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Middle-order batter could also play two Championship games; James Harris joins Glamorgan on loan

Matt Roller21-Apr-2021Gloucestershire have announced the signing of Glenn Phillips, the New Zealand batter, for the duration of their T20 Blast campaign.Phillips, 24, dislodged Ross Taylor to become a member of New Zealand’s first-choice T20I side this season, playing all 14 of their home fixtures and hitting 108 off 51 balls against West Indies. He will provide a wicketkeeping option if James Bracey misses some of the Blast due to England duty, and can also bowl occasional offbreaks.A specialist middle-order batter, Phillips has improved his game against spin markedly during four seasons playing for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League, and is understood to have been discussed as a possible back-up option by IPL franchises ahead of February’s auction.He will add further firepower to a squad that reached Finals Day last summer for the first time since 2007, joining Ian Cockbain, Jack Taylor, Benny Howell and Ryan Higgins in the middle-order engine room. Phillips spent the 2016 summer in the UK playing for MCC Young Cricketers and for Brondesbury CC in club cricket, and this will be his first stint in county cricket.Related

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• Harmer shows spinners how to thrive in early season

Phillips will also be available for the County Championship fixtures that take place during the Blast, specifically against Middlesex and Hampshire at Cheltenham, by which point Kraigg Brathwaite’s stint at the club will have ended. He has a solid first-class record, averaging 40.18, and made a half-century in his only Test to date – against Australia in early 2020. Having missed out on New Zealand’s squad for the tour of England, he will be available to play throughout the Blast, and could be an attractive option as a short-term replacement playing during the Hundred.Ian Harvey, Gloucestershire’s interim head coach, said: “Glenn is very exciting to watch and he’s going to add a massive amount to what is already a powerful T20 batting line-up. He can bat at the top of the order, in the middle and also add to our firepower at the end. He’s a bit of an allrounder because he bowls and keeps wicket as well so he will give us plenty of options.”To have someone in your side with the ability to do pretty much everything is a huge bonus and his experience of playing around the world in franchise cricket is going to be a massive benefit for our players. He’s played Test match cricket and can keep wicket so he gives us plenty of options if we want to bring him in for red-ball games.”James Harris has signed for Glamorgan on a two-week loan•Getty Images

Meanwhile, Glamorgan have announced the signing of James Harris, the Middlesex seamer, on loan for their next two Championship fixtures. Harris, who is president of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, came through the club’s academy system before joining Middlesex in 2012, and is returning to Wales on loan for the second time after a similar move in 2014.Harris has fallen down the pecking order at Middlesex and was not named in their squads for the first two Championship games of the season. Glamorgan are experiencing an availability crisis within their seam-bowling department with Ruaidhri Smith and Jamie McIlroy suffering injuries, Timm van der Gugten reporting muscle tightness and Michael Neser yet to arrive as an overseas player, giving Harris an opportunity to play in their matches against Northamptonshire and Kent.

Mitchell Starc returns for Australia who look to build on after retaining the Ashes in a drawn series

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan20-Nov-20192:38

From Lower Dir to top tier, the Naseem Shah story

Big Picture

After two one-sided T20I series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the opening Test of Australia’s home season promises much. Fingers crossed it delivers. Australia are looking to build on after retaining the Ashes in a drawn series while for Pakistan, it is their first assignment of the World Test Championship – in a country where they have never won a series and have not won a Test since 1995.With that record, it’s tempting to suggest it should be a walkover for the home side – and it may yet turn out that way – but it’s the more competitive possibilities that are mouthwatering. Pakistan have brought three teenage quicks, with 16-year-old Naseem Shah set to debut on Thursday, and there has been no shortage of talking them up. The batting also looks strong with new captain Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq having good personal memories of the last tour here in 2016-17 and Babar Azam appearing primed to kick on his Test career.From Australia’s point of view, it’s a summer with most things back to normal compared to the fraught atmosphere of 12 months ago. Steven Smith and David Warner are back, one looking to continue Bradman-esque form and the other hoping to re-establish his Test credentials having been dominated by Stuart Broad in England.However, it has not been a seamless build-up for Australia. The bat-off in Perth turned into more of a collapse-off, the end result is Cameron Bancroft – with a first-class average of 11 this season – is back in the Test squad. Then there was James Pattinson and his obscene language meaning he is out of this match. But quick bowlers is one thing Australia are not short of. In home conditions, the trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc could be the deciding factor.It is an important match for the ground itself, too, with the Gabba coming under increasing pressure for its status as one of the premier Test venues in the country. It has been guaranteed the opening Test of the 2021-22 Ashes but didn’t host India last year and it is yet to be confirmed if it will host a Test next year. There is an investment on the way, but there will be interest in the crowd figures over the next few days.

