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Warwickshire increasingly suggest their promise to be title contenders has more going for it than mere optimism.

Jon Culley at The Oval25-May-2012
ScorecardTim Ambrose’s unbeaten 74 left Warwickshire 41 short with five wickets left as they sought to recover the Division One leadership against Surrey at The Oval•PA Photos

Warwickshire increasingly suggest their promise to be title contenders in 2012 has more going for it than mere optimism. With five wickets in hand, they will return to The Oval on the final morning needing 41 runs to secure a fourth win in six.Victory would reassume the leadership of the First Division that Somerset hold after their victory over Durham and ensure that Nottinghamshire, who were in front before sitting out the last round of games, feel under a modicum of mid-season pressure at Hove, where Sussex have already ensured that a win will not be easily gained.Momentarily at the close of the third day in south London, it appeared Warwickshire might attempt to complete the job and give themselves Saturday off. Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke, the batsmen on the field, clearly considered taking the extra half-hour, but Jim Troughton, the captain, sensibly decided there was no need to rush.Ambrose is unbeaten on 74, and Rikki Clarke, apart from taking a painful blow on the toe during a hostile burst from Stuart Meaker, has settled in relative comfort to be 18 not out but the pitch in this match has been one on which wickets have come in flurries and the offspinners on both sides have been dangerous.After Gareth Batty’s six wickets in Warwickshire’s first innings, Jeetan Patel countered with half a dozen of his own as Surrey were dismissed for 245 in their second innings. The New Zealander bowled with particular skill in returning his best figures in county cricket and Surrey might have left Warwickshire with much less to do but for Jon Lewis and Chris Jordan, whose bold approach added 54 in 14 overs for the eighth wicket.Patel captured both in the end but their show of aggression, in which Lewis set the tone, left Warwickshire a target of 222 which looked potentially tricky, more so when they stumbled to 37 for 4.Batty again was their tormentor, taking three wickets in his first four overs, but a partnership of 111 between Ambrose and the Ireland captain, William Porterfield swung the balance back towards Warwickshire. So impressive had he been in the first innings that the second innings was only 10 overs old when Rory Hamilton-Brown tossed Batty the ball and asked for a repeat performance.Warwickshire had already suffered a blow with the loss of Varun Chopra to a fifth-ball duck and Batty struck with his fourth delivery, to which Ian Westwood pushed forward and edged to slip, where Tom Maynard took a fine catch. With the third delivery of his second over, Batty had Troughton, on the sweep, leg before without scoring as his thin run continued. It was his first duck of the season but nine innings so far have produced only 50 runs.When Darren Maddy then drove the ball back tamely to offer Batty a straightforward return catch, Surrey sensed they might have the trump card again in the 34-year-old former England bowler.But Warwickshire do not lack self-belief these days and Porterfield and Ambrose plotted a sensible course. Cleverly though he bowled, unchanged at the Pavilion End, getting as much as he could from a slow turning pitch, Batty was made to wait more than two hours for another breakthrough.It was time enough for the fifth wicket pair to re-establish Warwickshire in a position of strength, even though Porterfield, whose conversion rate of 50s to 100s might be better, annoyed himself, after more than three hours at the crease, for playing back to the ball pushed through by Batty that had him leg before for 66.The wicket gave Batty 10 in the match for only the second time in his career, the first since he took 10 for 113 against Northamptonshire for Worcestershire eight years ago.Ambrose survived a confident appeal for a stumping off Hamilton-Brown on 35 (with the total 100-4) and looped a bat-pad chance over the head of Jason Roy on 44 but otherwise cut a secure figure.In the morning, Patel had taken five of the six Surrey wickets that remained overnight. He had Maynard caught bat and pad at silly point, ended Jacques Rudolph’s brief stint at The Oval by bowling him as he tried to clip the ball through midwicket, then had Batty caught at short mid-on. Lewis fell to a catch by the diving Porterfield at midwicket and Jordan was leg before on the back foot, the innings wrapped up when Chris Woakes beat an expansive swing by Jade Dernbach.

