Separate check-in counters, daily tests: BCCI introduces new plans to fight COVID-19

New Zealand announce squad for WTC Final, England Tests; Rachin Ravindra, Jacob Duffy earn maiden call-ups

New Zealand have handed maiden call ups to two players such as Rachin Ravindra, and Jacob Duffy in the Test squad for the tour of England scheduled for later this year. The trio has found a place in a 20-men strong squad to take on hosts England in the two-match long Test series starting on June 2, and another at the Edgbaston. The Blackcaps squad will then be cut short to a 15-men squad for the World Test Championship final scheduled to start on June 18 in Southampton against India. Blackcaps head coach Gary Stead has had first-hand experience of the qualities the trio has to offer to the New Zealand squad on the tour of England after they out in serious hard work in the off-season during the winter. Rachin Ravindra will be the youngest Blackcaps member to debut in the longest format of the game being just 20-year-old and Stead reaffirmed his support for the all-rounder, who he said has been rated as a ‘star of the future.’ I’ve seen first-hand how hard these guys have worked in our NZC winter training squads and with New Zealand A, and so for them to earn their maiden Test call-ups for such a special tour will be really satisfying. “Rachin’s been earmarked as a star of the future since his Under-19 days and we’ve been really encouraged by the advancement in his game this season, with both bat and ball. He’s obviously an opening option, but also has the ability to bat in the middle order which combined with his left-arm finger spin make him a great asset to our squad,” Stead said in a statement released by the New Zealand Cricket. On the other hand, Jacob Duffy has been a consistent performer for Otago Volts in the New Zealand domestic circuit and Stead highlighted his skills of swinging the red ball as the reason for him finding a place on the plane to England in May. “Jacob’s been a consistent performer on the domestic circuit and his ability to swing the ball made him a particularly compelling option with a Dukes ball in English conditions,” Stead added. Apart from the duo of Rachin Ravindra and Jacob Duffy, the selectors have also handed a full-fledged call up to the highly-talented left-handed batsman Devon Conway. He has been prolific with the bat in the white-ball formats for the Blackcaps and after coming in a replacement for the skipper Kane Williamson in the series against Pakistan, he has earned a call up to the Test squad. The Blackcaps have also handed call ups to the duo of Colin de Grandhomme and Ajaz Patel, who missed the home Test series against West Indies and Pakistan in the last season. The selectors have also called up the all-rounder Doug Bracewell, who last played the longest format for the Blackcaps in 2016 for his consistent performances with both bat and ball in the domestic circuit. He has averaged 26 with the ball and 43 with the bat playing for the Central Stags along with nine wickets at 19.6 apiece for New Zealand A. “Doug’s a match-winner and we’re confident he’ll enjoy bowling on English pitches in June,” Stead said on Bracewell’s selection for England tour. The rest of the squad looks to be on expected lines with the likes of Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell and Kyle Jamieson getting rewards in the form of selection for England under the leadership of Kane Williamson. As per the New Zealand Cricket statement, the Blackcaps will organise two training camps in the first half of May before departing for England while the players participating in the Indian Premier League will be monitored on a ‘case by case basis' depending on the different time of their teams’ exits from the tournament.

SA vs PAK | 3rd ODI: Clinical Pakistan too powerful for depleted Proteas, clinch ODI series 2-1

Pakistan defended the target of 321 runs in the third and final ODI of the series against South Africa to clinch the series 2-1. The men in green became only the second side after Australia to have won an ODI series twice in the rainbow nation. Chasing a steep target, South Africa were off to an impressive start as the pair of Janneman Malan and Aiden Markram looked in fluent touch. The former looked at absolute ease against the pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali with the new balls. The tourists failed to strike big early but had enough depth in the bowling attack to keep control over the depleted South African side that made as many as seven changes in the side from the last game. The hosts were marred with the absence of players who have gone for the IPL and the injury-enforced absence of Russie van der Dussen. From 72 for no loss, South Africa suffered a collapse in the middle phase at the hands of debutant leg spinner Usman Qadir and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. Qadir finished with one wicket while Nawaz was more successful with the ball and scalped three big wickets of Malan, skipper Temba Bavuma and Heinrich Klassen in the middle overs. South Africa’s future appeared doomed when Klasse walked back to the pavilion just after the halfway stage. However, the pair of Andile Phehlukwayo and Kyle Verreynne had other ideas. The duo started punishing Pakistani bowlers for their rare inaccuracies and hosts breathed a sigh of relief. They added 108 run partnership to put Proteas on the track to chase down, but having all specialist batsmen already back in the pavilion made their case shaky. In the end, all of the firepower the duo showed and crips innings by Malan failed to match up to the batting might of Pakistan in the all-important series decider.

IPL 2021: BCCI extends production deal with host broadcaster Star for one more year

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has extended the deal with the official broadcaster of IPL—Star India for the production of league matches of the upcoming edition, Cricbuzz reported. The two parties had signed a three-year contract for the production of domestic cricket and IPL matches in 2018 which expired last year. After producing the domestic games held earlier this year by itself, the BCCI extended the production deal for the IPL with Star. Notably, international matches in India were and will be produced by the BCCI itself. For the production of the 14th edition of the league, Star India has arranged four bio-secure bubbles for the safe movement of its production crews, the report stated further. Three of them are there in Mumbai while the remaining one is arranged in Chennai from where all of the production people will be transported to all venues such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Kolkata as per the schedule and requirements, the report added. Last year, the tournament was shifted to the UAE in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and Star India had to carry all of their crews to cover the tournament. The host broadcaster also added a feature of artificial crowd noise to bring real-time experience for the viewers in absence of spectators at the grounds and the move is likely to be continued for this season as well.

The Hundred | Confidential survey reveals counties' discontent over ECB's process, impact on other formats

A confidential survey conducted by The Telegraph Sport has painted a grim picture about the health of the long format of the game in England. The responses made by counties chief executives that have not been made public have also raised objections about the process of the launch of ECB’s flagship campaign — The Hundred and its impact on the health of the game in the country. Only half of the counties (a total of 18) have responded positively to the question of the impact of The Hundred on the long-form game as they believe the advent of The Hundred will marginalise the County Championship. Also, more worryingly for the counties, The Hundred will marginalise their cash cow which— The Vitality Blast T20 tournament which has been used as revenue booster by them over the years. Their fear over the long-lasting impact is so huge that as little as nine teams believe they will continue playing the four-day cricket in a decade’s time from now. The counties came hard at ECB’s speedy process before the launch of The Hundred. Only six out of 18 teams vouched their opinion on ECB's handling of the process of the launch of The Hundred was in the category of either “good” or “very good”. However, in an optimistic sign for the ECB, counties have given the board thumps on its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent financial downturn. Notably, ECB’s efforts to host West Indies and Pakistan last year amidst pandemic cut down the losses from the earlier estimated £300million in broadcasting revenue. Also, the ECB paid a dividend of £1.3million to county teams for The Hundred irrespective of the postponement of the tournament in the wake of the pandemic. The survey has come out at an important time for both the ECB and county sides as the upcoming edition of the county championship is set to start on April 08.