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England’s stand-in coach expects “caged tigers” Stokes and Broad to make a mark in the SCG Test

Andrew McGlashan04-Jan-2022Pat Cummins continues to bask in the glory of retaining the Ashes in ruthless fashion, but has also lent a sympathetic ear to England’s off-field challenges with Covid-19, even as the visitors’ stand-in coach Graham Thorpe hoped that cricket could find a more sustainable way to deal with the ongoing challenges.Related

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England have had to prepare for the Sydney Test with a threadbare coaching staff, with four members, including head coach Chris Silverwood, isolating back in Melbourne after Covid was initially detected among family members that are part of the touring group.”They’ve sacrificed quite a lot to come over here,” Cummins said. “Two weeks’ quarantine, time away from families, some restrictions on what they can do, opposed to pre-pandemic. They’ve had some positive cases, the coach being away from this game, it’s been really tough for them. We are really thankful they are out here as part of the series.”Australia have also been impacted, with Travis Head ruled out of the fourth Test after testing positive, but that remains the only case in the camp even though Cummins was forced to miss the second Test in Adelaide after being deemed a close contact. Under the current government guidelines, he would have been free to play.Both teams wanted to avoid biosecure bubbles for this series and Cricket Australia has resisted tightening restrictions beyond their level-four protocols, which mean players can still dine outside and maintain a degree of freedom but that has brought additional risk, especially in Melbourne and Sydney.England’s hopes of bolstering resources by bringing in Adam Hollioake, who lives on the Gold Coast, were scuppered when he was also deemed a close contact and had to isolate. It has meant everyone has had to chip in with different roles, including the physios and analyst helping with fielding drills and players giving plenty of throwdowns. On Monday, Joe Root called on his players to use the adversity as motivation as they try to regain some pride after three thrashings saw the Ashes decided inside 12 days.Thorpe, who has taken charge in Silverwood’s absence, supported by James Foster and Ant Botha, admitted there had been distractions for the players. Numbers have skyrocketed in New South Wales in the last couple of weeks with over 20,000 per day and the squad has been tested daily since the first cases were detected in Melbourne, although that is now set to be relaxed somewhat.”[Covid] has always been lingering in the back and it has been distracting,” Thorpe said. “Not knowing whether you’ll be moving into the next venue, or whether your family is going to be in a hotel room for seven to ten days, similar with players. The constant testing day-in, day-out is a distraction.”I’d like to think we can find a better way around it in the future. I do understand it. Australia is in a very different situation. I’d like to think cricket can find a way around it because England have played a lot of cricket as well. A lot of our players have been in these environments for quite a while. Being able to look after their mental state of mind is very important.”Thorpe expects “caged tigers” Ben Stokes (in pic) and Stuart Broad ” to put in a performance” at the SCG•Getty Images

In terms of trying to turn their fortunes around on the field, Thorpe wants to see freedom from the players and made specific reference to Ben Stokes and the recalled Stuart Broad, who has made his displeasure of only playing once in the first three matches clear.”We’ve got a couple of caged tigers coming into this match, Ben being one of them and Stuart Broad is another,” Thorpe said. “They’ll want to put in a performance for themselves and collectively as a team and that’s been our focus over the last few days.”The batting line-up that capitulated for 68 in Melbourne has been given another chance, but Thorpe acknowledged that there were players fighting to keep their positions in the team. While his remit has been wider this week without Silverwood on duty, the major focus has remained on the batters.”You have to be able to find ways of throwing punches back at good bowling attacks,” he said. “I’ve always been one for trying to set up to score (and) then trust your defence if the ball is in the right area. So trying to keep that simple for the players. Also to show some character and fight and have the right attitude when we go on to the pitch this week. That’s absolutely paramount, match Australia for the competitiveness on the pitch.”You get knocked down sometimes in life, you do have to get back up. There’s no hiding place. Some players are trying to establish themselves in the team, that’s an opportunity, some you might say are trying to stay in the team and that’s an opportunity as well.”

