Fast bowler proves fitness after taking 8 for 122 across two warm-up games

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2020West Indies have officially added fast bowler Shannon Gabriel to their squad for the Test series against England. Gabriel had been part of the reserve personnel on tour but has proved his fitness and comes into the 15 vying for contention at the Ageas Bowl next week.Gabriel underwent ankle surgery last year and has not played a first-class game since September, but he claimed figures of 8 for 122 across West Indies’ two warm-up games in Manchester.”I am delighted that we are able to add Shannon to the Test squad,” CWI lead selector Roger Harper said. “He has shown that he is fit and ready, he will add experience, firepower and potency to the bowling unit.”The addition of Gabriel to the full squad means West Indies will be able to call upon the same attack that helped them to a 2-1 series win over England in the Caribbean last year – although there have been concerns over the fitness of captain Jason Holder, who has been suffering from an ankle niggle and only bowled five overs so far on tour.

Chris Silverwood backs Jos Buttler to come good as England regroup at Emirates Old Trafford

Andrew Miller13-Jul-2020Joe Denly looks set to pay the price for England’s four-wicket defeat in the first Test against West Indies, but Jos Buttler can expect to be given “the best chance to succeed” despite his own flat-lining Test form, as the head coach Chris Silverwood prepares to lift his squad ahead of Thursday’s second match at Emirates Old Trafford.With England’s captain Joe Root set to slot back into the side at No. 4 following the birth of his second child, the obvious fall-guy is Denly, 34, who once again failed to capitalise on a pair of solid starts with scores of 18 and 29 at the Ageas Bowl.After 15 Tests in a row dating back to England’s tour of the Caribbean in early 2019, those latest innings epitomise a flatlining career in which Denly’s average has now slipped back below 30. Moreover they contrast increasingly starkly with the efforts of Denly’s Kent team-mate Zak Crawley – 12 years his junior – whose second-innings 76 at the Ageas Bowl completed the fifth consecutive match in which he has posted a Test-best score.”That’s what we are looking for,” Silverwood said. “If we can create an environment where these guys can learn and continually improve then we will end up with some very good cricketers on our hands.”Zak is improving constantly. He certainly showed maturity and the innings he played was very good. We have some young players in that side that seem to have good heads on their shoulders, and he’s one of them. We’d have all loved to have seen him go on and get up to three figures but what we did was very good and helped us get into the position that we did.”After debuting at No. 6 in New Zealand and playing as an opener in South Africa, Crawley’s selection at No. 4 was a sign that he had been the likelier player to make way for Root’s return in that position in Manchester.However, when pressed on Denly’s continued presence in the side, Silverwood struggled to give his player much solace, and confirmed that his place would come under discussion when he and Root sit down with Ed Smith, the national selector, this afternoon to finalise England’s squad for the second Test.”We’re all desperate to see Joe do really well,” he said. “We can see he’s trying hard, he’s training hard. He’s a great bloke hence why we all went to see him do well, but obviously he’s under pressure a little bit, yeah.”POLITE ENQUIRIES: Does Ed Smith wear Jos Buttler pyjamasAnother player who might expect to feel the pinch is Buttler, England’s vice-captain in Root’s absence, whose scores of 35 and 9 at the Ageas Bowl continued a fallow run of form in which he has scored a solitary half-century in his last 21 Test innings, going back to the tour of the Caribbean.With Ben Foakes now confirmed as the Test squad’s wicketkeeping understudy following Jonny Bairstow’s selection in the white-ball squad to face Ireland at the end of the month, Buttler would appear to be running out of opportunities to translate his world-beating one-day form into the Test arena, where he averages 31.46 with one hundred in 42 appearances.Silverwood, however, indicated that the selectors’ patience had not yet run out, and despite the hugely worthy claims of Foakes – who made a hundred on his debut in Sri Lanka and averages 41.50 in five Tests – he backed England’s incumbent to live up to his indisputable talent.”I’m not going to go down that road yet of putting Jos under pressure, because I don’t think it’s going to help him,” he said. “So, first and foremost, we want to give Jos the best opportunity to succeed. But you’re right, we have got a very, very good gloveman in Ben Foakes out there, which we’re lucky to have.”[Jos] looked brilliant coming into this game, in practice and everything. He looked very good in the first innings. He just needs to go and make those big scores now, doesn’t he? Which he knows as well.”From our point of view it’s just making sure that he feels confident in the environment he’s in. We’ll give him the best chance to succeed really. The rest of it is, he has a good day out, gets some runs, hopefully the rest will be history – he’ll go on from there.”England are at least in familiar territory going into the second Test, having lost the opening match of a series for the eighth time in ten campaigns, dating back to the Ashes tour in 2017-18. Most recently in South Africa they bounced back from a heavy defeat in the first Test at Centurion to win the series 3-1, and Silverwood was hopeful that the same spirit would come to the fore now.”It is something that’s been spoken about, and it’s something that we keep managing to do,” he said. “We have to address and it look at how we get out of the blocks a little bit quicker.”We had a good chat in the dressing room afterwards – as you always do, you sit down and you look at areas where you missed opportunities here, you’ve built well there.”I tend to try and find the positives in everything. And South Africa was used as an example of how well we can bounce back. But what I don’t know want to do is take any credit away from the West Indies because I thought they played very, very well.”Another key issue for England will be the management of their bowling resources, with Stuart Broad champing at the bit to get involved after being controversially omitted from the opening Test, a decision that ended his run of 51 consecutive home appearances.Broad voiced his displeasure at that decision in a mid-Test interview, but Silverwood echoed Ben Stokes’ post-match sentiments and welcomed his determination to continue fighting for his place.”I think Stuart handled himself very well during that interview, to be honest,” Silverwood said. “What I did love about it, and subsequently the conversations I’ve had with him, is that passion. That drive is still there and to see that in someone who’s done as much in the game as he has, I find very exciting to be honest. And Stuart still has a big role to play within this team. I’ve made that very clear to him.”With six Tests to be played in the space of seven weeks, attrition among England’s fast-bowling ranks is inevitable, but Silverwood was optimistic of a clean bill of health in the build-up to Old Trafford.”We have one or two stiff bodies this morning as you can imagine,” he said. “I’ve been to see the guys already. But they all seem to have come through well. We will know more after training tomorrow. We will put them through their paces and see where we are at. Nothing is a given in this team as we’ve seen and people will be playing for their spots. Everything will be considered.”

