England appoint Jacques Kallis as batting consultant for Sri Lanka Test series

Joe Burns reveals how one shot turned his form around against India

Sunil Gavaskar always advocates rules in favour of batsmen and in his defence he always argues that it takes just one delivery, good or bad for a bowler to undo all the hard work put in by batsmen. A batsman can be dismissed by some of the worst balls, while some of their best shots can be caught in unbelievable fashion to send them back to the pavilion. The reverse can also be true. A batsman can also get back in his best rhythm in a span of one ball or one shot where he gets the feel-good factor about finding the middle of the bat. Although Mr. Gavaskar has not said this yet, for the Australian opener Joe Burns, the reverse was true and he was happy at the receiving end of it in the first test against Adelaide. Burns has not a great time in the middle with bat and his place in the playing XI was up for debate before both David Warner and Will Pucovski were ruled out of the first test His start with the bat in the Adelaide test was not any good either as after battling the initial spells of Jaspirt Bumrah and Umesh Yadav, he was caught in front of the stumps, only just by a Bumrah’s yorker and the trouble was deepening for Burns. In the second innings as well, he was greeted with short balls by a deflated Indian bowling attack and one hit his arm near the elbow region. His life at the crease was getting worse as he was made to bat almost with only one arm, but the breakthrough moment arrived for the beleaguered opener until that point when one of the short delivery off Umesh Yadav could not rise much and he found the middle of the bat to despatch it to the boundary. Burns saw both the comical and philosophical side of the game when he felt like coming back into a rhythm once again, which he felt was just one shot away. "It's funny how in this game it's often one shot that can give you everything you've been searching for. Probably the first pull shot I hit off Umesh Yadav, think I was on 4 and it came out of the middle and felt amazing. I think all summer I've been confident, I've been batting well, just without rhythm. To find some rhythm in the middle, often it can be one shot away. I just kept working hard, been in this situation many times before, you know how quickly it can turn," Burns said. Burns has had a horror run of form leading up to the first test with an aggregate of 62 runs from nine innings for Queensland and Australia A. He said that although he would have loved the prospect of facing the Indian team and the bowling attack on the back of the good form, he is experienced enough to decipher that past performance only plays a little role in shaping one’s technique and class which are permanent and players don’t lose those values overnight. "And to take on a fantastic opposition in such a big series, it's easy to get yourself locked in before that first ball. I'd love to be coming off four-five first-class hundreds but at the end of the day it doesn't matter what's happened before, your skills stay the same and your job stays the same and your ambitions stay the same. You just have to do it. Fortunately for me I've got 10 years of experience to draw on if the preceding five or six weeks weren't great,” Burns added. Burns has been cleared to play in the Boxing Day test after the scans have ruled out any serious injury due to the blow he took and it would be a deja vu moment for him. He had made his debut in Test cricket at the same ground and against the same opposition--India in 2014 and like his debut Test match, coming in with a lot to prove about his quality as a batsman. For Burns, the return to test cricket felt almost like a test debut only after a prolonged period of lockdown and quarantine and he would be hoping to make amends with the bat in the next test and dismiss all the talks around his place in the starting Xi. "You reflect on the year that's been, the big lay-off from playing with the pandemic going on, then we were playing Shield games at some club grounds so it was nice to get out in a Test match at a Test venue, more than anything to get back around this group. I said to one of the boys on the first day coming in, it certainly felt like being home again, so much confidence in this team and it flows through to all the players,” Burns reflected on the year that was tough for the world as well as for sportspersons. Burns’ place in the playing Xi for the Adelaide test was confirmed only after the injury to Will Pucoski as both Warner and Pucovski were injured. But, the coach Justin Langer always backed Joe Burns to come good and he had put all his weight behind Burns’ who was clearly short of runs as well as confidence. "I've been privately and publicly backing Joe the whole time, he's a very good player, you don't lose your talent overnight. He also understands though runs are the greatest currency of value to any player. We'll make our decision on who's going to open in the next day or so," Langer had said of Joe Burns. Now, as Burns has shown signs of coming back into good form after hitting a half-century in the second innings of the Adelaide test, he is all praise for his coach for backing him to the hilt when all were seeking his exclusion. He emphasized that Langer had only advised him to be mentally focussed and backed him to play his shots in perfect batting rhythm while in training. “Obviously JL has been right in my corner over the last few weeks. The message from him was just about finding rhythm, more than anything in the preparation he really wanted me to play my shots in training and be strong-minded. I guess that shone through in that innings and by the end it felt amazing. Always a special feeling when you aren't making runs and you have someone in your corner. The challenges of international cricket keep coming and for the rest of the series it will be very tough, my job and my goal is to get big matchwinning hundreds in those games. "There's always noise in this game, it's why you love playing for Australia. Think JL said there's always theatre around the team. Those conversations I had with Justin were fantastic. He has been through it all before, he knows what it's like to open the batting for his country. It's very relatable. The message was, you miss out in a few games, it doesn't change your ability, confidence, mindset, preparation,” Burns said. After his debut six years back, Joe Burns has had a discontinuous international career through the various streak of poor form and other batsmen coming through ranks. There is no dearth of opening batsmen in Australia with the likes of Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris already knocking the selection door down. It won’t be long before Burns will be asked to make way for others, like in the past, if he does not make full use of the backings he has got from the leadership group of the Australian team including captain Tim Paine, and coach Justin Langer.

