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Hrishikesh Kanitkar has been ruled out of Rajasthan’s next game against Madhya Pradesh, and with the team having gained only two points so far in this season, his absence will be a blow

Amol Karhadkar in Jaipur16-Nov-2012Instead of celebrating Diwali – and his 38th birthday – at home, Hrishikesh Kanitkar chose to prepare for Rajasthan’s next Ranji Trophy game, against Madhya Pradesh at the KL Saini Stadium in Jaipur from Saturday.However, instead of celebrating his birthday with his team-mates, Kanitkar had to rush to a hospital and get an MRI scan done on his left calf, which he had injured during a fielding session on Wednesday. The results confirmed on Friday what Kanitkar and the Rajasthan camp had feared – he would be unavailable for the game against MP.He has led Rajasthan to back-to-back Ranji titles and has been the in-form batsman for his team, having scored a century against Mumbai last week. Coincidentally, even last season, after scoring a century against Mumbai, Kanitkar missed the next game due to an injury.His absence is a big blow but the Rajasthan camp is hoping to derive positives from the “uncontrollable” incident. “Hrishi bhaiyya’s absence is a jolt no doubt, but we are treating it as an opportunity for Puneet Yadav,” stand-in captain Vineet Saxena, who will be leading Rajasthan for the first time in a Ranji game, said on the eve of the game. “It is up to Puneet to cash in on the chance that is presented to him and try and minimise the impact of his [Kanitkar’s] absence.”Yadav has been on the fringes of Rajasthan’s side, and has featured in six first-class games, though he hasn’t yet been able to establish himself in the side. And if the wicket at the KL Saini Stadium remains as green as it was the day before the match, he will have a challenge ahead.But more than banking on Yadav, Saxena hoped that the rest of the Rajasthan batsmen would perform consistently in order to at least gain three points for the first-innings lead. The likes of Robin Bist, last season’s highest run-getter, and young batsman Ashok Menaria have failed in Rajasthan’s opening game against Bengal, and though Saxena and Kanitkar batted well against Mumbai, their bowling performance hurt them.”We have discussed the need for being consistent in all departments,” Saxena said. “Our batsmen and bowlers have clicked once in two games so far, but if the team has to do well, it should happen collectively. All that we have been discussing is if every individual performs his designated role, it will help the team in a great way.”While Rajasthan have been pondering over how best to fill Kanitkar’s absence, MP will be hoping their seasoned players do the job for them. Captain Devendra Bundela, a veteran on the domestic circuit, was banking on Naman Ojha, the only international in MP’s line-up, Jalaj Saxena, and himself, to rise to the challenge against the defending champions. While the experienced players will hope to help MP maintain their position among the top three teams of the group, young Harpeet Singh, who is expected to be included in the team, will be keen to cement his place in the side.With two points from as many games, Rajasthan need an outright victory to get the campaign on track. Kanitkar’s absence makes that target a lot tougher. “It’s obviously very disappointing for the whole team, not just him and me,” Rajasthan coach Meyrick Pringle said. “For Rajasthan, he plays a formidable role in the line-up of the side. Not only does he play a big role with his batting, but also his captaincy… he is a big hero here. Everybody loves the guy and he adds huge value, so it’s a huge loss to the side for this game, especially because we have to win it.”It remains to be seen if Kanitkar’s absence ends up motivating his team-mates more than helping MP, a team he represented for two seasons before joining Rajasthan in 2010-11.

ESPNcricinfo previews the CLT20 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and South Australia

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit04-Oct-2011

Match facts

Royal Challengers Bangalore v South Australia, October 5, Bangalore
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Will Daniel Vettori be able to hold the Royal Challengers attack together again?•Associated Press

Big Picture

The final Champions League Twenty20 semi-final spot will be decided by the result of the last league game. A win will do for both sides, though Royal Challengers Bangalore would want the victory margin to be big enough to take their net run-rate past the Warriors in case they lose narrowly to Somerset. Both teams will know exactly what to do as they play last but the Royal Challengers will still need their bowlers to defend well, something they have failed to do for two-and-a-half of their three games.While the Royal Challengers’ dependence on Chris Gayle reached unhealthy proportions during the IPL itself, what has hurt them more in this tournament has been the inability of their bowlers to use the weight of runs to exert pressure. They finally managed to get it right against Somerset and managed to hold them off after a nervy first half of the chase.The small boundaries and quick outfield of the Chinnaswamy Stadium do make it a tough ground to defend totals, something Daniel Vettori has acknowledged. But three straight losses at the toss haven’t helped the Royal Challengers and Vettori will be hoping for more luck on that front against South Australia. They will also hope that the weather forecast of clear skies holds good, but having experienced the fickleness of the Bangalore rain on numerous occasions now, they won’t be betting against a washout.South Australia wouldn’t wish for rain either, having already had their game against Somerset in Bangalore abandoned. They have jettisoned their three-spinner combination for these conditions, an approach that gave them their only win against Kolkata Knight Riders. They had spoken of coming back with intensity and bravery after their opening loss to the Warriors. If Gayle clicks again, they’ll need the ability to hang in there as well.

