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Jess Jonassen pushes Georgia Redmayne's Australia case

Published in Cricket
Monday, 22 November 2021 00:13

Jess Jonassen believes her Brisbane Heat team-mate Georgia Redmayne should be in the Australia side after another prolific WBBL campaign where she has excelled in front and behind the stumps.

Redmayne, who has yet to be capped at international level, made 436 runs at 36.33 in the regular season while claiming a tournament-leading 17 dismissals with the gloves to help Heat into the finals where they will face Adelaide Strikers in the Eliminator on Wednesday.

She was part of the Australia squad for the multi-format series against India earlier in the season but could not break into the XI even when Rachael Haynes was ruled out with injury. She will again be pushing hard for inclusion when the selectors pick an Ashes squad in January.

"Being a fellow Queenslander, she should be in that side," Jonassen said. "She was part of the series against India and my opinion she is probably the form keeper-batter in the competition at this stage. It's no surprise to anyone in the Brisbane Heat set-up with the amount of work she has put in."

Her leg-side stumping to remove Ella Hayward against Melbourne Renegades was one of the standout moments of the competition. Redmayne credited the work she had done with former England keeper Sarah Taylor while with Welsh Fire in the Hundred with Taylor noting her excitement at the piece of work on Twitter.

"I was at mid-off and it was incredible. She's tidied up a few of those balls down the leg side and that stumping was probably one of the quickest I've seen," Jonassen said. "It's really exciting for us that she's producing the level of cricket that we know she's capable of and it's no surprise."

Heat and Strikers will have to take the long route if they want to claim the WBBL title. The winner of their match faces Melbourne Renegades in the Challenger final on Thursday to decide who takes on Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium on Wednesday. Of the four sides still in contention only the Heat are previous winners.

Jonassen had no qualms about facing Strikers on their own patch despite finishing above them in the table. Renegades, who finished second, nominated Adelaide as their preferred venue for the Challenger final with border restrictions meaning Melbourne wasn't an option.

"It's probably a good thing for us that we will be playing against the Strikers," Jonassen said. "There will be a really good atmosphere. Sometimes you can use that to your advantage if you are the away side and use it to fuel the drive to come out on top.

With South Australia's borders opening to Victoria on Tuesday it means friends and family of players from the state should be able to travel for the Challenger.

"Not being able to get to Victoria wasn't ideal but with the borders opening, get some family over here and it will feel like home I think," Renegades captain Sophie Molineux said. "A lot of us haven't been home for a long time so just being able to see parents, sisters, brothers, partners, it's a bit of a motivator for us. Will be really cool over the next few days to reengage with them and hopefully have them at the ground."

Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo

Jewell hundred highlights Tasmania's fightback

Published in Cricket
Monday, 22 November 2021 01:46

Tasmania 2 for 210 (Jewell 102, Ward 86) trail Western Australia 9 for 405 dec (Whiteman 176*, Short 67, Philippe 53) by 195 runs

Caleb Jewell notched a second career first-class century as Tasmania fought back in their Sheffield Shield clash against Western Australia in Hobart.

He was out for 102 in the shadows of stumps on day two at Bellerive Oval as Tasmania reached 2 for 210 in reply to 9 for 405.

Jewell put on a 197-run opening stand alongside rookie Tim Ward, who fell late in the day to in-form fringe Test quick Jhye Richardson.

In another lion-hearted display, Richardson had Jewell caught at point in the final half hour of play, backing up his eight wickets for the match in WA's convincing win over Queensland.

"We hung in there and showed a bit of fight which was good," Jewell, who was dropped several times, told reporters. "I got a couple of breaks, which is nice. There are times when you're pretty unlucky in cricket, so I just wanted to make the most of it."

Test allrounder Cameron Green was the most economical WA bowler, with his eight overs going for eight runs. WA are likely to be a player down for the remaining two days, with quick Lance Morris suffering a side strain.