Craig Overton finishes with 5 for 26 as Somerset go top of Central Group

ECB Reporters Network25-Aug-2020Craig Overton finished with figures of 5 for 26 as Somerset wrapped up a thumping 314-run Bob Willis Trophy win over Gloucestershire at Taunton.After a delayed start, the hosts needed just 15 minutes to claim their opponents’ last two wickets and move to the top of the Central Group.
Overton took one of them and the last fell to Jack Brooks to complete a game dominated by Somerset’s potent seam attack.The hosts took 20 points to boost increasing hopes of reaching the Lord’s final, while Gloucestershire had to settle for three, having been comprehensively outplayed.Play began at 1.45pm after more heavy overnight rain had saturated the outfield. Brooks had five balls of an over to complete from the previous evening.Somerset skipper Tom Abell then threw the ball to Overton, who struck with his third ball of the day from the River End.Josh Shaw failed to keep down a rising leg-side delivery and George Bartlett dived forward to take a good low catch at midwicket. Shaw departed for a duck and, with the sun shining after all the rain of the previous two days, Somerset closed in on a quick finish.It came in the next over, bowled by Brooks, Tom Lammonby clinging onto a sharp catch above his head at backward point to dismiss Matt Taylor for three.Somerset have now won three out of four Bob Willis Trophy games, and it would almost certainly have been four had bad weather not robbed them over victory over Warwickshire in their previous fixture.Their seam attack looks as good as any in the competition and they will go into their final match against Worcestershire at New Road favourites to win the group.”It’s a big relief to have got over the line after all the rain, particularly as we felt we were denied the result we deserved by the weather in our previous game,” Abell said. “At certain times yesterday that feeling of frustration was there again. With the group being so tight and only two clubs out of three group winners making the final wins are so important.”The cricket we are playing at the moment is fantastic and now we go to Worcestershire for our final group match determined to maintain those standards. It has looked for a while as if that game would decide the group and we can go into it with confidence.””We were comprehensively outplayed by the better side and all credit to Somerset,” said Richard Dawson, Gloucestershire’s head coach. “They are a top team, who have performed well over a number of years in red-ball cricket.”We failed to perform to the standards we set ourselves, particularly with the bat. The lads are very disappointed and there are no excuses coming from the dressing room or from me.”We have learned a lot being here for four days and competing against top players. But it is easy to say that and we have to make sure we put what we have learned into practice.”