Watch out for …

After two indifferent outings, Dirk Nannes responded strongly in the crucial match against Somerset, troubling them with pace, nip, bounce and his left-arm angle. His working over of Jos Buttler was skillful and relentless. Also helping him was the moisture in the pitch due to the rain earlier. To face his countrymen will be added motivation for him.Callum Ferguson is a batsman who likes to time the ball more than bludgeon it. He showed that he could shift gears effortlessly, though, against the Knight Riders in Hyderabad, moving from 23 off 24 to 70 off 40, clearing the longer boundaries at that ground quite comfortably. The ball has come on better at the Chinnaswamy, something he should enjoy.

Team news

South Australia have settled on a bowling attack of two spinners and two seamers. Shaun Tait hasn’t been part of that combination after a poor first game. Given the size of the boundaries and the speed of the outfield in Bangalore, they would not want to risk playing him and should be fielding an unchanged side.The Royal Challengers brought in Arun Karthik to free Tillakaratne Dilshan of the wicketkeeping responsibilities against Somerset. They also persisted with Raju Bhatkal and Syed Mohammad. The same XI could be playing tomorrow.

Stats and trivia

• Three of the five highest totals in this tournament have been scored in Bangalore
• Daniel Vettori has been the Royal Challengers’ best bowler by some distance, his five wickets coming at 6.50 runs per over

Quotes

“One mistake any team can make is to plan too much just for Gayle. Their top four is good and even in the middle they have some good players. Virat Kohli, Dilshan and [Saurabh] Tiwary are all playing really well.”

The storied Irani Cup, once the curtain-raiser for the cricket season in India, has this year been consigned to a sideshow, as it coincides exactly with the first Test between India and Australia in Mohali

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit30-Sep-2010

Match Facts

Friday, October 1, Jaipur

Start time 0930 am (0400 GMT)Yuvraj Singh will have a point to prove after being axed from the Test squad•AFP

The Big Picture

The storied Irani Cup, once the curtain-raiser for the cricket season in India, has this year been consigned to a sideshow, as it coincides exactly with the first Test between India and Australia in Mohali. Not that it will make much of a difference to those on the fringes of the Indian team, who will use the chance to impress the national selectors.There are the usual suspects like S Badrinath, who must be wondering what has gone wrong with his fledgling Test career. After playing in the home series against South Africa this year, he now stands behind Suresh Raina and Cheteshwar Pujara in the fight for the No. 6 slot.It was Sourav Ganguly’s non-selection for the Irani Cup two years ago that eventually opened up a position in the fortress that India’s middle-order has been in recent years. That no one has since claimed that spot as his own only shows what a huge hole remains to be filled once the other three slots fall vacant.The Rest of India side is filled with batsmen who are potential Test candidates when the stalwarts currently occupying the Indian middle-order retire. While Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund had fine tours of England with the A team, Virat Kohli has become a regular member of the one-day squad and Saurabh Tiwary has also been a part of the senior squad for the past couple of ODI series.The captain, Yuvraj Singh, hasn’t hidden his disappointment at being axed from the Test side. The selectors wanted him to play this game to get some match practice before the ODIs against Australia but this is his chance to prove he is still worthy of a Test place.Meanwhile, the composition of the pace attack shows who are the current flavours in India’s revolving-door approach towards fast bowling. Last year’s squad had Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Sudeep Tyagi and Sreesanth. While Sreesanth is away on national duty in Mohali, none of the other three are in this year’s squad (Munaf is not in any of the three Challenger Trophy teams as well). They have been replaced by Saurashtra’s Jaydev Unadkat, Vidarbha’s Umesh Yadav, and the Karnataka pair of Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun. Unadkat and Yadav didn’t do too well against the Australians in the tour game in Chandigarh, and would be hoping for a better show in Jaipur.The other team, Mumbai, have now finished runners-up in their five previous appearances in the Irani Cup. The 39-time Ranji Trophy champions are not used to finishing second-best so often. Wasim Jaffer, their captain, is keen to add another trophy to his already large collection of domestic titles. “I am aware that we have not won the Irani Trophy for the past 12 years and we would give our best to break the jinx.”While Pujara’s 60-plus first-class average has been highlighted before, and after, his Test call-up, Ajinkya Rahane would feel that an average of almost five runs more than Pujara should keep him in the reckoning if the selectors are looking for a top-order batsman. An unbeaten century against the Australians in Chandigarh has further bolstered his case. Another big innings would do his prospects no harm. It’s also time for a certain Rohit Sharma to show why he had been considered as a possible replacement for Ganguly at one time.