Earlier, WA captain Sam Whiteman finished unbeaten on 176, his highest first-class score and eighth career century. Whiteman, who has taken the reins in the absence of injured veteran Shaun Marsh, resumed on 151 and passed his previous best of 174 in a 309-ball knock that included 20 fours and one six.

"I haven't had the start to the season I would have liked. To go on a get a big score was pleasing...the team really needed it," Whiteman said.

Richardson couldn't add to his overnight score of 43 before Whiteman declared about 45 minutes from lunch. Tasmanian quicks Lawrence Neil-Smith and Gabe Bell both finished with three scalps, while veteran Peter Siddle picked up two tailenders.

Whiteman, who played for Australia A seven years ago, posted his eighth first-class century on Sunday to help dig ladder leaders WA out of a spot of bother at 4 for 47.

New South Wales 233 and 2 for 76 lead New South Wales 271 (Dean 144*, Merlo 64, Tremain 4-52) by 38 runs

Travis Dean became the third Victoria batter to twice carry their bat through a Sheffield Shield innings to earn his team a narrow first-innings lead at the SCG.

James Pattinson then struck twice either side of a rain delay in the final session to leave the visitors with hope of pushing for victory on the final day if the weather allows.

Playing his first game of the season, Dean faced 300 balls as he contributed more than half Victoria's total. He had previously carried his bat against the same opposition at the MCG in the 2016-17 season.

Matthew Elliott and Bill Lawry are the only others to have done so twice or more for Victoria in the 129-year history of the Shield.

Dean was dropped at slip by Kurtis Patterson on 43 but that was his only error of the innings. He added 143 for the fourth wicket with Jonathan Merlo to turn the innings around from 3 for 2 on the first evening.

The pair were close to seeing out the opening session before Merlo was trapped lbw by Moises Henriques and then Sam Harper was caught behind for a duck off Tanveer Sangha.

At 5 for 145, New South Wales would have had hope of a lead themselves but Dean then added 111 in 27 overs with Pattinson who struck the ball cleanly. Sangha eventually broke through and the final five wickets fell for 15 with Hayden Kerr striking twice on his debut.

Pattinson removed the in-form Daniel Hughes in the first over of New South Wales' second innings when the opener drove loosely to slip. On resumption, Matthew Gilkes also edged into the cordon where Peter Handscomb took a sharp catch.

Bangladesh opt to bat again; Dahani makes Pakistan debut

Published in Cricket
Monday, 22 November 2021 00:47

Toss Bangladesh chose to bat vs Pakistan

Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first. For the third straight game, the home captain Mahmudullah called correctly and once more opted to set Pakistan a target. Bangladesh made three changes, with Shamim Hosain, Nasum Ahmed and debutant Shohidul Islam coming in while Saif Hassan, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam missed out.

Pakistan had already wrapped up the series, winning the first two matches. They brought in Sarfaraz Ahmed in place of Shoaib Malik, while Shahnawaz Dahani , making his debut, and Usman Qadir also found their way into the XI. Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan dropped to the bench.

Bangladesh: 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Shamim Hossain, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Afif Hossain, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Nurul Hasan (wk), 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Aminul Islam, 9 Shohidul Islam, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Nasum Ahmed

Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan, 3 Haider Ali, 4 Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), 5 Khushdil Shah, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Mohammad Wasim Jr, 9 Usman Qadir, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shahnawaz Dahani

Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000

Tamil Nadu 153 for 6 (Jagadeesan 41, Shahrukh 33*, Cariappa 2-23) beat Karnataka 151 for 7 (Manohar 46, Dubey 33, Sai Kishore 3-12) by four wickets

Another Karnataka vs Tamil Nadu Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final. Another last-ball thriller. After suffering a heart-breaking one-run defeat in 2019 in Surat, Tamil Nadu snatched victory this time in Delhi, thanks to a blockbuster last-ball six from their designated finisher M Shahrukh Khan.

With five needed off the last ball, Shahrukh picked up a full ball from left-arm seamer Prateek Jain and smote it over the square-leg boundary, powering Tamil Nadu to the title and underscoring his status as one of the best finishers in Indian domestic cricket.