Match Preview: Scorchers look to open account against charged-up Thunder

Perth Scorchers are yet to register a win in the Big Bash League's (BBL) ongoing 10th season. After losing their first match, they had to endure a no-result in their second game. They will now face an invigorated Sydney Thunder side who surged to a scintillating win in their previous match. The shadow of COVID would be looming large in this contest also. Restrictions have been placed on the entry of spectators based upon their travel history. However, the two teams, secure in their bubble, are likely to remain focussed on their performances. Scorchers Need a Win Not much has been achieved by the Perth team so far in this season. To be fair, they haven't had much of an opportunity. With only one-and-a-half matches so far, there isn't a decent sample to judge their performance. They have one of the best fast bowling attacks in the league, at least on paper. Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, and Jhye Richardson have experience of bowling at the international level and even have modest success to their name. Richardson had decent figures in the first game but didn't receive any support from his two comrades. But one bad game won't worry the team too much. What the Scorchers would like is their ace spinner Fawad Ahmed to fire. The next match won't be easy for him as Canberra, the venue, has a small ground. If he errs even slightly, there would be a heavy price to pay. On the batting front, there are some very good signs that very visible in the unifinished last game. Colin Munro played a smashing knock, though he fell short of a half-century. However, the Kiwi batsman has got into his stride and that sets him up nicely for the rest of the season. The kind of batsman he is, Munro would either plunder the bowling attack or get out. He doesn't waste time. The captain Ashton Turner also had a good hit-out in this match. Batting in the middle order, his good form is crucial for the team to have momentum through their innings. Thunder Seek to Strike Again It took a blazing innings from lower order batsman Daniel Sams to take Sydney Thunder to their first win of the season. This would boost their morale but it shouldn't hide the need for more runs from the top order. Usman Khawaja needs to get some runs at the top of the order. His partner Alex Hales has scored a fifty and a first-ball duck in the two matches so far. But he would be a big threat for the opposition. The small ground in Canberra should favour Hales strokeplay. Apart from Hales, only Callum Ferguson, the captain, has good form among the recognised batsmen. This is a worry for the team. In the bowling department, Tanveer Sangha has emerged as the most exciting spin-bowling prospect in the league. Interestingly, he has creditaed his good performances to advice from one of his opponents in the Scorchers - Fawad Ahmed. But it's not just Sangha that Thunder are excited about. Because, Kiwi speedster Adam Milne is ready to play and team's coach Shane Bond has said that his side are ready to 'unleash' him against Scorchers. This is a very exciting prospect. Thunder vs Scorchers: Match Details Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra Date and Time: December 22, 1:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM Local, 8:15 AM GMT Broacasters: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV Pitch Report Action is returning to Manuka Oval after a gap of more than a week. In the previous matches of the season, the pitch has looked good for batting. Interestingly, both spinners and pacers have got some help, which suggests a good cricket wicket. So, a good contest between bat and ball is expected. Weather and Toss The weather on Tuesday evening is expected to be absolutely perfect with no clouds or rain expected. This means the toss wouldn't play a big part. The decision of the captain winning it would be more influenced by the team's strategy than conditions. Probable XIs Scorchers: Josh Inglis (Wk), Colin Munro, Joe Clarke, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner (C), Cameron Bancroft, Aaron Hardie, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed Thunder: Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (C), Alex Ross, Baxter Holt (Wk), Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Adam Milne, Jonathan Cook, Tanveer Sangha

