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A fresh Australian Twenty20 combination will seek to reassure the nation – and themselves – that the Test team’s UAE travails are more a matter of unfriendly conditions than a lack of quality in the playing personnel

Daniel Brettig01-Nov-2014Forget that Test result, look over here. See, we can still hit sixes.A fresh Australian Twenty20 combination will seek to reassure the nation – and themselves – that the Test team’s UAE travails are more a matter of unfriendly conditions than a lack of quality in the playing personnel being called upon ever more broadly by the game’s three formats and wall-to-wall schedule.The T20 team convened on Saturday for training ahead of Wednesday’s opening international of the home summer, also Adelaide Oval’s televised cricket debut since its redevelopment was completed early in 2014. Led by Aaron Finch and a locum coach in the New South Wales mentor Trevor Bayliss, they face South Africa over three matches while Michael Clarke’s team travel home and recover.Ben Cutting said the struggles encountered by the Test team in Dubai and Abu Dhabi had raised the significance of the T20 matches, as confidence derived from home results needed to grow over the course of the summer leading into next year’s World Cup.”It’s very important to make a good start,” Cutting said at Adelaide Airport. “The Test boys are playing at the moment and having a bit of a tough time as you can imagine in those sorts of conditions, so for us to try to bring the focus back on home soil and start with a win would get the ball rolling for them when they get back next week. That’s a big thing for us.”Equally important for Cutting will be the chance to show he has added a few extra kilometres of pace to his deliveries, following the Darren Lehmann directive that bowlers consistently topping 140kph would be looked upon favourably.”I’m feeling pretty good with the ball, but felt like it was coming out nicely, a little bit more pace on it this year than last year and I’ll keep working on that through the T20 format,” he said. “A fair bit of gym work over the off-season, I’ve worked on a bit of core strength through the legs and just putting overs in my legs, and that’s helped me get stronger than I was last year.”As a pace bowler, Cutting’s attitude to T20 is somewhat fatalistic, knowing he is essentially there as an extra in the hitting exhibition. But of course his own ability to strike a long ball will be useful when Australia bat. “You’re pretty much there for the entertainment aren’t you?” he said. “The crowd wants to see big hits and sixes and not many wickets fall, so from that perspective it’s all about trying to contain them and do the best you can to perform a bit of damage control.”If you go for a few runs with the ball you can try to make up for it with the bat for the good of the team. I do enjoy getting out there and batting as much as I do bowling.”While Shane Watson will add plenty of international T20 experience to the side on his return from ankle and calf problems, the likes of Nathan Reardon and Ben Dunk will seek to make the most of a chance that might not have been afforded had Australia’s selectors been able to consider their Test men.”I probably wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t excited,” Reardon said. “It’s an opportunity for me to perform against one of the best attacks in world cricket so really looking forward to it.”It’s a little bit different but I guess [to be preparing while another team is in the UAE] that’s just the way cricket’s going, it’s getting busier and busier and the schedule’s pretty jam packed, so it’s a good opportunity with those guys away for me to try and perform. I’ve been hitting the ball quite well through the pre-season in the one day competition, so hopefully I can continue that.”I played BBL here the last couple of years and love playing in Adelaide. It was a little bit different with the construction site there but I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s all about. It is suited to batsmen and a lot do like laying here. A lot of guys like the short square boundaries and I’m sure they’re still pretty short even though the new stadium’s been built.”Adelaide’s towering new stands may make it more difficult to belt a ball clear out of the ground, but Reardon will be trying. “You can always give it a go.”

