All posts by n8rngtd.top

Covid-19 outbreak forces Queensland out of the state while CA schedule four more matches including a day-night Shield fixture between WA and Tasmania in Perth

Alex Malcolm30-Sep-2021This week’s postponed Sheffield Shield clash between Queensland and Tasmania has been moved to Adelaide with the Bulls set to fly out of Queensland on Saturday due to growing concerns about border closures following a Covid-19 outbreak in Brisbane.The fixture was originally to begin last Tuesday at Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane but the announcement of four new Covid-19 cases in Queensland forced the match to be postponed with Tasmania making the swift decision to fly home, much to the frustration of Queensland Cricket (QC) chief executive Terry Svenson.Cricket Australia has instead now shifted the fixture to Adelaide and it will be played at Karen Rolton Oval starting on October 7. The Marsh Cup 50-over clash between the two sides that was due to be played on Sunday in Brisbane has been postponed and has yet to be rescheduled.Two more Sheffield Shield fixtures have been added to the previously bare men’s domestic schedule with Queensland to remain in Adelaide to face South Australia in a Marsh Cup clash on October 13 at Karen Rolton Oval and a Sheffield Shield clash starting on October 15 at Adelaide Oval.Related

• Tim Ward wears down Queensland with maiden century

• New South Wales and Victoria set to play Shield matches between themselves prior to the Ashes

• Queensland kit stolen ahead of rescheduled Sheffield Shield clash in Adelaide

• Victoria and New South Wales prepare to quarantine to get their season going

• Growing anger at Tasmania pulling out of Sheffield Shield fixture

Tasmania will travel to Perth to play Western Australia in a Marsh Cup game on October 15 and a Sheffield Shield clash starting two days later.CA also confirmed that they were still working through plans to try and get Victoria and New South Wales out of their respective states to participate in the competitions with both teams still stuck at home due to border closures with other states.”Cricket Australia, Cricket NSW and Cricket Victoria are working closely with state and territory governments on the scheduling of matches for Victoria and New South Wales,” CA said in a statement.There were plans for both sides to enter 14-days of hotel quarantine in South Australia next week before playing as many as four Shield matches and five Marsh Cup games beginning at the end of October, but a large spike in Covid-19 cases in Melbourne has appeared to have stalled plans.FixturesMarsh Sheffield Shield
Oct 7-10: Queensland v Tasmania, Karen Rolton Oval
Oct 15-18: South Australia v Queensland, Adelaide Oval
Oct 17-20: Western Australia v Tasmania, WACA GroundMarsh One-Day Cup
Oct 13: South Australia v Queensland, Karen Rolton Oval
Oct 15: Western Australia v Tasmania, WACA Ground (D/N)

Suriname have withdrawn from the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey, following an investigation conducted by the ICC regarding the eligibility of some players

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2016Suriname have withdrawn from the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey, following an investigation conducted by the ICC regarding the eligibility of some players. The team had originally qualified for the tournament after winning the WCL Division 6, held in England last September.The investigation uncovered failures in the Surinaamse Cricket Bond’s (SCB) processes relating to player residency documentation for the purposes of compliance with the ICC’s Player Eligibility Regulations. Vanuatu, who lost in the semi-finals of the WCL Division 6 in 2015, have been invited to take Suriname’s place in Division 5.Once disciplinary charges were initiated against the SCB, the board cooperated fully with the ICC’s investigations and carried out a thorough internal review. The SCB also agreed to forfeit the $25000 grant it received to participate in the WCL Division 5.”We were obviously disappointed by the shortcomings in the SCB’s procedures that were revealed by our investigation,” Tim Anderson, the ICC’s head of global development, said.”There is inevitably an element of self-certification when it comes to determining compliance with the Player Eligibility Regulations, and for this reason the wider cricketing community needs to be able to place the utmost trust in the accuracy of information submitted by other ICC members.”We are, however, heartened by the action the SCB have taken in confronting the issues raised and look forward to working closely with them to ensure they can resume their participation in ICC competitions in 2017.”Last year, in July, Suriname were also forced to pull out of the ICC Americas Under-19 Championship after failing to secure transit visas.

