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Australia’s captain completed running, fielding and batting just days after being in a moon boot

Alex Malcolm28-Jan-2025Australia captain Alyssa Healy is making a bold bid to play in the historic day-night Ashes Test at the MCG starting on Thursday after completing a full training session two days out despite battling a stress injury in her foot that saw her miss the entire T20I series while wearing a moon boot.Healy participated fully in Australia’s first main session at the MCG and looked impressive with no signs of pain or limitations with her right foot.She began with a running session with six other team-mates, including Ashleigh Gardner who is coming off a calf injury. The pair moved well with other team-mates doing multiple laps of the MCG in intervals at a very solid intensity.Related

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Healy also did short sprints thereafter without issue and then took part in Australia’s fielding session. Healy will be in the outfield if she does play and had no trouble during the session which was completed at a good intensity. She then had a solid hit in the nets cycling through pace, spin and throw downs and had no trouble at any stage on her feet.Speaking prior to the training session, coach Shelley Nitschke said no decision had been made on whether Healy would play and that the team management would wait to see how Healy pulled up after testing her foot.”She’s going as well as can be expected,” Nitschke said. “I think you’ve all seen her out in a boot and taking some weight off of that foot.”She will have a test today, and we’ll just sort of see where that lands and have some discussions about that, whether or not we think she’s going to be okay for a four day test.”Nitschke said they would try and leave the decision as late as possible but they were wary of creating problems around role clarity given Healy’s significance as the captain and a senior batter.”We don’t have to actually lock it in until the toss,” Nitschke said. “But obviously there’s repercussions around that with who’s the captain and what our line-up looks like. So I think people sort of want to know their role coming in, so as soon as we can we will, but it certainly doesn’t have to be today.”The coach did admit there was some emotion involved in the decision. It is the first time women will play a Test match at the MCG since 1949 and the occasion will be historic as the two teams celebrate the 90-year anniversary of women’s Test cricket.Australia’s women have not played at the MCG since the 2020 T20 World Cup final where Healy was player of the match. There have been multiple WBBL games at the venue since but Healy has not played in any of those. She has played at the MCG just 12 times in her career.Australia do not play another Test until February-March of 2026 by which time Healy will be nearly 36. There is a possibility, given her recent injury struggles, that this could be the final opportunity she has to play Test cricket and to appear at the MCG although she has not given any hint as to when she may finish her international career.Alyssa Healy is pushing to play in the historic day-night Test at the MCG•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

“I think it’s just about keeping in mind what’s best for the team and making sure we’re putting the best team we can out there to perform,” Nitschke said. “So that’s always been front and foremost. But we don’t play a lot of Tests, so there’s sort of some emotion involved there, but we want to do what’s best for the team and see what happens.”Nitschke confirmed Gardner was fit and would play after overcoming her calf injury. She completed her running, batting and bowling without issue and looms as a key player after her player of the match performance in the third ODI and her player of the match performance in the last Ashes Test in England in 2023.Nitschke added the selectors were unsure of how they would structure the XI for the day-night Test. Spin has been a huge part of Australia’s six victories in the white-ball matches so far but the MCG has been one of the most seam-friendly pitches in long-form men’s cricket since the drop-ins were redone in 2019. The pitch was under cover throughout the evening on Tuesday and neither side were able to look at it.”We certainly look at what the pitch has played like in whether it’s Shield and the Test match, and then considering the pink ball as well and what that brings to the game,” Nitschke said. “So we certainly do look at the results and how the wicket has played in the men’s game, because there’s been no female longer format played here. And then obviously use, what’s happened in the white-ball series as well as some intel to how we’re matching up.”England were equally unsure how the surface would play but seamer Kate Cross looms as an option after completing two full bowling spells on Tuesday without appearing in too much discomfort having missed the ODI series with a back problem. Cross wasn’t part of the T20I squad so has been based in Melbourne preparing for the Test.It has been a forgettable tour for England but there is a chance to end on a high•Getty Images

Nat Sciver-Brunt was unsure whether Cross would be available for selection but she was positive about what she faced from her.”I don’t know,” she said. “You’ll have to ask the physios who will review with her as to whether she got through the net sessions, alright. And I’m sure tomorrow will have a good bearing on that as well. She’s tracking good. It’s nice to see her rocking out a few overs in the nets as well. I think she got through two spells today. It’s great to see her back to being herself.”Sciver-Brunt did not shy away from the fact that the tour had been extremely difficult for the team, stating that it might have been worse than their last trip down under in 2021-22 when they lost the Ashes 12-4 under Covid restrictions, only claiming points from the drawn Test and two washed out T20Is.But she said the incentive of performing well in a historic Test had the team excited to finish the tour on a bright note.”It is difficult,” Sciver-Brunt said. “But I think being a Test match at the end of that at this iconic venue, we love putting on the whites. We love the fact that we get to create new memories with our team-mates, with our close friends, and hopefully put a good showing of ourselves.”Grateful that we’ve got opportunity to do that after six games. But the last few days have been tough. But, we’ve regrouped, and we’ll do our best to stay up.”

