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Labuschagne was central to discussions with match officials on Tuesday when, after 50 overs following a rain-delayed start, he was subjected to a barrage of tricky deliveries that landed in a damp section of the pitch and bounced up to his chin.

Balls reared up with a nasty amount of bounce and rocketed towards the batters’ heads as he and Queensland opener Bryce Street tried to navigate the tricky conditions.

Eventually, play was halted, the pitch inspected and match referee Steve Davis, a former Test umpire, conceded it would be “dangerous” to continue.

“It’s not undulated,” Davis said of the problem area on the pitch.

“It’s an area where the ball is sticking a bit, so there’s obviously some dampness underneath.”

Play resumed without issue on Wednesday as Street passed 50 and Labuschagne 30 as they got through the opening 10 overs without issue and Queensland reached 100 just one wicket down.

However, Street’s patient innings came to an end for 87 from 226 after he was caught behind by Alex Carey off a Liam Scott delivery.

Usman Khawaja made the walk to the middle as he hopes to stake his claim for the number five spot in Australia’s batting order for the Ashes but he only got to face seven deliveries before rain wreaked havoc yet again, forcing the players off the pitch and an early lunch to be taken.

After play was halted on day one, Davis said both teams agreed to the move.

“It’s only about a metre square, but obviously once you see a ball doing that, if you’re any sort of bowler you’re going to aim for that spot,’ he said.

“There’s a potential of it being dangerous,

“It was obvious the umpires had some concerns and the players had some concerns.

“There was a couple of people that were hit on the gloves and in the stomach area, and it was just behaving a bit unusually and that always gives you a bit of an alert.

“Both captains were very reasonable about it.”

That something special came with his match winning heroics in the World Cup final, an innings which included him smashing New Zealand quick Adam Milne for six the fist ball he faced as he powered his way to an unforgettable 70 off 55 balls in Australia’s epic win.

Finch, who labelled Marsh a “special player” and also the “nicest person you will ever meet in your life” said moving Marsh to number three in the batting order might well have been the single most important move Australia made.

Elevated during white-ball tours to the West Indies and Bangladesh, Marsh, who spent the winter working only on trying to hit more sixes, dominated those tours despite Australia winning just two of 10 games.

The 30-year-old took that form to the World Cup and finished second only to man 0f the tournament David Warner in runs scored for Australia.

“He’s someone who loves the contest, loves the challenge. And we just backed him from the start,” Finch said after the victory.

“We committed to him batting No. 3 for a long time. He knew that, and that was — that’s all you need sometimes. You need a little bit of backing and you need some confidence from everybody else.

“And I think it was the first ball he faced in the practice game, the first practice game against New Zealand where he hit for six, also. That just shows the confidence that he has, the confidence we have in each other. It was brilliant.”

The only match Australia lost in the tournament was when Marsh was dropped for the clash against England, a move which backfired spectacularly.

Marsh finished the tournament with 185 runs, second only to Warner’s 289 for Australia. The duo were the only Australians to pass 50 for the entire tournament, which Marsh did twice.

Sending Marsh in at number three meant moving superstar Steve Smith down the order, which Finch said the former Test captain embraced, ensuring there was nothing but “good vibes” throughout the team.

“It was something we chatted about before the West Indies, and then after probably just reassured us. Smithy was so open to it, and he‘ll do anything the team needs,” Finch said.

Finch said the broad-shouldered all-rounder’s capacity to bounce back from missing the loss to England, which was a structural move only, was “outstanding”.

“He was obviously disappointed; everyone is when they get dropped. I don‘t know of anyone who is over the moon when they get dropped,” he said.

“Yeah, he was disappointed, but he knew it wasn‘t a performance thing. It was only a structural change of the team; we went with a different makeup. That’s all that was.

“But the way that he‘s bounced back has been unbelievable.”

Finch said Marsh, who has endured harsh criticism throughout his career but is now a two-time World Cup winner, deserved this success.

“He is the nicest person you will ever meet in your life,” Finch said.

“He‘s obviously a special player. To be able to put up with the critics for so long, when his performance hasn’t been bad by any stretch of the imagination and any format of the game, if you look at his ODI numbers they are very good.

“For him to keep coming back after people keep doubting him shows how much of a quality person he is.”

The batter surprised the cricket world when he announced the match against Namibia on Sunday night (AEDT) would be his last, despite there being at least two matches remaining for Afghanistan in the tournament.

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In the ultimate sign of respect for his service to the game, Namibia gave Asghar a guard of honour as he made his way to the crease for the final time in Abu Dhabi.