Timm van der Gugten claims 2 for 0 as Glamorgan make early inroads

David Hopps20-May-2021Sam Billings always seems such an upstanding, action-man type of chap that when it was announced he had got out of India ahead of most of the rest of England’s IPL contingent the thought occurred that his escape route from Delhi probably involved back-packing through Uzbekistan under cover of darkness, trekking WNW once north of the Caspian Sea and concluding the traversing of Europe with a cross-channel swim from Calais to Dover. More prosaically, he just got himself on a flight and no doubt had to suffer the petri-dish of Heathrow Arrivals like everybody else.Whatever, now he is back. And what’s more, he is the first IPL returnee to leap the greatest hurdle of all – playing in the County Championship, a hurdle that for some (no names mentioned) appears to be more mental than physical. But Billings is captain of Kent, Kent are bottom of the table, and there is a rescue act to attend to.Billings has had the sort of frustrating winter that these days is the lot of the elite-athlete, highly-regarded-and-rightly-so nearly man. He was picked in the last round of bidding by Delhi Capitals, but failed to start a game. He had an active time in the Big Bash with Sydney Thunder and a solitary England ODI appearance against India in Pune.But at Kent, he is indispensable. He rejoins a county that finds itself 15 points adrift at the bottom of Group 3, the sense of a new beginning that surrounded their pre-Covid promotion to Division One under threat. His energetic presence is clearly needed and with a limited number of supporters back in the ground for the first time since Covid struck there was even a sense of celebration.Well, actually there wasn’t a celebration really. The Championship season continues to be ravaged by appalling weather and play was delayed for five-and-a-half hours. A temporary capacity of 950 spectators who won tickets in the ballot was never challenged, and fell during the day to virtually nothing by the time the umpires surrendered to the rain that had been sweeping much of the country around 6pm.If this weather keeps up much longer, hand sanitiser could be 2 for 1 in the club shop by September and spiders will have taken over the temporary bar marquees. It was a day to observe via the Live Stream. But worry not, High pressure is allegedly on its way.Related

• Imran Qayyum retires from all cricket with shoulder injury

• Lancashire openers weather opening exchanges before rain takes charge

• Applause will be remembered fondly as Bristol welcomes spectators back

Ollie Robinson, Kent’s highest Championship run-scorer, was promoted to opener upon Billings’ return with Daniel Bell-Drummond, the temporary captain who had overseen the problematic start to the season, shunted meaningfully down to No 6.Robinson had fulfilled the role of opener-keeper in Kent’s seconds earlier in his career and he responded with an entirely uninhibited 43 in Kent’s 70 for 2 when rain forced an end. “Billings will bring positivity and a fresh energy into their camp,” Glamorgan’s coach, Matthew Maynard, had predicted and so it appeared as Robinson drove at will, and was probably helped by windy conditions which meant that the ball did not swing.Robinson also – quite rightly – offered a more positive view on the relaxation of the bio-bubble. “Even 200 people feels like a lot of people,” he said, “just that little bit of energy you get when you hit a four and there’s a little ripple from the crowd, it just makes such a difference. It was special for me and Jordan Cox when we went out to bat. There was a big cheer and it’s things like that you miss and take for granted a lot of the time.”Timm van der Gugten, who took both Kent wickets to fall, and who sat on overnight figures of 4-4-0-2, felt no need to take the home team view. “We had the four seasons out there today, a bit of sun, a bit of rain, a bit of wind,” he said. “It was nice to see the crowd but we didn’t really hear them much, we were filling in time by doing crosswords for most of the day.”Van der Gugten’s wickets were essentially balls that held a tight line. Zak Crawley was a victim, his moderate start to the season continuing with a seven-ball duck. Some players are chosen for England because they dominate county cricket. Some are chosen because they are punts. Crawley is a punt. He appears to be a very good punt, but the man who punted has departed as national selector.