Form guide

Australia LWLDW (last five completed matches, most recent first)Pakistan LLLLW

In the spotlight

David Warner had an Ashes series to forget – 95 runs in ten innings – but there was never really any doubt that he would retain his place in the side. However, that rope cannot last forever (although the last thing the Australia selectors need at the moment is to find another opening batsman). Warner started the series with a Sheffield Shield century at the Gabba which bodes well and his T20I form was prolific. He enjoys batting in Brisbane and, 21 months after his last Test on home soil, it will be fascinating to see whether he can throw off the shackles.Babar Azam struggled on the 2016-17 tour with 68 runs in six innings but two years on, he returns to Australia carrying the expectation of a batsman on the cusp of greatness. The limited-overs game has gone supremely well, and he showed his class in the T20Is, and now it is time he takes his game up a level in Test cricket and lifts his current average of 35.28. The hundred against Australia A was full of his best shots and promises much for the next couple of weeks.Pakistan haven’t won a Test in Australia since 1995•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Team news

It was pretty simple for Australia after the loss of Pattinson. Michael Neser will hope his chance comes with the pink ball.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Joe Burns, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Matthew Wade, 7 Tim Paine (capt & wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh HazlewoodIftikhar Ahmed could slot in at No. 6 with the final decision in the pace attack likely to come down to Mohammad Abbas or Imran Khan, the latter took a five-wicket haul against Australia A.Pakistan (probable) 1 Shan Masood, 2 Azhar Ali (capt), 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Babar Azam, 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Shaheen Afridi, 10 Mohammad Abbas, 11 Naseem Shah

Pitch and conditions

The Gabba is back in its traditional slot of hosting the opening Test of the season – after being pushed down the pecking order last season – and it should be a typical surface which is one of the better ones for Test cricket in the world: pace and carry for quicks, trueness the batsmen can trust and maybe some spin if the game goes deep. There was a tinge of green on match-eve, but that was enhanced by rolling in grass clippings. “I had never heard it described like this before from the curator,” Justin Langer said. “He said that ‘today we’ve got the makeup on’ and I think he meant grass clippings, and tomorrow it will probably look a bit greener than it does today. So a fascinating art and science to producing these great wickets.” The weather is set fair with temperatures in the high 20s throughout.

Stats and Trivia

• Australia have not lost at the Gabba since 1988.
• On the 2016-17 tour, Pakistan came within 40 runs of chasing down 490 as Shafiq scored a fourth-innings 137.
• Smith needs 27 runs for 7000 in Test cricket – he has six innings in hand to break Wally Hammond’s record for the fastest to the mark.

Quotes

“We are very respectful of the Pakistan team. I watched them bat at Optus Stadium last week and they have some very technically correct batsman. I’m not going to single out one; they are a very good batting side.”
“We have come here with a lot of confidence. We have the talent and potential to do well here. We have done well in patches in previous series but we come with a few fresh faces and we are very confident we have huge potential to beat Australia. To do that we have to keep believing, and play with no fear.”

The left-arm spinner cut through Pakistan A’s middle order before the game ended in a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2018Getty Images

Jon Holland added to a slew of impressive individual performances for the Australians in the four-day tour game against Pakistan A, which ended in a tight draw in Dubai on Tuesday. The left-arm spinner took 5 for 79 on the final day, as Australia pushed for a win, after declaring on their overnight score of 494 for 4, with a lead of 216.However, Pakistan A, led by fifties from Asad Shafiq and Abid Ali survived, despite a flurry of late wickets. They were 261 for 7 in 85 overs when the match ended.Abdid – who struck his second half-century of the game – and captain Asad Shafiq led Pakistanis’ second innings with fifties each. No. 5 Iftikhar Ahmed contributed 45, but Hollad ripped through the middle order. Shafiq was dismissed for 69 off 151 balls when Holland had him caught behind in the 63rd over. Holland bowled unchanged through to stumps, as Pakistan A went from 213 for 3 to 257 for 7.Holland had also dismissed opener Shan Masood for a 44-ball 41, after the opener had attacked Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. The opening stand between Masood and Sami Aslam was worth 53, but once it was broken with the wicket of Masood, first-innings half-centurion Aslam, also departed soon, falling to Michael Neser for 12. The two wickets were followed by the highest partnership of the innings, between Abid and Shafiq, who added 84 before Lyon removed Abid.Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammed Rizwan and Wahab Riaz saw off 16 balls, helping their side get away with a draw.”Really great preparation, it’s been fantastic,” Australia coach Justin Langer said after the match. “We came here a little bit earlier, we have adapted to the heat, we have got some great individual and collective results, I think it has been the perfect preparation so far.”

