Mashrafe Mortaza apologises for violating bio-bubble rules

Players fearful to ask for break: Mohammad Amir attacks Pakistan selectors

Mohammed Amir, who has been dropped from the upcoming tour of New Zealand has questioned the ongoing selection policies by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The left-arm pacer said that players are reluctant to ask for a break in order to freshen up as they fear of getting dropped from the team. "The problem is that if a player musters the courage to say in Pakistan cricket that he wants rest, he is dropped, so players are now scared about speaking about it with the management," Amir told the 'News One' channel. Amir called for better communication between the selectors and players for the development of Pakistan cricket. He said that players are developing the mindset of living in the fear of getting the axe from the squad. He suggested that players should be given space to express their point of views openly when and if they need and the selectors, too, should understand and consider their problems. “There is a mindset in Pakistan cricket where players are scared of being dropped from the team. I think this communication gap should be removed between players and the management. If a player wants to take a break he should be happy to speak about it with the management and they should understand his point of view and give him rest instead of dropping him from the team," Amir said. He cited the example of ‘controversy’ that his decision to retire from Tests created although he says that coach Mickey Arthur knew well in advance that I had to leave Test cricket due to increased workload. He said a prolonged hiatus from cricket due to his time in prison and ban left him without cricket and when he returned after a ban of five years, he faced issues with his knees, eyes, and shoulders but his calls for workload management were not heeded by the selectors and physios. Amir also rued the fact that people still can’t look at him beyond the lens of his past that was marred by a spot-fixing scandal. Amir expressed disappointment that the world still judges him for his past and overlooks his present. Mohammed Amir, who has been dropped from the upcoming tour of New Zealand has questioned the ongoing selection policies by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The left-arm pacer said that players are reluctant to ask for a break in order to freshen up as they fear of getting dropped from the team. "The problem is that if a player musters the courage to say in Pakistan cricket that he wants rest, he is dropped, so players are now scared about speaking about it with the management," Amir told the 'News One' channel. Amir called for better communication between the selectors and players for the development of Pakistan cricket. He said that players are developing the mindset of living in the fear of getting the axe from the squad. He suggested that players should be given space to express their point of views openly when and if they need and the selectors, too, should understand and consider their problems. “There is a mindset in Pakistan cricket where players are scared of being dropped from the team. I think this communication gap should be removed between players and the management. If a player wants to take a break he should be happy to speak about it with the management and they should understand his point of view and give him rest instead of dropping him from the team," Amir said. He cited the example of ‘controversy’ that his decision to retire from Tests created although he says that coach Mickey Arthur knew well in advance that I had to leave Test cricket due to increased workload. He said that no one from the team management had a word with him for months after he made his decision known to them but an unnecessary controversy was created after the defeat against Australia last year. He said a prolonged hiatus from cricket due to his time in prison and ban left him without cricket and when he returned after a ban of five years, he faced issues with his knees, eyes, and shoulders but his calls for workload management were not heeded by the selectors and physios. Ultimately, Amir in pursuit of prolonging his career, decided to call it a day in the longest format of the game. "I only decided to retire from Test cricket when I realised my body could not take it and if I wanted to prolong my career I had to do something. So I decided to give up Test cricket to prolong my career," Amir added. Amir also rued the fact that people still can’t look at him beyond the lens of his past that was marred by a spot-fixing scandal. Amir expressed disappointment that the world still judges him for his past and overlooks his present. "Yes what happened in 2010 was wrong and I paid for it by being out of cricket for five years so much so I couldn't even play club matches. But people still tend to judge you by the past, not from the present. I think only God has the power to be judgmental and I just believe if your conscience is clear it is okay. But there is more negativity than positivity in Pakistan cricket," Amir said.

