The squad set to face the U.K will be with one less of their star players after Josh Hazlewood, the bowler with the most experience has been removed from the series that is upcoming. Hazlewood will be replaced by Queensland’s Michael Neser. Hazlewood has been dealing with soreness in his back and as a result, it has been determined that he lumbar spine stress.

David Berkley, the physiotherapist for Cricket Australia said,

“Josh has been managing some low level bone stress in his lumbar spine for a short period. He had a repeat scan today and although it has not progressed to a fracture he is starting to experience some lower back pain.

Berkley added that “As such, we are taking a conservative approach and he will not travel to England for the one-day series.”

Hazlewood, who was a major contributor to last summer’s Queensland’s JLT Sheffield Shield title is known for being a skilful swing bowler and is the leading wicket-taker for the Bulls when they played in JLT One-Day Cup.

Michael Neser to Join Squad in the U.K

Nesr is expected to join the Australian squad this week in the United Kingdom. The squad are due to leave on Monday and arrive on Tuesday. The absence of Josh Hazlewood is a kick to the squad as they are already without two of their fastest bowlers after Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc announced they would not be participating in the tour. Also missing is David Warner and Steve Smith who are serving out bans after rolls they playing in a tampering scandal in Cape Town. Mitch Marsh will also be absent.

After a heavy workload during the summer, one that saw Hazlewood playing in each of the five Ashes Tests, four in South Africa and three out of the fie Gillette ODI’s, the result and stress impacted the soreness in his back. As one of the four original picks for the squad, only one has played more games than Hazlewood, that being Kane Richardson.

Hazlewood has an outstanding record internationally, scoring sixty-nine wickets at twenty-four in forty-one games. He is expected to be a member of the squad in next year’s World Cup that is being held in the U.K.

Before the South African Women’s Squad goes on their tour in England that will last between June and July, two new faces have been added to the squad: Tazmin Brits and Stacey Lackay. This development happened in the aftermath of the pair’s iconic and noteworthy performance during a recent encounter with Bangladesh. The South African team is scheduled to play a three-match ODI series against a few hosts for the ICC International Women’s Championship. Following these matches, a highly anticipated tri-series that features New Zealand will occur.

The new names in the squad were meticulously picked with a large consideration for the T20 format. Tazmin Brits, a wicket-keeper batswoman made her intimal T20I appearance during a match against the well regarded Bangladesh where she scored an astonishing 29 and 10 scoring in the two games she played. Though even before that, her name has been heard as she was a participant in the women’s tournament home game this April. Brits are looking to be a possible long-term, and maybe eventually, a full-time replacement for Trisha Chetty who is currently missing out of the squad.
On the other hand, Stacey Lackay did not get as many chances as Brit to show off what she can do during the three T20I’s that she participated in. However, this player is prized for her skills when using the ball and the bat. Accompanying Brits and Lackay is the well-known Zintle Mali, who plays medium-pacer. Mali claimed to surprising wickets during the Bangladesh game while gaining an average of 24 and a scanty 3.00 regarding the three ODI’s against the opposing team.

National Convenor of Selectors

The National Convenor of Selectors, Clinton Du Preez commented that this upcoming tour of England is going be a perfect chance to take 15 skilled players along and give them the platform needed to prove themselves and their capabilities while playing in tougher and most intense situations. He added on with a smile that he personally believes that Lackay will put up another show-stopping performance this week, while Brits have shown potential due to her great season alongside Mali who is the definition of how having great perseverance can lead to great rewards being earned. Preez ended his sentiments by stating the girls were chosen with the intention of planning ahead for the 2018 World T20 that will take place in the West Indies – having these two new additions can boost the squad up to the level needed to make winning a reality. Though his final message about the new additions to the squad showed his confidence of their performances during the England tour and how the team will begin to make even more of a name for themselves.

The matches that will take place during the ODI series will be in consideration regarding the Championship, which will be the determining factor in seeing who will play in the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup. Both England and South Africa only played one series, which has been noted that they lost against India and Australia, which has set them down to sixth and seven places in the rankings.

Du Preez stated that their focus is going to be in preparation for the 2012 World Cup. The team and the managers are using the current time to fully prepare themselves to earn the chance to play in such a big Championship – and the debuts of the two new players are making the chances of winning even more realistic and will make the games even more interesting.

