England name Test squad for Sri Lanka series, Stokes and Archer rested

The England Cricket Team selectors have announced a 16 man strong squad for their tour of Sri Lanka which starts in January. Along with 16 main players, seven others have been named in the reserve list considering that the covid-19 is still a major issue for players' availability.

Considering it as an acclimatizing tour before the India series begins in February, the selectors have thought of resting Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. Jos Buttler, the main wicketkeeper part of this series, might be rested for some part of the India tour as well.

"The way to think about this winter is in three blocks of two Tests: Sri Lanka, India 1 and 2, India 3 and 4," Ed Smith, the chief selector said.

"We think that's the only way to make sure we balance having the right number of resources in each position, and also getting rest into those multi-format players like Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, and also Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, etc," he added.

Talking about Ben Stokes’ absence from the series due to his father’s death, Ed said, “It is a very difficult time for Ben and all our thoughts are with him and his family," Smith said. "[In the circumstances], it made sense for Ben to take his rest for the Sri Lankan tour, and to get ready for India."

Jonny Bairstow has found a place for the first time in the Test squad after last year’s South Africa series and he would like to make it count.

"Jonny has a really great opportunity here to get back into the Test mix as a batter, and that's a really exciting possibility for him," Smith said.

Dan Lawrence, an England Lions’ success story has also found a place in the senior side for the first time and in the absence of Ollie Pope from the main squad might get a chance as well.

"This is a great opportunity for Dan Lawrence," Smith said. "He's a really talented cricketer, a confident player in good form, and he is absolutely delighted about being selected in the full squad,” added the English selector about Lawrence.

The bowling unit has the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad along with three spinners in Jack Leach, Dom Bess, and Moeen Ali. Two express quicks in the form of Mark Wood and Ollie Stone have also found a place. The team is scheduled to play two Tests starting 14th January in Galle.

England men's Test squad: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Reserves: James Bracey, Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi.

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Twitter reacts to Renegades’ 145 run defeat, the biggest in BBL history

It was a day of historic happenings in the Big Bash League’s 10th edition. Firstly, the Adelaide Strikers put on the highest 10th wicket partnership against Hurricanes to avoid a humiliating defeat, then Melbourne Renegades decided to throw in the towel as early as possible succumbing to the biggest defeat in the BBL history after getting bowled out for just 60 runs in 10 overs. The Renegades’ chase was so much all over the place that only four of their batters crossed the double-digit and two of them were the number-6 and number-8. Chasing a total of 205, set up by the Sixers, the Red brigade was given early jolts in the form of skipper Aaron Finch, Sam Harper, and Rilee Rossouw getting out at just 16 runs. They could never recover from that early blow and wickets kept falling leaves from deciduous trees in autumn. Twitter was quick to pounce on the shambolic batting display from the Finch led side, and one man went on to call it a defeat to Josh Philippe instead of the entire Sixers team. Earlier, asked to bat after losing the toss, Sydney Sixers put aside their opening match defeat to present a resounding display of their batting scoring the highest total of the season so far. The inning was anchored by Josh Philippe who made 95 before being caught by Finch off Josh Lalor. Other major contributions came in from Daniel Hughes and Jordan Silk. Ben Dwarshuis and Steve Okeefe were the wreckers in chief for the Sixers with the ball. The left-arm spinner, Okeefe, who picked up three wickets was praised by none other than the former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting. Dwarshuis, 26, took four wickets in the game.

AUS A vs IND: Pacers start big but Wildermuth, McDermott mount resistance to Indian dominance

The second and last three-day tour match between Australia A and the touring Indian team ended in a draw as the pair of Jack Wildermuth and Ben McDermott put on an unbeaten 165 runs partnership to defy Indian from taking a mental advantage of a win going into the first Test match. The Indians declared their second innings overnight as it was evident from the approach of batsmen last night and set an improbable target of 473 runs to chase on the final day of the game. The move was clear as the tourists wanted their bowlers to get back into the rhythm required for the Test format after a fairly long time away from it. In the end, it could be said that they were able to extract the best outcomes out of the three-day game at the SCG. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah got into the groove immediately as the top order of the Australia A faltered yet again against their immaculate lines and lengths. Shnmi bowled with a plan and the wicket of Marcus Harris who was caught at the leg slip off a ball sliding down the leg side was not born out of luck but on the back of specific tactical moves and perfect execution. Time was running out for Joe Burns who had been selected for the first Test but his continuous struggle with the bat had him under all sorts of pressure while facing Shami and Bumrah. In a bid to counter Bumrah’s away going delivery after coming in with the angle and with his insecurity about the off stump, Burns looked resolved to change hsi guard and took a forward press across the line of the off stumps. But, Shami was too sharp for him and the chink that Bumrah had exposed in his armour in the first innings, was capitalised by another pacer in the group who caught him rooted to the crease in front of the stumps to deepen his misery. Mohammed Siraj turned out to be an effective third seamer in the game and bowled tight lengths to back up the level set by the pair of Shami and Bumrah. On the other hand, Saini looked rusty and has not looked like the possessing qualities at least now for which he was picked for this tour. Saini was a competitor for the third seamer role after the exclusion of Ishant Sharma but may well have fallen behind Siraj and Umesh Yadav in order of preference for the team management going into the first Test. After the dinner break, once again Bumrah and Shami started testing the Australian young batsmen but the pair of Wildermuth and McDermott weathered the storm and served India a valuable lesson about playing with the pink ball. After Rahane got enough of what he wanted out of the pacers, he called upon the part-time spin of Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw while Hanuma Vihari was called into chip in as a specialist off-spinner. Vihari has grabbed the opportunities with both hands throughout his career and the match was a no different case as he most certainly has locked in a slot for him with a century with the bat and added that with a wicket of Alex Carey who was looking ominous. Vihari can be the key for the Indians being an off-spinner who can be relied upon to bowl 10-12 overs in a day, especially if they decided to go in with four seamers in Adelaide. The batting unit barring few such as Prithvi Shaw and the captain Rahane clicked well in the game while the bowling unit looked sharp and ready for the gruelling Test series.

