Australia taking full-strength squad to Pakistan for Test tour

After much speculation that several senior players might snub the Pakistan tour, Australia have finally been able to name their squad for the Pakistan Test series. And to much surprise, they have been able to name a full strength squad for the long format series which is scheduled to begin on March 4.

The team will be led by Pat Cummins and all senior players will be present alongside him as Australia visit Pakistan for the first time in about 25 years. The last match that the Aussies have played in Pakistan dates back to 1998 where the visiting side won a high scoring match by 6 wickets in Lahore.

In what looks like a balanced unit, Australia have chosen to include three full time spinners in Ashton Agar, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson. They also have taken a full strength pace bowling attack barring the services of Jhye Richardson, who struggled for fitness in the recently concluded Ashes series.

Full Squad

Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

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AUSW vs ENGW | 3rd ODI: Australia thump England in final showdown to remain unbeaten in Ashes 2022

Australian women's team remained unbeaten against England after defeating them in the third ODI by 8 wickets in Melbourne. Chasing a target of 164, Australia were off to a good start after Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes stitched a partnership of 74 runs for the first wicket before Healy departed for 42 off 56. Haynes soon followed her after she was dismissed for 31 of 46, leaving Australia at 74/2. But captain Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry then came in for the rescue with an unbeaten 90-run stand for the third wicket. While Lanning went on to score a fifty, Perry remained unbeaten at 31 off 46 to take the side home. Sophie Ecclestone was the pick of the bowlers after she scalped one wicket at the cost of only 18 runs in 10 overs. Earlier, in the day, England had a disappointing start as they lost a couple of early wickets but Beaumont and Sciver then tried to steady the ship. The two batters scored 88 runs for the third wicket before Beaumont was sent back in the hut for 50. Her wicket certainly broke the shackles as the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 138/8 before eventually getting bowled out for 163 in the final over. Sciver scored 46 for the side. Sutherland scalped a four-wicket haul for 31 runs in 9 overs while Schutt had two wickets to her name for 25 runs in 10 overs. "It's been an outstanding series. First of all, big thank you to England and their support staff for coming here and playing. There are always a few spanners that are thrown at us during a series. But it was good to see different people stand up and perform for us. I think we have had pretty good games in different patches," Lanning said after the match.

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PSL 2022 | Quetta chase down 205 with incredible Jason Roy 116 in final game at Karachi

The Karachi leg of the Pakistan Super League came to an entertaining end on Monday, 7 February with Quetta Gladiators chasing down 205 runs against Lahore Qalandars. With a bowling attack as good as Qalandars, it was expected that they would defend such a huge total with ease, but as it turned out, Quetta had other things planned. Jason Roy, who joined the side flying out from his national duties at the Caribbean shores, announced his arrival in style hitting a breathtaking century in just 49 runs. Jason Roy show Roy’s exploits while chasing is well known in the cricketing circles, with the specialist white ball batter being much better in the second innings than setting a target. But nobody could have ever imagined the onslaught that he would bring with himself on Monday. With 205 to bring down against the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Rashid Khan, Roy set out on his path in the very first over, hitting captain Shaheen for 15 runs. Barely giving strike to his partner on the other end, Roy stormed to his half century in just 20 balls, while his partner had barely played 2 deliveries. Quetta Gladiators lost opener Ahsan Ali in the final over of the powerplay after scoring 7 off 8 balls, but it would be a lie to say that a single soul cared. It was a Jason Roy show after all. He carried a struggling Vince on his shoulders and scored a 49 ball hundred before getting out for 116 in 57 balls. He had helped Quetta post 172 runs by the 16th over, and it seemed like the chase was in their bag. The wicket of Iftikar Ahmed slowed things down a little bit, but promoted Mohammad Nawaz’s lusty blow to Haris Rauf in the penultimate over made sure that there was enough margin for error for both the batsmen out there to make some mistakes. Needing 5 to win from the last over, Zaman Khan did very well to stay away from James Vince’s arc, but a single and a six buried the game with three balls remaining. A very different first innings In heavy contrast to the second innings, Lahore found it very hard to get underway in the first few overs. Batsman of the tournament - Fakhar Zaman struggled to read the pace of the pitch and Lahore were able to put up just 44 runs in the powerplay. But after the departure of his opening partner Abdullah Shafique (32 off 27) things changed. Fakhar knew that his second of hesitation resulted in Shafique’s runout and chose to bat himself into form. A counter-attacking stay in the other end from Kamran Ghulam helped as he hit 2 sixes enroute his 13 ball 19 before getting out to an exceptional boundary line catch from James Vince. Ghulam’s departure in the 12th over led to a flurry of wickets in the next few overs and just when Quetta seemed to have gotten a hold it, young Harry Brook and the veteran David Wiese hit back. The last three overs resulted in 50 runs as Harry Brook went on to make unbeaten 41 off just 17 balls, finding support from Wiese who scored 22 off 9. That was not to be enough, but Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Afridi argued that it was just not their day and he still had good belief in his own team. The Pakistan Super League will now go on a two day break, before resuming in Lahore from 10 February.