Tag: Joe Root

  • Twitter reacts after Shaheen ‘Test Player of the Year’ snub

    Twitter reacts after Shaheen ‘Test Player of the Year’ snub

    Pakistani Twitter has strongly reacted after Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has not been named among the nominees for ICC ‘Test Player of the Year’.

    India’s spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, England skipper Joe Root, New Zealand’s all-rounder Kylie Jamieson and Sri Lanka’s Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne have been nominated for the award on Tuesday.

    Shaheen was the second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, during 2021, with 47 wickets in 9 matches at an average of 17.06.

    Interestingly, the ICC decided to include New Zealand’s pacer Kyle Jamieson, who had bagged fewer wickets than Shaheen, in the list. The right-armer bagged 27 wickets in five matches.

    Explaining their decision, the ICC said, in a statement, that “in New Zealand’s finest hour, as they celebrated their ICC World Test Championship victory, Jamieson was the player who made the difference”.

    “Away from the seam-friendly pitches of New Zealand and England, Jamieson also impressed on the flat decks in India, getting the ball to shape beautifully,” the statement added.

    However, Twitter users were not happy with ICC’s decision to pick Jamieson over Shaheen.

    https://twitter.com/EhtishamEjaz051/status/1476052082163601408?s=20

    Some of the netizens were even questioning Hassan Ali’s exclusion from the nominees as the star Pakistani speedster has grabbed 41 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 16.07 which include five, 5 wicket-hauls and one 10 wicket-hauls.

  • England captain Joe Root fails to break Mohammad Yousuf’s Test record

    England captain Joe Root fails to break Mohammad Yousuf’s Test record

    England’s skipper Joe Root failed to break Pakistan’s veteran cricketer Mohammad Yousuf’s record of most runs in a calendar year, ending 2021 with the third-most Test runs in history.

    His dismissal on day three of the third Test in Melbourne for 28 left him with 1,708 runs for the year, at an average of 61.00, behind only Mohammad Yousuf (1,788 in 2006) and West Indian legend Viv Richards (1,710 in 1976).

    He moved past the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar to chalk up 1,600 runs at the second Test in Adelaide, and then edged South Africa’s Graeme Smith (1,656 in 2008) in Melbourne.

    Root, however, had far more innings to compile his total — 29 to the 19 of both Yousuf and Richards.

    “I obviously feel like I’m playing really nicely at the minute but I would obviously swap it all for Test match wins,” he said after England’s innings and 14 runs thrashing in Melbourne.

    “Any player will tell you that there’s no better feeling in cricket than winning a Test match.”

    “It’s great that I feel like my game is improving and evolving still as a player, even having played quite a lot of cricket, and I’m desperate to keep doing that,” he added.

    The 31-year old cricketer is still searching for a first Ashes hundred in Australia. He has two more Tests to do it.

    “I think I probably wanted it too much, I was too desperate and it had probably a negative impact on the way I played, I put too much pressure on myself,” he said ahead of the tour of his will to succeed in Australia.

    The extent to which England have relied on Root this year is demonstrated by the numbers.

    Second in the hierarchy is English opener Rory Burns, who scored 530 this year at 27.89, then Jonny Bairstow with 391 at 24.43.

  • Australia announces squad for the Ashes

    Australia announces squad for the Ashes

    The T20 World Cup winners Australia is set to host the Ashes this winter. Cricket Australia on Tuesday announced the squad for the clash with England at home.

    As per details, the Aussies named a 15-player squad for the first two Tests of this summer’s Men’s Ashes, alongside an extended player list from which an Australia A team will be selected for a tour match against the English Lions.

    Read More – ‘Too old and slow’: David Warner’s wife Candice slams trolls after Australian star helps team lift WC title

    This will be Australia’s first Test series since last summer’s Border-Gavaskar campaign, Usman Khawaja and Jhye Richardson both return to the team.

    Chair of selectors George Bailey indicated Marcus Harris would open the batting with David Warner, retaining his spot as the incumbent.

    Australia:

    Tim Paine (captain), Pat Cummins (vice captain), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

    Additional Australia A players:

    Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Nic Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh, Matt Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Bryce Street

    On the other hand, team England’s Test specialists were to fly out to Queensland on November 4, with five players involved in the T20 World Cup – Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Woakes and Wood – will be joining them after completing their quarantine.

    The squad includes10 players who have never played a Test in Australia. Ben Stokes has made himself available for the five-Test series that starts in Brisbane on December 8, giving a massive shot in the arm to the chances of Joe Root’s team regaining the Ashes over the coming weeks.

    England’s 2021-22 Ashes squad

    Joe Root (captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

    Men’s Ashes fixtures

    First Test: December 8-12 – The Gabba, Brisbane

    Second Test: December 16-20 – Adelaide Oval

    Third Test: December 26-30 – Melbourne Cricket Ground

    Fourth Test: January 5-9 – Sydney Cricket Ground

    Fifth Test: January 14-18 – Perth Stadium