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Kent reached 345 for 5 at the close as Yorkshire were made to work hard for their wickets on the first day of the Championship

Myles Hodgson at Headingley05-Apr-2012
ScorecardKent piled on the runs on a good batting wicket at Headingley•Getty Images

If Geoffrey Boycott, Yorkshire’s newly elected president, was studying the scores at Headingley on the opening day of the season during the early hours from his hotel in Colombo, he could have been forgiven for believing his beloved county had suffered a dismal start to their campaign.Tipped as one of the Division Two promotion candidates, they lost the toss and despite the ground being under snow and ice 24 hours previously, failed to claim a wicket for 37 overs. They finished the opening day with only five wickets to their name against a strong Kent line-up including six winter recruits.Even the most optimistic of Yorkshire supporters would struggle to suggest it was a good day but it was by no means disastrous and, having had little help from the conditions, they stuck to their task on a good batting wicket that reflected well on the Headingley groundstaff, given their limited preparation for the opening fixture.”I was a bit undecided about the toss with the pitch being under the covers yesterday and all the snow, so I think it was a good toss to lose,” Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s captain, said. “There was no moisture in it really and it was a good-looking pitch – you would expect that pitch in June and July, not the first week in April.”Wayward early on, although that might be explained by early season rustiness, they fought back well after a 141-run opening stand between Scott Newman, on loan from Middlesex, and Rob Key.Inevitably, Ryan Sidebottom picked up where he left off last summer by provided the breakthrough, removing Newman’s middle stump with a yorker shortly after lunch and giving the impetus for a late Yorkshire rally just as the doom-mongers in the crowd were warming up.Key played the innings of the day, showing patience and an ability to judge quick singles until that capacity deserted him with his century only three runs away when he pushed to mid-on and lost the race with Gale’s direct throw at the non-striker’s end.Adil Rashid, who has slowed his run up to almost walking pace, had Ben Harmison caught at slip shortly before tea, but looked to have made a crucial error in dropping West Indies batsman Brendan Nash at slip after he had raced to his half-century off 47 balls.Ajmal Shahzad ensured the miss was not too costly when he induced an edge that was sharply taken by Anthony McGrath at slip and Rashid completed an encouraging comeback by winning an lbw appeal against Michael Powell in the penultimate over of the day.”It’s the first day of the season and ideally you want to have a great first day,” Gale said. “It hasn’t gone to plan but by no means is it the end of the world. I want the lads to come back, hold the heads up high and show what they can do.”I thought we stuck to our task well. Throughout the day we didn’t build enough pressure. Just as I thought we were starting to put a few maidens together we bowled one or two bad balls an over. There were too many boundaries today, but it’s not over yet. It’s a good pitch and I think we can bat as well on it.” Boycott, no doubt, would have nodded approvingly over his breakfast in Sri Lanka.Edited by Alan Gardner

Mark Davies dismissed Alastair Cook for 1 after Darren Stevens and Geraint Jones had rescued Kent’s first innings

Charles Randall at Chelmsford11-May-2012
ScorecardEngland’s opening pair, Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, remain desperately short of runs ahead of the first Test against West Indies•AFP