As Sussex brushed aside their promotion rivals in three days at Worcester, the sense was that the balance of power was shifting in Division Two

Vithushan Ehantharajah at New Road08-Aug-20171:06

County Championship round-up: Warwickshire secure first win

On a day when those around them were hampered by the weather, Sussex completed perhaps one of their most professional wins of the season, beating Worcestershire and the deluge that engulfed most of the Midlands by nine wickets and a day. Having started the match in fifth, Sussex leap to third, with a game in hand on Worcestershire, whose lead in second has been cut to 17 points.Worcestershire were poor. It is hard to remember a Championship game where they have folded so meekly. To lose 12 wickets in five hours play is simply not what you would expect from a young side with a determination at their core that has seen them punch above their weight consistently over the last five years. This is only their third loss of the season but it is the manner of defeat that will jar even the most partisan Pear.Sussex, though, have unfurled a run that now reads five wins in seven, a streak brought about by returns from injury, to form and the sort of swagger that has characterised their teams of the past. Chris Nash’s revival with a first-innings 118, on a tricky day one pitch, wickets shared (Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer and David Wiese took 14 in the match between them) and an array of difficult catches held speak of a team peaking at the right time.Even with rain washing out the morning session, Sussex were still able to make significant strikes in the first passage of play, which started at 1.10pm, removing the remaining two wickets in the Worcestershire first innings – 162 behind – and taking out their top order to leave them reeling on 66 for 5 at tea in their follow-on innings.Aside from the rains, Ed Barnard was the only other uncontrollable that Sussex came up against today. The pick of the Worcestershire bowlers, he held firm to finish the first innings unbeaten on 65 – his third half-century of the season and fourth of his first-class career.His knock threatened to take the hosts beyond their follow-on target, attacking well as he managed the strike effectively with No. 11 and debutant Pat Brown. He managed to take time out of the game when he struck David Wiese for a towering six that landed in the car park towards Worcester Cathedral. However, two balls later, Brown edged behind and Worcestershire had to start all over again.Wiese continued from the Diglis End with an opening eight-over burst that saw him remove Daryl Mitchell, (bowled) Tom Fell (caught at second slip by Harry Finch, his sixth of the match) and then Clarke (bowled off an inside edge) – all three deliveries brought about by movement into the right-hander off the surface.For the second time in the day, it was left to Barnard to fight for Worcestershire’s pride. He took a couple of blows from Stuart Whittingham, who bowled with good pace to remove George Rhodes and Brett D’Oliveira for his first two wickets of the match. Both times, Barnard inspected his helmet and smiled like a man who had found a tenner in his spare pair of jeans rather than knocked on the bonce. If he was punch-drunk, he was snapped out of it by a cluster of wickets at the other end, as Jofra Archer removed Ben Cox, Joe Leach and John Hastings in the space of five balls. Barnard’s smile was long gone.Even in his grind, he was still able to show a wide range of strokes – his charge and thwack back over Wiese’s head for six was Kevin Pietersen-esque in execution and attitude. He had no interest in keeling over like the rest of his side.When he reached 35, he was given a round of applause from Worcestershire fans who had sat through the morning rain – it was his 100th run of the match, without being dismissed. Naturally, it was Barnard who put the hosts into the lead and he fell trying to add to it, skying Stiaan van Zyl to long on, where Whittingham ran in to take a catch (the same fielder had shelled Barnard in the first innings on 43).Naturally, Barnard picked up a wicket in Sussex’s chase of nine: Luke Wells chipping to skipper Joe Leach at midwicket after Mitchell had dropped the same batsmen at second slip. A streaky four through gully from Angus Robson sealed the win for Sussex. It may seem premature, but this match felt like two teams passing each other, with one very clearly on the way up.