When Shahrukh had entered at 95 for 4 in a chase of 152, his captain Vijay Shankar and vice-captain N Jagadeesan had holed out off successive balls and the asking rate had ballooned past 12. Shahrukh, however, pricked it quickly, shellacking three fours and a six in his unbeaten 15-ball 33.

Upon hitting the winning runs, Shahrukh swiped his bat and gloves away and sprinted off, towards square leg, until he was finally stopped in his tracks by his team-mates.

Full report to follow...

Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

WTA: Peng Shuai call does not alleviate concerns

Published in Breaking News
Monday, 22 November 2021 00:40

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai's video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not address or alleviate the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) concern about her well-being, the WTA said on Monday.

The whereabouts of Peng, a former doubles world No. 1, became a matter of international concern nearly three weeks ago, after she alleged that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her.

She appeared at a dinner with friends on Saturday and a children's tennis tournament in Beijing on Sunday, photographs and videos published by Chinese state media journalists and by the tournament's organisers show. But they have done little to quell concerns.

"It was good to see Peng Shuai in recent videos, but they don't alleviate or address the WTA's concern about her well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion," a WTA spokeswoman said in an email.

Asked about the call with the IOC, the spokeswoman said: "This video does not change our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern."

The IOC said in a statement that Peng held a 30-minute call with its president Thomas Bach on Sunday during which she said she was safe and well at home in Beijing, and wanted to have her privacy respected for now.

The concern over Peng comes as global rights groups and others have called for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February over China's human rights record. The WTA has also threatened to pull tournaments out of China over the matter.

On Nov. 2, Peng posted on Chinese social media that Zhang had coerced her into sex and they later had an on-off consensual relationship. The post was quickly deleted and the topic has been blocked from discussion on China's heavily censored internet.

Neither Zhang nor the Chinese government have commented on Peng's allegations. China's State Council Information office and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent on Monday.

France's foreign minister called on Sunday for Chinese authorities to let Peng speak publicly.

"I'm expecting only one thing: that she speaks," Jean-Yves Le Drian told LCI television, adding that there could be unspecified diplomatic consequences if China did not clear up the situation. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the IOC's statement.

The United States and Britain have also called for China to provide proof of Peng's whereabouts.

Current and former tennis players, including Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and Billie Jean King, joined the calls seeking to confirm she was safe, using the social media hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai?

Men's singles world No.1 Novak Djokovic said it would be strange to hold tournaments in China unless the "horrific" situation was resolved.

West Indies bounce back on second morning with key strikes

Published in Cricket
Sunday, 21 November 2021 23:02

Lunch Sri Lanka 341 for 6 (Karunaratne 147, de Silva 61, Chandimal 33*, Lakmal 6*, Chase 3-60, Gabriel 2-58) vs West Indies

West Indies pulled themselves back into the match on the second morning, dismissing the overnight Sri Lankan pair inside the first hour, before making a late strike to make it three wickets before lunch.

Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva had begun the day on 267 for 3, with a shot at perhaps doubling that score on day two. But as they had fielded a short batting line-up for this game, West Indies can now dream of keeping the hosts to a manageable first-innings total. Suranga Lakmal, the first of the tailenders, faced 13 balls before lunch. The visitors conceded only 74 runs in the session.

Sri Lanka began the day watchfully, with overnight centurion Karunaratne facing out a maiden from Jason Holder to start, before offspinner Rahkeem Cornwall produced a tight early spell also. Dhananjaya, who began the morning on 56, seemed the more assured of the pair, but was the first to be dismissed, in freak fashion. In Shannon Gabriel's first over of the day, de Silva stood tall to defend, but was slightly late on the shot, and the ball bounced near his feet and looked to be headed on to the stumps. de Silva looked back and swiped twice, trying to swat the ball away from danger. The second of these swipes caught the top of leg stump, however, and he was out hit-wicket, having added just five to his overnight score.

