West Indies' two-time World T20-winning captain Darren Sammy has defended his team-mate Chris Gayle, who has once again revived accusations of sexism against him with some lewd comments in an interview with a British daily. Gayle, 36, came under fire for asking Australian broadcaster Mel McLaughlin out on a date in a live television interview during a Big Bash Twenty20 game in January. In the ongoing IPL, the Royal Challengers Bangalore opener sparked another sexism row when he asked a Times journalist a string of inappropriate questions. Sammy, however, chose to play down the latest row. "Chris Gayle is the universe boss, a team-mate of mine who I admire and respect. I just think people target Chris for no reason. "To me, Chris is one of our cricketing heroes. He's an entertainer, first, but a lot of people have jumped on his back," Sammy was quoted as saying by 'ESPNcricinfo'. He added, "I always support Chris because of what he does on a cricket field. Yes, we have a responsibility to ourselves, and the people who watch us, but sometimes I feel Chris is a target for newspaper headlines."
Having released 10 players ahead of the auction, the team management focussed on strengthening the batting and pace bowling units.
Babar named Pakistan Test captain, takes charge of all three formats.
The 21-year-old was added to the Australian for the fourth and final Test against India keeping in consideration the turn that the Sydney track traditionally offers for spinners.
Veteran speedster terms his Australia T20 call-up as a 'privilege' and is not thinking in the lines of how many matches he will get to play in the series against Australia. "I feel pretty privileged to be called in at this stage of my career. With a few injuries around it's been good timing and a bit lucky but you go through your career you have good luck and bad luck," 32-year-old Tait told the Daily Telegraph. Tait has had a good Big Bash League for the Hobart Hurricanes, where he got 10 wickets and is now being looked as someone who could be drafted into the World T20 squad.
Ash Barty ended Australia's 44-year wait for a home winner at the Australian Open when the world number one staved off a fightback from American Danielle Collins to complete a 6-3, 7-6(2) win.
'I do think, though, that Twenty20 cricket should become franchise dominated'
'If you can't be on the same field as him and watch him and learn from what he is doing, then you are in the wrong space.'
Training sessions are the players' only break from the monotony of being holed up alone in their hotel rooms, so they have been taking to practice with gusto, said Carey.
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson will quit international cricket after the ongoing World Twenty20 in India, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Thursday.
Mitchell Starc keeps away from T20 leagues around the world, including the IPL, despite the handsome money on offer as he wants to be at his best playing for Australia.
Cricket Australia gave the day-night match against Afghanistan the green light on Thursday when it announced its summer schedule headlined by a marquee series against India.
Star batter Jemimah Rodrigues was on Thursday dropped from the 15-member Indian women's squad for the ICC ODI World Cup to be held in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3.
Former Australian Test captain Michael Clarke is set to return to first-class cricket six months after he announced international retirement and the lucrative India Premier League is on his radar, according to reports in the Australian media. The 34-year-old, who retired from international cricket following Australia's Ashes defeat last August, has also refused to rule out wearing the baggy green once more, insisting he was in good shape ahead of a grade cricket comeback. Clarke is likely to make his return for grade team Western Suburbs against Randwick-Petersham in a Sydney club match on February 20-21. "I'll start with playing this grade game for Western Suburbs and see if I miss it as much as I feel like I'm going to. If I do, the option is there to train the entire winter and then we'll see what happens," local media reported Clarke as having told 'News Corp'.
Former Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi has announced his decision to retire from Test cricket after the ongoing one-off match against Bangladesh.
David Warner has been ruled out of the remainder of the limited-overs series against India while Pat Cummins has been rested as part of his workload management.
The 41-year-old Panesar also marked Shubman Gill to have a breakout tournament.
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting believes new recruit Alex Carey could win a lot of games for the IPL side in his new No 4 role and is also a good backup option to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Australian wicketkeeper Carey, who usually opens the innings in the Australian Big Bash T20 League, smashed a 24-ball 55 for the Adelaide Strikers at No 4, while Ponting looked on from the television commentary box on Monday night.
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that their team is just as good as the Indian World Twenty20 team.
Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann will have heart surgery on Saturday after suffering a health scare on his 50th birthday on Wednesday. The former Test batsman suffered chest pains while on the Gold Coast to watch his son Jake Lehmann captain the Cricket Australia XI against the touring England Lions.
Players depending on external stimulation will struggle in front of empty stadium, says experienced mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton
Australia Test skipper Michael Clarke's will captain the Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash League for the next two seasons after not playing Twenty20 for three years.