David Warner's Injury Could Bring About a First for Australia in 20 Years

There are serious concerns in the Australian camp about the availability of David Warner for the first Test against India that begins on December 17. However, if Warner indeed isn't available for the first Test, the Aussie team may provide a sight not seen in the last 20 years. It will be of two right-handed batsmen opening the innings for them. These two openers, if things turn out this way, would be Joe Burns and Will Pucovski. Warner injured his groin during the second ODI against India on Sunday. He has been ruled out for the T20I series against India and now, coach of the team, Justin Langer, has stated that he isn't "holding his breath" hoping for Warner to be fit in time for the opening Test of the series. Joe Burns has played quite a few Tests for Australia at the Test level but hasn't been able to retain his spot. Pucovski, on the other hand, is a highly-talented young batsman who scored back-to-back double hundreds recently in the Sheffield Shield. There is a third contender for the opening slot in the form of Marcus Harris, who opened the innings for Australia in their last series against India. But Burns and Pucovski seems to be ahead in the race at the moment. So, who were the two right-handers who opened the innings for Australia 20 years ago? They were Michael Slater and Greg Blewett. These two opened the innings for Australia, together, 22 times. It was in March 2000 that they last came out together at the start of the innings. Since then, Australia have used 33 opening pairs but not a single one of them has had two right-handers. The legendary Matthew Hayden-Justin Langer duo was the most prominent and played a key role in making the team a most dominant force in world cricket. Aussies haven't been able to find a stable replacement for the Hayden-Langer duo since the two parted. David Warner established himself as an opener in 2011 and has opened with several other batsmen. The search for a long-term partner for him still continues. In terms of history, the most successful opening combine for Australia in Tests, consisting of two right-handers, was the one of Geoff Marsh and David Boon. They scored 1871 runs at an average of 46.78 during thier stint.

BJ Watling doubtful for 1st Test against Windies, Kiwis call up Devon Conway

New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling is doubtful for the first Test against West Indies scheduled to start on December 03. Kiwis’ head coach Gary Stead has confirmed the status of Watling injury and said that the right-hander has picked up a hamstring niggle in a domestic List A tournament. Watling’s injury has opened the selection door for rookie Devon Conway as the left-hander has been added to the Test squad as a cover for Watling. He has had an outstanding run of form in the current season of the domestic Plunket Shield, amassing 410, following an equally dominating last Plunket Shield season where he had piled on 710 runs with the top score of 327 not out. Conway has shown his mettle with the bat in the just-concluded T20 series against West Indies and he will face a stiff challenge from Will Young for an opener’s slot to partner Tom Latham at the top of the order as the head coach Gary Stead has confirmed that Tom Blundell who had opened in the last Test series against India will be shifted down the order to replace Watling as a wicketkeeper. Will Young scored a splendid 133 runs against the touring West Indies squad for the Test series. New Zealand won the T20 series 2-0 after persistent spells of rain washed off the last game. The competition for the men in maroon will be a lot stiffer in Tests as Kiwis will bank on the experience and pedigree and variation of its pacers along with the reliability and class of batsmen such as Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.

NZ vs PAK: Three more COVID-19 positive push overall tally in Pakistan camp to 10

There seems to be no end to troubles for the Pakistan cricket team on the ongoing tour of New Zealand as three more players have tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection. The latest addition of cases takes the overall tally of COVID-19 within the tourists camp to 10 and all have been shifted to a separate isolation centre, away from the remaining 42 members of the 53-men touring party. The New Zealand Health Ministry said in its bulletin that it is assessing if the three new cases are ‘historic cases’ while the result of a test is still pending. The ministry further outlined that the ban on their training that was imposed after members of the squad started testing positive will remain effective until local health officials rule out any chance of Covid-19 transmission in the city and country. “Day 6 swabs were taken yesterday from the 46 members of the Pakistan cricket squad in Christchurch who to date have returned negative test results for COVID-19. Of those, 42 have subsequently returned a further negative test result. Three are under investigation to determine whether they are historical cases, and one test result is pending. The team is not allowed to train until the Canterbury DHB medical officer of health determines they are satisfied that any training activities are unlikely to transmit COVID-19,” NZ’s Health Ministry said in its health bulletin. Notably, the members of the squad have been served a ‘final warning’ from the government against breaching the Covid-19 related guidelines they were caught flouting earlier. The CEO of Waseem Khan has already apprised the players and members of the consequence of another breach of the guidelines which can be as severe as the country sending them back home without any cricket.