New Zealand's top cricketers to start squad training this week: NZC

New Zealand's top cricketers will return to squad training at the country's High Performance Centre in Lincoln this week after a prolonged break caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Zealand's top cricketers will return to squad training at the country's High Performance Centre in Lincoln this week after a prolonged break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement issued on Monday, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced that six national camps will be conducted in the next few months.

"New Zealand's top male and female cricketers will return to squad trainings at the NZC High Performance centre in Lincoln this week, in the first of six national camps scheduled for the coming winter months," read the release from NZC.

"The South Island and Wellington based BLACKCAPS and WHITE FERNS will train at the Canterbury hub this week, while a larger second camp for players further North will commence at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui from July 19," it added.

Later, New Zealand's women's team's official Twitter handle posted pictures of players training in Lincoln.

"We are back! Our 1st post lockdown camp is underway in Lincoln. Players from @cricketwgtn, @CanterburyCrick and @OtagoVolts are attending the first camp with @aucklandcricket, @ndcricket and @CDCricket players getting set for a camp next week at @BayOvalOfficial #CricketNation," stated the tweet.

New Zealand has been among the least affected by the pandemic, managing to keep the case count to a little over 1500, including more than 1400 recoveries.

In 120 years, equity returns have outpaced bonds & bills: Credit Suisse

In all, Credit Suisse has included 26 countries for the study as a part of this Yearbook.

Market News : Adjusted for inflation, equities as an asset class have returned 5.2 per cent on an annualised basis over the past 120 years (since 1900), outpacing the returns by bonds at 2 per cent and bills at 0.8 per cent, says the latest Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2020.

The countries included in the Yearbook represented 98 per cent of the global equity market in 1900 and still represent over 91 per cent of the investable universe at the start of 2020. In all, Credit Suisse has included 26 countries for the study as a part of this Yearbook.

Over the past 120 years (since 1900), equities have outperformed bonds, bills and inflation in 21 countries. For the world as a whole, equities outperformed bills by 4.3 per cent per year and outperformed bonds by 3.1 per cent per year.

However, over the last decade, global equities performed well with an annualised real return of 7.6 per cent, as compared to real return of 3.6 per cent from bonds, Credit Suisse says. As regards bonds, Sweden has been the best-performing country in terms of real bond returns, with an annualized return of 2.7 per cent since 1900, followed by Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada with annualized returns of 2.4 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively, the Credit Suisse study says.

“2019 was a superb year for equities, with the Yearbook world index returning 28 per cent (measured in US dollar terms). The best performing market was Russia, with a return of 56 per cent (in US dollar terms), followed by Switzerland at 33 per cent. The US equity market gave a return of 30 per cent. Despite very low start-year yields, bonds also performed well in 2019, with returns of 12 per cent in the US, 9 per cent in the UK and Switzerland, and just over 10 per cent (in US dollar terms) on the world index,” wrote Richard Kersley, head of global thematic research at Credit Suisse in the Yearbook 2020 co-authored with Nannette Hechler-Fayd'herbe, their chief investment officer for International Wealth Management.

ICC CWC 19: A hopeful Kohli downplays top-order rout ahead of WC campaign

The top-order failed to fire in both the warm-up games with most experts suggesting that the batsmen are struggling to adapt to the English conditions.

Business Standard : "I am glad with what we got out of these two games," said Virat Kohli after the second warm-up match against Bangladesh which his side won comfortably by 95 runs.

But was it really the case?

In the first practice match, the famed Indian batting line-up struggled before the pace and swing of New Zealand bowlers, especially Trent Boult who wreaked havoc and picked up four wickets on May 25 in challenging batting conditions at Southampton. Apart from Ravindra Jadeja, none of the Indian batsmen managed to stay for long at the crease and as a result the Men in Blue were bundled out for mere 179 inside 40 overs which the Black Caps chased down without any hiccups.

In the second match as well, the Indian top-order failed to perform as per expectations and didn't seem to be in total control of their game. It was only K.L. Rahul and M.S. Dhoni, who managed to make the most of their batting as they scored brilliant hundreds to help India post a mammoth 360-run target, which it successfully defended against Bangladesh.

ICC World Cup 2019

Keeping aside those two knocks and the quickfire 46-ball 47 from Virat Kohli, it was again a case of conditions making the batsmen sweat.

ODI vice captain Rohit Sharma, who had scored just two runs against the Kiwis, managed 19 against the Bangladesh. He was seen struggling before the pace and swing of Boult, as well as that of Mustafizur Rahman.