Anil Kumble, India’s new head coach, has acknowledged the influence of his predecessors John Wright and Gary Kirsten, and expects to adopt their low-visibility style and remain mostly behind the scenes

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-20161:30

Anil Kumble’s journey from player to coach

Anil Kumble, India’s new head coach, has acknowledged the influence of his predecessors John Wright and Gary Kirsten, and expects to adopt their low-visibility style and remain mostly behind the scenes. Wright was India’s head coach from 2000 to 2005, and was head coach at Mumbai Indians in 2013-14, when Kumble served as the team’s mentor. Kirsten was India’s head coach from 2008 – Kumble’s last year as a Test cricketer – to 2011.”I played a lot under John Wright, he’s been a great influence on how I’ll go about [the role], in terms of being in the background,” Kumble told . “When I became a mentor for Mumbai Indians, I brought John in because he understood a lot about Indian culture and then the way coaches work. So I’ll pick his brain.”I was involved with Gary Kirsten only for the Test matches, a very short period. He was, again, someone who worked in the background and didn’t make himself visible. Exactly how I’d like to work as well. Not in the front, but behind the scenes.”As a bowler, Kumble combined a cerebral approach with a willingness to keep pounding in for long spells no matter what the match situation. Accordingly, he said his coaching style would have “a bit of everything”, giving data its due while trying to strengthen his players’ response to adversity.”Data is important when you have to devise strategies and man-management is extremely crucial,” he said. “You need the team environment to be consistent and healthy, but also competitive. That is something I would look to have in the team.”The team comes first, the coaches play the background role, you are just trying to prepare the team for the best of their ability, for all conditions and all eventualities. You can’t really plan for adversity, but to try to prepare the team to handle those adversities. That’s exactly what we’ll try and address.”Kumble said he wanted to “build leaders” in his playing group, and said his coaching would have to deal as much with off-field as with on-field issues.”[It is] important as a coach to take the burden off the captain,” he said. “Captain has a lot of things on his head, all cricketing decisions and non-cricketing as well. When I was captain I realised that it’s not just taking decisions on the field but off it as well. Those are quite stressful.”Having been with the Indian team for such a long time and having had various experiences of not just conditions, but outside the cricket field, when you’re a coach, you’re not just coach on the field but also off it. You’re trying to build personalities, trying to build leaders. That’s how I’d like to look at this team. There is some wonderful talent, you need to make leaders out of them, try and understand what ticks them. It’s not a quick fix, you have to understand and then take a call.”Defining his role as that of an “enabler”, Kumble said he would not impose his views on the players.”They are already playing a good brand of cricket,” he said. “I will bring my characteristics as well but won’t impose on them. My job is to convince players to buy into what I believe in and what they believe in. At the end of it, they need to own it. If the team doesn’t own what we agree on, then it’s not going to work. I’m only an enabler. I work as an enabler to make sure things happen.”You need to be tough to play international cricket. It’s not only highs that you will see, you will also see lows. The coach’s role is not only to be a coach during successful periods but to be a coach during tough times.”Kumble said he had already spoken to India’s Test captain Virat Kohli, and looked forward to starting his tenure with a camp in Bangalore, his hometown, ahead of the four-Test tour of West Indies in July-August.”We have the West Indies Test series coming up, so that’s something our focus will be on,” he said. “I’ve spoken to Virat [Kohli] and MS [Dhoni, India’s ODI and T20 captain] must be on the flight back from Zimbabwe. It’s nice to have a camp here in Bengaluru before we tour. We’ll sit down and iron out and get ready for the West Indies tour.”Bowling, getting 20 wickets in Test cricket will win you matches. That’s the focus and we’ll take it from there. Batting, we have some great talent there. I believe this team has the potential. It’s a young team and driven by young leaders. Looking forward to working with Virat and MS. Long-term, we have lots of Tests coming up in India, that’ll be our focus.”Kumble starts his role on a one-year term, and most of India’s Test cricket in that period will be at home. Despite this, Kumble said he would focus on improving their overseas record, and that the process could begin at home itself.”I’m really excited,” he said. “This [overseas record] is something I wanted to commit to. You’ll have lot of time to strategise. The team needs to be really fit to meet the demands of Test cricket. Lot of Tests coming up, the first four are in West Indies where the conditions are not that different to India. But the Indian conditions are where we are comfortable with. Focus will be on our overseas record and the mindset we have to address from home itself. We’ll sit down and make a plan to ensure that we train towards achieving those goals.”Returning to a constantly on-the-road lifestyle was the one major concern Kumble had before he applied for the job; he said he finally decided to go ahead after a “long chat” with his family.”I felt it was the right time for me to get involved. I’m still fit enough to run around. It’s a young team so I believe you have to get your hands dirty, you need to be with the players, train with them, be amongst them. If it was a senior team, you can sit back, strategise and address that. But as a young team, you need to be in the middle and that’s something I can do at this stage.”I had a long chat with the family, 18 years on the road, they’ve taken the stress and the burden. My wife and kids have been really supportive. Not easy travelling again so that was a major decision. Once those two were clear, I put my hat in the ring. The process was great, I felt more comfortable because the three members who were interviewing me were my own team-mates, former colleagues. Process was professional and I enjoyed being a part of it. The presentation that was requested, I made my plan and put a blueprint, a blueprint for others to contribute and make it larger and ensure that all stakeholders own that plan and continue to take Indian cricket forward.”

