Stadium not ready
England deserve favourites tag: Ali
LONDON, May 10, (Agencies): England’s formidable limited-overs squad fully deserve the ‘favourites’ tag going into next month’s Champions Trophy at home, all-rounder Moeen Ali has said.
England have undergone a major transformation in white-ball cricket since being unceremoniously dumped out of the 2015 World Cup during the group stage.
One-day captain Eoin Morgan has called the current squad the “most talented group” he has played with and England sense a golden opportunity to win their maiden global 50-overs title at the June 1-18 tournament. “The team we have at the moment, we deserve that tag,” Moeen told the British media.
“Playing at home is going to make a massive difference and hopefully we can win the trophy.”
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The new Perth Stadium will not be finished in time for the third Ashes test between Australia and England in December and the match will therefore be hosted at the traditional WACA ground, Cricket Australia confirmed on Wednesday. Australia’s board had hoped the 60,000-seat venue in Burswood would be ready to host the Dec 14-18 match but construction delays had ruled that out, CA Chief Executive James Sutherland said. The five-test Ashes starts in Brisbane on Nov 23, with Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney also hosting matches.
“We knew that everything needed to come together but it was still disappointing,” Sutherland told reporters.
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India’s Shashank Manohar will stay on as chairman of the International Cricket Council until the end of his elected term in June 2018, the game’s world governing body said Wednesday.
Manohar, who resigned from his post citing “personal reasons” in March, was coaxed to stay on until the board met in April to vote on a series of major reforms.
As chairman he spearheaded a broad restructuring of the body aimed at curbing the dominance of cricket’s wealthiest nations -- India, Australia and England -since being appointed ICC boss last year.
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India fast bowler Jhulan Goswami has become the highest wicket-taker in women’s one-day internationals after overtaking former Australia star Cathryn Fitzpatrick with her 181st dismissal. Pace spearhead Goswami achieved the feat against hosts South Africa in the 50-over quadrangular tournament in Potchefstroom on Tuesday.