All posts by h716a5.icu

Shane Warne has suffered serious burns to his bowling hand a mere five days from the Melbourne Stars’ first match in the Twenty20 Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2011Shane Warne has suffered serious burns to his bowling hand a mere five days from the Melbourne Stars’ first match in the Twenty20 Big Bash League, placing his fitness for the start of the tournament in some jeopardy.The burns, which Warne relayed to the world via a graphic image on Twitter, were sustained in a cooking accident.His team was due to take part in a practice match on Monday, though the Stars have indicated that Warne was not scheduled to take part in the fixture.”Not ideal preparation for practice match today-burning the bowling hand Get better quickly please,any suggestions-HELP,” Warne wrote. “Ps no more trying to be a master chef ! Stop and by a bacon roll on the way to the ground next time – silly Shane !”Cameron White, the Stars’ captain, said Warne was confident he would be fit to play on Saturday.”I saw his hand and I saw the pic on Twitter as well – it’s one of those things, it looks a lot worse than probably what it is,” White told reporters. “He said to me in the rooms before that he’s pretty sure he’ll be able to bowl on Wednesday and 100 per cent confident he’s going to play on Saturday as well.”It’s just part and parcel of Warney. The boys are really looking forward to playing with him and what he brings to the table – from burning his hand cooking a bacon sandwich to everything that he’ll do out on the ground.”Warne’s mishap was not the only drama to envelop Melbourne’s two T20 teams in the days before the start of the BBL.Another Star, the Tasmanian allrounder James Faulkner, suffered a dislocated finger in the field during the practice match, while the Renegades’ Brad Hodge has suffered a hamstring injury. Simon Helmot, the Renegades coach, said he felt “sick” after confirmation that Hodge had suffered a hamstring tear.”Obviously when one of your main men go down, it’s disappointing,” he said. “He was a bit dejected at the time, he was really disappointed. But he’s a competitor, he’ll do everything possible to get himself right as soon as possible.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the second Test between Australia and New Zealand in Hobart

