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England Announce 16 Man Squad For Sri Lanka T20is Recall Woakes Willey Dawson After Long Time

England announce 16-man squad for Sri Lanka T20Is, recall Woakes, Willey, Dawson after long time

England have announced their 16-man squad for the T20 series against Sri Lanka scheduled to take off on June 23.

The series will see the return of Chris Woakes, who last played for England in the format way back in 2015. The selectors also called back David Willey, who has not played white-ball cricket for England since 2019 and Liam Dawson who has not featured since the year 2018.

The series will also see the return of Jos Buttler after missing out on the ongoing Test series against New Zealand as England went ahead with ‘fresh faces.’ From the Test squad facing the Blackcaps in a two-match Test series, only Mark Wood has found a place in the lineup.

England head coach and now also a selector Chris Silverwood underlined the preparation for the ICC World T20 scheduled for later this year behind the move to pick other ‘experienced’ players as many other first-choice players such as Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer are yet to recover from injuries.

"With the T20 World Cup only a few months away, this summer is about perfecting our team and continue to progress on the field. We want to approach every series with an influx of players aiming to win every match and giving us the best preparation as we get closer to the tournament," England men's Head Coach, Chris Silverwood, said.

"With several high-profile players missing through injury, it allows me to look at some of our experienced players who have not featured at this level for some time. The likes of Chris Woakes and David Willey are very experienced cricketers, and to have them both in the mix is exciting and shows the depth of squad we have available. I want our team to play an attacking form of the game. I hope we can continue to excite the England fans with our approach," he added.

England squad

Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (WK), Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

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Shakib Al Hasan handed three-match ban, fined BDT 5 lakh after Dhaka Premier League outbursts

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is all set to be sanctioned a four-match ban after the episodes of angry outbursts against umpire in a Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier League match on June 11. As per a Cricbuzz report, the Mohammedan Sporting Club cricket committee chairman Masuduzzaman has confirmed that umpires have recommended a four-match ban for one of the biggest stars in Bangladesh cricket. He also said that the Mohammedan Sporting Club will seek details from the Bangladesh Cricket Board on why a player of such stature resorted to such unceremonious behaviour. “We have not got any official letter so far but we have learnt that the umpires committee have recommended a four-match ban. We will appeal to the board and ask them that they must dig the matter and see why Shakib was prompted to take such a step. Naturally, it was not acceptable but at the same time we have to find out why it happened,'' Mohammedan Sporting Club cricket committee chairman Masuduzzaman said to Cricbuzz. Shakib’s behaviour attracted a lot of criticism on social media and both the fans and people having their eyes on the game demanded strict punishment for the all-rounder. Some of them went to the extent of a life ban for Shakib though that seems unlikely.

Ruturaj Gaikwad recalls 'calm' conversation with MS Dhoni after India call up

After earning an India call up for the tour of Sri Lanka, Ruturaj Gaikwad recalled a conversation he had with his IPL captain MS Dhoni where the former Indian skipper suggested him to enjoy the moment instead of putting himself under a lot of pressure. Giving a detailed account of his conversation, Gaikwad said that Dhoni made him relaxed and calmer by not putting the onus of winning the games for the Chennai Super Kings on his shoulder. "He said 'you have already been through a lot due to Covid-19. As a captain, I am not expecting too much from you. We have given you the opportunity not to show who you are at this point but to play for CSK, a great franchise, and enjoy your time' because you'll never know what will happen next. Make sure you enjoy the opportunities. If you're putting pressure on yourself, you are adding it to yourself. We, as management, aren't expecting anything, we just want you to go out there and enjoy for now and gain experience. I think it helped me a lot, it helped me relax a little bit and made me feel calmer,” Gaikwad told India Today. Although he did not talk with Dhoni about the dreams of playing for India in specific conversation, Gaikwad recalled that Dhoni reminded him of his ‘potential and capacity.’ "Not really we discussed (India hopes) but one or two times he has mentioned that I have the potential and I have the capacity. He said 'you don't have to think about one particular tournament or one particular season. You have to think of playing for India, you have ample time. You have to keep thinking about it and how you are going to reach there and how you can sustain there,” Gaikwad added. Gaikwad has had a stellar run for form from the latter half of the IPL 2021 and followed it up with promising innings in the tournament earlier this year before he was picked for the tour of Sri Lanka in an unexpected call, even for himself.

WI vs SA | 1st Test Day 2: Centurion Quinton de Kock, fiery bowlers push Windies on the brink

There was no end to the struggle for the West Indies batting lineup in the second innings as well after a disciplined century from Quinton de Kock out South Africa in a commanding position at the end of the second day’s play of the first Test between the sides. Having been bundled out for an abysmal 97 in the first innings and conceded a big lead of 225 runs, the Windies were rocked early once again in the second innings. Kagiso Rabada, who was a bit unlucky in the first innings did not waste the new ball and sent both Kraigg Brathwaite and the concussion substitute Kieron Powell with deliveries coming in towards them sharply. Anrich Nortje took on from there and sent back Shai Hope, who did not make good use of the comeback opportunity and failed due to lack of discipline outside off stump in both innings. Kyle Mayers, who was guilty of playing an outrageously ambitious shot to get out started once again on an uncomfortable note. The story was a little different this time around but Nortje once again found the edge of his bat with the one that was slanted across him. However, the hero of the day for the tourists was Quinton de Kock, who established his quality as a batsman in South Africa after being relinquished of the captaincy burden. He resurrected South Africa’s batting efforts with sublime strokes that have become part of his reputation t the world stage. At first, he stitched a valuable partnership with Rassie van der Dussen to bring South Africa in the ascendency and followed it up with qualitative partnerships with every batsman coming to join him in the middle. When he started falling short of partners, he switched to his T20 mode and smashed Windies to all corners of the ground and took the game beyond their grasp. South Africa are at the top of their game in this Test and it would need Windies batsmen to play out of their skin to come back in the contest. Needless to say, the task is not at all easy against an in-form trio of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Anrich Nortje.

R Ashwin banks on experience to take on well-prepared New Zealand in WTC final

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has conceded that New Zealand will have an upper hand going into the World Test Championship final for the fact that they have been in England for some time and have got used to conditions having played two Tests against England. He also rated Blackcaps a ‘fantastic’ side that possess ‘exciting’ players but said that India too have played the game well in the last two years to deserve a place in the WTC final against New Zealand. "We have played well to get to the World Test Championship final and we are deservedly there. (New Zealand) are a fantastic team and have a lot of exciting cricketers. The fact that they would have played a couple of Test matches before the final will be good preparation for them. So we have to adapt, use our experience, and be ready,” Ashwin said Sportstar. He also expressed his delight over the International Cricket Council’s idea to make Test cricket more relevant and bilateral series more context through the World Test Championship. He said the ICC has done a ‘phenomenal’ job of pulling off a global tournament such as the WTC and scheduling a final in the middle of a pandemic. "I think (World Test Championship) is always going to get better. The idea of having some context to the whole Test arena is amazing. It was long pending and I'm so pleased the ICC has done it," Ashwin told Sportstar. "Some areas will be addressed, but considering the pandemic, they have done a phenomenal job. To sustain the health of Test cricket is healthy for cricket. The more Test cricket is played, the more cricketers are going to get rounded, and it will help other forms of the game as well," he added. Ashwin should walk into the Indian team for the WTC final if Virat Kohli and the team management decide to go ahead with two spinners in the playing XI considering pitch conditions in Southampton. However, his place is not guaranteed with the presence of Ravindra Jadeja in the squad.