After claiming the first two wickets, the Namibians formed two lines and captain Gerhard Erasmus shook Asghar’s hand as he walked out to the pitch.

And the retiring great made his final knock one to remember, hitting 31 runs off 23 balls. But the fairytale was cut short when he was caught attempting a ramp shot off the bowling of Ruben Trumpelmann.

In unusual scenes, Trumpelmann stopped his wild celebrations mid-pitch as he sensed the magnitude of the occasion, gently patting Asghar on the back to pay respect his career.

The tributes didn’t end there for the 33-year-old, as the Afghanistan team and support staff raised their bats to form another guard of honour as Asghar made his way off the field for the final time.

When asked after his innings why he decided to call time on his career early, Asghar struggled to offer a reason except for the fact he was “hurt” after his side’s defeat in its previous match.

Afghanistan lost in heartbreaking fashion to Pakistan, who chased down its rival’s competitive total with just five balls to spare.

Asghar scored 10 runs in the defeat to Pakistan as his side fell short of a huge upset.

“Most of the people are asking me that question, why not go til the end? You should go until the end of the tournament,” Asghar said via a translator after his final outing.

“But it’s something we cannot explain because from the last match, we were hurt too much and that’s why I decided to leave cricket at this stage.

“There’s plenty of memories but it’s very difficult when you decide for retirement.

“It’s very difficult to explain but I had to retire.”

Asghar captained Afghanistan in all three formats of cricket for six years, before being acrimoniously sacked two weeks before the start of the 2019 World Cup in England.

He eventually won back the captaincy but was axed again in June this year after being blamed for the team’s poor form in a Test series in Zimbabwe.

Asghar played six Tests, 114 one-day internationals and 74 Twenty20 internationals in a career spread over 12 years.

He scored 440 runs in Tests with one hundred while his tally in ODIs was 2424 runs with a century and 12 half-centuries.

Asghar announced his retirement prior to the game against Namibia in a video message on Facebook.

“I will retire from all international cricket after the game against Namibia,” he said.

“I want more and more youngsters to get the opportunity to play for Afghanistan.

“Therefore, it’s expected that tomorrow will be my last international match and afterwards I will resign.”

“@ACBofficials welcomes and respects his decision, expresses gratitude for his services to the country,” tweeted the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

“It will take a lot of hard work for young Afghan cricketers to fill his shoes.”

With AFP

De Kock made headlines earlier this week after withdrawing from South Africa’s T20 match against the West Indies after Cricket South Africa issued a directive to its players and staff to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

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The 28-year-old copped a tsunami of backlash for his controversial decision, including from Armstrong, who said on ABC Breakfast: “How racist do you have to be, to not just take a knee and do that in conjunction with your teammates to show support, to even pretend to show support?”

But on Thursday evening AEDT, de Kock released a wide-ranging statement apologising to his teammates and saying he was “more than happy” to participate in the anti-racism gesture.

The South African cricketer explained that his brash reaction was because he felt as though his rights were taken away from him by the CSA’s kneeling directive.

Speaking on ABC Breakfast, Armstrong conceded his initial reaction to the de Kock bombshell was perhaps “a bit too strong”.

“The statement was great,” Armstrong said on Friday morning. “It was two pages and normally when you have a statement that‘s that big, sometimes they have got fluff in them, but every line in this one earned its keep. It was awesome to see.

“Within the statement, he did say if he had his time again he would have taken the knee. I do understand how he would have felt pressure … he was having a mandate forced upon him and it was only a couple of hours before the game that they were told they would have to do that.

“What you saw in me was a direct impact of what racism can do. I was pretty strong and I was probably wrongly a bit too strong, but that was a direct response to seeing a perceived lack of support to something that means so very much to me and so very much to so many people.

“My blood was boiling and in that moment, all I saw with the information in front of me was someone not supporting something that is so powerful and so wide reaching and so strong. That was me a couple of days ago. As you get more information, I understand where Quinton has come from. It is fantastic he has come back with that.”

Armstrong also criticised Cricket South Africa for informing its players of the kneeling mandate on the bus ride to the venue.

“Where this has fallen down is the lack of communication from Cricket South Africa,” he said. “They need to have these conversations with the players well before the team bus ride to the ground.

“We have seen people around the world – I wasn’t the only one who came to those conclusions because that is how some people can perceive that. I am so glad to have been wrong in that case.

“I am glad we are having these conversations. It is so important to actually be talking about all of this stuff and you have encouraged people to think so much more about the issues. I am so rapt he was able to come out so strongly and say, ‘Yes, had I had my time again I would have taken the knee, but this is my reasoning and we accept that and move forward.’ Hopefully that is the end of it.”

