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Seniors remain out of contention for England tour, Kusal Perera to lead

The Sri Lankan squad for the white ball tour to England later in the month has been confirmed after several days of uncertainty surrounding the players contract. The Sri Lankan cricketers were not happy with the latest player contracts and had decided to not sign them. 

However, the matter has been resolved now and the 24 member Sri Lankan squad will now fly out for UK on June 9. After two practice game, the islanders will lock horns against England in the first T20I on 23rd June. The tour will conclude on 4th July with the final ODI slated to be played in Bristol. 

Kusal Perera who was recently appointed as the new limited-overs skipper will continue leading the side in the six white-ball games. Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep has made a return to the squad with several uncapped players being named in the squad. 

Ashen Bandara who was part of the squad for the series in Bangladesh has been dropped. The rest of the players has retained their place which means that experienced campaigners like Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne remain out of favour atleast for now. 

England will host the islanders for three ODIs and as many T20Is. They will play a practice match each in both formats before the commencement of the series. 

Squad: Kusal Perera (c), Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya De Silva, Oshada Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Isuru Udana, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Praveen Jayawickrama

 

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Mark Ramprakash slams British PM for his support towards Ollie Robinson

Former England middle-order batsman Mark Ramprakash feels that British Prime minister Boris Johnson’s intervention regarding Ollie Robinson’s suspension from international cricket was unwelcome. Britain’s sports minister Oliver Dowden had tweeted that the decision to suspend Robinson based on some tweets which were posted by the fast bowler almost a decade ago was not justifiable from ECB. Meanwhile a spokesperson for Britain PM stated that the PM is supportive of Dowden’s views. Robinson who made his Test debut against New Zealand only last week had posted some racist and sexist tweets back in 2012 when he was 18. After the tweets surfaced, Robinson publicly apologised for his conduct. ECB decided to suspend him from the second Test as they will further investigate on the matter. Meanwhile, one more English player had posted racist tweets but his name hasn’t been disclosed as he was only 16 when back then. When asked on the BBCI Breakfast Show about his opinion on the PM’s involvement Ramprakash expressed his displeasure at Boris Johnson coming up and trying to support Robinson. “I think it is very unwelcome. He himself has used racist language, against Muslim people, against black people. He is trying to bear undue influence in this case. If I was Ollie Robinson I’m not sure I’d want Boris Johnson involved and trying to support me,” Ramprakash said. While Ramprakash feels that it's okay for someone to speak up on the character changes that Robinson underwent in the last 9 years, he is surprised to know that not many have questioned who the tweets were aimed at. Ramprakash feels that the dressing room environment would have been toxic had Moeen Ali and Jofra Archer been present there. “I’ve heard people express sort of sympathy with Ollie Robinson, and say ‘hasn’t he shown a lot of character?’, but I haven’t heard enough about the victims or the people that these tweets are aimed at,” said Ramprakash. “How do they feel? Where is the sympathy for those people? They are UK citizens, a lot of them. We live in a diverse society and we really don’t want this behaviour,” he added. Robinson’s impressive Test debut where he picked up seven wickets was totally overshadowed by the tweets which resurfaced on Wednesday afternoon, the day he was making his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s.

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ENG W vs IND W: Nat Sciver appointed vice-captain as England Women’s announce squad for India series

All-rounder Nat Sciver has been appointed all format vice-captain of the England Women’s team. She would start her tenure with the three format encounters against India Women at home. The England squad for the one-off Tests was announced on June 9. Pacer Emily Arlott, who has picked up eight wickets in three games including a hattrick in her last outing in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy this weekend has earned a maiden call up to the squad. Head Coach Lisa Keightley, while speaking on the selection of the 17 member squad said, “It’s been hard to pick a squad given the balance of needing cover in a COVID world while wanting to give players as much chance as possible to play cricket.” This English squad would further be trimmed ahead of the start of the Test on June 16. This would be done to make sure that non-playing members are sent back to play in the RHF trophy. “We want players to have opportunities out in the middle so we’re looking to reduce our numbers slightly ahead of the Test to give the non-selected players that chance,” Keightley added. The coach is further pumped up as she takes the India series as a first step towards the upcoming Ashes, then the two World Cups and the Commonwealth Games in which Women’s cricket has been introduced for the first time. “I’m really excited by the summer ahead. We’ve been working really hard across the last 10 weeks, India are a strong side and it’s the beginning of a two-year journey for us that takes in two ICC World Cups, an Ashes and the Commonwealth Games,” she said. The one-off Test will be played at Bristol County Ground starting June 16. It would be the two teams' second meeting on the red ball format in seven years. In the last meeting, India triumphed by six wickets. Squad: Heather Knight (C), Emily Arlott, Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver (VC), Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield-Hill

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Reports: Seven Australian players mulling pull out from Caribbean tour

Some of the top Australian players including the likes of David Warner, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis could consider pulling out their names from the white ball series slated to be played against West Indies next month citing bubble fatigue issues. A report in Nine Media on Wednesday stated that these seven players might consider pulling out of the tour as they have already spent a considerable period in various bio-secure bubbles for several months now. The news came out a day after Cricket Australia announced six additional names to their 23 members preliminary squad for the tour of West Indies and Bangladesh slated to be held in July and August. Meanwhile all-rounder Daniel Sams has already made himself unavailable for the series owing to mental health issues. The left-arm pacer had contracted COVID during his stay in India prior to the Indian Premier League. All the members who are considering pulling out of the series were part of the 14th season of IPL which was halted midway owing to cases being reported inside the bio-bubbles. The players from the Australian contingent had spent 14 days in quarantine in Maldives before leaving for Australia. They again underwent seven days of quarantine after their arrival in Sydney. The Australian players are expected to travel to the Caribbean shores on 28th June which means that the players will get less than a month’s time after they were freed from quarantine on 31st May.

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Kane Williamson ruled out of second Test against England

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the second Test against England to get some rest for his 'irritated' left-elbow, NZC confirmed. Tom Latham will be leading the side in his absence. "It's not an easy decision for Kane to have to miss a Test, but we think it's the right one," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. "He's had an injection in his elbow to relieve the irritation he's been experiencing when he bats and a period of rest and rehabilitation will help maximise his recovery." "The decision has been made very much with the ICC World Test Championship Final at Southampton in mind and we are confident he will be ready for that match starting on June 18." The right-handed batsman sustained an elbow injury during the first match against England at Lord’s and was being monitored by the medical team. The first match between the two sides ended in a draw after rain played spoilsport on Day 3 of the match. Nevertheless, there were some brilliant individual performances from both sides. Devon Conway who made his Test debut for New Zealand in this match struck a fine double-century while fast bowler Tim Southee bagged a six-wicket haul in the first innings. In reply, England opener Rory Burns notched up a ton and helped his team come out of a tricky situation during the course. Apart from Burns, another debutant in the match Ollie Robinson began his career with an impressive performance as he scaled seven wickets in two innings for England. But Robinson has been suspended from the second Test against England after his racist and sexist posts that he had tweeted a few years back resurfaced on social media. The second game is slated to take place in Birmingham from Thursday (June 10, 2021).