Moeen Ali backs Ollie Robinson after ban for historic tweets, commends ECB for 'good' punishment

I didn’t watch it much: Tim Paine disappointed after missing out WTC Final due to slow over-rate

Australian Test skipper Tim Paine said that he couldn’t watch the World Test Championship Final because he felt dirty, unable to qualify for the finals because of points deducted due to slow over-rate. “I didn’t watch too much of it. I watched the last day. I turned it on excited to watch the first day. I thought I was excited, and then got a bit dirty and didn’t watch it,” Paine was quoted as saying to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Tasmania born said that he was ‘Bitterly disappointed’ at the points deduction mostly because the Aussies pride themselves on doing things right. “We’ve always got things in place to try to help out with that, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always work,” Paine said. The 36-year-old was not happy with the fact that his team were docked points for slow over rates while it happens in almost all Tets and yet his were the only team that paid the price. “We were behind on our overs, and that’s what it is. My thing is just with the consistency. I haven’t played in too many days where the full overs have been bowled,” Paine complained. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you’re the only team that’s been docked points and you see it happen Test match after Test match, after Test match,” he added. Although South Africa too were docked six points for a slow over-rate against England.

Our bowlers experienced enough to utilise UAE conditions better: Waqar Younis on T20 World Cup

Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that with a lot of matches played in UAE by his team, the bowlers are equipped well with experience to dow ell in the upcoming T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in UAE. “Fortunately, we have played a lot of cricket in UAE and our bowlers have a good idea that how and where to bowl in those conditions,” Younis said in a virtual press conference from Derby, England, where the Pakistani team is currently practising for their limited-overs series against the hosts. The 49-year-old further went on to say that his main concern is to see that the team is kept above individual performances. “We don't look into players ranking, our only concern is team performance. If the team performs well players ranking will automatically improve,” he said. Due to incessant rains in most parts of England and Wales, the Pakistan team hasn’t ideal practice situations. However, former Pakistan skipper Younis believes that such is the climate of England that his team mustn’t complain. “We are not getting ideal weather since the last couple of days but this is usual in England. Our bowlers are responding well in these conditions even though they had come from different conditions of UAE,” said the coach. Calling PSL star bowler Shahnawaz Dahani a ‘talented guy’, Waqar assured that the Larkana born could do better if imparted with the right coaching and given more exposure. “He can do better and we will try to utilise him as much as we can,” he added.

'Selfish' Tim Paine hopes Steve Smith prefers Ashes over T20 World Cup

A couple of days after Steve Smith opened up about prioritising Test cricket and the Ashes series ahead of the T20 World Cup, Australia Test captain Tim Paine has expressed a ‘selfish’ hope that the team’s star batsman chooses the longest format over the global extravaganza. Smith has been struggling with a recurrent elbow injury and Paine put his faith behind Smith’s rehabilitation to come good in a very busy year that has a T20 World Cup and an Ashes series line up one after another. Paine expressed his wish of Smith prolonging his career by five or six years but conceded that it would be a tough task considering his age and busy schedules. "What's important for me is that he (Smith) is fit to go, whether that's at the T20 World Cup or for the Ashes. Obviously from a selfish point of view, I would love him to be one hundred per cent fit and if that means he misses that (T20 World Cup) tournament, then so be it,” Paine said in a post-match press conference. “But I think Steve's a professional, he'll know where his body's at and if he doesn't feel like he's right then he'll make the right call. He's the best player in the world and you take the best player of any side out, it creates a bit of a hole so fingers crossed his elbow comes good. He's been dealing with it for a while now and finds a way to get up, but as he gets older it probably gets a bit harder to keep pushing through it. "So it's important now we've got the time (in the playing schedule) that he takes that time, and tries to get one hundred per cent right, not just for the Ashes but to try and prolong his career for another four, five, six years." Earlier last week, Smith had expressed his staunch commitment to the longest format and said that he would walk away from standing a chance to get into the T20 World Cup side if it would hamper his chances in the Ashes series. "There's still a bit of time between now and (the T20 World Cup), and I'm tracking okay at the moment – it's slow, but I'm going okay. I'd love to be part of the World Cup, for sure, but from my point of view, Test cricket, that's my main goal – to be right for the Ashes and try to emulate what I've done in the last few Ashes series I've been involved in,” Smith had told cricket.com.au. Paine also took note of the tight scheduling Australia’s multi-format players will have to manage in case the side makes it to the final of the World cup and lack of match practice leading up to the all-important Ashes series. Players such as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, David Warner could miss out on the only Test against Afghanistan scheduled to start on November 27 in case the side reach the final of the World Cup scheduled to be played on November 14. Paine reiterated the ‘two huge goals’—winning the T20 World Cup and the Ashes series for Australian cricket this year but conceded that the players will arrive in the longest format without match practice. However, he exuded confidence in players’ abilities to adapt and said that players have had enough experience of coping with the demands of the longest format from the past and it would not be any different this time. "We'd like our T20 side to go as deep as they can in the tournament, so if they do it looks like a couple of weeks quarantine when they get home and it will probably be tight to be available for the (Afghanistan) Test match. But our players have come into an Ashes series in England before without any red-ball cricket, and if we have to do that then I think now in the professional era of international cricket guys can cope with it and do it really well. "Internally and externally, we've been really clear on the two huge goals that are ahead - one of those is the T20 World Cup and the other one's the Ashes - and we want all of our best players on the park for a majority, if not all of those tournaments if we can." Paine was under immense pressure after losing a home series to India in the last summer and hence the onus will be on him to turn things around in the Ashes series this summer.

Shreyas Iyer raring to come back in IPL, downplays talks around Delhi Capitals captaincy

India’s middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer has said that he will be fit and ready in the second half of the Indian Premier League scheduled to be played in September. Iyer was ruled out of the initial half of the IPL 14 after dislocating his shoulder in the ODI series against England. Then, he had undergone surgery and Iyer has now confirmed the healing process has conlcuded and that he will be back in action in one month time. “My shoulder… yes, I think the healing process is done. Now it’s the last stage of achieving strength and range. So that’s going to take about a month and the training is obviously going on. Other than that, I feel, I will be there in the IPL," Iyer told The Grade Cricketer’s YouTube channel. Shreyas Iyer had been leading the Delhi Capitals franchise in the IPL since the middle of the 2018 edition but his shoulder injury saw Rishabh Pant leading the side in this year’s edition. It has been speculated that if he wil be reinstated as the captain of the Capitals in the second half of the tournament, but Iyer said that captaincy is the last thing on his mind. Instead, he said that his only goal is to the maiden IPL title for the Capitals. “I don’t know about the captaincy, it’s in the hands of the owners. But the team has already been doing well and we are on top and that’s what really matters to me. My main aim and goal to lift the trophy which Delhi has never done before,” Iyer added. Shreyas Iyer’s return will bolster Delhi Capitals’ batting which suffered a little bit due to inexperience in the first half of the tournament.