BBL 10 | Match Preview: Heat look to bounce back against Thunder

Two teams with slightly similar losses in their first game at the hands of the same opponent would look to bounce back from that in the second match where they are up against each other. While Brisbane Heat lost its plot in the middle of the first innings and couldn’t really get going, Thunder lost too many wickets early on in their chase and couldn’t catch up with the asking rate later on. Heat searching for stability in the middle Brisbane were not at all stable in their innings against the Stars with wickets falling at regular intervals and not even a single batsman going on to finish the innings. The likes of skipper Chris Lynn, foreign import Dan Lawrence and senior pros Tom Cooper and Jimmy Pierson need to take responsibility and provide stability to the batting lineup in the middle. The Heat bowlers more or less tried their best and accurate to an extent. Thus it is the batting that has to stand up and punch at least to its weight if not above it, making sure that the bowlers are well backed up. Thunder lower order must fire In their previous encounter against the stars, the Sydney team had done well to restrict a fiery brigade like the one led by Glenn Maxwell to under 170. Their top-order also rose to the occasion and even after Usman Khawaja failing as an opener, the foreign recruit Alex Hales and skipper Callum Ferguson were able to resurrect the innings and were knocking on the doors of victory at one point in time with 56 runs required from 32 balls and eight wickets in hands. However, just as both Ferguson and Hales were removed, the lower middle order couldn’t just rally behind to close in on the win, losing the plot from there on and eventually falling behind by 22 runs. It is here that the likes of Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, and Daniel Sams have to pull-up their socks and put in the efforts required from their side and take the team to victory. Sydney Thunder vs Brisbane Heat: Match Details Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra Date and Time: December 14, 1:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM Local, 8:15 AM GMT Broadcaster: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV Pitch Report These two teams would have the best knowledge of the pitch in the capital as they have both been part of the two matches that have taken place there so far. The pitch has looked like a wicket with something for everyone if the people applied their skills well. It is not a flat deck as has been the case in T20s, but it’s not even a burial ground for batters. This is actually the kind of wicket that teams look forward to. Weather and Toss Throughout the summer, Canberra has really been an ideal place for cricket and it would be similar tomorrow as well. The cloud cover in the evening is supposed to be around 60% helping the faster bowlers with the swing early on. There are no chances of rain, however, it would be chilly in the evening as the forecasted temperature is to be around 13 degrees celsius. The toss, therefore, becomes as the team winning the toss would look to bowl first and chase the target. Team News Brisbane Heat The Heat for sure are missing their foreign recruits in the form of Tom Banton and Mujeeb-Ur- Rahman along with the locals in Mitchell Swepson and Marnus Labuschagne. But it’s not them alone, therefore they would have to make do with the resources that they have. In such a scenario, it is likely that they would go in with the same xi as the last time. Predicted XI Chris Lynn (c), Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Daniel Lawrence, Tom Cooper, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Simon Milenko, Jack Wood, Xavier Bartlett, Ben Laughlin, Matthew Kuhnemann Sydney Thunder Thunder looked good with both the bat and the ball and hence changing the tried and tested XI would have no logical explanation, in that case, until all the players are available, we can see them going in with the same XI as in the last game. Predicted XI Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (c), Baxter Holt (wk), Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Jonathan Cook, Tanveer Sangha SYT vs BRH: Dream11 Predictions Alex Hales (c), Chris Lynn (vc), Callum Ferguson, Daniel Lawrence, Jimmy Peirson, Daniel Sams, Simon Milenko, Chris Green, Jack Wood, Tanveer Sangha, Ben Laughlin

BCCI ethics officer serves conflict of interest notice to N Srinivasan's daughter Rupa Gurunath

An ethics officer of the Board for Cricket Control in India, Justice DK Jain has issued a conflict of interest notice to the President of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), Rupa Gurunath for violating the norms set by the BCCI’s constitution. The notice was issued on December 08 and Justice Jain had said in that notice that he was responding to the complaints filed against Ms Gurunath. "Since a prima facie case is made out in the complaint, Gurunath should file her response by December 24. On your failure to respond to the present notice, the Ethics Officer shall be constrained to proceed in your absence, without giving any further opportunity of filing a response to the Complaint, to you," Justice Jain said in the notice. The notice was issued to Ms Gurunath, who is a daughter of former BCCI president N Srinivasan, after a complaint filed by a former life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, Sanjeev Gupta, who alleged that she is overseeing two roles simultaneously--one as the president of TNCA while the other being the whole-time director of the India Cements Ltd., the parent company that owns the Chennai Super Kings franchise in the Indian Premier League(IPL). Additionally, Gupta claims that all directors of the CSK franchise are invariably directors of the subsidiaries of India Cements Ltd. and give rise to an inevitable conflict of interest. The ethics officer Jain has asked Ms Gurunath to submit her response to these claims made by the complainant by December 24, 2020. Notably, the top brass of the board is set to meet for the Annual General Meeting where some of the key discussions on issues such as the addition of two more franchises in the IPL have to take place.