Karunaratne, meanwhile, seemed to be working himself back slowly into the day, but was undone by an outstanding piece of wicketkeeping from Joshua Da Silva. The batter was lured forward by a floated Roston Chase delivery, which he tried to prod to the offside. He missed, and Da Silva whipped off the bails while Karunaratne's back foot lingered on the popping crease. He was out for 147, having added 14 to his overnight score.

Dinesh Chandimal struggled against Gabriel's short-of-a-length induckers early on, but got himself moving against the spinners, and was soon sweeping, cutting, and driving with a little more confidence. He built a 35-run stand with the more reticent Ramesh Mendis, who was eventually caught behind when Jomel Warrican got a ball to bite outside the off stump, taking the batter's edge. He was out for 13 off 49.

Chase, who had taken two wickets early in the evening session on day one, has the best figures for West Indies so far - his 3 for 60 coming from 23 overs.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf

Warriors' Green: Found 'love for the game' again

Published in Basketball
Sunday, 21 November 2021 22:32

SAN FRANCISCO -- Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green says he has found "love and joy for the game" again after two up-and-down seasons.

Green, 31, made the proclamation after leading the Warriors -- now a league-best 15-2 -- to another dominating win against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

"I've just kind of found that love again," Green said following the 119-104 victory. "Kind of go through a lot of s--- and the love kind of wanes a little bit. But I've just found that love and joy for the game and I'm just enjoying playing basketball and controlling what I can control. A point of emphasis for myself this year was simply to control what I could control. That means on the court, that means with the referees, that means off the floor -- that's just a step in my life and I think it shows on the basketball court."

Green acknowledged that his children have played a major role in his desire to prove that he's one of the best basketball players in the NBA again. After helping the Warriors reach five straight NBA Finals between 2015-19, some around the league wondered if Green could still play at the highest level after two lackluster seasons in which he battled various injuries and inconsistencies.

For his part, Green said the motivation he has gotten from his family has helped propel his impressive start to the season -- he's averaging 8.1 points, 7.6 assists and 7.5 rebounds while playing high-level defense.

"My son is getting older, my oldest daughter -- she's 7 now -- they kind of get on my ass if we lose," Green said. "So that's motivation. And I think for me also, I've been s--- the last couple years, so my kids don't really understand how good I am. And I want them to see how good I am so they'll have an understanding. And so that is motivation for me. When I was playing at the top of my level, which I'm getting back to that now, they were like 3 and 1, so that is motivating for me to play well in front of them so they have an understanding of what I do.

"And most importantly I want to win, I want to be a Defensive Player of the Year again, and I want to be an All-Star again. And that is motivating me because a lot of people had counted me out. Same mistake people made before when I first came into the league -- but a lot of people doubted me, and doubted me again. And that's fuel to the fire."

Green's teammates and coaches have noticed the extra fire that Green has started the season with -- and they know it's a huge reason why they have had so much success over the first month.

"I think Draymond Green is the best defender in the world," coach Steve Kerr said. "I think he's had just an unbelievable start to the season. He's so motivated. He's so engaged every single night."

Green agreed with Kerr's assessment, while veteran forward Otto Porter Jr. called Green "the anchor of our defense." Kerr has repeatedly noted how much he felt Green's run with Team USA while winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics has helped his push to start the season.

"I think he knows as well as everybody else that we go as far as he goes, as far as Steph goes and the rest of our vets," Warriors guard Jordan Poole said. "The last two years have been a little bit rough and I think he really gets the sense like, 'All right, we're back.' And we got a chance to really do this. And especially the guys with experience, they know what it takes and I think they're doing a really good job from day one, just trying to put us in the best possible situation to be ready for that."

Green said he is feeling "incredible" to start the season, a premise backed up by the way he is moving up and down the floor with a lot of energy.

"I take better care of my body today than I ever have," Green said. "I don't drink really anymore like I used to. I used to go after it a little bit. I'm 31 years old now so I try to do all the necessary things to make sure my body is in shape and ready to go. Lifting more than I ever have."

Green underscored his point by detailing how he's feeling on the road and why he's confident he can continue to sustain the same level of play throughout the campaign.