The head of NCA believes that come October, the Covid-19 impact will hit Indian cricket more

Shashank Kishore31-Jul-2020Rahul Dravid, the former India captain, has all but ruled out the possibility of a full 2020-21 domestic season in India due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He stressed on the need for the BCCI to prioritise the tournaments they want to conduct in the limited time frame that could be available from after October-November.For context, a total of 2036 games, across various age groups in the men’s and women’s category, were played during the 2019-20 season. Under normal circumstances, July would have marked the start of the domestic season in India. Many associations, like TNCA and KSCA, have earlier used the window to conduct highly-competitive first-class matches in preparation for the domestic season.With India’s metro cities still under some sort of restrictions post the Covid-19 lockdown, associations have either indefinitely postponed or cancelled their tournaments, leaving hundreds of domestic cricketers uncertain. The National Cricket Academy, which Dravid heads, hasn’t resumed operations, and it’s unclear yet as to when a formal SOP will be released for the resumption of domestic cricket in the country.”Hopefully if we’re able to find a level of cure or vaccine even towards the end of the year, we’ll be in a position to be able to complete, even if not the whole domestic season, but large parts of it,” Dravid said in a webinar hosted by . “Obviously prioritising what that would be is important so that young boys and girls don’t miss out on cricket for a year. We’ve been lucky so far [that the pandemic started in March towards the end of BCCI’s domestic season], but come October, things might start getting stressful.”A few international tournaments have been cancelled and repositioned, and people can always find time and place for that, but once October comes around, that’s when I think it’ll start hitting us more. The next domestic season, for a lot of our young domestic players – juniors, Under-16s, Under-19s and women cricketers – start in October. If we aren’t able to get back to a level of normalcy from then – it could take longer – we’ll see the real impact on our domestic cricket and grassroots cricket. This year is probably more important for someone in his final year of Under-19s, than say for someone who is 23-24.”ALSO READ: England tour cancelled, T20 Challenge in doubt, no selection panel: What’s next for India women?Dravid welcomed the resumption of international cricket with the England-West Indies series last month, but emphasised it may not be easy to create similar biosecure bubbles in domestic or junior cricket. The senior men’s domestic calendar, for example, has 38 teams criss-crossing the length and breadth of the country for matches. In some cases, teams from the North East host matches at neutral venues citing infrastructural challenges. Such conditions will leave BCCI with several logistical challenges in hosting domestic tournaments.”It was nice to watch some live cricket with the England-West Indies series. They did a great job of ensuring the kind of environment they created,” he said. “I heard Jason Holder say much later that it was tough being in that [biosecure] environment for more than two months. But it was important that we got something going, and great that it got going without a hitch. But my worry is that in domestic or junior cricket, it [biobubbles] may not be easy to create.”Dravid also went to great lengths to explain the importance of IPL taking place for the well-being of the cricket ecosystem in India. He was specifically asked about the “BCCI’s desperation to host IPL” at a time when many world events, like the Tokyo Olympics, have been postponed.”I’m sure leagues like the IPL will be able to put in the kind of biosecure environments required, like what EPL, Bundesliga or what ECB did with the England-West Indies series,” he said. “I’m sure every effort will be made to do that. Let’s be honest. There is a lot of revenue that rides with tournaments like the IPL. I know if you’re cynical about it, you can only look at the money that the big players make or maybe the franchises or BCCI make, but where does that money go? It goes down to state associations, in conducting Under-19 and Under-16 tournaments, so a lot of the revenue associated with the game.”The fact of the matter is, none of the domestic sport actually generates any revenue. In fact, it costs a lot of money to hold. So if you want to give young boys and girls the opportunity to play, if you want to give them opportunities to express their talent, money has got to come from somewhere. The reality is, to conduct tournaments and develop high-class athletes, it costs money; there’s a financial element involved.”It’s easy to say we’re conducting [the IPL] it only because of the huge finances riding on it. I would like to think, without compromising on safety and ensuring all the SOPs are in place to conduct a safe and secure tournament, the money generated from the IPL filters all through our sport and helps fund junior and domestic cricket. That is why sporting organisations are keen to conduct these tournaments. They understand if we don’t have that revenue, not only will that tournament suffer but the ripple effect will be felt all the way down.”