CSA will also send a security delegation to Pakistan to assess the feasibility of a tour in early 2021

Firdose Moonda27-Oct-2020A full summer schedule has been announced for South Africa’s men’s team. They will host England, Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan in biosecure bubbles between November 2020 and April 2021, with the possibility of traveling to Pakistan in early 2021. The home season will include five home Tests, six ODIs, and six T20Is, while CSA is in negotiation to play Tests and T20Is in Pakistan. All matches and training sessions will take place behind closed doors.After confirming the England series last week, CSA has announced that Sri Lanka will visit over the festive period for two Tests on the Highveld. SuperSport Park, which hosted England for the Boxing Day Test last year and Pakistan the year before, has been retained as the venue for this fixture, while the new Wanderers Stadium will host the New Year’s Test for the first time. The New Year’s Test has only been played in Johannesburg three times previously, at the old Wanderers stadium, but not for more than a 100 years, with the last instance being 1914. Newlands in Cape Town misses out on what is regarded as the most iconic fixture in the South African cricket calendar.South Africa are set for a packed 2020-21 home summer•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

South Africa hope to spend the rest of January 2021 in Pakistan but a call on the feasibility of that tour will be made after a security team completes a risk assessment. A CSA delegation will depart for Pakistan this weekend. ESPNcricinfo understands that South Africa could play two Tests and a T20I series in Pakistan.The team will then return home to take on Australia in three Tests, with venues yet to be announced, for the first time since the sandpapergate scandal of 2018. Pakistan round out the summer with three ODIs and three T20Is in April.The PCB has also confirmed that this tour will take place.”The Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed the men’s national team will tour South Africa in April 2021 for three One-Day Internationals, which will be part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, and as many T20 Internationals,” the PCB said in a statement on Tuesday. “Pakistan has now agreed to fulfil its Future Tours Programme (FTP) commitment prior to visiting Zimbabwe for two Tests and three T20Is. The schedule of both the series will be announced in due course.”The up-country venues have been chosen for the Sri Lanka series for two reasons: most obviously that CSA can create a bubble between Centurion and Johannesburg, with teams likely to stay in Sandton, but also for cricketing purposes. It will suit South Africa to play Sri Lanka on the two fastest surfaces in the county, especially after losing the last home series 2-0 against them on slower surfaces on the coast. South Africa have not beaten Sri Lanka in a Test series since the 2016-17 summer, losing to them in 2018 in Sri Lanka and in 2018-19 at home. All those matches were played under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis, who stood down in January, which means the upcoming Sri Lanka series will be the first under a new captain, who has yet to be named, although an announcement is imminent. New convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang begins in the job on Monday, which is also when the first round of domestic first-class matches begins, which should provide insight into red-ball form.Faf du Plessis oversaw a 2-0 series defeat at home against Sri Lanka•Getty Images

“It is an absolute pleasure to deliver more good news for our cricket-loving fans to consume, following last week’s confirmed tour against England and domestic season launch,” Kugandrie Govender, CSA’s acting CEO, said. “The Covid-19 pandemic predictably forced many changes to the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) and the traditional sequencing of scheduling matches in South Africa this season. This is why I am particularly proud of today’s announcement. It comes as a result of many hours of dedication, negotiation and hard work by individuals behind the scenes to ensure that our fans have an exciting line-up of cricket to look forward to throughout the summer.”The announcement of the fixtures comes on the same day when CSA is due to present South Africa’s sports minister, Nathi Mthethwa, with reasons to deter him from intervening in its affairs. Mthethwa was forced to announce his intention to look into CSA after the body refused to comply with the instructions of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), which demanded that the CSA Board and executive temporarily stand down while SASCOC conducts an investigation into CSA. SASCOC also wanted unrestricted access to the forensic report that CSA used to fire former CEO Thabang Moroe.CSA refused on both counts, but its entire board has since resigned. The executive remains in place and it is expected that an interim committee will be put in place in lieu of a board until December’s AGM. For now, those behind-the-scenes activities do not seem to be affecting matters on the field, albeit CSA has hit financially tough times.The organisation is forecasting a loss for the 2019-2022 cycle but no pay cuts have taken place. The South Africa men’s team has been out of action since March, when their white-ball tour of India was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic. They had tours of Sri Lanka and the West Indies and a home T20I series against India postponed. The women’s team, whose fixtures will be announced in the coming weeks, has not played since the T20 World Cup. Their home series against Australia and trips to the West Indies and England could not go ahead.South Africa remains in lockdown, albeit it at the most lenient stage (1 of 5), and most activity has resumed. The country’s borders are open, with only leisure travellers from high-risk countries not allowed in.

