Jos Buttler is an integral part of our team: Joe Root

England captain Joe Root has confirmed that Jos Buttler will return to the side for the fifth and final Test against India at Old Trafford. Buttler had missed the fourth Test to be at the birth of his second child and will now join the side in Manchester. Skipper Root confirmed that Buttler would be his deputy. 

"He is the vice captain of this team," Root said of Buttler. "He is a senior player and he is integral to what we are about,” he added. 

Root also put his weight behind Buttler despite not having a great run in the fixtures against India. 

“I know his output in terms of runs in this series has not been as high as he would like or as we would like but we know what a great player he is and how important he can be to turning a Test match and that is the reason behind it,” Root said. 

The visitors presently lead the five-match series 2-1 after they clinched a win at Lord’s in the second match and then at Kennington Oval in the penultimate game. The first match of the series at Nottingham ended in a draw while England won the third match in Leeds.  

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CPL 2021 | SLK vs GAW: On the charge Kings face listless Warriors

Nearing the business end of the tournament, the Guyana Amazon Warriors really need to pick themselves up if they are eying the Semi-Finals position as they seem to be struggling with only three wins from seven games in their kitty. The major problem with the team is that they are losing too many wickets upfront and the lower batsmen including skipper Nicholas Pooran and all-rounders like Odean Smith are unable to utilise the stretch of death overs or big-hitting overs. The Warriors need to straighten it as soon s possible otherwise it is going to be a tough ride ahead. The Kings on the other hand have been on a roll, winning three consecutive games coming into this match. Their batters are in great form with the likes of skipper Faf du Plessis even hitting a hundred and Roston Chase in the form of his life hitting back to back fifties. So for the Warriors to even think of winning, they would have to bring out their best game on the field. How will this turn out, only time can tell? Remember, in their last meeting, the Kings had defeated the Warriors by a huge margin of 52 runs. St Lucia Kings vs Guyana Amazon Warriors: Details Match Number: 22 Date and Time: September 09, 2021, 04:30 am IST, 07:00 pm Local (Sep 08), 11:00 pm GMT (Sep 08) Venue: Warner Park, Basseterre Broadcast: Star Sports Live Stream: Fancode Pitch Report The pitch at Basseterre has been getting slow with each passing day, although some wickets are also showing encouraging stuff. However, to expect what a wicket would do is not an easy job, but one thing is sure that if it is going to be a new wicket, then run-scoring might just be easy. Weather Forecast The weather at Warner Park will remain hot and humid with humidity of 80% at the time of the start of the match. The temperatures would remain in the higher twenties with the moderate evening breeze blowing. A captain winning the toss would look to bowl first and try and chase it into the night. Probable XI St Lucia Kings Andre Fletcher (wk), Faf du Plessis (c), Roston Chase, Tim David, Samit Patel, Jeavor Royal, Keron Cottoy, Alzarri Joseph, Kesrick Williams, Wahab Riaz, Keemo Paul Guyana Amazon Warriors Brandon King, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (c & wk), Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Kevin Sinclair, Gudakesh Motie, Imran Tahir Dream XI Team Wicketkeepers Nicholas Pooran Batters Shimron Hetmyer, Faf du Plessis, Tim David, Keron Cottoy All-rounders Mohammad Hafeez, Odean Smith, Roston Chase Bowlers Imran Tahir, Jeavor Royal, Kesrick Williams Vice-Captain Mohammad Hafeez Captain Roston Chase

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Cricket Australia postpones start of domestic season due to Covid-19 challenges

The start of Australia’s domestic fixtures has been postponed due to Covid-19 lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria, confirmed Cricket Australia. The domestic season had to start with the opening round of the 50-over Marsh Cup tournament which was to start this weekend. Victoria and South Australia were slated to lock horns with each other in Melbourne. The men’s domestic season will now commence on September 22 where South Australia will now host Western Australia in the Marsh Cup encounter at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.The two teams were also scheduled to begin the Sheffield Shield season on September 28 but they will now start the tournament on September 24. The Victoria and New South Wales are still in talks with CA as to how to go ahead. "Like all sports, we cannot rule out challenges created by the global pandemic at some stage in the season," said Cricket Australia's Head of Cricket Operations and Scheduling, Peter Roach. "However, the lessons of the 2020-21 summer have prepared us well to be agile and adapt as required to deliver the best possible season for the players and fans.” "We thank the States and Territories for their support and understanding through this process and are delighted to be making a start to the season. We will build out further fixtures in the coming weeks and announce them once finalised.” The women’s domestic scheduled has also been tweaked and WNCL 50-over competition will be held after the WBBL.