Nearly a year after retirement, AB de Villiers said his staggered schedule has worked out well

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2019AB de Villiers’ decision to quit international cricket has made him sharper, the batsman said after putting in a Man-of-the-Match performance during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s first win of the season. De Villiers made an unbeaten 59 against Kings XI Punjab, his third fifty in seven games this season. Although that is a decent ratio, de Villiers has failed to get past 20 in four games, a return that has put strain on a Royal Challengers batting order that still depends majorly on his and Virat Kohli’s performances.De Villiers admitted that he had got himself out a couple of times without converting, but said that hadn’t bogged him down.”I’ve got too much respect for the game to be upset about that,” de Villiers said at the post-match presentation in Mohali. “Obviously I want to be there at the end every time, winning games for the team. I’ve hit the ball well, I’ve got in many times, and I just haven’t gotten far on a few occasions. But as I said, I’ve got too much respect for the game of cricket to get ahead of myself and get too hard on myself. You’re always just one knock away of from being in that confidence zone and hopefully I’ll maintain this kind of form throughout the tournament now.”Since his retirement in May 2018, de Villiers has played in four T20 tournaments – the Mzansi Super League, the Bangladesh Premier League, the Pakistan Super League, and the IPL. These appearances add up to 28 innings, eight of which have featured single-digit scores. Before this IPL season, he had made only four 50-plus scores during this period.De Villiers suggested that these up-and-down performances were not a consequence of his reduced playing time at the top level and that, if anything, the break has energised him.”That’s [being sharp’s] exactly the reason why I decided not to play international cricket, it’s to be as sharp as I can in other forms of the game around the world. I can’t keep playing 10-11 months a year and keep being sharp after 15 years of international cricket. This kind of tournament, I’m playing every now and then, every 2-3 months. [It] really keeps me energetic. I get to work with university guys back home. With some of the local guys and local youngsters, which really gives me the energy and really motivates me to be better for some of the youngsters back home and be an example for them,” he said.International cricket or not, de Villiers was gushing in his approval of Royal Challengers signing his former team-mate Dale Steyn. With the near-impossible task of keeping a perfect win record from here on to stay in contention for the playoffs, de Villiers said Steyn’s presence would boost the team.”I think it was a fantastic move to get Dale involved,” he said. “We all know what he’s capable of. One thing is for sure, you’ll get 200 percent from him. He’ll give his absolute best every single time he bowls for the team and it’s just going to be great to have a guy of that caliber and another great human being in our team.”Yes, we know what we have to do now – we have to win a lot of games of cricket, but the next step is Mumbai, at the Wankhede staium. We love playing cricket there. We’ll have to do our basics and bowl it up like we did today and hopefully more success is around the corner.”

Nepal scrape to four-wicket win after felling UAE for 114; Canada pick up third straight win after Gunasekera’s gritty half-century