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke said his body felt 15 years younger after a spell away from cricket as he prepared for a comeback at the Hong Kong T20 Blitz. Injury-plagued Clarke said nine months without cricket and its rigorous travel, as well as a revamped diet and training regime, had given him a new lease of life as he contemplates joining the lucrative Twenty20 bandwagon. The 35-year-old batsman played his last Twenty20 international in 2010 but he will test the waters for a stint in Australia's Big Bash League at the four-team Hong Kong event this weekend. Clarke, troubled by chronic back problems, retired after last year's Ashes series but less than a year later, he will make an experimental hit-out for Kowloon Cantons. "I'm going to play these couple of games and see how I go, see if I enjoy it and then assess after that," he said. "Right now it's about coming here and having some fun. If I enjoy it, I'll assess when I get home what my exact plan will be." He added: "My body's going really well. My body hasn't felt this good in 15 years. Let's hope I'm saying that on Sunday night after four games of cricket!"
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was banned on Tuesday for one year for a doping whereabouts rule violation.
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has suffered multiple cheekbone fractures after an on-field head clash during the Women's Big Bash League (BBL) match between Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Stars.
Steve O'Keefe's hopes of joining the Australian slow-bowling attack in the four-Test series in India from next month have been boosted after the left-arm spinner was withdrawn from the remainder of the Big Bash League to prepare for the tour.
Nepal court releases rape accused cricketer Lamichhane on bail
World number one Ash Barty became the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon singles title for 41 years on Saturday when she defeated Czech Karolina Pliskova in the final.
McCullum, 37, played for the two-time IPL champions in two separate stints and also represented Trinbago Knight Riders, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise that is owned by the same parent company Red Chillies Entertainment.
West Indies are two-time World T20 champions but the flamboyant Chris Gayle feels "it will be difficult" for the Caribbean islands to regain their glory days in Test cricket in the near future. One of the most dashing batsmen of his time, Gayle has two triple hundreds in the longest format with 7214 runs in 103 games. His RCB jersey no, 333, is his highest Test score. West Indies have lost their last two Test series against India (at home) and Pakistan (away).
Australian captain Aaron Finch is confident Glenn Maxwell's ODI absence won't last long.
While SA great Lance Klusener hailed Hardik Pandya as one of the best fast-bowling allrounders, he believes Pandya gave up on Test cricket too easily.
Now, the burly left-handed West Indian announced the arrival of his new-born daughter on his Instagram page, and matter-of-factly stated that he has named her 'Blush'.
Following a disastrous outing in the 2022 edition, five-times champs Mumbai Indians will look to turn it around when the 16th season of the IPL gets underway.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's squad for the one-day international series in New Zealand next month, while in-form batsman Usman Khawaja has also been overlooked for the three-match series.
Australia off-spinner Nathan Hauritz announced his retirement from competitive cricket on Tuesday, bringing the curtain down on a 15-year career during which he represented the national side in all three formats. Hauritz, one of the many spinners Australia turned to after the retirement of bowling great Shane Warne, did not have a state contract for the last two seasons and was used by his Big Bash League side Melbourne Renegades for one match this season. The 34-year-old failed to take a wicket in that clash, against Perth Scorchers, and conceded 29 runs in his two overs. "I was just so shattered after the game," he told reporters. "I realised I hadn't come down here to be that disappointed about a game of cricket anymore. I thought 'I don't need that anymore'. I just want to get away.
'Honestly, I don't want to be a testing sort of a cricketer for any new format. I don't want to be someone who's going to be part of that World XI who comes and launches the 100-ball format'
The Indian cricket team would get into the groove for the short limited-overs series against Australia with a couple of warm-up games against a Western Australia XI at the WACA ground on Friday and Saturday. While the first match tomorrow is slated to be a T20 affair, the second match scheduled the day after will be a 50-over warm-up game against the same opposition. It will certainly not be the first team of Western Australia which is better known as Perth Scorchers, which will be playing in the warm-up games. It will be a second string squad that will take on the Indians.
Amidst concerns that cash-strapped governing bodies will give priority to men's events over less-lucrative women's fixtures once the health crisis triggered by coronavirus pandemic is over, star Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry believes that women sport will emerge unscathed. Sporting activities around the world have been brought to a grinding halt by the coronavirus outbreak.
The IPL, all of a sudden, may have some catching up to do with the Big Bash.
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