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Albie Morkel, the Chennai Super Kings allrounder, has returned to South Africa to attend the funeral of Louis Vorster who died after being shot during an armed robbery in Gauteng

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2012Albie Morkel, the Chennai Super Kings allrounder, has returned to South Africa to attend the funeral of Louis Vorster who died after being shot during an armed robbery in Gauteng on Tuesday. Morkel is expected to return later in the tournament, though no date has been specified.”Albie Morkel has travelled back to South Africa first thing this morning after hearing of the death of a very close friend at Johannesburg overnight,” Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings coach said. “He goes with our best wishes and sympathies. He will take further part in the IPL, but we are not sure when that is. So on behalf of CSK, we extend our sympathies to Albie and obviously look forward to getting him back as soon as we can.”Ahead of their match against Pune Warriors, Super Kings could have selection issues following the poor form of opener M Vijay, who has scored 31 runs in five matches.”The [pre-match] discussion will certainly revolve around players who have not been doing what they are expected to do,” Fleming said. “We would like a player to be consistent with his performance. The coach’s job is not easy one. It is up to me to [get] Vijay [back] to his usual form.”One of Vijay’s possible replacements, Abhinav Mukund, is recovering from an ankle injury sustained during training before the start of the tournament. “He [Abhinav] is pretty much close to 100%. He is pretty much into the selection discussion. We have good cricketers in the team like [Anirudha] Srikkanth and Wriddhiman Saha, and it is a matter of a balancing act.”Super Kings had another injury scare in the previous match when captain MS Dhoni seemingly did damage to his hamstring. However, Fleming said that Dhoni has received adequate treatment and should be available for the Warriors match. “I think Dhoni is fine. He has been having treatment for the hamstring injury sustained in the last game. We expect him to play his full part in the [Warriors] game.”Super Kings are playing Warriors in their sixth match of the season in Chennai. They have lost three matches, including a loss to Warriors in Pune.

Kane Williamson continued his impressive form with another century as Gloucestershire secured a crushing win over Leicestershire

13-May-2012
ScorecardKane Williamson’s career-best one-day score of 112 led Gloucestershire to a thumping 164-run win over Leicestershire at Bristol. The New Zealander top-scored in a total of 294 for 6, receiving excellent support from Benny Howell, who made 88 and shared in a third-wicket stand of 152.In reply Leicestershire, who had won the toss, could manage only 130 as Chris Dent picked up four for 43 with his offspin and seamer Graeme McCarter 3 for 15. Robert Taylor top scored with 29 not out.Williamson walked to the wicket with Gloucestershire 44 for 2 in the seventh over. By the time he was dismissed the scoreboard read 269 for 5 and he had faced 92 balls, hitting eight fours, in beating his previous best one-day score of 108.Howell, who is hoping for a Gloucestershire contract after being employed on a match-by-match basis, excelled for the third successive CB40 game, following up scores of 72 not out against the Netherlands and 45 not out against Middlesex with another fluent innings.The former Hampshire player faced 82 deliveries and blasted nine fours and a six before being the victim of a leg-side stumping by Ned Eckersley off Taylor.Leicestershire’s fielding was sluggish and their bowlers had a tendency to drop short, a failing punished relentlessly by Williamson and Howell. Alex Gidman and Ian Cockbain made brisk contributions to a positive Gloucestershire batting display.Leicestershire made the worst possible start to their reply as, without a run on the board, Josh Cobb was caught at short midwicket off Ian Saxelby. It was 33 for 2 when Greg Smith was bowled by Will Gidman, a wicket that brought captain Ramnaresh Sarwan to the crease.He could only watch as Jacques du Toit and Matt Boyce departed in quick succession to leave their team 55 for 4 in the 15th over and already well behind the required run rate. The game was as good as over by the time Jon Batty stumped Wayne White off Dent to make it 65 for 5 in the 19th over.Sarwan himself could only struggle to 18 off 33 balls, without hitting a boundary, in a dismal Leicestershire performance. It was 74 for 6 when he was out and, despite Taylor’s late rally, Gloucestershire were soon to make it four points from their first three Group A games.

