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The impending Test series between England and India which is scheduled to begin tomorrow (1st August) at Edgbaston has been hogging most of the limelight in the cricketing world. The hosts have announced their playing XI for the match as well.
The ticket sales, however, haven't been as expected with attendances expected to be poor for the Test series. New Zealand, meanwhile, have announced their home summer schedule with the India tour in January being the highlight.
There is news from the Caribbean Premier League as well, who have decided to undergo two significant changes. Without much ado, let's look into the most important of headlines in the cricket world today.
England announce playing XI for first Test
England have announced their playing XI for the first Test of the five-match series against India which starts tomorrow. This would be the hosts' 1000th Test match in their glorious history.
Adil Rashid, who had signed a white-ball only contract with Yorkshire in February and hasn't played a Test match in almost two years, has been named in the side as the only spinner while Moeen Ali misses out.
Ben Stokes makes the playing XI as well but is due to miss the second Test at Lord's as his trial over Bristol nightclub incident begins on Monday (6th August), a day after the first match is scheduled to get over.
Joe Root will continue to captain the side while Jos Buttler, who has been in the best form of his life recently, will be the vice-captain. Both James Anderson and Stuart Broad will play the first Test, however, there were suggestions made by the latter that the two might be rotated later in the series to balance the workload.
England XI for first Test: Joe Root (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.
CPL to undergo two significant changes
The Caribbean Premier League is set to undergo two significant changes for the upcoming season. The changes have been made with respect to the over rate and super over.
If a team fails to bowl the 20 overs within the stipulated time, which is around 85 minutes, then there would be deductions from their net run rate. If they are one over short, then 0.05 will be deducted from their net run rate. For every additional over, 0.10 will be the deduction.
As far as super overs are concerned, previously, the team batting second in the match would bat first in the super over, however, CPL will see a coin toss from the upcoming season to decide who bats and bowls first in the super over after the match ends on a tie.
New Zealand reject Pakistan's request
New Zealand Cricket board have rejected Pakistan's request to tour the country later this year. The Black Caps are slated to tour the United Arab Emirates in October and November to face Pakistan in all formats.
PCB wanted the Kiwis to play the T20 series in Pakistan, a request which New Zealand Cricket declined due to security concerns. "At the end of the day it came down to following the advisory and the security reports we'd obtained," NZC chairman Greg Barclay told Newshub.
"There's no doubt they [the Pakistan Cricket Board] are disappointed. I think they saw a tour by a country like New Zealand as being a great precedent for them to start to build an international programme back in Pakistan.
"So they're disappointed but they're good guys, we get on really well with Pakistan, and I think they're fully accepting of the decision that we've reached."
Poor attendance expected for India-England Test series
The much awaited India vs England Test series which starts tomorrow has been dealt a major blow as the ticket sales for matches has been on the lower side. Only 15,000 people are expected to attend the first day of the opening Test at Edgbaston.
Except the Lord's Test, ticket sales for every other match have been disappointing. The first day of the fourth Test has seen only 8000 tickets being sold while the fourth day is hovering around the 5000 mark.
Trent Bridge and the Oval have had less than expected sales as well.
Read more here.
India to tour New Zealand in January 2019
Both the India men and women's team are set to tour New Zealand for an ODI and T20 series each in January 2019. The men's ODI series starts on 23rd January and will have five matches while the T20 series will be a three-match affair. The women's team will play a three-match ODI and T20 series.
The men and women sides will play their T20Is on the same day, however, the ODIs will be played one day prior to the men's ODIs.
Schedule for men's team:
1st ODI - January 23 - Napier
2nd ODI - January 26 - Mount Maunganui
3rd ODI - January 28 - Mount Maunganui
4th ODI - January 31 - Hamilton
5th ODI - February 3 - Wellington
1st T20I - February 6 - Wellington
2nd T20I - February 8 - Auckland
3rd T20I - February 10 - Hamilton
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