Cricket Australia vows to change skewed 73-0 male to female ratio of cricketers’ statues in country

There are a total of 73 statues of male cricketers in Australia and no statues of women cricketers, found in a survey. However, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Cricket Australia, the cricket governing body of the nation has pledged to diminish that gap as much as possible.

The CA has formed a "Recognition of Women in Cricket Working Group", which will decide upon the planning of statues. The efforts of diminishing the gap starts with the establishment of two statues related to women cricket at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground and Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"We are committed to challenging ourselves to continue to address gender inequality across our game," Nick Hockley, CA's interim chief executive was quoted as saying in a press release.

Talking about the success of the Women’s T20 World Cup where the final was attended by more than 87,000 fans at MCG just before the pandemic, Hockley said, "So many challenges have been presented since that day, and it is now more important than ever that we keep pushing for equality in cricket and keep building the momentum established before the pandemic."

The MCG would have a statue commemorating 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup glory, while SCG would have the first statue of an Australian women cricketer. "It's going to be a pretty incredible list to choose from," said Rachael Hynes, the vice-captain of the Australian women’s team.

"Just for a player who's been involved for a long time, it's going to be nice to walk into a stadium like the SCG and be able to walk past some of the heroes who have led the way. I'm looking forward to learning about our history and the contribution some of these female players have made," she added.

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IPL 2021: In a first, England all-format stars to stay for full season

Signalling a big change in England cricket’s policy towards the Indian Premier League, head coach Chris Silverwood has confirmed that all players who will take part in the upcoming edition will be staying for the whole length of the tournament. It would mean they will be unavailable in the Test series against New Zealand scheduled to start right after the end of the IPL 2021. However, Silverwood still put playing for the country as the supposed biggest thing for cricket possible in order to raise the stakes for players in the Test series. "We have not looked at selection for the Test matches yet. For me, playing for your country is a big thing. It is always difficult to change anything. So, they will be staying for the whole IPL as it stands at the moment," Silverwood said during a virtual press conference. Notably, superstars such as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer are all-formats players for England and would have walked into the Test XI to face the Blackcaps in early June, but Joe Root will have to play without three of his match-winner.

Jofra Archer might miss T20I series vs India

England fast bowler Jofra Archer might miss out the T20I series against India due to elbow issues. The right-arm bowler missed the fourth and final Test because of the same reason. England head coach Chris Silverwood has Sid that the medical staff will be monitoring Archer’s situation. "Jofra's elbow did flare up a little bit and the medical staff are managing that at the moment," Silverwood said. "Obviously we'll monitor his progress. The medical staff are talking about how we deal with this long term.” "He's trained today with the white-ball squad. We'll be monitoring his situation." Talking about Archer’s workload, Silverwood said that he does want the fast bowler to be fit for all the formats. “I want Jofra to be fit for all forms of cricket. I want him to have a long, successful Test career.” "Could we limit the number of overs he bowls? It's not something I would go out and predict but we'll find out in the course of time. The important thing for me at the moment is that Jofra gets every resource we can provide to make sure he does have a long and successful Test career.” "I'm not sure surgery has come up yet. I'll be guided by the medics on that. I wouldn't say I'm concerned, no." The T20I series between India and England begins on Friday in Ahmedabad. The five-match series will be followed ODI fixtures.

Fabien Allen stars as Windies win low scoring thriller against Sri Lanka to win T20I series

An all-round masterclass from Fabian Allen proved too good for the Sri Lankan side to stage a comeback. The left-hander hit 21 in just one over of Akila Dhananjaya and lifted the team that seemed struggling at 112/7 at the end of 18 overs, chasing 132. With this win at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, the Windies won the three-match series 2-1. West Indies started the chase in a positive manner, scoring 37 in just the fifth over. However, Wanidu Hasaranaga changed the momentum, getting both the openers out in quick succession. Dushmanatha Chameera, the only speedster in the team then bowled Windies skipper Kieron Pollard for a duck and started building pressure on the chasing side. Lakshan Sandakan, the chinaman bowler in the Sri Lankan side increased that pressure, removing two top batsmen in Rovman Powell and Dwayne Bravo in successive deliveries, having bowled Chris Gayle before that. But just when things seemed to be getting away from West Indies and they required 20 from two overs with Jason Holder struggling, Allen walked in. The Jamaican then bashed Dhananjaya left, right and centre, hitting three gigantic sixes in the over and finishing the game off. Earlier in the evening, Angelo Mathews after winning the toss decided to bat first, but couldn’t get the start they were looking for. The openers got out early and so did Mathews. But after the fall of the first four wickets off 46 in the 10th over, Dinesh Chandimal and Ashen Bandara put together an unbeaten 85 in 63 balls to get Sri Lanka to 131. Chandimal was the highest run-scorer for Sri Lanka with 54 from 46 balls. Allen was the pick of the bowlers for the West Indies, finishing off with figures of 1-13 in four overs. Apart from his batting and bowling, Allen also took a blinder to remove Gunathalika off his own bowling.

Member of PSL team allowed to take flight despite testing positive for COVID-19

A non-playing member of a Pakistani Super League (PSL) team, who had tested positive for COVID-19, was allowed to leave the bio-bubble and fly back to Lahore. The official had tested positive before the start of the tournament and had flown back to Lahore from Karachi on the second day after the result of the test, ESPNCricinfo reported. The PSL was postponed for an indefinite time on 4th March after a rapid spike in positive cases in the league. The official, who tested positive, wasn’t a part of the coaching staff and joined the franchise before the start of the tournament. He entered the bubble after having returned a couple of negative tests. But on the day, the tournament began (February 20), the member tested positive and was put in isolation. He was then asked to leave the bubble of the hotel on February 22. The official then took another test on February 24 that came out to be negative. It is not yet clear whether the security team was told about the member’s positive test and him leaving the bubble. The medical panel’s head Dr Sohail Saleem has already offered his resignation from the post. Officially, Fawad Ahmed, the Australian cricketer representing Islamabad United, was the first person to test positive in PSL. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hasn’t commented on the matter so far.