Parthiv Patel’s maiden List A century and RP Singh’s four-wicket opening burst punctured Delhi’s chase of 274 as Gujarat were crowned Vijay Hazare Trophy champions for the first time

The report by Sidharth Monga in Bangalore28-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
RP Singh rattled Delhi with four wickets after Parthiv Patel’s hundred•PTI

The shock discovery of the day was that Parthiv Patel had gone 158 List A matches without a hundred, but in his 159th, the Vijay Hazare Trophy final, he produced that first in style to give Gujarat their maiden title. A collapse after Parthiv’s wicket had left the issue open in giving Delhi a manageable target of 274, but veteran RP Singh, playing his first match in the knockout stages, settled the matter with an opening burst of 4 for 23, which included a first-ball wicket of Rishabh Pant and later those of Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir.Delhi continued to trust their bowlers, and perhaps were wary of the dew in the first day-night match of the tournament, when they asked Gujarat to bat. What they got was some indifferent bowling and fielding in the face of good batting for a majority of Gujarat’s innings. When they came out to bat, the ball did a bit under the lights, which RP took full advantage of.At the top of the order, Parthiv, with a game more rounded than just square hitting when he played international cricket, has been the threat throughout with his big hitting. But in the final, he looked intent on playing the longer innings. In the earlier exchanges Gujarat targeted the lesser-experienced Navdeep Saini* and Suboth Bhati while giving Ishant Sharma due respect.They lost Priyank Panchal and Bhargav Merai early, but even from 44 for 2 in the 10th over they kept attacking. Rujul Bhatt, who after Axar Patel has been Gujarat’s best player of the tournament, danced down and slogged Bhati over midwicket for a six while Parthiv repeatedly kept tucking away runs off his hips, which he used to struggle to do in international cricket.Parthiv and Bhatt added 149 for the third wicket, the highest for the third wicket in this tournament. Parthiv hit 10 fours, mainly through cuts and flicks off the hips. Bhatt hit four fours and a six in his 60 off 74 runs, which took his tournament tally to 338, which is the highest for Gujarat and the ninth-highest overall. They were helped along by two sets of four overthrows, various fumbles and a few clumsy dives.To add to this, Delhi will look back at two crucial moments. Bhati came on to bowl in the 11th over, bowled beautifully in the channel outside off first ball, drew the edge from Parthiv, who was on 21, but agonisingly saw it go waist high where the first slip should have been. Immediately he looked back complainingly at Ishant at mid-on, and immediately the slip came in, but the pocked-sized horse had now bolted. Bhatt just rubbed it in by hitting a six and two fours in Bhati’s first thiree overs. Manan Sharma later dropped a hard-hit return offering. Parthiv was on 67 then.Delhi’s two main slow bowlers have been Manan and Pawan negi, both left-arm spinners. Gambhir chose to hold them back as the two left-hand batsmen batted. Two offspinners introduced before these two – Nitish Rana and Milind Kumar – went for 71 in their 14 overs. In his second over Negi bowled Parthiv through the gate. This came close on the heels of Bhatt’s wicket, which gave Delhi some momentum. From 193 for 2 in the 37th over, it was Chirag Gandhi’s 44 off 39 and left-arm seamer Rush Kalaria’s lusty blows that took a fumbling innings to 273.Delhi came back into the chase with some hope, but RP squashed it immediately. With a generous sprinkling of grey in his beard, RP might look older than his 30, but the ball is still coming out all right from his hand. The first ball he bowled came out with the seam upright, moved in a little, and hit the top of off and middle of left-hand wicketkeeper batsman Pant. Kalaria maintained the pressure at the other end, and Dhawan eventually charged at RP to give a soft catch to cover.The only blip on Gujarat’s night arrived when Bhatt dropped Unmukt Chand off the bowling of Kalaria, but he made up for it soon enough when he accepted a low offering from Gambhir at first slip. The catch wasn’t 100% clean, but a soft signal of out from the on-field umpires sealed the decision in RP’s favour. Before signing off his first spell of 7-2-23-4, RP trapped Milind Kumar lbw with slight swing back in, and could have had a fifth next ball but for an inside edge from Rana.As wickets continued to fall, the only man capable of a miraculous comeback was Chand. He played attractive shots in his 33 off 48, but once he played Jasprit Bumrah on the contest was officially over. All Negi’s half-century managed to was push the score past 100. Bumrah went on to celebrate the win with an aggressive spell of 9.3-1-28-5, which included Ishant bowled by a perfect yorker after he had been peppered by bouncers and then made to wait for five minutes for the helmet to come in for the short leg.*05.00GMT, December 29: The report had erroneously mentioned Nitin Saini. This has been corrected.

Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron has been elected president of the WICB, after he beat the incumbent Julian Hunte 7-5 during the board’s annual general meeting in Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2013Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron has been elected president of the WICB, after he beat the incumbent Julian Hunte 7-5 during the board’s annual general meeting in Barbados. Cameron’s running mate, Emmanuel Nanthan of Dominica, is the new vice-president; he beat Barbados Cricket Association president Joel Garner 8-4 in the election.Cameron, 42, was nominated by the Jamaica Cricket Association and seconded by the Windward Cricket Board. He has been a WICB director since 2002 and served as vice-president during Hunte’s tenure as president, which began in 2007.”It was a long process and I travelled the length and breadth of the Caribbean, from Kingston, Jamaica to Georgetown, Guyana to be able to address the concerns of our stakeholders,” Cameron said after his election. “As we take over the reins of the WICB, we assume responsibility with very lofty goals in our minds and the understanding of the reason we are here and what everybody in the region is looking forward to us being able to accomplish.”In my presentations to the territorial boards, I spoke about building on our immense talent, increasing the revenues in the sport and, above all, uniting the region through the game of cricket. We must find creative ways of dealing with the challenges that will confront us from time to time.”Nanthan joined Cameron in thanking outgoing president Hunte for his services to West Indies cricket over the last six years. “He is my friend and has been for a number of years,” Nanthan said of Hunte. “He is to me a hero, coming from the Windward Islands, and I am proud of the way he presided over the WICB during a difficult time and now the baton has been passed on.”I am fortunate to be part of the new team chosen to advance the development of West Indies cricket. In accepting the baton, what I believe we are offering are two fresh pairs of legs to continue the work, so that one day we too can pass on the baton to someone else to take the game that we all love and cherish further forward in this region.”To be able to begin this work, it will be incumbent on us to reach out to every nook and cranny in the region including the private sector to rally with us. It is not about the past, nor who won and lost this election, but bringing the people of the region together, mobilisation and strengthening behind a common cause. We know the Caribbean well and from time to time we know there will be disagreements, but we plead with the people of the region to agree to disagree with us when this happens so that we can move forward.”

Rajapaksa had cited “familial obligations” as a key reason behind his resignation in the first week of January

