The Ashes | England decide to rest 'fit' James Anderson from Gabba Test

Continuing the trend of rest and rotation to manage his workload, England have taken a big call to omit James Anderson from the playing XI for the first Test at Gabba starting tomorrow, December 08. However, the tourists confirmed he is fit to play at Gabba and not carrying any injury.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said that the pacer has not had a great preparation leading up to the first Test and they are not willing to risk him for the entire series by rushing him to a Test match. England reflected on the proceedings of the last Ashes series at home where Anderson had broken down on the very first morning of the first Test to make up their mind over the big call.

“Jimmy is fit to play, and is not carrying an injury. With five Tests in six weeks the plan was to get him ready for the second Test in Adelaide,” the ECB said.

"With the limited build-up we have had so far on the tour, both him and the management didn't want to take the risk of him playing after what had happened in 2019 at Edgbaston when he broke down on the first morning.”

"He bowled at full capacity yesterday for just short of an hour and was in a good place physically. He will do the same again today at practice. He will stay with the Test group this week and work with the coaches at the Gabba rather than playing for the Lions."

In Anderson’s absence, Stuart Broad will lead the England bowling attack that may include the likes of Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood at the Gabba.

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BCB extends isolation for Bangladesh Women’s team as two players test Covid positive

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced that the isolation period of the national women’s team would be extended as two women players have tested positive for the Covid-19. The women team returned from Zimbabwe having taken part in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 global qualifiers. The tournament was terminated in the middle after cases of Omicron, a new variant of the Covid-19 increased in neighbouring South Africa and the dread of its expansion in Zimbabwe increased. "The team members, who were sharing the same room, had returned negative results in the two tests conducted in Dhaka on December 1 and 3. However, the report from a third PCR test on December 6 has shown both to be Covid-19 positive," BCB said in a press release. "As such, the mandatory isolation of the team, which was due to end today (Monday, December 6, 2021), has been extended as per the Covid-19 Management Protocol of the BCB. The team members will undergo further tests and evaluation during the extended isolation," it added. Though the tournament ended midway and teams flew back home, Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh qualified for the World Cup on the back of better ICC rankings.

CSA announce revised schedule for India’s tour to South Africa

Cricket South Africa have announced the revised schedule for India’s visit to the rainbow nation. Originally slated to start from December 8, the tour has been pushed back to December 26, and has been tweaked to cut short the length of the tour. According to the new itinerary, India will be taking on the Proteas for three Tests and three One Day Internationals. There will be no T20I matches played in this tour. CSA, via a press release, informed that the decision on the T20I games will be taken during the new year. Schedule 26-30 December 21 - 1st Test 3-7 January 22 - 2nd Test 11-15 January 22 - 3rd Test 19 January 22 - 1st ODI 21 January 22 - 2nd ODI 23 January 22 - 3rd ODI All Test matches will be part of the World Test Championship Calendar. Notably, the Indian A team has been in South Africa despite the outbreak of the new Omicron variant of the COVID-19. They are currently playing their third and final 4-day game.

BBL 11 | Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Sandhu shine in Thunder's win over Heat

Alex Ross was at his very best with the bat as he guided Sydney Thunder to an easy seven-wicket win over Brisbane Heat in their opening clash of the Big Bahs League 2021. Ross’ unbeaten 61 off 46 balls combined with Sam Billings’ 45 not out and their 109 run partnership meant that Thunder chased down the total in the 18th over itself. This win with 17 balls remaining will give a boost to the net run rate of the Thunder which becomes crucial at later stages of the league. The chase of 141 did not start well for the Thunder who were playing at their home ground of Manuka oval. Alex Hales, the controversial import from England was removed on the second ball of the innings by Xavier Bartlett. Soon, Liam Guthrie, who was playing his first game for Heat, struck twice in one over to remove Matthew Gilkes and Sam Whiteman and force Thunder into a rebuilding phase. It was then that Billings combined with Ross and the duo finished the job at hand with much ease. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss and deciding to field first, Nathan McAndrew gave a great start to the Thunder as he removed Max Bryant in the third over. Daniel Sams then removed Chris Lynn. Englishman Ben Duckett and Sam Heazlett then built a partnership of 83 runs in 66 balls and just when it seemed that they would tee off and get Heat to a respectable total past 160, Sams struck again and removed Heazlett. It was then the turn of Gurinder Sandhu as he removed two dangermen Duckett and Jack Wildermuth to push Heat into all sorts of trouble. If it weren’t for Bartlett’s late order hitting, where he made unbeaten 26 off 18 balls, getting to even 140 would have been mighty difficult.

Plastic under leather in new Kookaburra for Ashes 2021-22 to give it more swing and zip

The Ashes 2021-22 will have a seemingly different ball than the one used in the previous Ashes of 2017-18 Down Under. The new ball is supposed to swing more and have shine on it for a longer period of time than has been the norm thanks to the tweaks applied by the manufacturer Kookaburra. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the new ball is likely to keep moving through the air and off the seam in a much more sustained manner. This will be due to a double coating of lacquer that helps the whole ball retain its hardness for longer. The Gabba pitch right ahead of the first Test match has indicated that it might have a rich coating of grass, which in turn might act as a big booster for pace bowlers from either team. The double coating of lacquer is not the only change, rather it is the plastic lining under the leather that would make it sustain its hardness, shine and swing for a longer period. This was done by the manufacturer on request from Cricket Australia.