The Report by Peter Della Penna11-Feb-2018Gerhard Erasmus’ resilient half-century resurrected a faltering Namibia chase, lifting them from 65 for 7 to a thrilling two-wicket win in their pursuit of 166 against Oman at the Wanderers Sports Club.Oman seemed well on course to victory as Bilal Khan cut through Namibia’s batting order with his maiden List A five-for. But Erasmus and JJ Smit survived the left-armer’s spell of swing bowling, and constructed a 92-run eighth-wicket stand to pump life back into Namibia’s hopes of promotion into the World Cup Qualifier.Oman had been under pressure when they batted as well, falling to 10 for 3 in the fifth over after being sent in in seam-friendly conditions. As he did a day earlier, when Namibia bowled out Kenya for 83, captain Sarel Burger had a minimum of two slips in place for nearly the entire innings.Jatinder Singh ground out a top-score of 29 off 71 balls – one of five 20-plus scores in the innings – to settle Oman’s early nerves, before a late flurry from the lower order hauled them to a modest total.Oman’s fielding was sloppy early on – and it cost them later as well – as several chances went down, allowing Namibia to reach 44 for 1. Lohan Louwrens had been driving Namibia’s chase early, but should have been out for 23 when he was spilled over the third man rope off Bilal for six. Bilal persisted with a short-ball plan until Louwrens was cramped for room and fended a catch behind to end the 12th over. Bilal struck for the second time in the 14th, beating JP Kotze for pace to send his off stump cartwheeling back.Erasmus entered after Nico Davin fell lbw to offspinner Jay Odedra in the 15th over, with the score on 61 for 4, but could only watch helplessly from the non-striker’s end as Bilal took three more wickets in the space of five balls in the 16th over. Craig Williams flashed an edge through to wicketkeeper-captain Sultan Ahmed, Jan Frylinck was beaten for pace to be trapped leg before, and Sarel Burger edged a drive low to first slip.With storm clouds hovering overhead, Namibia were well behind on Duckworth-Lewis, but Erasmus and Smit calmly blocked out the rest of Bilal’s initial eight-over spell. The pitch slowed down as the innings wore on, offering little to Oman’s spinners as Erasmus resurrected the chase with ones and twos. As the target whittled down to less than 50 in the 39th over, Sultan tossed the ball to Aqib Ilyas for his part-time legspin, but Erasmus swept him for four as the 300 fans in attendance sensed a home victory.A crunching pull from Erasmus off Fayyaz Butt in the 47th over brought up his fifty off 95 balls, and brought the equation down to 12 off 21 balls. Kaleemullah conceded just two in the 48th over, before Smit finally buckled in the 49th, pulling Butt to mid-on and leaving Erasmus to get nine off 10 balls with the tail.Three singles put Erasmus on strike with six to get off the final over. Pacer Mohammad Nadeem was tasked with defending it, bowling with the wind at his back. Erasmus then premeditated a scoop to clear fine leg inside the circle, but he didn’t get the desired elevation. The fielder reached up for the chance, but the ball burst through his hands, and had enough momentum to go for four. Another single to fine leg leveled the scores, before No. 10 Bernard Scholtz slapped a single through cover for the winning run.Sompal Kami’s 4 for 30 helped decimate UAE for 114 as Nepal scraped to a four-wicket win in a weather-affected match at United Cricket Field. Following a two-and-a-half-hour delayed start due to a wet outfield from overnight rain, Nepal won a crucial toss with play reduced to 34 overs a side and sent UAE in on a pitch that has heavily favored early seam movement throughout the tournament.Sunday was no different as UAE were behind the eight-ball throughout the match following Sompal’s opening spell. The short but whippy fast bowler struck with the third ball of the match, bowling Ashfaq Ahmed for a golden duck. Two more strikes by Sompal and Karan KC had UAE 25 for 3 in the eighth over before teenage legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane and captain Paras Khadka tore through the middle order to take 3 for 30 and 2 for 20 respectively. Sompal then returned to finish off the tail as UAE were bowled out in 31 overs.Nepal, who had struggled to chase Namibia’s 138 on day one before creeping over the line by one wicket, needed a half-century from Khadka after another top-order collapse saw them slip to 20 for 3 in the seventh over. Khadka counterattacked with five sixes in his 51 off 48 balls. Sompal then helped out with the bat too, smashing a six off his third ball before ending the match with a three to finish unbeaten on 10 off five balls.Opening batsman Ruvindu Gunasekera overcame a thumb injury to produce a gritty 83 off 99 balls and set up Canada‘s third straight win of Division Two with a 59-run victory over Kenya at Affies Park.Canada had been coasting early at 58 for 1 after being sent in with Gunasekera leading the way on 38 off 28 balls when he received a blow to the left thumb from medium-pacer Nelson Odhiambo that caused his fingernail to nearly come off. After leaving the field for treatment, he returned at 90 for 3 in the 23rd over and proceeded to anchor the rest of the innings, lasting until the third ball of the 49th over before he was eighth out to a rare hit-wicket dismissal trying to swat Nehemiah Odhiambo.Gunasekera’s innings ensured Canada had plenty to defend against a brittle Kenya batting line-up, who crossed 100 for the first time in three attempts at Division Two but still fell well short of the target. Captain Rakep Patel kept hope alive for a comeback with his 32 off 76 balls, but he was run out attempting to steal a single to short third man off Nikhil Dutta’s offspin; he couldn’t beat Navneet Dhaliwal’s relay to Hamza Tariq behind the stumps, and Kenya were 123 for 8. Dhaliwal also took 3 for 15 in eight overs of part-time medium pace to hasten victory.