Warwickshire went top of Group C as they crushed a weakened Derbyshire by 105 runs in a one-sided match.

04-Jun-2012
ScorecardWarwickshire went top of Group C as they crushed a weakened Derbyshire by 105 runs in a one-sided match.Derbyshire’s chances of chasing down Warwickshire’s 242 for 6 vanished in the first five overs when Chris Woakes and Chris Wright reduced them to 25 for 4, before Steffan Piolet claimed his best one-day figures of 4 for 31 as the home side were skittled for 137 in 32.1 overs.Tim Ambrose anchored the Bears innings with an unbeaten 77 from 92 balls and shared stands of 90 in 17 overs with Darren Maddy and 76 in eight with former Derbyshire skipper Rikki Clarke, who provided late acceleration with 48 from 29 balls.Derbyshire went into the match without attacking New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill who has a broken finger and three front-line bowlers, and the game was over as a contest once Woakes and Wright had blown away the top order.Woakes, who took 3 for 46, struck twice in his opening over before Wright removed Wayne Madsen with an unplayable lifter, leaving Piolet to cash in with only Jon Clare offering any real resistance with 57 from 54 balls.With their own hopes of reaching the semi-finals damaged by two defeats in the opening three games, Derbyshire rested pace bowlers Tony Palladino and Tim Groenewald along with spinner David Wainwright.Mark Turner bowled well on a slow surface to remove both openers and when a direct hit accounted for captain Jim Troughton, the visitors had some rebuilding to do at 66 for 3 in the 14th over.But Ambrose and Maddy worked the ball around to establish a platform for Clarke who opened his shoulders to drive and pull three sixes before he holed out to long on to give Alex Hughes his first wicket for Derbyshire.Derbyshire’s reply began disastrously when Chesney Hughes played on and Wes Durston was caught behind first ball and the slide continued with Madsen edging to second slip and Dan Redfern falling to a loose drive.Piolet then demolished the lower order to reduce the home side to 86 for 7 and only some defiant blows by Clare gave the innings a measure of respectability. He pulled Woakes into the car park to reach his half century and was last out when he sliced Wright to third man to give Warwickshire their second victory over Derbyshire in the competition.

Through Alastair Cook’s 20th Test hundred, a chanceless innings, it was England who ended the opening day in control on a healthy 267 for 3

The Report by Andrew McGlashan19-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlastair Cook batted throughout the opening day of the series to lay a solid foundation•Getty Images

Much has been made of the fact this is only a three-Test series, a contest that will determine the No. 1 team in the world – and one thing it means is that the early advantage becomes even more crucial. Through Alastair Cook’s 20th Test hundred, a chanceless innings, it was England who ended the opening day in control on a healthy 267 for 3, as they aim to consolidate their top ranking.Cook’s hundred, which came from 222 balls, made him the third England batsman this year to reach the 20 Test century mark following Kevin Pietersen at Colombo and Andrew Strauss at Lord’s. It is a close race between the trio to become England’s leading century-maker, overtaking the 22 scored by Geoff Boycott, Wally Hammond and Colin Cowdrey, but there is little doubt that Cook, who is still only 27, should finish his career at the top of that list.This innings ended an 11-month gap between Test hundreds for Cook, whose previous was the mammoth 294 against India at Edgbaston. He has since twice fallen for 94 – the hundreds have instead come in one-day cricket and he has often looked in wonderful touch – so it was timely to get the century count ticking over again. He played some delightful drives, with one back-foot punch through mid-off against Dale Steyn standing out, and also collected a six when he hooked Steyn during the first session.Cook and Jonathan Trott added 170 for the second wicket as England confidently overcame the loss of Strauss to the fourth ball of the series. The pair, who have previously added stands of 392, 251 and 173, encapsulate the methodical, pragmatic and calculated cricket that has taken England to the top of the rankings. They are not the most flamboyant No. 1 team in history – South Africa, if they are to overtake them, wouldn’t be either – but they have found a formula that, especially at home, is becoming mighty difficult to unpick.That gameplan revolves around grinding opposition down; when bowling first that comes in terms of drying up runs and when batting first it means digging in for the long haul with the top three laying foundations for a more expansive middle order. It was far from revolutionary – in fact it is ‘old fashioned’ Test cricket – but it has proved a revelation in recent years.What was impressive about England here was the way they responded to the early loss of Strauss. It was the third time the captain has fallen in the first over a Test and this was the team’s most confident reply. The last time he faced South Africa, at Johannesburg, he was out first ball and it precipitated a poor England performance. This early departure brought back memories of Brisbane 2010, when he carved the third ball to Michael Hussey at gully and England fumbled to a total of 260 although ultimately, and famously, saved the game.Significant credit must go to Graeme Smith and some shrewd captaincy. Even before this innings Morne Morkel had an impressive record against Strauss, who he had removed six times in Test cricket – often from around the wicket – and he started with that line of attack straight away. Morkel’s second delivery was miles down the leg side but the radar was soon adjusted although Steve Davis, the umpire, did not give the decision and it required a review from Smith. It proved his second smart decision in less than an over, with the ball shown to be hitting middle and leg.