The county bowling cohorts have done England’s opening partnership no favours in the build-up to the West Indies series. Alastair Cook was undone lbw for a single at Chelmsford today to follow innings of 9 and 5 at Cardiff last week — not much to build on before next Thursday’s Test at Lord’s.With Andrew Strauss having a torrid time at Middlesex, Kent’s new signing Mark Davies ensured Cook drew a near blank by straightening a lovely seamer into the left-hander’s pads. The next ball drew Tom Westley forward, kicked off the seam and found a thin edge safely pouched behind the wicket. With Essex faltering at 3 for 2, Kent were ready to cash in on Darren Stevens’s top-rate century, especially as there was no sign of Ravi Bopara, Cook’s England colleague.Bopara spent the afternoon resting his leg rather waiting for a go at the crease. He was due to visit Broomfield Hospital immediately after play for a precautionary scan on an apparently minor thigh strain suffered in his over before lunch when Essex were trying to break a long sixth-wicket stand between Stevens and Geraint Jones.Only after Davies had been rested — his first spell was 7-3-5-2 — did Essex begin to make progress through some dashing strokeplay by Mark Pettini. He cut and drove the ball so crisply over the lush outfield and scampered so well that it was hard to believe that his first class average was 32. His winter in Zimbabwe domestic cricket, based in the beautiful mountainous Mutare district, appeared to have refreshed his game. He batted well in Zimbabwe for the Mountaineers.Kent’s debutant Ivan Thomas, replacing Davies at the Hayes Close end, bowled steadily with an upright action, a languid build-up producing deceptive whip off the pitch, but Pettini and Billy Godleman stuck to their task. Godleman, never a thing of cricket beauty, scuffed and deflected 27 his way through Essex’s 39 overs, but at least he hung around until stumps. Cook would have loved such an extensive sight of the ball.Stevens and Jones performed wonders to dig Kent out of 9 for 5, putting on 194 together. Stevens finished with a high-quality 119 off only 170 balls and Jones made a worthy 88, no one else mustering more than six. Essex’s bowlers toiled, even the first-day destroyer Charl Willoughby, and the fielding substitutes were given a busy day rotating in the absence of Bopara and Alviro Petersen, who was still nursing a sore ankle.When Stevens top-edged Greg Smith for six over fine-leg to advance to 91, it was clear that Kent had regained the initiative. Their grip was eventually broken when Stevens sliced a drive to cover. Jones perished at long-off attempting to farm the bowling after off-spinner Westley had picked up three wickets in eight balls.After losing virtually two days to rain, this excellent fluctuating match deserves a finish.

Simon Jones, the former England fast bowler, took four wickets as Glamorgan claimed their first win of the season by beating Durham by 15 runs in a low-scoring CB40 match at Colwyn Bay.

10-Jun-2012ScorecardSimon Jones, the former England fast bowler, took four wickets as Glamorgan claimed their first win of the season by beating Durham by 15 runs in a low-scoring CB40 match at Colwyn Bay.Glamorgan, without a win in the second division of the Championship, had looked unlikely to get off the mark in Group B after being bowled out for 163 in 34.3 overs on a slow pitch, only for Durham, who had won three of their previous four CB40 matches, struggled as well and slumped to 148 all out in reply.Jones began Durham’s slide to defeat by claiming the wickets of Phil Mustard and Ben Stokes in the space of two overs. Mustard gave a sharp catch to Martin van Jaarsveld at slip and Stokes was lbw as the visitors reached 28 for 2 in the eighth over.Glamorgan then struck twice more in the next two overs. James Harris trapped Gordon Muchall in front before Jones had Mark Stoneman caught behind.Jones, who had figures of 3 for 18 off six overs at that stage, was replaced at the Penrhyn Avenue end by Jim Allenby who broke through to remove Dale Benkenstein via a sharp catch at backward point by Stewart Walters. Will Smith and Michael Richardson rebuilt before the former was run out at the non-striker’s end via the hand of the bowler Will Owen. Scott Borthwick lasted only three overs before he was bowled by Dean Cosker.Jones then returned and claimed the wicket of Richardson, who went lbw for 45, and in the next over Allenby bowled Liam Plunkett as Durham slumped to 122 for nine. Mitchell Claydon and Chris Rushworth threatened to pull off a grand recovery but with 13 balls remaining Owen bowled Rushworth to seal the home side’s maiden win.Earlier, Glamorgan had made an encouraging start after winning the toss but lost three wickets in the space of four overs as they went from 41 without loss to 48 for three. Both openers were out in quick succession. Captain Mark Wallace was caught behind and Gareth Rees, who made 28 off 20 balls, was caught on the mid-wicket boundary before Marcus North became Rushworth’s second victim.Stokes struck twice in as many overs as Glamorgan struggled to 100 for five. Allenby looked settled until he edged behind for 26 before Van Jaarsveld was bowled for 25. When Glamorgan lost two wickets in consecutive deliveries to Smith’s offspin, few would have given much for their chances.

Ben Cutting, the Queensland fast bowler, has become the third paceman to withdraw from Australia A’s tour of England due to injury

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2012Ben Cutting, the Queensland fast bowler, has become the third paceman to withdraw from Australia A’s tour of England due to injury, flying home following the conclusion of the tourists’ opening match against Derbyshire.Cutting, 25, had not been selected in the XI for the match, and was diagnosed with a back problem that necessitated his return home.In departing early from the tour, Cutting joined Pat Cummins and James Pattinson as fast bowlers unable to gain valuable experience in English climes on the tour due to injury.Cummins did not make the start of the tour, picking up a side strain during the preceding ODI tour by the senior team and heading home to Sydney.Pattinson played in the final two matches of that series before complaining of an abdominal strain and being sent home as Australia A prepared for their tour with a training camp in Southampton.Alister McDermott and Nathan Coulter-Nile were called into the squad in place of Cummins and Pattinson, and Cutting’s injury has enhanced their chances of taking part in the next match of the tour, against Durham from Wednesday.