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor believes Twenty20’s easy money has contributed to the national side’s poverty of Test match batting options

Daniel Brettig25-Apr-2013Even as he performed his stage-managed role to add gravitas and happy history to Australia’s Ashes squad announcement, the former captain Mark Taylor cut through the mystique to state how Twenty20’s easy money had contributed to the national side’s poverty of Test match batting options.Taylor and his successor Steve Waugh were present in Sydney to provide a Cricket Australia-approved reminder that teams past had flown to England with modest billing but returned home as heroes. The spirit of the 1989 Ashes tourists, unfancied almost as much as Michael Clarke’s team but ultimately the inflictors of a right royal 4-0 hammering, was invoked as though a holy rite.But Taylor was blunt in saying the hunger of Australia’s cricketers for Tests, particularly their batsmen, had been sapped by the riches on offer in T20, specifically at the IPL currently buzzing across the subcontinent. Frank and clear-eyed as ever, Taylor said no amount of wistful talk about baggy green caps and representing one’s country could counter the cash on offer to players prepared to forego their best batting technique in order to chase sixes and switch-hits in India.”If you look at the IPL and the money that’s going around there, that’s got to be a big influence I think. As much as they all say ‘Test cricket’s the No. 1’, a million dollars is very distracting,” Taylor told ESPNcricinfo. “You look at Glenn Maxwell getting US$1 million to go play in the IPL and he’s not even playing. How do you compete with that?”How do you tell a young player making the next Australian Test team is more important? Knock back an IPL contract and spend two years working on your batting technique to get in for a Test match, and throw away $2 million? It’s easier said than done.”

“Knock back an IPL contract and spend two years working on your batting technique to get in for a Test match, and throw away $2 million? It’s easier said than done.”Mark Taylor

There was some disquiet earlier this month when the list of CA contracts omitted numerous Ashes aspirants, partly due to a system that recognises all formats. Taylor said the system had improved a good deal since 1989, or even the late 1990s, when an industrial dispute with the board pushed the players to the brink of a strike. But he still doubted how any national contract could now dissuade a young player from considering the IPL’s riches ahead of Test cricket’s more archaic sense of loyalty.”The idea of the contracts system going back to my time was to give players security, and they’ve now got that,” he said. “I think the CA contracts and even the state contracts give players good security, much more than there was back in the 1990s, and that’s what should happen.”But I’m not sure any of these contracts can ever make up for an IPL contract. There’s probably no security in the IPL, but if you get a $2 million contract you don’t need a lot of security. And that’s impossible to compete with.”In 1989, Taylor accumulated no fewer than 839 runs in the six Tests, while Waugh crashed cavalier hundreds at Headingley and Lord’s and returned home with a series average well beyond 100. They were hungry young batsmen, offered only the most rudimentary of playing contracts, and still playing at a time when numerous Australian cricketers still held down day jobs.Notwithstanding the current crop’s vastly different financial circumstances, Taylor challenged the batsmen selected other than Clarke to rise above their mediocre records and make the sorts of scores that would make a statement about Australia’s intentions, much as he and Waugh had done in Leeds.”Trent Bridge and Lord’s, the first two Tests, are very important,” Taylor said. “If you go back to ’89 we won at Headingley where no one gave us a chance, then we won at Lord’s. All of a sudden you’re 2-0 up. If Australia can start something like that, it will start with someone like David Warner or Phil Hughes, or Cowan, or Watson, making 150, a big score.”At Headingley I made 136, Steve made 177 and AB [Allan Border] made a quickfire 66. It’ll start with someone almost out of the blue making a big score and saying ‘we’re here to compete’. That’s what this side needs to do. Look at Warner, Watson, Cowan, Hughes. Four opening batsmen really, they’re all averaging in the 30s. That won’t get it done. One or two of them over there have got to average 70 in this series or more.”