Middlesex have signed Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, as their second overseas player for this season’s Friends Life t20

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2012Middlesex have signed Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, as their second overseas player for this season’s Friends Life t20. The move, which was first reported by ESPNcricinfo, means one of the world’s premier Twenty20 bowlers will be performing in England’s domestic competition.Malinga, 28, currently has the second-highest wickets tally in the 2012 IPL, with 20 from nine appearances for Mumbai Indians. He is due to join up with Middlesex after playing for Sri Lanka in their one-day international and T20I series against Pakistan in June, meaning he will miss the opening three games of the FLt20.In 106 T20 matches, Malinga has taken 151 wickets at an average of 16.40, with an economy of 6.53 runs per over. He has previously played in England for Kent.Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said: “We are all naturally thrilled about the prospect of a player of Lasith’s talent coming to the club. In T20 cricket every county is looking for a bowler that provides their attack with variety, the ability to bowl during Powerplays and at the death, basically something different from the norm and in Lasith we will have the best in the world.”In 2011 we had a disappointing T20 campaign and we are looking for the players to react positively and improve on last season’s performances this summer. The addition of Lasith can only help us achieve this goal.”Edited by Alan Gardner

Dilawar Mani, the chief executive of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), has completed his three-year tenure and has said he will not pursue a new term in office

Umar Farooq25-Jun-2012Dilawar Mani, the chief executive of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), has completed his three-year tenure and has said he will not pursue a new term in office. Mani, however, will continue in the role until the board of directors finds a successor.”Constitutionally, the term for the CEO is three years and that was up, so I have asked not to be nominated again,” Mani told ESPNcricinfo. “Three years is enough, and there is a need to set a precedent to leave once [you have] served your term and let somebody else work.”The board is well aware about my decision and the ECB chairman [Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan] has respected my decision. I am sure I am leaving the ECB in the best shape and have given the team the best momentum. The process is open to find my successor and once it is done I will move out after handing over the charge.”Mani helped make the UAE an off-shore home venue for Pakistan, who have not hosted international cricket since the attack on the Sri Lankan team in March 2009. The UAE could host the upcoming series between Pakistan and Australia and Mani said his leaving office would not affect the process.”I had a meeting with the PCB official and everything will move on as it is with no impact on the on-going negotiation,” Mani said. “I am happy at what I have done so far, being in the set up for the last six years, [but] now I want to move on.”The ICC approved a six-match Twenty20 series between Pakistan and Australia in UAE, which will be the longest bilateral T20 series, if it goes ahead. “ODI games aren’t feasible in [the] heat [so] it’s good that [the] ICC has approved the request of six T20Is by PCB,” Mani said.

Young cricketers today have the option to become rich, successful cricketers without even aspiring to play Tests, but Rahul Dravid has urged them to “not sell themselves short”

Sidharth Monga04-Jul-2012Young cricketers today have the option to become rich, successful cricketers without even aspiring to play Tests, but Rahul Dravid has urged them to “not sell themselves short” because he feels there is no match for the satisfaction that can be derived from playing Test cricket. He was quick to add that he didn’t want to judge them on or blame them for their choices but that he wanted to challenge them to give Test cricket a fair go.Dravid was speaking at the launch of the book , an anthology of some of the best writings on him, published by ESPNcricinfo and Walt Disney. The book is a collection of 30 pieces, some new and some previously published; the writers include cricketers (Ed Smith, Jason Gillespie, Greg Chappell, Sanjay Manjrekar) and well-known cricket writers (Rohit Brijnath, Gideon Haigh, Rahul Bhattacharya, Suresh Menon).”There are more options now,” Dravid said of the quandary cricket faces. “Very hard for me to be judgemental about kids of today. Unfair. I had gone through a commerce degree in college, and not very successfully. When I grew up, if I wanted to be a successful professional cricketer – and making a living out of the sport became a part of that – the only option for me was to be a successful Test cricketer. There was no other way in which you could make a professional living out of the sport. I would have still played it, but I would have probably looked to do something else professionally if I wasn’t good enough.”Dravid said he could understand the lure of the other options. “People now have the option of not necessarily playing Test cricket but making a living out of the game,” he said. “And, you know, who’s to blame kids for taking that option? Who’s to blame kids for using that opportunity if they feel they are not good enough for Test cricket? If they are not good enough for Test cricket, I am sure they will feel, ‘Look at least I needn’t make a living out of this game. Let me at least play this, which is giving me money.'”I won’t like to judge them on that, but I will like to challenge them. What I’ll like to tell young kids is that the greatest satisfaction you are going to get is by playing Test cricket and playing in some of these great stadiums of the world. That will give you the greatest personal satisfaction, so don’t sell yourself short. Try and achieve. It is possible. It can be done. There might be kids in this era who will take that soft option. Some won’t. We will be able to see in time. Every era there have been people who have fallen by the wayside.”When asked if he saw enough players coming in who were desperate to play Test cricket, Dravid said it was not a concern right now but one that will confront cricket soon enough. “People like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, or whoever the youngsters are, have grown up watching and idolising Test cricket,” he said. “It’s the kids like Samit [Dravid’s son, 7] who will have grown up watching the IPL. That will be the challenge. What will those kids want? I don’t see this as an immediate problem. I see it as a long-term issue.”By long term I mean ten years, when those kind of kids grow up, what will their aspirations be? If one of the young kinds wants to play, will he want to play for a franchise? You have to understand that at the end of the day players are also performers, and they want to perform. When you look at the IPL, it’s a great stage to perform. Played in front of full stadiums, there is a great viewership on television, you are playing with some of the best players in the world, you are playing at some of the greatest stadiums in the country… It’s a great stage to perform. That challenge is going to arise in ten years’ time, and I think we have got to address it right now.”

