You are not logged in to Prodigits. Please register or login. You are not logged in to Prodigits. Please register or login.
Subject: Cricket News
Replies: 30 Views: 5832
royal28 16.08.09 - 11:20am
Trott confirmed for Oval debut
Warwickshire's Jonathan Trott will make his Test debut in the Ashes decider at The Oval on Thursday, after being confirmed as Ravi Bopara's replacement in a 14-man squad for the crucial fifth Test. Trott is expected to slot into the middle order, with his county team-mate, Ian Bell, promoted to No. 3. Monty Panesar also returns to the reckoning as a potential partner for Graeme Swann if England choose to go in with two spinners.
It's been a good few days for me, and I've picked a good one [to make my debut], Trott told Sky Sports. I went into the changing room last week [at Headingley] and I felt really welcome and comfortable, so I've just got to make sure my own mind and game is in order, and make sure I take my opportunity.
England's four-man selection panel - Geoff Miller, James Whitaker, Ashley Giles and Andy Flower, plus the captain, Andrew Strauss - met for five hours on Friday at Trent Bridge, where both Bell and Trott scored second-innings hundreds to secure a draw for Warwickshire against Nottinghamshire. Those performances were enough to convince them that wholesale changes were not required, despite the humiliation of England's innings-and-80-run defeat in the fourth Test at Headingley, meaning that the prospects of recalls for Mark Ramprakash and Robert Key receded.
The final Test match is an absolutely vital game for the team with so much at stake and we have had to make some difficult selection decisions in choosing our squad for The Oval, said the national selector, Geoff Miller. Jonathan Trott will make his Test debut. Having been part of the squad at Headingley, he was the next batsman in line in our view and this rewards him for the excellent form he has shown in county cricket both this summer and with England Lions over the winter.
Ian Bell will bat at No. 3 next week which is a position he has occupied for England before and we were delighted to see both him and Jonathan make centuries for Warwickshire this week.
The selectors have shown an admirable determination not to be hustled into panic measures after a week of intense media speculation. Strauss and Flower were understood to be particularly keen not to jettison their entire Ashes strategy after one poor game. Nevertheless, the decision to pitch a Test debutant into England's most eagerly anti ted fixture for four years, alongside Bell, who bagged a pair in the corresponding match in 2005 and whose temperament in pressure situations has often been shown to be suspect, will undoubtedly leave them open to further scrutiny.
Bell's average at No. 3 is a lowly 31.00, set against an overall figure of 39.84, suggesting he is a player who prefers to react to events on the pitch rather than set the agenda. Trott, meanwhile, was withdrawn from the England Lions team to face the Australians in a two-day match at Canterbury on Sa ay, a sign that the selectors didn't want to give the tourists an early look at him. Either way, both men undoubtedly benefited from the presence on the selection panel of Giles, who serves a dual role as Warwickshire's director of cricket.
Trott's century on Thursday was his fourth of a season in which he currently averages more than 80 in the County Championship, and at the age of 28 and after a decade in first-class cricket, he is clearly as ready as he could ever be to play in such a high-profile fixture. However, as his Australian counterpart, Mike Hussey, warned at Canterbury on Sa ay: It is a huge step-up from first-class to Test.
I look forward to finding out, said Trott. It should be a little bit [of a step-up], because that's why Test cricket is the ultimate. But I mustn't worry about that, I'll just worry about my game. When I go out to bat I'm a lot calmer than I am before I bat, so I'm sure I'll be fine. I felt pretty good against Nottinghamshire. It was a tough situation as we were following on, but it was very pleasing [to make a hundred] and I'll take a lot of confidence from that game, so will Bell.
