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Gujarat, Saurashtra, Baroda, Vidarbha, Maharashtra and Mumbai to keep their voting rights as full members; also provision made for players’ association

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2018The BCCI has registered its new constitution with the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies in Chennai on August 21, following the Supreme Court order on August 9.The new constitution had some key tweaks from the one originally proposed by the Lodha Committee, including setting aside the one-state one-vote policy and allowing states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat to have multiple voting members.In its August 9 order, the apex court had directed the BCCI to register its new constitution within four weeks of the order.

Selection panel increased to five members

Gagan Khoda and Jatin Paranjpe will rejoin the selection panel that had been whittled down to three members after the original Lodha recommendations. The August 9 Supreme Court order restored the strength of the senior selection panel to five, while also setting aside the directive that each of the five had to have played Test cricket for India. The existing members of the selection panel are chairman MSK Prasad, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh.

The new constitution notes that while every full member shall have voting rights and that no state would have more than one full member, exceptions would be made for Gujarat and Maharashtra, with all six of Gujarat, Saurashtra, Baroda, Vidarbha, Maharashtra and Mumbai to continue to remain full members.Railways, Services and the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) will also have voting rights, though it is explicitly stated that the voting representative for each of these has to be a former cricketer who has played for the association (or in the case of AIU, a first-class cricketer who has represented a university in the All India Inter-University tournament), and not a person nominated by the government or the association.As directed by the Supreme Court in its August 9 order, the cooling-off period terms have been relaxed, with officials now allowed to serve two consecutive three-year terms at either state or BCCI level (or a combination of the two) before a mandatory cooling-off term.Among other important points, the new constitution also makes a provision for a Players’ Association, to be funded by the BCCI, to make provisions for players’ families to accompany them for periods on longer tours in particular, and offering “appropriate remuneration of international standard” to international players. The last makes specific mention of “recalling that national representation has priority over club or franchise.”Vinod Rai and Diana Eduljee, who constitute the Committee of Administrators that is overseeing the board at present, said in a joint statement: “We thank the Honorable Supreme Court for their directions and are pleased to start the process today by the submission of the new constitution of the BCCI with the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies at Chennai. We are committed to implement the Supreme Court directive in its entirety.”They also said that the state associations have to conform to the judgement of the Supreme Court and report compliance within 30 days.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Cook is in discussion with TalkSport to join their commentary team for England’s tour of the Caribbean

George Dobell08-Sep-2018Alastair Cook is understood to be considering an offer to try his hand at commentary early next year.ESPNcricinfo understands that Cook, who is retiring from Test cricket at the end of the current match against India at The Oval, is in talks with TalkSport to join their commentary team for England’s tour of the Caribbean at the start of 2019.TalkSport gave notice of their ambition earlier this year by winning the audio rights for England’s series in Sri Lanka and the Caribbean over the season of 2018-19.Mark Nicholas, Darren Gough, David Lloyd and Jarrod Kimber are understood to be part of the commentary team at various stages of winter.It is also believed TalkSport are likely to be awarded the rights for England’s tour of South Africa in 2019-20, with the BBC retaining the rights to the tour of New Zealand that precedes it. The BBC has also won a long-term deal to broadcast the Ashes – men’s and women’s – and ICC events.No final decision has yet been made on Cook’s involvement but the early interest does suggest he will not struggle for opportunities in his post-playing career.

The phrasing inside Australia’s dressing room at Perth Stadium certainly provoked a response

Alex Malcolm03-Nov-2018Just five days after the publication and significant fall-out of the Longstaff review and Cricket Australia’s players’ pact, Australia coach Justin Langer has explained a new and unusual catchphrase that adorns the walls of the Australian dressing room ahead of their first match on home soil since the ball-tampering saga.Anthony Everard, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager of events and leagues, tweeted a photo of the Australian dressing room at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Friday which had been branded with catchphrases such as “We are Australia’s Cricket Team”, “make Australians proud”, “patience” and “pressure”.But it was a fifth slogan “elite honesty” that caused a stir on social media and prompted an explanation from Langer on Saturday.”It’s the Australian way as I know it,” Langer said.”You look at a bloke or a lady in the face and you tell them the truth and you need to be really honest with yourself because if you’re not you’re kidding yourself. The man in the mirror is almost a cliche, but if you want to be successful in life you have got to be able to look yourself in the mirror.

