Friday 37 Sports Friday, September 4, 2020 England renew Australia rivalry in COVID-hit season finale

Both sides play their strongest limited-overs teams

LONDON: One of England’s most extraordinary That does give both teams time to fine-tune England beat Australia in the semi-finals on Archer and Mark Wood will provide extra fire- seasons will end with them facing arch-rivals their line-ups but equally they may want to give the way to winning last year’s 50-over World power to an attack still without star all-rounder Australia as both sides try to strike a balance be- their strongest XIs as much as time as they can Cup and white-ball captain Eoin Morgan be- Ben Stokes, who remains on compassionate tween playing their strongest limited-overs in their middle. Australia are currently the world’s lieves consistency of selection is important if leave while he spends time with his ill father. teams and keeping an eye on the future. top-ranked T20 side, with much of thir success they are to replicate that triumph in the T20 “Dangerous... that’s what I made of England,” The coronavirus pandemic threatened to built on a top order featuring captain Aaron equivalent. said Langer. “I’ve watched the way Eoin Morgan wipe out England’s entire home season yet they Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith. “I don’t think we can have a scenario where plays, it’s exciting to watch, he just comes out are now set to complete all 18 scheduled men’s So even though the likes of Marcus Stoinis we can play the majority of our games with a and smacks it from ball one.” “They’ve been the internationals, albeit the fixtures have been and Marnus Labuschagne have been in the runs half-strength team and then expect to go into a best one-day team in the world for a few years played behind closed doors. during Australia’s warm-up matches in England, as contenders when guys don’t know now. “They are a very good cricket team, well They face Australia in three Twenty20s in they are unlikely to displace the three premier their roles or haven’t been familiarised with led. We know what to expect and we’ll be Southampton starting today before taking on batsmen. them,” he said. ready.” Meanwhile Wood hopes he can get in- their oldest foes in a further three one-day in- “We’ve had a pretty settled T20 side over the England were without several multi-format side the head of a few batsmen ahead of the ternationals in Manchester later this month. last 12 months or so and all we can ask for is that players during their recent T20 series with Pak- 2021/22 Ashes in Australia. The Twenty20s should have served as prepa- guys bang so hard they are putting pressure on istan that ended in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on “There’s an extra incentive when you play ration for October’s T20 World Cup in Australia the guys in there,” said Australia coach Justin Tuesday. The likes of 21-year-old opener Tom Australia, your biggest rivals,” said Wood. “They but the COVID-19 outbreak means the next edi- Langer, who can also call upon Glenn Maxwell Banton starred against Pakistan but Jos Buttler are desperate to beat you, you are desperate to tion of the global showpiece will take place in in the middle-order after he took a break to deal could now regain his place at the top of the beat them. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Ashes, India in 2021. with mental health issues. order. World Cup-winning fast bowlers Jofra white ball, T20.” —AFP

lost its last remaining men’s international tour- golfers nament scheduled this year, after US PGA Tour events in South Korea and Japan were shifted to America. Just four Asian Tour events were com- suffer while rest pleted before the shutdown, with only domestic circuits in countries such as Thailand and South of world swings Korea managing to restart. Tournament professionals in Asia do not earn the multi-million dollar purses enjoyed by their HONG KONG: While the world’s top golfers counterparts in the US and Europe, leaving play for an almost obscene $45 million prize those in coronavirus hotspots such as India with fund at the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta a bleak outlook. “We have never stayed away today, many of their fellow pros in Asia will not from the game for so long,” India’s S.S.P. have swung a club, or earned a cent, for six Chawrasia, a six-time winner on the Asian Tour, months. Players from India to Australia have told AFP from his home in Kolkata. been idle since the Asian Tour was halted after “I was about to travel to the UK for a few Eu- the Malaysia Open on March 7, due to the coro- ropean Tour events a month back when I tested navirus pandemic. Some haven’t even been able positive for Covid,” said the 42-year-old. to practise. They should have been teeing off “Though asymptomatic, my plans went haywire. next week at the Shinhan Donghae Open in “My mother also tested positive and her condi- South Korea, the first of three restart events. tion was bad. But thankfully she has now recov- But along with tournaments in Japan and Tai- ered.” Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris is under wan it has been cancelled, with little prospect of lockdown at his home in Melbourne, epicentre the circuit resuming before 2021. of Australia’s latest severe outbreak. The 46- GURGAON: In this file photo taken on November 17, 2019, Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris tees off during Asian Tour CEO and Commissioner Cho year-old, 24th on the Asian Tour order of merit, the Panasonic tournament in Gurgaon. —AFP Minn Thant had been hoping to stage 10 to 12 hasn’t picked up a club for six months. tournaments before the end of 2020 in the sort “At first I enjoyed the break because I needed how can you expect sportspersons to join an of- up, so best case scenario we could look at Oc- of bio-secure “bubbles” that have enabled the it and I’m like, it’s fantastic, I’m recharged and fice and start working?” tober-November,” said Cho, raising the possi- US, European and LPGA tours to resume. ready to go,” he told AFP this week. “But we still In Australia, pros are better off, but the long bility of a two-week bubble in a Thai hotel. “We’ve approached countries with the same can’t practise, we can’t do anything. We will have layoff is still being felt financially. “We’re fortu- For the pros barely scraping a living, the protocols that the US, European tours and other had 15 weeks of full lockdown.” nate enough in Australia, the government have restart can’t come quickly enough. Pilkadaris sports have employed — testing, players kept in Chawrasia has playing rights on the Euro- been subsidising us,” said Pilkadaris, who has tied for seventh at January’s , a bio-secure bubble,” Cho told AFP. pean Tour, and plans to play in two Portugal been coaching online to bring in some cash. “But where he finished two shots behind American “But we are bound by Asian countries who tournaments from next week. But others are des- it doesn’t cover all my expenses.” Ryder Cup star Tony Finau, earning $21,200. His are not lifting the 14-day quarantine require- perate. “Players who play full-time on the Asian The Asian Tour has logistical problems in try- total 2020 prize money stands frozen at ments.” A mini-swing in virus-ravaged India next Tour have tough times in store,” said Chawrasia. ing to organise a travelling circus comprising $30,176.17. On Friday, he will be confined to his month is also off and November’s Hong Kong “The condition of players on the Indian Tour players from more than 25 countries — an ob- home watching on TV while Finau chases the Open, a European and Asian Tour event, is likely is terrible. No earning. Nothing.” For many stacle that seems insurmountable during a pan- $15 million first prize at East Lake, Atlanta. to move to January, according to tour insiders. golfers, it’s not feasible to get other employment. demic. One avenue now being explored is to Should Finau finish 30th and last at the Tour Next month’s flagship WGC-HSBC Champi- “The job scenario is very grim,” Chawrasia said. hold events in tourist areas as countries reopen. Championship, he will still pocket $395,000. It ons in Shanghai was cancelled this week as Asia “Knowledgeable people are losing jobs, so “Thailand looks like it could be the first to open really is a world away. — AFP