Smart stats

• Alastair Cook’s century is his 20th in Tests and second against South Africa after the 118 in Durban. Four batsmen including Andrew Strauss are ahead of Cook on the list of England batsmen with the most Test centuries.

• Cook’s strike rate of 40.28 is his third-lowest for a three-figure knock. His lowest such strike rate is 37.63 during his 105 against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2006.

• The 170-run stand between Cook and Jonathan Trott is the seventh-highest second-wicket partnership for England against South Africa overall and the second-highest since South Africa’s readmission.

• Strauss was dismissed by Morne Morkel for the seventh time in Tests. Only Shane Warne has dismissed Strauss more often (8 times).

• Strauss was dismissed for a duck for the 15th time in his career. Only Michael Atherton (20) has more ducks among England top-order (innings between 1-7) batsmen.

• It is the eighth time that Cook and Strauss have had a zero-run partnership. Only Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya have featured in more such partnerships (10).

Trott, however, calmly drove his first delivery through mid-on while Cook was given too many deliveries he could leave, especially by Morkel from round the wicket. Steyn was held back from the new ball as Vernon Philander partnered Morkel and there was swing on offer, which caused the batsmen a few nervous moments without creating a chance.Having been billed as a battle of the bowling attacks, South Africa’s five-pronged unit were on the whole disappointing. The visitors had been bullish that their limited preparation would not be a factor heading into the match but Steyn, who wasn’t handed the new ball, Morkel and Jacques Kallis looked short of a decent workout. There was also a suggestion that Steyn may not be fully fit as he spent time off the field having his ankle strapped.Imran Tahir, the legspinner, did not pose a huge threat and the batsmen could sit on him while waiting for the bad ball. Both Cook and Trott were quick to latch onto anything short, with midwicket being especially profitable for Cook. It was Morkel who provided the breakthrough when he managed to pitch the ball a touch fuller and found Trott’s outside edge from a rare loose drive after South Africa had gone wicketless during the afternoon session.The day’s play then developed an extra edge as Pietersen, in a week where he has never been far from the headlines, entered the fray. Morkel tried for a yorker first ball and gifted Pietersen a full toss to open his account but he played carefully to reach 3 off 20 deliveries before stepping across his stumps and flicking Philander over mid-on.A crunching pull off Steyn was the most dismissive shot of the day, closely followed by a straight drive off Kallis, and an attempted scoop against JP Duminy suggested he felt ready to expand. But Kallis had his revenge when Pietersen gloved a bouncer to AB de Villiers two balls before the 80-over mark. It was England’s poorest piece of cricket in the day, as it gave South Africa hope of making late inroads, but Cook and Ian Bell negotiated the new ball to complete a very satisfactory start for the hosts.

