The Hundred 2021: Warner, Stoinis pull out; India’s Shafali Verma replaces Kiwi Sophie Devine

The Hundred is seeing an exodus even before the first season of the marquee tournament of the England and Wales Cricket Board begins. Australia’s David Warner and Marcus Stoinis of the Southern Brave have pulled out of the tournament, slated to begin on July 21. The two were on deals worth £100,000 and £80,000 respectively,

"It is obviously disappointing to lose players with the ability of David and Marcus, but the realities of Covid mean there are practicalities that are difficult for some overseas players to overcome," the ECB was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.

"Replacement overseas players will be signed by Southern Brave, and we look forward to the Hundred showcasing world-class cricket this summer," it added.

However, the problems might increase for The Hundred teams as seven other Australian men's players contracted by many of the eight sides might also pull out. The reason is Australia’s tour to the Caribbean and Bangladesh in the period of July 21 to August 21. Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Adam Zampa, Aaron Finch, Chris Lynn, D'Arcy Short and Nathan Coulter-Nile - are all contracted for the tournament.

But all these pullouts also give an opportunity to some other foreign players like New Zealand’s Finn Allen who is currently representing Lancashire in the T20 Blast. "Hopefully I can slide in as a replacement player. I've heard a few players might potentially be pulling out from different countries, so hopefully, an opportunity pops up," said the 22-year-old who hit a fantabulous 73 off 51 balls against Leicestershire in his last game in the Blast.

India’s teenage sensation Shafali Verma was also confirmed to represent Birmingham Phoenix as a replacement for New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine. Devine pulled out ‘in order to be in the best position to prepare for international cricket, particularly with the ICC Women's World Cup due to be held in her native New Zealand in February 20211’.

The 17-year-old Verma would be the fifth Indian Women’s player alongside Deepti Sharma (London Spirit), Harmanpreet Kaur (Manchester Originals), Smriti Mandhana (Southern Brave) and Jemimah Rodrigues (Northern Superchargers) to play in The Hundred Women.

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ENG vs NZ | 2nd Test: Defiant Rory Burns-Dan Lawrence help hosts survive Boult, Henry's swing storm

Fighting half-centuries from Rory Burns and Daniel Lawrence saved the day for England on the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston after even a New Zealand attack without Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson put the hosts under enormous pressure. The new-ball pair of Matt Henry and a returning man Trent Boult found a considerable amount of swing in the first session after Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first. The swing was on offer due to overcast conditions but both the English openers Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley bated with immense control to defy all the Blackcaps bowlers in the first session. The tourists, however, never went away and came back strongly right after the lunch interval when Henry got Sibley to edge on behind the wicket for Tom Blundell with the gloves. There was no let-up for the hosts since then as a skilful Neil Wagner played with the mind of an out-of-knick Zak Crawley and sent him back to the pavilion edging to third slip. England hopes were on the shoulders of skipper Root and an in-form batsman in the form of Rory Burns. Henry was getting a lot of movement in the air and an indecisive Joe Root was sent before he could get his eyes in. With three down under 100, Burns and Ollie Pope started batting freely and put the balls into gaps to keep the scoreboard going. Pope, in particular, was very proactive in his strokes and got England on a roll. However, his eagerness to go for runs cost him his wicket when he attempted to hit a short delivery off Aizaj Patel a little too hard. Rory Burns and Lawrence took England to the tea interval but Trent Boult was hungry for success and he got the biggest scalp for his side by luring Burns into a drive on the up. Burns was caught intelligently by skipper Tom Latham but Boult had in him something extra and he repeated the modus operandi to send James Bracey for another duck in his two-match long Test career. Both those dismissals have been the hallmark of the New Zealand bowling attack over the years and Latham was lucky to have at least Boult while Southee was rested for the bigger clash of the World Test Championship final against India. Lawrence, too, was tested on all accounts by all New Zealand pacers but after a stuttering start, he settled into his role perfectly. He led the England fight back, first in the company of Olly Stone and followed it up with another unbeaten partnership with Mark Wood to prevent England from getting bundled out at a sub-par score. For New Zealand, it was a near-perfect day apart from the first session where bowlers were a bit short and wide that allowed English openers to leave alone a lot of deliveries. However, they more than made up for it in the afternoon session. However, they would be a tad disappointed letting England off the hook once again and back the bowlers to wrap up things quickly on the second morning of the Test.