Television presenter Waleed Aly echoed Armstrong’s remarks on Channel 10’s The Project: “They sprung it on them. There was no conversation and suddenly he’s meant to process this and take on something that the game or Cricket South Africa and a statement that they want to make as his own personal one.

“Yeah, if I was in his position, I’m taking the knee. But I can kind of understand why it would trip a wire. It’s a really weird situation for a player to be put in.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph: “If I was still playing cricket, I would take the knee – I believe it’s a powerful gesture which is intended to show solidarity with an important anti-racist principle. But if de Kock chooses not to do it, that should not lead to him being chucked out of the team or demonised as a racist”.

South Africa will next play Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday, with the first ball scheduled for 9pm AEDT.

Quinton de Kock’s full statement

“I would like to start by saying sorry to my teammates, and the fans back home.

“I never ever wanted to make this a Quinton issue. I understand the importance of standing against racism and I also understand the responsibility of us as players to set an example.

“If me taking a knee helps educate others, and makes the lives of others better, I am more than happy to do so.

“I did not in any way mean to disrespect anyone by not playing against West Indies, especially the West Indian team themselves. Maybe some people don’t understand that we were just hit with this on Tuesday morning, on our way to the game.

“I am deeply sorry for all the hurt, confusion and anger that I have caused. I was quiet on this very important issue until now. But I feel I have to explain myself a little bit.

“For those who don’t know, I come from a mixed race family. My half-sisters are Coloured and my step mom is Black. For me, Black lives have mattered since I was born. Not just because there was an international movement.

“The rights and equality of all people is more important than any individual. I was raised to understand that we all have rights, and they are important.

“I felt like my rights were taken away when I was told what we had to do in the way that we were told.

“Since our chat with the board last night, which was very emotional, I think we all have a better understanding of their intentions as well. I wish this had happened sooner, because what happened on match day could have been avoided.

“I know I have an example to set. We were previously told we had the choice to do what we felt we wanted to do.

“I chose to keep my thoughts to myself, and though of the pride of playing for my family and my country.

“I didn’t understand why I had to prove it with a gesture, when I live and learn and love people from all walks of life every day. When you are told what to do, with no discussion, I felt like it takes away the meaning. If I was racist, I could easily have taken the knee and lied, which is wrong and doesn’t build a better society.

“Those who have grown up with me and played with me, know what type of person I am. I’ve been called a lot of things as a cricketer.

“Doff. Stupid. Selfish. Immature. But those didn’t hurt. Being called a racist because of a misunderstanding hurts me deeply.

“It hurts my family. It hurts my pregnant wife.

“I am not a racist. In my heart of hearts, I know that. And I think those who know me know that.

“I know I’m not great with words, but I’ve tried my best to explain how truly sorry I am for not making like this is about me. It is not.

“I won’t lie, I was shocked that we were told on the way to an important match that there was an instruction that we had to follow, with a perceived ‘or else’. I don’t think I was the only one.

“We had camps. We had sessions. We had zoom meetings. We know where we all stand. And that is together.

“I love every one of my teammates, and I love nothing more than playing cricket for South Africa.

“I think it would have been better for everyone concerned if we had sorted this out before the tournament started.

“Then we could have focused on our job, to win cricket matches for our country.

“There always seems to be a drama when we go to World Cups. That isn’t fair.

“I just want to thank my teammates for their support, especially my captain, Temba. People might not recognise but he is a flipping amazing leader.

“If he and the team, and South Africa, will have me, I would love nothing more than to play cricket for my country again.”

– with Andrew McMurtry

Warner has faced just 14 balls in any games since April, and made just three runs, after skipping Australia’s winter white-ball tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh.

He was dropped by his Indian Premier League team last month after two early failures, and then was out for a duck and one in Australia’s only two World Cup warm-up games this week.

Pressure is mounting on the 34-year-old as he tries to help guide Australia to its first T20 World Cup title in the United Arab Emirates.

But amid strong, and expected, support from his teammates, Warner has also found an ally in Warne, who said the 2265 T20 runs he has scored for Australia across 81 matches, as well as nearly 5500 IPL runs, was enough evidence of what he could produce.

Warne said “class is permanent” as he backed Warner to fire.

“To me, Davey Warner is a class act,” Warne said on Friday.

“OK, he’s had a couple of poor performances or hasn’t really got a score, coming into the tournament he hasn’t played much cricket, so he’s a bit out of form.

