Ashwin claims 6-27 against Somerset
R Ashwin wreaked havoc with the ball to skittle out Somerset for just 69 in their second innings. He returned tremendous figures of 15-4-27-6. This was his third five-for in the County Championship. Interestingly, the first two came against Surrey.
Ashwin joined Surrey for just one game, as preparation for the upcoming five-match Test series and England. He and Hashim Amla are the two overseas players in the Surrey squad.
He could manage only one wicket in the first innings, and got out first ball, but his performance in the second innings helped Surrey to salvage a draw.
Morgan & co. back for T20Is against Pakistan
Eoin Morgan and nine other first-string players will return to the England squad for the T20I series against Pakistan. All of them had to miss the recently concluded ODI series after few players and support staff among them tested positive for the Covid-19.
Ben Stokes, who led in the ODIs, has been rested for the T20Is, while Saqib Mahmood and Lewis Gregory have retained their places. With 9 wickets in 3 ODIs, Mahmood was adjudged as Player of the Series.
England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood.
Jaffer replaces Parida as Odisha head coach
Wasim Jaffer was selected as the head coach of Odisha senior men’s side for the next two years. He will succeed Rashmi Ranjan Parida, under whose tenure Odisha reached the quarter-final of Ranji Trophy 2019/20.
Jaffer brings experience with him, both as cricketer and coach. The leading run scorer in the history of Ranji Trophy, Jaffer has two double-hundreds in Test cricket, and is also the batting coach of Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The 2021 edition of the Ranji Trophy will start from 16 November, and the final will be played in February 2022.
CPL 2021 to begin from August 26
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has acquiesced to the BCCI’s demand to bring forward the commencement of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2022. It will now begin on 26 August.
The BCCI wanted CPL to conclude early to ensure the Caribbean players do not miss out on the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League 2021. As many as 31 games will be played in the UAE.
Trinbago Knight Riders will be taking on Guyana Amazon Warriors in the opening fixture of the CPL 2021. All games will be played in St Kitts and Nevis. Only those who are vaccinated against the COVID-19 will be allowed to attend the games.