Ben Stokes at his most intimidating muscled England beyond 300 for the third successive match but New Zealand sparked a late collapse to remain very much in contention at midway as the Ageas Bowl produced another excellent batting surface in the Royal Lon

The Report by David Hopps14-Jun-2015
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:24

England pay the price for late collapse

There is more than one way to lodge a score of 300-plus in a one-day international. You can dash there with a state of delirium, as England did, staying true to a spirit of devil may care. Or you can chase it down with ease, as New Zealand did in response, displaying not excitement but merely the composure that grows from two centuries of draining authority.By the time that Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor’s third-wicket partnership was broken, they had added 206 in 32 overs and New Zealand’s last seven wickets needed only 61 from 67 balls, the platform for what ultimately became a slightly edgy victory by three wickets with six balls to spare – a win which gave them a 2-1 lead in this five-match series.Taylor – after his century at the Kia Oval – achieved back-to-back ODI hundreds for the third time in his career. The pair also set a new benchmark in ODI’s for New Zealand’s third wicket, surpassing Geoff Howarth and Martin Crowe in Auckland in 1984.Williamson could probably bungee jump without any measurable rise in his heartbeat or blood pressure. Few international batsmen proceed with such equanimity; he picked off Adil Rashid’s leg spin – a player he knows well from his time at Yorkshire – with aplomb. Taylor’s classy strokeplay provided a perfect accompaniment.England, who for long periods in the field looked resigned to their fate as the Ageas Bowl produced the latest in a succession of excellent batting surfaces, will be left to rue a calamitous end to their innings in which their last five wickets tumbled for 14 in 22 balls.Conservatism does not enter England’s thinking at the moment as they try to reinvent themselves in a more attacking guise, but it was only with nine wickets down that they belatedly nodded to the virtue of batting out their overs and 28 deliveries went unused when the last man, Steven Finn, was cleaned up by Tim Southee. Those wasted deliveries proved hugely influential. They might have accepted the reality of their position a wicket earlier.There were four dropped catches too, catches that might well have turned the game. Taylor escaped twice in successive overs from Mark Wood, firstly on 67 when Jos Buttler might have gone two handed to his right in an attempt to take a catch well within range, and again on 72 when Ben Stokes could not hold a fierce pull, relatively close in at square leg.Wood, fresh again after feeling the effect of back-to-back Tests, often surpassed 90mph and was the likeliest England bowler on view. His return of 1 for 48 is the most economical so far in a series where batsmen have prospered extravagantly.Williamson was also dropped on 109, this time Wood the culprit at mid-off as he drove at David Willey. In Willey’s next over, the 200 partnership was raised, Williamson planted a six down the ground and finally England broke through when Wood this time leapt well at mid-off to hold the catch. Taylor got New Zealand within 13 runs of victory before he fell for 110, dragging Willey onto his stumps. It proved close enough.Earlier, Stokes had been in his most intimidating batting form for England, muscling England past 300 for the third successive match – unparallelled in their one-day history. There will be no more muscular shot all summer than Stokes’ strong-arm heave of Mitchell McClenaghan towards the midwicket burger vans. At a commanding 288 for 5 with 50 balls remaining, England had visions of 370.When Sam Billings’ innovative 34 came to grief, and Adil Rashid fell first ball, Stokes was in no mood to recognise a few complications, still seeking to be the King of the Swingers, the jungle VIP. He was bowled for 68 as he stepped away to batter Ben Wheeler to oblivion and Willey, in his second ODI, and fresh from a productive release to his county, Northamptonshire, in the NatWest T20 Blast, also fell with what by then felt like naïve attacking intent. “Ooh-bi-do, I wanna be like you.” Not this time.Instead, New Zealand’s pace attack had fought back strongly, with Wheeler returning a creditable 3 for 63 on debut, adding Stokes and Billings to his first-up wicket of Alex Hales.It was a bowlers’ morning – at least it used to be. Overcast skies were not quite enough to persuade Eoin Morgan to field first, not with 1369 runs logged in the first two matches, batsmen on both sides feeling a million dollars and bowlers reduced as emphatically as they ever have been to the ranks of the poor bloody infantry.There was swing for New Zealand in the first hour, and some bounce too, and they made decent use of it by removing both England openers, Alex Hales and Jason Roy, cheaply. England’s new-ball attack responded in kind, in less encouraging conditions, later in the day.Wheeler was presented with his debut cap before play by his fellow left-armer Trent Boult, ruled out of the series with a stress-related back condition. Boult’s part in the ceremony was appropriate because Wheeler is very much Boult Lite, finding some serene inswing.Morgan cut a somewhat impotent figure in the World Cup, a captain unable to stamp his imprint on the side. His 71 as the sun burned the clouds away was an innings from a captain who now has a sense of purpose. Add Joe Root’s crisp half-century and England’s third-wicket alliance was a productive one – 105 in 19 overs – before Santner cramped Root as he made room to leg and bowled him off his pads.Santner, heavily punished in the first two matches, but more resourceful here, also might have dismissed Morgan, first when he outwitted him down the leg side but the stumping was missed and again when he failed to cling to a low return chance to his left. Instead, it was Williamson who revived memories of his golden-arm display on the final day of the Headingley Test, defeating Morgan’s slog sweep and setting up the opportunity for the drainingly calm batting performance to follow.