The Preview by Daniel Brettig08-Dec-2011Match factsPhillip Hughes will be facing up to Chris Martin once again•AFPDecember 9-13, Hobart
Start time 1030 local (2330 GMT)Big PictureAustralia’s victory in Brisbane maintained the momentum built in Sri Lanka then carried – with the exception of a ridiculous couple of hours in Cape Town – in to South Africa. It also confirmed the many and varied deficiencies in New Zealand’s Test team, magnified as they were by the Gabba’s bounce and movement. The second Test in Hobart affords the visitors a climate and playing surface more familiar to their batsmen, but also a venue at which Australia have excelled – not once have they lost a Test in Tasmania since the first was played in 1989.Michael Clarke’s team barged through New Zealand in less than three full days’ playing time at the Gabba, but did so with a fair spread of faults the team is aware of. Australia’s catching was flawed, particularly in the first innings, and the return of the fielding coach Steve Rixon to lead drills in Hobart was welcome. Several batsmen, too, will want to improve. Clarke and Ricky Ponting made substantial scores but offered a few chances and half-chances a long the way, while Michael Hussey has not made a Test score of note in five innings since he was the undisputed Man of the Series Sri Lanka. Then of course there are Phillip Hughes’ continuing misadventures outside the off stump. Among the bowlers, James Pattinson has plenty to live up to following his barnstorming display in Brisbane, while Mitchell Starc will be seeking the consistency of length and line that would make his swinging, bouncing left-arm deliveries exceedingly dangerous.New Zealand’s struggles in Brisbane felt unbecoming for a team coached by a man as thorough and shrewd as John Wright, and more in line with the flighty batting of their captain Ross Taylor. The tourists’ lack of Test cricket in 2011 played a large part in the manner of the defeat, as a sound first two days gave way to an abject conclusion in the face of an Australian team that did not relent. Dean Brownlie, at least, showed a neat technique and an example to the rest of the batsmen, while Doug Bracewell’s whole-hearted bowling would have been far more successful without a consistently risky flirtation with the front crease line. Brendon McCullum’s aggression at the top of the order was inadequately substantial, and as a whole the batsmen left far too much for Brownlie and Daniel Vettori to do. Greater application will be needed in Hobart, including the awareness of off stump that Wright has spoken of. Chris Martin was as sturdy as ever with the ball, and will again be seeking to clip Hughes off the top of the Australian batting order.Form guide (most recent first)
Australia: WWLDD
New Zealand: LWDLLIn the spotlightNo-one can question Phillip Hughes’ appetite for runs, but he is so often out fencing at deliveries going across him before there is time to complete the entrée. On a Hobart surface that was still verdant green on match eve, it is guaranteed that Martin’s right-arm seam and swing will again pose the questions that Hughes was unable to answer in Brisbane. In the words of the coach Mickey Arthur, Hughes’ difficulties are of a nature that “will not go away”, and after this series Ishant Sharma will be as keen as Martin to exploit them. So Hughes must show evidence of improvement sooner rather than later, or no amount of impassioned support from his captain Clarke will save him.Ross Taylor reasoned there would be changes to his team if there is not strong improvement on an ailing performance in Brisbane. Based on the pair of shots he played to be out to Pattinson in both innings, Taylor should not be immune from scrutiny himself. A tremendous shot-making talent, his looseness was not the example to set for a young team, particularly behind a No. 3 in Kane Williamson who looked out of his depth on a surface offering bounce. In the field Taylor made some decent bowling changes but dropped a catch. The improvement of the team’s Test match fortunes is going to have to start with the captain.Pitch and conditionsHobart surfaces tend to alternate between very flat and very lively, and the sight of a strip of similar colour and grass coverage to the outfield suggests the second Test pitch will fall into the latter category. The pace and bounce will not be on quite the same level as Brisbane’s, while a colder climate may prevent a repeat of the sharp swing gained by Pattinson on day four at the Gabba.Team newsAustralia named an unchanged side on match eve, removing all doubt about the potential of the 12th man Daniel Christian to be brought in for Hughes.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Phillip Hughes, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Nathan Lyon.New Zealand appear likely to give another chance to the XI that struggled for traction in Brisbane, reasoning that the players entered the first Test in good enough touch and must better organise their mental approach to Test cricket and Australia.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Jesse Ryder, 6 Dean Brownlie, 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 Reece Young (wk), 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Chris Martin.Stats & trivia Australia’s unchanged team is their first since taking the same XI that won the third Ashes Test in Perth last summer into the fourth Test in Melbourne. An innings defeat and the loss of the urn eventuated. Ricky Ponting returns to the scene of his previous Test century, 209 against Pakistan in January 2010. He is without a hundred in 29 innings since. Chris Martin’s second-innings duck gave him the most in Tests between Australia and New Zealand, eight to surpass Danny Morrison’s seven. Though Australia have never lost a Test in Hobart, New Zealand have managed to scrape draws from two of the three Tests they have played at the ground – the other an innings defeat in 1993.Quotes”If the wicket doesn’t change much from what I see, and it’s still a little bit tacky and there’s [overcast] overhead conditions I’ll bowl first, but I’ve said that a few times and then got out there and batted. The two things I find hard: bowling first when I win the toss, and not picking a spinner.”
“We have a good fielding outfit and we were disappointed to let our standards slip. The guys set very high standards in the field. When things aren’t going so well it’s something we rely on to get us going. We’ve put in some hard work since Brisbane.”

Brett Lee has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Bank Series after suffering a broken foot during Australia’s Twenty20 loss at the MCG on Friday

Brydon Coverdale04-Feb-2012Brett Lee has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Bank Series after suffering a broken foot during Australia’s Twenty20 loss at the MCG on Friday. Lee is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks, meaning there could also be doubt over his availability for the limited-overs portion of the tour of the West Indies, which starts in mid-March.”Brett Lee sustained a fracture of his right foot when he was struck by a ball in the last over of his spell during the KFC T20 against India at the MCG on Friday night,” Cricket Australia team doctor Trefor James said. “He was able to complete the over however the foot became more painful and swollen the following day. An x-ray has confirmed a fracture of the small toe and we now expect Brett will return to cricket in four to six weeks.”Australia will not name a replacement player for the initial matches of the tri-series until after the opening match against India in Melbourne on Sunday. That means Australia’s likely attack for the opening game will be Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty and the allrounder Daniel Christian, with Mitchell Marsh unavailable for the first two games so he can play in a Sheffield Shield match.Candidates to replace Lee will include Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus, although the selectors might wish to give them some extra rest time after their workload during the recent Test series. Other options could include Tasmania’s James Faulkner, who made his T20 international debut on Wednesday, Western Australia’s Nathan Coulter-Nile and Queensland’s Alister McDermott, who is on top of the Ryobi Cup wicket tally this season.Lee, 35, has taken 357 wickets for Australia in one-day internationals and last played in the format on the tour of Sri Lanka in August. He was keen to remain part of the 50-over squad as he aimed for 400 ODI wickets, and the national selector John Inverarity said last week when he announced the squad that the younger members of the attack would benefit from working alongside Lee.

