Trent Boult is aware that his decision to withdraw from New Zealand Cricket's (NZC) central contract earlier this month is going to "affect" his selection in Tests but he hopes he hasn't played his last match in the long format yet.
New Zealand are scheduled to travel to Pakistan in December 2022 and January 2023 for two Tests, and will host England for a two-Test series in February 2023 - including a day-night match in Mount Maunganui, Boult's home ground - and Sri Lanka in March.
However, Boult is likely to miss the Pakistan tour due to his commitments with T20 leagues abroad. He is among the 12 players who have been given platinum status in Australia's BBL draft, which comes with a price tag of AU$340,000. The BBL begins on December 13, with the group stage running till January 25. Boult has also signed up for the UAE-based ILT20 - which is expected to be played between January and February - where he would be representing MI Emirates.
"I hope not," Boult said when asked if the Test he played against England in June was potentially his last. "I'm fully aware that with the decision I made to give that contract back, it's going to affect that selection. I'm taking it almost week by week really.
"There's a lot of cricket to be played before then. I know the next series is in Pakistan and then at my home ground [Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui] against England in the new year, but it's too far away to tell. I'm going to leave that with New Zealand Cricket and respect their decision."
For New Zealand's next assignment, the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in Australia featuring three ODIs, Boult has held on to his spot, but NZC had made it clear that his future selection would be made on a case-by-case basis and that the board would prioritise contracted players.
Boult also said that he wants to have "another crack" at the ODI World Cup next October, slated to be held in India. He is also expected to lead New Zealand's pace attack in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia in October. If he does feature in the global event next year, it would be Boult's third ODI World Cup.
"I remember talking to Kane [Williamson] after 2019 at Lord's [where England pipped New Zealand in the final] and saying we want to be there in four years' time," Boult said. "It's only a few months around the corner and there's a lot of hunger to try to have another crack at that trophy."
Boult, 33, reiterated that his decision to withdraw his central contract and move into "life after cricket" was primarily to spend more time with his wife and three children. "Without getting too financially specific, I'd be more able to bring them on tour [when playing T20 leagues]," Boult said. "I've got three young boys that only see dad for eight weeks a year at the current moment. If I don't play any international cricket - obviously I still want to - then that might be a couple of leagues a year and 10 months at home rather than the other way around.
"I'm not getting too far ahead - it's a hard one to forecast at the moment."
Amid the rapidly changing landscape created by T20 leagues, the ICC has announced the men's Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the next four years. Australia will play India more than ever, but beyond that there are other noteworthy elements to how the schedule has played out after lengthy negotiations.
Mind the BBL gap
Cricket Australia have made the BBL a top priority under new chairman Lachlan Henderson with a fresh broadcast deal looming in 2024. It has faced numerous hurdles recently with the proliferation of rival leagues in the UAE and South Africa even as it tries to recover from the impacts of Covid-19. CA had previously said it would like a free window in January, which now has a crunch of leagues, to allow Australia's international stars to play in the BBL. The plan has been partially successful.
Australia don't have any white-ball commitments in January over the next four years, but there will be Test cricket that will take the multi-format players away. They are scheduled to host West Indies in two Tests in mid-January 2024 as the ODI World Cup in October-November 2023 creates a squeeze on Australia's home summer. Meanwhile, in January-February 2025, there is a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka. That series will need to be played before the Champions Trophy, which does not leave CA much room to keep the Test players at home for the BBL. Then, in early 2027, Australia will make another unusual summer away trip to India to play five Tests in January and February.
CA's head of scheduling, Peter Roach, confirmed that CA had tried to create a January window. "That was the priority to try and free the white-ball players so they can compete in the whole BBL," he told ESPNcricinfo. "But we understand Test cricket works in that window as well. So it's trying to find that balance between the opportunity for everyone to play versus making sure that our Test product is still really strong."