Squads

Rest of India (from): Yuvraj Singh (capt), Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, S Badrinath, Saurabh Tiwary, Parthiv Patel (wk), Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Manish Pandey, Abhimanyu Mithun and Ravindra Jadeja
Mumbai (from): Wasim Jaffer (capt), Ajit Agarkar, Omkar Gurav, Harmeet Singh, Murtuza Hussain, Iqbal Abdulla, Omkar Khanvilkar, Sahil Kukreja, Dhawal Kulkarni, Usman Malvi, Sushant Marathe (wk), Abhishek Nayar, Ramesh Powar, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma

Quotes

“I am not aware what goes around. I too was surprised at not being chosen. I am not aware why I was axed.”
“We have become used to their absence. Due to the busy international calendar they often skip domestic matches.”

South Africa’s centurion frustrated by preparations after to-and-fro flights between Pakistan and Dubai

Danyal Rasool05-Mar-20253:51

Philander: ‘Honest conversations will need to happen’

Soon after New Zealand had wrapped up a convincing victory that secured safe passage into the final of the Champions Trophy, Kane Williamson and David Miller bumped into each other. They were blocking each other’s path in the doorway of the press-conference room; Williamson had just finished media duties, and Miller was about to start. There was a convivial smile, and a warm hug. Williamson left, while Miller, the disappointment on his face writ large, stayed back.That congeniality between the two turned out to be more than just a passing sentiment as Miller expressed his preference for the final that his side will yet again miss out on. “I’ll be honest with you. I think I’ll be supporting New Zealand,” he said.New Zealand and South Africa have often got along with each other, but at this tournament, Miller’s well-wishes may have stemmed from the empathy of shared experiences. Over the last week, New Zealand and South Africa have each made trips to Dubai and back from Pakistan. New Zealand played India in their final group game there on Saturday, before returning in the small hours of Monday morning to play this semi-final.South Africa, meanwhile, flew out to Dubai from Karachi on Sunday after playing against England the previous day, to guarantee they would have enough time to prepare for an earlier semi-final in Dubai. As the results came clear, it turned out that they would not need to play there after all, and took the next flight back to Lahore, barely 12 hours after landing in Dubai.”It’s only an hour-and-40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that [was not ideal],” Miller said. “It’s early morning, it’s after a game, and we had to fly. Then we got to Dubai at 4pm. And at 7.30 in the morning we had to come back. It doesn’t make it nice. It’s not like we flew five hours, and we had enough time to recover and recuperate. But it was not an ideal situation still.”Related

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In this semi-final, however, he acknowledged New Zealand were the better side and deserved winners. The game ended on a bittersweet note for Miller, who got to an unbeaten 67-ball hundred off the final ball of the contest. It gave him the opportunity to rock his arms back and forth to celebrate the recent birth of his son but Miller said he would “rather have played badly” and South Africa had won.”There were really good contributions, a couple of fifties up front. We had a really good foundation. Unfortunately, in the middle, we lost a couple of wickets too many. At the end of the day, it’s a team effort. Everyone’s trying out there to do their best. It would have been nice to have a rematch against India. But life is not fair sometimes. Anyone has to work really hard to achieve trophies.”Ultimately, perhaps, the tie was snatched out of South Africa’s hands in the first innings, despite Miller’s destructive ability. New Zealand won the toss and batted first, having what Miller thought were the better of the conditions, particularly with the lack of assistance for spin under the sun.”It’s not easy chasing 360 [363] even if it’s a good wicket. There was no dew, so I think the wicket just deteriorated as the game went on. They spun the ball a lot more than us. It’s just they got a little bit more purchase out of the wicket.”Though he made his preference for the final clear, it did not amount to a prediction. “They’re both incredibly good teams,” Miller said. “India have shown the world how really good they are. They’ve been playing some good cricket for a number of years now and they’ve got some seriously good players. It’s going to be a great game.”

