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England not keen to try debutants in Ashes, coach Silverwood urges new players to grab opportunity

In an expected move, England have rested star players returning from the IPL to hand opportunities to younger players for the series against New Zealand. Head coach Chris Silverwood confirmed that the decision was taken with an eye on the Ashes series scheduled for this year's end down under. 

Silverwood said that England are reluctant to face situations in Australia where they will have to bring in youngsters to debut and instead they have found a way to groom new players through ‘different experiences’ before the marquee rivalry begins.

"It's one thing we've talked about, to try and get to the point where we're not debuting anybody in Australia. It's been a plan now for a while and we have given different people different experiences, debuted people, got more experience into people, so we're banking that all the way to the Ashes, really,” Silverwood said.

England have given maiden call ups to Ollie Robinson and James Bracey for the Tests against the Blackcaps and the message from the Silverwood-led team management is simple: “Take your opportunity..”

The Test series against New Zealand is scheduled to take off from June 02 at Lord’s.

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Recovered from Covid-19, Michael Hussey looks back on time during IPL 2021

Michael Hussey was one of the few people who had tested positive for the Covid-19 infection and now, having recovered and returned to his homeland, the left-hander has opened up on his journey before and after contracting the virus in India. He had felt some symptoms related to Covid-19 and he also had a seating arrangement near the CSK bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji who was reported to have contracted the virus before him. Hence, he presumed that he too contracted the virus from Balaji. “To be honest, I had already started feeling some of the symptoms and so I was thinking, I’m pretty sure I’ve got it. Plus I was sitting next to the bowling coach on the bus a few times, so I thought, ‘If he’s got it then there’s a pretty good chance I’ve got it as well,” Hussey told Foxsports.com.au. The former Australia batsman further said that the first report suggested a weak infection and it led to him hoping for a negative result in the second round of testing. To his dismay though, the second test only confirmed the infection. “I wasn’t thinking about (getting home) too much to start with. I was focusing on just trying to get better again, really. My initial test came up as a weak positive, and we were sort of hoping the next would be negative and it’d be alright, but unfortunately, I got retested the next day and that came back positive,” he said. Explaining his thoughts just after confirmation of infection, Hussey said that he felt terrible initially but gathered his sense soon enough to not worry about anything such as breathing issues that Covid-19 brings with itself to get set on the recovery path. “I was a bit like, ‘Oh gosh, why me’, but I didn’t really think too much at all. I thought it was a bit of a shame. But I certainly wasn’t worried about my breathing or things like that,” he added. “It was just a bit annoying, really,” Hussey added. Elaborating where he or Balaji would have contracted the virus, the left-handed batsman said that contracting the virus from the ground was a certain possibility. He also said that the Mumbai leg of the tournament was relatively safe and secure and that they felt more vulnerable after leaving the bubble in Mumbai for the next round of matches scheduled for Delhi. “So there was a risk there. It (also) could have been at the ground; there was ground staff while we were there training and on game day. There was certainly more risk once we left that Mumbai bubble,” said the 45-year-old. The Western Australian did not join the Aussie contingent who travelled to the Maldives to spend time in isolation till Cricket Australia managed to find a way for them to enter the country. Hussey travelled on a commercial flight via Qatar to Australia but reached on the same day when his other countrymen hit home.

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Legends of the game: Williamson praises Broad and Anderson ahead of England Test series

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson feels that England speedsters in James Anderson and Stuart Broad are legends of the game and that they are still playing is no short of great achievement. The Blackcap further went on to say that playing against England in English conditions is going to be a tough challenge, especially because of the talent pool they have at their display. Talking about England’s depth of the squad and how well they are managing it, Williamson said, “They have got a lot of Tests coming up. Starting with us and then there is India and Australia (Actually they play West Indies first and then go for Ashes down under, although Windies tour isn’t confirmed as of now). And when there is so much volume in cricket, you gt to manage it well.” “Look, they have got world-class players and have a huge amount of depth in the squad. And the credit for this goes to the quality and amount of cricket being played in the UK. So we are going to be up against a tough challenge in the upcoming Test series,” added the 30-year-old about the two-match series beginning with the first Test in Lord’s from June 2. Both Broad and Anderson, who among them have more than 1100 Test wickets, have been picked for the series and Williamson couldn’t have enough praise for the duo. “Legends of the game aren’t they?’ he said. “They are still playing, still very fit and going as well as they have ever done. Naturally, they are world-class players and know these conditions better than anyone else. They are still going at the highest level of the game is just incredible,” said Williamson in a video uploaded by the official account of New Zealand cricket.

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I respect his reasons, let’s move forward now: Mark Boucher on de Villiers decision

South Africa Head Coach Mark Boucher, who was one of the most vocal voices asking former South Africa skipper and a T20 legend AB de Villiers to reconsider his retirement and join the national team, seems to have now made peace with it. Boucher feels that the 360-degree player has his reasons to not get back to international cricket and he respects that. "AB has his reasons, which I respect. Unfortunately, he’s no longer in the mix. I say unfortunately because I think we all agree that he’s still one of the best – if not the best – T20 players in world cricket," Boucher was quoted as saying to The Citizen. In a recent development, Cricket South Africa, while announcing the squad for the upcoming West Indies tour, did not select de Villiers into the squad. Later on, the board confirmed that the 37-year old's retirement is the final call and there would be no coming back for the player. Boucher, who played alongside the RCB player at the national level, wanted him to come back after the latter announced a sudden retirement from all forms of international cricket. Boucher further delved on the topic saying that de Villiers wanted the up and coming players to serve the team, thus not becoming a hurdle in their way, he decided to stay put on his retirement decision. "He alluded to being concerned about coming in ahead of other players who have been a part of the system. I don’t think it sat well with him, which I understand," the former South Africa wicketkeeper explained. The 45-year-old finally said that all must come to realise that there would be no option of de Villiers for South Africa anymore and hence must move on. "As a coach, I needed to try and get our best players, for the team and the environment. AB is an energy booster in any environment, but I respect his reasoning. It was worth a go, but now let’s move forward," he said.