ECB refuses proposals from BCCI, TNCA; 1st Test to remain behind 'closed doors'

Merv Hughes inducted into Australian Cricket Hall of Fame

Former Australian great Merv Hughes has been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. Hughes was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the year award in 1994 for his 10 year long career at the international level where he played 53 Tests and 33 ODIs for Australia. He took 212 Test wickets at an average of 28.38 with a career-best figure of 8-87 against the West Indies at the WACA in 1988 included the final wicket of a hat-trick spread across three separate overs, two innings and two different days. He was also a first-class veteran and had represented Victoria, Essex, and the ACT over a career spanning 14 seasons. He has been an icon for Australian cricket even after completing his playing days as his moustache has been in trend at the ground where the Aussies have played across the world. Peter King, Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Chairman, saw Hughes as a ‘larger-than-life personality’ and said that the 6’4” man deserved to be an inductee into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. He said that the Hall of Fame of Australian cricket is ecstatic to recognise the service and legacy of Merv Hughes. “Merv Hughes was an icon of the Australian summer for so many of us, a larger-than-life personality, a wonderful international cricketer, an ambassador for the sport and a deserved inductee into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame," King said. “A lion-hearted competitor, Merv boasts a proud career for Victoria and Australia in the Test and One Day International arenas, paving the way for an incredible era of Australian cricketing dominance.” “Even as synonymous as his on-field record, Merv will be forever remembered as a fan-favourite and his iconic warm-ups close to the boundary, especially at the MCG, that prompted bays of spectators to join in with him at stadiums all over the country. He has left his legacy on the sport in post-career mentorship with modern-day teams, administrations roles as a National Selector and the heartbeat of Australian cricket. The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is delighted to recognise Merv Hughes.” Merv Hughes shared his delight on the recognition and respect from the Australian cricket fraternity.

BBL10 | Challenger: Bruised Scorchers take on hostile Heat for a spot in the final

Brisbane Heat has been one hell of a story in this year’s Big Bash League as whenever people counted them out, they made a comeback. From shutting critics’ mouth to struggling to find their rhythm to being rejuvenated when a bundle of energy called Marnus Labuschagne joined them to make it to the second biggest match of the season, the Brisbane side has weaved a fairytale whose ideal ending should be a BBL title. But in front of the Heat in the Challenger stands a team which has had only two extreme moods, the losing mood and the winning mood and the latter has been ‘on’ since quite a long time as they won eight of their last nine games to make it to the BBL Finals this season. No doubt that momentum would be with Heat with five wins in their last seven games and four of them coming on a trot. They also beat Scorchers in their last game. But Scorchers are by no means to be taken lightly as they have a fantastic lineup which if clicks, could be the most dangerous. With Mark Steketee, in the kind of form that he is having picked up 24 wickets in 15 innings, it is never going to be an easy pass for the Scorchers' batsmen. Skipper Chris Lynn is due a big knock much like Labuschagne and Heat will be hoping he gets it on the biggest stage. Heat look to build on the momentum The Men in Aqua have found their ‘mojo’ which is to take early wickets and restrict the opposition to a low score. This they do with the help of a brilliant Xavier Bartlett opening over, followed by some great wicket-taking spin from Mitchell Swepson and Labuschagne, get Morne Morkel as X-Factor to bowl at the death and then get a hero in the batting set up who along with Jimmy Peirson would take them home. Since they have cracked the code, and they are going with the momentum, it would be very difficult to get them derailed. Labuschange, who has been doing great with the ball, having picked up 10 wickets in just five games, would like to showcase the might of his batting prowess as well, as he hasn’t really been up to the mark as per the expectations from him. This game might just be the one for him. Scorchers finding their lost shine The two main men for Scorchers this season have been Jhe Richardson and Colin Munro with ball and bat respectively. However, both of them haven’t really been up to the mark in the last few three games that the Scorchers have played against the Melbourne Stars, Heat and the Sixers. While Richardson has taken just two wickets in these three games, Munro too hasn’t been on the money in the last four games having scored just 88 runs in total in them. Thus along with Josh Inglis, who has carried on his great form, these two need to get going as well, if Perth is to make sure that Heat sweat it out on the pitch. These two back in form can solve a lot of problems for the Ashton Turner’s men as Richardson will get quick wickets for the likes of Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Hardie to bowl freely in the mid-innings. Munro getting runs at the top would once again give an opportunity for the middle order to take it easy as they would have a set platform to launch from. Scorchers vs Heat: Match Details Match: Challenger Date and Time: Feb 4, 2021, 2:10:00 PM IST, 07:40 PM Local, 08:35 AM GMT Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra Broadcast & Live Stream: Sony SIX and Sony LIV Pitch Report The game was scheduled to be held at the Optus in Perth, but due to the covid-19 restrictions, it has been rescheduled to take place at Manuka Oval itself, where the last two games took place as well. In the last two games, it was pretty evident that dew plays a heavy role on this ground. It has something to offer to the bowlers in the first innings, especially spinners. In the second innings, the pacers have some help early on till the time dew hasn’t settled down. Weather and Bat Flip It is expected that at the time of the game, there will be almost 100% cloud cover and hence humidity too shall be increased. In the case of cloud cover, the dew might not come in as heavy as it might have had earlier, but its impact cannot be negated. Thus the skipper winning the bat flip would most likely go for a chase. Scorchers Strongest XI Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Colin Munro, Josh Inglis (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner (c), Aaron Hardie, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed Heat Strongest XI Sam Heazlett, Chris Lynn (c), Joe Denly, Marnus Labuschagne, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Joe Burns, Lewis Gregory, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Ben Laughlin, Morne Morkel

Justin Langer can't 'ignore' the 'wake up call' on players' unhappiness of his methods

Australia head coach Justin Langer has called the reports of senior players feeling unhappy and are at unease over his methods in the dressing room as a ‘wake up call’ which he can’t ignore. He added that the criticism of his methods will eventually help him and the team in the coming few weeks and months as he has been very kind to people who have objected to his set of ideas and told frank truth to him. “I’m not going to ignore this, of course, and absolutely it is a wake-up call. Whenever I finish this coaching career I hope I’m still calling myself a novice coach…I’ll see this criticism as a great gift in a few weeks or months,” Langer told ESPNcricinfo. “My greatest mentors in life are the people who told me the truth and were toughest on me, and I’ve always needed that honest feedback. I might not enjoy it at the time, but it is so, so valuable,” he added. But he has also said that his job is not to make everyone happy as that according to him is not what leadership is for. He pointed out his exclusion from the bowlers' meeting as it is the job of the bowling coach to come up with the plans to dismiss opposition batsmen. Australia suffered an embarrassing series defeat at the hands of a depleted Indian side that had a majority of their first-choice players missing. There have been much fallouts of the loss as both the skipper Tim Paine and Justin Langer have faced the ire of fans and former cricketers for failing to protect a series that Australian public and media find very special and competitive.

Team India pass three rounds of Covid-19 testing; to train from tomorrow before 1st Test

All members including players and support staff of the Indian team have returned negative results in all the three rounds of Covid-19 test in Chennai where they were in quarantine before the first Test. They have finished the period of mandatory quarantine and are allowed to train outdoors starting today. Meanwhile, England players and support staff have tested negative to Covid-19 tests as well and they will start their training starting Tuesday. Both the hosts and the tourists will get only three full days to train before the first Test at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai where the pitch is expected to offer decent help to all including pacers and batsmen.