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Brendon McCullum has said the heated exchanges between players, like the one between Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris in the first ODI in Napier, were likely to continue for the remainder of the series

Cricinfo staff04-Mar-2010Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman, has said the heated exchanges between players, like the one between Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris in the first ODI in Napier, are likely to continue for the remainder of the series. Johnson and Styris bumped shoulders and appeared to clash heads in the 46th over of New Zealand’s chase, and were fined by the match referee as a result. But McCullum said the nature of the trans-Tasman rivalry made for an intense atmosphere on the field.”Australia is playing New Zealand, so it’s always going to be testy,” McCullum was quoted as saying in the . ”Both teams are playing for their countries, trying to win for their countries, and we’re always going to have banter out in the middle. What we saw [between Johnson and Styris] was two guys who are extremely passionate in trying to pull through for their country.”Both players had a talking to from the match referee, so that might suggest it went a little bit too far, it probably bordered on just stepping over the mark, but once we get out there again I’m sure the fight will come to the fore in both teams again.”I don’t think it’s a bad thing, to be honest. It shows everyone watching how much it means to us.”
McCullum said Australia’s defeat in the first ODI, by two wickets, could prompt them to be more aggressive in the second game at Eden Park in Auckland. ”I guess that’s the way Australia always come out – they play hard but they try to push the rules as far as they can,” McCullum said. ”They’re obviously going to come back twice as hard now and we’re just going to have to step up again.”We want to be as aggressive and uncompromising as we can – in terms of our skill set. Any of those other things, we don’t try to instigate.”Michael Hussey, the Australian batsman, said his team was quite focussed on the cricket. ”I didn’t really see it, actually. I was stuck out on the boundary,” he said. ”It seemed like they bumped into each other but it’s been dealt with now. Most things that happen out in the middle, it’s best if they’re just left out in the middle. We’re certainly at our best when we’re just concentrating on our cricket.”However, Hussey added that outbursts similar to Johnson’s would continue. When asked if Johnson’s actions were out of character, he said: ”He’s a pretty passionate sort of guy, he plays the game hard, and out in the middle there are always going to be emotions. It’s happened throughout the history of the game and I’m sure it won’t be the last time. Fast bowlers are always pretty emotional sorts of guys. New Zealand’s approach hasn’t surprised us at all.”

He also hopes to have Karunaratne, Chandimal, and Mathews’ support for 3-4 more years

Mohammad Isam03-Apr-2024It was only apt that a Sri Lankan fast bowler sealed a 2-0 series win in Chattogram. When Lahiru Kumara yorked Khaled Ahmed, it was 11.15am local time on the final day. It was always going to be a quick end to the game after Sri Lanka took seven of Bangladesh’s fourth-innings wickets on the fourth day.Kumara finished with a four-wicket haul to take their fast bowlers’ tally for the series to 33 scalps. It is the most by a Sri Lankan pace attack in a two-match Test series. The fast bowlers’ success was well complemented by a strong showing by their batters.Not only did Kamindu Mendis get adjudged Player of the Match and Player of the Series, but the team also totalled four hundreds and eight fifties. Bangladesh, on the other hand, managed only four fifties. The other big difference between the two sides was the number of batting partnerships that lasted at least 20 overs. Sri Lanka had six, and Bangladesh just the one.Related

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Apart from Kamindu, it was captain Dhananjaya de Silva who stood out with the bat. While they dominated the Sylhet Test without much support from the other batters, the issue was resolved with six of Sri Lanka’s top-seven batters reaching fifties in the first innings in Chattogram.”We are very satisfied with the win,” Dhananjaya said. “There are many areas for us to improve, and I have talked about those with the team and the coaches are working towards that. If we can learn day by day and raise our game by 1%, we can make winning a habit. When we came to Bangladesh, we know it was going to be good for the batsmen. Their idea is always to get runs. They were disappointed because they didn’t get runs in Sylhet. But they came back, and it was pretty easy for me to handle the other things.”Kamindu’s story of waiting for nearly two years before this breakthrough tour is a major highlight of this tour, but Dhananjaya said that Kamindu had to bide his team away from the Test side as better players kept him out.Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva put on partnerships of 202 and 173 in the first Test•AFP/Getty Images