SL vs IND: Sakariya, Gaikwad, Rana, Padikkal earn maiden call-ups; Dhawan to lead

The Indian Premier League performers have been rewarded as the All-India Senior Selection Committee announced the Indian squad for the 3-match ODI series and the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Shikhar Dhawan will lead the side in absence of all senior players, who are on a tour of England. Fast bowler Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has been named his deputy. Rajasthan Royals’ Chetan Skariya, who impressed with his brilliant bowling in the curtailed season of the cash-rich league has received his maiden call up. Along with him, RCB’s Devdutt Padikkal, Kolkata Knight Rider’s Nitish Rana, Chennai Super Kings’ Krishnappa Gowtham and KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy, who earlier missed being part of an Indian squad due to his injury before the Australian tour in 2019, have also been named in the Blue brigade for the first time ever in their careers. Making a comeback in India’s ODI squad are Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson and Navdeep Saini, all of whom missed out in the recent England series. Along with the team, the BCCI also announced the schedule for the series which will begin with the first ODI on July 13th at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo. All matches will be played over there only. The T20I series would begin on July 21. India’s squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh

Kyle Jamieson signs up deal with Surrey for Vitality Blast, County championship

New Zealand seamer Kyle Jamieson has signed an all-format deal with the Surrey County side and is likely to debut in the England domestic cricket this summer. He is likely to join the side after the conclusion of the World Test Championship against India on June 23. His first appearance for Surrey is likely to be on June 25 in a Vitality Blast game against Middlesex at The Kia Oval. He will be available for selection till mid-July and most likely will walk into the playing XI for the county championship games against Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl from July 4-7 and against Somerset at The Oval from July 11-14. Jamieson said that he did not expect to get the opportunity to play in county cricket this year but expressed excitement at the opportunity of playing both the first-class and T20 tournament in England, which he always wanted to do in his career. "I'm really excited to get the chance to play some county cricket after the Black Caps tour. Originally I didn't think this opportunity would be possible with the schedule this year, but with how things have unfolded it's great to be able to join Surrey and experience both T20 and first-class cricket,” Jamieson said. "Playing county cricket is something I've always wanted to do in my career, so to have the chance to do so now is awesome. I've heard a lot of great things about county cricket, particularly T20 Blast nights at The Kia Oval, and can't wait to take up the opportunity with Surrey to continue to learn and grow whilst trying my best to contribute to the teams' success." Jamieson has been rested from the second Test of the series against England currently underway at Edgbaston, Birmingham but will certainly form the four-man pronged pace attack for the Blackcaps in the WTC final against India.

Bangladesh to send players in separate contingents on tour of Zimbabwe

Bangladesh are scheduled to tour Zimbabwe for a full series comprising of Test, ODIs and T2OI series against the hosts however the sub-continent side will travel in three different continents based on the schedule and squads of different formats. At first, the Test squad under the captaincy of Momin ul Haque will land in Bulawayo, as per a report by bdcrictime.com, on June 09 and they will undergo quarantine for a day. They will play a warm-up game from July 3-4 before playing the only Test scheduled to take place in Bulawayo from July 7. The Test team will be followed by the ODI squad that will land in Harare and play a three-match series scheduled to take place on July 16, 18 and 20 at the Harare Sports Club. The ODI series will be followed by a T20 series comparing an equal number of games like that of the ODI series at the same venue. As per the report, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has taken the decision to send players in different contingents to allow players a shorter time under the biosecure bubble. Bangladesh will already be without the services of Mushfiqur Rahim in the T20 series, who has opted out citing bubble fatigue and a constrained schedule in the coming months, and hence the move by the BCB is a timely one.