Langer ’embarrassed’ by stand naming honour

Justin Langer has had a stand named after him at Perth’s new stadium, becoming the first player to be honoured at the venue.
“I’m a little bit embarrassed by this,” he said. “When you start out as a little kid you don’t set out to have a grandstand named after you. It’s an unbelievable feeling. Most importantly my family and my friends are so proud of this and at the end of the day when I started playing the game it was to make my mum and dad proud.
“I know my mum who isn’t here with us anymore she’d be balling her eyes out. It might start raining a little while because my mum might be crying down when she sees this. I’m deeply honoured by it, I’m a little bit embarrassed by it.
Langer played 105 Test matches for Australia, the most of any Western Australian, and scored 23 Test centuries. He is WA’s highest run-scorer in Sheffield Shield history and coached WA two 50-over titles and the Perth Scorchers to three BBL titles.

“You can lie to everyone else, but you can’t lie to yourself. So that’s elite honesty to yourself. And also, the Aussie way I know it is to look a bloke in the eye, look your sister or you mum in the eyes, and tell them the truth and be happy to get some truth back, so that’s elite honesty.”Langer has previously stressed the importance of “elite mateship” within the Australian dressing rooms.While the choice of words may puzzle some, the coach is acutely aware that the team will be measured by their actions and not their words as they embark on their first home summer following one of the most tumultuous periods in Australian cricket history.”We can put as many words as we like out there, but it’s the way we play,” Langer said. “It’s the way we are on and off on the cricket field. And our actions will speak a lot louder than any words we write down.”The resignation of CA chairman David Peever on Thursday has added to the drama ahead of an important series against South Africa.”It’s sad isn’t it,” Langer said. “Everyone seems to be at each other, there’s lots of criticism. But we’ve got such a proud history of Australian cricket.”We’ve had a few hiccups along the way, in not just in the last six or 12 months, but over our history. But we should be so proud of Australian cricket.”What we can do is we can prepare well, we can play good cricket, and be entertaining and put on a good show so Australians can start smiling a bit. One thing sport can do and that Australian cricket can do is put smiles on faces rather than everyone throwing stones and shooting guns at each other.”

Australia’s batsmen must change their style or the selectors must change personnel to fit the desired game plan, captain Aaron Finch has said

Daniel Brettig12-Nov-2018Australia’s batsmen must change their style or the selectors must change personnel to fit the desired game plan. The captain Aaron Finch gave this frank assessment in the knowledge that the national team has only three ODI series left to form cohesive plans for next year’s World Cup, with performances and changing tactics indicating that these are some distance from completion.

‘Bully’ Lynn vulnerable to pace – du Plessis

Chris Lynn’s power game is dangerous against medium pacers but South Africa’s genuine speed had him covered, according to South Africa captain Faf du Plessis.
“I do feel he is going to give you a chance from a bowling point of view because he’s an X-factor player who wants to go hard at the ball,” du Plessis said. “That creates an opportunity for us as a bowling attack to try and get him out. We’ve got a bit of pace in our attack so that helps. You can push him back.
“He looks like he’s comfortable when the ball is a little bit slower and 130s, and he tries to bully that pace. The nice thing is we do have pace in our attack to make sure he doesn’t get to free his arms consistently.”

Finch sounded a note of disappointment and some indecision after losing the decisive third match to South Africa in Hobart, having gambled on the hyper-aggressive pairing of himself and Chris Lynn at the top of the batting order in pursuit of 321 for victory only to see both openers dismissed cheaply by the new ball. Running his eye down a batting order that has now shuffled Glenn Maxwell as low as No. 7, Finch said that the Australian bent towards aggression had created a “fairly one-dimensional” collection of batsmen.Alongside the coach Justin Langer and the selectors Trevor Hohns and Greg Chappell, Finch said that either the selected group needed to become more adaptable to the demands of the 50-over game, or the selectors had to go in another direction. This calculation will be complicated by the fact the banned duo of David Warner and Steven Smith will return to eligibility in April, with the World Cup set to begin on May 30 in England.”If you look at our line-up on paper at the moment you’d say it’s an attacking side,” Finch said. “A fairly one-dimensional side in terms of attack, versus workers of the ball and your traditional batsmen. Not to disrespect any of the players by any stretch, but it’s probably that way and we haven’t got it right for a while.”And that does expose you in the middle order at times when you come upon some different wickets or a really good attack who get on top of you early. We’ve got a bit over two months until the next one-day games against India, so that’ll be a really good opportunity to sit down and reassess and start mapping out that process of how I and JL (Langer) and the leaders think we can be the most successful in this format.”The side we’ve got at the moment is that way inclined, it’s not necessarily the way we’ve been trying to play. So it’s going to be a combination of both, we have to either adapt our game plan a little bit around the way the side is structured best, or we slightly change our personnel to fit a style we think can win. That’s something that will come out over the next couple of months when we sit down and dig into it and find a way to get back on top of the world.”Asked about England’s high octane approach to the early overs of an innings, after which the likes of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan could either carry on the momentum or repair things after the loss of early wickets, Finch said that the more sedate early overs approach of India also needed to be considered in Australia’s planning.”That [England] is not the only way it’s heading,” he said. “If you look at India, they’re quite conservative in that first 10, really solid in that middle 30 overs where they rotate the strike and lose minimal wickets, then they load up at the back end. When they’re chasing they’re pretty clinical or have been in the last five or six years.Getty Images

