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Pacer has not bowled since the T20 World Cup due to a hip issue; no replacement called up

Firdose Moonda21-Dec-2021Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of South Africa’s upcoming three-Test series against India due to a “persistent” hip injury. Nortje has not bowled since the Men’s T20 World Cup in November, and is still struggling with the niggle and does not have sufficient bowling loads under his belt to be cleared to play. CSA’s chief medical officer Dr Shuaib Manjra told ESPNcricinfo that Nortje is undergoing rehabilitation and is aiming to be ready for the ODIs against India in mid-January.Nortje’s absence is a massive blow to South Africa – he is their leading bowler in Tests this year. Nortje has taken 25 wickets from five Tests at 20.76, six ahead of his nearest team-mate, Keshav Maharaj.No replacement will be called up to the squad, which includes seven other seamers. The door is now open for Duanne Olivier to make a comeback after his return from the Kolpak system, which ended with Britain’s exit from the European Union. Olivier is the leading wicket-taker in the domestic first-class competition with 28 wickets at 11.14.Olivier is likely to bowl alongside Kagiso Rabada and one of Lungi Ngidi, who has not played competitively in five months, uncapped left-armer Marco Jansen. Other options include Beuran Hendricks, who has one Test to his name, and Glenton Stuurman and Sisanda Magala, both of whom are uncapped.South Africa’s squad has begun its final preparations for the series that starts on Boxing Day, and so far has come through all Covid-19 tests successfully.

The trip was approved by the CA board late last week, Australia’s first to the country in 24 years

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2022The Australian Cricketers’ Association is bracing for a small number of players to pull out of the tour of Pakistan due to safety concerns, despite reassurances about the situation.Australia last toured Pakistan in 1998, but the 24-year wait will end on March 4 when the three-Test series begins in Rawalpindi. The long-awaited tour will also feature three ODIs and one T20I.Some players are still nervous about entering Pakistan due to safety fears. Despite the tour being given the all-clear, ACA chief executive Todd Greenberg says there are some who might pull out.”Clearly there’s some anxiety about touring, and that’s perfectly natural given an Australian cricket team hasn’t toured Pakistan for almost 25 years,” Greenberg told SEN. “I think we’ll have a very full squad that will go.Related

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“We may have one or two players that won’t be comfortable despite all of the advice and guidance that we provide, and that’s okay. “Along with Cricket Australia, we’ll need to respect those players and give them our full support if they decide not to make this tour.”Speaking last week, Test captain Pat Cummins said he would fully support anyone who opted not to travel.”There are a couple of players still keen to get a bit more information but everyone is really pumped and feeling relatively comfortable,” he said. “If anyone doesn’t make the tour it is absolutely okay, we will back them for sure.”The onset of war in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 following the September 11 attacks in the US and a 2009 gunfire attack on a Sri Lanka team bus, meant Australia deemed a tour of Pakistan too risky until now.Instead, Pakistan have been forced to host Australia in the United Arab Emirates several times over the past two decades.Cricket Australia sent a delegation of staff to Pakistan in December along with government officials to determine whether it was safe for Australia to tour. Greenberg said the tour of Pakistan was an important moment for international cricket.”The players completely understand our contribution to the global game,” he said. “We don’t have an expectation that we will sit here and expect teams to tour our country and not contribute ourselves.”There’s been an enormous amount of work on security detail and keeping players safe. That’s priority No.1. On top of that is all the Covid protocols and the biosecurity rules and regulations.”The tour squad is expected to be named on Tuesday.

The BCCI also wants to tweak the schedule to avoid a clash with the two-day IPL auction, scheduled for February 12 and 13

