Australia are feeling the heat just days before their first Test against Bangladesh for more than a decade, with batsman Glenn Maxwell revealing yesterday he suffered heatstroke during training. “I caught a bit of heatstroke on the first day, which wasn’t a good start,” Maxwell told reporters in Dhaka.
“I think just doing some running outside, then going inside to do some fitness tests, and then going back outside didn’t help too much. The body shut down a little bit but I was fine after the ice bath and plenty of fluids.”
Australia, who arrived last Friday, limited themselves to light training yesterday after their two-day warm-up match on the outskirts of Dhaka was cancelled due to flooding. But 28-year-old Maxwell said conditions were still a little difficult for the newly-arrived squad.
“Yesterday was obviously pretty tough with the overnight and morning rain, all the moisture coming out of the ground and making sweaty work for us,” he said. The tourists trained in Darwin, in Australia’s tropical north, before their Bangladesh tour to prepare for the hot and humid monsoon weather. “The wickets here are similar to what we faced in Darwin, where it was perfect,” Maxwell said. “I think the guys are more than well equipped to handle whatever comes their way in the first Test.”
Bangladesh have not played a Test against Australia since Ricky Ponting’s team visited the country in 2006, six years after the hosts were granted Test status. Australia were due to play two Tests in Bangladesh in October 2015 but the tour was cancelled over security fears after a wave of attacks by Islamist extremists in the Muslim-majority nation. Cricket Australia agreed to reschedule the series this year only after Bangladesh promised intensive security. The first Test starts on Sunday, with the second in Chittagong from September 4-8.


Pujara returns to boost Nottinghamshire promotion bid
Indian batting star Cheteshwar Pujara’s return to English county Nottinghamshire will give them a significant boost, head coach Peter Moores said yesterday. Notts are well-placed for an immediate return to the eight-team elite of the county championship as they lead Worcestershire at the top of the second tier by 35 points.
“The great thing is that he (Pujara) has already been in the squad this season and he fitted in so well both on and off the field,” said Moores. “He is a fantastic player, and since he has been away he has had a great time of it in the Test matches for India. So we are getting a guy who is coming back in form and for the team spirit, ‘Puji’ coming back in is a huge boost for everybody.”
The 29-year-old Pujara, with 13 centuries and averaging more than 50 in his 51 Tests, has been away helping India sweep Sri Lanka 3-0 in a Test series — the first time they have achieved that away from home. He shone for Notts earlier in the season, scoring 223 runs in four matches before leaving to play for his country.
He will be available for the final four matches of the run-in. Pujawara will have the chance to pit his wits in a fascinating duel with fellow Indian Test star and spin maestro Ravichandran Ashwin, who has signed for Worcestershire. “We have got two really big home games against Northants and Worcester, because it is a chance for us to put pressure on two sides that are up there with us,” said Moores. “Runs on the board at Trent Bridge is always a big influence and having a player of Test-match quality in ‘Pudji’ is a real bonus.”

Former South Africa star Smith turns T20 coach
Former South Africa skipper and batsman Graeme Smith will be among the coaches when the maiden Twenty20 Global League starts in the republic this November. His appointment as coach of the Benoni Zalmi, one of eight teams in the nationwide tournament, was confirmed Tuesday by the owners of a franchise based in eastern Johannesburg.
It will be the first senior-level coaching post for the 36-year-old since he retired from international cricket three years ago. Geoffrey Toyana, the successful coach of all-formats South African franchise the Highveld Lions, will assist Smith.
Nicknamed “Biff”, Johannesburg-born Smith played 117 Tests, 197 one-day internationals and 33 T20 matches for South Africa. Smith and Toyana will be in Cape Town this weekend for a player draft, choosing from more than 400 local and foreign cricketers.

Australia recovers thousands of scalped Ashes tickets
Cricket Australia (CA) has recovered thousands of scalped tickets for the third Ashes Test against England in Perth, the governing body said yesterday. The 2,890 tickets were “identified as linked to scalped tickets being sold at a premium” on online market place eBay, CA said in a statement.
The tickets for the Dec. 14-18 Test at the WACA will go back on sale on Aug. 28. The five-Test Ashes series against current holders England is one of Australia’s most well-attended sporting events. The first test starts in Brisbane on Nov. 23.

India court raps BCCI for inaction on reforms
India’s highest court yesterday accused top officials from the country’s cricket board of failing to clean up the scandal-ridden body, more than six months after they pledged to enforce reforms. The Supreme Court ordered that the acting president, secretary and treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appear before a panel of judges on September 19 to explain their inaction.
“You haven’t implemented anything despite our orders. Nothing has been complied (with) and the BCCI says it’s helpless,” the panel of three judges, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, said in its order.
The board, a powerful and wealthy institution in cricket-mad India, was placed under court administration in January after a string of high-profile scandals brought its management into disrepute. A panel appointed to reform its opaque administration was given an undertaking from the acting president, secretary and treasurer that they would turn things around. But the court-appointed Committee of Administrators last week said the trio should be removed for failing to implement any of their promised reforms.