The veteran opener Chris Rogers has been offered a new contract with Victoria, a month after he spoke of his concerns at potentially being delisted by the state

Brydon Coverdale06-Jul-2012The veteran opener Chris Rogers has been offered a new contract with Victoria, a month after he spoke of his concerns at potentially being delisted by the state. Victoria’s coach Greg Shipperd said that Rogers’ position on the contract list had been carefully considered, but it was decided that he still had plenty to offer the Bushrangers this summer.Rogers, who turns 35 next month, remains a prolific scorer for Middlesex in county cricket and is fourth on the division one run tally this year, and last season he was sixth on the Sheffield Shield run list with 781 at 41.10. However, the Bushrangers are also keen to give greater opportunities to a younger batch of batsmen, including Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Ryan Carters, Michael Hill and Alex Keath, and Shipperd said selections this season would not necessarily be straightforward.”It is about finding that delicate balance between experience and youth, and opportunities for the younger players coming through,” Shipperd said. “We thought long and hard about that and ultimately Chris has been offered a contract and our understanding is he will take that. He has been a wonderful player for four years for us and put the icing on the cake of a group that was really going places some four seasons ago.”In his first two seasons with us [we had] Shield final wins, and he’s been a great contributor, he’s been a great mentor and coach around the group with his cricket knowledge. He’s one that opposition bowlers don’t like to bowl to and we’re happy to have him in our squad.”It is from our point of view about finding that balance of opportunity and Chris is aware of those challenges in our group. He’s got his sights on perhaps being an Australian player still and probably also transitioning in the last couple of years of his cricket career into a coaching role. He’s got an interest in that area and we have access all areas for him in terms of developing those skills.”The Bushrangers have named their squad for next summer and unlike most other states this year it is a group with few changes from last season, with no imports and no major defections. The only additions to the full contract list were Handscomb and the fast bowler Scott Boland, both of whom held rookie deals last season.The allrounder Meyrick Buchanan, who is in Australia’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup this year, has been handed a rookie contract, as has the legspinner James Muirhead, who played for the Adelaide Strikers last season. The squad will also feature Ian Holland, who earned a special rookie deal as the winner of the reality TV show .Brad Hodge and Mark Cleary are both gone from last year’s list, having retired, while the fast bowler Steven Gilmour and the rookie batsman Brett Forsyth were not offered new contracts. Victoria were able to maintain a consistent list as they were not hit as hard as some states by the reduction in Cricket Australia contracts, with four men on national deals, only one fewer than last year.Victoria squad Scott Boland, Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, Jon Holland, David Hussey (Cricket Australia contract), Alex Keath, Glenn Maxwell, Andrew McDonald, Clint McKay, Darren Pattinson, James Pattinson (CA), Rob Quiney, Chris Rogers, Will Sheridan, Peter Siddle (CA), Matthew Wade (CA), Cameron White Rookies Meyrick Buchanan, James Muirhead, Steven Reid Cricket Australia rookie Ian Holland.

Kevin Pietersen’s fractured relationship with the England team will take years rather than weeks to repair if it can be mended at all, Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur has said