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Jan-2022The BCCI has decided to limit the number of venues for the upcoming limited-overs series against West Indies to two, instead of the original six, in a bid to limit chances of the pandemic affecting the series. As per the new plan, recommended by the BCCI’s tours and fixtures committee which met on Wednesday, Ahmedabad is likely to host the ODI-leg, comprising three matches, while Kolkata is likely to get the three T20Is that follow.The BCCI also wants to tweak the schedule to avoid a clash with the two-day IPL auction, scheduled for February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru – as things stand, the third ODI is set to be played on February 12. But a final decision will be taken on this once it has been discussed with Cricket West Indies.The development is a precautionary step by the BCCI, taken in response to the growing number of positive cases in India, which is currently experiencing a third wave of the pandemic, with the Omicron variant dominant across the country. Though the impact of this wave has been less severe than the preceding Delta wave, the high degree of transmissiblity of Omicron has led to stringent curbs on movement and public activities in the big cities. The current wave is expected to peak in early February.Last September, while unveiling India’s home calendar for 2021-22, the BCCI had named six venues for the series: the three ODIs on February 6, 9 and 12 in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kolkata, and the three T20Is on February 15, 18 and 20 in Cuttack, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.The tours and fixtures committee felt limiting travel was a necessary safeguard to keep the bubble intact, and also minimise chances of a disruption to the home season – the series against West Indies is set to be immediately followed by a visit by Sri Lanka, and then the IPL.ESPNcricinfo understands the two Tests against Sri Lanka will be played in Bengaluru and Mohali as originally planned, but the three T20Is are likely to be limited to just Dharamsala, which was originally meant to host the second match, sandwiched by games in Mohali and Lucknow.The IPL auction is set to go ahead across the weekend of February 12-13 in Bengaluru, with the ten franchises being alerted to make their travel plans accordingly.

Runs throughout the top order as Test preparations begin to take shape

Cameron Ponsonby02-Mar-2022There’s a very strong argument that says the quality of warm-up opposition should be as high as possible in order to best prepare for the Tests that lie ahead. Today offered the opposite. That you want a competent opposition. No more and no less. An ego-rubbing massage to give a batting order bereft of confidence the chance to sit back in the evening and think, “you know what, I’m really good”.Led by Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten century and Dan Lawrence’s 83 off 121 balls, five of England’s top seven passed 50 whilst Chris Woakes at No.8 finished the innings on 49 not out as the team declared on 466 for 6.It was the culmination of a perfect day for England’s batters, with no-one dominating to the extent that you questioned the quality of the opposition, but all batting with a certainty that left you with no doubt that they were a cut above their opponent at the other end.For Bairstow, the innings represented consecutive centuries in an England shirt as he made his first appearance on a cricket field following the Sydney Test where his heroic century was tempered by suffering a broken thumb in the same innings.”Jonny obviously seems like he’s in fantastic form at the moment and hopefully long may it continue,” Lawrence said at the close, after sharing a 64-run partnership with Bairstow. “Obviously he’s happy and he seems like he’s in a really good place.”Lawrence himself batted well for his 83. Resuming overnight on 46, Lawrence made the most of his selection ahead of Ollie Pope as he reached his half-century with a six pulled over midwicket.”It was quite a nice feeling scoring a few runs. It’s only a practice game early in the tour but it was nice to spend some time in the middle. I’m trying not to look too far ahead to be honest, just take it day by day out here.”That was my first competitive bat since the end of the English summer so it was just nice to spend a couple of hours at the crease. It’s a very good batting wicket, it’s quite a slow surface and it was nice for all of our batters to get quite a lot of time in the middle.”While deserving of praise, the day should not go without caveat. As a whole it was noticeably lacking some of the intensity of day one. For the hosts, yesterday was a chance to impress, whereas today was one to get through.Related

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• Ben Foakes enters unfamiliar territory as England's first-choice wicketkeeper

• Dan Lawrence handed chance to seal No. 4 spot for first Test

• Zak Crawley, Alex Lees impress as England's latest opening gambit

The result was a scoreboard that ticked along at a comfortable rate of 3.8 an over, compared to yesterday’s 2.8. The ball reached the boundary that bit more often, the sweeper was out that bit sooner, the singles available that more freely. These were the fruits sown by yesterday’s contributions from Alex Lees, Zak Crawley and Joe Root. It’s almost as if cricket can at times be a team game.It was the sort of team contribution that England so desperately require if they’re to experience success in the future. The England of 2021 was a team reminiscent of an U12s rugby team, completely reliant on their one player to have already gone through puberty. If big boy Root scored his big boy runs, things were okay. But if he didn’t, England were as exposed as boys playing a men’s game.For this reason, while it is always hard to quantify what counts as success when reviewing warm-up games, you can only imagine that if you gave England the choice, it’d look something like this.In reply, the CWI President’s XI were 48 for 2 at the close, with rain bringing the day to a close eight overs early after Jack Leach and a run-out had broken through for England.

