The Ashes | Josh Hazlewood set to be ruled out of fifth and final Test

The Ashes | Scott Boland cleared of any damage after being sent for scans

Cricket Australia confirmed that it’s fast bowler Scott Boland who was sent for scans after a dramatic and devastating fall near the bowling crease after delivering a ball in the England first innings of the fourth Ashes Test going on at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Releasing an update on Boland, CA on its official Twitter handle said, “He has been cleared of any damage to his right side and is expected to return to the field shortly. He has bowled in the nets and is expected to be available to bowl this evening. Phew!” While he did return to the ground but did not take the field and couldn’t bowl any over. His last over was the final over before the tea. Earlier CA had informed that the 32-year-old was taken for scans at around 11:30 am Indian Standard Time. As for as the game is concerned, Boland was instrumental in making England uncomfortable and reeling at 36-4 after he picked the wickets of Zak Crawley and English skipper Joe Root in his first three overs of the spell only. From 36-1, England were reduced to 36-4 before Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes did the rescue work.

ICC takes a cue from The Hundred, introduces time penalty in T20Is

The International Cricket Council in its bid to make T20I cricket its flagship program to get the game of cricket back into the Olympics has brought in a significant change to reduce the time of play. From now onwards, a penalty will be placed on the bowling team if it fails to finish bowling its full quota of overs within a stipulated time period. As part of the penalty, the bowling team would be allowed only four fielders, instead of five, outside the 30-yard circle for every over they fail to bowl within a specified time limit. According to the rule, the fielding side needs to "be in a position to bowl the first ball of the final over of the innings by the scheduled [or rescheduled in case of an unavoidable delay] cessation time for the innings". It will be upon the umpires to keep the players informed about the cut-off time. This change has been adopted from The Hundred, the England Cricket Board’s 100 ball cricket format in which each side is allowed to play 100 balls and many rules of normal T20 cricket were tweaked to make the running of the game smooth and fan-friendly. "The change was recommended by the ICC Cricket Committee, which regularly discusses ways to improve the pace of play in all formats, after considering reports on the effectiveness of a similar regulation that was included in the playing conditions for the Hundred competition conducted by the ECB,” ICC was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. According to the new playing conditions, the teams would now however be allowed optional drinks break midway through each innings in a bilateral T20I series. The timing and duration of the break would be decided by the two boards mutually beforehand.

The Ashes | 4th Test, Day 3: Jonny Bairstow scores aggressive ton to lead England's revival

Jonny Bairstow batted with immense freedom and flamboyance after the dismissal of Ben Stokes and scored a magnificent century on the third day of the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney. He was in immense pain after copping the blow on his thumb but switched to top gear after that point to lead a brilliant rearguard action for England. Bairstow walked out to bat when Cameron Green dismissed Dawid Malan and smashed Pat Cummins to third man boundary to reach his seventh century in the longest format. It was his seocnd Ashes hundred after a brilliant hundred in Perth in the 2017-18 series. Bairstow’s place in the England Test side has always been a matter of debate for his underachievement in the format and he was brought into the side only after Ollie Pope failed to shine with the bat in the first two Tests of the series. He had looked in good touch in Melbourne as well before Mitchell Starc knocked him over with a sharp rising delivery.

Super Smash 2021-22 | Match Review | Canterbury hunt down Auckland by five wickets

Auckland's three-match winning streak has been snapped as Canterbury continues to impress by their master chasing. With this win, Canterbury pulled Northern Knights below and encroached on the top position in the table.