While the tournament is set to be played between October 5 and November 19, the BCCI is yet to finalise the schedule

Nagraj Gollapudi27-May-2023The schedule for the 2023 World Cup will be unveiled during the World Test Championship final at The Oval, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has said. The board has prepared a list of more than a dozen venues across India, and the final shortlist will be shared with the ICC soon.Shah made these comments during a media briefing after the BCCI’s special general meeting in Ahmedabad which will host the IPL final on Sunday. While the ten-team World Cup is set to be played between October 5 and November 19, the BCCI is yet to finalise the schedule, with just about four months left for the start of the tournament.Related

• ICC: 2023 World Cup fixtures to be released 'as soon as we possibly can'

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A total of 48 matches, including the three knockout games, are set to be played across the 46-day period. Ahmedabad aside, the original shortlist of cities on BCCI list comprised: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot and Mumbai and Trivandrum. It is understood that Nagpur and Pune, too, are under consideration. It is likely that the league matches will be hosted across 10 cities, with two more cities staging the warm-up fixtures preceding the main tournament.

Asia Cup to be formally discussed at ACC meeting

Shah, who is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council, said an emergent meeting of the ACC will be held to finalise whether the hybrid model proposed by the PCB for the 2023 Asia Cup is feasible.On Sunday, Shah will be meeting his counterparts from Sri Lanka Cricket, Bangladesh Cricket Board, and Afghanistan Cricket Board to informally discuss their views on the Asia Cup.Pakistan are the hosts of this year’s Asia Cup, scheduled for September, but with India declining to travel there, the ACC has been looking at alternatives. Recently, the PCB had suggested a hybrid model for the six-team tournament, where four of the 13 matches will be held in Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan are grouped together along with Nepal. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are part of the second group.The biggest challenge about the hybrid model concerns the travel involved. Shah said “two or three countries” had sent in their views, which will be formally discussed at the ACC meeting in the next ten days.Shah said, in his capacity as ACC chairman, he wanted the Asia Cup to go ahead this year. The tournament has not been be hosted in Pakistan or India since 2008 due to the political differences between both countries.

Former England allrounder had been club’s T20 Blast captain but not offered new deal

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2023Sussex have announced that former England allrounder Ravi Bopara will leave the club after not being offered a contract extension.Bopara joined from Essex on a white-ball contract at the end of 2019 and captained Sussex’s T20 side for the last two seasons. At the start of the summer, new head coach Paul Farbrace targeted a place at Finals Day, but Sussex eventually finished sixth in the South Group, missing out on the quarter-finals.Bopara, 38, enjoyed his best Blast season since 2014, scoring 408 runs at a strike rate of 146.23 and recording a career-best 108 against Kent. He did, however, have to sit out Sussex’s trip to the Ageas Bowl after arriving after the start time.Related

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He indicated that he would be looking for a new county, “as I have a great deal more to offer to the game as a player”.Farbrace said: “I have enjoyed working with Ravi this summer in the T20 Blast competition and of course wish him well as he moves on to new opportunities. He has played some excellent cricket for Sussex this year, including a superb hundred at Canterbury last week.”Ravi has helped our young players with their development over the last couple of years that he has spent at Hove and we will miss his personality and experience at the club.”Bopara has played 452 games of T20, putting him sixth on the all-time list, and is part of the London Spirit squad for the Hundred, which begins next month.”It was very disappointing to be told by Paul Farbrace last week that there was not to be an extension of my contract at the club,” he said. “This is particularly so after a very good season with bat and ball. Having said that, I’ve loved my time at Sussex.”I have thoroughly enjoyed working with young players in the 2nd XI T20 matches and seeing some of the boys progress to the 1st team. Seeing that progression and development has been incredibly satisfying.”It’s been an absolute honour to have captained the 1st team in the T20 Blast and seeing the potential of our young team of players come through and finish the back end of the tournament strong has highlighted the progress we have made.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players and staff who have helped me become a better cricketer and person and all the members and fans for their loyal support throughout the years. I now really looking forward to my next playing opportunity as I have a great deal more to offer to the game as a player.”