A violent opening stand and a superbly-paced Brendon McCullum ton handed New Zealand their third huge win in as many one-dayers, as Zimbabwe fell 202 runs short of their gargantuan target of 374

The Report by Andrew Fernando09-Feb-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDespite starting slowly Brendon McCullum finished with 119 off 88 balls•Getty ImagesSmart stats

Brendon McCullum scored his fourth century in his 198th match. It is also his highest score against Zimbabwe. The strike rate of 135.71 is the highest for a 100-plus score for McCullum.

McCullum’s century is also the third-highest score and the eighth century overall to be scored by a captain-wicketkeeper in ODIs. MS Dhoni is the only player to do so more than once (four occasions).

Both Brian Vitori and Elton Chigumbura went for over 90 runs in the New Zealand innings. This is the first time in ODIs that two bowlers have conceded 90-plus runs in the same innings.

Vitori also narrowly missed out on becoming the bowler to concede the most runs in an innings, a record held by Mick Lewis, who conceded 113 runs against South Africa in 2006. However, his economy rate of 11.66 is the highest among bowlers who have bowled at least eight overs in an innings.

New Zealand, who scored 373, surpassed their total of 372 which they made in the second ODI. The 373 is their third-highest total overall in ODIs and the second-highest against Zimbabwe after the 397 in Bulawayo in 2005.

New Zealand’s victory margin of 202 runs is their largest in ODIs against Zimbabwe and their fourth-largest overall. It is also the fifth time they have won by a margin of 200 runs or more.

For the second time in two ODIs and the third time against Zimbabwe overall, New Zealand hit 16 sixes in their innings. It is the joint second-highest on the list of most sixes hit in an innings by any team.

The opening pair of Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill went past their previous best partnership of 131 with a 153-run stand. It equals the third-highest opening stand for New Zealand against Zimbabwe.

Ray Price became the fourth Zimbabwe bowler to reach the 100-wicket mark in ODIs. His average of 35.75 is second only to Heath Streak’s 29.81 among Zimbabwe bowlers with over 100 wickets.