Joe Root is expected to be available for the opening ODI of the series between England and India after missing the start of the tour to witness the birth of his first child

George Dobell09-Jan-20171:10

Root will be back in time for the first ODI – Morgan

Joe Root is expected to be available for the opening ODI of the series between England and India after missing the start of the tour to witness the birth of his first child.Root, England’s highest rated ODI batsman (he is currently No. 7 in the ICC’s rankings), is expected to fly to India on Wednesday (January 11) having been by his partner’s side as she gave birth to their son. The rest of the squad flew to India on January 5, which was the baby’s due date.England play two warm-up matches in Mumbai on January 10 and 12 before the first ODI in Pune on January 15. While Root’s plans have not been confirmed, the ECB hope he will be able to play in that second warm-up game and anticipate him being available for the first ODI.Speaking at the Brabourne Stadium ahead of Tuesday’s fixture, England’s one-day captain, Eoin Morgan, confirmed that the plan was for Root to slot back into the starting line-up at the earliest opportunity, adding that England’s itinerary in the coming weeks is sufficiently light to allow him plenty of time off before English season begins.”Joe is probably one of three players first on the list to be rested if there is an opportunity,” Morgan said. “We feel certainty given that this is a very short series and we have three weeks at home before the [tour of] West Indies, which is a bit of a light load of a series as well.”We have about two-and-a-half weeks to play three or four games, and then the lead into our summer is pretty casual really, when you look at the international calendar and the opportunity for him to rest.”I think the weigh-up for is international cricket over domestic cricket – the last thing we want to do is rest Joe in an international game and let him go back and play cricket for Yorkshire, feeling that pressure to play cricket for Yorkshire. So, there is always a debate between both, and we feel at the moment there is enough rest in between here and the Champions Trophy for him to feel fresh come the start of June.”Nevertheless, the lack of time available for Root to spend with his new family is symptomatic of the pressures created by England’s busy schedule. Alastair Cook faced a similar journey in October when he flew back to England from Bangladesh to witness the birth of his second child, but was only able to spend a few hours with his family before re-joining the tour in time for the first Test.England’s schedule once the English summer gets fully underway is one of the most intense of all time – they depart for Australia and New Zealand in October and, for those playing all formats, will not return until April – therefore such journeys are likely to become the norm.

ESPNcricinfo previews the first ODI between Pakistan and England in Abu Dhabi

The Preview by Alan Gardner10-Nov-2015

Match facts

November 11, 2015
Start time 3pm local (1100 GMT)

Big Picture

You have to zoom out a long way to get the wide angle on this series. England’s newly professed love for one-day internationals is focused on winning more than just hearts when the Champions Trophy and World Cup roll around on home soil in 2017 and 2019. Pakistan narrowly avoided being squeezed out by Bangladesh at the Champions Trophy cut-off six weeks ago (West Indies were the team to miss out) and they are also at the start of a new cycle under the captaincy of Azhar Ali.His tenure began with a first ever bilateral series loss against Bangladesh but Pakistan have since pulled out of their tailspin by beating Zimbabwe at home – amid emotions as heightened as the security – and away, as well as winning in Sri Lanka for the first time since 2006. New faces such as Mohammad Rizwan and Bilal Asif have made good impressions (and the latter has also had his action cleared), while the return of Younis Khan, so impressive against England in the Test series, gives Pakistan a wealth of experience to call upon.Younis has not played since the World Cup but should win his 265th ODI cap, alongside Mohammad Hafeez (169 ODI appearances) and Shoaib Malik (227) in Pakistan’s middle order. The only England player who comes close to those totals is the captain, Eoin Morgan, who has played 151 (of which 23 were for Ireland); Jos Buttler – who made his debut against Pakistan in the UAE three-and-a-half years ago – is next on the list with 61.In some senses, though, this young England team have already gone to places their predecessors never did. England’s first total of more than 400 was achieved during the summer, against New Zealand at Edgbaston, and their highest successful chase a few games later. Although a 3-2 defeat against Australia followed, Morgan will be intent upon consolidating the gains made, even if performances in this series are unlikely to have much of a bearing on the next two global 50-over tournaments (for reference, see England’s 4-0 win in the UAE in 2012).There are, of course, the rankings to bind all this together and, despite their improvements, sixth-placed England are actually being steadily reeled in by Bangladesh, in No. 7. Pakistan, a place below at No. 8, can’t catch either yet but a win would help ease them away from West Indies in the race for an automatic spot at the 2019 World Cup.Jos Buttler has been passed fit after a finger injury suffered in England’s warm-up win over Hong Kong•Getty Images