Allrounder will arrive early on Sunday and will be in quarantine for six days as per IPL protocols

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2020England allrounder Ben Stokes is finally headed to the IPL from New Zealand, where he has spent the past month-and-a-half with his family. ESPNcricinfo understands Stokes will land in Dubai, where the Royals are based, early on Sunday.As per the IPL’s Covid-19 protocol Stokes will undergo the mandatory six-day quarantine, including clearing three tests, before he can link up with the Royals and be available for selection.On Saturday morning Stokes posted a picture with his parents on Instagram, along with a caption titled ‘goodbyes never get easier’.In August, mid-way into the Pakistan Test series, Stokes flew to New Zealand to be alongside his father Ged, who was detected recently with brain cancer. Stokes was granted compassionate leave by the ECB and missed not just the final two Tests and the limited-overs leg of the Pakistan series, but also the six-match white ball series against Australia.Upon landing in New Zealand, Stokes admitted leaving Pakistan series was the “right thing” he did from the “mental” point of view.The Royals have not yet commented on Stokes joining the squad, but the franchise has maintained the it would not rush the England allround back and give him “as much time as he wishes” before he was ready to play.”It’s a difficult scenario, so we’re giving him as much time as he needs, and connecting with him as best we can,” Royals head coach Andrew McDonald had told ESPNcricinfo days before the IPL started.While in Christchurch, Stokes had been readying for his return to competitive cricket by training with Sydenham Cricket Club, the first cricket club he played at back in New Zealand. “Been great being in Christchurch where it all began,” he said in another Instagram post. “Thanks to Sydenham Cricket for letting me use their facilities to bowl in.”Stokes’ arrival will shore up a slightly shaky middle order that is currently struggling for consistency. With Steven Smith and Jos Buttler opening the batting, the Royals have had to rely on the relative inexperience of Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia in the lower middle order, along with the out-of-form Robin Uthappa.

