Home
Cricket News
Tropical Storm Expected To Hit St Lucia Australian Team Forced Into Lockdown

Tropical storm expected to hit St. Lucia, Australian team forced into lockdown

The Australian team which currently is at the Caribbean shores to play a limited-overs series will have to stay inside the hotel rooms for the next two days in St. Lucia due to a tropical storm that is expected to hit the island in the next 48 hours.

The island is expected to go under lockdown on Friday, 2 July, which means that the team would also cancel the training session at the Darren Sammy Stadium according to an ESPNcricinfo report. The storm which is known as Elsa has the potential to convert into a hurricane.

"On the forecast track, the system will pass near Saint Lucia or over the Windward Islands on Friday and move into the Caribbean Sea late Friday," the advisory stated.

"Elsa is expected to produce rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches or 76 to 152 mm with maximum totals of 10 inches or 254 mm across the Windward Islands on Friday. This increases the potential for landslides and/or flash flooding. Residents and motorists in areas prone to flooding and landslides are advised to take necessary precautions."

Wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey who is with the squad also confirmed that the team would have to take a day off.

"Hopefully there's not too much damage and everyone is safe around St Lucia. At this stage we'll probably have the day off in terms of training and we'll see what result comes post-storm in the next 24 hours,” he said.

Australia are scheduled to play five T20Is and three ODIs beginning on July 9.

Discover more

Australia tour of West Indies 2021

Arjuna Ranatunga slams SLC for hosting 'second string Indian team'

Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga has slammed the SLC for hosting a “second string Indian Team”. India will be up against Sri Lanka in white-ball fixtures scheduled to begin on July 13. “This is a second string Indian team and their coming here is an insult on our cricket. I blame the current administration for agreeing to play with them due to television marketing needs,” Ranatunga said. Regular India captain Virat Kohli and his limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma are in the UK for the upcoming five-match Test series against England. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sent another team to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is and the side would be led by Shikhar Dhawan. “India sent their best team to England and sent a weaker side to play here. I blame our board for that,” he added. The selectors have included some new names in the squad. Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham, Chetan Sakariya are some of the players who have received the India call-up for this series. 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

India to play two tour games ahead of England series

The Indian team will play two tour games ahead of the five-match Test series against England according to a Cricbuzz report. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has agreed to the request made to them by India earlier to play a couple of games before the series commences on August 4 in Nottingham. India are slated to play five Tests against England and the series will also mark the beginning of the next cycle of the World Test Championship.

Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali included in Category A of central contracts

Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan have been rewarded with the highest grade of central contract in the latest list released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the year 2021-22. A total of 20 players have been included in the list of the central contract that will run from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. Hasan had missed out on being included in the centrally contracted players list after getting injured while Rizwan got promotion from Grade B to Grade A. There are few new faces in the list as well which include Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Nawaz and Nauman Ali. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and fast bowler Shaheen Afridi are the other two players in the Category A while Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Fawad Alam, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah are in the Category B. The Category C comprises Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali and Sarfaraz Ahmed. Imran Butt, PSL 2021 bowling sensation Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir are included in the Emerging category. "Selecting 20 players amongst a big pool of quality cricketers is always a challenging task," PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said. "Emerging Category recognises and rewards the up and coming talent. We have seen the emergence of Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain move from an Emerging Category to Category C, and the likes of Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir breaking into the Emerging Category. The Emerging Category remains a platform for young players to break into the central contract system." There is an increase by 25 percent in Category A to C while the Emerging Category players have received a 15 percent boost.

Five Sri Lanka players refuse to sign tour contracts ahead of India series

Sri Lanka’s off the field issues have become a cause of concern for the board. Now as many five players, Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Ashen Bandara, and Kasun Rajitha have refused to sign the tour contract by the SLC for the India series. “Until the national contract issue is resolved they were asked to sign the tour contract if they are going to be available for the Indian series so that they can go into a bubble as we are investing in them. But they were reluctant to sign the tour contract and therefore they were left out of the residential camps. They did not join the bubble in Dambulla or Colombo,” said SLC CEO Ashley de Silva. The players have the time to sign the contracts before the commencement of the training. “These five were offered a tour contract. That is when you participate, they will also be considered for national selection for the Indian tour. For the Indian tour, you need to have a tour contract, which they didn’t sign as they are part of the 24 players offered national contracts. If they sign the tour agreement before the commencement of training for the Indian tour the selectors will consider them,” added De Silva. The white-ball fixtures between India and Sri Lanka are scheduled to begin on July 13. This is not the first time that the SLC has encountered such a problem. The board had faced criticism from the players as according to them the new annual contracts lacked transparency. 38 players had then refused to sign the contracts. “Because of the problems with the transparency of the ratings system devised by SLC, the players will not sign the tour contract," the release signed by 38 top players had stated. Sri Lanka’s tour of England had come under dark clouds but eventually the players travelled to the UK for the T20I and ODI series.