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Australian cricket’s playing and marketing imperatives are colliding over the matter of Test players taking part in the early rounds of the expanded Big Bash League.

Daniel Brettig15-Jun-2011Australian cricket’s playing and marketing imperatives are again colliding, this time over the matter of Test players taking part in the early rounds of the expanded Big Bash League.As part of the push to sell the new league and its eight manufactured teams to the public, Cricket Australia wants all of its centrally-contracted players to take part in the first round of the competition, tentatively scheduled for December 16 to 20.This would allow maximum exposure for the new competition, and also mean the game’s most reliable current assets, namely the likes of Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting, could be used liberally in advertising and publicity for the BBL.However an agreement is yet to be reached between CA management, marketing and coaching staff over the issue of how to use the time between the end of the New Zealand Test series on December 13 in Hobart and the start of the India series on December 26 with the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.”It’s still being resolved. We’re obviously keen for them to be available to play if the schedule and their physical shape allows it,” a CA spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “They’re the biggest names and the most popular cricketers in the country so we’d obviously like them to be a part of as much as possible.”Australia’s Test and limited-overs players have always missed parts or all of the domestic Twenty20 competition because it has clashed with the concluding weeks of the Test summer and the bulk of the ODI programme.But the change to city-based teams and the paucity of genuine international talent available for the first edition of the tournament due to scheduling conflicts has intensified the demand for Australian internationals among franchises.Given that Australia will have just completed their third Test series in as many months, including the tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa that precedes the New Zealand series, recovery time for captain Clarke, his deputy Watson and the fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, among others, will be at a premium.Another issue will be maximising the team’s preparation for the task of facing up to India, currently the world’s No.1 ranked Test team, in what has arguably become Australia’s biggest international rivalry outside of the Ashes. Where once the Australians could afford to take the odd preparatory shortcut due to an undisputed ranking at the top, now they have no choice but to plan diligently or face the consequences.”The coaches are just making sure they’ve got enough time after the New Zealand series and before the India series starting on Boxing Day,” the spokesman said. “We need to make sure their workload is managed. Even if it’s agreed that players are available for certain matches, an individual assessment for each player will have to be made at the time regarding injuries, workload and individual programmes.”These guys are going to be sought after by the BBL teams regardless of how many matches they can play, because they will help to sell the teams to the public.”Last summer the financial and cricketing interests of CA were muddled on more than one occasion. Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger were handicapped when they were forced to stay behind at the T20 Champions League in South Africa with their IPL team Chennai Super Kings rather than preparing for the Test series in India.Upon the team’s return home, a pre-determined marketing plan to announce the Ashes squad at a public event in Sydney’s Circular Quay – 10 days before the first Test – saw the selectors name an indecisive 17-man squad, causing what Simon Katich revealed to be a rumble of instability through the team before the first Test.

A round up of the action from the first day of the fourth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division Two matches

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2011Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) knocked over Hyderabad for 97, at the Niaz Stadium in Sind, courtesy a six-wicket haul from their new-ball bowler Bilawal Bhatti. Bhatti ripped through Hyderabad’s top order; at one stage, they were tottering at 29 for 8, before a 68-run stand between Ghulam Yasin and Nasir Awais took them to 97. While none of the SNGPL batsmen could build on their starts in the reply, cameos from most of the top order helped them to a 77-run lead, with six wickets in hand at stumps.Saeed Bin Nasir struck a century to take Karachi Whites to 242 for 8 against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi. KRL inserted Karachi Whites and made early inroads as none of the batsmen, barring Nasir, could get going. They reduced Karachi Whites to 136 for 6, before Nasir found an able partner in Faraz Ahmed. The pair added a hundred runs, but were dismissed before stumps as KRL fought back, removing both batsmen in quick succession. Rahat Ali, a left-arm quick, was the wrecker-in-chief – he took 5 for 59 in his 19 overs.Lahore Ravi put on a steady batting performance against Multan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, scoring 280 for 5 on the first day of the fourth round. Their innings was built around captain Usman Salahuddin, who remained unbeaten on 125 at stumps. While most of the other batsmen wasted starts, wicketkeeper Mohammad Zohaib lent him fine support, with an unbeaten half-century. The pair will look to pile on the runs on day two.Badar Ali made a patient, unbeaten 98 to carry Quetta to 212 for 6 against Lahore Shalimar at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Apart from the opener, Ali, Lahore Shalimar made short work of Quetta’s top order. New-ball bowler Asif Raza, the pick of the Lahore Ravi bowlers on the day, made early inroads as Quetta was reduced to 85 for 5. But Taimur Khan, batting at No. 7, hit a half-century to bolster the score. He was out just prior to stumps, but Ali stayed firm and will look to push on, on Wednesday.United Bank Limited (UBL) had the better of the first day against hosts Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium. United Bank asked Peshawar to bat and then bowled them out for 260, before their openers, Ali Asad and Saeed Mutabbir, took them to 63 for 0 at stumps. That Peshawar managed to get past 250 was in main due to an unbeaten century from their captain Akbar Badshah. Badshah hit 103, a knock studded with 18 fours and a six. Most of the damage with the ball was done by fast bowlers Shabbir Ahmed and Tahir Mughal, who picked up eight wickets between them.