Former Kent and England batter will move from commentary box to ECB head offices

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2022Rob Key, the former Kent and England batter who subsequently forged a successful career in broadcasting, has been appointed by the ECB as its new managing director of England men’s cricket.Key will take up the role immediately, stepping down from his TV work with Sky Sports. The 42-year-old, who retired from playing in 2016, will be responsible for the England men’s strategy and performance pathways, as well as a key figure in the high-performance review initiated by Andrew Strauss, currently the interim managing director.Although he has not held an administrative position previously, Key was among the favourites for the job, light-heartedly discussing being in the running while on air during Pakistan’s Test series with Australia last month. Reports that Marcus North had dropped out of contention earlier this week seemingly cleared Key’s path.He takes charge with the men’s game in an unprecedented state of flux, following the resignation on Friday of Joe Root as England Test captain. The ECB does not currently have an elected chair, while one of Key’s first tasks will be to oversee the recruitment of a new head coach.Related

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• Graham Ford emerges as key contender as England's new Test coach

• James Anderson, Saqib Mahmood available for Lancashire's next Championship match

• Strauss says ECB to launch high-performance review of English game

• Key confirms interest in England managing director role

“It is an absolute honour to take up this role,” Key said. “The chance to have an impact and make a difference is an opportunity given to very few and I will give it everything I have to try shape the next great era of English men’s cricket.”I have absolutely loved my time at Sky and I could never have imagined leaving were it not for this incredible opportunity. I’d like to personally thank Bryan Henderson and everyone in the team for their help and support.”Although at this current moment it has been a challenging time in English cricket, I also think it’s as exciting a time as I can remember. With two of our teams near or at the top of the world rankings and an undoubted amount of talent in our game, I hope to try and bring everyone along for the ride so we can all help take English men’s cricket to new heights across all formats.”Key will take the reins from Strauss, who occupied the position between 2015 and 2018 before returning in a temporary capacity after the sacking of Ashley Giles, one of a number of dismissals that came in the wake of England’s 4-0 Ashes defeat this winter. Another series defeat followed in the Caribbean, leading Root to step down from the captaincy after five years in the job.England’s declining Test standards – they have not won for five series in a row and currently sit bottom of the World Test Championship table – have been cause for much concern, amid calls for the red-ball game to be prioritised. Strauss has said that the high-performance review will include the goal of making England “the best in the world in all formats”, although details are yet to be announced publicly.Discussing the appointment of Key, who was capped in all three formats during a 17-year playing career, Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive officer, praised his “approachable nature” and “fresh original thinking”. He also paid tribute to Strauss for his involvement.”Following a thorough recruitment process, Rob stood out in a very competitive field,” Harrison said. “His passion and knowledge of the game at domestic and international level is outstanding. He is a proven leader and combines an approachable nature with fresh original thinking and resilience which will stand him in good stead. He will bring a lot to the role and I am sure players and staff alike will enjoy working with Rob. I have no doubt he will relish the challenge before us.”I’d like to thank Andrew for agreeing to step back into the role on an interim basis. To have someone of his experience and skillset during the transition and recruitment process was invaluable. He remains a huge asset to English and Welsh Cricket.”

Super Kings will be without Ravindra Jadeja, who was been ruled out of the tournament with a bruised rib

Hemant Brar11-May-20222:35

Should Mumbai Indians give Jasprit Bumrah the new ball?

Big picture

At the start of IPL 2022, not many would have expected Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to be lurking at the bottom of the points table for most of the season. But that’s how it has turned out to be. Five-time champions Mumbai are out of the race for the playoffs, while defending champions Super Kings are hanging by the thinnest of the threads.On Thursday, Super Kings might have a slight advantage, though. They are coming off what their captain MS Dhoni called “a perfect game”, while Mumbai would be smarting from a 52-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders despite Jasprit Bumrah’s five-for.