Madushka Balasuriya13-Jan-2022A little over a week after announcing his retirement from international cricket, Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa has withdrawn his resignation and proclaimed his desire to represent the country for “years to come”. His decision comes after his meeting with Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa.”Pursuant to a meeting with the Hon. Namal Rajapaksa – Minister of Youth & Sports and after consulting with the national selectors, Bhanuka Rajapaksa has notified SLC that he wishes to withdraw his resignation which he tendered to SLC on 3rd Jan. 2022, with immediate effect,” an SLC media release stated. “In his letter to SLC withdrawing his resignation, he further states that he wishes to represent his country in the game he loves for the years to come.”In a recent media release, the Sports Minister had warned the 30-year-old batter against coming to hasty decisions but also asked Rajapaksa to come forward and express his grievances if there are any.While Rajapaksa had cited “familial obligations” as a key reason behind his resignation, there was speculation that his decision to resign was prompted by the new fitness requirements.Having fallen out with then head coach Mickey Arthur over his lack of fitness last year, Rajapaksa worked on his fitness and fielding and found his way back into the national side, where he and Arthur eventually patched up their relationship. This month, SLC announced tougher fitness benchmarks starting from 2022.Rajapaksa’s resignation, which had also come alongside similar announcements from Angelo Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka (only from Test cricket), had prompted SLC to put out new guidelines for players choosing to retire from international cricket. It was understood that among the reasons behind the updated guidelines were concerns that several players may potentially be considering their international futures, especially in the context of new mandatory fitness requirements and the fact that franchise cricket tends to be more lucrative.

ESPNcricinfo previews the first Investec Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s

The Preview by Alex Winter15-May-2013

Match Facts

May 16-20, Lord’s
Start time 11am (1000GMT)Joe Root comes into the first Test of the summer in outstanding form•Getty Images

The Big Picture

England versus New Zealand; the world’s second best team against the eighth best; walkover. Those who said the same thing ahead of the series in New Zealand were left feeling sheepish by the fight New Zealand showed. They came oh-so-close to a momentous upset that was utterly inconceivable given the shambles of a side that was destroyed in their previous Test series in South Africa at the turn of the year.The fact New Zealand recovered from such embarrassment to nearly beat England suggests coach Mike Hesson has been able to quickly restore stability and create an environment where their capable squad have a chance of putting in competitive performances. They come into the first Test at Lord’s in healthy shape and if their batsman can find some runs, they have a bowling attack capable of causing England problems.New Zealand’s batsmen will have to fight harder in more bowler-friendly conditions than what they encountered in March. The Dukes ball will swing more and for longer, and England’s attack, far better prepared for this series with some county cricket behind them, will be eager to assert the dominance that was expected of them in New Zealand. They can be deadly on home soil, and the Kiwis’ batting remains brittle.For that reason, and given a firm kick up the backside, it is still a value bet that England will win comfortably. Their batting cannot be as lethargic as it was in New Zealand – a series they did not want after the main business was done in India. Most of the order have found form in county cricket and they are comfortable against the swinging ball, shown in the sizable totals England have racked up in Test matches in May in recent years.The challenge is there for New Zealand to upset the odds again, and if they show as much desire as was on show in March, they will ask England to produce their best cricket to beat them. But England had a sharp reminder of what happens when they are not fully focussed and know they are playing for places in the Ashes. If England do find their best form, they should be too much for plucky New Zealand.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
England DDDDWNew Zealand DDDLL

Watch out for

After impressing on debut in Nagpur, Joe Root proved he is worthy of the hype surrounding him with eye-catching displays in the ODIs in India and New Zealand. He didn’t dazzle in the Tests that followed, but a blazing start to the county season, with scores of 182 and 236 for Yorkshire, and 179 for England Lions against New Zealanders, he will be primed to make his mark in the Test arena.If New Zealand are to cause another surprise, their seam-bowling will have to thrive. Early-season in England couldn’t be better conditions for Tim Southee, a good, old-fashioned pitch-it-up-and-swing-it operator. At only 24, he is the most experienced of the New Zealand attack, and the only one to have played a Test in England.

Team news

There were question marks over all the England bowlers after they failed to trouble New Zealand away from home, where many expected them to prosper. But the selectors have kept faith with Stuart Broad, and Steven Finn is likely to retain his place too, given his good record in Tests at Lord’s. Tim Bresnan is back from elbow surgery and could come into the attack. Graeme Swann is fit again, also after elbow surgery.England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Nick Compton, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Joe Root, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn/Tim BresnanNew Zealand also have to decide on the makeup of the bowling attack with Neil Wagner, after 12 wickets against England in New Zealand, set to retain his place after impressing in the warm-up matches. Doug Bracewell is vying for a recall having recovered from the foot injury which kept him out of the series in March. He will play if New Zealand decide to go with a four-man seam attack and leave out left-arm spinner Bruce Martin.New Zealand 1 Peter Fulton, 2 Hamish Rutherford, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Dean Brownlie, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Tim Southee, 9 Doug Bracewell/Bruce Martin, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