“These are the best players for Test cricket in Sri Lanka,” he said. “They’ve been performing in the domestic arena as well. Kamindu had to wait a little while. He got a fifty in his first innings, but when the replacement came in he had to go back. But he has been practicing well.”Sri Lanka are shaping up a batting unit that doesn’t necessarily have to only depend on the experienced trio of Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, and Angelo Mathews. The captain however wants them to continue for a long time, as they also help him in leading the Test side.”They have been great servants for Sri Lanka for a lot of years,” Dhananjaya said. “I don’t know how long they will play. I’d love to play with them for 3-4 years into the future. They have been performing well in the past and they have been great in these series as well.”They didn’t interfere with my captaincy. They just give me their ideas. It is very helpful in Tests, because you have to play five days. Sometimes my mind goes here and there, so getting that advice from them is very valuable.”Dhananjaya’s captaincy also stood out during this Test series. He embraced the conditions in Sylhet which favoured the fast bowlers. He said it excited him more. He also handled Bangladesh’s fast bowling well as a batter. In a more batting-friendly Chattogram, he devised tight fields to keep the Bangladesh run rate down. It worked wonders as the fast bowlers responded well too.Some also observed that Dhananjaya didn’t shy away from being a tough taskmaster with his team-mates when needed. “Sometimes you have to be a little aggressive. In a country like this where you are playing in heat, sometimes some players get lethargic.”But if in the field me or someone else dives around a little bit and makes a good stop, everyone gets a little boost. I’m trying to keep the other 10 players in the game. I’m not saying I need to be harsh, but I do think you need to have a bit of aggression when you lead,” Dhananjaya said.It has been quite a first tour as captain for Dhananjaya. He scored runs and led well but also calmed things down when the talk of rivalry surfaced during the Test series. Visibly on the field too, the teams didn’t clash in the Tests, like they did in the limited-overs series. Dhananjaya’s insistence that “it is not a rivalry” kept the situation calm, and allowed for a smoother time on and off the field.

Dewald Brevis was not part of the 16-man group, with the selectors saying they would look to introduce him via T20 cricket

Firdose Moonda18-Jan-2023Fast bowler Sisanda Magala has made a comeback to South Africa’s ODI team after a year when he was named in the 16-man squad for the upcoming three-match series against England at home in January.There was no room in the squad for the hard-hitting 19-year old Dewald Brevis, who is currently third on the SA20 run-scorers’ list. Earlier in the week, Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of cricket, said Brevis would likely enjoy a David-Warner-like introduction to international cricket by moving from the T20I squad upwards and selection convenor Victor Mpitsang confirmed he would be considered for the series against West Indies in March.At the time of the squad announcement, Brevis and Magala were in action in the SA20 game with the latter accounting for the former’s wicket for six. Magala is the joint third-highest wicket-taker at the SA20 and was the leading wicket-taker in this season’s domestic one-day cup. Despite his form, Magala was left out most of last year, because he struggled to pass CSA’s two-kilometre time trial in the fitness test. He has now made the 8:30 mark and is therefore eligible for selection.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Sisanda has been a good performer in the last few years. We have had some fitness issues with him in the past and that’s the only reason he was left out,” Mpitsang said. “His consistency has been the reason why he has been selected.”The squad will be coached by Shukri Conrad, who was named as South Africa’s Test coach on Monday, will take charge of the ODI squad in this series while new white-ball coach, Rob Walter, finishes his commitments with the Central Stags in New Zealand. Walter will be in consultation with Conrad throughout. Malibongwe Maketa, the interim coach who took South Africa’s Test squad to Australia, has not been retained.Temba Bavuma keeps his place as captain, although it is understood that the leadership in red and white-ball cricket will be up for discussion under the new coaching set-up. Bavuma is not part of the SA20 and had a disastrous run as T20I captain at the World Cup in Australia but is understood to have enjoyed a break and is ready for action. “He is in a good space. In the one-day format, he has a good record. We are quite happy with where he is at the moment,” Mpitsang said.The rest of the squad includes familiar names such as Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, SA20 leading run-scorer Heinrich Klaaasen and David Miller, as well as the first-choice bowling attack of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi and allrounders Marco Jansen and Wayne Parnell. But a notable absentee is domestic one-day cup leading-run-scorer Ryan Rickelton.Rickelton missed the Test tour to Australia because he requires ankle surgery. Rickelton has opted to delay going under the knife in order to play this summer but could not travel for the Australia series because of the risk of worsening the injury and the travel time required to secure a replacement. Mpitsang confirmed he is available for selection in home internationals and could come into contention when South Africa play West Indies in February-March.”Ryan has performed really well in the last summer,” Mpitsang said. “It’s about where does he fit in at the moment. He is an opening batter. He has got good numbers. In a squad of 16, we just couldn’t get him in. We have had a conversation before we pick the squad and the medical team made it clear that the risk is not as high as when we travel abroad.”The series is the penultimate World Cup Super League encounter for South Africa and is crucial to their chances of qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. South Africa are out of the automatic qualification zone and lie 11th on the points table. They must win at least three of their remaining five matches (three vs England, two vs Netherlands) if they are to leapfrog Sri Lanka and West Indies and avoid the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June.The three-match series will be played over six days, with the first match in Bloemfontein starting on January 27.All of the squad, except Bavuma, are involved in the SA20, which takes a break from January 25 to February 2 to accommodate for the white-ball series. South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen.