Peter Trego and Arul Suppiah set Somerset on the path to their third win from three games in the Yorkshire Bank 40

19-May-2013
ScorecardPeter Trego ensured Somerset were always ahead of the asking rate•Getty ImagesPeter Trego and Arul Suppiah set Somerset on the path to their third win from three games in the Yorkshire Bank 40 as they overcame Middlesex by six wickets with 25 balls to spare at Taunton.Middlesex were restricted to 252 for 9 after they had lost the toss, with seamer Steve Kirby claiming four wickets and leg spinner Max Waller chipping in with three scalps. But despite going at more than a run a ball, it proved a below par total as Trego and Suppiah bludgeoned 81 and 60 respectively before James Hildreth and Jos Buttler saw the hosts over the line.After being put into bat Middlesex openers Chris Rogers and Dawid Malan looked untroubled as they took the total onto 73 before Craig Meschede entered the attack and had Rogers, on 29, well caught at deep midwicket by Alviro Petersen.Malan looked comfortable but was on 49 when he pulled Max Waller to James Hildreth at short midwicket. The leg spinner struck again soon after by firing in a quicker ball which Paul Stirling drove straight back to the bowler.Waller changed ends and claimed his third victim when Adam Rossington tried to clear the midwicket ropes and was caught by Lewis Gregory for 12. With the total on 139 for 4 Neil Dexter and Joe Denly came together and took the total onto 222 before Gregory had Dexter (37) leg before wicket trying to work the ball to fine leg. The fifth wicket partnership added 83 in just over 12 overs. In the penultimate over Kirby claimed three wickets in four balls to ensure no final flourish with the bat.Somerset openers Marcus Trescothick and Trego started briskly and it was latter who brought up the 50 with two to backward square-leg off James Harris in the seventh over. Gareth Berg broke the partnership at the start of the eighth over after being introduced into the attack when he had Trescothick, looking to steer the ball to fine leg, caught behindTrego was joined by Suppiah and it was the former who brought up the 100 with a single to mid-off in the 14th over. A single into midwicket off Tim Murtagh’s next over saw Trego to 50 off 46 balls.Suppiah showed his best form of the season with the bat and went to his half-century with a lofted straight drive off Malan. When Tom Smith returned to the attack, Trego hoisted his first ball over midwicket but two deliveries later was caught by Rogers at long-on for 81. The second wicket partnership between Trego and Suppiah yielded 110 runs in 14.3 overs.Suppiah had moved onto 60 when he top edged Harris into the air to Rossington with the total on 173. Hildreth (37 not out) made his intentions known straight from the off when he pulled Harris to the midwicket boundary and then proceeded to take 18 off Corey Collymore’s fourth over.At the opposite end Petersen had been subdued until he drove Smith high over long-on for six. The South African Test batsman had moved onto 17 when he was caught at long-off by Smith off Murtagh. Buttler (27 no) came to the crease with 30 still needed but the England limited-overs batsman showed typical panache and finished the job in style with a six over midwicket with the penultimate ball of the 36th over.

Mountaineers cruised to a seven-wicket win against the Mashonaland Eagles in the final of the Domestic T20 Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMountaineers cruised to a seven-wicket win against the Mashonaland Eagles in the final of the Domestic T20 Competition at the Harare Sports Club. After dismantling Eagles’ batting order and dismissing them for 106, Mountaineers chased the revised target of 103 in the 18th over.Choosing to bat first, the Eagles lost their first three wickets – Cephas Zhuwao, Sikandar Raza and Chamu Chibhabha – to Tapiwa Mufudza within the first six overs, finding themselves in trouble at 36 for 3. Stuart Matsikanyeri and Regis Chakabva put on 44 off 45 for the fourth wicket but once their partnership was broken, the Mountaineers got on top of them and skittled the remaining six wickets for 23 runs.Due to a rain interruption, the revised target for Mountaineers was 103 in 19 overs. Mark Pettini got them off to a flying start but lost his opening partner Kevin Kasuza. Tino Mawoyo and Pettini then put on 50 in 33 balls but both of them fell in quick succession. With only 23 more to win, Timycen Maruma and Greg Lamb finished the match with 11 balls to spare to become the T20 champions.

