Watch: Marnus Labuschagne keeping himself busy in self-isolation

Marnus Labuschagne, the star Australian batsman is currently undergoing a 10-day quarantine along with his Glamorgan teammate Michael Neser after being identified as the close contacts of Nick Selman who has been tested positive for COVID-19. 

In a video posted by the batsman on his Instagram account, Neser and Labuschagne engaged themselves in a small cricket session in their room to occupy themselves in these tumultuous times. Neser was bowling at a good pace with Labuschagne leaving a few and defending the others quite solidly. 













The premier Australian middle-order batsman has been the leading run-scorer for Glamorgan this season. So far, he has scored 294 runs in 6 games with three half-centuries and an impressive average of 58. He will miss four games for his county before joining them back. 

One of the biggest finds of world cricket in recent years, Marnus Labuschgane has established himself as one of the most prolific run-scorers for Australia in all formats in a very short time. 

Touted as a Test specialist at the beginning of his career, Labuschagne has evolved himself as an all-format player having performed for Australia in both T20Is and ODIs. He also had a productive season for the Brisbane Heat in the previous Big Bash League. 

The Australian limited-overs team has landed in West Indies for a three-match ODI and a five-match T20I series. However, Labuschagne is not part of the squad along with several big names. He had to miss the series due to logistical complexities owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Labuschagne was not happy with his exclusion from the squad but that was the best way going forward according to national selector Trevon Hohns. 

“Anyone who knows Marnus understands he would give absolutely anything to play for Australia and he is deeply upset to miss out due to circumstances beyond anyone's control. We worked through numerous options in conversations with Marnus to find a workable solution but ultimately came to the conclusion it was more practical for him to remain in the UK," said the national selector behind the logistical issues.

"Had we not been in the middle of a global pandemic Marnus would be on this tour as a well-established member and important part of the one-day side. It's an unfortunate circumstance of the many challenges the world is facing right now,” national selector Trevor Hohns concluded. 

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Explained: New points system for second cycle of World Test Championship

The upcoming cycle of the ICC World Test Championship will see a change in point allocation and unlike the inaugural cycle where points were allotted depending upon the number of matches the teams were playing in a particular series, the ICC has decided to award 12 standardised points for every win during the second WTC cycle. A draw will fetch one-third of the total points which is four while a tie will fetch 6 points. The second cycle will begin with the five-match Test series involving England and India starting from August 4. Just like the previous edition where the eventual top two teams were decided on the percentage of points after several series were postponed and cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, this cycle will also be decided on the percentage of points. “Instead of each series being worth the same number of points, 120, irrespective of whether the series is played over two Tests or five Tests, the next cycle will see each match being worth the same number of points - a maximum of 12 per match," an ICC board member was quoted as saying by the PTI. "Teams will be ranked on the percentage of available points they won from the matches they have played. The changes in the points system will have to be ratified by the ICC chief executives committee in the coming weeks. "The aim was to try and simplify the points system and to allow teams to be meaningfully compared on the table at any point, though they may have played differing numbers of matches and series," the board member further added. The inaugural edition of the competition saw a disparity of matches being played among the 9 contesting teams and that will be no different in the second cycle. Only the big three of modern cricket India, England and Australia will get to play more than three matches in a series while the rest of the teams will only play a maximum of a three-match Test series. The value for each series last year was 120. While a win in a two-match series gave the winning team 60 points, 40 points were allotted for a win in a three-match Test series. The number came down to 30 and 24 in case of a four-match or a five-match series. The ICC acting chief executive officer Geoff Allardice pointed out the reason behind the change in the points system. He feels that teams playing a lesser number of matches should also get a chance of being compared to anyone in the competition at any given point of the two-year cycle. "Instead of each series being worth the same number of points, 120, irrespective of whether the series is played over two Tests or five Tests, the next cycle will see each match being worth the same number of points - a maximum of 12 per match. Teams will be ranked on the percentage of available points they won from the matches they have played. The aim was to try and simplify the points system and to allow teams to be meaningfully compared on the table at any point, though they may have played differing numbers of matches and series,” Alliance was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo. England will play the most of number of matches in the cycle (21) followed by India (19) and Australia (18). South Africa will play a total of 15 matches while world Test Champions New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies will play a total of 13 matches. Meanwhile, Pakistan will play 14 matches in the cycle.