“It’s a big moment for the whole team, but also whole Afghanistan as well,” Mohammad Nabi says

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-20232:38

Mumtaz: Panic should have set in for Pakistan during the Asia Cup

After seven defeats to Pakistan in ODIs, Afghanistan finally got one back, in Chennai on Monday. While Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, who scored the winning run, said the win “tastes sweet”, veteran allrounder Mohammad Nabi said this win was bigger than the one against England earlier in the tournament.”This win tastes nice. The way we chased was very professional,” Shahidi said at the post-game presentation ceremony. “The quality cricket we are playing for the last couple of years… the belief was there when we were playing Asia Cup also. At the start of the tournament, I said we want to make this tournament historic for our country’s people. First was England, today Pakistan, and looking forward for the other games.Nabi was thrilled to finally get a win over Pakistan in the format. “It’s a big moment for the whole team, but also whole Afghanistan as well,” he said. “We have been waiting for the last 10-12 years. We have played around eight games against Pakistan, and we won one game in a big event.Related

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“It’s a big achievement for the guys. From the last three months, we’ve been working very hard. We played a series against Pakistan, then Asia Cup, and then come here to the World Cup. It’s a lovely moment today. We beat England as well, and now Pakistan. The team is confident now. And the team knows if we score around 280-290 on this kind of surface, it’s defendable and chaseable as well.”I think this is the favourite win, against Pakistan, because [earlier] in the last moments, we used to lose the game [to Pakistan]. Now the way Ibrahim [Zadran] and[[Rahmanullah] Gurbaz started the game, it was a fantastic start. The momentum from that, Rahmat Shah and the captain gave a lovely partnership.”We play against them the first game in 2014 [2012]. Then Asia Cup, then 2015 World Cup [they didn’t play each other in that tournament], then again Asia Cup, T20 World Cup and 2019 World Cup… a lot of close games. And this is a fantastic moment.”Half-centuries from Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam helped Pakistan post 282 in Chennai but a 130-run opening partnership between Ibrahim and Gurbaz laid the platform for Afghanistan’s chase, which was then completed by Rahmat and Shahidi without any hiccups.1:21

Has Noor Ahmad done enough to be a regular in the first XI?

Ibrahim earned the Player-of-the-Match award for his assured 87 in the chase, putting on big partnerships with first Gurbaz and then Rahmat. In the eyes of the adjuticators, that topped Noor Ahmad’s 3 for 49, the wickets those of Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam.”Thankful that I performed well in this kind of big event,” Ibrahim said after the match. “I would say I wanted to play with a positive intent, with a positive mindset, so that’s why I did it.”He credited his long history of playing with Gurbaz for giving Afghanistan solid starts with the bat at the World Cup so far – this was the fourth 100-plus partnership between the two, all of them coming in 2023.”Many times Gurbaz and me, we have done a brilliant partnership together,” he said. “Few times, not [just] today. We have played a lot of cricket together, right from the Under-16 days. We have a good communication while batting.”

“Sometime in between, I was not enjoying because sometimes you take a lot of pressure”

Sruthi Ravindranath07-Jul-2022India’s white-ball captain Harmanpreet Kaur has attributed her current form with the bat to a bit of “self-talk” and the fact that she has “enjoyed” being in the middle. She is also glad she now has the “freedom” to bowl regularly, something she said wasn’t possible earlier because of the “game plans”.After playing a crucial role in India’s 2-1 win in the T20I series, Harmanpreet racked up 119 runs across the three ODIs, including an 88-ball 75 in the third ODI, to take her team to a clean sweep in her first series as the full-time captain in the format. She bagged Player-of-the-Series awards in both formats. While admitting that she wasn’t enjoying her cricket for a while in the past, she is “relaxed and happy” all the plans worked out well on the tour.”For me, it’s always important that I should enjoy each and every moment,” Harmanpreet said. “Sometime in between, I was not enjoying because sometimes you take a lot of pressure – it happens with anyone. I was going through those things but now I have made a plan that I have to enjoy. Whatever the situation, I’ll try to stay there and give the start the team needs. That’s what I’ve been trying in the last few months.”Moreover, the way the team is responding is something I’m enjoying more. Because when you have experienced players with you, they want to support you in all the parts. Our medium-pacers – I actually wanted to give more opportunities to them. I’m happy they have grabbed that opportunity. We were always depending on spinners in the first few overs but they took the responsibility and gave those results. When whatever you have planned goes your way, you are going to enjoy it. Maybe that was the reason I was more relaxed and happy because everything was going according to our plans [in the series].”Harmanpreet also contributed with the ball in both series, taking two wickets in the three ODIs with her offspin. Out of 121 ODIs she has played so far, she has bowled in 68, taking 31 wickets, but she hinted that she could be bowling more regularly in the coming days. In the third ODI, she bowled five overs and picked the crucial wicket of Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu.”I think before we came here, I had a self-talk that I have to give my 100% and it was important that I get runs in this series,” she said. “I’m very happy I got wickets also because I want to bowl and I was always keen to bowl. I was really happy that I was able to do both things.”I had also told our head coach [Ramesh Powar] that I was available for bowling [earlier] but because of some game plans, I didn’t get to bowl. I was lucky that in the last game [India played at the 2022 World Cup], I got a few overs to bowl. I have been planning for a long time that I should get to bowl [more]. I am glad I was able to get those breakthroughs. I always wanted to bowl and I’m glad I [now] have the freedom to bowl.”Earlier this year, Harmanpreet spoke about being more comfortable batting at No. 4 than No. 5 but on Thursday, she walked in at No. 6. She later revealed that the plan was to bat even lower down the order so that others can get a chance to bat in the middle ahead of the Commonwealth Games, which begin later this month. But she had to come out at No. 6 after India lost the wickets of Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol in space of three balls, leaving them 94 for 4.”We wanted to give chance to our top five batters… if Harleen [Deol] can get some time at the wicket and Richa [Ghosh] also. But we lost two wickets early and I had to go otherwise we were only looking if others can get a chance to bat. The CWG is very important, and for me, it’s important that the batting unit should get enough balls to bat. That’s the reason we shifted my batting order because I got a good amount of batting in this tournament.”She was also impressed with Pooja Vastrakar, who negotiated Sri Lanka’s spin threat and scored an unbeaten 56 off 65 balls from No. 8.”She [Vastrakar] has been showing she can bat also. One thing we discuss in the dressing room is that whoever is going to bat, that person is capable of getting runs for the team [regardless of their batting position] and whoever is bowling can take a wicket. Whoever is in the playing XI is capable of doing both things. Pooja Vastrakar has done really well so far and I think that batting order really suited her and in future, if we need to change something, we will take charge accordingly.”

