England opener Zak Crawley said he would be prepared to endure tougher health protocols to ensure the Ashes series is completed, adding that the tourists were determined to push back hard at Australia in this week's fourth Test.
A dominant innings and 14-run victory in the third Test in Melbourne on Tuesday gave Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, leaving England playing only for pride in the final two matches.
The resurgence of Covid-19 in New South Wales has cast a shadow over the Sydney Test but Crawley said he was willing to see health protocols tightened to ensure the match went ahead as scheduled on Wednesday.
"Personally, I would ... I can't speak for everyone on that, but we've only got a couple of weeks left and I want to play the two Tests," he told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
"I'm one hundred per cent wanting to play this Test, definitely comfortable. The doctors say we're in a good place to carry on and we fully back that."
Crawley said the players had pulled together in training and there was a fierce determination to turn things around.
"Obviously, we were gutted at the MCG to lose the game like that and to lose the series in three games," he added.
"But every Test is massive, especially an Ashes Test down here, so we're all massively wanting two wins out of these next two games.
"If we come away with 3-2, obviously we've lost the series but we can hold our head up that we didn't just let them walk all over us and pushed back a bit."
Crawley, who was called into the side for the third Test but was only able to make 17 runs in his two innings, said the less experienced England batters should not fear the Australian bowlers.
"I'm certainly going to try and be more confident," he said. "I know full well I can score a hundred this week and that's what I'm going to try to do."
England’s preparations for the fourth Ashes Test fell victim to more Covid chaos on Sunday, with local net bowlers removed from their latest training session on the same day head coach Chris Silverwood joined the growing ranks of positive cases.
Silverwood has been isolating with his family in Melbourne ever since one of them tested positive after the Boxing Day Test and a further case in their group takes the total number among the wider England party to nine.
He was already resigned to missing the new year game in Sydney, but his diagnosis, without symptoms, settles the issue. He will now aim to rejoin and lead the squad for the series finale in Hobart later this month.
Silverwood is the fourth member of coaching staff to contract the virus, joining bowling lead Jon Lewis, spin mentor Jeetan Patel and strength and conditioning specialist Darren Veness.
Plans to bring in Adam Hollioake to help out were scuppered on Sunday when a close contact of the former England one-day captain tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon said Australia will press for an Ashes series whitewash against England to boost their chances of making the final of the 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC).
The home side have already claimed an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-Test series and the importance of maintaining their winning run was not lost on Lyon.
"I've never ever considered [a match] dead-rubber when you wear the baggy green and go out and represent Australia in a Test match," off-spinner Lyon said.
"So there's no dead-rubbers. Firstly because it's [the] Test championship, but another one, we want to go five-nil up.
"Obviously Ashes for me is the pinnacle, but I'd love to be part of the Test championship final, whether that's at Lord's or wherever it may be in the world ... A lot of work to do to get there."
Australia could not make the inaugural WTC final last year, when New Zealand beat India to win the crown, but lead the standings after their red-hot Ashes form.
Poacher
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Maestro
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School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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