Aaron Finch will replace Michael Clarke in the Pune Warriors squad for the sixth IPL season after Clarke was ruled out of the entire season with a back injury

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2013Aaron Finch will replace Michael Clarke in the Pune Warriors squad for the sixth IPL season after Clarke was ruled out of the entire season with a back injury. Finch, another top-order batsman, tweeted the development and is expected to leave for India on Saturday.Finch will be joining his third IPL franchise after playing for Rajasthan Royals in 2010 and Delhi Daredevils in 2011 and 2012. He was released by Delhi in November 2012 and went unsold in the auction on February 3 at a base price of $200,000.He represents Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League and averaged 66.40 in eight matches last season, scoring 332 runs with a highest score of 111 not out. However, he scored only 4, 7 and 1 for Australia in the three T20Is in January against Sri Lanka and West Indies.Overall, he has scored 1699 runs in 58 domestic T20 matches at 36.14 with a strike-rate of 130.49.The Warriors will be captained by Angelo Mathews this season.

The second day’s play in Sharjah was suspended following the death of Phillip Hughes. An extra day has been added to the Test which will resume from Friday, the teams decided

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2014The second day’s play of the third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah has been suspended following the death of Australia batsman Phillip Hughes in Sydney because of a head injury. An extra day has been added to the Test which will resume from Friday.Both teams decided not to take the field after the news of Hughes’ death arrived an hour-and-a-half before the start of the second day. Play was suspended for an hour as the team managements discussed the course of action before finally deciding to call off the day.”The whole team is shocked and saddened to hear about the death of Phil Hughes,” Moin Khan, the Pakistan team manager, said. “He was here for the Australia limited-overs squad and was very cheerful. He was always ready to talk about cricket.”Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, also expressed sadness on behalf of the New Zealand team and said the mood in the dressing room was “sombre”.”Today isn’t about cricket, it’s about Phil,” Hesson said. “Like the rest of the cricketing family, the Blackcaps players and management are devastated to hear about Phil’s tragic passing.”

Rest of India completed a comfortable innings-and-79 run victory on the fourth day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore24-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The margins of defeat for the Ranji champions in five of the previous six years in the Irani Cup: 404 runs, 361 runs, 187 runs, nine wickets and nine wickets. This season was just as comprehensive, as Rest of India completed a comfortable innings-and-79-run victory on the fourth day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Rajasthan’s batting and bowling were both not at the level of Rest of India’s, but what really hurt them as they tried to at least take the match to the fifth day was their appalling running between the wickets.There was an early alarm when Hrishkesh Kanitkar and Vineet Saxena had a communication breakdown, but both had the time to return to their creases. That wasn’t the case in the 26th over when Saxena nudged the ball towards square leg and took off, but Kanitkar didn’t respond and a sprawling Ishant Sharma fired in the throw to end the overnight partnership.Till then they had been largely untroubled by the pace of Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, and a wicket had looked unlikely. Kanitkar and the batsman who had his reputation most enhanced in this the game, Robin Bist, were then comfortable against everything Rest of India threw at them. A few overs before lunch, Rest of India had resorted to having three men deep on the leg side when the left-arm spinners were operating, allowing Kanitkar to push the ball around and accumulate. Bist was more aggressive, unleashing some powerful drives and the partnership swelled towards a hundred.That stand also ended through a mix-up. Kanitkar pushed the ball towards point and wanted the single, but Bist didn’t. Though the return from Badrinath was a tough take for wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, there was enough time for the bails to be taken off and two of Rajasthan’s most adhesive batsmen had given away their wickets recklessly.Bist wasn’t as solid as in the first innings, edging several past the keeper in the middle of some crisp striking. With Pragyan Ojha getting the odd ball to turn and bounce, much depended on Bist if Rajasthan were to avoid an innings defeat. His footwork had been precise in much of the match, but on 67, he was caught on the crease to a delivery from Ojha that neither jumped nor turned dramatically, but still managed to sneak between bat and pad.That brought together the last pair of recognised batsmen, RR Parida and Dishant Yagnik. That pair, too, was separated by a run-out. Parida played the ball out towards sweeper cover; Yagnik ambled through the first run, assuming there was only an easy two to be taken before Umesh Yadav fielded; Parida pushed for the third but Umesh, who unlike most Indian fast bowlers has a strong arm, rifled in a throw that caught Yagnik short.Rajasthan were soon down to 226 for 8, on a track which was still not spiteful, against an attack which was not exactly fearsome. Ishant was disciplined, keeping the ball around off but wasn’t able to regularly clock above 130kph, Umesh continued to bowl too wide to worry batsmen consistently and the spinners were steady though not menacing.Even without Rest of India’s bowlers being at their best, Rajasthan were overwhelmed in the match, again highlighting the vast difference in between the two sides.