“There’s two totally different ways to go about it, but they’ve both been ultra-successful in the last couple of years. I don’t think it’s all about going head on and smacking it, all-out attack, the way England play, but if you can mix and match, and find what best fits your batting seven, I think it’d be naive and ignorant to think every team can play like that, or every team can play like India. I think it’s about finding out balance and finding what works best for us.”Like the decision to take the new ball away from Mitchell Starc for the opening game of the series in Perth, the promotion of Lynn, who swapped places with Travis Head, was the result of lengthy talks between Finch and Langer. “JL and I discussed it and slept on it to be honest,” Finch said. “We had a chat last night and went through it and were excited about it. We thought it was a really attacking move to try to take South Africa head on in that Powerplay, something we hadn’t nailed in this three game series so far, and we wanted to fight fire with fire almost.”It didn’t pay off, but that’s cricket. Some days it comes off and you get off to a flyer, that makes it a bit simpler down the line. I think it can be a long-term plan. It was an attacking option to put Chris at the top, change him and Travis. I think to put a couple of guys up there who can take it on and get off to a bit of a flyer is an attacking move. If I had my time again I’d still do it again, it just didn’t come off for Chris or I.”Chris, it was only his fourth game, so he’s still relatively new to international cricket. He’s been around domestic cricket and various tournaments for a long time, but international cricket he’s probably still trying to find his feet a little bit and work out … he knows what works best for him in the shortest format, T20, just about finding that balance at international level as well. The way he can turn a game, we saw it briefly in Adelaide when he flicked the switch against [Kagiso] Rabada for that over, yes he got out but he changed the momentum of the game totally. That’s still definitely a thought going forward.”By contrast, Finch was adamant that Maxwell was currently not deserving of any position higher than No. 7, from where he walked out to bat in Hobart with an enormous task to conclude the chase. An innings of 35 from 27 balls was handy, but not enough to either bridge the gap to South Africa’s total or convince Finch that his fellow Victorian should bat any higher.”If you look at Glenn’s stats recently he probably hasn’t made as many runs as he’d like as a pure batsman, so therefore for him to be in the side and as an allrounder he’s probably batting in that No. 7 spot,” Finch said. “With guys playing reasonably well around him, [Marcus] Stoinis played really well at No. 5 today, Alex [Carey] at five and six he played excellent, so I think Maxy would’ve liked some more runs and obviously wants to bat higher.”But the reality is he’s in the side as a bit of an allrounder, but he hasn’t scored as many runs as he needed to in one-day cricket over the last little while to probably justify taking up a top four spot. That’s just reality. We’re all under pressure when we lose, no doubt about that. Between the batting line-up not having got it right for a little while now, there’s going to be some questions asked, whether its Maxy, Lynny, Heady, myself, Stoin, there’s going to be questions asked of all of us. It’s important we start to really nut down the balance of the side and get that right.”

Marshalling bowling attack was “great fun” says England captain, as he reflects on 211-run win