Acting captain says Sam Curran will learn a lot from unbeaten 95 in losing cause

Andrew Miller28-Mar-2021Jos Buttler, England’s stand-in captain, says he is proud of the manner in which his side stayed true to the values that won them the 50-over World Cup at Lord’s two years ago, despite succumbing to a thrilling seven-run defeat in the ODI series decider against India in Pune.Faced with a stiff target of 330, England had slumped to 168 for 6 shortly after the halfway mark of their innings, but kept throwing their punches to the bitter end. Sam Curran belied a previous ODI highest score of 15 to finish with 95 not out from 83 balls, but a lack of batting partners undermined his attempts to seal the chase, as he was forced to turn down singles in the frantic closing overs.And with Dawid Malan producing a run-a-ball 50 after his promotion to the full squad as an injury replacement for Eoin Morgan, and Liam Livingstone playing his second free-spirited innings in as many ODIs after stepping into Sam Billings’ role in the middle order, Buttler believes that England have made strides on this white-ball leg of their India tour, despite losing the decider in both the 20-over and 50-over rubbers.”You play the game to win matches and to win series, and in the must-win games, we haven’t quite managed to do that, so of course, we’re disappointed with that,” Buttler said. “But there’ll be some great learnings taken from the tour, and some great exposure to players playing in this part of the world for the first time.””Once again, we’ve expanded the talent pool available to us in one-day cricket, building ahead to the T20 World Cup in a few months’ time and, of course, the 2023 World Cup later on down the line as well.”So anytime we expand that player pool, that creates competition, that creates better performances, and that’s the upward trajectory that we’re always after as a side, that continuous improvement.”Related

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Despite the disappointment of defeat, England’s efforts in the final ODI were a significant improvement on their somewhat flaky demise in the first ODI, when a 135-run opening stand between Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy had reduced the requirement to less than a run a ball, only for all ten England wickets to tumble for 116 inside the next 28 overs.This time, with Curran reprising the big-game mentality that has set him apart as a star of Chennai Super Kings’ IPL line-up, England took the contest right to the wire, with India’s anxieties revealed by a series of lapses in the field, most notably a trio of simple dropped catches from Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.”A huge part of our success as a side has been that never-say-die attitude to take games deep,” Buttler said. “A lot of our bowlers are very accomplished batsman, and Sam played an outstanding innings there. He will take a lot from that moving forward, even though there’s the disappointment of losing the game.””I haven’t really done something like that for a while, especially for England, so it was really pleasing,” Curran said of his innings. “I had a few messages from the dug-out, just to try and take the majority of the balls and take the game as deep as possible, so it was a massive learning curve for me. But in the end we lost the game, so I’m a little bit disappointed.”Jos Buttler and Virat Kohli at the toss•Getty Images