Former Australia captain reveals he was approached by BCCI to coach India before Dravid was appointed

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2021Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is not able to take up coaching roles with the Australian and Indian teams because of “time commitments”. Ponting said “giving up 300 days a year is not something I would do” with a young family by his side. He also revealed that he was approached to be India’s head coach before Rahul Dravid took over the role earlier this month following Ravi Shastri’s exit after the T20 World Cup.”Time is the only thing that’s stopping me [from taking the job], to be honest,” Ponting told podcast. “I’d love to coach the Australian team, but what I have done with my playing career was being away from family as much. I have a young family now, a seven-year-old boy, and to give up 300 days a year is not what I would do. That’s where the IPL works so well for me.”To be able to coach 8-10 weeks in winter months, and to be able to come back and do the Channel 7 stuff in the summer, I have got enough work to keep me happy and to keep me around the game but also be able to spend time with the family.Related

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“Let’s see what they [CA] do, if they ever split the coaches among say, white-ball and red-ball teams. I think everyone loves to coach the Australian team. I actually think, from my view, it’s almost an older man’s job and not for someone who has got a young family or for a person like Justin [Langer] where he is on the other end now where his family is all grown up and moved away. You are not giving up that side of your life. It’s over 300 days a year, a pretty hard job. Justin’s been under pressure since he took over the job, more so, the last few months. That’s the only thing that would stop me – the time commitment.”Ponting also said he had a “couple of conversations” about the India coach offer during the IPL but he had to decline it for the “exact same reason”. He was also “surprised” that Dravid took up the job given that he has a young family to take care of.”The people that I spoke to were pretty hell-bent on finding a way to make it work because first up, I can’t give up that time, that means I can’t coach in the IPL,” Ponting said of his conversations about the India coach job.”There was a lot of chat about how happy he (Dravid) was [with] his academy role… I am not sure about his family life… I think he has got young kids… Anyway, so I am surprised that he took it. The people that I spoke to were sure they got the right person, so they were probably able to get Dravid to do it.”Ponting also confirmed he will continue to be with Delhi Capitals next IPL though he hasn’t extended his contract with them officially yet. Having worked as the head coach of Capitals for the last four seasons, he said he wants to focus on developing the fringe players.”Some of the young players I have had the chance to work with are exceptional and really good people,” he said. “That’s what I want to be able to do – the Prithvi Shaws, the Shreyas Iyers, the Avesh Khans, these guys, we had them in the system for three-four years that have really turned into exceptionally good IPL players, and some of them have also turned into international players.”For me, it is not even about those big-name players. If I can keep a few of these guys, great. But it’s more about the guys on the fringe – a lot of them haven’t played a game. When you see them in the team, at the training, how hard they train and how much they enjoy the game, that’s what I want to recreate if that’s possible.”With the IPL retention deadline set as November 30 for the existing franchises – teams can retain only four players – he added that Capitals would try to keep the core players though that will be a challenge given that two more teams are added to the next IPL, and there will be a big auction soon.”With the retention stuff, you can keep only four players, and we had 24 players in the squad last year. So to try and bring the majority of the players would be ideal, but It will be a challenge as well. With the two new teams, you can guarantee that they are talking to Pant, Iyer – they are trying to secure these guys as they are generational franchise players. It’s up to me at Delhi to make sure they don’t get their hands on them.”

