ENG vs NZ| Spin-on offer at Edgbaston! England add Dom Bess as Leach’s cover to the squad

WTC final | ICC stays 200-run follow-on rule, allows players to seek clarification before DRS call

The International Cricket Council has clarified that the follow-on rule will be implied as per the normal course if the first day of the World Test Championship will be washed out which otherwise would not have been applied in any other Test matches. The 14.1 clause that govern the follow-on rule by the ICC states that if a game is shortened to a three-day or a four-day contest, the team batting second will have to score at least 150 runs less than the score of the team batting first to avoid the follow-on, which in general Test matches is 200 runs. "If no play takes place on the first and second days of the match, clause 14.1 shall apply in accordance with the number of days remaining (including the scheduled Reserve Day) from the start of play. The day on which play first commences shall count as a whole day for this purpose, irrespective of the time at which play starts. Play will have taken place as soon as, after the call of Play, the first over has started, ICC stated. Additionally, the ICC has also offered fielding team or the batsmen given out to have a clarification from the the on-filed umpire on whether he had considered him playing a shot or not offering a shot before coming to a decision. "Player Review - this is a new standard playing condition. Previously the playing conditions prevented a player from asking the umpire any questions before launching a review which led to the unreasonable loss of a review when the player and umpire had a different opinion on whether a shot had been played. This has been changed to allow either the fielding captain or the dismissed batter to ask the umpire whether a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball prior to deciding whether to initiate a player review," the ICC noted. The World Test Championship final will be played between India and New Zealand from June 18 in Southampton.

Breaking: IPL to begin on September 19 final on Dussehra October 15

The UAE leg of the Indian Premier League 2021 edition would begin from September 19 and end on the day of Dussehra this year i.e. October 15, says the reports. After discussion between the Emirates Cricket Board (UAE) and the board of control for Cricket in India, it was decided that the remaining matches would be played across three venues of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, much like last season. The IPL 2021 was suspended on May 4 due to an increase in Covid-19 cases in the tournament’s bio-bubble and the decision to host in UAE was taken in after BCCI's SGM on May 29. Up till now 29 out of the scheduled 60 games have been played. “The BCCI was always keen on a 25-day window and we had cordial relations with UAE which had given us the oral nod before the SGM last month where we announced about the IPL’s UAE leg. Over the last seven days we have sealed the deal with the opening match on September 19 and the closing game on October 15,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying to ANI.

Kane Williamson excited for 'cool' moment with Kohli, rates Indian bowling 'fantastic'

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson praised the depth of the Indian side and said that the World Test Championship final against Virat Kohli-led team will be an ‘exciting' opportunity for the Blackcaps against ‘the best.’ In an interview with the ICC website, Williamson commended the ‘fantastic’ Indian bowling that is rich with both quality pacers and spinners and said that the men in blue have already showcased the depth in talent on the tour of Australia earlier this year. "They have got a fantastic attack. Throughout we have seen the depth they have as well, certainly saw that in Australia. A lot of strengths in their fast bowling and spin department. So yeah, a brilliant side, ranked right up the top, which is fair enough and an exciting opportunity for us to be involved in the final taking on the best,” Williamson said. He also expressed excitement about playing against Virat Kohli, whom he has known for a long time, having played a lot of games against him at different levels. He said that both he and Kohli know each other very well which would be a ‘cool’ thing while walking out for the toss in the final of the inaugural edition of the Test Championship. "Over the years, we have played against each other on so many different levels and in various competitions and have known each other fairly well. So, it will be quite cool walking out there, doing the toss and having a bit of contact in the first Test Championship Final,” Williamson said. New Zealand are playing against England in a two-match series. After the completion of the second Test at Edgbaston, Kiwis will head to Southampton for the WTC final starting June 18.

Kane Williamson's New Zealand tick many boxes in lost opportunity to win Lord's Test

New Zealand may well have delayed declaring their second innings on the final day of the first Test against England at Lord’s but skipper Kane Williamson said that the team gave themselves ‘best chance to win’ by having enough overs left in the bank to dismiss England. However, England batsmen were equal to the task and saved the game that left Williamson disappointed and lamenting losing a whole day to bad weather which washed out the third day’s play at Lord’s. "As we know in Test cricket you have your ebbs and flow but coming into day and having a bit of work to do in that morning session to give ourselves a chance, I thought the guys played some superb cricket throughout to give us that potential opportunity. Unfortunately it wasn't to be today, losing a day to weather doesn't help the cause but I thought the efforts were certainly there,” Williamson said in the post-match press coneference. He also had high expectations from the surface that it would be deteriorating big time on the final day but it ‘flattened' out’ and did not offer them enough to challenge England batsmen for a longer period of time. "We made the decision based on what gave us potentially the best chance to win the game or enough overs. We knew losing a day was going to be tough but we wanted to give it a crack. Unfortunately towards the end things fizzled out a bit, we were expecting the pitch to deteriorate a bit more and it did show signs on day four in particular that that was going to happen, but it sort of flattened out,” Williamson said. Asked about England not going after the chase of 273 runs in the last two sessions, Williamson said that like him, the hosts too thought the pitch would misbehave far too much. He said that if he was the one to take that call of going for the chase or giving up on it, he would have tried to have a solid base before trying to tee off in the last phase of the game to minimise the risk of losing. "It's always tough to know how an opposition will look to attack a chase, obviously all three results still possible. If we were in that position, you do want to get a really good base and try to take the game to a deep stage where you might have a smaller chase of less overs but throw all your resource at it. Clearly there was a lot of work to do to get to that, a lot of overs left and I think both sides were expecting the pitch to deteriorate more,” Williamson argued. However, he agreed to Joe Root’s observation that scoring runs at a brisk pace was not a viable option and the things could not quite work well for both sides in the last session as the tourists failed to break through on regular intervals and hosts struggled to score a lot of runs. "It kind of ebbed and flowed, and scoring wasn't quick throughout. We felt if we could pick up wickets throughout that would give us the best opportunity and life could be quite difficult, but that wasn't the case. Things didn't perhaps unfold for either side." Although they should have won the game after such a resounding start, New Zealand would walk away more happy having ticked more boxes than the hosts England. However, they would have to find answers to the questions surrounding the all-rounder and spinner in the playing XI. Mitchell Santner played ahead of Ajaz Patel for the all-around abilities he brings to the table, but he could not get amongst wickets. However, Williamson outlined ‘game-changing’ opportunities he created in the first innings and bemoaned the lack of deterioration of the pitch in the second innings. "It was important for Mitch to get out there and bowl and get comfortable and he created a few opportunities, certainly in that first innings, which were potentially game-changing, and we know he can bat really well as well. It would have been nice if things showed a bit more deterioration on the pitch, and from a straighter line, but it was a pretty good surface with a bit in it for everybody,” Williamson backed Santner. New Zealand would be strengthened even more with a likely return of Trent Boult in the second Test at Edgbaston starting June 10 and Williamson would be eyeing a massive opportunity to clinch the series against the hosts before getting onto the World Test Championship final against India.