Australia’s selectors have decided not to add player Steve Smith and have turned down requests to include the young batsman Jake Frase-McGurk, despite his exceptional playing form in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in the T20 World Cup team.
Smith played T20s against New Zealand in February and was a member of Australia’s winning team at the 2021 tournament in the United Arab Emirates, but he was unable to pursue his claims further after missing out on an IPL agreement.
The senior player who has scored over 16,000 runs in international cricket, is among Australia’s best all-around players, so it will be disappointing that he hadn’t been selected.
T20 World Cup Misses
According to the selectors chief George Bailey, Smith had no place in a decided starting lineup that included David Warner, Travis Head, and captain-elect Mitchell Marsh.
Bailey stated: “It’s probably for Steve to answer what his goals or challenges are going forward and what he wants to achieve in the game…I know he still loves playing T20 cricket.”
Moreover, despite having no T20 international experience, 22-year-old Fraser-McGurk had made a compelling case for the team by accumulating 247 runs at an incredible strike rate of 237.50 in five games for the Delhi Capitals.
Bailey declared that the youngster was one of the participants involved in “long conversations” regarding the June 1–29 showcase in the US and the Caribbean.
After the selectors deliberation, the final Australian squad will be include David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Ashton Agar, Cameron Green, and Nathan Ellis.
Australia have a golden opportunity to create history and become the first back-to-back Twenty20 world champions, but they face a formidable challenge led by India and England.
Aaron Finch’s men enjoy the advantage of being the only winners of cricket’s shortest format to have a crack at defending the title on home territory since the T20 World Cup started in 2007.
With a star-studded line-up spearheaded by David Warner, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell, the Australians also boast all but one of the team that won the tournament last year in the UAE.
Finch, who recently stood down as one-day skipper to focus on T20s, suggested they will be all guns blazing in defence of the trophy.
“If in doubt, be overly aggressive. That is how we want to play,” he said.
“At times that is going to come with high risk and high reward. At times it comes with no reward. That is just a part of T20.”
The tournament’s eighth edition begins on Sunday with Sri Lanka facing Namibia and UAE against Netherlands in a first qualifying round at Geelong, one of seven venues being used for the 45 matches.
Games will also be held in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Perth and Sydney, with the final on November 13 under lights at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The top nations join on October 22 when Australia open their defence against Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in Sydney — a repeat of the 2021 final in Dubai where Mitchell Marsh’s unbeaten 77 powered them to an eight-wicket win and maiden crown.
– Blockbuster clash –
Despite a couple of key absences India and England are the favourites along with Australia.
England face fast-improving Afghanistan in Perth for their opener on October 22 but will be missing star batsman Johnny Bairstow after he suffered a serious leg injury in a “freak accident” on the golf course.
A blockbuster clash follows 24 hours later in Melbourne when India take on arch-rivals and 2009 champions Pakistan, with more than 90,000 fans expected.
India suffered a huge blow last week when pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the World Cup with a back injury, further depleting the stocks of a side that has lacked steam in the final overs of the T20 format.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also absent with a knee problem.
While Rohit Sharma’s side are ranked number one, they haven’t lifted the T20 trophy since 2007 and failed to reach the semi-finals last year.
“Areas of concerns, we have to look at our bowling, what more options we can find in the powerplay, middle and death,” said swashbuckling opener Sharma, who along with run machine Virat Kohli will be key to their chances.
“It will be challenging and we need to find answers, still working towards that.”
– England threat –
World number two England are also a big threat for a first title since 2010 and beat Australia in a warm-up match on Sunday.
They are in Australia on the back of a 4-3 triumph in Pakistan, a series in which captain Jos Buttler attended but played no part as he recovered from a calf injury.
He is though fit for the World Cup and insisted not playing had its benefits.
“I’ve learned lots listening to the group and watching the way they go about things, watching without as much emotion as when you are involved and thinking about what you will do at certain times,” he told reporters.
The West Indies are the only two-time champions — in 2012 and 2016 — but in a shock failed to automatically qualify for the Super 12 stage because they were outside the top-eight-ranked ICC teams at the time.
It means they play the first round of the 16-nation tournament despite now being ranked seven.
Nicholas Pooran captains an inexperienced side after Andre Russell was overlooked and a slew of veterans called time on their international careers.
They are paired with Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe and kick off against the Scots on October 17.
Recently crowned Asian champions Sri Lanka are in the same boat despite now being ranked eight and are grouped with Namibia, Netherlands and UAE in the preliminaries.
The top two from each group join the Super 12 nations — England, New Zealand, Australia and Afghanistan in Group 1; India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh in Group 2.
Bruno Fratus, a swimmer from Brazil who won a freestyle bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, withdrew from the Paris Games due to an extensive injury battle.
When he placed third in the 50-meter freestyle event in Tokyo, which was won by American Caeleb Dressel, he became the oldest swimmer to win an Olympic medal at the age of 32.
As an Olympic veteran having competed in a total of three games, the veteran swimmer announced that he will be withdrawing from the upcoming Olympic trials due to his inability to fully be committed in competing for Paris 2924, following four operations due to injuries in the previous 18 months.
Fratus – Three Olympics is Enough
Fratus stated: “After three Olympics, it wouldn’t make sense to go to Paris, wear the Brazilian uniform, without the full conviction that I’m in a position to fight for the race.”
“Even though it hurts me – a lot – not to be able to be there, I will be here cheering as always for everyone who will be there competing and representing our country,” he added.