“It’s important that we stay in the moment. That’s the constant talk from game one, it’s not like we want to change anything,” he adds

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-20231:51

Kumble on India’s massive win: Perfect, amazing, outstanding

In the end, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill went so hard at South Africa’s new-ball bowlers that India scored more in their first ten overs – 91 – than South Africa did in their entire innings.Rohit was the firestarter as India raced past fifty in the fifth over and he finished with 40 off 24 balls, having provided the ignition needed to score 326 for 5, a total that was well above par on an Eden Gardens pitch that helped spin. But after the game, he said his approach was not pre-meditated.”Not really, that is something we didn’t discuss, to be honest,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation when asked whether there was a conscious effort to be aggressive against South Africa. “Gill and I have been batting together for a long time now and that’s how we have batted for the majority of our innings together. We let our instincts do the talking for us, we let it take over in the middle and not pre-plan everything. If the wicket is good, we want to go out there and play the kind of cricket we are playing and everything falls in place.”Related

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And everything did fall in place for India. After he and Gill were dismissed, Virat Kohli went on to score his record-equalling 49th ODI century and his 134-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer ensured that India were always above par even when the pitch got harder to bat on.”If we look at how we played in the last three games, we played better [against South Africa] in terms of adapting to the situation,” Rohit said. “We were put under little bit of pressure against England where we lost three wickets upfront and then we got ourselves collected and got a decent score and the seamers did the job for us. In the last game as well, we lost a wicket in the first over, but we stitched a very big partnership there and then again got to a good score, and again, seamers came to the party.”Again today as well, it was not an easy pitch, you needed someone like Kohli to go out there and bat the situation. Not to forget [Shreyas] Iyer, creating that partnership for us and getting the runs on the board and then we knew we had the runs on the board and it was time to keep the ball in the right areas, and the pitch will do its thing.”After scoring 326 at Eden Gardens, India dismantled South Africa for just 83•ICC via Getty Images

Rohit had words of praise for Mohammed Shami and Iyer. Despite not playing the first four league games, Shami is India’s leading wicket-taker at the World Cup, with 16 wickets in just 26 overs, at an astonishing strike rate of 9.7, average of 7.00, an economy of 4.30. Iyer, meanwhile, has scored consecutive half-centuries against South Africa and Sri Lanka, after scoring just one in his first six innings of the World Cup.”Honestly, even if they wouldn’t have repaid, I would have still kept that faith,” Rohit said. “It’s important to let guys have freedom in the middle. It is important to make them understand what is expected of them. And I also understand it’s not going to happen every game. You have to keep the trust in the guys who have done the job for the team. It cannot be done every day but when it happens, everything looks good.”That’s what happened with Shami. In the first few games, he was not part of the XI, but for him to come back the way he has in the last four games shows the mindset and the quality of the player. Same with Iyer, wasn’t getting the runs he was expecting by his own standards but [in] the last two games, showed the kind of class he has.”In Hardik Pandya’s absence, Ravindra Jadeja has stepped up to deliver as India’s sole allrounder. After not batting in the first four games, he helped seal the chase against New Zealand (39* off 44), and provided powerful finishes while batting first against Sri Lanka (35 off 24) and South Africa (29* off 15). He’s also taken 14 wickets with an economy of 3.76, including a five-wicket haul against South Africa.”Jadeja has been really good,” Rohit said. “He is a big match-winner for us, playing in all three formats for us for many years now. He keeps doing the job, goes under the radar a lot but today was a classic case of what Jadeja is for us – scores runs at the back end and then to come out and take wickets. Very important player. He knows exactly what is expected of him from the team.”With eight wins in eight games, India have secured the top spot in the league with a game in hand, against Netherlands in Bengaluru on November 12. After that, they will play their semi-final against the team that finishes fourth in the league, but Rohit isn’t looking too far ahead just yet.”This is something that we have been talking constantly in our changing room. Not to get ahead of ourselves. There is still a long way to go in the tournament,” Rohit said. “It’s important that we stay in the moment. That’s the constant talk from game one, it’s not like we want to change anything or we are talking about anything else. When we turn up for the game, we want to play well and to our potential.”