England offspinner attributes Test return to talking about depression

Valkerie Baynes19-May-2020You’re 22 years old and you’ve already played two Tests for England but you’re sitting in your county changing rooms, having been dismissed cheaply at the business end of the Championship season. How do you tell your team-mates that you don’t care how you got out, you’re not bothered about the match, that this flood of tears is way, way more than frustration at losing your wicket?Dom Bess knows, you just say it.”Talking was absolutely gold,” Bess says. “This stigma of men being not allowed to say anything and not allowed to show their feelings is a load of absolute rubbish.”Since that day at Taunton last September, Bess has played two more Tests, snaring a five-for with his offspin against South Africa to help England to victory at Port Elizabeth. He was set to feature heavily on Sri Lanka’s spin-friendly pitches when England’s squad headed home amid the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March, just days before their two-Test series was due to start in Galle.Bess also, very recently, opened up about his battle with depression.Dom Bess has spoken out about his battle with depression•Getty Images

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Bess downplays his inner strength at being able to ask for help and instead recognises others, like Somerset team-mates Marcus Trescothick and Steven Davies, for paving the way for the next generation to talk about what they’re going through.”It is okay to struggle if you’re a youngster and it’s okay to actually ask for help within that environment because I tell you now, I bet all your team-mates will get an arm around you and make sure you’re okay and in the dark times pull you through that,” Bess says.”If it’s not your team-mates, your mates outside of school, things like that. I just want to get it out there and make sure that people don’t think they’re alone because they’re certainly not.”That day last year while waiting to bat against Yorkshire, Bess was speaking to the team psychologist when he broke down.Dropped after those first two Tests in 2018 – he made fifty on debut against Pakistan at Lord’s followed by 49 and 3 for 33 at Headingley – Bess returned to Somerset, where he failed to secure a place in the first team and ended up on loan at Yorkshire for two seasons running. Just a handful of matches into his return to Somerset in 2019, it all got on top of him.He still managed to go out and bat, but after he drove Keshav Maharaj straight to cover for 15, the emotions flowed out again. The following morning, Bess spoke to the team doctor and head coach Jason Kerr told the playing group that their team-mate was struggling with what turned out to be depression.”I was nervous to start with,” Bess says of his team knowing. “I’d been away on loan so naturally I hadn’t been around the side for a little bit. I didn’t feel like I’d been around the squad a lot so I didn’t really want to say it to anyone and then it got to a point where I couldn’t handle it any more.”When I finally got it out, it was just like, I want people to know because I can’t be dealing with this, like this, because otherwise it could put me in a place where I never want to revisit – a very, very dangerous place.”Bess had been there before, at school. He says it feels like falling “down a spiral of stairs and I can’t get back up”.Suffering from dyslexia, Bess found school “hell” at times and the pressure of his academic difficulties first came to a head there.”I always hated reading in front of my school mates, I sort of froze,” he says. “I sweat now thinking about it, the fear and what it put me through, the fact that kids were laughing at me and that fear of what other people thought, I really struggled with that. That was something I never really nipped in the bud.”When I was at school I was always under this pressure. It certainly got to a point where I’d never go again and certainly the lowest I’ve ever been, a very dangerous place, for sure. I’m very lucky to get out of that situation.”Dom Bess walking with his parents’ dog, Tilly, during the coronavirus lockdown•Getty Images

Bess is grateful that one of his teachers helped him through that time and he admits he was similarly lucky when his mental health took another downwards turn during his fledgling cricket career.Trescothick and Davies, who have both spoken openly about their own mental health, have been a huge help to Bess, and the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) put him in touch with a psychologist, which he says has been invaluable. Bess acknowledges how fortunate he is to have those resources available but most important, he says, is talking to someone.”Having that stigma that you can’t talk and you’ve just got to get on with it, is a very dangerous way,” Bess says. “That’s something I’ve learned and that’s also my biggest challenge because I do like to just suck it up and get on with it but I know that isn’t the best for me in the long term. I’ll struggle with it and then it will build up over a longer period of time … it is really important to speak.”What I went through, going to South Africa, performing well, getting back in within the squad, there was a reason why that happened and that was because I opened up to my team-mates in September when I was really struggling.”

