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West Indies Name Additional Spinners For Final Two Matches Hetmyer And Mccoy Rested

West Indies name additional spinners for final two matches, Hetmyer and McCoy rested

With the five-match T20I series against Australia already won with two matches to spare, the West Indies team management has decided to bolster their spin department for the two inconsequential matches against the Aussies. They have included left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and right-arm offie Kevin Sinclair.

Having made their international debuts earlier this year, both these spinners have been named as replacements for the swashbuckling Shimron Hetmyer and left-arm pacer Obed McCoy. Hetmyer scored a match-winning 61 in the second encounter while McCoy was instrumental in their victory in the opening encounter.

McCoy bagged four wickets as West Indies staged a dramatic turnaround in the final stretch of the game. Since then it has been all West Indies as they have produced some exceptional all-round display which has ensured their unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. Both Hetmyer and McCoy are nursing minor injuries and the team management doesn’t want to risk with the series already won.

"We took the decision to rest players who have picked up some niggles and give opportunities to other players in the squad," chief selector Roger Harper said of the changes.

The last two encounters of the series will be played at the Darren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia on 15th July (Thursday) and 17th July (Saturday). Kieron Pollard has been retained in the squad and his availability will depend upon his fitness ahead of the 4th encounter.

This is the updated squad for the last two matches

Kieron Pollard (C), Nicholas Pooran (VC), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Akeal Hosein, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Kevin Sinclair, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.

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Wasim Jaffer named Odisha senior team head coach

Former Indian Test opener and one of the stalwarts of domestic cricket, Wasim Jaffer has been roped in as the chief coach of the Odisha senior side for the upcoming domestic season. The Ranji Trophy which was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 will return this time around and Jaffer will hope to build the team going forward. "He (Jaffer) will be the head coach. He has been given a two-year contract," Subrata Behera, Odisha Cricket Association CEO was quoted as saying by PTI. The Odisha Cricket Association’s (OCA) Cricket Advisory Committee picked Jaffer as the head coach replacing the former skipper of Odisha Rashmi Ranjan Parida. He took the charge of the team back in 2019. "Besides the development of cricket across all age-groups, he (Jaffer) will also be a part of coaches development programme across the state," OCA secretary Sanjay Behera was quoted as saying in a statement. For the second time following his retirement from domestic cricket in March 2020, Jaffer will be back as the head coach of any state team. Jaffer who is the all-time leading run-getter in the history of Ranji Trophy was at the helm of Uttarakhand but later resigned from his post after differences with the state association. Jaffer is currently the batting coach of Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). During his international career, Jaffer smashed a couple of double centuries in just 31 Tests but his lack of consistency led to his ouster from the team. Barring his Test career, Jaffer also played 2 ODIs for India. Meanwhile, Odisha performed admirably in the 2019-20 season where they lost to Bengal in the quarter-final. Batting has been their nemesis for a long time and Jaffer’s appointment will surely make some difference in the upcoming season. The senior team camp will start from 25th July only if the government gives its approval pertaining to the COVID-19 regulations.

Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell to miss inaugural edition of The Hundred

The list of players pulling out from the inaugural edition of “The Hundred” seems to be increasing with each passing day. As per the current development as many as five more players have made themselves unavailable for the tournament including the likes of dynamic Caribbean duo Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell. In the women’s tournament, star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry has withdrawn her name from the tournament citing personal issues. Hayley Matthews has been named as the replacement for Sune Luus after she tested positive for COVID-19 and was ruled out of the whole competition. The Caribbean all-rounder will ply his trade for Welsh Fire. Meanwhile, New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has been signed up by the Southern Brave as a replacement for the swashbuckling Andre Russell. He has withdrawn his name for the tournament in order to fulfil international commitments. "When I got the call to join Southern Brave it was an easy decision. I've settled in really well at Hampshire and I'm hoping to create some more fantastic memories at the Ageas Bowl. I'm really looking forward to linking up with Devon Conway again and all of the guys can't wait to get going,” Colin de Grandhomme said after signing his deal with Southern Brave. Meanwhile, Hayley Matthews was excited to be a part of the inaugural Hundred competition and to share the field with Sarah Taylor. "When I got the call to join Southern Brave it was an easy decision. I've settled in really well at Hampshire and I'm hoping to create some more fantastic memories at the Ageas Bowl. I'm really looking forward to linking up with Devon Conway again and all of the guys can't wait to get going,” she said. Fast bowler Marchant de Lange has been snapped up by the Trent Rockets as a replacement for Pakistan speedster Wahab Riaz after the left-arm pacer was forced to return to Pakistan due to visa issues. Glenn Phillips who played a match-defining knock in the 3rd ODI against Pakistan will play the whole tournament for Welsh Fire as a replacement for Kieron Pollard. The regular Windies white-ball skipper hasn’t played a single match in the ongoing T20 series against Australia owing to a hamstring injury he sustained ahead of the series. Ellyse Perry who is arguably the greatest female cricketer to have graced the game has been replaced by Katie Mack after striking a replacement deal with the Birmingham Phoenix.

Remaining Vitality T20 matches involving Derbyshire called off

The upcoming two Vitality Blast T20 matches involving Derbyshire has been called off as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Wednesday (14 July) that Derbyshire CCC is left with very limited resources and won’t be able to field a team of strength in order to maintain the integrity of their last two matches. As per the COVID-19 protocols in place, as many as 14 players from the Derbyshire squad have been asked to self-isolate as an unnamed player from the squad had tested positive earlier this week. In addition, six members of the squad are already nursing injuries and it became almost impossible for them to field a playing XI in their last two matches. The Derbyshire Falcons were slated to play their last two clashes against Northamptonshire Steelbacks on 16 July and the Yorkshire Vikings on 18 July. These two matches stands cancelled and under the playing condition 16.11.4.5, the North Group will be decided on an ‘average points per completed match’ basis. The two matches will be treated as a draw and both teams have been awarded eight points each for a draw plus the bonus points which they had collected before the match was called off.

ZIM vs BAN: Mushifiqur opts out of white-ball leg of Zimbabwe tour due to personal reasons

Wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has decided to opt-out of the limited-overs leg of the Zimbabwe series after initially pushing his name back into the T20I squad, having earlier decided not to play the shortest format ahead of the start of the tour. The decision has been taken by the veteran in his personal capacity as his parents tested positive for Covisd-19 back in Dhaka. He would be flying out of Zimbabwe on Wednesday, July 14, the Bangladesh Cricket Board informed. “Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim will miss the remainder of the tour in Zimbabwe for family reasons,'' BCB said in a statement. ''Mushfiqur will leave Harare later today and travel to Dhaka. He will miss Bangladesh's three ODIs against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on 16, 18 and 20 July and also the three-match T20 international series that starts at the same venue on 23 July. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) requests that all respect the privacy of Mushfiqur and his family at this time,” the statement added. The reason for Mushgfiq wanting to get back into the T20I side was the fact that for the Australia series at home, the same team bubble (one formed for the Zimbabwe series) would have continued and hence he didn’t want to miss the series by not being part of the team bubble.