The men's Ashes 2021 is set to go ahead this summer with England's players reportedly agreeing to tour in a move. England's cricketers spoke with Cricket Australia (CA) on Tuesday evening, to thrash out their concerns over strict Covid-19 protocols. Players have been given until the end of this week to make a decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). However, the team is only set to tour if an adequate number of front-liner players agree to travel.

However, those fears have now seemingly allayed with the UK's Daily Telegraph. Meanwhile, they reporting that captain Joe Root has led a group of players committing to the series.

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The Uncertainty of England Players in the Ashes 2021 :

According to the report, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler could be the only England player not to agree to tour. He had previously indicated his concerns over the tour and potential time away from family. Allrounder Moeen Ali will be unavailable after he recently retired. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes is taking a break from the game and Jofra Archer is out injured.

CA is yet to officially be informed about that. But will no doubt that they breathing a massive sigh of relief given the magnitude of the decision. The lockdown and quarantine rules and conditions for families are the chief concern. But CA CEO Nick Hockley stressed to England players that conditions in Australia were improving. Also, the country's vaccination rate is on the rise. Likewise, it's believed a move to have a second group of England's players' families arrive before Christmas. However, they will go to quarantine in Melbourne.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2021: Sunil Gavaskar thinks this player can replace Hardik Pandya

The Main reason behind their fear in Australia :

The players feared that their families have to do a hard quarantine. As they are only able to arrive in November. But the move to let a second group into Victoria would be welcome news. Although given they do not need to spend as much time away from home. There could be some freedoms for families in regional Victoria. That deal is not officially over the line with the state government. But would be in line with the road map out of COVID-19 as Victoria edges closer to 70 and 80 percent double dosage rates.

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The last concern for CA will now be the Perth Test. Along with officials adamant they will be granted clearance to play in Western Australia just days after being in Sydney. If that does fall through, Canberra or Hobart could seize their first Ashes Test. Alternatively, the match could be held as a second fixture at the SCG or MCG.

Matthew Wade, the Australian wicketkeeper batter, has announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday. However, he will join the men's team's coaching unit from the upcoming T20 series against Pakistan.

Matthew Wade career

Matthew Wade played 225 matches for Australia, featuring in 36 test matches, 97 one-day internationals, and 92 T20 internationals for Australia. He last played the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies in 2024.

Not only that, he played a crucial role in Australia's T20 World Cup victory in 2021 in Dubai.

Wade' Retirement

The 36-year-old Matthew Wade ended his 13-year long playing career.

"I'm officially retiring," Wade, who retired from first-class cricket last summer, was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. "It's been an ongoing discussion for pretty much every tour or every World Cup that I've been on in the last three or four years.

"It's been a really fluent conversation that I've had with George (Bailey, chief selector) and Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) over the last six months or since the last World Cup finished. Even leading into the last World Cup, we've been really open and had really great communication around where I'm at with my career.

"If we went into the last World Cup and I managed to get some runs and we won that, then things would look maybe a little different and maybe I'd keep going... it was just kind of an understanding from all of us," Wade added.

36 Test matches. 97 ODIs. 92 T20 Internationals.

Congratulations to Matthew Wade on an outstanding international cricket career! pic.twitter.com/SDWl1OhqZC

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) October 29, 2024

Matthew Wade in coaching

Matthew Wade will kick off his coaching career with the national team from its upcoming outing in the T20 Series against Pakistan. He will travel under the leadership of Andre Borovec.

Later, the team will regroup for the ODI Series, which starts in Melbourne next week.

Wade, however, is not new to coaching. He has been in this role during the winter while coaching the Tasmanian youth and second XI.

Well, Wade will continue playing for his Big Bash League side, the Hobart Hurricanes, for at least the next two summers.

Also, he will continue playing for his domestic team, Tasmania.

Harshit Rana who was selected in India's senior team squad against Australia has early struggles with injuries.

On October 25, BCCI announced the squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which includes Harshit Rana's name. The 22-year-old fast bowler had earned the limelight after a stellar season in the 2024 Indian Premier League for KKR, is now tying his laces for the maiden call test call.

Earlier he toured with the senior team in the T20I series against Zimbabwe. He was a part of the team in the home series against Bangladesh. Not only that, he was on the reserved bench in the test series against New Zealand.

