Playing in IPL will be invaluable before the T20 World Cup for Sam Curran says Graham Thorpe

Former England batsman Graham Thorpe hailed all-rounder Sam Curran and stated that his ability to thrive under pressure situations has made him a vital cog in England’s white-ball plans.

The left-arm pacer has also shown his batting skills in the limited opportunities he has had for the English ODI team. Curran bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs during his magnificent spell of fast bowling during the 2nd ODI against England to ensure an unassailable 2-0 lead for the home team in the 3 match series.

Curran is already an established IPL cricketer plying his trade for the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings. He starred with the ball and bat during the 14th edition of the tournament which had to be suspended midway owing to COVID-19.

He is expected to return to UAE for the 2nd leg for the tournament and Graham Thorpe feels that the exposure of playing high class T20 cricket ahead of the T20 World Cup slated to be played in the same country will definitely help him immensely.

"I think it's helped him enormously," Thorpe said of the IPL. "Every environment Sam has gone into, he's shown that ability to compete and an ability to find a way of putting performances in. From that perspective, playing in the IPL has put him in high-pressured situations and pushed him.

"His hitting ability with the bat was always there. I think that's progressed to a really good level. He's bowling at important times in the IPL, so he's put under pressure and challenged. At 23, he's getting some really good experiences,” he further added.

Curran hasn’t played much cricket for England in the 2020 summer being a part of the XI on only three occasions which included a Test each against West Indies and Pakistan and one ODI against Australia. However, his all-round showing in the truncated 14th edition of the IPL again brought him to the reckoning and he is currently the first-choice pick in England’s white-ball set-up.

"When he comes back and plays with England, he's having to challenge for a place so he's being put under pressure there too," Thorpe said.

"That's not a bad thing. One of his great personality traits is that he's a real competitor. We have seen that ever since he was a young lad, and his skill level is going up. For a 23-year-old it's a good place to be. We want him to keep getting better and better,” the former batsman concluded.

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The Hundred 2021 sees an outflux as Williamson, Finch make way for Faf du Plessis & Fin Allen

The initial season of The Hundred seems to be getting as messy as it can before it finally begins as a lot many cricketers have opted out of the unique 100 balls per innings tournament owing to injury, Covid-19 and national duties. While New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was forced to withdraw due to his injury, Birmingham Phoenix was forced to let go of Pakistan star bowler Shaheen Afridi due to national duties. This has presented an opportunity for the likes of the Kiwi pair of Finn Allen and Adam Milne to replace Williamson and Afridi respectively. South Africa’s Imran Tahir has also signed up at Birmingham Phoenix after his impressive run in the Pakistan Super League. Among the domestic signing for the Edgbaston based side, Somerset's Will Smeed would replace injured Henry Brookes. Former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis would replace Australian limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch as Northern Superchargers captain. The latter chose national duties above the inaugural addition of ECB’s Marquee tournament. du Plessis was excited to play alongside Ben Stokes and other cricket superstars. "It is a real honour to lead Northern Superchargers in their first season. Playing alongside the likes of Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid and Chris Lynn alongside a number of talented young players will be really exciting. I can't wait to get going in a few weeks' time,” the Superchargers skipper was quoted as saying by Sky Cricket. Among other changes, England seamer Ollie Robinson, who has been in the limelight for mostly wrong reasons has been signed by Manchester Originals to replace the retired Harry Gurney. Another player benefiting from a good PSL is Kiwi Colin Munro, who has signed for Manchester Originals. Kiwis are actually represented in large numbers with Devon Conway, Jimmy Neesham already signed and now Glenn Phillips being added as a part-time replacement for Kieron Pollard at the Welsh Fire until the West Indian captain comes back from national duties. Among the changes in The Hundred Women, South Africa’s Suné Luus joined Welsh Fire while Rachel Priest replaced Elyse Villani at Trent Rockets. Two other South Africa Women included in the tournament are Laura Wolvaardt and World number two T20I bowler Shabnim Ismail. While Wolvaardt replaced Australian wicketkeeper batter, Alyssa Healy, in the Superchargers women's team. Ismail replaced Rachael Haynes at Oval Invincibles. Ismail was excited about being part of the innovative league and wished she could bowl the first ball of the tournament ever as she will be part of the first game of Thew Hundred Women when Oval Invinclbels take on Manchester Originals on July 21. "I'm absolutely buzzing to take part in The Hundred. To play in London will be really special. In particular, I cannot wait to play in the opening fixture of the whole competition on July 21 at The Kia Oval, and maybe bowling the first-ever ball in The Hundred," she said.