Eight-run victory piles more pressure on Northants’ stalling campaign

ECB Reporters Network15-Sep-2020Hamish Rutherford’s first half-century of the Vitality Blast helped Worcestershire to just their second win of the tournament and heaped more pressure on Northamptonshire’s stalling campaign in an eight-run victory at Wantage Road.Rutherford’s 62 in 37 balls underpinned Worcestershire’s 178 for 6 before Northamptonshire were held to 170 for 7 having been 82 for 2 after eight overs.It was a third consecutive defeat for Northamptonshire following a positive Covid-19 test among their squad. The disruption to their selection and practise has stopped a flying campaign in its tracks. They had won their first four completed matches.They now need at least one win from their remaining games at Taunton and Edgbaston to have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.Their defeat here ensures Gloucestershire, who won a sixth straight T20 earlier in the day, qualify for the knockout stage for the fourth time in five years.Worcestershire, champions of 2018 and finalists last season, were already unable to qualify after winning just one of six completed fixtures but found solace on Tuesday.They looked to be cruising to victory after Ed Barnard, whose four overs claimed 2 for 15, and Daryl Mitchell, 1 for 17 from his three, had strangled the chase to leave 52 needed from the final four overs.But Adam Rossington swung Charlie Morris over the midwicket fence, charged at Pat Brown and pulled another boundary before edging four more to leave 29 from the final 12 balls.Saif Zaib then lifted the first two deliveries of the 19th over through the off-side for four and it left Brown 16 to defend from the final over.After conceding only four in three balls, Rossington was run out trying to retain the strike and the hosts’ daring comeback was ended.Northamptonshire had been well ahead of their chase after Richard Levi slammed a 27-ball fifty. He took 22 from the second over bowled by Dillon Pennington. Three times he swung to leg and three times cleared the infield for boundaries before the final ball of the over was hoisted over long-off. Levi added a second six over the head of Morris. Brown was then pulled and flicked for boundaries in the final over of the Powerplay.But two balls after raising his first T20 fifty since 2018 he crashed Barnard to point and it caused a critical slide. Rossington’s 45 in 34 balls was too late.It rendered Rutherford’s effort a match-winning innings, albeit too late for Worcestershire’s chances of reaching the last eight. He had previously made four scores above 20 this season but no match-defining score.He cut and drove Josh Cobb for boundaries in the opening over of the game before flicking Nathan Buck over deep square for the first six of the match. His second maximum, over midwicket off Brandon Glover, brought fifty up in the fifth over.Rutherford then cut and scooped Buck for consecutive fours in his second over before he skipped down to smash Zaib over his head for a third six to reach fifty in 30 balls.He steered White over cover – one of only two boundaries the left-arm spinner conceded in his fours overs that cost 29 – and carved Buck past point. But trying to whip the same bowler to leg was held on the deep-backward square fence.Rutherford and Jack Haynes gave Worcestershire an excellent start, adding 58 in 33 balls for the first wicket. But they couldn’t kick on to a more demanding total and only took 44 from overs 14 to 19.Mitchell and Ross Whiteley struck boundaries in the last over and in the final counting, they proved the difference.

The tall paceman has already taken 13 wickets in just three innings at the start of the Plunket Shield

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2020Kyle Jamieson’s impressive start to the New Zealand season continued as he claimed a hat-trick on the second day of the Plunket Shield match against Central Districts.Jamieson, who took match figures of 8 for 45 in the opening round against Otago, removed Tom Bruce, Dane Cleaver and Brad Schmulian for his hat-trick in the 27th over. The Auckland quick finished with figures of 5 for 41.The hat-trick delivery to Schmulian was a booming inswinger which came back sharply to take off stump as the batsman shouldered arms.”I said to mid-off and mid-on, I’m just going to bowl a big [inswinger] and try to make him play,” Jamieson said. “When you are on a hat-trick you have to try and go pole-hunting a little bit, it managed to come back a wee bit and the rest got swept up in the emotion of it. Pretty cool moment.” Jamieson has been working on adding the inswinger to his armoury over the last couple of seasons and has started to use it with greater regularity at the start of this summer. He has also tried to attack the crease more in his delivery stride having watched the Australia and New Zealand bowlers when he was first called into the Test squad as a replacement late last year on the tour of Australia.”It’s been a couple of years work,” he said. “Did a little bit last winter and continued it this winter. I got a couple out of the hand last week which settled the nerves in terms of bowling it in a game, it’s nice to be able to offer a couple variations to keep the batter guessing.”My first impressions of watching all the guys run, both the Aussies and the Kiwis, was just how much they attacked the crease and I thought there’s probably a little room to move for me in that area. I did a little work in the nets in Sydney and then brought it back, it’s about finding ways to keep improving and adding bits to your game. It helped me at the back end of last season and just trying to take it forward into this one.”Jamieson made an immediate mark on international cricket when he debuted against India in February, taking nine wickets in his first two Tests including 5 for 45 in Christchurch. He is now looking in fine form ahead of New Zealand’s home international season, which begins against West Indies late next month before a visit by Pakistan, boosted by a winter of fitness work with the cancellation of cricket due to Covid-19.”I’m very comfortable with where my game’s at at the moment, the things I’ve been working on and how I’ve been feeling in the middle more importantly. I certainly feel in the best shape I ever have going into a season.”