Daniel Brettig22-Aug-2012Kevin Pietersen’s fractured relationship with the England team will take years rather than weeks to repair if it can be mended at all, Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur has said.The breach of trust inherent in text messages Pietersen is alleged to have sent to his South African opponents during the recently completed Test series, among a myriad of other issues, forced the batsman’s removal from the England dressing room. Arthur, a former coach of South Africa, told ESPNcricinfo that in the circumstances England’s selectors had no other choice but to drop Pietersen.”It takes time to mend,” Arthur said of the rift between player and team. “They say trust and reputation takes a year to two years to really build, and you can lose it in two minutes. I think that’s where they’ve got to with KP now.”England have dealt with it in the best possible way. The way they’ve handled it has been clinical, its been ruthless, it’s been very good. It did obviously upset their team a bit, but little Jonny Bairstow came in and got 95 and 54 at Lord’s and played really well, another guy steps up to the plate and does the job.”There’s no one guy that’s bigger than the team and England must’ve thought that KP had got to that point. It was tough for them, it was pretty unsettling, but I think they’ve handled it very well.”Arthur was a bleary-eyed spectator for the Test matches in England, watching the matches on television in his Perth home. He was not surprised by the success of South Africa’s bowlers in tucking up Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook from around the wicket, but also lauded Vernon Philander for his adroit use of new-ball swing.”I know from our last meetings with Cook and Strauss in 2008, we certainly came around the wicket to them,” Arthur said. “Morne Morkel has been the one who has created a lot of problems from around the wicket, and that is certainly a line we’d explore to attack [against England]. What Philander did was he swung it, and anybody who swings the ball is going to be a handful.”You want to try to play with the batsmen’s feet, that’s why you need to use your bouncer well, use it intelligently, that type of stuff. South Africa definitely did it very well.”Arthur’s team are scheduled to be South Africa’s next Test opponents in three home matches at the outset of the Australian summer, a prospect now rich with meaning since the winner of the series will be able to lay claim to top spot on the ICC’s Test rankings.”It looks like being another Test championship series and it is a mouth-watering prospect, certainly one I’m really looking forward to,” Arthur said. “Our Test side’s a really settled unit, to beat South Africa now you’ve got to play really disciplined cricket for a long period of time and hopefully we can have the preparation and be ready for that when the time comes.”I know from our time together that the South African guys are a resilient bunch, they enjoy touring together, they’re a really good team, a good team ethos going, they’re well-led, and very well coached. I think they all believe in their ability now, they believe in their ability to win the big games, and I can’t wait for that Test series [in Australia].”In the meantime Australia have 50-over and Twenty20 assignments in the UAE and Sri Lanka, with Arthur leaving the ODI leg of the tour to his assistant Steve Rixon. Rather than marshal the team against Afghanistan and Pakistan, Arthur will be tuning his plans with George Bailey for the World T20, particularly the nuances of the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo where the Australians will be based for the group phase.”I’m just clearing my head and getting a good idea in terms of the roles we want to use for players,” Arthur said. “There will be a bit of opposition analysis in that, and just getting a real clear head around the way we want to tackle this, have a look at how successful teams have played at Premadasa, study that ground a little bit. I’m suspecting towards that back end of the tournament that the wickets will turn, so I’m just getting all the attention to detail right.”

Danni Wyatt top scored for England Women as completed a second comfortable victory over Pakistan in as many days with an 81-run win at Loughborough.

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2012
ScorecardDanni Wyatt struck five fours as she top scored for England•Getty Images

Danni Wyatt top scored for England Women as completed a second comfortable victory over Pakistan in as many days with an 81-run win at Loughborough. Wyatt’s 41 from 29 balls helped England to 162 for 7, which proved well out of range for Pakistan.Wyatt’s innings followed 35 from just 17 balls from Sarah Taylor, the knock contained six fours as England got off to a bright start having won the toss. Wyatt kept up the momentum with five fours of her own before Susie Rose slugged two sixes and two fours in her 15-ball 29.In reply, Pakistan lost Nain Abidi in the first over and never gained any momentum, largely thanks to 2 for 15 from Laura Marsh.”It was another good team performance today,” player of the match Wyatt. “We got the runs on the board and put them under pressure with the ball. I was pleased to contribute and it was very satisfying to set a new highest score. We’ll take momentum from these matches into the series against the West Indies.”England will play West Indies Women in a five-match NatWest Women’s International T20 Series commencing at Durham on Saturday September 8.

As one of the mature bodies in a Test attack featuring several younger men, Peter Siddle is preparing for a heavy workload this summer