Fratus then clarified that not competing in the Paris Olympics would only signify a “brief hiatus” and not the end of his swimming career.
With only a few weeks till the T20 World Cup in Australia, Team India suffered a major setback when star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the competition after complaining of back problems.
Bumrah missed the opening T20 match against South Africa on Wednesday and, the following day, flew to Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy to have his back problem assessed.
According to what we’ve been told, his injury isn’t looking good right now, and it appears he won’t be going to Australia with the Indian team. A thorough report from the medical staff is forthcoming,”
It’s not yet known if Bumrah will have surgery, even though he missed the Asia Cup in the UAE last month because of a back ailment.
He was cleared to play in the home T20 series against Australia this month, and he participated in the second and third games in Nagpur and Hyderabad. His bowling statistics in Nagpur and Hyderabad were 1/23 in 2 overs and 0/50 in 4 overs, respectively.
Indian end-of-game bowling in T20s has come under fire recently. In the World Cup, which will be held from October 16 to November 13, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh have all given up runs, and Bumrah was anticipated to be the team’s leader. At the MCG on October 23, India will play its opening game against Pakistan.
Bumrah has eight wickets at an economy rate of 8.08 and an average of 22.75 in the six T20 internationals he has participated in Australia. In Australia, he made his T20 debut in January 2016.
The selection committee will have to choose among Mohammad Shami or Deepak Chahar, who has been added as stand-by players for the T20 World Cup if Bumrah is fully ruled out of the competition.
Shami and Chahar both perform admirably in the Powerplay, but they aren’t known for their bowling in the latter innings.
Because of Covid, Shami had to miss the series against Australia and South Africa. He hasn’t played in a T20I for India since their World Cup encounter against Afghanistan last year. However, he had taken 20 wickets in the IPL 2022, the highest for the Gujarat Titans, who won the tournament.
Selection shock: Australia’s opener is called back for the West Indies Test series
Marcus Harris, who will start the upcoming two-Test series against the West Indies at home, has been selected to return to the Australia side.
Two victories over the Caribbean team will move Australia closer to securing a spot in the ICC World Test Championship final, which will take place next year. The Test series is essential for Australia in its quest for that spot.
On the ICC World Test Championship standings, Australia is now in second place, and the West Indies series is the first of three that will ultimately decide their fate.
Harris hasn’t appeared in a Test match for Australia since he took part in the match against England at the SCG at the beginning of the year, but the 30-year-old is set to partner fellow lefty David Warner at the top of the order after he was unable to travel with the team to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the middle of the year.
Harris’ participation was justified, according to selection chair George Bailey, in the 13-player Australian team that was announced on Tuesday. This team defeated England to win the Ashes at the beginning of the year.
Ben Stokes & Marcus Harris, image from Wikipedia.
After using some larger teams for the sub-continent tours over the winter, Bailey noted, “we have gone back to a very similar squad to that which played strongly last summer in completely winning the Ashes.”
Marcus Harris keeps his spot after continuing to play well for Gloucestershire in the English County Championship and having a good start to the Sheffield Shield season.
A 14-person team has also been picked by the selectors for a three-game ODI series against England later this month. This will be the first series since Pat Cummins took over as captain from Aaron Finch.
The roster contains no significant shocks, and according to Bailey, the games will serve as an essential part of the preparation for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India in 2019.
Pat will serve as the next ODI captain, thus this series is crucial, according to Bailey, who added that the team’s main goal is to continue to assemble in preparation for the World Cup in 2018.
“Travis Head, who performed admirably earlier this year in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, replaces Aaron Finch. He has shown versatility in the kinds of roles he can fill in our ODI lineup.
“Our next opportunity in the ODI format will be in India next year, which will provide us the chance to experience comparable circumstances to the World Cup in October.”
According to a statement from Cricket West Indies, Shimron Hetmyer, a middle-order batsman for the West Indies, was unexpectedly dropped from their T20 World Cup roster when he missed his rescheduled flight to Australia (CWI).
Hetmyer asked for his first travel to be postponed due to family obligations, which allowed him to attend the first of two T20 warm-up matches against Australia on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, October 5, at the Metricon Stadium, there will be the opening T20 International game versus Australia. He was able to board an aircraft today, despite it being quite difficult to do so, according to CWI.
Mr. Hetmyer informed the cricket director this morning that he wouldn’t be able to leave for the airport in time for his departure this afternoon to New York.
Who will replace Shimron Hetmyer?
The 25-year-old left-hander has been replaced on the list by right-hander Shamarh Brooks, a 34-year-old who has played 11 T20s for the West Indies and will fly out to travel to Australia and join the team.
Jimmy Adams, the director of cricket for the Windies, informed him that due to family obligations if there were any additional problems or delays with his ticket to Australia, we would move Shimron’s flight from Saturday to Monday, and the team would be forced to replace him because they couldn’t risk jeopardizing their capacity to train for this crucial international match.
Shamarh performed well in the closing rounds of the just-finished CPL and has lately been a member of our T20 International squads.
For the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League, Brooks scored 241 runs in seven innings, including an undefeated 109 in the qualifying final on their way to winning the competition.
Australia vs the West Indies
Australia and West Indies will square off on Wednesday at the Gold Coast and again two days later at the Gabba in Brisbane. On October 17, Scotland will be their opponent when they open their World Cup campaign in Hobart at Blundstone Arena.
The winning team from Group B advances to the Super 12 stage’s second group, where it will compete against South Africa, India, and Pakistan. They also face Zimbabwe and Ireland.
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