Andrew Miller09-Nov-2018Joe Root, England’s captain, praised his side’s adaptability and game awareness, after they ended a run of 13 overseas winless Tests by sealing a memorable 211-run victory over Sri Lanka on the fourth day in Galle.Having set Sri Lanka an improbable 462 for victory, England sealed the deal in the final session of the day, with their spinners Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Adil Rashid sharing eight of the ten wickets. However Root praised in particular the impact of Ben Stokes with the ball, and said his contribution had been symptomatic of a side that has found new depths of resolve to overcome alien conditions.”From our position at lunchtime on the first day we’ve been in control of the whole game,” Root told Sky Sports. “And to be as consistent as that throughout a whole Test match, which is something we haven’t always got right in the past, especially away from home, has been really pleasing. We’ve been clear about things, and adapted to the surface all the time.”Stokes claimed just the one wicket, that of Dhananjaya de Silva just before lunch, but his eight-over spell rattled Sri Lanka’s middle order and gave the spinners a chance to turn the screw at the other end.”To have guys who can do different jobs is pleasing,” said Root. “You know with Ben you are going to get a flat-out performance. He’ll leave everything out on the field. I asked him to bowl one more and he said I’ve nothing left, and that doesn’t happen often. He could have had four or five in that spell, it was very hostile, and showed good skills with reverse swing. He changed the game, because that wicket before lunch was crucial.”England’s unparalleled depth of all-round talent, which was in particular evidence in their recovery from 103 for 5 on the first morning, was the stand-out feature of their victory, and Root admitted that it had been “great fun” marshalling his troops on their fourth-innings victory push.”We had so many different options,” he said. “It’s great to see the lads really dovetail and complement each other. There were times when the seamers might not get the praise they deserve, but they built a lot of pressure. The first hour today was great, we didn’t necessarily get any wickets, but they didn’t score freely and rotate at a comfortable rate, and towards the back end of the session we got our rewards.”Moeen continued his renaissance performance with another four-wicket haul, but Root singled out Leach for particular praise, for the way he helped control the tempo of Sri Lanka’s innings in only his second Test.”He’s had experience of bowling on wickets at Somerset that do spin,” Root said. “To transfer that into Test cricket is a great thing to have. He calls Somerset ‘Ciderabad’ and it seemed there were a few similarities. He gave great control which allowed us to attack at the other end.”England did well, too, to tailor their approach to suit a Galle wicket that, while not unfriendly to spinners, was not the dry Bunsen that they have usually faced at this venue.Ben Stokes dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva on the stroke of lunch•Getty Images

“Traditionally the pitch here deteriorates rapidly and you expect it to turn square and be hard to bat last on,” he said. “But with weather around it’s held together a lot better than we might have anticipated. You have to give yourself enough time to get the result.”We knew we were going to have to work hard and there’d be periods we’d have to be very patient and trust our plans, and the fact we managed to do that and see it work is really pleasing.”We had in-out fields to dry up the boundaries but still had to bowl in good areas and we did that,” Root added. “Sometimes when it’s spinning you want them to go for the single and bring the catchers into play.”If you take the boundary options out, as a batter you feel like you aren’t going anywhere so it can be quite frustrating. In difficult conditions, when you know it’s only going to get harder, it can weigh quite heavily on you psychologically, and we used that in our favour.”England now head to Pallekele for next week’s second Test with a victory under their belts, but a lot of selection headaches to face up to, not least the potential return to fitness of Jonny Bairstow, who may struggle to displace England’s Man-of-the-Match debutant, Ben Foakes,”To play the innings [Foakes] did showed great maturity and skill, and awareness of his own game,” said Root. “To keep in these conditions was a great challenge as well, and he was unflustered. He’s a natural and it’s great to see someone come in with an attitude of pure enjoyment, and grasp the opportunity in both hands.”It’s going to be an interesting meeting, but I’d rather be in this position than not have a clue who to pick. If the pitches look drastically different we can adapt to that with a different XI. It’s very balanced so going to be tough, but it’s great to see the guys putting pressure on for places.”

The opener remains unsure how comfortable fielding will be but has no concerns about his place in the Boxing Day Test

