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Sports Friday, January 10, 2020 Finch confident as head to for ODI series

SYDNEY: Australia have the goods to give Virat sistant Andrew McDonald. Kohli’s men a for their money, skipper Aaron McDonald has had a rapid rise. He was play- Finch said yesterday as he departed for their ing in the Big Bash four years ago be- three-match one-day series. The two sides face fore turning to coaching and being appointed each other in Mumbai on January 14 before Langer’s right-hand man in October. “He’s got heading to Rajkot and then Bangalore for what great credentials and he’ll keep growing. He’s will be Australia’s first limited-overs games since got a really good opportunity,” Langer told re- the World Cup in England last year. porters this week. Both sides made the semi-finals and Finch “I said to him: ‘we’re not reinventing the believes Australia is well-equipped to deal with wheel’. I won’t ring him, I’ll let him go. “He said India on home soil after upsetting them 3-2 ‘I might ring you’. He’ll do a really good job.” there early last year. “It just gives us confi- Australia have radically overhauled their squad dence that our game plan in those conditions is for the series with in-form batsman Marnus good enough,” he told .com.au ahead of Labuschagne, fresh from an incredible Test sum- his departure. mer against and New Zealand, set to “What can happen when you play in the sub- make his one-day international debut. continent is you start to doubt your game plan “We know that he’s not going to be overawed because they’re so dominant when they get on by the occasion,” Finch said of their new star. top. “India or Pakistan... or . They can Spinner gets another chance 18 make you start doubting yourself. months after his last one-dayer and paceman “Knowing that our game plan is good enough has been recalled after recov- and knowing that our skills are good enough to ering from injury to once again partner Mitchell beat India in India. That gives us a lot of confi- Starc and . dence going there.” Regular coach There was no room for high-profile players Australia squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Ashton , D’Arcy Short, , is giving the tour a miss after an intense summer such as , , Glenn Agar, , Pat Cummins, Peter Hand- , , , of with the reins handed to his as- Maxwell, and . scomb, Josh Hazlewood, , . — AFP

England all-rounder Stokes claimed the last three South Test cricket Africa at Newlands to earn a 189-run victory for England, who levelled the four-match series at 1-1 on Tues- day. debate rages Afterwards he and England spoke out Anderson out of in favour of the longer format, which allows the drama and over 5-day format nuances of the game time to play out. “It’s why five-day cricket should always be around. It’s the best form of the England’s Tests LONDON: made an emphatic case for the game,” said Stokes, England’s man of the match. unique drama of five-day Test cricket this week — inspiring Root’s opposite number, , also said he did in South Africa England to a series-levelling win against South Africa in the not support a move towards four-day Test matches, despite final overs of a dramatic contest. a statement by Cricket South Africa that it was official pol- LONDON: England pace bowler James Anderson will miss the final His match-winning performance in Cape Town on Tues- icy to back a reduced format. two Tests in South Africa after suffering a rib injury during their day came at a time of intensifying debate over the future England director of men’s cricket said on dramatic victory in Cape Town. of the longest form of the game, which has been played Wednesday that five-day Tests were “precious”. “If we Anderson sustained the problem on the final day of the second Test and MRI scans on Wednesday confirmed he won’t be back in since 1877. played four-day cricket, I fear we would miss out on a action until after the current tour. It is a bitter blow for the 37-year- lot of matches like yesterday (England’s win),” Giles told The International Cricket Council (ICC) will in the com- old, who was just two games into his comeback following the calf ing months discuss reducing Tests to four days as part of the BBC. injury he endured in last summer’s Ashes series. structuring the global calendar beyond 2023. For a sport so “I know a lot of Test matches now don’t go to the fifth Anderson, England’s record Test taker, spent almost five closely linked with tradition, cricket has shown a remarkable day — but you know it is precious to me, and I know it is months working back to full fitness and showed signs of being back ability to innovate in recent decades, introducing multiple to the players.” to his best with seven wickets in England’s series-levelling 189-run forms of limited-overs cricket that have taken firm root. win. But he was in visible discomfort on the final day, clutching his But the latest proposal, part of an effort to tackle the KOHLI OPPOSITION side at times and grimacing through two painful overs after tea. crowded international cricket calendar and save on costs, Kohli spoke earlier this month about his opposition to “James Anderson has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test has divided players, many of whom consider Test cricket the any move to cut a day from Tests, questioning where it series against South Africa after sustaining a left rib injury in Eng- gold standard. would ultimately lead. With four-day Tests “you are land’s second Test victory at Newlands,” an ECB statement said. The ICC allowed four-day Tests in 2017 and they have purely only talking about getting numbers in and enter- “Anderson felt tightness and discomfort at the end of the morn- been tried in one-off games between South Africa and Zim- tainment, and I think the intent will not be right,” said the ing session on day five and was only able to bowl eight overs during babwe and England against Ireland. But they are not al- India skipper. the day. He will return to the UK in the next few days.” lowed in the Test world championship, which is currently “Then you will speak of three-day Tests. I mean, where Anderson tweeted: “Frustrating to be missing the rest of this se- led by ’s India. do you end? The Federation of International Cricketers’ As- ries with a broken rib but hopefully will be healed in a few weeks! The Cricinfo website said mandatory four-day Tests sociations executive chairman Tony Irish stressed there was Will be supporting the boys from home.” Anderson’s tally of 584 rather than five-day matches during the current cycle from “currently a lot of negative sentiment” concerning the pro- Test scalps makes him the most prolific seamer in Test history, while 2015 to 2023 would have freed up a total of 335 days of posed changes. his appearance in the at Centurion saw him be- scheduled cricket over the period. “Until such a time as we and the players are provided come just the ninth man to win 150 Test caps. England were already giving consideration to sparing Anderson The England and Wales Cricket Board has offered “cau- with the full picture and compelling reasons for change, we a thankless job on the spin-friendly pitches during their forthcom- remain supportive of five-day Test cricket, and would ex- tious” backing to the suggested new model and Australia ing tour of Sri Lanka. But the issue has been taken out of the se- and New Zealand said four-day Tests deserved serious pect significant player resistance if a shift to that is imposed lectors’ hands, with a bone-related injury likely to require around consideration. on players by the ICC and/or boards,” Irish said in a state- two months of recovery work. With that in mind, Anderson may But a succession of top cricketers have spoken out ment on Tuesday. now focus on getting ready for the English season, with a view to against the idea and the global players’ representative body “Test cricket is a cherished format of the game and it becoming just the fourth man in history to take 600 Test wickets has warned of “significant player resistance”, though others needs player support and buy in to survive. We urge those after , and . —AFP such as Shane Warne have voiced support for a change. making decisions to understand that.” —AFP