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.”

Having guided Australia through the turbulent first eight months of his captaincy, Michael Clarke is decidedly relieved to have a settled support staff

Daniel Brettig23-Nov-2011Having guided Australia through the turbulent first eight months of his captaincy, Michael Clarke is decidedly relieved to have a settled support staff – even if the new head coach Mickey Arthur was not his personal choice for the job.Clarke returned home from a dramatic but ultimately satisfying tour of South Africa on Wednesday, and though he has a surfeit of injuries to contend with, can look forward to tackling the home summer with a strong network around him.Along with Arthur, the team performance manager Pat Howard, the national selector John Inverarity, selectors Rod Marsh and Andy Bichel, Clarke will dial into the first major phone hook-up for the new selection panel on Thursday evening, to deliberate on the team for the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane.The assembly of cricket experience and sporting intellect is striking, and Clarke also spoke warmly of the assistant coaches Steve Rixon, Justin Langer and Craig McDermott. Rixon was Clarke’s preference to become head coach, but pointed out that Arthur’s appointment would allow him to benefit from the knowledge of both.”I’m stoked we’ve got a coach. Mickey has done a fantastic job in the past with South Africa, and I’m really excited and looking forward to working with him,” Clarke said. “I’ve only spoken to him a handful of times either playing against him with South Africa or over the phone since he’s taken over with WA.”I think Australian cricket needed a coach to be appointed sooner rather than later and I’m stoked that James Sutherland and Pat Howard have put a certain amount of people through a process and Mickey Arthur’s come out on top, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”In my opinion I believe the coach needs to have the support staff around him that he wants and he needs, but if Stumper [Rixon] is the right man for the job, I’m sure Mickey will be more than supportive to see them around, as with Justin Langer and Craig McDermott.”They’re all under contract, I’m not sure how long to, but that’s a bonus for our team if you’ve got some very good cricket minds there, helping us out trying to get us to win games. I think really you’ve probably got the cake and eating it too with Mickey Arthur and Steve Rixon.”As Arthur’s predecessor Tim Nielsen observed, Clarke’s draining first few months in the job benefited from the enthusiasm of a new leader. The broadening of support beneath Clarke will now allow him to concentrate on his batting and tactical thinking as the captaincy starts to become less of a novelty.”It’ll probably make a few of our live a lot easier, that’s for sure. I’m as excited as anybody to get a coach on board,” Clarke said. “There’s been some things happening off the field for the last six months, but our job is to perform on the field.”The communication for me personally with James Sutherland has been outstanding, he’s kept me informed on everything that’s been happening, from the general manger to the selectors, to now the head coach, so they’ve tried to do their best and we’ve tried to do the same. It’s nice that it’s finished, we have our new general manager, our selectors and a head coach, so it’s another reason to be excited for what lies ahead.”Clarke delivered a chuckling “good luck” when informed that Arthur had likened the captain/coach relationship to marriage, but spoke frankly of the need to build a rapport in coming days. Only seven remain between now and the start of the first Test against New Zealand.”Since Mickey took over the job in WA, we’ve been in communication, talking about the WA player,s so there’s been back and forth communication for a while now,” Clarke said. “But the relationship is crucial, no doubt, straight away I respect him for everything he’s achieved as a player but also as a coach.”His success with the South African team is something that I’m sure would’ve played a part in him getting this job. He’s a true gentleman, a fantastic man, and I look forward to learning as much as I can from him and working together.”To me it doesn’t matter where you come from, if you’re the right man for the job, the best man for the job, then I believe you deserve to get it. The benefit of Mickey coming on board is he’s got some other great coaches around him in regard to Steve Rixon, Justin Langer and Craig McDermott. So some pretty smart cricket minds there, working together I can only see us having more success.”