A violent opening stand and a superbly-paced Brendon McCullum ton handed New Zealand their third huge win in as many one-dayers, as Zimbabwe fell 202 runs short of their gargantuan target of 374. Martin Guptill and Rob Nicol added 153 in 22 overs to provide the platform once more, before McCullum’s 88-ball 119 propelled New Zealand beyond 370 for the second consecutive innings. Brendan Taylor’s 65 was the only knock of note in Zimbabwe’s reply with the visitors once more opting to spend time in the middle rather than go for the unlikely win. Zimbabwe were dismissed for 172 in the 44th over.McCullum consolidated to begin with, following the quick demise of both openers, before exploiting some woeful death bowling to hurtle past 100. Keen not to let the early tempo abate, McCullum opted for the batting Powerplay in the 29th over with Jacob Oram for company, but allowed his partner to attempt the big shots while he turned over the strike. He continued to accumulate alongside Kane Williamson, as the flat Napier wicket and a worsening Zimbabwe attack allowed risk-free progress.McCullum got a life on 48; Zimbabwe have seemed intent on giving every New Zealand batsman one of those at some point in the series, and it must have been his turn. Having worked his way to a run-a-ball strike-rate soon after reaching fifty, McCullum exploded in the 43rd over, launching Elton Chigumbura over long-off, before carving Kyle Jarvis through cover. Zimbabwe served up full tosses, half-volleys and length deliveries abundantly, and McCullum duly gorged, slapping Chigumbura into the leg-side stands twice in a row, before demolishing the woeful Brian Vitori to complete Zimbabwe’s misery.McCullum’s breathless finish was set up by Guptill and Nicol, who began laying waste to the Zimbabwe attack almost immediately, as they carried New Zealand’s Whangarei belligerence to Napier. Utterly unafraid of a pedestrian attack that had failed to test them throughout the tour, the pair had seemingly decided they would test themselves – by igniting the New Zealand innings at the most furious pace yet.Nicol survived two close calls, one lbw shout that was overturned on review, and a top-edged pull that was predictably shelled, but apart from those early stutters, precious little troubled the openers. They blasted seven sixes and 13 fours between them, and took their combined half-century tally to five in three matches. Only Nicol missed out in the first ODI of the series.Zimbabwe’s bowlers rarely bowled two balls in the same place, but their woes were not all their own making against batsmen so cocksure, they could dispatch any ball in their chosen direction. Guptill favoured the leg side as he moved around the crease to pepper the ropes with an array of sweeps, paddles, pulls and pick-ups. Nicol meanwhile preferred to manipulate length by advancing, carting two balls over the stands at square leg.Spin and a spread-out field stymied the breakneck pace somewhat after the first 10 overs, but while Nicol reined in his game, Guptill continued to attack, beating the field with innovation rather than power. When Taylor brought in fine leg to push long-off back, Guptill shovelled the next ball over his shoulder. When the leg side was strengthened, he shuffled to leg to send the ball screeching through the covers.Guptill was eventually stumped as he knotted himself up after advancing down the pitch, a ball after Nicol had also fallen, but McCullum’s furious innings ensured the base wasn’t squandered.Williamson accumulated busily, before Nathan McCullum thumped 21 runs off seven balls – 18 of them coming from the three successive sixes off Vitori, who became only the fourth bowler to concede over 100 runs in an ODI innings, and that despite bowling one over short.For the fifth time in as many innings on tour, Zimbabwe’s openers failed to reach double figures. As has been the case throughout the tour, Taylor was the only Zimbabwe player that batted positively, even dominating the New Zealand attack at times. Taylor measured out aggression methodically, rarely straying from the routine of rotating the strike after boundary hits, instead of attempting to tear apart a disciplined attack.Once he fell at 115 for 5, New Zealand simply stayed patient to wait for the remaining wickets. Tarun Nethula had an impressive second spell that yielded his first two international scalps, as he found the confidence to flight and turn the ball after a nervous debut. Doug Bracewell and Michael Bates were both lively, considering the flatness of the pitch, and picked up a wicket apiece, before Nathan McCullum polished off the tail to end the hopelessly one-sided series.

The owners of the Rajasthan Royals are believed to have agreed to sell the majority of the IPL franchise to a Kolkata-based businessman for $200 million, ESPNcricinfo has learned

Tariq Engineer23-Mar-2012The owners of the Rajasthan Royals are close to selling the majority of the IPL franchise to a Kolkata-based businessman for $200 million, ESPNcricinfo has learned. However, the deal still requires the approval of the BCCI. Should it go through, it would be the first sale of an IPL franchise in the league’s five-year history.Mannoj Jain, the founder and promoter of the Jain Group of Industries, has offered to buy 88.3% stake from three of the four shareholders in the franchise – Tresco International (Suresh Chellaram and family), which owns a 44.2% stake, Emerging Media (Manoj Badale), which owns 32.4% and Blue Water Estate Ltd (Lachlan Murdoch), the eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, which owns 11.7% – according to a person familiar with the developments.The deal values the Royals at $226.50 million, almost three-and-a-half times more than the $67 million the owners paid for the franchise at the original auction in 2008. Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty, who bought an 11.7% stake for $15.4 million in 2009, will retain their share in the franchise. The deal with Jain raises the value of their holdings to $26.50 million, an increase of 72% over a three-year period. News of the deal was first reported by the on March 20.Jain told on Wednesday that his group wants to buy the franchise but are waiting on the board to evaluate the proposal. “The franchise-owners are willing to sell their stake and are currently in talks with the BCCI,” he said. “Everything now depends on the BCCI.”A top board official said that the BCCI was reluctant to give consent to the deal because there is a strong opinion that Lalit Modi, the former IPL commissioner who was suspended by the BCCI for alleged irregularities during his tenure, might financially benefit from the sale. This is due to unsubstantiated allegations in the past around the possibility that Modi may have hidden stakes in the Royals’ ownership. “We suspect if the deal is allowed to go through Modi can benefit financially and some in the BCCI at least do not want that to happen,” the official told ESPNcricinfo.When contacted, the management of the franchise said they were not aware of a deal and were focused on getting ready for the IPL season that begins on April 4.According to the Jain group’s website, Jain has businesses in infrastructure, steel, power and real estate. The company made a profit of Rs 694.26 million after tax for the year ended 2009-10. Among their projects is the Kolkata Sports City, a sports township set on 250 acres in Rajarhat.The Royals have had something of a chequered history in the IPL. Led by Shane Warne, the team won the inaugural tournament in 2008, surprising many in the process. Two years later the BCCI abruptly terminated the franchise from the league, along with the Kings XI Punjab, on charges of transgressing shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”. However, the Royals fought their expulsion in the Bombay High Court and won, with the court ordering they be restored to the league with all their rights and privileges intact. The court also referred the case to arbitration, the proceedings of which are still on.