Brydon Coverdale30-Oct-2012Ten days from the first Test against South Africa, Australia’s attack is the subject of so many known unknowns and unknown unknowns that it would leave Donald Rumsfeld’s head spinning. Will the selectors choose four fast men or three and a spinner? Do they want the left-arm variety that Mitchell Starc provides? Is Starc fit enough after playing so much Twenty20? Has Ben Hilfenhaus had enough cricket lately? It seems like the only known known is that Peter Siddle will be there, ready to bowl himself into the ground.It’s a job that he’s hoping is his all summer long. While the selectors are keen for the younger fast men – Starc, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson – to rotate through the side to avoid burnout, there will be plenty of burden on Siddle. Six Tests – three against South Africa and three against Sri Lanka – are on the agenda over the next two months and Siddle, 27, wants to be part of all of them.”That’s the plan. You always want to play as many as you can,” Siddle said. “I’ve been lucky enough that the last two summers I’ve played every Test match. I’m the only one [of the bowlers] who has done that and it’s something I’ll be trying to do again. The preparation that I’ve had here, and leading into this series, is the same as what I’ve done in those years. I think it will leave me in pretty good stead to be fit and strong. As long as the form is still there.”And it will be a slimmed-down Siddle who will take on the South Africans at the Gabba, starting next Friday. When Siddle visited South Africa for a three-Test series in early 2009, one of the local papers kept referring to his “man boobs”, but they won’t have any such ammunition this time. The switch to a vegetarian diet has helped him lose five kilograms since the tour of the West Indies in April, and he looks fitter than he ever has before.He’ll need to be. The ability to bowl long spells, day in day out, has always been an attractive part of Siddle’s package. That will be even more important given the reluctance of the team management to ask too much of the younger men. Siddle might have Hilfenhaus to help him carry the workload at the Gabba, but there is also a chance he will be the sole mature body alongside Pattinson and Starc.”I’ve always been like that,” Siddle said. “That’s just me in general. I like to have the ball in my hand, I like to do anything I can for the captain and for the team. If that situation comes up and I have to bowl those long spells, I do.”There’s a lot of young blokes around the squad, some haven’t played a lot of cricket. They’re developing as well and you can tell the improvements from last summer to now, Starc, Pattinson and Cummins, just the way that they’re getting through games and pulling up, they’re improving. If I have to bowl long overs then I will.”At this stage, Siddle’s Victorian team-mate Pattinson appears the next most likely fast man to win a place in the Gabba line-up, given that he is on top of the Sheffield Shield wicket tally this summer and was Man of the Match on Test debut at the Gabba last season. Pattinson said there would be fierce competition in the nets next week among the fast bowlers, and while he would love to play all six Tests this summer he was realistic about the role workload would play in the selectors’ decisions.”It’s hard to put a cap on how many Tests I’ll be available for. Six would be really nice,” Pattinson said. “But I’m not sure which way they’re going to go. It’s going to be determined on workloads and how much we bowl in the first couple of Tests, who’s up and firing.”It’s just part of sport. The competition in the nets is extremely high. I can’t wait to get up there on Tuesday and bowl against everyone in the nets. It’s almost competition within your own team. That’s what brings out the best in your team as well, having that competition vying for spots.”

A round-up of the fourth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group A matches on November 27, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2012
ScorecardA Bengal collapse on the final day, propelled by seamer Ishwar Pandey who claimed five wickets, took Madhya Pradesh to a 138-run victory in Indore. The win didn’t look probable until the final innings, in which Bengal needed to bat out 58 overs to save the game; considering their respectable first-innings performance, that didn’t look beyond them.Their openers started positively, scoring 43 runs in seven overs before Pandey struck. Another seamer Anand Rajan, soon dismissed the other opener, Parthasarathi Bhattacharjee, and effected two run outs to leave them struggling at 76 for 4 in the 21st over. A third fast bowler, Amarjeet Singh, combined with Pandey to run through the rest of the line-up that was without Manoj Tiwary due to a finger injury. Only wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha tried to hold one end up, but after scoring 29, he was bowled by Pandey. At 119 for 8, the contest was effectively over, and the last two wickets were taken by Pandey as Bengal were bowled out for 138 in the 46th over, with more than 11 overs remaining in the day.Bengal’s fast bowler Shami Ahmed was the highest wicket-taker of the match with 11 wickets, and Pandey finished with ten wickets. This was their best bowling figures in first-class cricket.With this defeat, Bengal are the only team in Group A to have lost two matches so far.
ScorecardHyderabad, after witnessing Mumbai score 443 in the first innings, set about consolidating on their strong overnight score of 423 for 3, in what turned out to be a one-innings-a-side draw. By the time they were bowled out on the final day, they had scored a mammoth 669, their fourth-highest score in first-class history. Besides Akshath Reddy and Hanuma Vihari, who were dismissed for 196 and 191 respectively on the third day, Bavanaka Sandeep was the other centurion, with a ton on the final day.
ScorecardFighting centuries by Manprit Juneja and Rush Kalaria took Gujarat to a position of dominance against Railways before the match was drawn on the final day. After having being bowled out for 117 in the first innings, Gujarat were always scrapping to avoid defeat. But Railways’ opportunities were snuffed out by Gujarat’s commanding batting performance that helped them amass 551 for 8. Due to the first-innings deficit, though, they gained only one point out of the match.Resuming at 288 for 6, Juneja and Dhurv added 95 runs, before the most productive stand of 156 between Juneja and Kalaria, who has played for India at the Under-19 World Cup. Juneja was unbeaten on 153, and Kalaria scored 100, his highest in his short first-class career.Both the teams have drawn all their matches so far.