Hampshire survived a terrific late assault by David Miller, Yorkshire’s South African overseas player, to clinch the Friends Life t20 title by 10 runs

David Hopps in Cardiff25-Aug-2012
Scoreboard and ball-by-ball detailsDavid Miller almost took Yorkshire over the line in a thrilling display of hitting•Getty Images

For the last half-hour of this Friends Life t20 final, Hampshire had only one aim: dismiss David Miller. They never managed it, well not officially anyway, but somehow they survived his cudgelling assault to win the trophy for the second time in three years. Quite how South Africa can overlook a batsman of such ferocious power for World Twenty20 will be hard for anybody who witnessed his assault to understand.Ten years had passed since Yorkshire’s last trophy, a difficult ten years in which the rebuilding of Headingley had left them mired in debt. They are going to the Champions League Twenty20 next month, and their priority remains promotion from Division Two of the Championship, but the one-day trophy will have to wait.Yorkshire, though, found a new hero: a muscular 23-year-old import from Pietermaritzburg. Miller finished as the tournament’s leading six-hitter, another five disappearing into the night sky against Hampshire. But with 14 needed off Chris Wood’s final over, the big hits dried up. He finished on his haunches, 72 not out from 46 balls, the only batsman in the last two matches on a slow, grabby surface whose power hitting was not inhibited.Hampshire were convinced they dismissed him on 7 when he flicked Liam Dawson’s left-arm spin into the leg side and Neil McKenzie plunged forward at short midwicket. The umpire, Rob Bailey, referred it to the third umpire, Nick Cook, who after many TV replays predictably found no conclusive evidence to rule that he was out. Miller looked fortunate; as he began to plop balls into the River Taff, Hampshire looked resentful.McKenzie made no attempt to disguise his feelings. “I definitely did take it,” he said. “I pride myself on being one of the more honest guys around but the umpires decided to take it upstairs.”If Wood’s nerve held, so did Danny Briggs’, a graceful slow left-armer with the wit to adapt to Twenty20, whose confidence that he can acquit himself well for England in World T20 will be boosted by this experience. He also shrewdly calmed Miller with 21 needed off the last two. “He was hitting so well straight and the straight hits are quite short here so I bowled it a bit shorter to make him go square,” he said.Yorkshire’s transformation in the FLt20 this season, overseen by a new Australian coach, Jason Gillespie, had taken them to their first finals day, but a target of 151 was a demanding task on a pitch which suited Hampshire’s blend of spin bowlers and cutters so much that their chairman, Rod Bransgrove, might have transported it up from the south coast. Marcus Trescothick, Somerset’s beaten captain in their semi-final against Hampshire, had identified 140 as around par and he was a good judge.Dimitri Mascarenhas needed a fitness test on a shoulder injury after Hampshire’s semi-final victory against Somerset after another before the final, but his four overs up front still did its customary damage. Andrew Gale unleashed a few square drives before dragging on a leg-side heave and Joe Root’s uncomfortable day ended when the stumps were hit again. Mascarenhas was denied a third wicket of Phil Jaques when Vince failed to hold a running catch from long on.It was Jonny Bairstow and Miller who provided Yorkshire’s surge from 36 for 3 in the semi-final. When Jaques fell to Dawson, another inside edge on a slow surface, they needed to do it again. This time Miller had to do it alone; Briggs found a semblance of turn and Bairstow dabbed a catch to the wicketkeeper.Yorkshire needed 98 from the last 9 overs, at which point Miller launched his assault. Ervine disappeared for three sixes in an over, Briggs and Wood were punished in turn. But Gary Ballance, another Yorkshire hitter found wanting, fell at third man and Tim Bresnan skied the first ball of the last over into the off side. Miller’s one-man show fell short.Hampshire secured a winning score in conventional fashion, Jimmy Adams and James Vince doing the groundwork. They looked underpowered, but Yorkshire were not quite as sharp as in their semi-final defeat of Sussex.Vince required some fortune to survive Azeem Rafiq’s first over, twice failing to make contact with attacking shots and almost offering Bairstow stumping chances. He made 43 from 37 balls, his grandest statement – when he hauled Richard Pyrah over long on off one knee – ending to a checked drive off the next ball.Vince ‘s first boundary did not come until the 15 over, a stylish extra cover drive off Bresnan, and brought up 100 at the same time. Another solid, if unspectacular, innings, 36 from 33, ended when he was bowled by Moin Ashraf, who failed to hit his yorkers quite as unerringly in the semi-final, but who got one through Vince’s defences all the same.Gale entrusted the last over to the blockhole bowling of the tyro, Ashraf, rather than the back-of-a-length know-how of Bresnan, his England bowler, who had conceded only 18 from three overs. It went for 14, not an unmitigated disaster, but it was a decision that was hard to understand.