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill found his form at the right time to fire
Derbyshire to a five-run Friends Life t20 victory over Durham at Derby

10-Jun-2011
Scorecard
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill found his form at the right time to fire
Derbyshire to a five-run Friends Life t20 victory over Durham at Derby.Guptill hit 60 off 43 balls and Wayne Madsen made his first half-century in the
competition as the Falcons scored 183 for three to set up an opening win in the
North Group.Gordan Muchall led Durham’s chase with 62, but after Derbyshire’s spinners
removed the dangerous Paul Collingwood and Ian Blackwell cheaply, the Dynamos
came up short on 178 for five.Guptill looked in good touch from the start as he dispatched the second and
third balls of the innings from Graham Onions to the mid-wicket boundary.The Durham seamers tended to pitch too short and Guptill and Wes Durston took
advantage until Gareth Breese stemmed the flow with his off-spin.But Guptill still reached his maiden 50 for Derbyshire off 35 balls before
launching Ian Blackwell over mid-wicket for six.The opening pair put on 88 in 11 overs, but when Durston tried to reverse sweep
Breese he was caught behind for 25 and Guptill followed in the spinner’s next
over caught at extra cover off a full toss.Chesney Hughes hit Breese over long off for the second six of the innings but
Breese took a fine running catch to remove him when he pulled Onions to deep
mid-wicket in the 15th over.The Falcons were in danger of falling short until Madsen improvised well to
reach 50 from only 28 balls as 53 came from the last four overs.The South African ensured Durham faced a challenging chase but Mustard and
Muchall quickly moved into overdrive despite Falcons skipper Luke Sutton
rotating his bowlers.Muchall reached his half-century off 30 balls and the pair equalled the Falcons
opening stand before Mustard gave Hughes the charge with rain falling and was
stumped for 36.Hughes varied his pace intelligently to restrict the batsmen to just one
boundary in his four overs and with young spinner Tom Clarke also keeping it
tight, the pressure told on Blackwell who drove the teenager into the hands of
long on.Durston then landed two big blows as Muchall skied to cover and Collingwood’s
attempt to clear the ropes landed in the hands of deep mid-wicket.The Dynamos needed 56 off the last four overs and despite Dale Benkenstein and
David Miller plundering 18 from Durston’s third over, the advantage shifted
towards the Falcons when Benkenstein pulled a Steffan Jones full toss to deep
mid-wicket.Although Breese pulled Tim Groenewald for six, 15 off the final over was too
much for Durham as Jones used all his experience to seal victory.

Wicketkeeper to captain in intra-squad warm-up as Silverwood preaches continuity

George Dobell30-Jun-2020Jos Buttler is set to retain his place in England’s Test team for the start of the series against West Indies.While Buttler has endured a lean run of form with the bat in recent Tests – he has averaged 23.32 in 13 Tests since the start of 2019 and 17.55 in five Tests since the end of the last English season – he retains the faith of the team management and is poised to keep the gloves ahead of competition from Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes.Underlining that faith, Buttler has been confirmed as one of the team captains in England’s warm-up match, starting on Wednesday, and as England’s vice-captain in the first Test against West Indies next week. England’s regular Test vice-captain, Ben Stokes, has been promoted to the captaincy in the absence of Joe Root, on paternity leave, and Buttler is taking on Stokes’ previous role. England hope to have Root back for the second Test.The three-day warm-up match will feature 27 players – there are 14 on Buttler’s side and 13 on Stokes’ – so will not have first-class status. The only three players from the 30-man training squad not taking part are Amar Virdi, Jamie Overton and Root. All three are understood to be fit, but Root is leaving the squad on Wednesday to attend the birth of his second child and the team management have decided that, in order for key players to gain the match practice required, there is no room for the other two. The match will be live-streamed from static cameras at each end of the ground on the ECB’s website Although England’s head coach, Chris Silverwood, was giving little away when he spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon, he did confirm Buttler’s inclusion and hinted that, in general, those players “in possession” of places at the end of the South Africa tour might be in favourable positions. With the Sri Lanka tour subsequently postponed and the English domestic season curtailed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, none of the players involved have played since the South Africa tour finished.”I wouldn’t say selection is a blank page,” Silverwood said. “You know the people who are the mainstay, the engine room of the team. It is difficult to go too far away straight away from where we finished off.Jos Buttler gives a thumbs up in England training•ECB

