Cricket news round-up – February 20: Tayla Vlaeminck replaced by Molly Strano for Women’s World T20

Molly Strano replaced Tayla Vlaeminck for Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.
Mashrafe Mortaza will be replaced as Bangladesh captain after the home series against Zimbabwe. Cheteshwar Pujara signed a six-month deal with Gloucestershire.

Molly Strano replaces Tayla Vlaeminck

Molly Strano was named as Tayla Vlaeminck’s replacement for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. Vlaeminck’s scans revealed a stress fracture in foot that threw her out of the tournament. The head coach of the team, Matthew Mott said, “Tayla has been in brilliant form of late and established herself as one of the premier fast bowlers in international cricket. No one ever wants to see a player miss a major tournament in these kinds of circumstances, but I have no doubt she will bounce back from this setback and play a leading role in Australian squads for many years to come.”

Vlaeminck’s replacement Strano has played five T20Is so far and had a good WBBL where she has taken the highest number of wickets. Australians will begin their campaign on February 21 against India in Sydney.

Mashrafe Mortaza’s tenure as skipper to end soon

As announced by Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday, Mashrafe Mortaza’s tenure as the ODI skipper will end after the upcoming three-match series against Zimbabwe. Nazmul Hasan, the BCB President, also opined that Mortaza has to pass the fitness test and ‘has to perform’ if he wants to get selected in the national side further.

Nazmul Hasan had a brief meeting with Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mominul Haque before announcing the same.  “There might have been instances when Mashrafe played despite not passing the beep test but it will not happen now. If he wants to play, he has to perform and get selected in the team.”

He further added, “He was outstanding as captain but it is also true that now the time has come for him to decide on how long he wants to play.” The board wants to name a new captain just after the Zimbabwe series as the intention is to get ready for the next World Cup 2023 with enough time in hand. He explained, “For the World Cup, we cannot bring a (new) captain all of sudden. We have to decide on the team and captain with at least two years in hand. We need to come to a decision as we do not have much time. We will hopefully come to a decision on this within a month or so. We will have to wait at least till this series (ends).”

Cheteshwar Pujana joins Gloucestershire

Cheteshwar Pujara signed a six-match deal with Gloucestershire for the upcoming county season. He will play the opening game of the season against Yorkshire scheduled to be played on April 12. Then he will return to India and be replaced by Qais Ahmed for the last six games. Pujara had earlier represented Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire in county.  After signing the deal Pujara said, “The club has a rich cricketing history and this is a great opportunity to be a part of it and contribute to its success. I cannot wait to get to Bristol, meet my teammates and score some runs.”

On the other hand, Gloucestershire’s head coach, Richard Dawson, seemed excited as well. “Cheteshwar is a player with great temperament who will add international experience to the squad. Adding Pujara to a strong batting line-up gives me great confidence ahead of our opening county championship matches.”

Nisarg Patel suspended from bowling in international cricket

Nisarg Patel, the USA allrounder, has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after his action found to be illegal in the ODI between the USA and Oman on February 11. He bowled seven overs in the match and ended up with 0/37. After the match in Kathmandu, as assessment by an expert panel, as per clause 4.7 of the ICC’s illegal bowling regulations suggested that Patel’s bowling action was above the permitted 15-degree level. He will be suspended until the ICC’s expert panel reviews her action further.

Since Patel is an all-rounder, there is a possibility of him being picked as a batsman only and would not be allowed to bowl until the final review.