Daniel Brettig23-Dec-20182:12

‘Finger has improved a lot in the last few days’ – Finch

Australia’s opening batsman Aaron Finch has rarely felt more pain on the cricket field than in the moments after his battered right index finger was jammed by Mohammed Shami in Perth, to the point that it felt like the digit was “going to explode” from a blow that left bone visible from a deep cut.However, Finch is adamant he will be fit to play on Boxing Day for his first Test in front of an MCG home crowd, for what looms as the pivotal match of the entire Border-Gavaskar series.Given the captain Tim Paine’s lengthy history of breaks, surgeries and problems with his right index finger, Finch’s own saga of finger troubles seems minor, but is typical of the many issues that batsmen tend to have to manage over the course of summers and careers. He first broke it in Sri Lanka in 2016, and this summer had it twice struck by Mitchell Starc in the nets in Perth and Adelaide before Shami dealt the most painful blow during the second Test, forcing Finch to retire hurt.”It was a bit of a shock, just the initial pain was the thing that got me. It felt like it was going to explode, which was quite funny,” Finch said in Melbourne. “I think just being hit a few times in the last month, a couple times by Starcy at training then Shami out in the game, but it’s also an old break.”I broke the same finger in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago, so I’ve got to start either catching them or use my bat instead of my gloves. It was up there [as the most painful]. I think snapping my hamstring tendon [in April 2015] was probably the most over the last few years.”For all of Finch’s considerable discomfort and the disruption to Australia’s batting order, he was able to feel considerable improvement even within the Perth Test, though he did not really get much opportunity to assess his own batting after falling first ball, glancing down the leg side into Rishabh Pant’s gloves, when he resumed his second innings.”Even batting in the warm-up before the second innings in Perth I still felt pretty good. Catching might be a bit of a different issue, at training I always tape my finger up anyway, but this’ll just be a bit of extra padding,” Finch said. “With a Boxing Day Test and being from Victoria it’s going to have to be cut off I think.”I’m going to catch in slips at training and do my normal preparation. If anything changes in the next couple days I’m sure we’ll have to sit down and chat about that, but at this stage it’s still business as usual and I plan to field at slip and whatever else is needed. It feels like it’s improved 100% over the last couple of days.”Asked whether Paine had any advice in the area of managing a problematic finger, Finch remarked admiringly of the captain’s ability to withstand obvious discomfort. “He’s got about 15 screws and a couple metal plates in his so a little bit different, he’s carried that for a lot longer than what I have,” Finch said. “He’s got a high pain threshold.”At the end of a year in which he has gone from being a white ball-only cricketer for Australia to now having a critical role in the Test team and a vastly expanded international workload, Finch was happy to have spent several days at home after Perth – even if he and his wife Amy used the rare time in Melbourne to move house.”I do feel refreshed, but at the same time I had to move house during that period so my wife had to do a bit of extra heavy lifting which is unfortunate for her, but it’s just great to be home,” Finch said. “Whether going for a coffee at the local cafe or going out for breakfast or lunch or whatever it is, just a bit of familiarity with being home is always nice.”Nevertheless, Finch did find time to grip a cricket bat in between national team duties, giving him some sense of how the finger may feel on Boxing Day. “I got sent some new bats,” he said, “so I’ve been walking around the loungeroom waving them around and it feels okay.”

The reigning champions shot out Kerala for 91 as the semi-final ended in just over four sessions

The Report by Saurabh Somani25-Jan-2019
Umesh Yadav took his best-ever match figures as Vidarbha stormed into the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 final, one step away from the defending the title they won last seasonUmesh took 5 for 31 in the second innings as Kerala hurtled to 91 all out at the Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad, losing by an innings and 11 runs shortly after lunch on the second day. Umesh had taken a career best 7 for 48 in the first innings, and ended with match figures of 12 for 79. It was Umesh’s second consecutive Man-of-the-Match performance, having taken nine wickets in the quarter-final against Uttarakhand, which was also the first game he had played in the tournament.Kerala had a good opening hour on Friday, with Sandeep Warrier taking 5 for 57 as Vidarbha were bowled out for 208 after being 170 for 2 at one stage. Then, the rejigged batting order of KB Arun Karthik and Jalaj Saxena as openers, and Vishnu Vinod at No.3, took them 59 for 1 in the second innings.But that was as good as things got for Kerala, with Umesh bursting through to inflict a spectacular collapse. Kerala lost nine wickets in just 12.3 overs either side of lunch. Yash Thakur, the 19-year-old right-arm seamer playing only his third first-class match, took 4 for 28, also a personal best.On the morning of the second day, Vidarbha had resumed on 171 for 5, but couldn’t add too many runs. Warrier and Basil Thampi combined to bring a swift end to the innings, though not before Umesh had fun with the bat in hand too, hitting two sixes off Thampi to take Vidarbha’s lead to 102.It was still a sizeable advantage, but a lot less than they looked like getting when they were 170 for 2 with Faiz Fazal batting on 75.For a while, it looked like Kerala would fight back in the second innings, but they crumbled. The dominance of Vidarbha’s pacers was illustrated by their highest wicket-taker this season – left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate – not bowling a single over all through the match.

Mayank Agarwal and Rohan Kadam make blazing half-centuries as Karnataka equal Kolkata Knight Riders’ streak of 14 consecutive wins

Shashank Kishore14-Mar-2019Karnataka trounced Maharashtra to clinch their maiden domestic T20 title in Indore. In doing so, they extended their T20 winning streak to 14 matches, the joint-highest winning streak for an India-based side along with Kolkata Knight Riders.The IPL franchise, incidentally won their second IPL title in 2014 during this run after Manish Pandey struck a match-winning 94 then. Incidentally, it was Pandey at the forefront for Karnataka, leading them to their first domestic title since they won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2017-18.While this was in no way a balm to sooth their disappointment of crashing out of the Ranji Trophy in the semi-finals stage for two seasons back-to-back, the emergence of a young batting group would please the team management, headed by former Karnataka and Railways strongman Yere Goud and former fast bowler S Aravind.While it was Mayank Agarwal, who capped off a relatively lean tournament with a sparkling unbeaten 85 in the final to make a mockery of a 156 chase – Karnataka won by eight wickets and nine balls to spare -it was rookie Rohan Kadam who led their batting charts all through.PTI