Cricket Australia is expected to move to a smaller board featuring some independent directors in October, despite objections from the South Australian Cricket Association

Brydon Coverdale24-Apr-2012Cricket Australia is expected to move to a smaller board featuring some independent directors in October, despite objections from the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA). A fully independent board is likely to be introduced in 2015, meaning that within three years the state associations will almost certainly have no representation at CA board level.The plan is part of CA’s response to the Crawford-Carter review into the organisation’s governance. A new financial model that would see CA take control of all internationals played in Australia has also been proposed. Board reform was one of the key recommendations from the governance review, which suggested the end to the archaic system in which some states held greater power than others.The two-stage plan, discussed at a CA board meeting in Melbourne on Tuesday, is based around introducing three independent directors to work alongside six state-appointed directors – one from each state – at the annual general meeting in October. In 2015, barring any unforeseen hurdles, the six state-appointed directors would be phased out and all nine board members would be independent of official state affiliation, although there would need to be at least one residing in each state.The existing board structure features 14 directors, all appointed by state boards, with three each from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, two each from Western Australia and Queensland, and one from Tasmania. CA chairman Wally Edwards said South Australia remained reluctant to give up its voice on the board, but approval from five of the six states was enough for the moves to go ahead.”We didn’t get a unanimous position because of this issue of the independent director,” Edwards said. “One state is pretty well locked in on wanting to have their own delegated director for all time. That’s the one sticking point there, from SACA.”SACA are against it, I don’t want to hide that fact. They’re very positive on everything except that the director who would be located in South Australia, they want to be able to appoint him and they want him to be on their board.”In the end, if five out of the six states agree then it moves forward and Cricket Australia’s constitution will be changed to say that directors can’t be a member of their state board… it’s an issue that SACA will have to come to grips with as well.”The move needs to be approved at a special CA meeting in July, and South Australia’s objections would not be enough to prevent it. Should the proposal succeed, a nomination committee consisting of Edwards, two state chairmen and two people who are not part of a board will choose the three independent directors who would take office in October.The new CA chairman would then be elected at the AGM from those three independent directors and the six directors nominated by the state boards. Edwards said he was confident the changes would be approved and would lead to the total overhaul of the board in 2015 – CA says the two-stage process is a legal obligation – despite the failure of several attempts in past years to revolutionise the unwieldy and inequitable board structure.”If this goes through in July, we will have achieved a lot,” Edwards said. “We will still have one more phase to go and we will still have six appointed directors, but we’ll have moved from 14 to nine, all states will be put on an equal footing… there’s been a lot of grumpiness about some states being more equal than others. This first step gets rid of all that.”Edwards also said the states had agreed to a new financial model in which each state association would give up the management of international matches in its territory, and in return would be paid a minimum guarantee grant by CA. Edwards said no state would be worse off under the new plan, which he said would “untangle a lot of the very, very complicated… ways of running our business”.

Kevon Cooper, the West Indies and Rajasthan Royals allrounder, has suffered a knee fracture and will be out of action for four to five weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2012Kevon Cooper, the Rajasthan Royals allrounder, has suffered a knee fracture and will be out of action for four to five weeks. Cooper, the leading wicket-taker for the Royals this season, was injured while fielding during the game against Delhi Daredevils on April 29. Rahul Dravid, Royals’ captain, said that losing Cooper is unfortunate for the team.”He has come in as a young kid and performed exceptionally well and done some difficult jobs for us,” Dravid said.Cooper, who was playing his first season in the IPL, had a dream debut as he picked up four wickets and slammed a first-ball six in the game against Kings XI Punjab. He played six games and totalled ten wickets at an economy rate of 7.25. He was bought by the Royals in this years’ auction for $50,000.

