The Cricket.com Weekly - Edition 36

It's THAT time of the week, yet again!🔔

It is Saturday, and for all the cricket enthusiasts and us at Cricket.com, it is time for our weekly wrap!🗞️ 

The last seven days have truly been magical for all the cricket frenzy fans across the globe as the much-awaited Ashes series commenced with plenty of hype and expectations. 

And away from the glaring eyes of the media, the ICC World Cup Qualifiers kicked off in the African nation. Ten teams are vying to secure two spots for the ODI World Cup later this year in India. 

Without further ado, let's deep dive into all the cricketing action that kept millions of people glued to their television sets. 

Pujara dropped for the Windies tour😲

After months of speculation surrounding the place of Cheteshwar Pujara, the selectors have taken a bold call and dropped the veteran batter for the away series against West Indies. 

Read: Jaiswal future No.3, new-look pace attack and more from India’s Windies squad

Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane, who made a comeback to the Indian squad for the summit clash of the World Test Championship, has returned as the vice-captain of the squad. Shocking? Nah. 

Test cricket, you beauty!

In the last 14 months, England have rejigged their style of play in red-ball cricket under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. The Three Lions have been aggressive and taken the attack to the opposition, rekindling the love of the fans for the purest format. 

11 wins in 13 Test matches before the series commenced, and England were a force to reckon with in the longest format. 

Against them were the World Champions and their fiercest rivals, Australia. 

While the first four days were filled with ebbs and flows, the last day and the final hour of play will be etched in the memory of every fan. 

With 54 runs required and only two wickets in hand, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon scripted history to give Australia a famous win in Test cricket. 

On the same venue in 2005, Australia fell agonisingly short by two runs, and they have managed to breach the fortress not once but twice in the last two Ashes series.

Who is taking the ✈️ to India?

The ICC World Cup Qualifiers are underway in Zimbabwe, with ten teams competing in a month-long tournament to secure their place in the ODI World Cup set to take place in India. 

West Indies and Sri Lanka, the two dominant sides and the firm favourites to feature in the final, are currently leading the two groups with two wins.  

Here's Anirudh Kasargod with the weekly round-up of the first ten matches of the Qualifiers that witnessed heartbreaks, upsets, and some memorable moments. 

Women's cricket

💔for Perry

One of the greatest players to don the national jersey for Australia, Ellyse Perry continued her sublime run in the red-ball format as she scored a stroke-filled 99 runs to power Australia to 473 runs in the first innings of the one-off Women's Ashes Test. 

The 32-year-old walked in at number three and displayed an array of strokes all around the ground in her 153-ball stay before falling agonisingly short of a well-deserved century. Along with her dominant display, Australia unearthed another star in Annabel Sutherland as the right-handed batter smashed an unbeaten 137 runs to lead the Aussie charge in the one-off Test. 

In reply, England have started strongly, with Tammy Beaumont becoming only the second women's player to notch up a hundred in each format alongside skipper Heather Knight. 

Two action-packed days of Test cricket and the match looks evenly poised, with the home team trailing by 255 runs in the first innings with eight wickets in hand. 

Meet the Emerging champions🏆

Rain played spoilsport in the Women's Emerging Asia Cup in Hong Kong as most of the games, including the semi-finals, were abandoned due to relentless showers. 

With India and Bangladesh recording comprehensive wins in the opening fixture, the two sides progressed to the summit clash. 

On a gloomy morning, India opted to bat first and scored 127 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the first innings, with Virnda Dinesh top-scoring for the team with a crucial 36. The Indian spinners weaved their magic in the second innings as Shreyanka Patil scalped four wickets to help the team win by 31 runs. 

Women in Blue set for Bangladesh tour

Four months after their heart-wrenching loss to Australia in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in South Africa, the Harmanpreet-led side will be travelling to Bangladesh for a white-ball series including three ODIs and three T20Is starting July 9 in Mirpur. 

What else made the headlines?

Meet the numero uno Test batter 

With an unbeaten 118 runs in the first innings and a quickfire 46 in the second outing, Joe Root has kickstarted the Ashes in a commanding fashion. 

The former England skipper's consistent run has ensured he is back as the number-one batter in Test cricket. 

Will Jacks' smashes 🖐️ sixes

Amidst all the action surrounding Test cricket, Will Jacks has returned to competitive cricket and smashed five sixes for Surrey against Middlesex en route to his 96-run knock. 

And we have more scintillating action from the T20 Blast as the tournament witnessed two 😲 catches. 

Franchise cricket

A couple of days after losing to Australia in the final in Oval, Ravichandran Ashwin has returned to India and powered Dindigul Dragons to a hat-trick of wins in the ongoing edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League. 

With the likes of Ashwin, Sai Sudharsan and Shahrukh Khan, the tournament has grabbed plenty of 👀 at the moment. The Southpaw is currently the leading run-scorer of the league, with 247 runs in four innings at an average of 82.33. 

Varun Chakaravarthy has continued to weave his magic and is the leading wicket-taker with eight scalps in three innings at an average of 8.37. 

Middlesex finally have a win

Well, you read that right!!!!

After ten games, Middlesex are finally off the mark in T20 Blast as Stephen Eskinazi-led outfit chased down 253 runs against Surrey, the highest for a team in the competition. 

Birmingham Bears and Somerset are leading the North and South Group with nine and ten wins, respectively. Daniel Bell-Drummond is the leading run-scorer with 587 runs in 12 innings at an average of 58.70, and Ben Green is on top of the wickets chart with 25 scalps in 12 innings at an average of 14.32. 

Articles in Focus

Edgbaston repeats itself but this time Australia rejoice

Ben Stokes wasn't wrong in saying England aimed to entertain fans in Test cricket. For a neutral, it was perhaps entertainment of the highest order in the first Ashes Test. Here's Aakash Sivasubramaniam drawing a parallel to Australia's two-run loss in 2005. 

Does Bazball really work in testing conditions?

Well, not really, as Aakash has yet again stitched a masterpiece on the 22 balls of hell at Edgbaston that serves as a warning to Bazball. 

Life, death, and Taxes….?? Umm, Not for BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is one of the richest business conglomerates in the country, with operational revenue running into billions of dollars per year. 

Given these revenues, it would be expected that the BCCI would be paying a hefty tax, contributing significantly to the Central Government's Taxation pool. Except, that’s not true. 

Here's Bastab Parida explaining why BCCI does not pay any taxes. 

Interview corner

With the World Cup Qualifiers in full flow, our in-house Associate cricket expert, Pramod Ananth, chats with some of the key players from various teams to get an insight into their preparation for the tournament. 

Max O'Dowd: Netherlands getting pushed further down after Super League scrap

Can Scotland bury the ghosts of 2018 and march into the World Cup?

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