“Jos will be vice-captain and he is in possession [of the gloves] at the moment. No, you don’t [have to be a genius] to work that out.”That would appear to represent bad news for Foakes and Bairstow. While it remains possible England could recall Bairstow as a specialist batting replacement for Root – he is probably competing with Dan Lawrence and Joe Denly for the position – his preference for batting in the middle order may count against him.Equally, it is possible England could play Buttler as a specialist batsman and recall Foakes. Certainly Buttler’s Test record as a specialist batsman – 35.68 in 20 Tests – is significantly better than his record as an all-rounder – he averages 27.43 in 21 Tests when he has kept – but all the evidence suggests England are inclined to make few changes.If possession really is a key factor in this selection, it would appear to be good news for Denly and Dom Bess, too. But Denly could be squeezed by the return of Rory Burns at the top of the order, while Bess is fighting off competition from both Moeen Ali and Jack Leach as spinner. Moeen, with five Test centuries behind him, might have an especially strong claim for a recall in a side lacking Root.The beneficiary of Root’s absence could well be Lawrence. While Denly’s durability has been admirable, his failure to register a century in his 14 Tests and his age (he’s 34) may both count against him. Lawrence impressed on the Lions tour to Australia – he made 190 in the warm-up match and 125 in the unofficial ‘Test’ – and, aged 22, is seen as a growing force. With one eye on a return to Australia in 18 months, this could be the time to promote him. Zak Crawley, who seemed to grow in stature with each appearance in South Africa, looks set to retain the No. 3 spot behind Burns and Dom Sibley.ALSO READ: Ben Stokes to captain as Joe Root misses first Test for birth“Dan has settled in very well,” Silverwood said. “He’s a confident guy. He has come in, been himself and played well. He’s certainly one of them that has put his best foot forward.”The other area England are facing competition for places is in their seam bowling. The enforced break has given the bowlers an almost unique opportunity to rest and work on their strength and conditioning. The result is that, right now, they are all deemed fit.”The only thing the lockdown has done is delivered me a load of fit fast bowlers,” Silverwood said. “All the guys coming back have had a good break. They are refreshed and they’re firing. They are very, very motivated to crack on. The one thing I have been impressed with is the shape that everyone has come back in.”Crucially, the three quickest bowlers of those involved in this warm-up match – Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Olly Stone – are all available, giving the selectors (and for this first Test, Stokes should be considered a selector) an intriguing dilemma. Wood, at his best, is hard to omit and claimed nine wickets in England’s most recent Test. But similar might be said about Archer, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Tough choices loom.Team Stokes: Dominic Sibley, Keaton Jennings, Zak Crawley, Jonathan Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes, Moeen Ali, Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Jack Leach, Olly Stone, James Anderson, Saqib Mahmood.Team Buttler: Rory Burns, James Bracey, Joe Denly, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (c), Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Dominic Bess, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Robinson.

India slipped to another defeat in the Women’s Quadrangular series, this time to New Zealand by 25 runs at the Clifton College Close Ground

25-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Liz Perry top scored for New Zealand with an unbeaten 48•ICC