Despite the valiance at the back-end of their innings, England effectively lost the contest after losing too many experienced batsman in the first half of their chase. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s new-ball burst accounted for both Roy and Bairstow before they could get going, while Ben Stokes fell to a miscued full toss off Thakur, just when he seemed set to build on his start of 35 from 39 balls. Buttler himself never got going in an off-colour 15 from 18, and was left to watch the denouement from the sidelines.”There was always genuine belief that run-rate was never an issue,” Buttler said, as England kept consistent tabs with a requirement that, while Adil Rashid was on hand to keep knocking the singles and rotate the strike, rarely got above seven an over.”Adil and Sam played brilliantly well and were whittling down the score,” Buttler said, “and then it was great for Sam to take ownership, and to take us all the way down to the wire.”Anytime a game starts to come within reach, that’s when it starts to get harder,” he added. “Everyone on the ground started to get a bit tense, and the guys in the dug-out as well, but we’re all very proud of the way Sam played. He showed all the traits that we know he has, an abundance of character, and the skill level he has embodies what we’re about as a team.”At the age of 22, and with batting at this stage of his career the second string to his bow, Buttler welcomed the huge strides that such a performance could make to Curran’s developing career.”Sam’s a young guy, and many guys are never really exposed to that kind of situation in their whole career, so he’ll take a great learning from that,” Buttler said. “I can’t think of many times myself that I’ve been in those situations, so there’s always a bit of suck-it-and-see about how to make the right decisions and take the game forward.”So he’ll be much better equipped if he’s ever in that situation again, and I’m looking at it as well, as a fellow player and the other guys in the team, if we were in Sam’s situation, how would we take that game forward. So all of us in the team, and the squad, will have taken great learning from watching him, and trying to think through how we would take that situation down individually as well.”

The Australia captain says his team has got eyes set firmly on the Test championship final in June 2021

Daniel Brettig in Brisbane20-Nov-2019Australia captain Tim Paine believes the return of Steven Smith and David Warner to Test cricket down under will give the hosts the horsepower they need to mount a genuine challenge for the World Test Championship title. Paine said that the series against Pakistan would give them a chance to reel in some of India’s enormous lead at the top of the table.Under the idiosyncrasies of the inaugural Test championship, a two-Test series offers the possibility of collecting 120 points for a 2-0 sweep, a result that would vault Australia from fifth to second position on the WTC table behind Virat Kohli’s side.Apart from that, Joe Burns has returned at the top alongside Warner, while Marnus Labuschagne’s formative last summer reaped strong rewards in England, a trend that Paine is looking to continue.”Hopefully a huge one with runs,” Paine said of the impact he was looking for from Smith and Warner. “We’ve enjoyed having them back last winter and certainly Steve has added a hell of a lot of runs, a hell of a lot of know-how and experience and Dave is the same. I touched on it a lot last summer, it’s really critical that our young players spend a lot of time with those guys, learn from them as much as we can and try and emulate the things they’ve been doing.”We would like to support Steve a lot more this summer, Davey is certainly one of those guys who is really keen to get amongst the runs and just watching him the last few days in the nets, he looks as good as I’ve seen him for a long time, which is a great sign for us.”Warner gave a strong sign that he would rebound from a horrific Ashes series by sculpting a high-quality century for NSW against Queensland at the Gabba early in the season, and Paine said he had seen further evidence to back that up this week.”He hasn’t lost any of his appetite to score runs, he’s still working as hard as I’ve ever seen him work,” Paine said. “Just watching him in the last few days, he just looks like he is back to his best, the ball is making a different sound off his bat again, he looks like he is in great positions most of the time when he’s batting in the nets.”But the best and most pleasing thing about Davey was during the whole Ashes when he was probably in the worst form of his career, he didn’t change one bit. A lot of players would. He has got unbelievable self-belief, which is his main strength. Obviously, he didn’t put the runs on the board he would like, but I still know he believes and we believe he is a world-class opener, he has played nearly 80 Tests and averages 45, so I’d be expecting that to be back up over 50 by the end of this series.”Coach Justin Langer has noted the boom-and-bust tendencies of the Test team under Paine’s leadership, only once – against Sri Lanka last summer – putting two successive wins together in the same series. It will be essential for Australia to do so to contend for the championship.”That’s the key to being a good Test team, being able to do it consistently,” Paine said. “We touched on it this week as well with the importance of the Test championship. You can’t afford to be playing a Test match at the end of a Test series as a dead rubber, there’s no such thing, and our team has got our eyes set firmly on that Test final in June 2021. That’s one of our team’s goals.”It just adds to the importance of every Test match, every Test series, so for us to be playing consistent cricket both home and away and in all types of conditions, is something we’re certainly striving for. I think through that difficult period last year what we did was get some guys some exposure to Test cricket that probably wouldn’t have got it beforehand. So we’ve started to build some real depth around our squad. With depth, I think that’s when you start to get that consistency because guys know they have to perform to keep their spot.”We’ve had some really good players in this series that have been left out of the Australian Test squad, which is disappointing for them, but really good for our side in the fact we’re building that depth and with the depth, we’re hoping we’ll get that consistency of performance.”As for Labuschagne and Burns, Paine reckoned their Queensland experience would provide a useful head start to the top order. “At the moment, in the near future, the No. 3 spot is his to nail down,” Paine said of Labuschagne. “I thought he did a wonderful job in England, and he is someone we think can certainly fill that hole at No. 3. He’s had a terrific start to his Test career, he has got good technique, good character, good temperament, and a good No. 3 needs all those. We’re certainly excited by what he can do in that role.”We know what we’re going to get from Burnsy, he is a hardened first-class opening batter and he bats at the Gabba a lot where it’s hard to score runs, particularly at the top of the order. He knows his game really well, he is really confident in it, and I think he has been picked now when he has come into the prime of his career and he is playing as well as he ever had. Similar to a Matthew Wade, we’ve just picked those guys now at the right time and they’ll make the most of this opportunity.”

