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Fresh Covid 19 Outbreak Forces Ca To Airlift Players To Nsw

Fresh Covid-19 outbreak forces CA to airlift players to NSW

In a dramatic sequence of events, Cricket Australia the governing body for the Archipelago’s national sport airlifted several players involved in the Indian series from their bases in Western Australia, Tasmania, and Queensland and South Australia to Sydney and Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. This was done to avoid any risk of the cricketing summer getting disrupted because of the covid-19, as fresh signs of a spike in the cases were seen in Adelaide, South Australia.

The players airlifted are either a part of the Australian men's ODI and T20I squads which would take on India or those who will participate in the Big Bash League and have their bases in Western Australia, Tasmania, or Queensland as the three states closed its borders with South Australia (SA) following a spike.

"CA has taken a pro-active approach and mobilized a number of people across the country over the past 24 hours to shore up our men's domestic and international schedules," Cricket Australia's Interim CEO Nick Hockley said.

While the international players have been moved to Sydney, those based out of South Australia along with the Adelaide Strikers team have been moved to a training base in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.

Adelaide doesn’t get a Big Bash League game until December 28 as the initial leg is staged in Tasmania, New South Wales, and Queensland.

Players were enjoying a week off when they got the call to pack urgently and prepare to relocate, with some of the Strikers squad having to make a mad dash back home from Kangaroo Island.

"I would like to thank the players and staff for their understanding regarding the changes to their travel schedules and for their commitment to ensuring the summer of cricket is a huge success,” Hockley added.

The CA also confirmed that no domestic player visited any of the "hot spots" in Adelaide as identified by the SA Health department, during the Sheffield Shield last week.

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CSK should not retain Dhoni; Aakash Chopra provides alternative

The Indian Premier League might have taken the backseat for now but the excitement for the next season has already begun with the buzz regarding the Mega Auction of 2021. Speaking in that regard former India player turned cricket pundit, Aakash Chopra believes that Chennai Super Kings, the three-time champions should not retain their talismanic captain, MS Dhoni. “I think CSK should release MS Dhoni going into the mega auction, if there is a mega auction then you will be with that player for three years. But will Dhoni stay with you for three years?” questioned Chopra in his YouTube video, uploaded on his own channel. To perpetuate his argument about the 39-year-old former India captain, Chopra said, “I am not saying don’t keep Dhoni, he will play the next IPL, but if you keep him as a retained player you will have to pay Rs 15 crore. But if Dhoni does not stay with you for three years and he plays just the 2021 season, you will get the Rs 15 crore back for the 2022 edition,” he said. Providing an option to CSK on how they could still have Dhoni and not spend Rs 15 crore, Chopra said, “You can pick him with the right to match card and you can pick the right players by having the desired money in your kitty.” Saying that CSK will not look at the likes of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh for the next season, Chopra suggested that CSK needs a mega auction badly to create a team from the scratch. “CSK needs a mega auction; the side does not have many players that can be retained. If you want to make a team from the scratch, then are you willing to spend big bucks on the likes of Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu?” he said.

Jos Buttler urges players to speak about potential bio-Bubble pressure

England star wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler is of the opinion that players must speak about any sort of pressure that they might feel because of the bio-bubble situation that has been forced upon them because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “If you’re feeling under pressure or not quite yourself, the key is to have the confidence to open up and talk about it,” said Buttler in a press conference. Adding that feeling the pressure or claustrophobic or homesick is not unique and everyone goes through it, the 30-year-old said that the England Cricket Board has been quite supportive of the players, whenever they have come out with anything related to personal or professional well being. “We all go through it at different stages where you feel a bit homesick or claustrophobic ... We just want to make sure everyone in the squad is aware of that. The ECB is excellent at looking after the players’ mental well-being,” said the Taunton born. Saying that it would not be possible, like previous tours to explore South Africa during their half month-long tour, Buttler said that it’s a good thing that players are well aware of it. “We won’t get to fully enjoy South Africa but everyone has become accustomed to what it’s going to be like.” England’s tour of the rainbow nation begins with a T20I series with the first match in Newlands, Cape Town. The team will play three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs between November 27 and December 9 in South Africa.

Carey looking to cement T20I place via a solid ODI series against India

Australia’s number one choice OSI wicketkeeper Alex Carey is looking to make a comeback to the Australian T20I unit by performing well against the Indian Team in the upcoming ODI series. Carey, who was part of the Delhi Capitals during the IPL, didn’t really get many chances to prove his worth there. "I learned a lot, I speak to Ricky quite often. I was lucky enough to work with him through the World Cup last year and formed a good relationship. He was an amazing player and is an amazing coach, and he picks up on little things really quickly,” Carey was quoted as saying to cricket.com.au about his IPL experience. While he trained under Ricky Ponting in the IPL, currently under quarantine, he is still being trained under the Aussie batting maestro. Carey believes that a lack form opened the door for Matthew Wade in the Aussie team and he wishes to reclaim it. "I guess my numbers in the past few T20s probably allowed the opening of the door for Wadey to come in. I never like being left out of any team but it's allowed me to go away and develop,” he said. "If it's a lower-order role or back up the top of the order, I'm doing everything I can to get back into that team and it's something I want to do,” the 29-year-old said about his plans for making the comeback. Carey’s last performance in an international match saw him score a hundred and win a series for Australia against arch-rivals England. The Loxton born says that he has gained a lot of confidence from that. Although his international T20 records are dismal (176 in 30 matches at an average of 12.57 and strike-rate of 116.55) the club records with Adelaide strikers (1,163 runs at 36.34 in 35 games) gives him hopes. “Since then (100 vs England) I felt like I finished off that UK tour really strongly and took a lot out of the IPL working with. It's an exciting two weeks for me as part of the white-ball group," said Carey. Considering the three matches and the BBL as a great opportunity to make his position permanent in the T20I side before the World Cup, Carey said, "Although it's 12 months away, you want to hone in on some specific roles and getting some form going into that World Cup.”

Pujara needs to work harder to this time around in Aus: Glenn McGrath

Former Aussie fast bowler and one of the greatest in the world, Glenn McGrath believes that Indian Test maestro Cheteshwar Pujara would have to work a lot harder this time around to make sure that he is anywhere near to his brilliant performance during India’s historic 2018-19 series win against the Aussies. The reason for the fast bowler’s assessment is the fact that Pujara hasn’t spent much time in the middle and therefore looks rusty at first. “The fact that he hasn’t spent time in the middle hasn’t had a lot of long batting time, is going to have a big impact. He will probably have to work harder this series than the last one as he hasn’t played any cricket,” McGrath was quoted as saying about the 32-year-old Indian. However, the Aussie great who has 563 Test scalps to his name does not count Pujara out and rates his methods as top-class saying that he can well make up for the time off the field. “The thing he did so well last time was that he occupied the crease. He spent time in the middle just batting,” said the 50-year-old. Saying that he doesn’t get bogged down by playing dots, McGrath counted Pujara as one of the rarities in modern-day cricket. “He is a kind of batsman who doesn’t feel pressure when not scoring runs. That’s unique in the modern era where there are batsmen who would want to score runs after one maiden over,” he said. “Pujara doesn’t have that mindset. That helped him last time, allowed him to get a lot of time and just compile runs,” added the Dubbo born. Last time around, Pujara in 7 innings, had aggregated 521 runs including 3 match-winning hundreds across three venues with an average of 74.43.