Sahara Matribhumi, the Bangladesh subsidiary of Sahara group, has made an offer of approximately $9.4 million for a period of four years for the sponsorship of the Bangladesh cricket team

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-2012Sahara Matribhumi, the Bangladesh subsidiary of Sahara group, has made an offer of approximately $9.4 million for the sponsorship of the Bangladesh team for a four-year period. The bid was substantially higher than the $ 3.4 million offered by the previous sponsors, Grameenphone, and $4 million offered by Robi, another telecom company.BCB president Mustafa Kamal said that while no decision has been made yet on which offer to accept, Sahara’s bid of approximately $2.3 million a year, if finalised, would be beneficial for Bangladesh cricket.”The national team sponsorship, which is the main component of the tenders that we had invited, has been offered 2.3 million dollars per year by Sahara,” Kamal said. “We expect the revenue to be around Tk 110 crore during this four-year period. It was unimaginable a few years ago but more than the money, I think it will be a turning point if we can have Sahara with us.”All the tenders are for a four-year period. I hope that we can finalise the deals in the next few days. We haven’t made a decision on the tenders; I’m just letting you know what is the highest we’ve got.”Apart from the national team sponsorship, Sahara was the only company to bid for the sponsorship rights of the National Cricket Academy at a price of $130,000 per year.Last week, Sahara group chairman Subrata Roy had said in Dhaka that his company was interested in investing in Bangladesh cricket. Speaking at an event, he said that it ‘may be possible’ for Sahara to sponsor the Bangladesh team. “The Sahara logo is seen on the jerseys of Indian cricket team,” he said then. “Though I am not announcing it right now, but I can say it may be possible to see the same logo on the jersey of Bangladesh cricket team.”

A lapse that cost David Warner his wicket at Lord’s epitomised the details that Australia must get right if they are to inch closer to England in the second ODI at The Oval.

Daniel Brettig 30-Jun-2012A lapse that cost David Warner his wicket at Lord’s epitomised the details that Australia must get right if they are to inch closer to England in the second ODI at The Oval. Warner admitted to a bout of laziness when facing the swing and seam of Jimmy Anderson, resulting in an edge behind to Craig Kieswetter and the loss of a second critical wicket minutes after George Bailey’s departure.There were a few areas in which Michael Clarke’s men fell short in the series opener, not least the bowlers’ inability to contain a rampant Eoin Morgan in the closing overs of England’s innings. Clarke was involved in a catastrophic run-out that ended a promising innings by Matthew Wade, and a handful of lax fielding efforts also helped the hosts win their first ODI against Australia at Lord’s since 1997.Warner had played pugnaciously and well for his 56, but six runs after Bailey had dragged Anderson onto the stumps, he failed to use his feet sufficiently to cover a ball going across him, and snicked it to a diving Kieswetter. Characteristically blunt, Warner said it was the kind of dismissal he should not be allowing himself in England, where the ball can always move the fraction required to defeat a batsman using his hands alone.”It’s me thinking that I’m in and I shouldn’t be doing that,” Warner said. “It’s laziness, that’s all it comes down to. Early on I’ll be getting across to that and playing the ball on its merits, but as you get in you get a little bit tired, but what you tend to do is you know there’s no slips and you think you can get away with just working it down to third man or through extra cover.”That’s my game, I’ve got to learn from that, get my feet across, not be so lazy through that period, and capitalise on that. You’re never in when you’re over here, and it was a little bit lazy myself. If I go back there again I’d have used my feet a bit more and tried to work it into the gap for a single.”Among the other critical differences between the two innings was the fact that in the drier afternoon conditions, England were able to get the ball to reverse swing. Tim Bresnan’s second spell was much enhanced by the fact he was getting the ball to bend, and a curving full toss was to account for Clarke. Warner said the visitors had struggled to do similar in the morning, when numerous rain breaks kept the outfield damp and the ball less dry.”With the square that’s out there at Lord’s and the Oval, the ball’s going to be thrown in and going to be hitting the dirt, it’s going to allow that one part to get scuffed up a lot,” Warner said. “So if the guys work on the ball, keep one side shiny enough to get it going reverse it can prove crucial. Tim Bresnan got a couple to go pretty big, which is good for him, but we’ve got to try to counteract it and work out how we can play that.”Before he names his team for the second ODI, Clarke will consider his best use of the wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, whose sprightly batting seems under-utilised at No. 7. “He can bat anywhere and he’s shown that again,” Clarke said of Wade. “He’s a wonderful talent, a good striker of the ball.”It’s tough because he plays the new ball well and he’s quite positive, but in that middle order he’s very good at the death as well, he strikes the ball cleanly. Trying to work out what’s best for the team, that’s probably the most important thing for us at the moment, try to work out the best batting line-up for our team with the players we have and back and support that.”Clarke will also think again how best to use Steve Smith, who he considers an allrounder but remains reluctant to bowl. Smith’s batting looked far from likely to trouble England at Lord’s, though he has been cast in the kind of role usually ascribed to the far more experienced Michael Hussey.”Smithy’s a very talented allrounder, as we’ve seen for a while now,” Clarke said. “He can bat, bowl and is as good as anyone in the field. I’d love to see him put his hand up and make some runs, he’s batting at No. 6, a crucial position not having Michael Hussey here, and if he gets the opportunity with the ball, he’s been bowling every day in the nets and it looks like it’s coming out of his hand well.”