Same was the case with Shikhar Dhawan who managed scores of 2 and 1 in both the warm-up matches. The much spoken about Vijay Shankar also managed just 2 on Tuesday as the Indian scoreboard read a scary 102/4 at one stage. But the 164-run partnership between Rahul (108) and Dhoni ensured that another embarrassing collapse was avoided.

However, Kohli doesn't appear much bothered by the form of his 'star openers'. "Shikhar and Rohit are quality players. They become stars in ICC events. I understand if guys don't get going rightaway in this format, but I am glad with what we got out of these two games," the skipper said on Tuesday.

When it comes to bowling, the Indian bowlers didn't have much to defend against the Black Caps. But still, they put up a good show, especially Jasprit Bumrah who was magnificent with his line and length. He bowled at a brisk pace and returned with figures of 2/4 from the four overs he bowled.

Christchurch mosque shooting updates: 40 killed, says New Zealand PM

All Christchurch schools and council buildings have been placed into lockdown. All mosques to remain closed across New Zealand today.

Business Standard : Forty people were killed and more than 20 seriously wounded in mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand's Christchurch on Friday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. Ardern said New Zealand had been placed on its highest security threat level. She said four people in police custody held extremist views, but had not been on any police watchlists.

Ardern said the country has suffered one of its worst mass shootings after attacks at two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch left an unknown number of people dead and injured.

“It is clear this is one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” Ardern told reporters on Friday. “What has happened here is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence. It has no place in New Zealand. This is not who we are.”

Police said they have arrested three men and a woman, and while they don’t think there are any armed offenders still at large, they can’t be sure the danger has passed or the incident is confined to Christchurch.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush declined to comment on whether it was an act of terrorism but said the situation was unprecedented in New Zealand. He said a number of home-made bombs were found attached to vehicles that police stopped.

Christchurch Lockdown

“They’ve been made safe by the defense force but that does go to the seriousness of the situation,” Bush told a news conference.

Police have asked all mosques nationally to shut their doors and advised people to refrain from visiting them until further notice. Christchurch schools were put in lockdown for several hours and residents told to stay off the streets. The city of about 390,000 is still recovering from a 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people and destroyed the central business district.

Armed police were deployed after shots were fired at a mosque around 1:40 p.m. local time. One alleged shooter live-streamed part of the attack and posted a manifesto online, suggesting a racially motivated act of terrorism. In a rambling document that’s dozens of pages long, he says he was inspired by Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who was responsible for the deaths of 77 people in 2011.

Facebook removed a video and also suspended the suspected shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts after police alerted the company, it said on its official Twitter feed. Radio New Zealand said an eyewitness saw a man wearing a helmet and glasses and a military style jacket open fire inside one of the mosques. One person saw four people lying on the ground and said “there was blood everywhere,” RNZ reported.

ICC T20 rankings: Kuldeep claims 2nd spot; Pak top-ranked team, India 2nd

The batting chart is headed by talented Pakistani batsman Babar Azam.

Talented wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has moved up a notch to grab a career-best second position in the latest ICC T20 International rankings, where India maintained its second position behind Pakistan despite dropping two ranking points.

Kuldeep scalped two for 26 in the final T20I against New Zealand, which his side lost by four runs to go 2-1 down in the series.

The 24-year-old accounted for well-set openers Tim Seifert and Colin Munro in the only match he played during the series and reaped immediate dividends. He is now second only to Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan in the table.

There are no other Indian bowler in the top-10. Kuldeep Yadav's spin bowling partner Yuzvendra Chahal after an indifferent series against New Zealand, dropped six places to be 17th while Bhuvneshwar Kumar maintained his 18th rank.

In the batsmen's list, Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma swapped three places with compatriot KL Rahul, who didn't feature in the recently-concluded series.

The batting chart is headed by talented Pakistani batsman Babar Azam.

Rohit is seventh as per latest rankings while Rahul has slipped to 10th place. Rohit's opening partner Shikhar Dhawan has gained a place to be 11th while Virat Kohli's absence from the series affected his ranking. The Indian skipper dropped four places to be jointly 19th with Zimbabwe's Hamilton Masakadza.

Left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya was another spinner to move up as he advanced 39 places to a career-best 58th.

For New Zealand, Kane Williamson (up one place to 12th), Ross Taylor (up seven places to 51st) and Tim Seifert (up 87 places to a career-best 83rd) among batsmen and Tim Southee (up seven places to 30th) among bowlers are some notable gainers.

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