The appointments marks the end of a formal examination that sought to avoid the continuation of a long pattern of failed leadership duos, including the banned Steven Smith and David Warner

Daniel Brettig27-Sep-20180:46

Mitchell. Marsh proud to be Australia vice captain

Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine now has joint lieutenants in Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood, at the end of a formal examination of the vice-captaincy that sought to avoid the continuation of a long pattern of failed leadership duos that included the banned Steven Smith and David Warner.While Hazlewood has been a consistent member of the Test team since he debuted in Smith’s first Test as captain, in 2014 against India, Marsh’s career has been speckled with injury and bouts of poor form. At the same time, the demands of fast bowling and the management policies of CA will mean that Hazlewood cannot turn out for every match. Nevertheless, their selections represent an evolution in one of Australian cricket’s most contentious roles.Where Smith and Warner were simply recommended by the selectors to the Cricket Australia board in 2015, over the objections of numerous senior figures in Australian cricket, Marsh and Hazlewood had been first put forward by their Australian team-mates. They then made leadership presentations to a seven-person panel, featuring selector Greg Chappell, board director Mark Taylor, coach Justin Langer, chairman David Peever, selection committee chairman Trevor Hohns, team psychologist Michael Lloyd and team performance manager Pat Howard.The process was similar to that used by Langer in Western Australia to reach the decision to name Marsh the state captain last year, although Hohns was at pains to make it clear that it had not been devised to anoint the next captain. Rather, CA senior figures wanted to ensure that the players chosen would be as supportive to the captain Paine as possible, something that could not be said of previous fractious pairings, such as that of Michael Clarke with Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson with Clarke, and Warner with Smith.”Justin Langer and Tim Paine have a clear vision for the Test team, and Josh and Mitch are invested and ready to support the coach and captain on this journey,” Hohns said. “And this was a fundamental part of the process. It was not a process designed to find the next Australian Test captain, but to find two vice-captains who will support and help drive the team’s goals and objectives.”Josh and Mitch display great leadership qualities, and we were extremely impressed by their passion and energy to help guide Australian cricket into this exciting new era. Our vision is to create great cricketers and great people, and we are extremely fortunate to have such terrific young men charged with responsibility of upholding the high standards and values we and Australian cricket fans expect of their Test team.”Josh has shown he is a leader among the playing group, and we felt it was important to have a representative from the bowling group. He’s calm under pressure, communicates well, and leads by example on and off the field. Mitch has successfully captained Australia A, Australia U19 and Western Australia. He is an extremely popular member of the team, he has great humility, and given his lineage, he understands and respects the responsibility which comes with representing Australia and Australians.”Langer is a board director for the West Coast Eagles AFL club, and much of his learning about leadership has been drawn from sports beyond the realm of cricket. “We believe the new leadership model will best support the captain,” Hohns said. “It is a successful model used across various sporting codes around the world, and we see it benefiting the group, not just from a tactical perspective, but also to help drive the team’s values and standards on and off the field.”We also feel the new model provides great balance. There is strong and even representation of both the batting and bowling groups, which is important when making decisions which are in the best interest of the team. The demands on the modern cricketer were also factors we took into account, including the amount of cricket they play in a season, to what happens in the event a member of the leadership group is missing through injury.”We look forward to the first Test against Pakistan, and we’ll watch with great interest as our leaders lead the team into what is going to be a huge summer of cricket.”With Hazlewood currently on a rehabilitation plan to recover from injury in time for the home international season, Marsh is Paine’s deputy on the ground in Dubai, ahead of two Tests against Pakistan. “I had a meeting with Cracker, JL and Michael Lloyd in a room here at the hotel, and they told me the good news,” he said. “I’m very proud, we’ve been through this process over the last couple of months as a team, and to have my team-mates vote myself and Josh into this position, I’m very proud, and hopefully, I’ll do the job justice.”It is something different for cricket, but that’s the world these days, we live in the modern world and modern game of cricket. Josh and I will do everything we can to make Tim Paine’s life easier, that’s how I see the vice-captaincy role. We will, like every other person in this team, lead to the best of our ability in Australian cricket and make Tim Paine’s job as easy as possible.”In his presentation, Marsh said he had stated that all members of the Australian team needed to be leaders, irrespective of whether or not they had a title attached to their name. “The biggest thing we’ve spoken about as a team right now, and I even said it in my presentation to the board, is whether I have a title next to my name or not, it’s actually irrelevant,” he said. “I want to be the best person, best Australian cricketer and leader that I can be for this group and for the whole organisation.”That’s something we want every single cricketer to be in the Australian cricket team, and hopefully, I’ll be able to instill that in young guys coming through, what it means to be an Australian cricketer and what we stand for going forward. Yes it is different, but it’s 2018, and for us as a group, I thought it was a really good process for where we’re at right now, I sit here as the vice-captain and very proud.”We went through the exact same process with WA. I’ve certainly grown as a leader in the past 12 months for WA, found out about myself and about my leadership. But I absolutely love captaining WA, probably my biggest strength is that hasn’t changed me as a person, and I certainly don’t see the vice-captaincy role changing me as a person, I’ll be that same guy around the team that’s got me to the position, and I think that’s really important, that’s leadership in my opinion.”Hazlewood said he would make a virtue of having no personal ambitions to become captain. “It’s probably no secret that the relationships between captain and vice-captain haven’t been great in the last 10 or 12 years,” he said in Sydney. “So maybe having someone as vice-captain who’s not necessarily aspiring to be captain, that’s the position that I find myself in and I can really contribute as a leader and a vice-captain without ever really pushing that next level. Then Mitch and myself can do everything we can to make Painey’s job as easy as possible.”Candidates for leadership in Australia’s ODI and Twenty20 teams also presented to the panel, including Aaron Finch, Alex Carey and Travis Head. CA will delay revealing the leaders of the limited-overs teams until they announce the Twenty20 squad to face Pakistan in a series of matches following the two Tests.