India slipped to another defeat in the Women’s Quadrangular series, this time to New Zealand by 25 runs at the Clifton College Close Ground in Bristol.After choosing to field, Jhulan Goswami (2 for 18) struck early blows for India as New Zealand slipped to 5 for 3 before stumbling further to 28 for 4. Player of the Match, Liz Perry, turned the innings around with her knock of 48 off 41 balls with four boundaries. Katey Martin (29) and Nicola Browne (22) played crucial knocks as New Zealand closed on a competitive 125 for 5.India’s chase never took off as wickets fell at regular intervals. Browne ended with figures of 2 for 17 as India ended on 100 for 7 off 20 overs. Only Mithali Raj (24) and Amita Sharma (26) played handy knocks.With this defeat, India’s chances of making the final have all but evaporated. They will play England on Sunday, while New Zealand take on Australia in the final league match before the play-offs on Monday.”It was a chaseable total, no doubt about that,” said a disappointed Goswami. “We lost early wickets in the first six overs and got bogged down. We could not capitalise on the field restrictions and the asking-rate kept mounting. I will offer no excuses, but we could have batted better. The wicket was good and there was only a slight movement in the morning, but in the second half it was very good.”We have the one-day internationals coming up next and we need to be in good shape for that. England is the best Twenty20 team in the world, so it will not be easy for us. We will need to sort it out before that match.”We need a little bit more from each and everyone of us. We cannot make the final barring extraordinary circumstances. But we can still build on the fact that bowling did well to restrict New Zealand. We need to create more pressure.”Perry was thrilled with her effort with the bat. “I had to do a repair job when I walked in,” she said. “It was good that I could put my hand up and play some positive cricket. It was quite a true pitch and the Indians bowled good lines to us. We just did not play that great early on. If anything, the pitch got better to bat on later.”Perry was also upbeat about her team’s chances of beating Australia and making it to the finals of the competition. “Australia are a hard side to beat. If we put up a good performance there is no reason why we cannot make the final on Monday. We have to carry on with the momentum.”

Marcus Stoinis has also been left out while Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott are among those brought back