On the whole it’s been a fairly dry spring in the UK, and the Lord’s wicket is dry and not set to offer too much bounce. The previous match played at Lord’s, between Middlesex and Surrey, yielded plenty of runs. Overhead conditions will be key. The weather forecast is largely fair with a chance of showers into the weekend.

Stats and trivia

• England’s defeat by South Africa last year ended a 13-Test unbeaten run at Lord’s. They had won six and drawn seven of the preceding Tests at the venue.
• England cricketer of the year, Matt Prior, needs five catches to reach 100 Test catches in England. Only Alan Knott, with 158, and Alec Stewart, 172, have reached this landmark.
• New Zealand have won only one of their 15 visits to Lord’s, the victory coming by nine wickets in 1999, but have only lost one of their last six matches at the home of cricket.
• Tim Southee needs two wickets to become the 12th New Zealander to reach 200 wickets in international cricket.

Quotes

“We didn’t move the ball as much as we wanted to in New Zealand on what were slow, placid wickets. But if it doesn’t swing for us, and if we don’t move it off the straight this week, we might be having a few panic meetings.”
“Hamish is pretty aggressive and plays a lot of shots, hits the ball in different areas and puts the bowlers off their line and length. I like to occupy the crease and wear the bowlers down.”

“He has to show all the coaching staff and the think tank that he has got the goods to belong there”

Varun Shetty18-Feb-2021The Mumbai Indians’ leadership has come out in unequivocal endorsement of 21-year-old left-arm medium-pacer Arjun Tendulkar, and backed what they described as a measured decision to pick him up at the IPL 2021 auction.Arjun, Sachin Tendulkar’s son, was among the Mumbai Indians net bowlers during last year’s IPL – he has bowled in the Indian national team’s nets more than once too – and was the last player to be picked during the accelerated part of the auction on Thursday. He made his senior debut for Mumbai during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last month, and picked up two wickets at an economy of 9.57. Minutes after he was selected, Indian Twitter trends around him – and his father, who is part of the Mumbai Indians set-up – took a critical tilt, with murmurs of nepotism.Related

• Jayawardene says no Sri Lanka player in IPL 2021 is 'disheartening'

• 'It was nerve-wracking, watching on TV' – K Gowtham

• Royals land Morris for INR 16.25 crore; RCB spend big on Maxwell and Jamieson

Head coach Mahela Jayawardene, director of cricket operations Zaheer Khan, and owner Akash Ambani all argued that Arjun’s step-up was nothing more than a young cricketer being given an opportunity, and that he would need to prove himself just like anyone else at one of the world’s most-successful T20 teams.”We’ve looked at it purely on a skill basis,” Jayawardene said after the auction. “I mean, there is going to be a big tag on his head because of Sachin. But, luckily, he’s a bowler, not a batsman. So I think Sachin will be very proud if he could bowl like Arjun.”I think it’s going to be a learning process for Arjun. He just started playing for Mumbai, and now the franchise. He will learn the ropes; he will evolve. He’s still young. A very focused young man. We have to give him time and hopefully not put a lot of pressure on him either. Just let him evolve and work his way up, and that’s what we’re there to help him to do.”The Mumbai Indians have done well with raw talent in the past, Jasprit Bumrah and the Pandya brothers foremost among those, and their decisions during Thursday’s auctions revolved around that tenet, they said, and that Arjun, like their other uncapped bowling pick Yudhvir Singh, were earmarked during the last IPL.”Over the years, you’ve seen with our set-up, we’ve always backed the youngsters,” Khan said. “We have always been scouting hard for talents, give them the opportunities. That has not changed in this auction as well. If you see, we have managed to achieve that nice balance of youth and experience. So that thorough process has been there and we’ll continue to do that.”We have some exciting young talent this time as well and Arjun, for sure, has been one of them. He was part of this squad when we went to Abu Dhabi last IPL. So he has spent enough time with us.”The attribute about Arjun that has impressed both Jayawardene and Khan seems to be his work ethic. But his ultimate development, they said, would be up to how he performed. Khan said the pressure of his name was something he would have to learn to live with.Arjun Tendulkar made his senior Mumbai debut last month•AFP via Getty Images