Kadam, a 24-year old left-hander whose batting style elicits comparison with Mumbai stalwart Abhishek Nayar, set the tempo at the top to make a destructive 39-ball 60 in a 92-run second-wicket stand with Agarwal off just 61 deliveries. Kadam finished the competition as the highest run-getter: 536 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 129.78. In all, he stuck five fifties and a century in his first full tournament for Karnataka.It was a comeback of sorts for him, given he was nowhere in the state reckoning after making 17 in his only List-A appearance two years ago. In KL Rahul and R Samarth’s absence, he played the role of an enforcer at the top, providing momentum for the middle order. Pandey, handed Karnataka’s captaincy full-time, aggregated 331 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 171.5.It wasn’t just their batting that clicked. The bowling, with the presence of experienced R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun – who have missed the IPL bus after being unsold at the auction – provided early breakthroughs time and again. In a relatively high-scoring final on a tired surface that has hosted two weeks of cricket, Mithun’s contribution of 2 for 24 was invaluable.The scalp of Ankeet Bawne in particular, to break an 81-run stand with Naushad Shaikh, after Maharashtra were wobbling at 55 for 3, prevented a final kick. Mystery spinner KC Cariappa too, bowling with the new ball, didn’t do his credentials too much harm, finishing with a frugal 1 for 26 off his four overs.Karnataka were immensely benefited by the presence of a third pacer to back their experienced duo. With Prasidh Krishna, who made a name for himself with Kolkata Knight Riders last season, playing a sporadic role, V Koushik made use of his opportunities to finish as Karnataka’s highest run-getter: 17 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 13.13 and economy of 6.36. While his figures in the final were a modest none for 31 off his quota, he’d left a considerable impression on the team, with Pandey singling out his efforts during the tournament at different times.For Maharashtra, this was a game of what-ifs. Shaikh, their only batsman in the top 10 run-getters in the tournament, impressed with his six-hitting prowess, as did Nikhil Naik, fast becoming a T20 only player for them.In fact it was Naik, who brought them into the title clash on the back of a destructive 95 not out in the semi-finals against Railways, single-handedly converting a sub-140 score into a match-winning 177. His 58-ball knock had four fours and eight towering sixes, two of which were sent over the roof. Incidentally, it was these big-hitting qualities that earned him a bid from Knight Riders for IPL 2019. In Naik and Shaikh, Maharashtra may have found some consolation as they were made to reflect on another tale of being ‘so near but yet so far.’

Claiming his first five-for in Australia since 2015, Peter Siddle also stated a case for his bowling partner James Pattinson’s inclusion