Form guide

Pakistan: WLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England: LWWLL

In the spotlight

He has only scored one ODI hundred since 2008 and admits he is looking for the right moment to retire but that is all the more reason to marvel at Younis Khan‘s latest comeback. Younis criticised the decision to leave him out after the World Cup, though he clearly does not have the ambition of making it to England in 2019, and has said since his recall that he wants to “leave on my own terms and conditions”. The evidence of the Test series, when he became Pakistan’s record run-scorer, suggests that he is in good shape to take control of his destiny.Morgan’s health has been a source of concern since he suffered concussion in his previous appearance but, when it comes to the more prosaic business of playing form, Jos Buttler is the focus of attention. Rested midway through the ODI series against Australia, then dropped for the final Test against Pakistan, Buttler has endured the most difficult spell of his international career to date. It is less than six months since he scored a 66-ball ODI hundred against New Zealand (marginally slower than his England record) and the hope is a return to limited-overs colours will free him up.

Team news

The recall for Younis might force Rizwan out of the XI, despite a solid start to his international career, with Pakistan’s main issue being how best to balance the side. Asif looks the prime candidate to support Yasir Shah in the spin department but Malik, fresh from Test retirement and career-best figures with the ball, filled that role in the warm-up against Nepal, allowing an for an extra batsman in Babar Azam. Azhar missed the final ODI of the tour of Zimbabwe with the toe injury that kept him out of the first two Tests against England but will resume at the top of the order.Pakistan (probable): 1 Azhar Ali (capt), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Bilal Asif/Mohammad Rizwan/Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Yasir Shah, 11 Mohammad IrfanMorgan is set to play his first competitive match since being hit on the head by Mitchell Starc back in September. Buttler has been passed fit after suffering a finger injury in England’s warm-up win over Hong Kong and will retake the gloves from Jonny Bairstow, while the absence of Ben Stokes – who hurt his collarbone during the third Test but would have sat out this series anyway – means James Taylor should stay in the XI despite Joe Root’s return after he was rested against Australia. Liam Plunkett and Chris Jordan are the other pace-bowling options in the squad.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 James Taylor, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 David Willey, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

Both sides will be hoping for a livelier surface than that on which the Test took place, and last year New Zealand made scores of 299 for 5 and 275 for 4 batting first in Abu Dhabi – though fielding restrictions have been changed again since then. An afternoon start should mean cooler temperatures and the challenge of chasing under lights.

Stats and trivia

• England have won seven of nine ODIs against Pakistan in the UAE
• Of the 15 players who took part in England’s series whitewash in 2012, only Morgan and Buttler remain (though Steven Finn would have been involved but for injury)
• Shoaib Malik needs 10 runs to become the ninth Pakistani to score 6000 in ODIs

Quotes

“We’ll try to dominate with the bat, especially the spinners who haven’t bowled much in the subcontinent and UAE conditions.”
“White-ball cricket is something he prides himself on. In the last four years, he’s been outstanding and has shown glimpses of world-class ability.”

Ryan Harris, the Kings XI Punjab fast bowler, has returned to Australia from the IPL after being diagnosed with an Achilles tendon injury

Amol Karhadkar25-Apr-2013Ryan Harris, the Kings XI Punjab fast bowler, has returned to Australia from the IPL after being diagnosed with an Achilles tendon injury. Harris left India on Tuesday, the night before he was named in Australia’s squad for the Ashes in England this summer.Harris, 33, had played in Kings XI’s first three games of the season before sustaining the injury. Once the nature of his injury was ascertained the Kings XI management, in consultation with Cricket Australia’s medical team, deemed it fit for Harris to return to Australia.If Harris’ rehabilitation goes as planned, he could recover well in time for the Ashes. “Harris has been ruled out for six to eight weeks, so it was best for him to be released and recover at home,” Arvinder Singh, the Kings XI chief operating officer, told ESPNcricinfo. “We will name his replacement in a day or two.”Harris has a history of injuries and this latest setback is unlikely to go down well in Australia. After missing most of the domestic season, Harris had recovered in time play three Sheffield Shield games. His haul of 19 wickets in those matches for Queensland earned him a place in the Ashes squad, which is being touted as Australia’s weakest since the 1980s.

Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, has openly questioned Australia’s readiness to battle the spin of Devendra Bishoo after the tourists were made to look ordinary by a modest pair of local slow bowlers in their only warm-up for the Caribbean Tes

Daniel Brettig in Barbados04-Apr-2012Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, has openly questioned Australia’s readiness to battle the spin of Devendra Bishoo after the tourists were made to look ordinary by a modest pair of local slow bowlers in their only warm-up for the Caribbean Test series.Having struggled to read and play the offbreaks and variations of the IPL-bound Sunil Narine in the limited-overs matches, Australia’s batsmen will soon be pitted against Bishoo, winner of the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year award for 2011 after a series of wily performances against India’s spin-conversant batsmen at home and away.Bishoo’s four most recent appearances for Guyana in the regional first-class competition have reaped 24 wickets, and his skills are far in advance of those used by Ryan Austin and the part-time wrist-spinner Nkrumah Bonner at the Three Ws Oval. Baugh had little hesitation pointing this out, and also Australia’s periodic difficulties against quality slow bowlers down the decades.”To be honest, over the years Australia doesn’t play spin that well,” Baugh said. “Not taking away anything from them, they’re pretty good players, but tradition follows on from the years that they’re not the best players of spin.”It is pretty interesting because Austin is a natural offspin bowler and Bonner is pretty much a part-time legspin bowler, so it was pretty interesting to see what others can do, especially Devendra Bishoo and other spin bowlers.”Bishoo was hidden from Australia’s view during the ODIs and Twenty20s, and Baugh said this sleight of hand “could be [an advantage], and on Bishoo’s day you never know what can happen”.Watching from behind the stumps as captain of the WICB President’s XI, Baugh saw Michael Clarke make a smooth 30 and Ricky Ponting a brief 13. He reasoned that the visitors’ preference for faster surfaces had contributed to a mediocre first innings of 214 for 9 declared.”Today for them wasn’t the best day in terms of how the wicket was playing, they are accustomed to wickets coming on just like in Australia,” Baugh said. “This wicket wasn’t the best and they struggled a little bit. Hopefully when the Test matches start if we can continue to keep them on that road, eventually we should surprise them.”Our team is growing in confidence and you can see what we’ve been putting in and it’s paying off, so we’re just taking it one step at a time, and hopefully we can be very much competitive, just like the one-day series. They weren’t at their best as you can see and they played a few batters short, but at the same time it is the Australian team and I think we bowled pretty well in patches. To restrict them to 214 even though they had declared, we still got nine wickets and that is a plus for us.”Shane Watson, the touring vice-captain, admitted the Australians were “not entirely” happy with how they had gone in their pursuit of a smooth segue to day one of the series.”We would have liked guys going on to get bigger scores and a bit more consistent batting but the practice matches are here for the guys to adjust to conditions as well as we can and get some time in the middle,” Watson said. “It’s certainly better than training. It’s more to get out of it as much as you can. So far most batters have had enough time in the middle to get their head around their game plans are going to be on these types of wickets.”As for Bishoo, Watson said he was formulating his method to combat the Guyanese legspinner. “I’ve seen a fair bit of him already because there was a chance he was going to play the one-day series and the Twenty20s,” Watson said. “I’ve already had a fair look at his footage so far and I’ve seen the way he bowled throughout the World Cup for the West Indies very closely.”Without playing him I’ve got an idea of what his skills are and how he’s going to bowl, it’s moreso until you get out there and see what he’s doing and whether the wicket is turning before you know how big a challenge he’s going to be. There’s no doubt he’s got some really good skills. It’s going to be a good challenge for our batting group.”

Zimbabwe spinner Ray Price has joined Mumbai Indians’ squad in the Indian Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2011Zimbabwe spinner Ray Price has joined the Mumbai Indians squad for the remainder of the 2011 IPL season as a replacement for Australian allrounder Moises Henriques, who did not travel to India after having surgery in March for an adductor muscle injury.Price was unsold at the original IPL player auction in January and Mumbai have now bought him at his reserve price of $50,000. He joined the squad a day before their eight-run win over Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium.Price was Zimbabwe’s leading wicket-taker during the World Cup with nine wickets at an average of 18.77 and economy-rate of 3.44. He becomes the second Zimbabwean to be involved with the IPL after Tatenda Taibu, who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the first season of the tournament.Price has built a reputation as a canny and bellicose limited-overs bowler and has risen to second place in the ICC’s ODI bowler rankings after his performance at the World Cup. “Obviously you learn more as you get older and I think that has been the case with me and I’m very happy with the way things have been going for me at the moment,” he had told after regaining the No. 2 spot.”When I started playing international cricket, one of my goals was to finish at the top and being ranked No. 2 in the world is nice but my goal now is to move up to No. 1. The busier season ahead will be a good opportunity for us to do well against the top-ranked teams and we have some time to prepare for that.”In addition to Zimbabwe’s upcoming series against Bangladesh, Australia A and Pakistan, Price has an IPL stint in which to hone his skills.