Mahela Jayawardene was left to rue missing the opportunity for Sri Lanka’s first Test series victory since 2009 and believes if they had survived Graeme Swann’s last over on the fourth evening they would have saved the match

Andrew McGlashan in Colombo07-Apr-2012Mahela Jayawardene was left to rue missing the opportunity for Sri Lanka’s first Test series victory since 2009 and believes if they had survived Graeme Swann’s last over on the fourth evening they would have saved the match.The complexion of the game was changed by Swann who claimed two wickets in the penultimate over to leave the home side with a huge task on the final day. A couple of early dropped catches by Alastair Cook suggested it would be a frustrating time for England, but when Jayawardene received one that spat from Swann this time the catch was taken and Sri Lanka’s main hope had gone.”On a fourth-day wicket that will happen, especially against the second new ball and we knew Graeme would get more bite with it,” Jayawardene said. “It was a period we had to survive and if we’d got through the situation I think we would have batted through two more sessions and the game would have been different but that’s the quality Swann has.”Graeme is one of the best offspinners I’ve faced and he’s got variety. We knew going into the series that he would be the challenge. Him and Jimmy Anderson are the two main bowlers that will bowl well in any conditions, which proved the case. We handled them well on some occasions but when you are up against two quality bowlers they will strike as well.”Although those late losses on the fourth evening knocked the stuffing out of Sri Lanka, Jayawardene pinpointed the first two days as the key period of the game. Having won what was expected to be an important toss Sri Lanka could only post 275 and England’s top three set a platform from where Kevin Pietersen was able to take the game away from them with a destructive 151 on the third day.”Before the game started I said the first innings is a very important part, especially in the subcontinent where you need to take advantage up front to put the opposition under pressure,” Jayawardene said. “We didn’t do that, but credit to the England bowlers who did really well on the first day. I thought 350-375 would have been a good score and the difference was that towards the end. We were playing against a strong team. I thought KP came and changed the game with the way he batted. He took some risks and it paid off.”Jayawardene also stood out with the bat and was named Man of the Series for his 354 runs at 88.50, includeding two centuries. “Over the previous two overseas tours I hadn’t been consistent so I had to improve,” Jayawardene said of his own performance. “In Australia my one-day form was pretty good and I was able to continue with that. I felt in Test cricket I went too negative, going into my shell but in Galle I came out of that very quickly. Even though at times it looked slow I was in control. I’m doing a lot of things right but the next tour will be a different challenge.”With a little more support the outcome could have been different for Sri Lanka. Kumar Sangakkara’s struggles left a big hole in their run-scoring capability although Angelo Mathews suggested during the second Test that he can forge a career as a specialist batsman. Overall, however, Jayawardene was content with his team’s performance and the fact they shared a series against the No. 1 Test side. The game in Sri Lanka faces a number of difficulties – not least financial – but following on from their impressive showing in the one-day tournament in Australia, where they almost claimed the title, there were signs that their longer game can develop.”Good players will step up and that’s what England have got. But I’m quite happy, we kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance,” he said. “Going forward we can develop the youngsters so as long as the commitment levels are there I’m quite happy. It was a good indication of where we are right now, especially in our conditions. We played against very good opposition and that gave us the chance to challenge ourselves.”Edited by Alan Gardner

