England players test negative for covid-19 in Chennai

Tom Banton might skip IPL to concentrate on county cricket

Flamboyant English batsman Tom Banton is contemplating skipping the next edition of the Indian Premier League as he is of the opinion that he is at such a stage that he needs to play more and more cricket rather than just warming benches. The IPL Auctions is slated to be held on 18th February and all the franchises have announced their list of released and retained players. Banton who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders set-up in 2020 after being bought at his base price of 1 crore was among those 6 players released by the franchise. The young batsman who is capable of decimating any bowling attack on their day had to worm the benches for the major part of the tournament last year. He just played a couple of matches scoring 18 runs. During his interaction with Sky Sports, Banton reiterated the fact that IPL was a tournament that he loved being part of while growing up but in hindsight, he wants to play more cricket rather than warming the benches. “Growing up as a kid the IPL was a tournament that I absolutely loved watching. But I feel like I'm at a stage now where I need to be playing cricket instead of sitting on the bench," Tom Banton told Sky sports. Banton further added that he has warmed the benches so much that he is currently missing playing cricket. "The last year has taught me quite a bit, obviously all these tournaments are great but a lot of them I've been sat on the sidelines and not really doing a huge amount. I miss batting and playing cricket if I'm being honest," he said. He further added that he might skip the IPL in order to play for his county and get close to the dream of representing England in the longest format. "I feel at this point in my career it's probably best if I play a few red-ball games for Somerset and get back into that because I do miss playing red-ball cricket and my ambition is still to play Test cricket. We'll have to wait and see. I still haven't decided yet, but I'm just going to speak to a few people and try to decide from there,” he signed off.

Potentially more threatening: Michael Vaughan on ‘bouncer’ ban suggestions

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has said that banning bouncers in Under-18 cricket could potentially be more harmful to the young cricketers as they would be suddenly exposed to it in senior cricket and hence would most likely not be able to play. “It is a ridiculous suggestion and yet another example of something risky being termed as ‘too dangerous’,” he wrote in his column for The Telegraph. Concussion specialist and the Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation, media director of Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation, Michael Turner had suggested to the Marylebone Cricket Club, the custodian of the cricket laws that to deal with the menace of concussion, bouncers are banned for junior cricketers. Defending why kids must play with the bouncers, Vaughan, 46, said, “I see kids play at junior level and my son too plays, there is very little short-pitched bowling. The kids don’t have that much of physical strength to bowl short pitch.” The batsmen who made over 5,700 runs in Test cricket at an average of more than 40 further warned the MCC saying, “Young batsmen have got to learn to play that stuff because if we ban it at the junior level, we would have to ban it all levels.” Concussion became an important issue in the sport of cricket after an Australian opener Phil Hughes was hit on the head by a bouncer from Sean Abbott and died due to the concussion caused by it.

Abdur Razzak included in the Bangladesh selection panel

Former Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has been appointed as the national team selector by the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday. Reports had emerged early in 2020 that Razzak was offered the role but the BCB had to prolong his appointment due to the COVID pandemic. The board has approved the inclusion of former Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak in the national selection panel,'' BCB stated in a statement after the 9th meeting of the BCB board of directors as per reports in the Cricbuzz. The meeting was conducted via a zoom call. It must be noted that the left-arm spinner is yet to announce his retirement from competitive cricket. During his interaction with Cricbuzz, Razzak said that he is looking forward to the opportunity in a new role. He further stated that his involvement in domestic cricket will come in handy as it will allow him to understand the psyche of the players better and how they would react to different situations. ''I will make a call on my domestic career soon considering BCB just informed me that I am included in the selection panel,'' said Razzak. I think it's a new challenge and I am looking forward to it,'' he said. ''I think I have got a good knowledge about the cricketers considering I am still playing with them and it is going to be my biggest advantage as I have seen them how they react at different situations'' he added. Razzak will be the 3rd member of the selection panel headed by Minhajul Abedin and his deputy being former Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar. Abedin has been part of the selection panel since 2011 but was elevated as the chief selector in 2016. Bashar was part of the selection panel for the women’s team before moving to the men’s team in 2016.

Umpire Bruce Oxenford announces retirement from international cricket

Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford has announced retirement from international cricket and ended his 15-year-long career as the umpire at the highest level of the game. Oxenford was one of the members on the ICC Elite Panel and officiated in 62 Test matches. The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a statement of Oxenford in which the 60-year-old looks back on his career that gave him the opportunity to judge close to 200 international games. "I look back with pride at my international career as an umpire. It is still hard to believe that I officiated in close to 200 international matches. Such a long career was not really something that I had hoped for before commencing on this journey," said Oxenford in an ICC statement. Oxenford made his umpiring debut at the international stage in 2006 in a T20 game between Australia and South Africa at the Gabba where coincidentally he finished his career as well when he stood in the final Test of the Australian summer against India at the same ground. Oxenford thanked Cricket Australia, ICC and his colleagues with whom he has served for the game and received a lot of guidance and support for that. "I would like to thank the International Cricket Council, Cricket Australia and all my colleagues in the ICC Elite and International panels for their support and encouragement over the years," he said. "I had a wonderful time as a match official and will miss the camaraderie that comes with being a part of such a professional group. I shall particularly miss seeing and interacting with the magnificent people who are part of the support structure of our game around the world." Meanwhile, he also announced that his service will continue in domestic cricket. "Whilst I will no longer stand in International matches, I look forward to continuing to serve the game that I love - officiating within Australia," he added.