Paine believes Kohli’s absence for three Tests won’t make series “less intense”

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2020Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine has described his side as having “polarising” opinions about his India counterpart Virat Kohli. Though he says Kohli is “just another player to me”, Paine remained upbeat about the rivalry that he and his side shared with the Indian captain.”With Virat, it is a funny one – we love to hate him, but we also love to watch him bat as cricket fans,” Paine told “He certainly is polarising in that type of scenario. We love watching him bat, but we don’t like seeing him score too many runs.At different points during India’s tour to Australia in 2018-19, both captains were involved in heated exchanges. During the second Test in Perth, words were exchanged multiple times – especially when Paine was batting in the second innings – with the umpires having to intervene. India eventually claimed the series 2-1 and became the first Asian side to win a Test series in Australia.”Australia and India, it’s a heated competition and he’s obviously a competitive person and so am I,” Paine said. “So yeah, there were a few occasions when we had words but that wasn’t because he was the captain and I was the captain – it could have been anyone. It’s often the best player is the one that your team goes up a little bit, the intensity goes up when the best players in the world come out to the crease.”This time, however, Kohli is set to miss three out of the four Tests as he is due to return home for the birth of his first child. That won’t take anything away from how big the series is, according to Paine, who will have in his ranks Steven Smith and David Warner. The pair missed that 2018-19 series due to their year-long ban in the aftermath of the ball-tampering saga.”I’m looking forward to everything to be honest, it’s a huge series,” Paine said. “They beat us here last time obviously with a different team. I think any time you get to test yourself against the best is something that you look forward to as players and as a team, and we certainly are.”The first Test – a day-night fixture – starts in Adelaide on December 17, which follows the limited-overs segment featuring three ODIs and T20Is each. The tour concludes with the fourth Test in Brisbane from January 15.

Uncapped 24-year-old Imran Butt was named in the 17-member squad

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2020Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq have been ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand, starting December 26 in Mount Maunganui as the duo is yet to recover from their respective thumb injuries. In Azam’s absence, vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan will lead the side.Meanwhile, Pakistan included uncapped 24-year-old Imran Butt in the 17-member squad. Butt was the top run-scorer in the 2019-20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with 934 runs at an average of over 62. Faheem Ashraf returned to the Test squad after missing out for two years while Haris Sohail, who pulled out of the England tour due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was also back in the side. Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan and Yasir Shah continue to retain their place in the squad.

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“Although it will be nearly two weeks to Babar’s injury when the first Test starts, it will be hard on him and the team to play him without any net sessions,” head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said in a statement on Monday. “I remain confident and optimistic that other players will rise to the occasion in Mount Maunganui and use the opportunity to rise to the occasion and put the disappointment of the T20I series behind them.”Pakistan squad for the two Tests•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Azam had fractured his right thumb a day after Imam had fractured his left thumb in training sessions in Queenstown last week. They have both not returned to the nets since then and a decision on their participation in the second Test, starting January in Christchurch, will be taken later.Pakistan are carrying two squads – the national team and the Shaheens – in New Zealand that include 34 players out of which 17 are in the Test squad. On the conclusion of the ongoing T20I series in Napier, as many as 10 players – Abdullah Shafiq, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Musa Khan, Usman Qadir and Wahab Riaz – will be released from the national side to join the Pakistan Shaheens for five T20s against the local and New Zealand XI sides.Imad Wasim will be released after the final T20I on Tuesday to travel to Australia to join the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League, while Mohammad Hafeez will return to Pakistan. Rauf, who signed with the Melbourne Stars, will stay back in New Zealand for a little longer before flying out for Australia on January 6 after his stint with the Shaheens.Pakistan have already lost the T20I series and are trailing 2-0, after they failed to defend 153 and 163 in the two games.”It is disappointing to lose the T20I series against a well-settled New Zealand side, who utilised their resources and conditions to their advantage,” Misbah said. “We need to up our skill and improve our individual and team performances, including in Tuesday’s match, and the sooner we get these sorted the better it will be in terms of player confidences and team results as 2021 will not be any easier as we have two major events.”Contrary to the T20I side, the Test side appears to be pretty organised and we boast some experienced cricketers, both in batting and bowling departments. With some competitive cricket on the tour now under the belt, I am hoping we will be a better outfit in the longer version of the game.”Sarfaraz Ahmed who is the second-choice wicketkeeper for Pakistan will continue to find a place in a larger squad as Rizwan will become the country’s 33rd Test captain. Just over a year ago, Rizwan had played just one Test and none in three years. Since then he has cemented his place by impressing in Australia, playing at home against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and then having a standout series in England with both bat and behind the stumps. He was given the vice-captaincy when Azam was named the new Test captain to replace Azhar.Pakistan squad for first Test: Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah.Pakistan Shaheens for T20s: Rohail Nazir (capt & wk), Abdullah Shafiq, Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Musa Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Zafar Gohar, Zeeshan Malik.

