Pakistan excited to win 'special' series as Blackcaps come home to play after 18 years

India's tour of New Zealand postponed to 2022

Scheduled India’s tour of New Zealand at the end of the year as per the ICC’s Future Tour Programme (FTP) has been postponed for next year, Stuff.co.nz reported. Virat Kohli’s men were to take on the Blackcaps in a three-match long ODI series but New Zealand Cricket has confirmed that they will tour the country next year after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in Australia. The move has been taken by the NZC as New Zealand are also scheduled to travel to India for a Test and T20 series before heading home. NZC said that the players who will be travelling to India would not be able to return home before the first week of December and as per the 14 days of managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) set by the government, they won’t be able to take the field before Christmas. New Zealand already have a cramped schedule with as many as three teams such as South Africa, Netherlands and Bangladesh are slated to tour the country in the next summer. India last toured New Zealand for a full series in early 2022 before the Covid-19 pandemic gripped the world. The Virat Kohli-led side were swept 0-2 in the Test series, defeated 1-2 in the ODI series while the men in blue swept the T20I series 5-0.

England may field under-strength side in Ashes with players unwilling on Covid norms

The possibility of England not sending a full-strength team to Australia for the Ashes series scheduled towards the end of the year is growing with each passing day as players are refusing to give up their demands while discussing the terms of the tour with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). As per an ESPNcricinfo report, England players are reluctant to tour down under with current quarantine and Covid-19 containment measures being place in Australia. They may get ready to face the strict quarantine for a period of a fortnight but they are extremely reluctant to put their families in isolation for such a long time. Also complicating the issue is there are players who will be there in the Indian Premier League, then the ICC World T20 and hence if not travelling with family for such a long period of time is also not tenable for few players. The report further suggested that England players might be provided with a resort hotel in Gold Coast but their movement is likely to be limited to outdoor works for just two hours a day and the players are not finding it a sustainable model. Players have also floated the idea of postponing the series with the first Test starting on Boxing Day in Melbourne instead of the original schooled start on December 09 at the Gabba. Players argue that shiting the dates of the series will allow them a window to spend some time with the family after featuring in the T20 World Cup. Players have also put forward an idea of splitting the Ashes series into two series spread across a year’s time. Players have recommended to the ECB that they can be given an option of playing two or three Tests of the series in December-January 2021-22 while the remaining portion of the tour will be completed at the same time next year. The ECB has not accepted any of the ideas floated by the players and the whole team including the support staff are not miffed with ECB’s lack of consideration. Hence, they might as a whole unit “boycott” the Ashes series, ESPNcricinfo report suggested. It could well be argued that Cricket Australia is already marred in disputes with the free to air broadcaster Channel 7 over financial losses to them due to shifting the schedule of the last summer against India. Hence, the ECB has limited options to convince Cricket Australia to agree to players’ demands.

CPL 2021 | Top five batsmen who rocked the ninth season of the biggest party in cricket