Preview of the fourth ODI between West Indies and New Zealand in St. Kitts

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria13-Jul-2012Match factsSaturday, July 14
Start time 0930 (1330 GMT)
West Indies No. 3 batsman Dwayne Smith has often given his wicket away in this series•WICBBig PictureFor the first four games of the tour, West Indies were clobbering New Zealand as they haven’t clobbered any Test nation in a long time. However, a familiar collapse by the hosts in St Kitts opened the door for New Zealand, who have Brendon McCullum back in the side and probably their captain Ross Taylor as well.West Indies’ success was partly due to the rustiness and inexperience of New Zealand and partly due to Chris Gayle. There is probably no harder job in limited-overs cricket than to plan for Gayle, and New Zealand’s stand-in captain Kane Williamson can’t be faulted for his team failures. It looked like West Indies would wrap up the series in the third ODI, but then Gayle failed.The manner in which West Indies collapsed to an 88-run loss showed why, despite looking unstoppable at times, they remain a work in progress. This was their chance to secure a first ODI series win against top-flight opposition in more than four years, and build on their performance during the drawn home series against Australia earlier this year. The target was modest, the bowling attack manageable, the ground small, and the track full of runs, but they capitulated.On the other hand, New Zealand could have found the belief they need to compete in the series. To keep challenging West Indies, though, they will need a stronger effort from their batsmen, especially after the loss of BJ Watling, who made two half-centuries in three matchesForm guide (completed games, most recent first)
West Indies LWWLL
New Zealand WLLLLWatch out for…Brendon McCullum was not part of the original ODI squad, but joined the tour because of a spate of injuries in the team. He hasn’t played for New Zealand since the home series against South Africa in March, and his last competitive fixtures were in the IPL, so he will want to shake off the rustiness as soon as possible.Dwayne Smith made a comeback to West Indies’ one-day squad after two years, in England. In five matches since, he scored two half-centuries – a marked improvement over three fifties in his previous 77 matches. He had batted in the lower order for most of his career, and often made the wrong choice of shot, and even in his new avatar as a No. 3, Smith’s fifties have been flanked by innings where he has again given it away too easily.Team newsTaylor, who hurt his shoulder during the first Twenty20, has recovered faster than expected and is likely to play. “I did say two to six weeks and I’m fortunate that it’s come down to just two weeks,” he said. “The stiffness and the pain has been going slightly and all going well it’s looking very likely I’ll play tomorrow.” Watling, however, suffered a leg injury while batting during the third ODI in St. Kitts and is unavailable for selection. Brendon McCullum’s return to the squad as wicketkeeper means Tom Latham is likely to play as a batsman. Fast bowler Doug Bracewell and medium-pacer Andrew Ellis will be available for selection after recovering from their injuries.New Zealand: (possible) 1 Rob Nicol, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Brendon McCullum (wk), 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Ross Taylor (capt), 6 Tom Latham, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Doug Bracewell, 11 Kyle Mills.West Indies are likely to continue with their strongest XI. However, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin will miss the match to get married and has been replaced by Devon Thomas.West Indies: (possible) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Dwayne Smith, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Devon Thomas (wk), 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Sunil NarineStats and trivia Brendon McCullum has scored 213 runs in 13 games against West Indies at an average of 23.66. His ODI career average is 30.47. West Indies have a 26-21 head-to-head record against New Zealand in all ODIs. However, in the last 10 years, New Zealand lead 11-4.Quotes”We won’t let one game dampen the spirit of the boys.”

“It’s nice to have Brendon in the camp and hopefully Ross is looking good for the next one. It was a real shame to lose BJ [Watling], who has been our stronghold in the batting order down at six.”