Homeward March
There is another significant knock-on effect of the five-Test tour of India in 2027. Australia have not hosted a Test in March since 1979 with their home matches played almost exclusively between November and January each year, with the exception of the rare winter series. But, in the new FTP, there will be two Tests against Bangladesh in March 2027 with the home summer essentially split in half by a trip to India. Australia begin that home summer with limited-overs matches against England in November 2026 before hosting Tests against New Zealand over Boxing Day and New Year. Then, after heading to India, they will return to host Bangladesh at a time when traditionally only Sheffield Shield cricket has been played in Australia. It will also be just the second time Bangladesh have played a Test series in Australia, with the first coming way back in 2003. It will also complete a run of ten Tests in four months for Australia to finish their 2025-2027 WTC cycle.
Back-to-back West Indies One of the vagaries of Australia's new FTP is that they will host West Indies for Test matches in consecutive home summers because of the new World Test Championship starting next year. They visit for two Tests in December this year during the final stages of the current WTC cycle, but the new one starts afresh thereafter and Australia are drawn to host them again the following summer for two more Tests. It's understood CA did try to change the order of the series to avoid the back-to-back visits but it was unable to find a solution. Australia will also travel to the Caribbean in 2025 for three Tests and three ODIs.
Winter cricket back in northern Australia Australia are hosting Zimbabwe and New Zealand in the coming weeks during late winter in the north of the country and will have more internationals during that period in years to come with the climate in the Northern Territory and North Queensland perfect for cricket. Australia have experimented with winter cricket previously, starting with ODIs under the roof at Docklands in Melbourne in 2000 and 2002, to Test matches in Darwin and Cairns in 2003 and 2004, before abandoning the concept after an ODI series against Bangladesh in 2008.
It wasn't a popular offering for local broadcasters as it clashed with the football codes that dominate the winter airwaves. But they will host ODIs and T20Is with South Africa in August of 2025 and then a Test, and T20Is ODIs against Afghanistan in July and August of 2026. "We hope that [winter cricket] becomes a little bit more regular," Roach said. "I don't think it'll be every year but we know those games will be really well supported by all those fans and we also know the fans around the country, whilst they're deep into their footy season, still relish the opportunity to watch some cricket during our winter months."
The Afghanistan question
Australia were set to host Afghanistan in a one-off Test last year prior to the Ashes but it was postponed after the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan with CA taking a stance on women being prevented from taking part in the sport (the game had previously been postponed from 2020 due to Covid-19). Australia have two bilateral commitments against Afghanistan in the new FTP - an away T20I series in August 2024 and the aforementioned tour in northern Australia in 2026 - which will mean the CA board may have to make another decision on their position depending on the situation when the series are played.
More broadly, CA knows it will need to pull its weight in playing the developing nations and alongside the away T20Is against Afghanistan will also tour Ireland for white-ball matches in 2024.
"We want world cricket to be really strong, and it's not going to be really strong if we restrict ourselves to a handful of opponents," Roach said. "Having the opportunity to go and play these opponents, developing countries in some respects, is something we're really focused on doing. Not so much to be a good citizen, it's the right thing to do because we know what value it brings to our players and also the players in the opposing teams."
Australia's men's FTP 2023-2027
(* = home series)
2023-24 Jun: World Test Championship Jun/Jul: England vs Australia (5 Tests) Sep: South Africa vs Australia (5 ODIs, 3 T20Is) Sep: India vs Australia (3 ODIs) Oct/Nov: ODI World Cup - India Nov/Dec: India vs Australia (5 T20Is) Dec/Jan: Australia vs Pakistan (3 Tests)* Jan/Feb: Australia vs West Indies (2 Tests, 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)* Feb/Mar: New Zealand vs Australia (2 Tests, 3 T20Is)
2024-25 Jun: T20 World Cup - West Indies and USA Aug: Afghanistan vs Australia (3 T20Is) Aug/Sep: Ireland vs Australia (3 ODIs, 1 T20I) Sep: England vs Australia (5 ODIs, 3 T20Is) Nov: Australia vs Pakistan (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)* Dec/Jan: Australia vs India (5 Tests)* Jan/Feb: Sri Lanka vs Australia (2 Tests) Feb/Mar: ODI Champions Cup - Pakistan
2025-26 Jun: World Test Championship Jun/Jul: West Indies vs Australia (3 Tests, 3 ODIs) Aug: Australia vs South Africa (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)* Oct: New Zealand vs Australia (3 T20Is) Oct/Nov: Australia vs India (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is)* Dec/Jan: Australia vs England (5 Tests)* Feb: Pakistan vs Australia (3 T20Is) Feb/Mar: T20 World Cup - India and Sri Lanka Mar: Pakistan vs Australia (3 ODIs)
2026-27 Jun: Bangladesh vs Australia (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is) Aug: Australia vs Afghanistan (1 Test, 3 T20Is)* Sep/Oct: South Africa vs Australia (3 Tests, 3 ODIs) Nov/Dec: Australia vs England (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is)* Dec/Jan: Australia vs New Zealand (3 Tests)* Jan/Feb: India vs Australia (5 Tests) Mar: Australia vs Bangladesh (2 Tests)*
Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo
"Work at Punggye-ri nuclear test site paves way for additional nuclear tests for development of nuclear weapons," says a UN report prepared by independent sanctions monitors.