Alex Malcolm17-Dec-2019The Australia selectors have dropped Glenn Maxwell from the ODI squad to tour India in January despite him being available to play following a mental-health break.Marnus Labuschagne has been called up to his first ODI squad following his outstanding form in Test cricket and an impressive Marsh Cup where he was the joint Player of the Tournament alongside Queensland team-mate Usman Khawaja, who has also been left out. There are recalls for Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Ashton Turner and Ashton Agar.Maxwell will make his return to cricket via the BBL this week where he will captain the Melbourne Stars and has declared he is available play for Australia. However, national selector Trevor Hohns said they will monitor his form in the BBL after Maxwell only managed 177 runs at 22.12 during the World Cup.ALSO READ: Peter Siddle recalled for Boxing Day as Australia opt for local knowledge“It is great to see Glenn Maxwell returning to the game in the Big Bash League,” Hohns said. “We will closely monitor his form after what would have been disappointing 12 months in the one-day game by his standards.”Justin Langer, who will skip the tour to rest with Andrew McDonald taking charge, added: “We love what [Maxwell] can bring, but the truth is he hasn’t performed very well over the last 12 months. We had to take that into account. We are sure he’ll get back to his best and we look forward to that.”Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis have also been dropped after being part of the World Cup. Langer said that Khawaja and Marsh were especially unlucky to be left out. “They have played such great cricket. In a three-game series, you have David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steve Smith; it squeezes those two guys out who have been so important to the one-day side.”Australia’s ODI team has not played since the semi-final loss to England at Edgbaston and the selectors have opted to reward the players who were part of the two T20I series wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan as they start the next four-year cycle towards the 2023 World Cup.Nathan Lyon has also been overlooked despite being the second spinner in England and playing in Australia’s tour on India in February, with Adam Zampa and Agar being preferred.Turner, who underwent shoulder surgery after being omitted from the World Cup, returns while Peter Handscomb, who scored his maiden ODI hundred in India earlier this year and whose skills against spin were underscored by Langer, has been retained following his late call-up to the World Cup. Turner will also provide wicketkeeping cover.Nathan Coulter-Nile, the leading wicket-taker in this year’s Marsh Cup, misses out with Hazlewood recalled and Abbott, who played his only previous ODI in 2014, claiming the fifth fast-bowling spot. Jason Behrendorff is unavailable following his back surgery.”The performance of our white-ball squads has been strong, and we are hoping to build the momentum towards the T20 World Cup at home at the end of the year and ultimately build towards the 2023 World Cup in India,” Hohns said.”The performance of the top order at home through the T20 series was very strong so we look for that to continue in the Indian ODI series. We also believe Marnus Labuschagne is ready for his international white-ball debut after his strong form for Queensland in this form of the game.”Ashton Turner has proven himself in India with his ability to adapt to local conditions as did Peter Handscomb who joined the squad at the most recent World Cup. Peter also doubles as a back-up keeper if required while Ashton Agar adds to the squad with his all-round abilities.”In terms of the bowling group we are sticking with combination that are performing well. Sean Abbott and Kane Richardson are in the squad following the successful T20 campaign.”Adam Zampa and his growing combination with Agar is also something the selectors want to see more of while Nathan Lyon remains in the one-day squad selection frame.”The squad will be coached by McDonald, who was recently appointed as senior assistant coach, with Langer staying in Australia after being involved in all forms over the last 18 months.”As one of the leadership group it’s important to show that not only are we focussed on getting the balance right for the players but equally the coaches and staff, head coach included,” Langer said. “Macca (McDonald) is an exceptional coach in all forms of the game and has been fantastic since coming on board. He will do a great job with this squad. We are in very, very good hands.”Australia squad for the ODI tour of India Aaron Finch (capt), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vice-capt), Pat Cummins (vice-capt), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India head coach believes Dhoni remains in the race with Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jan-2020Experience, consistency, adapting to Australian conditions, explosive power, flamboyance. These are the criteria India head coach Ravi Shastri feels MS Dhoni can convert into currency to buy himself a ticket to the T20 World Cup, which will be held in October in Australia.Even as the MSK Prasad-led selection panel has been clear about moving on from Dhoni, questions about his future in the Indian side have not died down. Dhoni, who will turn 39 in July, has not played any cricket since he took a break after India’s semi-final exit at the ODI World Cup last July. Dhoni added to the intrigue recently when he asked to wait till January without revealing exactly what for.As far as Shastri is concerned, Dhoni remains in the race and will be fighting for the same spot as Rishabh Pant and possibly Sanju Samson. In a chat with Indian TV channel CNN-News18, Shastri said: “You will have to see who will do the job at what number, what role, who is the best guy. You will take experience into account. You will take youth into account. You will take flamboyance into account. And who fits into that number the best whether it is X, Y or Z. Plus we are playing in Australia (so) who will adapt to those conditions the best.”According to Shastri all three keeping options – Dhoni, Pant and Samson – possess the “explosive power” necessary to marshal the lower order.”They will all bat round [number] 5, 6… you will need power at the back, explosive power. All the three names you took, they all have that explosive power. (So) you will have to see consistency, experience, conditions – all that will come into play when the selectors look at it.”Recently Shastri had said that one can’t “fool around” with Dhoni, if he put himself in “contention” by having a good IPL later this summer. Shastri reiterated that point once again.”Good IPL, then he puts himself into contention. Then it is the selectors’ job to see what they want to do, but if he has a great IPL then he puts himself into contention.”But what if Pant and Samson also matched Dhoni with good numbers in the IPL? Shastri said experience and playing in Australian conditions would key determining factors in that case. “Then you will have to see: conditions come into play, experience comes into play, who will adapt best in those conditions.”Shastri also compared Dhoni to former India captain Kapil Dev, who continued playing international cricket into his late 30s, remaining fit till the end. “Would you put it beyond anyone if a guy is performing and the guy who has never had fitness problems in his entire career? For me, he (Dhoni) is like Kapil Dev. Kaps never had a problem right through his career.”

The former captain said he extended his career due to concerns about the inexperience in the team

