Agar ready to break drought
Boycott sorry
DHAKA, Aug 22, (Agencies): Australian all-rounder Ashton Agar said Tuesday he was ready to return to Test cricket after a four-year hiatus if selected for the opening match of the tour against Bangladesh this weekend.
Agar impressed Australian selectors with his form this season, and has received a strong endorsement from coach Darren Lehmann ahead of the Test in Dhaka starting Sunday.
“Obviously it depends on what the wicket looks like but I’m ready to go if I get the nod,” Agar told reporters in Dhaka. “I’ve been preparing really well and I’ve done everything I can now. I feel like everything is in really good order.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s cricket board announced Tuesday that former Indian bowler Sunil Joshi has been appointed the squad’s spin consultant after Australian Stuart MacGill turned down the coaching gig.
Joshi, a left-arm spinner, will join the squad as a bowling coach ahead of their first Test against Australia starting this Sunday in Dhaka, Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP.
The board had hoped to reel in MacGill for insight into Australia’s bowling attack, ahead of their first tour of Bangladesh in more than a decade.
But officials said MacGill, a former right-arm leg spin bowler who took 208 wickets in 44 Tests for Australia, declined the offer for personal reasons.
The spin bowling job had been vacant since Ruwan Kalpage, a former Sri Lankan player, left last year.
Joshi will stay for two months and also join Bangladesh for their tour of South Africa, Yunus added.
Agar
Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott has apologized for making an allegedly racist comment while discussing knighthoods handed out to West Indies cricketers.
British newspaper The Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday that the 76-yearold Boycott said he would need to “black me face” to get a knighthood after seeing the honor handed out like “confetti” to West Indies greats such as Viv Richards, Garfield Sobers and Curtly Ambrose.
Boycott responded to the newspaper article by tweeting that what he said was “unacceptable,” adding: “I meant no offence but what I said was clearly wrong and I apologise unreservedly.” He said he has “utmost respect” for West Indian cricket.