The Headingley fall guy is Bopara, who has managed 105 runs in seven innings this series, having recorded three Test centuries in succession against West Indies earlier in the year. The selectors took soundings from within the Ess*x dressing-room to assess Bopara's frame of mind, and a morale-boosting 52 not out for Ess*x at Lord's on Friday wasn't enough to earn a reprieve. *
royal28 16.08.09 - 09:07pm
And, now, the selection headache. Australia turned in a clinical and collaborative bowling performance against the England Lions on Sunday, but with no individual radically advancing his cause, the make-up of the tourists' line-up for the fifth Test will remain a mystery for several days yet. Brett Lee was statistically the best of the Australian bowlers in Canterbury, removing both openers and skittling Liam Plunkett later in the day for figures of 3 for 37 from 16 overs. It seems highly unlikely, however, that his performance will be enough to convince selectors to part ways with one of the four incumbent fast bowlers who propelled Australia to victory inside three days at Headingley last week. Lee, in his first competitive outing in six weeks, began inauspiciously on Sa ay evening but increased in pace and intensity on the second morning. His endeavours were rewarded with the wickets of Joe Sayers and Stephen Moore before lunch - the latter to a brilliant, diving catch from Simon Katich at point - but Lee reserved his highlight-reel moment for Plunkett. Unleashing a fast, full delivery, Lee scythed through Plunkett's defences to splay the stumps, then watched on as one of the bails was pilfered by a souvenir-seeking seagull and flown to a nearby roof. We were trying to see if he was going to eat it, Nathan Hauritz said. I've never seen anything like it. Australia's main selection battle ahead of the Oval Test - that which pitches Hauritz against Stuart Clark for the final bowling berth - remained unresolved on Sunday, with both proving more probing than prolific. Hauritz dismissed Andrew Gale and Steve Davies in consecutive deliveries after the lunch break, and Clark accounted for James Harris, Glamorgan's teenage allrounder, later in the day, but neither could manage a definitive knockout blow in their bid to impress Andrew Hilditch's panel. Hilditch intimated last week the Australians would lean towards their preferred three-quicks-one-spinner formation for the Ashes decider, although the final decision will be largely influenced by conditions. Clark could feel justifiably aggrieved if overlooked for the fifth Test given his major contribution to Australia's innings-and-80-run victory at Headingley, and his solid outing in Canterbury. Steven Kirby incurred his wrath with three bouncers to the helmet, but Harris would be his only victim of the day, caught by Chris Hartley, Australia's replacement wicketkeeper, in the 76th over of the innings. Potentially working in Clark's favour ahead of the fifth Test were the performances of the part-time spinners, Katich and Marcus North, both of whom claimed a wicket and reaffirmed themselves as legitimate bowling options. Hauritz, though, remains Australia's preferred choice, and did his selection chances no harm with 16 controlled overs. Selection will come down to how the wicket is and what they think the best mix is, Hauritz said. It will just come down to how the conditions are. The wicket may still be dry and they might want to take four quicks. If picked, I know I'll do my role well. Every time I've had the opportunity I've done that. Every Test you play you learn more about yourself and what you can or can't do. Before I came out I was labelled a defensive bowler who didn't spin the ball. But I think I've shown on a spinning wicket what I can do. That defensive tag was weird but I can't change people's perception. I suppose that came about because I didn't spin it that much when I first started. It doesn't really faze me. I can also play a role even if it's not spinning. I think I've done okay.
Charles Coventry made the joint highest individual score in an ODI but his effort was outweighed by a sparkling, cool-headed century from Tamim Iqbal, who broke the record for the most runs in an innings by a Bangladesh batsman. Coventry's blockbuster innings pushed Zimbabwe beyond 300, far more than Bangladesh have chased before, but the visitors were rarely troubled as they hunted down the target to take their third consecutive series. Two things which stood out in Tamim's innings were the calmness he displayed, even when the required-rate started to soar, and the clean straight hitting - each of his six sixes were in the arc between long-on and long-off. Bangladesh needed a solid opening stand after Coventry inspired Zimbabwe to 312, and Junaid Siddique and Tamim provided them that. Both openers were particularly harsh on Elton Chigumbura, who pitched the ball too short right through his opening spell. Junaid was the aggressor, hammering his way to a 27-ball 38 before, as has so often been the case, he threw away the start with a loose shot. Junaid's dismissal, and the introduction of Zimbabwe's spinners, s*cked the momentum out of the chase. Mohammad Ashraful took his time to settle, and Tamim cut out the big hits for a while, which made the asking-rate make a steady slide upwards. Tamim was generally content to knock the ball around, but had short bursts when he hit out to keep Bangladesh in touch. One such was in the 22nd over; Malcolm Waller was blasted over long-on and long-off off consecutive deliveries, followed by a powerful cut for four. He also come down the track and cracked Price over long-on to push Bangladesh's run-rate up to six. There was a similar volley of brutal hitting in the 36th over, Hamilton Mazakadza being taken for a couple of big sixes. Raqibul Hasan was also a calming influence, nudging the ball around for comfortable singles to keep the strike rotating. He added 119 with Tamim at nearly a run-a-ball before falling in the 37th over. Soon after, Chigumbura dropped a dolly at long-on, Tamim getting a reprieve on 118. Two new batsman and Zimbabwe could have applied more pressure. However, Bangladesh's best batsman, Shakib Al Hasan, made a 12-ball 19 and Tamim also opened out to slam the door shut on Zimbabwe. By the time Tamim was dismissed the target was only 34 away, which Bangladesh knocked off with 13 deliveries to spare. It was the flattest of tracks, and Zimbabwe could have piled on even more than 312 had Coventry got a little more support. It was a superbly paced innings from him; Coventry provided the impetus after the early dismissal of Mark Vermeulen, then tempered his aggression when wickets tumbled around him in the middle overs, before finishing off with an awesome display of power hitting. What made it even more astonishing was that the next highest score in the innings was 37, 157 less than Coventry. It was also his first ODI century, and he had never before crossed 106 in any form of senior cricket.