International talks aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes have largely stalled since 2019.
(Reuters Archive)
North Korea made
preparations for a nuclear test during the first six months of
this year, according to an excerpt of a confidential United
Nations report seen by Reuters news agency.
"Work at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site paves the way for
additional nuclear tests for the development of nuclear
weapons," independent sanctions monitors reported to the UN
Security Council North Korea sanctions committee.
"The DPRK continued to develop its capability for the
production of fissile material at the Yongbyon site," the
monitors wrote, referring to North Korea's formal name - the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Yongbyon is North Korea's
major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors.
North Korea's UN mission in New York did not immediately
respond to a request for comment on the report.
The United States has long been warning that North Korea is
ready to carry out a seventh nuclear test and says it will again
push to strengthen UN sanctions on Pyongyang if it takes
place.
The UN monitors also said investigations had shown
Pyongyang was to blame for stealing hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of crypto assets in at least one major hack. The
monitors have previously accused North Korea of carrying out
cyber attacks to fund its nuclear and missile programs.
"Other cyber activity focusing on stealing information and
more traditional means of obtaining information and materials of
value to DPRK's prohibited programmes, including WMD (weapons of
mass destruction), continued," the monitors wrote.
North Korea has for years been banned from conducting
nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches by the UN
Security Council, which has strengthened sanctions on Pyongyang
over the years to try and cut off funding for those programs.
"DPRK made preparations at its nuclear test site, although
it did not test a nuclear device. In the first half of 2022, the
country continued the acceleration (which began in September
2021) of its missile programmes," the monitors said.
They said North Korea launched 31 missiles combining
ballistic and guidance technologies, including six
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) tests and two missiles
that it explicitly described as ballistic weapons.
North Korea continued illicit imports of oil and exports of
coal, evading sanctions, the monitors said.
International talks aimed at convincing North Korea to give
up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs have largely
stalled since 2019.
In recent years China and Russia have been pushing for an
easing of sanctions on North Korea on humanitarian grounds –– and
in the hope, that Pyongyang can be convinced to return to
negotiations.
The UN monitors reported that while challenging to assess accurately, "there can be little doubt that UN sanctions have unintentionally affected the humanitarian situation" in North Korea.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and is experiencing mild symptoms, his office announced.
Patrick, a Republican, is fully vaccinated and received a booster shot in fall of Nevertheless, he will work from home for until next week.
Patrick is running for reelection in Texas and has opposed nationwide vaccine mandates. He has joined Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in criticizing President Joe Biden's administration for its aggressive push for the shots.
"The federal government does not have the ability to strip individuals of their choice to get a vaccine or not," Patrick said of Biden's vaccine mandate last year.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Fox News. Patrick said that calling the state's election security bills voter suppression is "race-baiting." (Fox News)
"If the President thinks his patience is wearing thin, he is clearly underestimating the lack of patience from Texans whose rights he is infringing," he added.
Patrick first tested positive for the virus on January, and he also faced only mild symptoms in that case, according to his office.
"His symptoms were mild, and no one else in the household was infected," Patrick senior adviser Allen Blakemore said in a statement at the time. "He continues working from home and will return to a public schedule by the end of the week."
Biden himself tested positive for the virus last week. His physicians say he is on the mend and is now only experiencing mild symptoms such as a sore throat and body aches.
"His voice remains deep," the president's physician, Dr. Kevin C. O'Connor, said. "His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain entirely normal. His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear."
