BBL | Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder fall victim to Covid outbreak

Australia get hit by Covid-19; Travis Head to miss SCG Test

Australian middle order batter Travis Head who rocked England with a fiery 152 has tested positive for Covid-19. The development comes a day after England head coach Chris Silverwood was forced to isolate in Melbourne after England camp returned their seventh positive case. Head is the first case in Australia starting line up and a key member of the squad. Australia have called up Mitchell Marsh, Nic Maddison and Josh Inglis as replacements but it is very possible that Usman Khawaja will get to play his first in this year’s Ashes.

Quinton de Kock retires from Test cricket with immediate effect

In a shocking move right after the completion of the first Test of the series against India, wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has announced retirement from Test cricket. He has announced his departure from the format with immediate effect but said that to reach the decision took him a lot of time. However, he maintained that his international career for South Africa is not over and reiterated his commitment to play the other two formats of the game. He was all set to miss the remainder of the Test series against India but he has chosen to walk a completely different with the purpose of spending more time, which he said is the most precious thing in his life, with his young family. “This is not a decision that I have come to very easily. I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that. My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives. “I love Test cricket and I love representing my country and all that it comes with. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs, the celebrations and even the disappointments, but now I’ve found something that I love even more. In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me.” “I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of my Test cricket journey from the very beginning. To my coaches, teammates, the various management teams and my family and friends – I couldn’t have shown up as I did without your support. “This is not the end of my career as a Protea, I’m fully committed to white ball cricket and representing my country to the best of my ability for the foreseeable future.” “All the best to my teammates for the remainder of this Test series against India.” He made good start to his innings in the first innings of the Centurion Test before getting out while in the seocnd innings he struggled throughout to time the ball before playing on his stumps for 21.

Ross Taylor forgoes South Africa Tests to end career playing his favourite format against Australia

Ross Taylor, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday, December 30th, 2021 said that he chose to play ODI cricket against Australia away from home as supposed Tests against South Africa at home because ODI is his favourite format and Australia one of his favourite places to play cricket. "The Australian series is really close and with quarantine and coming back, it's probably going to be one side that goes to Australia and the Test side will stay behind. That's what made the decision a lot easier. It would have been nice to play against South Africa, but Australia's a place I've always enjoyed ... and finishing my career playing one-day cricket which is probably my best format,” he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. Talking about the timing of his retirement so close to the ODI World Cup in 2023, Taylor said, "It's the right time for me and my family. At the same time, I've still got some cricket to play. In an ideal world, I would have played and then [announced] it at the end, but at this level, you can't do that." "It's something that I've thought about for a long time, it's not a decision I've made in the last couple of weeks. It's nice to have a bit of clarity and finish on your own terms. I think it's just the right time for me and my family," he added. Taylor, who became the first player in the world to play more than 100 games in all three formats, said that he was never sure about his Test cricket, but is very proud that he was able to mould his game and went on to represent his country in more than 100 Tests. "After my first Test series I thought that was me done, so I've done alright since then. I always thought I could play one-day cricket, I wasn't [100 per cent] on whether I'd be a good Test player or not, but I worked hard at that and I think that's probably my greatest achievement. I could have just smacked it and averaged 30-odd but I changed my game for the team, I don't think many people would have been able to move their game in that direction and I'm happy I made that decision,” he said. Taylor, who made his debut in March 2006 would bid goodbye to the game in April 2022 at the end of the New Zealand summer with three ODIs against a touring Netherlands side. In between then and now, he would play two Tests against Bangladesh and three ODIs against Australia.

Asia Cup U-19 | India reach final, will face Sri Lanka which defended 148 against Pakistan in semis

The Indian colts made it to the final of the Asian Cricket Council’s Asia Cup ODI tournament as they defeated Bangladesh U-19 by a huge margin of 103 runs in the second semi-final held at Sharjah Cricket Ground in Sharjah. They would now face Sri Lanka U-19 in the summit clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Friday, December 31, 2021. The Indian bowlers got the team off to a flier in its defence of a mediocre total of 243 against the defending World Champions Bangladesh. Though Bangladesh got off to a quick and steadied start, reaching 30 in the first five overs without losing a wicket. But once Ravi Kumar struck and broke the opening partnership, there was no coming back for the young Tigers. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were suddenly reduced to 87-7 in the 21st over. Ariful Islam tried his level best but couldn’t bring much difference as he got out on 42 at the 10th wicket and the entire Bangladesh team was all out for 140, giving the Indian team joy and also a taste of revenge for its last World Cup final loss at the hands of the Bangladeshi team. Earlier in the day, India was helped by SK Rasheed’s unbeaten 90 off 108 balls to reach 243-8 in its 50 overs. Sri Lanka baffles Pakistan In the first semi-final, there was drama on display at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai as the Pakistani team after restricting Sri Lanka to only 147, itself got bowled out for only 125, losing the game by 22 runs to bow out of the tournament. Chasing 148, Pakistan were off to a very poor start, losing their first three wickets in just 10 runs and inside the first six overs. A little partnership did develop between Muhammad Shehzad and Qasim Akram. But it was too little to make an impact in the context of the game. This 32 run partnership by the way was the highest in the entire innings as the team was dismantled by the pair of fast bowler Traveen Mathew and spinner Dunith Wellalage who shared seven scalps between them.