“I have spent a lot of time with him. In the nets, working alongside him, trying to teach him a few tricks of the trade. And that has been going well,” Khan said. “Like Mahela was mentioning, he’s a hard-working kid and is really keen on learning. So that is something which is an exciting part. And look, the added pressure of the name Sachin Tendulkar is always going to be there on him and something which he will have to live by. But we’re very hopeful that the environment we have around the team is definitely going to help him become a better cricketer.”I think the less said the better – how many times a youngster gets picked in the auction and everyone is talking about it? That is something, which is always going to happen, but we are looking at things under a very simple lens – it’s just a youngster coming in the side. He has to prove himself, he has to show all the coaching staff and the think tank of the team that he’s got the goods to belong there. So what he does there at the highest level is in his hands.”Ambani stressed on the Mumbai Indians team culture, saying that that would aid Arjun’s development.”Arjun has a beautiful skillset, he’s a left-arm fast bowler and can bat left-hand. There’re not many of those in world cricket,” Ambani said. “But it’s very important that his process and his progression happens as any other young cricketer’s. Fortunately, at MI, we help individuals reach their potential. It’s all on their hard work but we believe we have the environment to do that.”Hopefully we can see Arjun reach his potential in the coming years as many youngsters, without taking names, have.”

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the fourth ODI between Australia and West Indies in Sydney

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale07-Feb-2013

Match facts

George Bailey is in doubt with a hamstring problem•Getty Images

February 8, SCG
Start time 1420 (0320 GMT)

Big Picture

Australia’s victory in Canberra on Wednesday has turned this fourth match in Sydney and the fifth game in Melbourne on Sunday into dead rubbers. The best West Indies can hope for is a couple of consolation victories to transform the scoreline into a more respectable looking 3-2. Australia want to keep up their momentum and complete a 5-0 clean-sweep, especially if that means runs and wickets for the squad members who are due to fly to India shortly for a four-Test series. Both teams left Canberra with injury concerns, West Indies sweating on the fitness of Chris Gayle, who picked up a side injury while fielding in the third ODI, and Australia unsure about George Bailey, who hurt his hamstring during Australia’s win. The fact that the series is decided means neither side is likely to be inclined to take a risk, which should mean at least one change for each team.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
Australia WWWLW
West Indies LLLWW

In the spotlight

Rarely has the term “in the spotlight” been used to describe Clint McKay. One of the lowest-profile members of Australia’s squad, McKay was nonetheless the centre of attention for a short while on Monday night, when he was named Australia’s One-Day International Cricketer of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Melbourne. It was a well-deserved honour for a man who nearly always does his job, taking wickets and keeping the opposition batsmen in check with consistent bowling and subtle changes of pace. Since the start of 2012, only Lasith Malinga has
taken more ODI wickets than McKay’s 40 at an average of 23.00. No wonder he is the first picked member of Australia’s one-day attack.In Canberra, Kieron Pollard reminded everyone watching of just what an exciting player he can be when he took four catches, including a couple of stunners, especially his leaping, one-handed take on the boundary that got rid of Glenn Maxwell. Unfortunately for West Indies, he hasn’t made the same kind of contributions with the batting during this series, with scores of 0, 1 and 9. West Indies need more from many players at the moment, none more so than Pollard.