During the Afghan cricket match, a man who was wounded in a surprise attack at the Jalalabad, Afghanistan Spinghar Ground Cricket Ground, received treated in a hospital this Saturday. The status of his condition is currently unknown but recent reports have said that the man is in stable condition. However, the devastating side of the attack has been revealed as eight people were killed during the match while dozens of others have been wounded with some cases being critical and others being minor. The attack showed itself as a series of blasts during the cricket match that was being held in the eastern Afghanistan area, according to officials.

Friday Morning Blasts

The blasts were reported to happen after the evening prayers on Friday at the stadium that was hosting the cricket match. This coincidentally, also happened at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, according to Sohrab Qaderi, a member of the Afghan provincial council. A spokesman for the Nangarhar Province governor, Attaullah Khogyani recalled the order of the fatal damage. One bomb that was deceptively hidden under a platform typically used by sports announcers went off around 11:30 p.m., which was the time during the break in the match while a few speeches were being made.

The first bomb was followed by two more devastating blasts at the gates of the stadium. However, it is still unclear if these bombs were strapped to suicide bombers or were planted, though one of the bombs was attached to a motorized rickshaw. He summarized that currently, there are currently only eight deaths and forty-five others were wounded.

Taliban Suspected

Many suspected this bombing was planned by the Taliban, though the leader of the infamous group, Zabihullah Mujahid, denied all claims that the group was involved in the fatal attack. The match that was taking place at nighttime, which is a normality due to Ramadan taking place, as it allows for people to fast freely during the daylight hours. This match was dubbed as the Ramadan Cricket Cup – and many of the patrons were highly anticipating this game.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board chairman, Atif Mashal, who is a popular figure in the sport of cricket, went to Twitter to express his disdain for the entire attack. Mashal stated that since cricket was introduced to the country, it has been a sign of happiness, pride, and peace for the fans and the players. He went on and stated clearly that these attacks were against everything cricket stood, along with being against humanity as well.

It should be noted that the number of dead were not only fans who were fleeing, a few officials, unfortunately, perished as well. The organizer of the match, Hedayyatullah Zahir and a Laghman Province official, Nekmal Waziri, were some of the people who died. Along with one recorded death of a child, who age is currently unknown.

It is undeniable to admit that the Indian Premier League of cricket is a well-known and respected league. From their billions of television rights and appearances to salaries that are ranging in the millions and their 11-year long history, it’s no wonder why this team is world renowned. However – despite all this team’s success, they are being protested by farmers in India who are angry, drought-stricken, and fed up.

To be brief, two Indian states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, have been fighting for years over water rights in the regions of the Cauvery River. Though, tensions have been running higher due to farmers based in Tamil Nadu becoming more urgent about their demands due to the increase of drought conditions.

Now here is where the Indian Premier cricket team comes into play. To gain more publicity for their cause, the farmers began targeting the extremely high profile I.P.L due to their worldwide success and their global fanbase. Due to the farmer’s protests at in Chennai, which is based in the capital of Tamil Nadu, six of the Chennai Super Kings games, were forced to be moved to Pune, which happens to be a little over 600 miles away.

Protest Inside and Outside Stadium

While at first glance one might think that the protests were mild – the farmers managed to protest inside and outside of the stadium. This prevented the team and fellow fans from entering or even coming close to the stadium. During this event, police were called to put a lid on the protests and this lead to closed roads around the stadium and 20 protesters being arrested.

Despite the protests and the movement of the game, the Chennai Super Kings have finally made their way back into the cricket league after a suspension that was a result of corruption and match-fixing charges. Since these games were their first since the initial suspension, they were highly anticipated by the players and the fans alike. While the country is trying to solve the dispute between the two states civilly. The Chennai Super Kings will have to wait one more year before they officially can return to the cricket league and hopefully start winning some games again!

When it comes to the rest of the games that the Chennai Super Kings will play, cricket officials have decided to keep the idea of moving the games to different locations. This will allow for the players to be safe, to avoid fan riots from breaking out, and to allow the police of Tamil Nadu to start handling the protests in a safe way.