Abdur Rehman, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, is set to join Somerset for the latter part of the season subject to being granted a visa

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2012Abdur Rehman, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, is set to join Somerset for the latter part of the season subject to being granted a visa. If the move is confirmed he will provide cover for George Dockrell who is due to be on international duty with Ireland.Rehman has become a key part of Pakistan’s Test attack, forming a spin partnership with Saeed Ajmal, and took 19 wickets in the whitewash against England earlier this year. The current Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo is his 17th but he is not part of Pakistan’s Twenty20 set-up which should make him available for the remainder of the English season.”Contracts have been signed with Rehman and a no objection certificate has been sent to us by the Pakistan Cricket Board,” director of cricket Brian Rose told Somerset’s website. “It just remains for Abdur to sort out a visa and, once that is done, we hope he will be with us in time for our championship game with Warwickshire at Taunton, starting on July 18.””We looked at other possible targets, but he was always high on the list,” he added. “He has an excellent first-class record, with a bowling average not dissimilar to Murali Kartik’s. Rehman also bats reasonably well, going in around number eight, so that was also a plus point when it came to signing him.”The other positive is that he is not currently in Pakistan’s T20 side, so once he joins us he should be available for the remainder of our season.”Somerset have tried and failed to secure the services of a host of overseas players this season including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Roelof van der Merwe and Faf du Plessis. They currently have the South Africa pair of Richard Levi and Albie Morkel for the Friends Life t20. Somerset will be crossing their fingers about Rehman as a number of players have struggled to obtain visas this season.

Perhaps fittingly, in the shadow of the Olympics, this Test looked to be heading towards a draw as heavy rain hit Headingley during the afternoon session

The Report by David Hopps05-Aug-2012
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMorne Morkel struck with his second ball of the day•Getty Images

The favourite statistic at Headingley as the second Test endured a soggy fourth day was that if Yorkshire was a country – and to many people up here it is – it would be lying seventh in the Olympics medal table. The phrase “a strong Yorkshire is a strong England” used to be reserved exclusively for cricket, but the thought that it now had wider currency cheered up the cognoscenti as the rain tippled down.A Test that has been played out in the shadow of the Olympics has already had to contend with disruption by rain to the extent that it could become that rare thing: a Headingley draw. Leeds has witnessed a positive results in its last 12 Tests, but the 13th will have to provide quite a final day to extend the trend when South Africa begin with a lead of 33 and all ten second-innings wickets remaining.An exhilarating century from Kevin Pietersen apart, this has been at best a worthy Test – most admirable in the colossal show of dedication by Alviro Petersen whose own hundred came with a price, a grade one hamstring strain which will take a week to heal and which will leave him walking his runs if he is forced to bat.South Africa are under physical strain. Smith, their redoubtable captain, did field and bat on the fourth day, but with a knee heavily strapped after injuring himself on Saturday evening when he slid to prevent a boundary. Most disturbing of all for South Africa, Jacques Kallis had developed lower back spasms overnight that ruled him out of bowling or fielding for the rest of England’s innings. It might even rule him out of the rest of the series.South Africa’s injuries are bringing England hope. Given a dry day, they will imagine they still might dismiss a disrupted South Africa batting order for 150 within 50 overs if Headingley delivers one of its most bowler-friendly mornings. The situation is exacerbated by the ICC’s controversial change in playing regulations last year that will prevent any of the three injured players batting with a runner.England had gained a slender lead of six after Matt Prior hit a vigorous 68, a positive innings from a player who once again emphasised his qualities as a selfless team man, playing the situation never influenced by individual considerations, his contributions often underplayed.But but they could not separate Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph before the clouds rolled back for the final time and will have been disappointed with the lack of reward in the 17 overs possible on an thundery afternoon that looked blessed for bowling. The pitch remains sound and slow – there is nothing for short – and any mischief will have to come in the air.In their anxiety to make good use of a tiny bowling window before lunch, England conceded an umpiring review when Rod Tucker’s refusal of an optimistic James Anderson lbw appeal against Smith was upheld.Before the over could be completed, a flash of lightning sent the players scurrying for the pavilion. Rain began to fall seconds later, forcing lunch to be taken a few minutes early and restricting South Africa’s time at the crease to 2.3 overs. The new ball was swinging and South Africa were grateful to reach lunch unscathed in the hope of more settled weather ahead.After the interval there was a more sustained period of cricket and England passed – or found – the edge on a number of occasions without reward. Rudolph, opening in place of the injured Petersen, edged over the slips when a ball took the shoulder of the bat and also edged short of gully. To have a realistic chance of forcing a result, England needed early wickets but that has not looked likely from the attack at any stage in this series.Earlier, Kevin Pietersen’s outstanding Test century turned out to be only a Saturday spectacular. He fell to the second ball of the morning, lbw to Morne Morkel. After a quick glance at his batting partner, Prior, he strolled off with a broad smile and no thoughts of turning to DRS.The mood initially was very much that of the morning after the night before. The packed Headingley crowds of the first three days had not entirely been repeated in a patchy fourth-day attendance and Pietersen, advancing slightly to work Morkel into the leg side, found that another adrenalin rush was beyond him.England, 1-0 down in the series, needed the match to progress quickly, a situation that eminently suited Prior, who is a counter-attacking cricketer by nature. He despatched the quicks crisply through the off side, while the Yorkshireman, Tim Bresnan, resisted pawkily alongside him before he edged Vernon Philander to slip.It needed Imran Tahir to quell Prior by bowling his legspin around the wicket into the rough outside leg stump. Tahir also made inroads for South Africa with three wickets. Stuart Broad miscued a pull as he was defeated by a quicker delivery, leaving the substitute Faf du Plessis to take a slick catch running backwards at mid on and leaving Broad with only one Test half-century this calendar year.Prior was ninth out when he top-edged a sweep to long leg and Anderson, who steered Dale Steyn wide of the slips to put England into the lead, was then bowled by Tahir attempting a slog-sweep.