Didn't want to jeopardise my Test career: James Anderson on snubbing 'The Hundred'

Premier England fast bowler in the longest format, James Anderson wants to prolong his Test career and that was the reason behind his decision to not take part in the Hundred as a player. He did mention that he had thoughts surfacing in his mind to ply his trade in the 100 ball tournament but decided against it contemplating the fact that it is for the youngsters. "I did think about whether I should actually try and get a gig as a player," he said, "but in the end, I just felt it was probably for the younger guys to crack on with that. I didn't want to affect my Test availability by getting injured throwing myself around in the Hundred - it might not have been the best idea,” Anderson was quoted as saying during a BBC media launch for the Hundred. "I did explore it - I was interested, but I fell down on the side of prolonging my Test career. I didn't want to jeopardise that too much so I'll leave it to the young lads to throw themselves around in the field too much." Most successful fast bowler in the Test format, Anderson despite his limitations of playing in the competition to prolong his Test career doesn’t expect the likes of Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes to back out from giving their everything in order to avoid injuries ahead of a gruelling Test summer with a five-match series against India at home and five-match series against Australia away. He believes that the tournament will help the top order batsmen ahead of international outings. The inaugural edition of the competition kicks off on 21st July. "You can get injured at any point - that's just the nature of the game," Anderson said. "I don't think people are going to be careful because of a Test series: you've got to throw yourself into it and try to play at 100% every time you get the chance. Hopefully, nothing like that happens but there obviously is the chance because every time you go out on the field there is a chance of injury. "I think there's definitely no harm in playing the Hundred and playing some white-ball cricket, having that freedom to go out there and try and hit the ball. Test cricket does have a way of trying to stifle you at times and you can get a bit uncertain about your technique or movements and things like that. All the Hundred will do is encourage positivity: a positive moment of the feet, positive shots, and I think that can only be a good thing,” the speedster concluded.

SLC hits back at Ranatunga, says touring Indian team is not second string by any measures

Sri Lanka Cricket, the administrative body running the game in the island nation has hit back at its former captain for demeaning the touring Indian side by calling it a second-string side. “Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that despite claims by various parties as reported in the Media, the National White-Ball team of India currently touring Sri Lanka is a strong squad,” the SLC said in a statement released on Friday, July 02nd. The board further enumerated the achievements of the team in various formats to counter the claims of various people calling it a low for Sri Lanka to invite a second-string team to play its national team. “Out of the 20-member India squad, 14 players have represented India across all formats or in some form. (Test, ODI, or T20i), and not a ‘second-string team,’ as claimed," the board said. The top players of the Indian team led by regular skipper Virat Kohli are in England for a Test series and the Sri Lankan board presented it as a fact of how things are going to go in this world ridden by the pandemic. “This is the latest norm in the cricketing world, especially the full ICC Member countries, as they maintain specialist squads and players for each format of the game. The aim of such arrangements is to be competitive in each format of the game by maintaining specialist players and squads,” the board reiterated. “Apart from it, maintaining separate squads enable cricketing boards to fulfil their international commitments unhindered, such as the ICC Future Tours Program,” it added. Earlier, Ranatunga, the former World Cup-winning skipper of Sri Lanka said, “This is a second-string Indian team and their coming here is an insult on our cricket. I blame the current administration for agreeing to play with them due to television marketing needs.” The series between India and Sri Lanka would begin with the first ODI at the R Premadasa on July 13th.

Lord's to host ENG vs PAK ODI will full capacity as a part of research study

Known as the “Mecca of Cricket”, the Lord’s cricket ground will be buzzing with full capacity when the home team takes on Pakistan in the second ODI of the three-match ODI series starting on 10th July. The decision to host the match with full capacity is due to the fact that the event will be monitored by the British Government under it’s ‘Event Research Programme’. In an order to gather evidence on how crowds can make their way back into stadiums after the pandemic subsides, the UK government is organising the match will full capacity. “The fixture falls before the planned relaxation of Government restrictions on 19 July and MCC has been working closely with ECB, DCMS, Public Health England and Westminster Citybehind Council on obtaining the green light to allow more supporters into the Home of Cricket for this match," read a press release. “The Government’s science-led Events Research Programme is conducting scientific research studies at all events to gather the evidence that will inform how crowds can be returned to live events as safely as possible. The results of studies will be used to help shape policy and future guidelines,” it further read. For spectators coming to watch the match, strict protocols are in place. They will need to produce proof of vaccination or negative RT-PCT test results at the time of entry. “We are heartened to be able to welcome full crowds into Lord’s for the forthcoming encounter between England and Pakistan. To have England men’s first ODI at the Home of Cricket in almost two years and in front of a capacity crowd, will be truly memorable,” Guy Lavender, Chief Executive and Secretary of MCC said. “There has been tremendous work going on behind the scenes and we are grateful to ECB, DCMS, Public Health England and Westminster City Council for their support and cooperation in achieving this outcome. We look forward to welcoming cricket fans back to the Home of Cricket, for what will be a full weekend of sport and most importantly with crowds,” he further added.