India must answer tough questions to limit Australian punches in Boxing Day Test

When the BCCI had revealed about the paternity leave of Virat Kohli and said that he will not be available after the first Test Down Under, fans and experts had weighed in that the just-finished Test at the Adelaide Oval was the best chance for the Indian team to get the better of the home side. At the same time, they also argued that once Kohli will depart, the series will keep getting tougher for the Indians. The belief stemmed from Kohli's utter dominance in terms of his batting numbers over the last decade, especially in Australia and the fact that India registered a historic series win under his leadership a year ago. To be fair to the Indian team, they were well on their way to prove those assertions about the first Test right until the first session of the third day in Adelaide, when the Australian pace attack led by an accurate Josh Hazlewood ran riot and forced a surrender out of the Indian batting to their lowest score of 36. Although they were sure of a formidable challenge from the Australian batting with the return of Steve Smith and David Warner (at some point in the series), they had also expected Indian batsmen to up their game to match the Australian bowling attack. The humiliation in Adelaide has sent the fans and critics of the Indian team into a frenzy and they expect the team to bring wholesale changes come the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. After the debacle, the team management, now with stand-in captain in Ajinkya Rahane, have a lot of issues to ponder on and a lot more questions to find answers to than they would have hoped before the start of the Test series. Shaw vs Gill vs Rahul Virat Kohli and the team management backed Prithvi Shaw to come good in Adelaide overlooking his recent form with the bat and a definite chink in his technique that was exposed by quality swing bowling in the IPL and the Test series against New Zealand early this year. Kohli cited the continuity factor and the fact that Shaw was able to hit a half-century in New Zealand behind selecting him for the first Test, but Australian bowlers were well aware of where they had targeted Shaw. The Australian pace attack is famed to be relentless and coming into he game with a proper plan, they ripped open the gap between Prithvi Shaw and his bat, and with that the lack of solidity at the top order. Shaw was dismissed in identical fashion in both innings and it clearly emphasised that the flaw in his batting was much deeper than a dip in form. One of the challengers for the top order spot, Shubman Gill, was ignored for the Adelaide Test despite showing all the qualities of a batsman who can handle seam bowling. Another contender for the opening role is KL Rahul who has earned a call up to the Test squad on the back of strong performances in the white-ball formats and his pedigree as a batsman. With Shaw failing in Adelaide, there is a loud chorus for his exclusion from the team, but opinions are divided on who will take his place at the top of the order? Opinions are divided on who should be the second opener for India apart from Myanak Agarwal, and the team management may well have their task cut out to decide the batting order. A school of thought is backing Shubman Gill to open at the MCG for Prithvi Shaw, while others have backed KL Rahul to open with Agarwal in the Boxing Day Test. The fact that Rohit Sharma has landed in Australia and may well walk back in the playing XI after the completion of his isolation period, has also created a quagmire for the team management. Changing openers and handing Shubman Gill a debut at the top of the order or bringing back Rahul to open for just one game when the openers for the third Test are more or less decided will bring nothing but instability to the playing XI, and the team management may well opt-out of too much chopping and changing. The team management may go for a safer option of playing Gill at the position of Virat Kohli and then deciding between dropping Shaw for Rahul and continuing with Shaw at least for one more game. However, there is a strong possibility of KL Rahul’s return at the top of the order in the second Test and he has the backing of one of the best batsman to have ever played Test cricket, Sunil Gavaskar, who has openly backed his inclusion. Gavaskar has also backed Gill to bat in the middle order at the place created by Virat Kohli’s absence. Six ‘specialist’ batsmen or five ‘specialist’ bowlers The team management would have another issue to sort out before the team walks out in the middle at the MCG. Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the remainder of the test series, and it leaves the team with Jasprit Bumrah as the only first choice bowler in the line-up. Consequently, the team management might face the dilemma of playing five bowlers or playing six batsmen at the MCG, which has produced flattest of flat wickets in the recent past. Playing only four bowlers like in the Adelaide Test, may force captain Rahane to come back to Bumrah, again and again, and for the worst fear of the team management, he may be over bowled to the ground like Bhuvneshwar Kumar was done on the tour of England in 2014. But, playing five specialist bowlers would mean thinning the batting lineup and in that case, the team management would need a cushioning of a wicketkeeper who has better batting credentials. There is no doubt about who is that man of India among Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant. Playing both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin and asking Rishabh Pant to bat the number six position would be a brave call to make especially after the debacle in Adelaide, but the team management should not overlook that option given the kind of pitches that have been seen at the MCG in the last few years. Shami’s replacement The think-tank would be hurting at the loss of Shami, and more so when they are already without Ishant Sharma. The hole that Shami’s absence has created is so big that Sunil Gavaskar has said that the BCCI should send Ishant Sharma if he is fit enough to bowl 20 overs, irrespective of the travel complications the pandemic-hit world has imposed on people. Mohammed Siraj is the frontrunner to debut at the MCG and replace Shami at the bowling line up based on his excellent showing in the tour games. Another contender, Navdeep Saini is not too far below in the standings although he did not look as menacing as he was expected to be before the series in the tour games. Saini is tall and can extract steep bounce and can fulfil the like-for-like goals of the team in the absence of Ishant Sharma. The Indian team management has some tough calls to make before the second test and such tough calls will have to be made if the state of the Indian team has to improve. However, both Rahane and coach Ravi Shastri would do well to guide the youngsters out of any sense of insecurity and help them in coming out of that disastrous session in Adelaide. The pressure has well and truly increased on the touring side and they will have to move on from the horrific phase of the game in the last test and walk onto the field at the MCG with the belief that they can win in Australia, otherwise, the perpetual threat of a clean sweep has never gone away from them since the news about Virat Kohli’s paternity leave and Ishant Sharma’s absence broke out. Powered by Froala Editor

