Talk of Shane Warne coming out of retirement to rescue Australia’s stumbling Ashes campaign is “fanciful,” according to Cricket Australia (CA) chief James Sutherland.
Australia’s comprehensive innnings and 71-run defeat by England in Adelaide last week sparked media calls for the recall of the retired 41-year-old spin bowling great.
Sutherland, however, said octagenarian television commentator Richie Benaud, who last bowled a ball on the Test stage in 1964, was as likely to pull on the baggy green cap again.
“Shane retired from Test cricket almost exactly four years ago and, by his own admission, he hasn’t touched a cricket bat or ball since the IPL [Indian Premier League] early this year,” Sutherland told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
“CA hasn’t spoken to him about playing and, while the selectors operate independently of CA management, I am not aware of them having any intention of talking to Shane,” he said.
“He is Australia’s greatest-ever bowler and he was always going to be irreplaceable. World cricket is unlikely to see the likes of him again in our lifetime,” Sutherland said. “There has been a lot of passionate debate about cricket since Adelaide, some of it’s sensible and some of it fanciful.”
Warne has played for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, but his return would not fit with the selectors’ policy of looking to the future and building a new team of world beaters.
“I haven’t had too much to laugh about in the last week or so, but I did smile when I read Richie Benaud’s quote that the thing that disappointed him about this debate was that nobody had suggested he make a comeback himself,” Sutherland said.
“He went on to say Shane would be insane to think about it, and Richie knows a thing or two about leg spinning — as well as leg pulling,” he said.
Warne, who described the calls for his return as “flattering,” is still an influential voice in Australian cricket and it was on his recommendation that Michael Beer was plucked from obscurity to join the squad for the Perth Test.
The left-armer, who has played just five first-class matches, would be the 10th spinner to try and replace Warne in the Test side if he is named in the starting XI for the third Ashes encounter starting on Thursday.
Australia, who whitewashed England 5-0 in their last home Ashes series four years ago, need to win two of the last three Tests to reclaim the famous urn.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
RSS