In an intriguingly balanced match on a testing pitch, Hampshire have a platform from which they might just lift their spirits after a woefully poor beginning to the season with a win over the First Division leaders

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge18-May-2010
Scorecard
In an intriguingly balanced match on a testing pitch, Hampshire have a platform from which they might just lift their spirits after a woefully poor beginning to the season with a win over the First Division leaders. It is an unsteady platform, for sure, represented by a lead of just 35 runs, but after losing four of their first five matches in the Championship, to be in with a chance at the half-way stage in this one must feel like progress.Much will depend, of course, on how they bowl on day three, given that a big target on the last day could be a daunting prospect for a batting line-up lacking Michael Carberry as well as Michael Lumb and Dimitri Mascarenhas. Variable bounce is likely to be a factor on a dry, cracked pitch.They will look again to Jimmy Adams, who missed out by four runs on a first century of the campaign but was the fulcrum nonetheless of a steadfast performance from Hampshire, whose record contrasts with Nottinghamshire’s four wins from four.It could be a good moment, too, for Neil McKenzie, the former South African Test batsman, to properly prove his value to the county after a slow start to his Hampshire career. The way in which he ended a run of low scores with a first half-century in the Championship perhaps signalled a timely return to form.Two partnerships were pivotal on day two, the first of which saw Adams and Chris Benham add 115 after the loss of nightwatchman James Tomlinson left them 39 for 2.At the start of it, Darren Pattinson bowled superbly, maintaining excellent control, finding movement off the pitch as well as through the air and beating the bat repeatedly. He looked a bit like the Pattinson of two years ago, before he earned his solitary and controversial Test call-up. James Whitaker, the England selector, was looking on, as he often was then, although it would be a surprise if he is mentioned in dispatches this time.Charlie Shreck was no less impressive and when he and Pattinson gave way, Andre Adams and Paul Franks kept up the pressure. In an enthralling contest, the Hampshire pair were made to work for their runs.Indeed, their application was impressive, in particular from Jimmy Adams, who grafted for 153 balls to get to 50, although he should have been caught at second slip off his namesake’s bowling on 37, Neil Edwards spilling the chance.Benham, who had a painful blow on the elbow facing Adams the bowler, survived a difficult chance to the wicketkeeper off Pattinson on 20 soon after lunch.Adams at last found an opportunity to attack when Nottinghamshire introduced Samit Patel’s left-arm spin an hour into the afternoon session. His next 46 runs came much more briskly, all bar six of them in boundaries, but Nottinghamshire regained the initiative again when Shreck broke the stand by bowling Benham.Then Franks, who had been turned down in a vigorous appeal for lbw moments earlier, found some extra bounce and movement to Adams, who was caught behind off a thin contact and walked without waiting for the umpire’s verdict.Franks, whose all-round talents saw him accelerated into the England one-day side a decade ago only for a knee injury to blunt his progress, has been in and out of the Nottinghamshire side in recent years but seems to be thriving again now, with Mark Ealham’s retirement offering the chance to forge a permanent place. Full of confidence, he struck again four balls later in the same over, James Vince hitting him straight to Steven Mullaney at midwicket. Vince is a young man who might interest Whitaker and company at some stage, but not on this occasion.With his quick demise, Hampshire were five down and still 102 adrift. Nottinghamshire sensed a chance to take the upper hand decisively.But McKenzie and Nic Pothas had other ideas. Adding 74 in 23 overs, they swung the balance again towards Hampshire before, Pattinson, with the new ball, trapped McKenzie leg before with a fuller delivery.Adams, whose last spell was his best, dismissed Pothas and mopped up the tail to finish with 4 for 56, but not before Sean Ervine had eked out a valuable unbeaten 31 for a lead of 35.