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The sprinkling of stardust over the Champions Trophy may appear somewhat thin on its return to the calendar after eight years but fans can expect a wide open one-day international tournament in the absence of an overwhelming favourite.
Major League Cricket (MLC) franchises have announced their retained players ahead of the third season's draft, set to take place on February 19. Several star players, including Australia's Travis Head and Pat Cummins, along with South Africa's Kagiso Rabada and David Miller, were not retained, ESPNCricinfo reported. Defending champions Washington Freedom retained 15 players, the most by any team, but let go of Head, their joint-highest run-getter alongside captain Steve Smith with 336 runs each. The franchise also let go of bowlers Akeal Hosein and Andrew Tye, who took two and five wickets each last season, as per ESPNCricinfo.
Australia batter Steve Smith said he was "surprised" to know about spinner Matthew Kuhnemann being reported for suspect action during the Sri Lanka Test series. The stand-in captain backed the teammate to pass all tests to prove his bowling action was legal and come out clean. "It's come as a bit of a surprise to me. He has been playing for eight years in professional cricket and nothing has been said in that amount of time," Smith said. "I am thinking of him. At present, he has to go through the process. We're confident he will pass. He will go through that process back home. We wish him all the best," he added.
Australia will be without their premier pacers but their envious pedigree in ICC tournaments make them favourites to progress to the semifinals of the Champions Trophy from Group B along with South Africa. But they will face stiff challenges from England and Afghanistan. Here's the Group B SWOT analysis.
Legendary Australia cricketer Adam Gilchrist said stand-in captain Steve Smith should be slotted in as an opener in the ODI team for the upcoming Champions Trophy, citing it as a way of maximising the number of deliveries he can face in the side's matches in Pakistan. In Australia's heavy 2-0 ODI series loss in Sri Lanka, Smith made 12 and 29 as a middle-order batter. But with young Jake Fraser-McGurk in an inconsistent run of form, Gilchrist feels Smith has to open the batting, though he finds Matt Short as an interesting option to partner with Travis Head at the top.
Sri Lanka spinner Dunith Wellalage took four wickets to give a hapless Australia their lowest ever total in Asia with a 174-run loss in Friday's second and final ODI. Chasing a target of 282 in Colombo, a much-changed Australia testing their lineup for next week's Champions Trophy were bundled out for a meager 107. The spectacular collapse saw them lose their last seven wickets for just 28 runs. "Not the best result we wanted. We used lot of players and everyone got a game," Australia skipper Steve Smith said.
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch has hit out at Marcus Stoinis for his sudden retirement from ODIs and questioned the timing of the decision and its impact on the team. Stoinis, who was initially named in Australia's squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, announced his retirement from the format last week, forcing selectors to scramble for a replacement. Speaking on ESPN Australia's Around The Wicket podcast, Finch expressed his disappointment over the lack of prior communication from Stoinis to the team management. He believes the all-rounder should have given coach Andrew McDonald and captain Steve Smith a heads-up before being selected in the squad.
Australia's bid to win the Champions Trophy was a dealt a major setback Wednesday with their formidable pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood all ruled out. Cummins (ankle) and Hazlewood (side and calf) were always unlikely to play, but Starc has also withdrawn for personal reasons. Steve Smith will captain the team after standing in for Cummins during their two-Test thrashing of Sri Lanka this month. The 15-man squad is also without all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who retired from the 50-over game last week, and Mitchell Marsh who was previously omitted with a back issue.