“But I think he’s the type of guy who rises to the big occasion.

“The old saying, I know it’s a cliche, but class is permanent and form is temporary. I really think that’s the case with David, I really think he’s so dynamic.”

Australia begins its World Cup campaign against South Africa on Saturday, and Warner’s partnership with captain Aaron Finch, who is also coming off a limited preparation following knee surgery, is crucial.

Warne said Warner could be “one of the players of the tournament” and dismissed any suggestion of selectors overlooking him in the early games.

“If he’s on song, I think the first couple of games are really important. If he gets away, he could be one of the players of the tournament,” Warne told SEN.

“He could be absolutely firing, so for me he plays, absolutely no doubt in those first few games, he plays and hopefully finds his touch.”

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, recently-elected Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja announced that Hayden and former South Africa seamer Vernon Philander had been added to the Pakistan coaching staff for the upcoming T20 tournament.

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“Matthew Hayden is Australian, and has experience of winning World Cups and was a great player himself,” Ramiz said.

“It might be very beneficial to have an Australian occupying the dressing room. And Pakistan, of course, can win the World Cup, they just need to improve their performances an extra 10 per cent.

“Vernon Philander I know very well, and he understands bowling, and has a great record against Australia.

“Going forward, we will have to carry out an extensive exercise in this regard in order to look for people who fit our model.

“Our objective is to give this team the best possible options so that it leads to improvement in performances.”

Raja confirmed a head coach had also been appointed, but declined to identify who.

The announcement comes one week after Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling mentor Waqar Younis resigned with one year remaining on their contracts.

Reaction to the news was mixed, primarily because Hayden and Philander don’t have any substantive prior coaching experience.

Cricket journalist Prasenjit Dey called the appointments “quit baffling”.

“Just because someone was a good player doesn’t mean he can be an equally good coach,” Dey tweeted.

Hayden played nine T20 internationals for Australia, scoring 308 runs at an impressive average of 51.33.

The Queenslander represented the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League from 2008 to 2010 and played for the Brisbane Heat in the inaugural Big Bash League.

He also featured in two of Australia’s famous World Cups triumphs – in 2003 and 2007.

Philander played 123 T20 matches before announcing his retirement in late 2019, claiming 92 wickets in the game’s shortest format.

Pakistan’s T20 World Cup campaign gets underway at 1am AEDT on Monday, October 25 with a highly-anticipated contest against India.

He is one of ten trade envoys appointed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help boost British business in dynamic markets such as Australia, Brazil and Canada.

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Botham shot to prominence in the 1908s as a star player in England’s cricket team, attracting headlines for his cricketing exploits and controversies off the field.

Known affectionately as “Beefy”, Botham scored 5200 runs and took 383 wickets in his Test career, cementing his status as one of the best-ever all-rounders.

Last year Botham was given a peerage, allowing him to be appointed to the House of Lords as Baron Botham of Ravenswroth in the County of North Yorkshire.

He also supported the Brexit campaign, appearing at public events alongside Johnson.

“It’s a great honour to carry out this role in a country that I love and have come to know so well,” Botham said of his new role as trade envoy to Australia.

“I have spent a significant amount of my career in Australia, and I am excited to have the opportunity to build on the UK’s longstanding relationship and promote UK trade.”

The 65-year-old’s appointment was welcomed by diplomats from both Australia and the UK.

“Lord Botham’s skills and experience, together with his market knowledge developed during his time spent in Australia throughout his career, will help us promote the exciting new opportunities for two-way trade and investment,” British high commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell said.

“In the UK, Lord Botham will help us encourage British business across every part of the UK, and SMEs in particular, to look to export to Australia and so increase our market share and economic prosperity.

“For Australians this means greater choice with both existing brands and exciting new options too.”

Australia’s ambassador to the UK George Brandis added: “Australia looks forward to welcoming Lord Botham down under — and to working with him to strengthen the trading links between our two countries.”

In 1992, Botham was appointed an Office of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cricket and for his charity work. He was knighted in 2007.

England was 3/216 when players returned from the lunch break on day three, but nobody noticed India had 12 men on the field.

A gentleman, who was presumably a local spectator, donning the Indian Test jersey walked towards the pitch and began ordering field changes.

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“Some random chap in whites had made his way into the middle with the Indian players, and he stood there as if he was about to take part in the Test match,” England great Michael Atherton laughed on Sky Sports.

Lord’s security quickly realised the intruder’s presence, and escorted the man dubbed “Jarvo 69” off the field despite his protests.