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But Super Kings are not too worried about if and how they can qualify for the playoffs. In fact, they seem to have already started planning for the next year.In Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway, they have figured out their opening pair. The two have put together one half-century and two century stands in just four innings. In the bowling department, Mukesh Choudhary seems to have turned the page after a poor start to the season.Mumbai, too, can follow that path and try out uncapped South African Tristan Stubbs. He could replace Ramandeep Singh, with Basil Thampi coming in for Riley Meredith to keep the overseas players’ count to four. Or, Stubbs can replace an out-of-form Kieron Pollard in a direct swap, but that will leave Rohit Sharma with just five bowling options. And if there is a match Mumbai want Pollard the bowler for, it’s this one. (See “Strategy punts”)Related

• Fantasy Pick: Go with Conway and David

• Shastri: Jadeja as captain 'looked a fish out of water, totally out of place'

• Kishan: 'I lost my focus trying to finish games rather than giving good starts'

In the news

A bruised rib has cut short Ravindra Jadeja’s IPL 2022. He picked up the injury while fielding against Royal Challengers Bangalore.Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai’s most successful batter this season, too has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a forearm injury he suffered during the match against Gujarat Titans.Chennai Super Kings seem to have already started planning for the next year•BCCI

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Ambati Rayudu, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Simarjeet Singh, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Mukesh ChoudharyMumbai Indians 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Tristan Stubbs/Ramandeep Singh, 5 Tim David, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Kumar Kartikeya, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Basil Thampi/Riley Meredith

Strategy punts

• So far this season Shivam Dube has scored 279 runs in nine innings, at an average of 34.87 and a strike rate of 160.34. But Mumbai could bring on Bumrah against him. Bumrah has got Dube out twice in 17 balls while giving away only ten runs.
• Super Kings have three left-handers in their top six. Mumbai can counter that by bringing in offspinner Hrithik Shokeen for legspinner M Ashwin.
• Pollard has had an underwhelming season with the bat but against Super Kings, he could be handy with the ball. He has dismissed Conway three times in 17 balls for just 17 runs. He has been successful against Robin Uthappa too, with three dismissals in 32 balls for 42 runs. Against Moeen Ali, it’s two dismissals in 25 balls for 25 runs. So Mumbai may use his bowling skills more than they usually do.

Stats that matter

• In IPL 2022, Pollard has scored only 144 runs in 11 innings at an average of 14.40 and a strike rate of 107.46. Among those who have faced a minimum of 100 balls, only Kane Williamson (96.13) and Ajinkya Rahane (100.96) have a lower strike rate. His numbers against spin are even worse: five dismissals at an average of 6.80 and a strike rate of 82.92.
• Rohit, too, has struggled against spin this season, scoring only 33 runs off 32 balls while being dismissed four times.
• Bumrah has contrasting numbers against Gaikwad and Dhoni. Gaikwad has taken him for 21 runs off ten balls without getting out, while Dhoni has scored only 60 runs off 60 balls against him with three dismissals.

Captain back after missing home summer, but form still a concern after fallow IPL

Andrew Miller01-Jun-2022Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s captain, insists that his troublesome left elbow will withstand the rigours of Test cricket as he prepares to lead his side for the first time in six months in the first Test against England at Lord’s on Thursday.Williamson has missed New Zealand’s last five Tests due to a tendon injury similar to that which afflicted Sachin Tendulkar in the middle years of his career, with Tom Latham deputising for the final Test of their tour of India in December as well as all four matches of their home summer series against Bangladesh and South Africa.During that period, the NZC medical team limited Williamson’s practice sessions to 20-minute blocks, leading him to acknowledge that the injury had been a “tough pill to swallow” and that his preferred remedy might have been to “cut it off”. However, speaking at Lord’s on the eve of Thursday’s first Test, he insisted that his time away from the game had helped him to manage the condition better.Related

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• Stokes wants 'blank canvas' not 'reset' as England begin new era

“It’s significantly improved, which is the pleasing thing,” Williamson said. “Obviously having that time out of the game was beneficial to get it back on track somewhat. Although it was a very frustrating period of grappling with it, it is nice to be back into full training and back into cricket really, which is really exciting, and back with the team after watching them on the sidelines for a little bit. So that is nice to see that improvement.”Williamson’s form, however, hasn’t yet ignited since his return to action. He endured a difficult IPL campaign for Sunrisers Hyderabad, scoring 216 runs at 19.63 and a strike-rate of 93.50 before returning to New Zealand for the birth of his child. His solitary red-ball innings since November was a nine-ball duck against a County Select XI at Chelmsford last week, as his side slumped to 19 for 6 in their second innings, en route to a seven-wicket loss.He’s not the only New Zealand player who is likely be a touch undercooked for Test cricket. Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell and Tim Southee were also late arrivals following IPL duty, and so too Trent Boult, whose participation in Sunday’s IPL final for Rajasthan Royals means he only arrived in England on Monday, and seems likely to be held back for the second two Tests at Trent Bridge and Headingley later this month.Trent Boult arrived in the UK on Monday night after the IPL final•Alex Davidson/Getty Images

