Cricket not included in initial 28 disciplines of LA 2028 Olympics, but all is not lost yet

Josh Hazlewood unknowingly acknowledges he knew about the sandpaper being used in 2018

In a funny turn of events, one of Barmy Army members, the fan unit that travels to support the England team in away matches managed to get Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood’s signatures on a poster that read, “I Joshua ‘Joshie’ Hazlewood do solemnly swear that I knew it was sandpaper.” It is almost certain that Hazlewood didn’t read the poster before signing it as the fans were allowed to get the autographs from the players after a long time since the Covid-19 restrictions were in place for the most part of the last year. The Sandpaper gate forced three prime accused members then skipper Steven Smith, vice-captain David Warner and youngster Cameron Bancroft who was caught working the ball with the sandpaper got punished for the act. The act took place during the Cape Town Test match of 2018. Earlier this year, Bancroft almost admitted that bowlers, which included Hazlewood with now skipper Pat Cummins and Micthell Srac in the pace trio and Nathan Lyon as the lone spinner. “Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory,” Bancroft had told The Guardian, a UK newspaper. In the aftermath of this statement, the Australian bowlers released a joint statement denying their knowledge of sandpaper being used in the game. The statement read, “We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands.”

Ashes | Australia blow away England resistance in just one session to win at fortress Gabba

Australia picked up eight wickets in the morning session of Day 4 to put a halt to England’s resistance in the first Test of the Ashes series. In a near perfect two and a half hours of play, Australia skittled England out from 220/2 to just 297 runs, to effect a demoralising loss in the first Test. The visitors were left hapless against all the Australian bowlers as they fell one by one unable to judge the length, flight or the line of the delivery. The leader of the attack on Saturday, 11 December was Nathan Lyon, who went wicketless in the first innings of the game. He effected a crucial breakthrough of Dawid Malan, the left hander who had negotiated him with relative ease on the day before. But, on Saturday, Lyon’s mixing of flight and his ability to get extra bounce from the surface got the better of the #3 batter and that ended up opening the floodgates for England. In the process, Lyon became only the third Australian to take 400 or more wickets, and etched his name in the records books. In terms of wickets tally, he only stands behind Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Soon to follow Malan were Ollie Pope, captain Joe Root, whose century drought in Australia grows dire by the day. During his 89 runs innings, Root notched up his seventh 50 in Australia but he has not been able to convert a single one of them into a big total. Today, Root was sent home by Aussie youngster Cameron Green, who did just about enough to seam the ball away from the right hander to kiss the outside edge of his bat. From there it was just a waiting game before England folded and a collective bowling effort made sure that it did not take too long. England set up just 20 runs as target to the Australians, which was brought up in no time, but not before the visitors managed to take the wicket of makeshift opener Alex Carey. The left handed debutant opened the innings to protect David Warner, who opted out of both batting and fielding owing to a rib injury sustained in the first innings. Speaking after the game, England captain Joe Root took responsibility for the loss and stated they needed to bat better. He insisted that the team knows the areas that they need to get better, and they will work upon them in the lead up to the second Test match.

Pakistan Super League finalise retentions | All details

Pakistan Super League franchise have announced their retentions for the upcoming season of the tournament. The teams were allowed to keep eight players around whom they could build a team for the next season. The PSL teams are allowed to have an 18-member squad for the 2022 season, and they will be in the market to buy the remaining 10 players from a draft scheduled to be held on 12 December in Lahore. Out of the six franchises, four chose to use their full quota of eight players, while Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators chose to use seven. On expected terms, Rashid Khan, Babar Azam, Liam Livingstone and Mohammad Rizwan have been retained by their franchise. But everyone has not been so lucky. One of the strong performers in the T20 World Cup, Fakhar Zaman has been let go by Lahore Qalandars, but ESPNcricinfo has reported that the franchise will be buying him back. The retained players have been differentiated in several categories - platinum, diamond, gold and silver. Apart from filling those quotas, the franchise will be picking up two emerging and two supplementary players as well. Here is the full list of retentions made public by the PCB. Islamabad United (8) Platinum - Asif Ali, Hasan Ali Diamond - Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan (Brand Ambassador), Gold - Alex Hales (Mentor), Azam Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr Silver - Paul Stirling Remaining picks Platinum - 1, Diamond - 1, Gold - 0, Silver - 4, Emerging - 2, Supplementary - up to 2 Karachi Kings (8) Platinum - Babar Azam, Imad Wasim Diamond - Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nabi Gold - Joe Clarke (Brand Ambassador), Aamir Yamin, Sharjeel Khan Silver - Mohammad Ilyas Remaining picks Platinum - 1, Diamond - 1, Gold - 0, Silver - 4, Emerging - 2, Supplementary - up to 2 Lahore Qalandars (8) Platinum - Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi Diamond - Haris Rauf (Brand Ambassador), David Wiese, Mohammad Hafeez Silver - Ahmed Daniyal, Sohail Akhtar and Zeeshan Ashraf Remaining picks Platinum - 1, Diamond - 0, Gold - 3, Silver - 2, Emerging - 2, Supplementary - up to 2 Multan Sultans (7) Platinum - Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw Diamond - Imran Tahir (Mentor), Sohaib Maqsood Gold - Khushdil Shah (Brand Ambassador), Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood Remaining picks Platinum - 1, Diamond - 1, Gold - 0, Silver - 5, Emerging - 2, Supplementary - up to 2 Peshawar Zalmi (8) Platinum - Liam Livingstone, Wahab Riaz Diamond - Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik Gold - Hussain Talat, Saqib Mahmood (Brand Ambassador) Silver - Tom Kohler-Cadmore Remaining picks Platinum - 1, Diamond - 0, Gold - 1, Silver - 4, Emerging - 2, Supplementary - up to 2 Quetta Gladiators (7) Platinum - James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed Diamond - Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz Gold - Shahid Afridi (Mentor), Mohammad Hasnain (Brand Ambassador), Naseem Shah Remaining picks Platinum - 1, Diamond - 1, Gold - 0, Silver - 5, Emerging - 2, Supplementary - up to 2.

Ashes | 1st Test, Day 4 - Australia at the cusp of victory after taking 8 wickets in first session

Hosts Australia had a brilliant time in the first session of Day 4 picking up 8 wickets to clean up England for 297 runs. England, who came into the day’s play at 220/2 never looked settled in the middle and fell like a pack of cards. Set players from the last day in captain Joe Root and Dawid Malan failed to convert their toiling 50s into centuries and departed between a span of four overs. The double blow left England reeling against the consistent pressure created by the Australian bowlers and they failed to build any partnerships in the middle. Nathan Lyon was the pick among the bowlers clasping four wickets in the second innings, while Cameron Green provided him with ample support removing the key wickets of Joe Root and Chris Woakes. While the bowling unit under new captain Pat Cummins executed the plans brilliantly, a special mention has to be given to Alex Carey who etched his name into the records book as well. Carey became the keeper with most catches on debut, holding onto eight chances behind the stumps. England have set up a paltry target of 20 runs for Australia in the final innings, which in all practicality is indefensible under any scenario.