With the call against Australia, it's high time to count days for his debut in the whites anytime soon.

Harshit Rana faced injury before he was 20

Harshit Rana is on the cusp of a promising career as he gears up for India’s five-match Test tour of Australia. Despite a meteoric rise, Rana has faced considerable setbacks due to injuries. By the age of 20, he had already endured multiple stress fractures, sidelining him from the sport for extended periods.

Initially, it was his back, then it was his groin, then his calf and a niggle in the shoulder. His father Pradeep Rana informed that he took Harshit to many hospitals and even to an Ayurveda facility in Najafgarh. 

When playing cricket looked impossible, it was the inspiration Harshit drew from Navdeep Saini who bowled with his injured groin. Moreover, the 2020-21 Australia tour played a huge role in fuelling Harshit Rana's courage.

A bruised team battled to the winning position in the 2020-21 Australia tour. The injured duo Vihari and Ashwin who batted throughout ensuring a draw at Sydney, and Cheteswar Pujara who took 11 blows on his body at Gabba inspired him more than anyone can imagine.

Harshit Rana dedicates his maiden test call to his Father

Harshit Rana's Pradeep Rana, who once represented CRPF in hammer throw has never left his side. The senior Rana would pull him out of sleep at 4 am, to make him watch India playing in Australia on television.

His father made it a morning routine in winter, in Delhi for a six-year-old Harshit Rana. He even threw tantrums because he wanted to continue sleeping.

It was Pradeep Rana who knocked on all possible doors to keep his son fit for the game. He not only visited doctors but read articles, watched videos and tried applying everything to help his son play on the big stage.

In an interview with the Indian Express, Harshit said, "he told me that it was okay even if I don’t become a professional cricketer. Whatever I am today, it is because of my father.”

The Journey of Shedding 17 Kilograms

During the 2023-24 period, he suffered from a hamstring injury. As a result, he missed that entire session of the Ranji Trophy. 

From November 2023 to the pre-IPL period, he worked hard on his fitness shedding 17 kilograms. This significant weight loss not only improved his performance but also helped him remain injury-free for the next seven months, a crucial period leading to his maiden Test call-up.

Harshit credits the Indian team management for monitoring his workload as he focuses on playing across all formats—Tests, ODIs, and T20s. 

The Indian Men's Cricket Team have already lost their series to New Zealand after losing the first two tests. With that, India's home test series wins ended. However, India still tops the list with 18 home series wins.

The 18th win came against Bangladesh after a 2-0 whitewash against them.

Here's the list of the top five teams with the most consecutive Test series wins at home

India leads the chart with 18 series wins, followed by Australia twice in the list, having 10 wins each time. 

New Zealand | 8

New Zealand, standing 5th in the table, has 8 home series wins to their name. Starting from December 2017 to January 2021. The team led by Kane Williamson had a perfect combination with the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Ross Taylor, perfectly complementing the spin-friendly pitches, allowing the team to capitalize on the home advantage.

West Indies | 8

Once a terror in World Cricket, the time span of West Indian dominance in test cricket clearly defines the legacy of the team.

The Clive Lloyd-led team, having shoulders of greats like Viv Richards and bowling legend Malcolm Marshall, had its winning streak of 8 series at home from March 1976 to February 1986.

Australia | 10 each

Another ruling team in World Cricket that successfully carried forward their once-created legacy is Australia. Australia is in the chart twice, having 10 consecutive home series wins.

The first phase started from October 1994 to November 2000. A little gap in between, and then the winning streak continued from July 2004 to November 2008.

India | 18

After the Kanpur test win against Bangladesh, for the first time after 92 years of Test cricket history, India had more test wins than losses.

Not only that, India's series winning streak at home increased to 18, making it an undisputed contender amongst the world giants.

The One Day Cup in Australia has experienced one of the craziest collapses in the Western Australia vs. Tasmania match at Perth. The star-studded squad of Western Australia crumbled down to just 53 runs, that too losing 8 wickets in the last 1 run.

Western Australia vs Tasmania match registers a Record-Breaking Downfall

Western Australia was going through a disaster management period while having a stable score of 52-2 unless the real disaster hit them. Within just 20.1 overs, the team's entire batting lineup shattered, with the score reaching 53.