Daniel Brettig in Melbourne 29-Mar-2019Peter Siddle followed his joint destruction of New South Wales – alongside James Pattinson on day two of the Sheffield Shield final – by beseeching the watching chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns to pick both Victorians for this year’s Ashes. He added the reminder that 18 years without a series win in England prove that a different approach to the bowling attack is required.Seaming and swinging the Dukes ball just enough to beat the bat, Siddle provided the ideal counterpoint to Pattinson’s pace and fire as the Blues were obliterated for 121 in reply to the home side’s 289. While his haul of 5 for 28 was Siddle’s first of five wickets or more in Australia since 2015, it was the distinct resemblance of a grey day and mottled pitch to English climes that would have been of interest to Hohns.On day one, the former Australia coach Darren Lehmann had conceded in commentary that it was his mistake as a selector not to trust Siddle to be part of the Australian bowling attack until the 2015 Ashes series had been decided. It’s a decision that Siddle clearly has not forgotten, urging the selectors to choose bowlers fit for the purpose of moving the Dukes ball around to confound England later this year.”It was bittersweet after I got picked and took the most wickets in that last Test on a wicket that probably was the least suited [to] me over the whole series,” Siddle said of the 2015 Oval Test. “I haven’t worried too much about it after playing that Test match and doing what I did. That was enough to knock it on the head and show them what I could’ve done if I had been picked earlier so, so be it. And like Boof [Lehmann] did say, everyone makes mistakes, I make mistakes when I’m out there playing as well, I’ve made mistakes in games that have been crucial. That’s just a part of life, I don’t hold any grudges like that, it’s just part of the game.”It’s something I’ve spoken a lot about over the last couple of years, you go back to results we’ve had and the experience of the bowling attack we’ve had, at times, probably haven’t been the right choices. That’s something that I hope we do manage. I’ve had to play in them and when I first went over there I wasn’t super experienced, did okay but we didn’t win. It’s just about learning from what we’ve done in the past and picking accordingly.”There’s enough players around Australian cricket that have good experience over there. Not to say they’re definitely going to play, but obviously myself because I want to be on that tour, but look at Patto. I know he hasn’t played a lot of Test cricket of late, but he’s been successful when he’s played Test cricket there, and he had that amazing year for Notts two years ago where he destroyed Division One [Two]. So you’ve got to pick players who are readymade to play in those conditions, because they are a lot different to what people expect when they do select normally.”The chemistry between Siddle and Pattinson, both products of the Dandenong club in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, was palpable as they found pads, edges and stumps on the second afternoon, undoing the work of the NSW bowlers Trent Copeland, Sean Abbott and Harry Conway to restrict the Victorians.Siddle’s first over, swerving one ball down the leg side for four byes, was not exactly promising, but he soon locked onto his task to pin Daniel Hughes lbw from round the wicket and set the scene. Pattinson was perhaps fortunate to have Nick Larkin ruled lbw not offering a shot to a ball that may have missed off stump, but there was no conjecture about his scorching deliveries through Jason Sangha and Peter Nevill. Kurtis Patterson, perhaps the Blues’ best chance of a batting riposte, was very nearly lbw shouldering arms to Patterson, before he fell having glanced a Chris Tremain delivery through to a diving Seb Gotch.”We both enjoy playing together and bowling together. I think that shows out on the field and we have a lot of fun. The success we have spurs us both on,” Siddle said. “The way we went about it today and the success we had bowling together, more so what we did in Drummoyne the other week when we took them apart up there, we have fun. I think the pressure we build whether it’s me building pressure, or him scaring them with the pace or swing and me dotting them up at the other end, whatever it might be, we complement each other very well.”We did well here and in other games, but over in England bowling together, it’s not as silly as it sounds to say that we’d be a good pair to have bowling together over there later in the year. There’s still a lot of stuff to be done before then but I think it’s shown over the times in the last couple of games where we’ve bowled together that we’ve taken a lot of wickets one or the other and built a lot of pressure. It speaks for itself in the last three games.”Following back injuries in 2016, it had appeared that Siddle’s time around the Australian Test team was at an end, but prolific displays for Essex in the first division of the county championship last year vaulted him back into the squad for the UAE, with a clear eye towards the Ashes this year. Both Siddle and Pattinson have contracts for county cricket this year, and Siddle agreed he would have a point to prove should he get the chance against England in 2019.Getty Images

“I think so, I talk a lot about how I bowl over there so if I do get picked there’s probably going to be a lot more pressure on me because I’ve spoken a lot about the conditions over there, how they suit me and it’s just going about your business,” Siddle said. “The last couple of years that’s where I’ve probably been better than I probably was when I was younger. [Then] I tried hard, thought too much about the future, looking ahead to other games or staying fit to make sure I get through the series and stuff like that rather than worrying about the game at hand.”Especially the last two years that’s been my sole focus whether I play for Dandenong, state cricket, Big Bash or over in England, just worrying about that game and making every game count. JL [Justin Langer] sent me that message in England last year when I was over there taking a few wickets and he just said ‘Yeah, make every game count’. You’ve just got to stay fit and enjoy the moment because it ends sooner than you think.”The chats we’ve had because I’m playing Division One [for Essex] in theory the sides I’m going to be playing are going to be a lot stronger than the Australia A side. You never really get strong sides in any tour matches or Australia A matches, so the way discussions have been I’ll stay with Essex and play. Could be similar to Patto was well, Patto’s Division One [for Nottinghamshire] and that’s just a bonus for Australia as well. It means we can play more players rather than rock up Australia A with 16 and only play 12, you can actually play if it is all 16 or you might have 20 players all playing at one time in England, with an Australia A game going on.”There was time before bad light brought an early close for Sean Abbott to find a way past the Test opener Marcus Harris, whose first-innings century had set the game up for Siddle and Pattinson to strike.