While it’s a shoulder injury that sees Nortje out of the IPL, CSK will miss Ngidi due to a side-strain picked up during South Africa’s ODIs against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2019In another blow for Kolkata Knight Riders, South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the 2019 edition of the IPL because of a shoulder injury. His national team-mate Lungi Ngidi, too, will miss his stint with Chennai Super Kings, after South Africa’s team manager said that Ngidi picked up a side-strain injury during the ODI series against Sri Lanka.Nortje’s absence weakens the Knight Riders’ pace reserves further, with the young Indian duo of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi already on the sidelines, and of the two replacements, only Sandeep Warrier a fast bowler. KC Cariappa, the other replacement, is a wristspinner.The 25-year-old Nortje, who was set for his maiden IPL season, had been picked by Knight Riders at his base price of INR 20 lakh at the auction in December, despite having missed part of the Mzansi Super League with an ankle injury. In the three matches he did play for Cape Town Blitz, however, he took eight wickets and hit speeds of 150kph, catching the eye of Knight Riders’ coach Jacques Kallis, himself a Cape Town local.Nortje earned a call-up to South Africa’s limited-overs sides and earlier this month made his international debut in the home ODIs against Sri Lanka. He has taken eight wickets in four matches in the format so far.For Ngidi, the 2019 season would have been his second season with defending champions CSK. He was bought for INR 50 lakh before the 2018 season, taking 11 wickets in seven games for CSK, at an economy of 6 and a strike-rate of less than 15. In the 5th ODI against Sri Lanka, Ngidi felt discomfort while bowling at Newlands and immediately stopped bowling. Further scans revealed a Grade II muscle strain which, his team manager says, “will need up to four weeks of rest followed by a rehab programme” leading up to the World Cup.Both Knight Riders and CSK are yet to announce a replacements for Nortje or Ngidi.

A string of drink-driving offences and a serious knee injury rocked Bracewell’s career, but Northants have given the New Zealand seamer a chance to put that behind him

David Hopps26-Jan-2018Northamptonshire have given Doug Bracewell a further opportunity to rehabilitate his cricketing career after a troubled year that included a third drink-driving offence and identified him as one of cricket’s most untamed characters.Bracewell’s career is on the up again after he was restored to the New Zealand side for an ODI against West Indies in Whangarei in December, seeking to put behind him a period in which he suffered a serious knee injury and undertook 100 hours of community service after he was found guilty of driving more than three times over the legal limit.Bracewell told Hastings Crown Court last March that he had driven home from a function when his girlfriend called him in distress after their cockatoo had been killed by dogs she was looking after for a friend.At 27, he still has the opportunity to resurrect his career and will join Northamptonshire in time for the start of the Championship season, stepping in for the veteran South African Rory Kleinveldt who will arrive in time for the start of the Steelbacks’ Royal London One Day Cup campaign in mid-May.Bracewell’s strong-willed, seam bowling style should be perfectly suited to an English spring and Northamptonshire, who have a good track record in unearthing value signings, will gamble that his gratitude for an opportunity will show through on and off the field and help them mount a second division promotion campaign.He has appeared in 27 Tests, taking 72 wickets with best figures of 9 for 60 in Hobart, leading New Zealand to their first Test win in Australia in 26 years. He also has a handy record with the bat, making 2914 runs in 82 games with a high score of 105.Head Coach David Ripley said: “Doug is highly skilled and vastly experienced, with plenty of international experience under his belt, and he will give us the additional firepower we need alongside an already high quality attacking unit. We’re delighted to be getting him over.”Bracewell responded: “It’s a great opportunity to challenge myself in different conditions and I am hoping to improve as a player but also make a difference at the club while I’m there.”Northants will be well aware that Jesse Ryder, another Kiwi with a tarnished reputation, made a great impact at Essex, contributing to the promotion of a side that then went on to win the Championship in his absence last summer.Early in his career, Bracewell twice suffered penalties after drinking incidents with Ryder. He was also ruled out of the Dunedin Test against England in 2013 when he stepped on glass while cleaning up after a house party and gashed his foot.But by going where some counties would definitely fear to tread, Northants, who have recruited shrewdly in recent years on a tight budget, have given themselves a chance of a strong start to the season.As yet there is no suggestion that Ben Duckett, who has also attracted a headline or two recently, has been appointed Bracewell’s minder. But with Northants you never can tell.