A round-up of the fourth day’s play of Group C’s second-round matches from the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Sanju Samson scored a century and fifty•BCCIJammu & Kashmir earned an opening win in the tournament against Goa after Hardeep Singh and Samiullah Beigh’s rearguard efforts saw through a chase of 262, with three wickets to spare. Resuming on 245 for 9, Goa’s resistance ended quickly when Mohammed Mudhasir trapped No. 11 Gauresh Gawas for a duck to end their innings on 246.With a target of 262 set for victory, J&K found themselves in deep trouble when they were reduced to 26 for 3 by the efforts of opening bowlers Harshad Gadekar and Saurabh Bandekar. A 63-run stand between captain Parvez Rasool and Manzoor Dar steading the innings somewhat, but at 148 for 7, J&K were looking in danger of falling short. This brought Beigh to the crease, and along with Hardeep, the pair continued to battle as they first got past 150, then 200 and were able to see the chase to its denouement in the 87th over – the penultimate over of the mandatory allotment. Beigh struck his sixth first-class fifty in the process, while Hardeep just missed out on a third first-class century, finishing unbeaten on 95.
ScorecardKerala’s tie with Andhra ended up a stalemate after Andhra resumed their first innings overnight on 288 for 3, still behind Kerala’s 486. Seamer Chovvakkaran Shahid struck in the first over itself to remove Murumulla Sriram for 82. A 70-run stand between D Shivkumar and AG Pradeep for the sixth wicket got them closer, but the rest of the batting could not add much more as Andhra reached 431. V Manoharan, the offspinner, was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 82, while Shahid supported him admirably with 3 for 104.With a lead of 55, Kerala knew the match was heading to a foregone conclusion as their openers walked out to the middle. Wickets fell at regular intervals as Kerala reached 89 for 3 after 24 overs, with Sanju Samson standing out with an unbeaten 51 to add to his first innings score of 115.
ScorecardAssam’s bowlers combined to dismiss Hyderabad and claim first-innings points for their side on the final day of their drawn game in Guwahati. Hyderabad began the fourth morning on 218 for 4, still trailing by 283 runs. Bavanaka Sandeep went on to convert his overnight 8 into his fourth first-class century but had little support at the other end. Ashish Reddy was the only batsman of Hyderabad’s last seven to make a double-digit score. Abu Nechim, Arup Das, Syed Mohammad and Tarjinder Singh took two wickets each as the visitors were dismissed for 370.Assam were 20 for 1 in their second innings when the match ended in a draw. They took three points from the game while Hyderabad got one.

Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan Test captain accused of being involved in spot-fixing, said on the tenth day of the trial in London that he “misjudged” his former agent Mazhar Majeed

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court18-Oct-2011Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan Test captain accused of being involved in spot-fixing, said on the tenth day of the trial in London that he “misjudged” his former agent Mazhar Majeed, labelled corruption in cricket “terrible” and admitted to “suspicions” about Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif after the no-ball scandal was revealed.”I didn’t realise what kind of man he was,” Butt told the court on his current feelings towards Majeed, as his lawyer Ali Bajwa QC neared the close of his opening defence.”But now with the things that have come out I think I have misjudged somebody completely. I just took his word and trusted him. I knew him for a long time and never thought there would be another side to him that would be this bad.”Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.Butt admitted he was suspicious of his former team-mates honesty in the Lord’s Test when the published their expose. “The suspicion was there but I never wanted to believe it,” was as much as Butt would say.When Bajwa inquired as to Butt’s feelings on what he was accused of, he said: “I would never do that. Cricket is my passion. Look at what I am getting accused of (£2,500 of money found in his room). I’m earning every match nearly four times that. It’s a very bizarre thing.”I have always played my cricket with passion and I try to do well, to win. Players in the sub-continent know what the difference is when we do well and when we don’t do well. If we do well it’s really good and we have all the luxuries available. But if we don’t do well the reaction is not like people in the west know about. “When Bajwa prompted Butt for his thoughts about corruption in cricket generally, he replied: “It’s a terrible thing to do. It’s not very good for the game or for the country. And it speaks of the man’s character himself.”The case continues.