the momentum from Pathum Nissanka’s half-century who was unbeaten at 61. However, Veerasammy Permaul, playing his first Test in seven years had other ideas as he pulled out the career-best performance with the ball to dismantle the Lankan middle order and trigger a collapse. Sri Lanka lost its last nine wickets in a span of just 65 runs and 19.3 overs with Permaul accounting for five of the nine dismissals. He was helped equally by Jomel Warrican who picked up the remaining four wickets. The start to the wicket-taking spree of the Wets Indies team was initiated by Warrican who removed Oshada Fernando early in the morning to break the overnight stand. Permaul then got the wicket of Nissanka as his first scalp of the game. Angelo Mathews was retired hurt in the meanwhile due to hamstring injury, but the sequence of falling wickets unfolded as if planed by some divine intervention. One after the other it just kept falling apart. None among Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva and Ramesh Mendis could get to double figures. Charith Asalanka, who was making his Test debut was also dumbfounded and became Permaul’s third scalp, getting out for 10. Had it not been for some lusty blows at the end from Mathews who came back after the fall of the eights wicket, it would have been difficult for Sri Lanka to even get past the 200 run mark. Eventually with no help from lower-order either, the team folded for 204. In reply, West Indies haven’t lost even a single wicket having scored 12 at the time of writing this.