Cricket Australia announces schedule of full-fledged Big Bash League

Cricket Australia’s plans to host a full-fledged Big Bash League in hope of a contained coronavirus situation in the country seems to have finally paid off as the board has released a full fixture of the tournament today. The CA had earlier this month released the schedule but held back allocation of venues to matches in the hope of easing off state borders and manageable restrictions. The tournament is scheduled to start from 10 December.

As per the updated schedule, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney will host the majority of the matches to be played as every team will have an opportunity to take the advantage of playing at their home grounds. The Iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground will be host to as many as 11 games in this season while the Optus Stadium in Perth will host five games and Sydney will host eight games.

Cricket Australia is hailing its move to organise a full season of the Big Bash League this year as one of the boldest decisions taken by the board since the coronavirus turmoil hit the cricketing world.

He also pointed out the role of fans in the development of the league and said that fans will finally get a chance to entertain themselves with their home teams playing in their home cities and at their home grounds.

"This schedule is a testament to the strength of the League and ensures our fans around the country will get the chance to see their KFC BBL clubs in action on home soil," said Cricket Australia’s head of Big Bash League, Alastair Dobson.

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Won’t play Big Bash till I retire from international cricket: David Warner

Australian dynamite, David Warner who has been absent from Australia's premier franchise league tournament the Big Bash since the 2013-14 season, said that he can’t see himself coming back to it any time soon. The New South Wales cricketer made it clear that he could return to the competition only after his retirement from international cricket. “Personally I've got three kids at home and a wife that I owe my time to as well. So playing all three formats - that's very difficult to be able to do, and I don't think I'll play while I'm playing for Australia still - that's honestly speaking.” Warner reasoned that BBL doesn’t have a separate window like IPL and therefore the off-time that he gets from international cricket, he would like to utilize that by being with his young family. Steve Smith, too, has ruled out a possible return to BBL this season. Commenting on the new rules introduced by the BBL administration, Warner said that the most important thing that BBL needs to do is get the Australian players and the best international players coming to play in the league instead of trying to tinker with the rules. "The rules that have come out, I understand the reasoning why they're bringing it out. Do we need to tinker with it?” asked the 33-year-old. “Personally I don't think we do, I think it's just about getting the right people to come out and play, the right access to players to play, the Australian contracted players,” he added.

Amid quarantine, Navdeep Saini celebrates big day with little cupcakes

India speedster Navdeep Saini celebrated his 28th birthday in an altogether different style amidst the quarantine period in Sydney Australia. There weren’t any big celebrations, neither were there any cake smashes as a humble celebration ended with Saini cutting an assembled group of cupcakes and the likes of Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur standing beside all decked in nothing but their training clothes, masks, and hand gloves to wish him on his auspicious day. The Board of Control for Cricket in India wished the Karnal born a very Happy Birthday. “Happy birthday once again @navdeepsaini96. Little Cupcake to celebrate the big day. No cakes smash this time,” BCCI’s official Twitter handle tweeted. Saini, who has been part of the Indian set up ever since the West Indies tour of India in 2019, and taken 18 wickets in 15 limited-overs games, is still looking for the ultimate chance of making a Test debut. With Ishant Sharma, highly unlikely to play the first Test in Adelaide, with his injury, Saini might just have his dream come true. Before that, he would be playing an important part in the limited-overs series beginning with the first ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 27th November.

Bengal T20 Challenge: Three teams report Covid cases

Bengal T20 Challenge faces Covid-19 scare as multiple teams have reported more than one cases of coronavirus infection in the last few days. The tournament is scheduled to commence from tomorrow, November 24 with six teams and three teams have called for replacements of players who have tested positive for Covid-19 or developed symptoms of other medical conditions. Abhimanyu Easwaran and Abhishek Raman who were due to represent the East Bengal team have tested positive for the coronavirus and been replaced by Abhijit Bhagat and Ranjot Singh Khaira. The team management had to make other changes in the overall squad composition as well and Sachin Kumar Yadav, Rohan Banerjee, and Shiv Patel coming have been drafted in the standbys. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan has suffered setbacks due to various reasons. While novel Coronavirus pushed Writtick Chatterjee out of contention for the tournament, illness to Rajkumar Pal’s father cut short his journey into the Bengal T20 challenge. The Mohun Bagan team management has called Sunil Kumar Dalal and Sourav Paul as their replacements in the 15-member squad. Another team - Customs has replaced Dip Chatterjee who tested positive for the novel Coronavirus infection with Saikat Banerjee. After a long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, Bengal cricketers are set to return to the Cricket field with the inaugural edition of the Bengal T20 challenge.

Humble David Warner readies himself with ‘respect to opposition'

We might see a sober and calmer version of Australian opener David Warner in the upcoming series against India as the left-hander has said that he has been trying to learn the art of respecting the opposition and answering their engagements calls with his bat. He also believes that if one does not engage with whatever is thrown at an individual, the effect gets reversed and it does not influence performances. He also said that the Indian team enjoys having a bit of banter with the Australian team but suggested his teammates opt-out of it in the upcoming series. “The last time we toured in India they really engaged us like that. We’re learning over time, especially myself, that if you look not to engage in that you’re almost reversing the effect by ignoring it, trying to take it in, and using your bat,” news agency AFP quoted Warner as saying. He also suggested that the effects of losing temper trickle down to teammates and it may harm the performance of other players in the group which ultimately can change the outcome of a game. “You don’t know the effect it will have on your teammates, so you have to be a bit more humble and be more respectful to the opposition,” Warner added. Warner also expressed concerns about the image his behaviour on the field leaves on his kids and he said that being patient is the key to be a role model for kids which he is trying to achieve both on and off the field. “You have to be patient, not get too aggressive, not get angry when the kids aren’t listening. So I’m getting tested on and off the field,” Warner concluded on his change in attitude on on-field behaviour. Australia and India are set to lock horns with a three-match T20 series scheduled to start later this month, followed by ODI and Test series.