England name 16-strong squad as fixtures unveiled for ODI, T20I series in February-March

Valkerie Baynes14-Jan-2021Anya Shrubsole will miss England’s upcoming tour of New Zealand because of a knee injury, with Tash Farrant earning a recall to the national women’s squad.The vastly experienced Shrubsole was ruled out of a 16-strong England squad named on Thursday to play three ODIs and three T20Is in February and March, as was fellow seamer Katie George, who has suffered another stress fracture in her back. George, the 21-year-old left-armer, has been troubled by back injuries during her career and has played just two ODIs and three T20Is since making her international debut in 2018.Sophia Dunkley retains her place in the squad, having scored 0 and 3* upon breaking back into the England T20 team after 18 months during the five-match T20 series against West Indies in September.While there was room for another left-arm seamer, Farrant, who impressed during last year’s inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Georgia Adams missed out on selection despite being the domestic 50-over competition’s leading runscorer with 500 runs at an average of 83.33 and including a highest score of 154 not out. Farrant made her solitary ODI appearance back in 2013 and played the last of her 14 T20Is against New Zealand in England in 2018.Related

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Talented 18-year-old pace bowler Issy Wong will travel with the group to New Zealand as part of her on-going development, having spent time around the squad during the series against West Indies. Georgia Elwiss returns after missing that series with a back injury.The England touring party will fly out on January 24 and spend 14 days in quarantine as required by the New Zealand Government. During that time, they will follow Covid-19 testing protocols which will allow them to train ahead of the first one-day match on February 23 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch with two fixtures at the Universtiy of Otago to follow. The T20Is will begin on March 3 at Wellington’s Sky Stadium before moving to Eden Park and then Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.Jonathan Finch, director of England Women’s Cricket, said that despite the challenges posed by a shortened 2020 season and ongoing limitations due to the global coronavirus pandemic, players were already working towards major tournaments in 2022-23.”We’re hugely excited about getting over to New Zealand and maintaining our commitment to play international cricket despite these challenging times” Finch said. “We have a really important 24 months in front of us with two ICC global events, the Women’s Ashes and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Our ambition is to be successful across all these events and this tour is the first step towards achieving that.”The T20 series against West Indies was the only international women’s cricket played in England last year after travel restrictions prevented India and 2023 T20 World Cup hosts South Africa from touring as was planned before the pandemic hit. New Zealand will host the ICC Women’s World Cup, where England will be defending champions, in early 2022 after the event was postponed for a year.England squad: Heather Knight (capt.), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt.FixturesODI series:
Tuesday February 23: 1st ODI, Hagley Oval, 1am GMT
Friday February 26: 2nd ODI, University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT
Sunday February 28: 3rd ODI, New University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMTT20I series:
Wednesday March 3: 1st T20I, Sky Stadium, 2am GMT
Friday March 5: 2nd T20I, Eden Park, 2am GMT
Sunday March 7: 3rd T20I, Bay Oval, 11pm GMT