"When we play on the road and we got on the plane and we got off the plane, I can run down the stairs," Green said. "And before I used to creep down them stairs like knees hurting, feet hurting. I feel incredible."

As for the Warriors torrid start, Green continues to be cautious as the hype around his team builds -- but he's seeing the building blocks coming into place and knows that the addition of Klay Thompson (ACL and Achilles rehab) and James Wiseman (meniscus rehab) will only make them even deeper.

"I wouldn't necessarily say surprised that it's going well, but a little surprised that it's going as well, as fast as it is," Green said. "Everyone talks about our schedule, there's some truth to that. I think we haven't had the toughest schedule in the world, but you can only play who they put out there in front of you, and I think regardless of who we're playing we're handling our business the way it should be handled, so I feel good about it, our team feels good about it. We have a lot of confident guys; we got to continue to get better, though. We got a long ways to go."

History will be made in Houston, Texas, as China and the USA will join forces at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals with two pairs formed of both American and Chinese players entering the Mixed Doubles competition on the year marking the 50th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy.

This was announced at the Peace Through Sport Dinner Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy in front of guests including Christopher Nixon Cox and Neil Bush, respectively grandson of President Richard Nixon and son of President George Bush, representatives from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States, and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Lin Gaoyuan (CHN, #7) will pair with Lily Zhang (USA, #35) while Kanak Jha (USA, #31) will play with Wang Manyu(CHN, #4). The Mixed Doubles draw will take place tonight at 20:30 (CST).

Lin Gaoyuan commented, “I’m really happy to be partnering with Lily Zhang for the Mixed Doubles event. She’s the top table tennis player in the US, I’m not China’s top player yet, but our goal is to come out on top for this event. The biggest advantage about pairing with her is that she speaks Mandarin. I hope we can get into the groove soon, develop good chemistry and work hard towards a great performance. And I hope fans from both China and the US will cheer on the China-US Mixed Doubles pairs.

Lili Zhang commented, “It’s going to be amazing; it is so cool to be able the 50th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy here in the US at the World championships. I think it will be a historical moment, and I am really glad that our two countries are able to work together through sport. I am very excited to play with Lin Gaoyuan, it’s so cool to pair with a Chinese national team player. They’re the best in the world, so I will do my best and hopefully we can work well together and get a good result.”

The Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) and the US Table Tennis Association together submitted the request to allow China-USA pairs to compete to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The ITTF Executive Committee approved the request today.

Liu Guoliang, World Table Tennis Council Chair and President of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA), commented: “A few days ago, when the Chinese team arrived in Houston, I was deeply moved by the efforts ITTF, USA Table Tennis and Houston Sports Authority put into organizing a sports event during a pandemic. We have been thinking about how we can build on the China-US friendship kickstarted by our predecessors 50 years ago, and further enhance this relationship through sports events, sports activities and community events. On this basis, the CTTA alongside USA Table Tennis proposed to ITTF to have Chinese and American players paired up for Mixed Doubles – so that these athletes, who are friends with each other, can work together in the competition; so that fans from both countries can cheer them on, opening a new chapter of Ping Pong Diplomacy in this new era.

Virginia Sung, Chief Executive Officer  of USA Table Tennis (USATT), commented: “We are really excited that the opportunity has materialized for China and the U.S. to play a Mixed Doubles event in Houston. 50 years ago, a small exchange between players from the Chinese Table Tennis Association and USA Table Tennis has proven to be a moment of lasting significance. As it did so many years ago, sport is once again showing us the power of unity, and ping pong is once again changing the course of history. USATT is pleased to thank the ITTF, CTTA, and Houston Sports Authority for working together to continue the efforts of Ping Pong Diplomacy during such a momentous occasion.”

Khalil Al-Mohannadi, Deputy President of the ITTF in charge of World Championships, commented, “I fully support this initiative, and I am proud the ITTF was able to provide the platform for these two unified China-USA pairs. This is a landmark moment in our sport history. It is fitting that it happened in Houston, set to become the first-ever American city to host of the World Championships, whilst our sport has a huge prominence in China. I wish everyone a wonderful time in Houston.”

