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New Zealand Allrounder Amelia Kerr Prioritises Mental Health Pulls Out Of White Ferns England Tour

New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr prioritises mental health, pulls out of White Ferns' England tour

New Zealand Women’s team’s key all-rounder and one of their star players Amelia Kerr has pulled out of the team’s England tour to prioritise her mental health and well being. The White Ferns’ England tour begins on September 2. They are to play three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs on the tour.

"I love representing New Zealand and playing for the WHITE FERNS. However, after plenty of consultation with my support network, putting my mental health and well-being first is my number one priority. I've not taken this decision lightly I feel this is best for me at the current time,” Kerr was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Sophie Devine, the White Ferns’ skipper said that she and the team respect Kerr’s decision and is certain that whenever she comes back, she will do it with a bang.

"We're obviously going to miss Melie in England. It's important we talk openly about it because it can get tough and we need to ensure our players, teammates and friends are looked after. We're all wrapping around Melie and know she'll make a comeback when she's ready,” she said.

Kerr's importance to the squad can be gauged from the fact that in 41 ODIs, the 20-year-old youngster has taken 61 wickets at an average of 25.40 and has scored more than 600 runs at a batting average of around 30.

New Zealand squad: Sophie Devine (c), Amy Satterthwaite (vc), Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Claudia Green, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Jess Kerr, Katey Martin (wk), Leigh Kasperek, Rosemary Mair, Jess McFadyen* (wk), Thamsyn Newton, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu

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Salem Spartans vs Nellai Royal Kings: When & where to watch match LIVE, Probable XI, Fantasy XI

Salem Spartans will be up against Nellai Royal Kings in Chennai. Spartans haven’t really been in good form and are presently placed at the bottom of the points table after suffering defeats in three of the five matches that they have played. Nellai Royal Kings have won two and lost matches out of the five they have featured in the tournament so far. One game was washed away due to rain. The Royal Kings would be riding high on confidence as they would be coming into this game on the back of a win against Dindigul Dragons in the last match. The Kings’ batting order was among some runs and anchored the side to a comfortable win. Spartans on the other side, lost their last match against Ruby Trichy Warriors after their batting order failed to put a defendable total on the board. Match Details Match: SLST vs NRK, 23rd Match, Tamil Nadu Premier League 2021 Date: Thursday, August 05, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai TV: Star Sports Network Live Streaming: Disney+Hotstar Pitch Report The track in Chennai might favour the bowlers, especially spinners. So, if you win the toss, elect to field first. Moreover, as the game progresses, dew can also play some role. Probable XI Salem Spartans: S Abhishek, Akshay Srinivasan, Daryl Ferrario (c), Vijay Shankar, Umashankar Sushil (wk), Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Karthikeyan, M Ganesh Moorthi, AVR Rathnam, Lokesh Raj, G Periyaswamy Nellai Royal Kings: Baba Aparajith (c), Laxmesha Suryaprakash, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Baba Indrajith (wk), Sanjay Yadav, Arjun Murthy, Jitendra Kumar, Sri Neranjan, NS Harish, Trilok Nag, V Athisayaraj Davidson Fantasy XI B. Indrajith, A. Srinivasan, B. Aparajith (VC), D. Ferrario, S. Yadav, V. Shankar, G. Periyaswamy (C), M. Ashwin, N. Harish, T. Lokesh Raj, V. Athisayaraj Davidson

MCC to honour Rachael Heyhoe Flint by naming a Lord's gate after her

One of the pioneers of Women’s cricket England’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint would be honoured with a gate being named in her name at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. The decision was taken by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on the 45th anniversary of the first-ever Women’s game played at the iconic venue in 1976, in which Heyhoe Flint captained England Women against Australia Women. As per the announcement, the gates are set to be commissioned and unveiled in the summer of 2022, and will replace the current North Gate by Wellington Road, the most popular entrance to the ground given its proximity to St John's Wood tube station, Flint, in whose honour, the regional 50 over women’s tournament has been named in England, died in 2017 aged 77 and played 22 Tests for England between 1960 and 1979. As an administrator, Flint was instrumental in hosting the first Women’s Cricket World Cup in 1973, which was hosted even ahead of the Men’s tournament in 1975. In 1998, the first captain to lift the Women’s World Cup also went on to achieve the once improbable task of getting MCC membership for women and in the next year, she became one of the first ten female members to be granted honorary life membership of the club. On this memorable occasion, Guy Lavender, Chief Executive and Secretary of MCC, said, "Women's access to play and watch cricket at Lord's, and to participate in the game more widely, has come a long way and in commissioning new gates featuring a permanent memorial at Lord's we are recognising Rachael Heyhoe Flint's crucial role in this progression."

Joe Root becomes England's leading run-scorer in international cricket

Joe Root has become the highest run-getter for England across all formats. The right-handed batsman achieved the feat during the first Test of the five-match series against India in Nottingham on Wednesday and surpassed former skipper Alastair Cook. The England Test captain has scored over 8000 runs in the longer format while has notched up 6109 runs in 152 ODIs that he has played for the side and was a part of the World Cup-winning side in 2019 that was led by Eoin Morgan. England defeated New Zealand in the title clash at Lord’s. Root has also been capped 32 times in the T20Is so far and has scored 893 runs. He began his Test career against India back in 2012 in Nagpur and scored a half-century in his first appearance in a game that ended in a draw. Root made his T20I debut later in the same year against India in Mumbai while was first capped in an ODI in 2013 in Rajkot against The Men in Blue. India and England are presently battling it out in a five-match Test series which has also marked the beginning of the second cycle of the World Test Championship.

Eoin Morgan makes himself available for remainder of IPL 2021

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan has confirmed that he will be available to participate in the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) slated to take place in September-October in the UAE. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had mutually decided to postpone England’s tour of Bangladesh to 2023 which was earlier scheduled to take place in September-October this year. Bangladesh were to host England for three T20Is and as many T20Is. "It's a complete individual decision," Morgan said. "I think it was a win-win either way. If we went to Bangladesh we'd play in conditions that are foreign to us. If some guys go to the IPL, they'll play in similar conditions [to the World Cup] or for guys that need a rest, they take a rest,” he added. The IPL was earlier suspended on May 4, 2021 after there were positive cases of Covid-19 within the franchises. KKR were placed seventh in the points table before the cash-rich league was halted. They had only managed to win two out of the seven games that they had played while suffering defeats in the other five. The BCB had also said on Tuesday that they were also willing to provide a no-objection certificate to Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur to feature in the remainder of IPL 2021.