Australia is building a support system in place for offspinner Nathan Lyon, to ensure his path of advice is defined

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide21-Nov-2012If Nathan Lyon’s growing confidence was summed up by the back-spinner he unleashed to dismiss Jacques Rudolph in Brisbane, his valued place in Australian cricket can be measured by how carefully the national team is building a support network around him.Ahead of the Adelaide Test match, Lyon was advised on bowling by the former Australian spin bowler Ashley Mallett, but not directly. Instead, Mallett had discussions with the senior coach Mickey Arthur, who passed Mallett’s advice along to Lyon and also Steve Rixon, who has been appointed as the designated spin coach to allow the other specialist bowling coach Ali de Winter time to work purely with the pacemen.As the season began, Lyon had spoken of how difficult he had found sorting through a myriad of advice during his first year as an international bowler, whether it had arrived via friends, the media or other bowlers and coaches simply calling him up at random to state what he was doing wrong. Eager for Lyon to learn but equally keen to ensure he is not overloaded with voices, Arthur, Rixon and South Australia’s coach Darren Berry have worked assiduously to make sure Lyon’s path is consistently defined.”We’re filtering it through the people he knows best,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo. “Darren Berry and SA have done a really good job with him, Steve Rixon within my support staff is a really experienced coach and has been very good with him as well. They’ve built a good relationship so he’s been monitoring those messages, and I wanted to have a chat with Ashley Mallett because he’s so knowledgeable on spin bowling and he confirmed what we were doing with Nathan. So I opened up a nice little communication channel there.”I just asked Ashley if he had anything he could mention to me. I’ve designated Steve Rixon within our squad as working with Nathan and I’m really happy they’ve got a good relationship going. Our messages are very consistent with the messages of Darren Berry. Everybody is saying exactly the same thing and that’s the message being delivered to Nathan within our team. That to me is really important, that the players are getting the same messages and not a conflicting message.”No one was more delighted to see an Australian spinner benefit from his expanded repertoire than his captain Michael Clarke, who has shown an instinctive feel for leading slow bowlers from the moment he dived to pouch the sharpest of slip catches from Lyon’s first ball in Test cricket, against Sri Lanka in Galle last year. In addition to knowing the value of spin bowling, Clarke also finds a great deal of fun in it, and the twinkle in his eye when he spoke of Lyon’s variation could only have come from someone who has bowled spin for years himself.”Well, we’re calling it a more than a back-spinner,” Clarke said, grinning. “It’s something he’s worked on and it was nice to see him get a wicket with it [in the] last Test match, so hopefully we’ll see him get plenty more wickets for Australia with balls spinning in both directions.”He can contain if he has to and we can dictate that by the fields we have, but then if there’s an opportunity for Nathan to put more pressure on the [batsmen] I think he’s got the skill to be able to do that as well. He’s bowling well, I thought he came back really well in Brisbane and that shows his character.”I know he wants to do well in front of his home crowd, but as I’ve said to Nathan plenty of times he needs to keep doing exactly what he’s doing, don’t change a thing and he’ll continue to have success at the highest level.”South Africa’s batsmen have now tried several times to hit Lyon out of Australia’s attack in the manner they took to Bryce McGain in Cape Town in 2009, but each time the bowler has responded with better subsequent spells and important wickets. The touring captain Graeme Smith noted Lyon’s importance to this match with a good degree of respect.”Nathan has proven to be a solid performer for Australia. That’s exactly how we view him,” Smith said. “We haven’t taken an arrogant view of him, maybe some other people have. We respect what he is capable of and he will play a role in this game.”