Cricket news round-up – September 24: Demerit point for Kohli, Bairstow not included in Test team

Virat Kohli received his third demerit point. England announced teams for New Zealand tour. Australia‘s Test and T20 tours of Bangladesh were postponed.

Kohli gets demerit point

Virat Kohli has received a demerit point and an official warning for an “inappropriate” shoulder contact with Beuran Hendricks while taking a run during the third T20I on Sunday in Bengaluru. Kohli was found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct.

On the fourth ball of the fifth over, bowled by Hendricks, Kohli pulled a delivery to deep midwicket and ran for a single. During this time he rubbed his right shoulder with Hendricks’ right and was found to have breached Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. The law which relates to “Inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) during an International Match.”

It was Kohli’s third offence since the introduction of the revised code in September 2016. He now has three demerit points after getting one for the Centurion Test in South Africa last year and another during the World Cup match against Afghanistan this year. According to the revised code, after receiving four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, those get converted into suspension points and a player is banned.

He admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Richie Richardson. So there was no formal hearing and the charge was levelled by on-field umpires Nitin Menon and CK Nandan, third umpire Anil Chaudhary and fourth official C Shamshuddin.

Bairstow out of England’s Test squad for New Zealand tour

England announced the teams for Test and T20I series in New Zealand and Jonny Bairstow is not a part of the Test squad. Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley got their maiden Test call-ups. Bairstow’s exclusion means Jos Buttler is set to take over as England’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper on a two-match Test tour that is not part of the World Test Championship. Ed Smith, England’s chief selector said, “This feels like an opportunity for Jonny to reset. I think he’ll come back stronger from this.”

On the other hand, Bairstow managed to be named in the T20I squad along with a host of new faces whereas England decided to overlook Buttler, Roy, Moeen, Joe Root and Ben Stokes for the five-match T20I series. The intention is to focus on the next generation ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup. Somerset opener Tom Banton and Pat Brown, the Worcestershire slower-ball specialist are two such news faces.

T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince

Test squad: Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes

Australia’s Bangladesh tours postponed

Australia’s two-match Test series against Bangladesh has been postponed to June-July 2020, The fixtures which are part of World Test Championship earlier was scheduled for February 2020 but Bangladesh Cricket Board and Cricket Australia decided to postpone the series.

BCB cricket operations chairman Akram Khan also informed Australia’s visit to Bangladesh for a T20I series that was supposed to be held in October this year, will be now played in 2021 ahead of the eighth edition of the T20 World Cup which will be held in India.

“Initially we were expecting to host Australia for a two-match Twenty20 International series in October but now they have agreed to play three T20 internationals and it will be played ahead of the World T20 in India, though we are yet to finalise the date,” Akram said.

Tallawahs register second win

Jamaica Tallawahs won a thrilling match against Barbados Tridents at Bridgetown. In a low scoring match, Glenn Philips with a 35-ball 45 helped his team to set a target of 127 for the Tridents. Jason Holder, Sandeep Lanichhane, and Raymon Reifer took two wickets each.

While chasing apart from Johnson Charles (31), it was Reifer who did his bit at the end with a quick 12-ball 26. The lineup has a massive collapse as Imran Khan and Shamar Springer picked up three wickets apiece. Dwayne Smith bowled the last over of the match with absolute brilliance and ensured the victory for the Tallawahs by sending Reifer back on the fourth ball of 20^th over. This was Jamaica’s second win of the season as they still behind Barbados due to NRR.