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Uae Out Of Equation For Pcb Even As England New Zealand Pull Out From Pakistan

UAE 'out of equation' for PCB even as England, New Zealand pull out from Pakistan

When England pulled out of their scheduled tours to Pakistan, there were arguments as to why couldn’t the series be completed in the UAE, which had served as Pakistan’s second home in the period when teams were not ready to tour the country.

However, that option is “out of the equation” for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as they are not willing to find a middle ground and looking to shift tours to UAE in a bid to ensure tours get completed. They are bullish on the security situation in their home country and are confident of their arrangements in facilities to host international sides.

“That is now out of the equation because the security situation in Pakistan is normal and we have everything in place to host any international team. No more neutral venues for us,” a PCB official was quoted as saying by PTI.

Pakistan used UAE as a makeshift hosting country for international tours after International sides refused to tour Pakistan in the aftermath of the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka side.

Meanwhile, the PCB also contacted many cricket boards that are deemed friendly to them such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to make up for the financial losses after the twin withdrawals by New Zealand and England before putting all their attention on their domestic National T20 Championship as “curtain-raiser” to the upcoming T20 World Cup.

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Australians have changed their DNA because of money: Ramiz Raja

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) new chairman Ramiz Raja has lashed out at the Australian cricketers and said that they no longer play with aggression against the Indian team. He further added that the Aussie players have “changed their DNA because of money”. “Australians have changed their DNA because of money, they play against India happily and without aggressive approach. International cricketers have pressure as now they want to save their IPL contracts where they receive a lot of money plus add-ons,” Raja was quoted as saying to ARY News. Recently, first New Zealand cancelled their white-ball tour against Pakistan, minutes before the commencement of the first ODI, citing security reasons and later, England followed the Kiwis as they too abandoned the trip to the Asian country. Raja took a dig at both the sides and said that they ran away. “New Zealand ran away and England followed the same suit. They both have done wrong against us,” said Raja. Pakistan are not left with any international assignments at present and will now feature in the World T20 2021 directly which is scheduled to be co-hosted by UAE and Oman in October-November. The Pakistan players are presently taking part in the domestic National T20 competition.

The Ashes | CA sends fresh proposals with 'better' Covid protocols to ECB

In a welcome sign for cricket fans who would have been worried over the fears of star England players pulling out of the Ashes series, Cricket Australia has sent the ECB proposal for the series that has a lenient bit of Covid-19 containment protocols than it was initially feared, ESPNcricinfo reported. However, the report did not indicate the level of relaxation CA brass has been able to negotiate with the Australian government but it suggests that a lot fewer players should pull out based on the fresh proposal. “The ECB has also now received a proposal from Cricket Australia (CA) detailing their plans for England during the Ashes. While the details at this stage are unclear, it is understood the plans - which include details of quarantine arrangements and the requirements for bubbles throughout the tour - are better than had been feared,” said the report. The fate of the Ashes series scheduled for the end of the year hangs in balance as England players have shown strong reluctance to tour Australia and go through stringent Covid protocols after spending considerable time in biosecure bubbles during the ICC World T20. However, both the ECB and CA have always been confident of the Ashes series taking place as per the pre-decided schedule.

India to play one Test in next England summer, likely to be decider of abandoned series: Report

India and England have agreed to play a Test match the next summer which was initially supposed to be a tour of white-ball games, ESPNcricinfo reported. Although there were no hints from either BCCI or ECB on whether the only Test between the side next summer will be a standalone game or a decider of the series that was left incomplete earlier this year, the report suggested that it will be a continuation of the series that India are leading 2-1. Notably, the Indian players had refused to play the final Test of the series scheduled to start on September 10 in Manchester after scores of Covid-19 cases in the camp. There were confusion on the fate of the Manchester Test and subsequently around the result of the series as the ECB flip-flopped between forfeiture and abandonment by India. Earlier, the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had suggested that if India were to play a Test next summer, it will be a standalone game and not the series decider before making a U-turn on his words. Irrespective of what value the game will bring to the teams in terms of winning or levelling the series, a Test match at Old Trafford will help the ECB and Lancashire county to recover some of the financial losses they incurred after the cancellation of the final Test.

If Saha is the best you can do at the top, you’re in big trouble: Mark Butcher

Former England batsman Mark Butcher has pointed out a major issue in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting unit. Butcher is of the opinion that if SRH has Wriddhiman Saha at the top of the batting-order as their best option then the side is in “big trouble”. “As an IPL franchise, if the best you can do is Wriddhiman Saha, who is a terrific wicketkeeper, decent batter. But if that’s the best you can do at the top of the order, then you are setting yourself up for big trouble,” Butcher said. The former cricketer further added that David Warner’s lean patch and Kane Williamson’s struggle is also a major cause of SRH’s dismal show in this edition. “Not scored many runs through the middle as well. Kane Williamson has struggled, Warner hasn’t scored any. It’s been a big shocker for them. As far as Punjab Kings are concerned, just changing your name is not going to help. I’m afraid you’ve got to do something more fundamental than that,” he further added. The Sunrisers have only managed to win one match in the competition when they defeated Punjab Kings by 9 wickets in the first leg. They will now meet the same opposition on Saturday in the second clash of the day in Sharjah.