I reckon duck might be on the menu tonight in Perth for the Tasmanians. #WAvTAS #OneDayCup pic.twitter.com/RfiIc2VvpR

— Lachlan McKirdy (@LMcKirdy7) October 25, 2024

All the middle-order batsmen from the team were dismissed without scoring. The only run that came during the collapse was due to a wide delivery.

This unprecedented collapse saw them record the second-lowest score in One-Day Cup history, only behind South Australia’s 51 runs in 2003. 

This remarkable turn of events set a new record for the worst eight-wicket collapse in Australian domestic cricket.

Read Also: Who is next after Warner? Cricket Australia finds it difficult to choose their test opener

Lowest team totals in Australian domestic one-day cup

51 - South Australia vs TAS in Hobart, 2003

53 - Western Australia vs TAS in Perth, 2024

59 - Western Australia vs VIC in Melbourne, 1969

59 - CA XI vs NSW in Sydney, 2015

Stars in Trouble: The Players’ Dismal Performance

The catastrophic defeat's courtesy goes to star players such as Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Turner, and Jhye Richardson, who all went for ducks.

D’Arcy Short was the highest scorer in the team, with 22 runs, with Cameron Bancroft the only other player to reach double figures.

Tasmania’s Beau Webster was the standout performer, claiming 6 wickets for just 17 runs, and Billy Stanlake contributed with 3 wickets for 12 runs. 

Tasmania’s Quick Victory: A Record Chase

Thanks to Western Australia’s historic collapse, Tasmania registers the record for fastest runs chased in the Australian domestic one-day.

Chasing down 54 runs in just 8.3 overs, Tasmania won the match by seven wickets. 

Fastest successful run chases in Australian domestic one-day cup

51 balls - Tasmania vs WA in Perth, 2024

67 balls - Victoria vs CA XI in Sydney, 2015

91 balls - Western Australia vs TAS in Brisbane, 2014

102 bals - Western Australia vs NSW in Perth, 2022

On Friday, Cricket Australia (CA) officially announced that David Warner’s lifetime leadership ban has been lifted. Thus, Warner can captain his side in the Big Bash League, which is Sydney Thunder. 

The 37-year-old David Warner received this after 6 years of his exile. The decision was made after a thorough review by an independent three-member panel.

Why was David Warner banned?

In 2018, Warner was involved in the Sandpaper scandal known as “Sandpaper Gate,” during the third test against South Africa at Cape Town. Cameron Bancroft, who actively participated in the scandal, and Steve Smith, under whose leadership it happened, were the two names involved.

Warner, who was the vice-captain of the Australian team at the time, was alleged to be the main instigator behind the scandal. As a result, he received a one-year suspension from playing cricket, and a lifetime ban from leadership.

The then-captain, Steve Smith, received a 12-month leadership ban, while Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months for his direct involvement in tampering with the ball.

Warner's lifetime leadership lifted as he followed all the restriction

Earlier this month, Warner appealed to the independent review panel. He not only presented his case but also presented references from the present Australian captain Pat Cummins, coach Andrew McDonald, and his former IPL teammate Kane Williamson.

The panel unanimously found Warner to have fulfilled all the criteria required for the ban to be lifted. The panel noted Warner’s "respectful and contrite tone" and acknowledged his “genuine remorse” for his actions.

"David Warner's conduct and behavior since the imposition of the sanction have been exemplary," the panel said, highlighting his substantial personal growth. 

They were also confident that Warner would not further engage in similar conflicts in his remaining career. Not only that, the panel has highlighted his sportsmanship and that he no longer involves himself in sledging or provoking his opponents.

Cricket Australia’s Statement and Future Prospects

Nick Hockley, CEO of Cricket Australia, expressed satisfaction after Warner's lifetime captaincy ban has been lifted. 

"We updated the Code of Conduct to ensure a fair and rigorous process for reviewing long-term sanctions," Hockley said. "David has shown immense growth, and we are pleased he is now eligible to assume leadership positions again."

With Warner's lifetime ban being lifted, he is all set to captain Sydney Thunder in the upcoming BBL season. Despite retiring from international cricket in 2024, Warner’s renewed eligibility for leadership roles opens up new opportunities for him in domestic competitions.