Daniel Brettig13-Feb-2020Ricky Ponting has revealed his belief that the road leading Australia to the Newlands scandal had started years before when he became fearful of a decline in the level of senior experience around the national team to adequately mentor younger players as to how to conduct themselves.Speaking to a fundraising dinner of almost 500 guests for the Chappell Foundation at the SCG on Tuesday night, Ponting said that he could see a link between the anxiety about leadership in the Australian team, that saw him play on for several years after he might easily have retired, and the eventual crisis in South Africa that saw Steven Smith and David Warner banned for a year while stripped of their leadership roles. Cameron Bancroft, a more junior member of the side, was suspended for nine months.Put simply, Ponting said, all well-rounded teams needed senior figures around them who have the ability to “say no” when questions of character, ethics or sharp practice are raised. This was conspicuously absent at the height of the Newlands scandal.”I was a bit worried that with a lot of the experience going out of our team at the same time, that there would be a bit of a void left with experienced players to be able to say ‘no’ basically,” Ponting said. “If I look at where things got at Cape Town I just don’t think there were enough people around that team to say ‘no’ to some of those guys. Things got completely out of control. That’s very much an outsider’s view on it. I had nothing to do with the team really until the last couple of years around some Twenty20 cricket and the World Cup last year.”I probably should have retired three or four years earlier than I did but I was really worried about where the direction of the Australian cricket team was going if I wasn’t around. And I wanted to be around to help Warner and Smith and Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson. I wanted to help them through that initial phase of their international careers because I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for them.”Had Ponting retired at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season when he gave up the captaincy to Michael Clarke, he would have finished with 152 Tests, 12,363 runs and an average of 53.51, with 39 centuries. As it was, he stayed on until midway through the Test summer of 2012-13, adding two more hundreds and another nine Test match victories to take his career tally beyond 100. However, at the same time Ponting’s average was steadily eroded to 51.85 by the time of his last match in Perth against South Africa.”I was just a little bit worried with the void that was left on the experience side,” Ponting said. “Every great team that I played in, whether it be a club team or an Australian cricket team or a state team, there was always a lot of old hard heads around just to make sure when the younger guys came in that they understood what it meant to be playing for each of those teams. And if I had have retired … I was worried there wasn’t going to be enough people to point them in the right direction.”Working primarily as a commentator, Ponting kept a professional distance from the Australian side until he began to become involved in some T20 coaching from 2017 onwards, but his closeness to the set-up was greatly increased once his close friend Justin Langer became the senior coach in the wake of the Newlands scandal in 2018.”Having Justin around the national team now, I think we’ve already seen a bit of a change in behaviour and I think we’ve seen the public are really starting to enjoy and embrace the Australian cricket team again,” Ponting told the gathering. “Even looking at [Monday night], the way that David Warner spoke at the Australian Cricket Awards … wind the clock back 12 or 18 months, that wasn’t possible for him to do. I think he did a terrific job. And I think he’s slowly starting to gain a lot of the respect of the Australian public back again.”The Chappell Foundation, which collects funds for homeless youths, raised more than A$400,000 on the night, as Ponting and the foundation’s founder Greg Chappell also took guests on a guided tour of the Australian dressing room.

A bad start for the defending champions, the Jozi Stars, got worse as they lost their second match of the tournament to the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants

The Report by Firdose Moonda10-Nov-2019A bad start for the defending champions, the Jozi Stars, got worse as they lost their second match of the tournament to the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants. A typically windy afternoon in Port Elizabeth threatened to derail the home side, who dropped four catches in defense of their score of 167, but the experience of Chris Morris and Imran Tahir ensured the Giants opened their account with a 24-run win.Hello England batsmen, it’s KG The leader of South Africa’s attack has the opportunity to warm up for events later this summer when he came up against Jason Roy and needed only two balls to make an impression. Kagiso Rababa had Roy caught at fine leg with the second ball of the match and though it was not a particularly menacing ball – angling down leg – or a particularly poor shot – a flick that went wrong – it may start to plant a seed of doubt for what could take place ahead of England’s tour. Rabada has already dismissed Roy three times in nine ODIs and showed he still has an edge with white ball in hand.Old hands, young legs The Giants lost early wickets and were 49 for 4 in the seventh over, needing a repair job, when two of their most experienced players came together to provide the mid-innings impetus. Heino Kuhn and Farhaan Behardien, who played together at the Titans franchise and Northerns province before that, shared an 85-run fourth-wicket stand off 62 balls. They hit eight fours and a six in their partnership which means they ran the other 47 runs, often pushing for two when taking fielders on the long boundary on the leg-side. Stars’ captain Temba Bavuma acknowledged that the team’s fielding, against two of the quickest players between the wickets, let them down.Another half-century for Hendricks His team may not be in the best form but Reeza Hendricks certainly is and scored a second half-century in as many matches to set the Stars’ chase up strongly and soar to the top of the run-charts. Hendricks was dropped on 3 by Onke Nyaku backward-point and on 7 by Behardien at deep square leg. Hendricks lost his opening partner Chris Gayle four balls after the Powerplay ended but surged on regardless. His cover drive remains his signature stroke and it came out twice in his 70-run second-wicket stand with captain Bavuma.Chris Morris, the death bowler But even with Hendricks at the crease, the Stars were scoring a touch too slowly and needed 57 runs off the last five overs. Bavuma was caught at deep mid-wicket which punctured their efforts but then Chris Morris, who opened the bowling with two overs for eight runs, gave away just two runs off the 17th over to peg the Stars back.Hendricks was under pressure to make something happen and tried to clear long-on off Imran Tahir but was caught on the rope and the squeeze was on. Tahir gave away just six runs in his final over and took the crucial wicket of Hendricks to finish with figures of 4-0-24-1 but Morris was the hero of the last passage of play. He also bowled the 19th over, in which he dismissed Dan Christian and conceded nine runs, leaving Junior Dala to defend 31 runs off the final over.Overall, the Stars managed just 32 runs for the loss of four wickets in the final quarter of their innings, which was too little to take them over the line.