Melbourne Stars will finally get a chance to play at home as they try to ignite their BBL campaign

Alex Malcolm15-Jan-2021Living in the present and not looking too far ahead is the key to navigating the never-ending hubs professional cricketers are facing during the Covid pandemic, according to Melbourne Stars pair Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa.The relationship between Stoinis and Zampa was a quirky feature of , an eight-part documentary series aired last year on the Australian cricket team’s journey through the 2019 World Cup and Ashes. The pair would meet in Zampa’s room every morning in England, which was dubbed the Love Café, for a hand-made coffee.As amusing as it was, it is little things like this that have kept the trio sane in this new post-Covid cricket climate.All three have spent half the year on the road playing in various hubs around the world with different restrictions imposed in different places. Haris Rauf said his 14-day quarantine in New Zealand with Pakistan was “very hard” while the Australian pair endured the same thing on the return from the IPL in the UAE, having previously been in a bio-secure bubble in England dating back to August.Stoinis and Zampa were able to pinch a week at home with their respective families prior to Christmas but tighter restrictions on the BBL teams since then and a looming T20I tour of New Zealand, featuring another 14-day quarantine looms on the horizon for two of Australia’s first-choice T20 players.Related

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Stoinis said the key to navigating the endless hubs was staying in the present.”For me personally, I do get in trouble when I do think too far ahead,” he said. “To think forward, which I’m saying we don’t really like to do but you go Big Bash, then you go there’s a New Zealand tour, there’s a South African Test tour, before you know it, you’re back to IPL. And then who knows from there, there’s the Hundred, the Caribbean Premier League, there are all these things so this could easily turn into another hub until next August, which is eight months away from now.”It can get a bit daunting when you think of it like that. At the moment, I’m just enjoying the little things, enjoying being back at Melbourne, looking forward to playing in front of 15,000 here [at the MCG], looking forward to winning games with the Stars. It sounds cliché but I think that’s all you can do.”We realise how lucky we are. It’s definitely not a poor me situation. It’s life and you’re lucky you’ve got good friends with you that make it enjoyable.”The Stars’ indifferent form is only adding the angst. The finalists from each of the last two seasons have lost five of their past six matches and sit second-last on the table after playing their first nine games on the road.”Cricket is a testing game as it is and then you add the hub, then you add losing games of cricket, you walk up the next morning and you dwell a little bit,” Zampa said.Zampa can hardly be blamed for the Stars’ malaise. He has been masterful with the ball this season taking 12 wickets at a stunning economy rate of 7.11. That is even more impressive given the difficulty of the overs he has been bowling. Against the Strikers he was claimed 2 for 20 from four, bowling the first over, the 10th when defending just seven runs for the Bash Boost which he did successfully, the 15th over in the Power Surge and the 17th.”I do really enjoy it, ” Zampa said. “Obviously it’s really nice that Maxy [Glenn Maxwell] backs me in to bowl those overs. So when I’m at the crease I feel really confident to get the job done but tactically, not too much changes. I try and keep things really simple. But I love competition, I love being competitive and I love bowling those overs.”While Zampa has thrived with the new rules, Stoinis is still trying to work how best to utilise them. He hasn’t reached the heights of last season with the bat but has been a solid contributor. He has been caught betwixt and between as to how to attack the shorter Powerplay at the start while trying to bat deep into the innings and use the Power Surge.”I’ve been struggling with how I want to go about that in my own head,” Stoinis said. “Even sometimes I’ve forgotten that we’ve got the two overs left in the back 10. An example of that is probably the last game where I was in at the 10th or 11th over and that could have been an option for me to do. But I’m just in my own zone and going at it. There’s still a few tactics that personally I can iron out that will help myself and the team. And the sooner I can do that, the better for the team.”