“He needs to get through training today,” Williamson said. “Obviously he’s just arrived. He’s keen as, but there’s a number of things to consider.”Trent is obviously a world-class player and we’ve got a great variety in our bowling attack,” he added. “So, we’ll be having a look at the surface and working out what we want to go with, and that balance, and who’s all ready to go. Most are, but obviously Trent’s one to look at today.”It is almost 12 months since Williamson’s New Zealand lifted the ICC mace with victory over India in the World Test Championship final, having also dispatched England 1-0 in a two-match series that began at Lord’s. Their results since then haven’t been quite as stellar, with defeat in India followed by two drawn home series, but Williamson insisted that the fulfilment of their global ambitions hadn’t taken the edge off his team.”That was an amazing occasion and a proud achievement for New Zealand cricket,” he said of the WTC final. “When you’re involved in a side, your motivation is about trying to move the team forward and, whether that’s in different matches that have different context, the motivation is still there. Everybody wants to win. Whether you have a certain number next to your name or not, it’s always competitive.”You always have different transitions,” he added. “Since then, there’s been a number of players that have retired [notably Ross Taylor and BJ Watling], and that’s just part of that big picture. So although they’re fond memories, and it wasn’t all that long ago, you certainly don’t rest on matches that were played a year ago.”The current series will have an added sense of intrigue due to the identity of England’s new head coach. Brendon McCullum was Williamson’s predecessor as New Zealand captain, and the man credited with defining the philosophy that has carried the current team to its success across formats, but Williamson insisted it wouldn’t be “weird” seeing his friend and countrymen guiding the fortunes of his opponents.”It’s a great opportunity for Brendon, such a positive guy and an amazing leader as well,” he said. “He does tend to have a strong impact wherever he goes. And clearly the English set-up have seen some strong qualities in him that they want as a part of their set-up. So yeah, it’s exciting. I think Dan [Vettori] might be involved with Australia, so there’s a real Kiwi feel to the next Ashes series, which is pretty interesting.”We’re good mates. And he’s mates with a number of the guys and there’s a lot of history there. But you know, cricket’s cricket, so for us, it’s focusing on what we want to do. No doubt they’ll be working hard and Brendon will be certainly getting right in the mix of things to do what he does, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be an exciting contest and one that both sides are looking forward to.”

The offspinner has recovered from Covid-19 but it’s still unclear if he’ll feature in the warm-up game

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Jun-2022In welcome news for the Indians, premier offspinner R Ashwin joined the Test squad in Leicester, having recovered from Covid-19. What remains to be confirmed, though, is whether Ashwin, who reached Leicester on Wednesday, will feature in the four-day warm-up match, which started on Thursday between the visitors and Leicestershire.Ashwin failed to depart for England last week with the rest of the squad, having tested positive for Covid-19. He joined the Indians at the ground in his whites on Thursday morning, but his name did not feature on any of the team sheets, finalised on Wednesday. The match is being played as a 13-a-side game.Related

• Four selection puzzles for India at Edgbaston

• Leicestershire warm-up gives Indians chance to regain red-ball intensity

Ashwin’s presence will boost the Indian camp based on his vast experience of playing in England, including featuring for three clubs in county cricket. Ashwin, who is second on the ICC’s Test bowlers rankings as well as third on the allrounders’ list, was part of the Indian squad for the first four Tests of the Pataudi Trophy last year, but did not get to play as the then team management preferred Ravindra Jadeja as the primary spin allrounder.Ashwin could still be in contention for the rescheduled one-off Test starting at Edgbaston from July 1 in case the conditions support two spinners. Ashwin’s numbers in county cricket, where he has featured for Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire and Surrey are impressive: he has 61 wickets at an average 25.32 and has scored 553 runs at an average of nearly 37.Meanwhile, the quartet of Cheteshwar Pujara, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Prasidh Krishna turned up as part of the Leicestershire team. The arrangement to allow the Indians to be part of the hosts’ team was reached to allow all the visiting players to test their match fitness and workloads. The game is the only practice match the Indians are playing ahead of the Test next week.