England held Sri Lanka to 187 for 9 to secure a tight, five-run win in the first one-day international of their limited-overs series at the Nondescripts Ground in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2010
Scorecard
England held Sri Lanka to 187 for 9 to secure a tight, five-run win in the first one-day international of their limited-overs series at the Nondescripts Ground in Colombo. Claire Taylor’s half-century, her 22nd in ODIs, held England’s middle order together amid a four-wicket haul for seamer Deepika Rasangika as the visitors were bowled out for 192 after being put in to bat. A middle-order collapse hampered Sri Lanka’s chase, and a tight final over from seamer Jenny Gunn sealed the result for England.England made a stuttering start to their Sri Lankan tour, losing opener Heather Knight – bowled by left-arm seamer Rukshala Dharmasiri – without a run on the board. With captain Charlotte Edwards and left-hander Lydia Greenway also falling for single figures, it was left to Taylor and Gunn to repair England’s innings with an 86-run partnership for the 4th wicket.Rasangika then struck back for the hosts, picking up three wickets in two overs – including that of debutant Fran Wilson first ball – as England slipped to 143 for 6. Wickets fell regularly thereafter, with Laura Marsh and Anya Shrubsole providing the only resistance before the visitors were bowled out in the final over.Sri Lanka’s chase got off to a positive start, Chamari Polgampola and Chamari Atapattu putting together a 64-run opening stand. After they were parted, however, England’s spinners ran through the middle order. Edwards, Laura Marsh and Danielle Hazell combined to reduce Sri Lanka to 86 for 5 before Eshani Kaushalya and wicketkeeper Dilani Manodara’s 52-run partnership brought Sri Lanka back into the game.Sri Lanka needed just 55 in slightly over eight overs when Isa Guha returned to the attack and bowled Manodara for a watchful 26. The lower order managed to keep up the scoring rate, Sripali Weerakkody slamming a 16-ball 19 that included a four and a six, but at a cost of wickets. With six runs needed from the final two deliveries, Gunn had Rasangika caught by Shrubsole and then sealed a slim victory with a dot ball to close the innings.The teams meet for the second ODI at the P Sara Oval in Colombo on Wednesday before a series of three Twenty20 matches, starting on November 19 at the Nondescripts Ground.

Afghanistan and USA will meet in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in February for the main event in the West Indies

Cricinfo staff15-Dec-2009Afghanistan and USA will meet in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in February for the main event in the West Indies, but any potential political embarrassment will be diluted with the match taking place in Abu Dhabi.The two teams have been pooled with Ireland and Scotland in Group A of the Qualifiers, which will be hosted in the UAE from February 9 -13. Kenya, Netherlands, Canada and the UAE make up Group B. from April 30-May 16.The winner of the tournament will join South Africa and India in Group C while the losing finalist will join Group D, which includes West Indies and England. Ireland, Kenya, Scotland, the Netherlands, Afghanistan and Scotland have made it directly into this qualifier on the basis of their ODI status while the UAE and USA are participating at the ICC’s request.The 17 matches will be split over five days between Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium (six games) and the Dubai Sports City (11 games). The Super Four matches and final will be played in Dubai.