Team news

Adam Voges has been added to Australia’s squad as cover for Bailey and is likely to play his first one-day international in two years. Voges has impressive Ryobi Cup form behind him: in his past two innings he has made 77 not out and 112 for Western Australia. Xavier Doherty is also likely to be included at the SCG, possibly at the expense of Mitchell Johnson.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty.Gayle had scans on Thursday to assess his side injury and a West Indies team spokesman said the results showed there was no major damage. However, Gayle remained stiff and sore and his availability will depend on a fitness test on the day of the game. If he sits out it could mean a call-up for Johnson Charles, while Narsingh Deonarine is also in the squad and might be considered as a replacement for the out-of-form Ramnaresh Sarwan.West Indies (possible) 1 Kieron Powell, 2 Chris Gayle / Johnson Charles, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan / Narsingh Deonarine, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Devon Thomas (wk), 9 Darren Sammy 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Kemar Roach.

Pitch and conditions

The SCG should bring spin into the equation, although it was mainly swing that caused Australia’s batsmen problems at the venue in their ODI against Sri Lanka last month. The forecast for Friday in Sydney is for a sunny day and a maximum temperature of 27C.

Stats and trivia

• It is 20 years since West Indies have beaten Australia in a one-day international at the SCG
• Of all Australian batsmen who have opened in at least 10 ODIs, Shane Watson has the highest average: 46.56. Matthew Hayden sits in second place on 44.30

Quotes

“It’s been a tough old summer for us. In terms of our one-day cricket we’ve been a little bit topsy-turvy and we’ve got some good momentum now so certainly we’re not going to take the foot off the pedal.”

Fast bowler Kyle Mills believes New Zealand are ready to test their skills in the shorter format of the ODIs, in which they hope to do better than the Test series being a ‘quality white-ball unit’

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2013Fast bowler Kyle Mills believes New Zealand are ready to move on from their crushing defeats in the Test series against South Africa, and test their skills in the shorter format of the ODIs, in which they hope to do better being a ‘quality white-ball unit’.”I think we do have a common respect around the world of cricket that we are a quality white-ball unit. So hopefully, we can produce those sorts of performances that have given us that respect, and produce them to good effect in the coming three games,” Mills said before the first ODI in Paarl.”In the one-day format, we’ve generally been pretty good. [We’ve reached] semi-finals of major tournaments all around the world. We’re under no illusions, it’s going to be a tough task. South Africa are No.1 in the world, they’re a quality unit. We’ve to play exceptionally well in all facets of the game, and if we produce those sort of performances, probably we can get a result.”They reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2011. But they have been poor in the last 12 months in the format. They were only successful against Zimbabwe at the start of 2012, after which they lost at home to South Africa, and were comprehensively defeated in their tours of the West Indies and Sri Lanka.However, towards the end of their tour of Sri Lanka, their fast bowling looked effective. Their attack consists of Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Mitchell McLenaghan – who shone in the Twenty20 series in this tour – besides Mills, who has had a fruitful Plunket Shield season so far, taking 14 wickets in three matches.”I’m pleased with my form. I’ve had the luxury of playing against the South African team quite a number of times, [so I’ve] reasonably set my plans for most of their experienced batters.”With the absence of Ross Taylor, New Zealand’s batting rests in the hands of Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson. Grant Elliott, back in the side after two years, was brought in for the one-day leg.”My comeback has probably come a little bit sooner that I thought,” Elliott said. “I was eyeing the one-day series back home in New Zealand, the Ford Trophy, for the last half of the season. But, really happy that it’s come now.”Also, it has come in South Africa, where he was born and played cricket till 2001.”It is quite weird, you know. Having met some people that I recognise from ten years ago when I was here. But to be playing cricket here as well where you grow up as a youngster, you want to be playing for South Africa and as things change in life, you’re now playing for New Zealand against South Africa, so I think you lift probably a little bit more with your game because you want to prove a point.”The first of the three-match series begins on Saturday.