Will Rhodes will leave Yorkshire at the end of the season in search of regular cricket with Warwickshire

George Dobell27-Jun-2017Warwickshire have signed Yorkshire all-rounder Will Rhodes on a two-year contract. Rhodes, a former England U19 captain, will join Warwickshire at the end of the 2017 season.Rhodes’ opportunities at Yorkshire had been blocked by a surplus of fine players with the recent signing of Tom Kohler-Cadmore from Worcestershire pushing him even further back in the pecking order. Aged 22, he is understandably keen to be playing first-team cricket. It is understood he was recommended to Warwickshire by former Yorkshire coach, Jason Gillespie.Warwickshire, who have missed out on a couple of other potential signings in recent weeks (notably Kohler-Cadmore and Daniel
Bell-Drummond) see Rhodes as a potential opening batsman, a capable fourth or fifth seamer and a positive addition to the dressing room
with leadership potential.He also begins the process or rebalancing the age of the Warwickshire squad. Currently over reliant on several 30-something cricketers –
many of whom are out of contract at the end of the 2018 season – the management at Warwickshire are keen to supplement a mis-firing youth system with astute signings from elsewhere.While the immediate reaction of Warwickshire supporters might have been underwhelming, the club’s management hope they have identified an undervalued talent who will thrive given more opportunity. And it is true that Rhodes is highly-rated at Yorkshire who currently have an embarrassment of riches.”Will is a genuine all-rounder and very exciting cricketer, who has the versatility to bat anywhere from one to seven in the batting order
whilst also being a strong addition to our seam bowling attack,” Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s director of sport, said.”He is a great character with leadership experience, as a former captain of England U19s and Yorkshire Academy. At 22 he has a good
future ahead of him and we are delighted to welcome him to Warwickshire.””I’m very excited to sign for Warwickshire for the next two years and to take this next step in my career with a club that has also has such
a proud history and outstanding facilities,” Rhodes said. “I’ve had some great discussions with Ashley Giles and the coaching team at
Edgbaston and I look forward to joining up with the squad very soon.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my 12 years in the set-up at Yorkshire, particularly my last four years as a professional. My thanks go to all
players, coaches and staff for their support and I wish them the very best for the future.”