The 2021 edition of the Caribbean Premier League has now come to an end and what an end it was, the last ball finish by Dominic Drakes to win the first-ever Championship title for St Kitts and Nevis was nothing short of a dream finale for the fans and players alike. However, the finale was only a culmination of what has been a whirring season that gave a roller coaster ride feeling with matches being played at a very fast pace, sometimes even three games in one day. In all this madness, certain bowlers and batsmen made their mark with some brilliant display of talent and skills. We at OneCricket and Cricketexchange narrowed down the top five bowlers and top five batsmen who stood out among the rest. You can read about the top five bowlers here. In the list of the top five batters though are some names that will now dazzle in the Indian Premier League too, but it is unfortunate that the most exhilarating batter and all-rounder Roston Chase wouldn’t be able to showcase his newfound avatar in the most-watched cricket league of the world. Roston Chase Chase was at another level altogether in this season of the CPL. Although in the first few games, Chase looked much like his usual self, consuming too many deliveries and putting pressure on the batsmen at the other end, playing in his usual Test style. But it was against the Guyana Amazon Warriors that chase unleashed himself. Scoring his first fifty of the season, Chase compiled his innings in a very crafty manner. First, he took his time settling in, but once he settled down, he made sure that he made up for the lost deliveries, eventually scoring 85 off just 50 deliveries. From there on, there was no stopping Chase as he chased the glory alongside his team, St Lucia Kings. His next eight innings were 64, 51, 40, 30, 0, 56, 36, 43 and at the end of the season, the 29-year-old had to his kitty 446 runs at an average of almost 50 and at a strike rate of 144. Evin Lewis The fact that Lewis is always known to be an explosive batter and more often than not if he gets going in a season, he would be among the top five batters in any league is no surprise. Therefore him occupying second place in the list of top run-getters was one of the very reasons why his team St Kitts and Nevis Patriots were able to get to the final in the first place. Lewis’ best inning however came in one of the most important games for the Patriots when they were facing the defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders and defeated them by a whopping eight-wicket courtesy of the century by Lewis which he hit off just 50 balls. In total, the left-hander hit 426 runs at an average of 47.33, striking at a rate of 163.21 runs per hundred balls. However, Lewis couldn’t get going in the final though but Drakes made sure that didn’t really matter. Tim David Another St Lucia kings batter in the list and this time it is a foreign import all the way down from Singapore. It might be difficult for anybody to imagine that someone coming from Singapore would be touring all over the world and be playing in all leagues. He has now bought himself a ticket to the IPL as well and will be representing Royal Challengers Bangalore and all of that at the age of 25. David was someone who first filled aggression into the Kings line-up which was lacking in the first two games, he went about his business in the usual manner of attack even when the chips were really down. In total, the right-hander batter scored 282 runs in 11 innings and remained unbeaten thrice to have an average of 35.25 and a strike rate of 146.11 Sherfane Rutherford Although in terms of most runs in the series, the next in the list would be Kings; skipper Faf du Plessis and Trinbago Knight Rider’s Colin Munro. But the impact that Rutheford had in the five-match winning run of the Patriots made him jumps over those t international stars and get himself registered in the top five batters list, just for his sheer brilliance. Rutherford scored three half-centuries in the first four games of the Patriots and was leading the run charts before being rested by his team. Although when he came back, it wasn’t the same Rutherford and courtesy that he even missed on the bus for the West Indies T20 World Cup squad, of which he looked like a sure shot candidate. It was most probably Chase, who peaked at the same time as Ruthefird went down that got his place in the defending Champions’ World Cup squad. Anyhow, the left-hander scored 262 runs in 10 innings at an average of 37.42 and a strike rate of around 127. Courtesy of this, the 27-year-old has now got himself an IPL contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad as a replacement for Jonny Bairstow who pulled out at the last moment. Nicholas Pooran Captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Pooran is also one such player who couldn’t really get going and was able to shine only in bits and pieces never finding a suitable number for himself to bat throughout the competition. But whenever he did shine, he showed exactly why is he rated so high by all. Pooran’s best innings came against Jamaica Tallwahs in a must-win game for the Warriors where he scored 75 off just 39 balls, hitting four fours and seven sixes on his way to his first and only fifty of the season. There were other meaningful contributions by the 25-year-old as well as he scored a total of 263 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 163.

Kusal Perera may miss World T20 due to hamstring injury; all-rounder Lahiru Madushanka ruled out

Sri Lanka’s batsman Kusal Perera could miss the upcoming T20 World Cup after picking up a hamstring injury in the third and final T20I of the series against South Africa. He was the top-score from his side but was clearly seen struggling between the wickets while running. An assessment of his injury and availability in the World Cup will be determined later in a week time, ESPNcricinfo reported citing one of Sri Lanka’s team physicians, Dr Daminda Attanayake. "The injury is a sprinter's injury, which can be picked up while running between the wickets. Because of the nature of the injury, we can't do a fast rehabilitation,” Dr Attanayake was quoted as saying. Perera has a long history of struggles with hamstring injuries but reportedly it’s not a recurrence of an old injury. He had also missed the last home series against India after contracting Covid-19 upon arrival from the UK. Sri Lanka have faced another injury concern in the same game against South Africa as the all-rounder Lahiru Madushanka fractured his collarbone while fielding and has subsequently been ruled out of the T20 World Cup scheduled to start next month. Sri Lanka are going through a tough phase in international cricket as their performance as a team have dwindled over the last many years. The absence of Perera will come as an excruciating blow to the team’s chances as they are anyway facing a tough path to get entry to the main draw of the T20 World Cup.