Australia coach delighted to have Steven Smith and David Warner back ahead of World Cup and Ashes in England

Melinda Farrell18-May-2019As Australia commenced their World Cup preparations on English soil, coach Justin Langer admitted the personal welfare of Steven Smith and David Warner would require sensitive monitoring and handling over the coming months.The two players joined in the centre wicket practice at Whitgift School, in the suburbs of south London, with a small media contingent and a few dozen fans, mainly children in whites, sat on the grassy banks. It was a quiet and even genteel start to a gruelling four-month tour that will incorporate World Cup and Ashes campaigns and Langer knows more hostile crowds and greater scrutiny will greet Smith and Warner now they have served the bans handed to them in the wake of last year’s Cape Town ball tampering affair.”Well we can’t control the crowd,” Langer said. “What I do know? It may ramp up, it may heat up, but it won’t be any hotter than it was 12 months ago. I’ve never seen anything like it so the boys are very well prepared. They’ve paid a heavy price and we’re expecting always to come here and to face the fire and we’re ready for that.”What we’ve got to understand is that they’re human beings as well. There’s not too many I’ve met in my life who like being booed or heckled or disliked so… they’re human beings. We’re going to have to care for them, we’re going to have to put an arm around them and make sure they’re going okay. But what people say, whether it’s in the crowd or social media or wherever, there’s nothing they can do about that, they can’t control it but what we can do is keep an eye on them and make sure they’re going okay as people as much as cricketers.”ALSO READ: Finch ponders tactics to counter run-festsSteven Smith bats during Australia training•Cricket Network

Aside from the expected questions from the media there was little evidence of any lasting effects of a turbulent 12-month period, punctuated by severe recriminations and introspection throughout Australian professional cricket. But Langer suggested both players have shown an understandable eagerness to finally put their exile behind them, from their return to the squad for warm-ups against New Zealand to the squad’s visit to the World War One battlefields of Gallipoli, where they broke their journey to England.”Dave’s got that look on his eye, he’s really hungry, he’s a great player as we all know, he’s so dynamic, he brings so much energy, and that’s what we ask from our players, Langer said. “You watch Glenn Maxwell field or bowl or bat – he brings the energy. Dave Warner always brings energy to the contest. It’s really nice to have him back.””I watched Steve Smith batting against New Zealand in those three practice games, he’s literally a master of the game, so it’s nice to have him back. It’s been hilarious for me because whether on the ANZAC cove or in the lunch room or we’re in the bus playing cards, he’s just shadow batting the whole time. He’s literally – he loves batting, he’s shadow batting on the sand, he’s shadow batting in the shower – I’m not joking. You should see him, he just loves batting. From that point it’s great to have him back.”From a broader perspective, it’s nice to have them back as well, they’ve had 12 months to have a good think about a mistake they and the team made. I’m sure they’ll be better people for that.”Aside from his surprising knowledge of Smith’s daily ablutions, Langer believes both players are physically ready as they continue to progress from elbow surgeries earlier this year, although he admitted they are still at partially restricted in the field.”They both fielded in the three [World Cup warm-up] games against New Zealand. Steve’s in literally career best shape. I mean you just saw a 2K time trial, he’s in great shape and Dave Warner is always elite fit. So in terms of their throwing, they’re building it up. Where they’ve come from, from surgery, I’m really proud of them and they’re up and running. Are they going to throw like Andrew Symonds or Ricky Ponting? Probably not at the moment but they’re certainly working towards that.”Last week in Brisbane, [Smith] batted beautifully, he played an unbelievable shot off Nathan Coulter-Nile there – it was like watching Sachin [Tendulkar] bat. He’s in pretty good shape I think.”Steven Smith, Justin Langer and David Warner during the Australia World Cup squad’s trip to Gallipoli•Cricket Australia

Of greater concern to Langer is the task of getting his side prepared for their first World Cup match against Afghanistan in Bristol, the reason for their match scenario practice, which saw bowlers asked to simulate specific stages of an innings. After a difficult home summer, Australia embarked on an eight-match winning streak in India and Pakistan and they now have two warm-up games in England to settle on a starting side. The main selection questions centre on how to fit Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Warner into the top three while Coulter-Nile appears to be favoured as the third seamer in an attack also featuring Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.The coaching staff will be bolstered by World Cup winners Ponting and Brad Haddin and, while England’s batting has dominated the local cricket headlines, Langer is adamant that Australia won’t be drawn in to changing their tactics.”We’ve been hearing it for 12 months. We’ve shown if we stick to the formula then we’ll have some success. It’s as simple as that. And when it comes to playing India and England it’s just like match play, we’re just going to have to compete harder and be ready for them. In terms of scores, a lot will have to do with the grounds we play on, the conditions, whether we’re chasing or setting, all those sorts of things but we’re really clear on the game plan. We showed in India and Dubai that, if we stick to it, we’ll score big enough scores to win games of cricket.”We love our cricket and we’ve been good at it. When everyone says we’ve got to start playing like England or start playing like New Zealand or start playing like India, no – we’ll keep playing like Australia because we’ve won four of the past five World Cups and that’s something to be proud of.”The boys are aware of it and we know if we stick to the Australian way of playing great cricket… history has shown we’ll be pretty good.”