Indian seamer Mohammad Siraj was filmed cackling with delight as “Jarvo 69” was taken into the stands.

READ MORE: Ageless cricket ‘freak’ is unstoppable

England captain Joe Root hit his second successive century of the series as India failed to muster a wicket in the morning session.

It was the 22nd century of Root’s Test career and his seventh against India.

Root and teammate Jonny Bairstow combined for a critical 121-run partnership before the wicketkeeper was removed by Siraj for 57 after the lunch break.

Not for the first time, the England skipper had come in to bat with his side in trouble, reduced to 2/23 on Friday when Siraj removed Dom Sibley and the recalled Haseeb Hameed with successive deliveries.

Root was the only England batsman to pass fifty in last week’s rain-marred drawn Test at Trent Bridge, with scores of 64 and 109.

– with AFP

A quarter of a century later, of the 458 male cricketers to play Test cricket for Australia, only Gillespie has Indigenous heritage.

From that debut in a baggy green against the West Indies at the SCG, the tall, lanky fast bowler played 71 Tests and became a fearsome spearhead of an Australian side that dominated international cricket. He is currently the coach of South Australia.

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In his decade representing Australia “Dizzy” took 259 Test wickets and his unbeaten 201 against Bangladesh is the highest score by a night-watchman in international cricket.

The 46-year-old talks batting advice from his father, not letting abuse get to him and why no one wants a handout.

My Indigenous heritage is … from the Kamilaroi people of NSW. It is who I am and who we are as a family and people. It means we are part of the oldest continuous culture on the planet. That is something we hold dear.

My weirdest superstition is … I used to have a lot of superstitions and there was a time when I had an issue with the number 13, which became quite nauseating because I would count stairs and miss the 13th step. If I was giving my jumper to the umpire I would make sure the 13th step was not the one on which I handed it over. It was nonsense and linked to the fact that I had a lot of injuries so when I was fit I wanted to keep doing the little things like that that seemed to be working for me.

Most people don’t know … I love trivia. I used to be able to rattle off obscure capital cities like the capital of Namibia is Windhoek.

The best advice I was ever given … my late father never really played cricket but he taught me how to bat. He used to say if the ball was on the stumps play nice and straight and give yourself a chance not to get out. So I just blocked the crap out of it. I also like the saying ‘treat people as you would like to be treated’.

My earliest memory is … I have a vague memory of a fire in our house when I was about three. I remember smoke and loud noises. Before long we were out on the street. Years later mum told me it was not too serious even though it blackened the curtains.

A common misconception about me is … when people have met me after seeing me play they often say ‘gee, you are a lot taller than I thought you were’. I don’t know why. I am about the same height as Glenn McGrath but everyone assumed he was quite tall.

When I cop abuse I … it depends what mood I am in. Everyone can have an off day. By and large I laugh it off because it is more of a reflection on that person than you. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t heard things that got my end up but you don’t want to give people the satisfaction, do you?

When people see me I hope they think … I’m someone who is very passionate about what they do.

Family means … everything.

A word or sentence I use too much is … have you heard I scored a Test double hundred?

My sporting hero is … it has changed over the years but it is hard to go past DK Lillee. I got into cricket in 1981 when I was about six and watching Lillee I just thought, ‘Gee, that looks like fun. I would like to do it.’

My career highlight … I had some wonderful times. When we beat India in India in 2004, given how long it had taken us to beat them there (since 1969) and how we went about it, was really special. We implemented the plans and came away with the spoils. We had a game plan where we had to put our egos away and bowl at the stumps in the way we were not used to but it worked and everyone did their job.

Advice I would give my teenage self … don’t be impulsive. Take a breath and a moment to make sure you have all the information.

Being an Indigenous athlete today … it has changed a lot. There is an awareness. There is more acknowledgment and respect. There is a lot of social change and acceptance. That is an ongoing process in our society. It is important to keep the education and discussion going. I know there is a genuine desire at Cricket Australia level to show they are listening.

Encountering racism or an unconscious bias … no I haven’t, but I remember my father’s reaction when I was dropped from the Australian side and he was working for Aboriginal Legal Rights. He said to me, ‘you have been left out because of who you are’. I had to calm him down and say, ‘Dad, I have to be honest … have you seen how I was bowling? Have you looked at my figures?’ I had peaked. I had not evolved. This has nothing to do with race. People don’t look at me and the first thing they think of is ‘he is an Indigenous cricketer’.

The key priority needed to improve playing and leadership opportunities for the next generation of Indigenous athletes is … awareness and opportunity is the key. I don’t think anyone wants handouts or things gifted to them.