Steve Waugh has indicated a willingness to consider the role of selector after it emerged that the panel’s chairman Rod Marsh will vacate his post at the end of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2016
Steve Waugh, the former Australia captain, has indicated a willingness to consider the role of selector after it emerged that the panel’s chairman Rod Marsh will vacate his post at the end of the season.Series defeats in Sri Lanka and South Africa have renewed focus on the Australian team’s performance, and there is tension in the air as Steven Smith’s team look to rebound by winning at home.Marsh’s decision not to seek a contract renewal was announced after the South Africa ODI series ended in a 5-0 defeat, and he will not be the only man under pressure, should results go badly this summer.Pat Howard, the head of team performance, is also out of contract next year, and will be looking to recast the selection panel before that time. Darren Lehmann, the national team coach and selector, has had his contract renewed until 2019.Waugh, whose twin brother Mark has been a selector since 2014, said he would be open to joining the panel. “I’d listen to it if the opportunity came up, but there are a lot of things you’ve got to throw into the mix and see whether it’s the right time,” Waugh told the . “I think there are a lot of good cricket brains in Australia. No one has asked me, but I’d listen to it.”Aside from a brief chat during the 2015 World Cup, Waugh has seldom been seen near the Australian side since his 2004 retirement, but has remained a respected voice and was a member of the Argus review panel in 2011, alongside fellow former captains Mark Taylor and Allan Border.Waugh perceives 2016-17 to be a pivotal summer for Smith in particular. “You always have a honeymoon period. The first six to 12 months, everything is fantastic. You make all the changes and they work,” Waugh said. “Then, the reality sets in and it’s a bit harder than that.”I think losing that series in Sri Lanka probably was a bit of a shock to the system. I thought our fielding was very poor, which is unlike Australia, and that sort of set the benchmark for the rest of their cricket.”[Smith] will be having a good look at himself, his captaincy style and which players he wants in the team. These six Tests in Australia could well define his captaincy going forward. I think if they have a good series in Australia and the team stays stable, and they respond to his leadership, then it’s great for him, but if things don’t go well, it will be a challenging time for him, particularly after the last few losses. But, as a captain, the one thing about Steve Smith is he’s amazing in the way he responds when things are down.”Waugh also noted Smith’s recent comments about the “quiet” nature of numerous members of the Test team and wanting to see a more boisterous group.”That’s when he’s got to get together with the selectors and say ‘this is the type of player I want in the side’,” Waugh said.
“I’m sure he’ll be talking to Rod Marsh and the selectors, saying, ‘look, we need a bit more life, a bit more talk and attitude and a bit more Aussie Way’. That may define some of the selections in the first Test. If he wants more talk out there, he’s definitely got to get it.”

No bowler has taken more wickets than Mitchell Starc in 2015, and the seamer said he was hoping to sustain his fine form over a six-Test home summer against New Zealand and West Indies