Bhuvneshwar’s Player-of-the-Series performance in the England T20Is has taken him back into the top ten for bowlers

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2022Jasprit Bumrah has climbed up five spots to become the No. 1-ranked ODI bowler, following his career-best 6 for 19 against England at The Oval on Tuesday. Trent Boult is now second, with Shaheen Shah Afridi, Josh Hazlewood and Mujeeb Ur Rahman rounding off the top five.Bumrah ran through the England line-up in the first ODI, dismissing Jason Roy, Joe Root, Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler along the way. After picking up 4 for 6 in his first four overs, he returned to pick up two for none in seven balls at the death, finishing with India’s third-best figures in men’s ODIs.

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Mohammed Shami, Bumrah’s new-ball partner, also moved up three places to joint-23rd – with Bhuvneshwar Kumar – on the back of his three-wicket haul against England.As for Shikhar Dhawan, who scored an unbeaten 31 in that ten-wicket win over England, he moved up one spot to equal 12th on the batters’ rankings. His captain Rohit Sharma top-scored for India in the chase with an unbeaten 76, but remained at No. 4.From the ODI series between Ireland and New Zealand, Harry Tector, who scored his maiden ODI century in the opening game, rose ten places to No. 34 among batters.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Suryakumar Yadav, meanwhile, jumped a whopping 44 spots to achieve his career-best No. 5 ranking in T20Is following his century against England in the third T20I. Suryakumar, who also achieved a career-high rating of 732, is now India’s highest-ranked T20I batter. Having made his T20I debut only last year, Suryakumar has quickly become an important part of India’s T20I set-up, scoring four fifties and a century in 17 innings with a strike rate of 177.22.Bhuvneshwar’s Player-of-the-Series performance in the T20Is against England has taken him back into the top ten among T20I bowlers. He is the only Indian in the top ten in a list led by Hazlewood.Over in the Test rankings, Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal climbed after their match-winning performances against Australia in the second Test in Galle.Karunaratne’s first-innings 86 took him to 782 rating points [his personal best] and the No. 7 spot among Test batters, while Chandimal’s unbeaten 206 took him 19 positions up to No. 29.

Though his international future is uncertain, allrounder wants “to win another World Cup – or two more – for West Indies”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-20222:11

Why they said it: ‘I know this was coming but am gonna stay quiet!’

Andre Russell still has ambitions of playing international cricket, and wants to win “another World Cup – or two more – for West Indies”.Russell has not played for West Indies since the T20 World Cup in November 2021. Last week, he responded to head coach Phil Simmons’ statement that he would not be “begging” players to be available for West Indies, writing in a since-deleted Instagram post: “I know this was coming but am gonna stay quiet!!!” With four “angry” emojis thrown in.Related

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• 'I know this was coming' – Russell responds to Simmons

Russell, who is currently in England playing for Manchester Originals in The Hundred, was asked about his position by Daren Sammy, the former West Indies captain, during ‘ build-up to their game against Welsh Fire on Tuesday night.”I’m going to be quiet, because at the end of the day, we had a discussion, and the discussion was very clear,” Russell responded. “So now, making me look bad, throwing me under the bus… I was expecting it. I’m going to stay quiet, Daren, to be honest.”But when Sammy asked if he still wanted to play for the West Indies, Russell was emphatic in his assertion.”Of course, of course. The maroon is all over,” he said. “Honestly, I have two franchise hundreds and I wish those hundreds were actually playing for West Indies. I don’t regret saying this just now. I really enjoyed playing for Jamaica Tallawahs but those two hundreds, it would be more special coming in international cricket.”I always want to play and give back. But, at the end of the day, if we are not agreeing on certain terms, you terms is my terms [sic], and they have to respect my terms as well. At the end of the day, it is what it is. We have families and we have to make sure that we give our best opportunity while we have one career.”It’s not like I can start over again. I’m 34 and I want to win another World Cup – or two more – for West Indies because, at the end of the day, I’m here now, and I’m just taking it day by day.”Russell will leave The Hundred next week to play in the CPL for Trinbago Knight Riders, and Desmond Haynes, West Indies’ lead selector, has suggested that performances in that tournament would be a major factor in World Cup selection.”If there is a competition that is run by the West Indies [and] somebody is playing well, I think his name should really come up for selection,” he said last week.