South Africa’s first-class competition will start on Thursday with two of the franchises opening their campaigns with the Champions League T20 not far from their minds

Firdose Moonda19-Sep-2012South Africa’s first-class competition will start on Thursday with two of the franchises opening their campaigns with the Champions League T20 not far from their minds. The Lions and Titans will play two rounds each before beginning the lucrative multi-team tournament and both see the early start to the season as an advantage ahead of the 20-over championship.”It will be quite good for us and gives us a base going into the competition,” Lions captain, Alviro Petersen, said. Lions played in the last CLT20 to be hosted in South Africa, in 2010, and will again play most of their matches at their Johannesburg home ground, the Wanderers.Titans coach Matthew Maynard admitted his squad is “match shy” after their pre-season plans were rained on at their training camp in the country’s north-eastern Mpumalanga province. In order to get as much time in the nets as possible one of their quicks, Ethy Mbhalati, was married on Tuesday and resumed training shortly after the ceremony.Maynard said he is unconcerned with their lack of preparation and said he would rather the team “start undercooked than get overdone at the business end of the season”.Titans won last year’s first-class competition in exactly that fashion. After starting badly, they peaked in the mid-section of the tournament and sealed the title on the final weekend with a massive victory over Dolphins. Maynard said they have every intention of repeating their feats this summer. “We are not trying to defend our title, we are trying to win the competition – that’s a slightly different mindset,” he explained. “It’s all about how well you play in the last third of the season.”Titans start the campaign against Knights, who have prepared with two warm-up matches. They played North-West Dragons in a day-night first-class match, a pioneer of its kind in South Africa, where Morne van Wyk and Johan van der Wath scored hundreds in that game and van der Wath was among the wickets as well. “Our plans have gone quite well. Our bowlers were able to clock overs in the middle which they needed and the batters got plenty of runs,” Knights coach Sarel Cilliers said. “So at this stage, I’m quite happy.”Cobras, last season’s runners-up, will start their summer in Potchefstroom against Lions. Both teams have new coaches, who are each taking charge of a franchise for the first time. Paul Adams, Cobras coach, is in charge of a team who ended last season fractured after Richard Pybus resigned. Adams said he understands he has a “responsibility to provide an environment in which the players will thrive and keep growing,” and he also wants to ensure trophies end up at Newlands.Lions find themselves in the same position, having last secured silverware five seasons ago. Petersen thinks their development phase is over and that the squad of players they have are ready to blossom. “The guys have matured over the last couple of years,” he said. “We’ve spent time trying to build a team that can win and we think we have got there.”Under Geoffrey Toyana, who Petersen describes as “relaxed”, Lions will look to play a new brand of cricket. “The way we are going to play four-day cricket has probably changed a bit because we’re going to be playing two strike bowlers,” he said.A lack of firepower has been Lions, and at times the competitions’, main problem. That is set to change, especially as it is the place from where South Africa will have to produce players to help them retain their No. 1 Test ranking. Cricket South Africa are pouring resources into giving it a higher-profile, including securing the pay television broadcaster SuperSport to air hourly highlights and post-match interviews.