This is a new chapter in the Ping Pong Diplomacy journey, exactly 50 years after table tennis started building bridge between the two countries. At the 1971 World Championships staged in the Japanese city of Nagoya, Glenn Cowan, a young member of the United States team mistakenly boarded the bus carrying the Chinese team. Zhuang Zedong, the team’s greatest player, greeted him through an interpreter. Photographers caught the incident on film. The political climate in the 1960s was such the sight of Chinese and American athletes together was headline news. The unexpected goodwill between the U.S. and Chinese teams soon became the talk of the tournament

Following the sensational news, Mao Zedong, President of the People’s Republic of China, decided to invite the United States table tennis team in China. Members of the United States table tennis team, alongside accompanying members of the media, arrived in China in April 1971 to visit the country and play friendly matches. They were the first American delegation to visit the Chinese capital city of Beijing since 1949. Touted as one of the greatest diplomatic breakthroughs of that era, table tennis played a pivotal role in re-establishing ties between China and the United States, in what is now famously known as Ping Pong Diplomacy.

Steve Dainton, ITTF Group CEO, commented, “Once again, we are all witnessing the unique power of sport and how table tennis can create dialogues and foster mutual understanding. This will inspire us to deliver an extraordinary and historical Championships and to encourage the dreams, hopes and aspirations of not only the entire table tennis community but also the next generation worldwide.”

Led by the ITTF Foundation, the Ping Pong Diplomacy programme has continued gathering more momentum. Another significant milestone was the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea joining forces to compete as Unified Korea on several occasions. Ping Pong Diplomacy will be the theme of World Table Tennis Day on 6 April 2022. Hundreds of creative events will be staged around the world; all aiming to build diplomatic and friendly relations between nations and people and bring peace around the tables.

Follow all the actions of the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals on World Table Tennis website!

Tim Paine makes playing comeback after resignation drama

Published in Cricket
Sunday, 21 November 2021 16:22

Three days after resigning as Australia's Test captain, Tim Paine makes his return to playing as he bids to be part of the upcoming Ashes series.

The Tasmania 2nd XI match against South Australia, at Lindisfarne Memorial Park in Hobart, will likely attract significantly more interest than would normally be the case. This fixture had been part of Paine's comeback plan from neck surgery before the drama of last week - his initial return in a club game at the weekend was washed out - and will be his first game since early April.

He will have the keeping gloves on initially with Tasmania bowling first. Away from the fallout of the text message scandal, there is a form and fitness debate for Paine to answer - especially now he is back in the ranks as a player.

The Cricket Australia board said they were satisfied for Paine to remain available for selection and he has insisted he wants to be part of the England series. The Ashes had been viewed as a potential end-point for Paine's Test career before the latest developments.

"I see that as the ultimate high, to be able to finish your Test career after winning an Ashes series in Australia," Paine said in an interview with the Herald Sun. "That's the dream. That's what I want to do."

Todd Greenberg, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association, said that Paine's availability for the Ashes was a key part of the negotiations that took place ahead of him standing down. In a statement on Friday, the ACA had expressed their disappointment that Paine had felt the need to stand down as captain.

"We think he must be available for selection, then ultimately that's an issue for the selectors," Greenberg told SEN radio. "That was made clear to him and to us by Cricket Australia last week. I hope he is picked, and he plays an incredibly strong Ashes series."

If Paine was unable to get through the fitness side of his comeback following the disc surgery he had in September, Alex Carey would be the likely replacement in the Test side. Carey is part of the Australia A squad which will also be in Brisbane alongside Josh Inglis.

When the Ashes squad was named on Wednesday morning, Paine was the only keeper named in the main 15-player squad even though the timelimes that emerged around his resignation suggested the situation was likely well advanced at that stage.

Following the 2nd XI match, Paine is due to link up with the Australia squad in Queensland ahead of the intrasquad match which starts on December 1 and will provide the final preparation for the first Test at the Gabba.

Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo

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