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The Ashes 2021 22 England Announce Strongest Available 17 Man Squad

The Ashes 2021-22 | England announce 'strongest available' 17-man squad

England announced their 17-man squad for the Ashes 2021-22, scheduled to start in the second week of December.

The statement by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) rated the squad under the leadership of Joe Root as the “strongest available”, but the lack of experience with as many as 10 members visiting Australia for an Ashes series for the first time, will be a cause of concern for English fans.

Apart from skipper Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Rory Burns and Dawid Malan form the core of the batting unit with the likes of Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed and Dan Lawrence adding youth quotient to it.

The experienced duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad leads the bowling group with the likes of Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Craig Overton forming the overall strength of the pace battery.

Chris Woakes is the only pace-bowling all-rounder in the squad.

There are only two spinners in the squad in the form of Jack Leach and Dom Bess, both of whom did not play even a single game in the recently-concluded English summer.

As expected the duo of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have not made their return to the squad and it will be the second consecutive away Ashes series that Stokes would be missing.

There were a lot of uncertainties surrounding the fate of the Ashes 2021-22 in wake of stringent Covid-19 containment measures in place in Australia, but Cricket Australia’s move to address the England players' concerns helped break the deadlock followed by a green light for the tour by the ECB.

The first Test of the Ashes series is scheduled to start on December 09 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

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World T20 2021 | ICC announces grand monetary prizes for champion, runner up, semi-finalists

The T20 world cup is going to begin on 17th October. The preparations for it are in full-flow. Meanwhile ICC, on Sunday, has also announced prize money for the winners. “The winners of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be awarded prize money of $1.6 million while the runners-up will take home $800,000,” said an official statement. “The two losing semi-finalists will be rewarded a prize money of $400,000 each,” said the released statement. $5.6 million has been allocated for the entire tournament that will be shared by all the sixteen teams. “The ICC will also continue to award a bonus amount for every win during the Super 12 stage of the tournament, as was the case during the 2016 edition of the tournament. The victors during all the 30 matches during the Super 12 stage will take home an amount of $40,000 — amounting to a total pot of $1,200,000.” ICC has also announced a cash prize of $70,000 for those teams that will be knocked out in the Super 12 stage. “The same set-up is in place to reward teams during their Round 1 victories, where again, they will be rewarded $40,000 during the 12 matches during the stage, totalling $480,000. The four teams which get knocked out during round one will get $40,000 each from an overall prize pool of $160,000,” the official statement said. India is set to play their first match against arch-rival Pakistan on 24th October.

Selectors add more net bowlers amid Chakravarthy’s injury

The Indian selectors are planning to add a few more players to India’s T20 World Cup team as net bowlers. They have not finalised the list of the bowlers. However, the injury that the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy faces, has drawn attention of the selectors. If the reports are to be believed, pace sensation Umran Malik and Harshal Patel have been asked to stay in UAE after the IPL gets over. The last date for submission of the final team list to ICC is on Sunday, i.e. 10th October. “Chakravarthy was selected because he was fit to play. If his injury can be managed through the World Cup, he will certainly be in the team,” a top BCCI official was quoted as saying by TOI. Yuzvendra Chahal, who didn’t find a place in the World Cup squad as Rahul Chahar was picked in his place, has performed better in this IPL. News of his staying back was also doing the rounds. “No decision has been taken on Chahal. It’s unfortunate that Mumbai Indians had dropped Rahul Chahar from playing XI. If Chahal will be asked to stay back as a cover will be decided once the selectors and team management discuss the situation,” the official said.

'T20 hinders growth of Test cricket', feels Ian Chappell

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell feels that T20 cricket is casting a dark shadow over Test cricket. He said that the shorter format becomes easier to negotiate than that of a long Test series. “T20 tournaments involving countries require only days to complete and therefore are far easier to negotiate in the current chaotic climate than a long Test series. Because of the short time span involved, T20 is a game better suited than Test matches to countries that are not traditionally cricket-playing nations. Hence the involvement of tyros like Oman and Papua New Guinea in the upcoming T20 tournament,” wrote Ian Chappell in his column for ESPNCricinfo. Citing that the T20 game is lucrative and provides an income stream, he said, “Even if a non-traditional country does not have their own T20 competition, their better players have an opportunity to earn a living by playing in overseas tournaments.” He also mentioned about the poor infrastructure that latest Test playing nations have which ultimately hinders the prosperity of the longest format of the game. “They don't have a first-class infrastructure capable of supporting a player development system of any great depth. There's also an inclination among the older Test-playing nations to avoid contests against these newer teams where possible, as they are generally a costly proposition”, wrote Chappell. Chappell also warned about the bleak future of Test Cricket that has been exacerbated by the covid pandemic.

‘I got selected because I was different’, Axar opens up about his career progression

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who made his international debut in 2014 and is now one o the top-rated spinners in the country said that his ability to retain his uniqueness and while being different from other spinners helped him get the national cal up so early. In an interview with The Times of India, Axar talked about various aspects of his bowling and key elements that he added to improve his skills. He said that he has been working on his pace variations and has also worked to improve his batting. When asked about the preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup, Axar said, “The World Cup is definitely in the back of our minds but we haven’t spoken much about it. The IPL playoffs are the best preparation because, in IPL, most of your rivals in the World Cup will be there. We know that we will be putting pressure on ourselves if we obsess about planning for the World Cup.” He also talked about dealing with the negativities and handling the critics when things are not going good on the field. “I was criticized whenever I had an off day. I heard a lot of taunts. Then I analysed myself and felt that nobody likes the way I bowl and yet I played for India. That meant there’s something special about me. I got selected because I was different from other left-arm spinners,” said the 27-year-old who has been in an amazing form for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021. Axar is part of the upcoming T20 World Cup that will start on October 17. India will be playing its first match against Pakistan on October 24th.