Sixteen players have started legal proceedings against the organisers of the Cricket All Star T20 Match claiming they have yet to be paid

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2012Sixteen players have started legal proceedings against the organisers of the Cricket All Star T20 Match which was held in Toronto in May claiming they have yet to be paid. Ontario-based Kat Rose Custom Designs Inc (Kat Rose), which organised the Cricket Canada-approved event, was served notices at the Toronto Small Claims Court on September 27 regarding unpaid match fees and expenses totalling $113,000 approximately.Affected players include Sanath Jayasariya, Saqlain Mushtaq, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Mark Boucher, Devon Smith, Tino Best, Brendan Taylor and Bangladesh allrounder Nasir Hossain, who was supposed to be paid $10,000, ESPNcricinfo has learnt.”We are incredibly disappointed and distressed by the lack of professionalism of the Kat Rose organisation,” Tim May, the chief executive officer of FICA, said. “The players fulfilled their contractual obligations and are now each left out-of-pocket to the tune of several thousand dollars of their own money. How can anyone in good conscience conduct business this way?”It is unacceptable that the players have yet to be compensated and reimbursed for their time and costs.”May said Kat Rose contracted individually with all of the players to secure their attendance and participation in the match, held at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Additional events included a gala dinner, a practice, and a fan autograph session. Kat Rose has claimed the absence of some of the cricketers from Pakistan because of last minute visa issues meant the event was financially unsuccessful.

When this series began, there were questions hanging over South Africa’s bowling attack. Few, however, were concerned about their ability to take 20 wickets

Firdose Moonda in Perth29-Nov-2012When this series began, there were questions hanging over South Africa’s bowling attack. Had they missed a trick by not sending an additional paceman with the touring party? Did they lack a bowler who could hold one end up? Few, however, were concerned about their ability to take 20 wickets.It’s what the South African attack has become known for. In seven of their previous ten Tests before this tour, they bowled teams out twice. They won six of those games with the same attack. Their five-men stronghold comprised Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Imran Tahir and Jacques Kallis and the variation they offered was thought of as unmatched. Allan Donald called it the strongest attack South Africa had ever fielded.South Africa have not used that combination once on this tour of Australia. Injuries and conditions necessitated changes and the swapping seems to have taken its toll. “That was always going to be a challenge along the way,” Graeme Smith said. “All of us were hoping that it wouldn’t come on one of the toughest Tests away from home.” His biggest concern ahead of the Perth Test is “having the bowlers, the armoury to win a Test.”One way of ensuring the arsenal is sufficient is to throw it all in, and that’s what South Africa are certain to do at the WACA ground. On a pitch that will be seamer-friendly upfront, all four frontline quicks are likely to play, as well as a holding bowler in Robin Peterson, in case the conditions turn out like they did in Brisbane. There too, South Africa bought into the hype about a paceman’s paradise but found themselves in a barren land, with no one to stem the flow of runs.For a while, not having a designated donkey bowler worked for South Africa. Instead of someone in the Paul Harris mould tying up an end, under Gary Kirsten the attack reformed to become one where every bowler was a wicket-taker. When that works, it works well, but when it doesn’t, Brisbane and Adelaide happen.Australia’s scoring-rate in both Tests was high as South Africa searched for wickets but gave away runs instead. “We haven’t been able to string together good performances for long enough. Australia have attacked us at the right times,” Smith said. “We’ve had Australia under pressure and they have countered really well. In every over we’ve bowled a bad ball and when you do that, it doesn’t really allow you to control the game.”Now South Africa need that discipline again, and will look to Peterson to provide it. It does not mean the road for Imran Tahir has closed. He will be looked after by team management so that he can “come back to performing at his best,” according to Smith, but he will have to rebuild his confidence before anything else.However, it isn’t just Tahir who needs to improve. A no-ball problem affected all but Dale Steyn and a lack of imagination seems to have gripped the bowlers. It is as though they had grown accustomed to batsmen not resisting, and when the likes of Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey did, they aren’t quite sure what to do to remove them.What Smith is hoping for is that South Africa will come up with new plans for Perth but that Australia have already given their all and don’t have too many more ideas. “We’re quite confident that Australia have played really well and we haven’t been at our best but we are still here,” he said.But Australia do have something else, even if it has been forced on them by circumstance. They will field a completely new attack after both Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus were left out of the 12 because they were fatigued after Adelaide and didn’t recover quickly enough. It presents a depth South Africa don’t have and a newness to the line-up that Smith is wary of. “How these guys react to their roles so quickly with so many changes, that might be the interesting thing for them,” he said. “How they can string that together as a unit will be interesting to see.”