Sehwag is not sure if he could be ready in time for the Champions Trophy to be held next month in South Africa. It takes time to recover from any surgery Sehwag had injured his shoulder during the semi-final of the second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa after which he had to undergo a surgery for the Grade II lesion at a Nottingham hospital in June. My shoulder is better than before. It takes time to recover from any surgery. But if it (recovery) takes time, I can't help it. I can just wait and watch, Sehwag told reporters on Friday when asked about the recovery. The Delhi batsman has been following a rehabilitation programme since going under knife, which has almost ruled him out for the September 8-14 tri-series in Sri Lanka and has now also cast a shadow over his availability for the Champions Trophy as well. Sehwag also welcomed International Olympic Council's move to include women boxing in 2012 London Olympics. It's a great thing to happen. I am associated with women's empowerment from my university days so I think men and women should get equal representation in every field, Sehwag, who is also the chief patron of Shikhar, an NGO working for social development said on the occasion of the organisation's launch of a new initiative -- 'Support Centre for Women Empowerment'. He also wished the countrymen on the eve of India's 63rd Independence Day. *
royal28 1.09.09 - 07:17am
Vettori hopes for improved showing on limited-overs leg
Daniel Vettori didn't have a lot to smile about yesterday, but was hoping to start afresh with the two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka after the defeats in the Test matches. Though New Zealand were outclassed in both Tests, there is still plenty of limited-overs cricket for them before returning home - the two Twenty20s preceding the tri-series, also featuring India, with the Champions Trophy in South Africa to follow.
This New Zealand side is better suited to one-day cricket, having won six and drawn one of their last eight series, including come-from-behind wins over England and West Indies. However, they have struggled in one-dayers in Sri Lanka, winning ten of 27 games. Vettori is hopeful of improving that record.
I'd say we've been stronger in the limited-overs format, definitely, he said. It suits a few of our guys better. The experiences out here will have strengthened a few of the players for the limited-overs series There's no doubt this is a good group of batsmen and I have high hopes of them.
New Zealand have some personnel changes, such as fast bowlers Kyle Mills, Shane Bond and Ian Butler and relative rookies Brendon Diamanti and Neil Broom, but the core group stays the same. There's an air of confidence about the team when it comes to this format, said Vettori, And I hope we'll see a turnaround in our limited-overs performance. We need to win these games as we build up to the Champions Trophy. It's a short and sharp tournament and you need to hit it running.
New Zealand will welcome back Bond, who, Vettori confirmed, will mark his international return in Wednesday's first Twenty20. Bond's departure to the ICL in 2008 was as significant as when Richard Hadlee stepped down in 1990, and while Vettori was quick to allow Bond some breathing room, he knew how important this man was.
I don't want to put too much pressure on the guy because I can see it building from a distance, Vettori said. People are viewing him as a sort of saviour to some recent woes but I think we need to let Shane relax and build his way back into the team. Bond will be a vital player for New Zealand in the 50-over games. In 67 ODIs he has taken 125 wickets at the phenomenal average of 19.32.
New Zealand cricket fans have accepted, if reluctantly, that their team can seriously compete in one-day and Twent20 cricket, because from the depths of No. 7 in the ICC Test rankings there's not much room for optimism. Though his immediate aim was to gee this team up for the limited-overs fixtures, Vettori clearly had an eye on the home Tests against Pakistan in November. The two Tests in Sri Lanka were a thorough disappointment and Vettori, when he sits down with the selection panel on returning, will have his plate full. New Zealand does not boast a reservoir of second-tier players presenting a convincing case for selection and Vettori wanted to stick with these players ahead of Pakistan's visit. *
gendevl 10.09.09 - 05:21am
Now 4 all cricket updates...visit dis topic *
royal28 17.09.09 - 09:33am
Karachi:I am not a rgular opener,but for tea, i shall bat on any Position.Shoaib Malik(Former Captain Pakistan Cricket Team) *
royal28 17.09.09 - 09:53am
End 'meaningless' tours - Graeme Smith
South Africa's captain, Graeme Smith, believes that Andrew Flintoff's decision to turn down his ECB central contract in favour of a freelance career has set a precedent that the ICC cannot afford to ignore.
Speaking to Cricinfo on the eve of the Champions Trophy, the second-biggest event in the ODI calendar, Smith said that the international game was going to have to adapt to its changing environment and cut down on the current glut of meaningless contests, if more of the world's leading players are to be prevented from following Flintoff's example.
As tournament hosts and the No. 1 ODI nation in the world, South Africa start next week's Champions Trophy as favourites, and with a proper challenge to whet the appetite after a rare three-month break, Smith reiterated that international cricket remained his absolute and over-riding priority. But, he added, unless the ICC tackles the t issue of the Future Tours Programme head-on, the riches on offer in the IPL and beyond will prove an even more tempting alternative to many cricketers who, by the very nature of their careers, have a finite period of time in which to make the most of their talents.
I don't think you can blame the individual, but it's an interesting time for cricket, and interesting to see where it goes now, Smith told Cricinfo. The crucial aspect is the decisions the leadership makes in the future. The ICC needs to give cricket a good direction, and crucial to that is how they look at the Future Tours Programme, because the decisions they make around that are going to be so important for future game *
thekings (8)