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane03-Nov-20151:14

‘Kane Williamson NZ’s mainstay’ – Starc

There is not a bowler on the planet who has more international wickets this year than Mitchell Starc. His tally of 75 puts him well in front of the second-placed Yasir Shah. Extend it to the combined first-class, List A and T20 formats, and Starc is even further in front: his 138 wickets across those forms have come at the remarkable average of 16.07, and John Hastings is next with 108 wickets.In short, Starc is in the form of his life. Player of the Tournament in the World Cup, he last month annihilated almost every team in the Matador Cup with 26 wickets at 8.11, then topped off his Test preparation with eight wickets with the pink ball in last week’s Sheffield Shield round. Now it is back to the red ball to see if that recent form translates.It has not always. In fact, with Starc, something has always seemed to get lost in translation between the white ball and the red. It meant that the first three years of his Test career resembled the hokey-pokey: Australia put their left-armer in, they put their left-armer out, they put their left-armer in. Now it’s time for him to shake it all about.He made a good start to a red-ball resurgence during the Ashes, when he was Australia’s leading wicket taker, and now the challenge is to sustain that same form over a six-Test home summer against New Zealand and West Indies. It was against New Zealand at the Gabba that Starc made his Test debut four years ago, but it is only now that he is starting to make himself a consistent Test bowler.”The last 12 to 18 months, to play a lot of cricket I think has been the best thing for me,” Starc said. “There’s only so much you can learn and work on in the nets. I guess I’ve had a bit of an extended run with the white ball and whether it be through form or through injury I haven’t had that with the red ball. To have a bit of that in the last six months has been nice and I think that’s probably shown in getting better with the red ball.”Starc played every Test during this year’s Ashes in England and was his country’s leading wicket taker, an achievement that encouraged not only Starc but the Australian coaching staff as well. Coach Darren Lehmann said that although there were times in England that Starc lacked consistency, he expected a big summer from him back home.”He’ll be fine, I think it’s just experience and confidence,” Lehmann said. “He’s had some really good spells for us over the last 12 months with the red ball. It’s probably about being really consistent with what he wants to achieve, getting the lengths and lines right. He was very good at stages in England and then sometimes he leaked too many runs. I expect him to bowl really well with the red ball [at home].”Starc’s form is so impressive at the moment – particularly his mastery of the fast, inswinging yorker – that plenty of Matador Cup batsmen must have wished the Bangladesh Test tour had gone ahead last month and he had not been let loose on them in Sydney. Cricket Australia insisted he rest from one of the matches, against Queensland, but he told them that he otherwise just wanted to keep bowling.”I had a bit of input, so I wanted to play a lot,” Starc said. “I didn’t want to rest that Queensland game but they got that one over the line – resting’s not going to do anything for my body. I just want to be available for every game, as long as I’m fit enough and bowling well enough.”Australia will hope that New Zealand still carry some of the scars from the World Cup final in March, when Starc’s inswinging yorker rattled the stumps of Brendon McCullum in the first over of the match, setting the tone for Australia’s win. Starc took 2 for 20 in that game, as well as 6 for 28 in the earlier group match against New Zealand in Auckland, and he hopes they remember.”We’ll definitely be reminding them that we’ve bowled them out for 150 and 180 on very good wickets,” he said. “It’s one-day cricket, it’s something we can look back on and take a bit of confidence from but it’s a different challenge and nice to be playing in Australia and taking on guys that probably haven’t played too much cricket in these conditions.”New Zealand opener Martin Guptill said it was important he and his team-mates prepared for Starc’s yorker, but did not let it dominate their thoughts.”He’s got a very quick yorker and it does swing, but you don’t want to just be preparing for that,” Guptill said. “He’s got other balls in his arsenal as well. You’ve just got to watch the ball and play each ball as well as you can. I’m just trying to go out there and do my processes, and if I get a yorker I try and clamp down on it.”

Adam Wheater has bought himself out of his contract with Essex and will move to Hampshire with immediate effect.

George Dobell01-Mar-2013Adam Wheater, the highly-rated wicketkeeper batsman, has bought himself out of the final year of his contract with Essex and will move to Hampshire with immediate effect on a two-year deal.Wheater, 23, has been looking for other opportunities for some time. ESPNcricinfo revealed in September that he was in talks with Hampshire, among other clubs, but Essex were refusing to let him leave before the end of the 2013 season.He was expected to start the season in Essex’s side as a batsman but had become the county’s third choice wicketkeeper behind long-standing James Foster and England Lions’ keeper Ben Foakes.Wheater feels he will have a much greater opportunity to take the gloves at Hampshire and is expected to displace Michael Bates.If that is the case, Bates, 22, may consider himself unfortunate. While the 22-year-old is a batsman of modest ability – first-class average of 19.66 – he is an exceptional wicketkeeper. He played a pivotal part in Hampshire’s CB40 success last season, taking the final ball stood up to the stumps against the pace of Kabir Ali. He has taken 102 catches in 33 first-class games.But Hampshire manager Giles White insisted Wheater would have to earn his place: “No assurances or promises have been made to Adam but we are delighted that he has chosen to pursue his career at Hampshire.”He will add competition with the gloves and comes with an impressive first-class batting average. We have experienced, first-hand, that he is a young player with great ability and we hope that he is able to fulfil his potential and build on what has been a bright start to his career.”Wheater, who attended Millfield School in Somerset, scored 462 first-class runs from the middle order at 35.35 in 2012.”Over the winter months, Adam made it very clear that he would like to progress his wicketkeeping,” Essex head coach, Paul Grayson, said. “It is always sad to lose a player you have nurtured from a young age but we understand that to progress his career in his preferred role in the team he will need to change club.”