Shane Watson is surplus to Australia’s requirements for the Test series against South Africa unless he can prove himself fit enough to bowl

Daniel Brettig14-Nov-2012Shane Watson is an increasingly doubtful starter for the second Test in Adelaide after the team performance manager Pat Howard stated he would be surplus to Australia’s requirements against South Africa unless he can prove himself fit enough to bowl.In the most blunt declaration yet that Watson needs to retain his allrounder status in order to remain an integral part of Australia’s planning, Howard stated that John Inverarity’s selection panel had placed great store in the ability of batsmen to bowl, particularly when faced with a batting line-up as deep as South Africa’s.The selectors are currently discussing the composition of their squad for the Adelaide Test ahead of a likely announcement on Friday, and Watson cannot be expected to be considered unless he proves himself capable of bowling plenty of overs in the second match of the series.Watson is understood to be thinking conservatively about returning to the bowling crease, making the Perth Test or even the Sri Lanka series that follows the South Africa Tests more likely avenues for his international return.”Shane is progressing, if the Test match was tomorrow he wouldn’t be playing, but he’s progressing and I think when the team goes in on Sunday we’ll have a far better indication of where he’s at,” Howard said in Brisbane.”For different series there are different policies, there’s a position the selection panel take. There are times over the past 12 months where he has been considered in both roles and sometimes as a batsman only, but very much at Adelaide they’re looking to his bowling and his fitness around bowling, to see if he’s capable of doing both.”As you saw during the Test match the other day, a fair few bowlers were called on, and Shane’s value to be able to do both is pretty strong. It would go against him significantly [if he can’t bowl].”In seeking to assess Watson’s fitness, Cricket Australia had considered making him available to play for New South Wales in a domestic limited overs match against Victoria at North Sydney Oval on Sunday, but that possibility now appears remote. Instead Watson will need to show his ability to bowl in the nets, before following up with further training spells in Adelaide.”The value and the balance of the team is what the selection panel talk about, it’s the panel’s call on how they come together on this,” Howard said. “They assess all of that, the value of it, I know John Inverarity looks very much at what is our ability to bowl lots and lots of overs.”We were in a pretty unique position the other day when Rob Quiney bowled for us and doesn’t bowl for Victoria, so the ability for people to take up some bowling slack credibly is important. Without making it a Shane Watson conversation, the ability to take overs up was pretty well demonstrated in the first Test.”Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood can again be expected to be part of the team in Adelaide, even if the selectors choose not to change the bowling line-up that looked far more threatening in the second innings of the Brisbane Test than the first. Starc and Hazlewood are currently bowling for NSW against the Bushrangers in a Sheffield Shield fixture at the SCG.”We had a fair few bowlers around the squad in the lead-up to the Test,” Howard said. “Josh Hazlewood was there as well as Mitchell, so we’re very much making sure guys are ingrained in the squad. We did that all last year, so we want that extra bowler around to get involved in the culture, and to make sure they’re ready to do the job required.”