ESPNcricinfo previews the game between Australia and New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup

The Preview by Sriram Veera24-Feb-2011

Match Facts

February 25, Nagpur
Start time: 09:30 local time (04:00 GMT)
Where are the runs hidden?•Associated Press

Big Picture

It’s almost as if there is malicious glee that follows Australia’s so-called decline. Ashes lost? Yay! Ricky Ponting accidentally breaks a TV set? What irresponsible behaviour! Australia are struggling against spinners? Wonderful! In some ways, it’s human nature to gloat at Goliath’s fall. At the centre of the storm is Ponting, trying hard to regain his batting form, trying to hide the Ashes blot in his CV with another World-Cup triumph. In Australia’s previous victorious campaigns, Ponting has led from the front with the bat but this time a question mark hovers around that possibility. Australia’s campaign in this edition of the World Cup could well revolve around Ponting’s form at No. 3. He got couple of hard-earned fifties in the warm-up games and looked to be slowly progressing towards recovering his touch.The bowling is led by another ageing campaigner, Brett Lee, who is scripting a remarkable comeback. Much has been written about Australia’s attack which stands out for its naked violence. The feeling is that they will either scythe through the opposition or fail to control the run-flow on these batting tracks.On the other side, there is New Zealand, who are playing this game under the grim background of the Christchurch earthquake. “For a lot of the guys, coming to training has allowed them to take their mind off things,” Daniel Vettori said. New Zealand have had a poor build-up to the World Cup, but they started the tournament with a crushing win against Kenya. Their batting line-up looks quite strong with the likes of Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Scott Styris and it’s their bowling which looks a bit iffy. Will their seamers be able to adapt to these tracks? Much will depend on spinners Vettori and Nathan McCullum, who is likely to open the bowling with the new ball. New Zealand will hope that the pitch will take some turn and they can poke at Australia’s vulnerability against spin on these slow tracks. It should be an interesting battle.

Form guide

(Most recent first for the last five completed games)
Australia: WWWWL
New Zealand: LWLLL

Watch out for…

Shane Watson’s revival began here in India during the inaugural edition of the IPL. He adapted brilliantly and transformed himself into a smashing opener and took that form and confidence to the international stage. On Indian tracks, he likes to get on the front foot and scythe through the line. With Brad Haddin yet to learn the art of converting starts and with Ponting yet to get a regain his form completely, much will depend on Watson to set a solid platform.Nathan McCullum is not a bowler who causes sleepless nights to batsmen but he could play a crucial role if Vettori decides to give him the new ball. He is accurate and spins the ball just enough to pose some problems. How he handles the pressure of bowling against Watson, Haddin and co might well decide how New Zealand fare with the ball.

Team news

New Zealand have chosen their playing 12. Kyle Mills, Kane Williamson, and Luke Woodcock will miss out.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Jesse Ryder, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 James Franklin, 6 Scott Stryis, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Hamish Bennett, 11 Tim SoutheeAustralia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 David Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Jason Krezja, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Shaun Tait..

Stats and trivia

• Ricky Ponting is the player who has played the most World Cup games. He has played 40 matches, going past Glenn McGrath’s 39 appearances. He has also led Australia 23 times, the second-highest by any World Cup captain, after New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming (27). Australia are yet to lose a World Cup game under Ponting.
• In the game against Zimbabwe, Ponting became the fourth batsman in the World Cup to be run out on five occasions. The others are: Inzamam-ul-Haq (9), Asanka Gurusinha (6) and Javed Miandad (5)
• Australia have faced New Zealand 123 times and have won 84 games. In India, these two teams have played against each other seven times, with Australia victorious in all seven.
  

  Quotes

  “Nothing really changes from any team you’re playing in the subcontinent, you try and bowl straight at the wickets and you know you’re going to have to score a lot of runs. There’s no mystery to what we’re going to try to do, but the key when you come up against these big teams and big players is having the presence of mind to execute time and time again. That’s the toughest thing when you’re coming up against good players.”