Cricket Australia to pay tribute to Johnny Mullagh in Boxing Day Test against India

As part of the 2019 Reconciliation Action Plan of Cricket Australia, the best performer of the next Test match between Australia and India, would be awarded the Johnny Mullagh Medal in a move to pay rich tribute to the country’s indigenous people. Johnny Mullagh was the captain of Australia’s first sporting team to tour internationally on the 1868 Aboriginal tour to the United Kingdom. The medal will be the belt buckle that the team had worn on the tour to the United Kingdom in 1868. “The best player in the Boxing Day Test will be awarded the Mullagh Medal, named after the legendary Johnny Mullagh, captain of the 1868 cricket team who became the first Australian sporting team to tour internationally! #AUSvIND,” Cricket Australia revealed on its Twitter handle. Mullagh, whose real name was Unaarrimin, captained the Indigenous squad and played in 45 of 47 matches. He was a professional all-rounder and, during the legendary 1868 tour, scored 1698 runs at an average of about 20. He also took 245 wickets at an average of 10 runs per wicket. He also played the role of a part-time wicketkeeper and during his career, he carried out four stumpings. Notably, before the start of the series against India, Australian vice-captain Pat Cummins had admitted that enough has not been done to recognise the indigenous people of the country. To address the issue, Cummins had said that the home team were to stand in a barefoot circle before the start of every series. Indian captain Virat Kohli, too, led his side to take part in the barefoot circle move. "We have decided to do the Barefoot Circle. We are going to look at doing it at the start of each series and it is a pretty easy decision for us. As soon as you try and learn a little bit about it, it just becomes a really easy decision. Not only as a sport but we as people are absolutely against racism. We can probably put our hands up and say we have not done enough in the past and we want to get better, so this is one small thing we are going to introduce this summer," Cummins had said.