The BCCI has terminated the troubled Deccan Chargers franchise after an emergency IPL governing council meeting in Chennai on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2012

Other troubled franchises

• Kochi Tuskers Kerala: Terminated in September 2011 after it was unable to furnish a bank guarantee for 2011

• Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab: The BCCI had wanted to expel both franchises from the IPL in 2010, alleging violations of the contract agreement. The franchises denied any wrongdoing, and the matter is stuck in litigation

• Pune Warriors: Pulled out an hour before the 2012 auction. Their owners Sahara, who also sponsor the Indian team, cited problems with the sponsorship dating back to 2001, but the major disagreements were related to the IPL. The BCCI and Sahara patched up two weeks later.

The BCCI has terminated the troubled Deccan Chargers franchise, winners of IPL 2009, after an emergency league governing council meeting in Chennai on Friday. Senior BCCI officials told ESPNcricinfo that the tender for a new franchise would be issued on Saturday.A BCCI statement issued late on Friday night said the board’s action came after what it called a “sudden change of stance by the franchise” regarding its commitments and the board’s belief that any further extension of time to the franchise owners would “seriously prejudice the interests of the players.””This evening, the BCCI received a lawyers’ notice invoking arbitration from the franchise stating that it had not committed any breaches and even if such breaches were committed, the BCCI should not act to terminate the franchise till Yes Bank Ltd furnishes sufficient finance to cure the breaches,” the statement said. “By this, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd has clearly admitted its inability to cure its breaches within the time stipulated in the BCCI notice despite every bit of assistance from the BCCI. Since the month of May, BCCI has received repeated assurances that the overdue player fees would be paid; all of these promises have been unfulfilled.”Considering the stated position of the Deccan franchise to refuse to rectify the various defaults including payments to players, foreign Boards etc, as also the deleterious effect such conduct would have on the reputation of the IPL and the franchise itself, a decision was taken to forthwith terminate the Deccan Chargers franchise.”The BCCI marketing committee is scheduled to meet in Chennai on Saturday morning to discuss and finalise the tender to add a team to the IPL. A board official said there would be a shortlist of cities for the bidders to choose from, with the location of the new franchise to be decided by the highest bid for one of those cities.The fate of the players is not yet clear; they might be retained by the next buyer or be put up for auction for the other IPL teams. Chargers’ squad boasted some of the world’s top current players, including Dale Steyn, Kumar Sangakkara, Cameron White, Ishant Sharma and JP Duminy. The coach is the Australian, Darren Lehmann.Deccan’s IPL history summed up the romance of cricket; bottom of the league in their first season, they came together in 2009 under Adam Gilchrist to win the tournament in South Africa. Their performance in subsequent seasons, however, has been below-par.Friday’s developments bring the curtains down on an issue that has dragged on for three-odd months after the team’s owners, Deccan Chronicles Holdings Limited (DCHL), ran into financial problems. Last month, the banks knocked on the BCCI’s doors to help them out, after which the board had set a deadline of September 15 for Chargers to clear all their dues including player payments and report with a clean slate. However, DCHL said they were unable to sort out the problems and formally placed the team up for sale on September 6.The owners and the BCCI set September 13 as the auction date but received only one bid, for Rs 900 crore ($164 million) from PVP Ventures, a Hyderabad-based urban infrastructure and film production company. DCHL rejected the bid as it considered the price and terms unsuitable but the BCCI may now offer PVP a second chance to buy the team.DCHL had till 5 pm on Saturday to come up with a solution but the termination one day ahead implies they had informed the BCCI about their inability to do so.

All nine players who were nominated in two teams in next month’s Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa have opted to represent their respective IPL teams over their domestic sides

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2012All nine players who were nominated for two teams in next month’s Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa have opted to represent their respective IPL teams over their domestic sides.This includes the Trinidad and Tobago players Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who will now turn out for Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. The other players who have confirmed their participation for their IPL teams include Faf du Plessis, Albie Morkel and Michael Hussey (Super Kings), Mitchell Johnson (Mumbai), Brett Lee (Knight Riders) and Morne Morkel (Delhi Daredevils).According to the tournament rules, the IPL franchises which have acquired the nine players will have to pay US$150,000 as compensation to the ‘home’ teams of the players. The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board may gain financially, but will be considerably weakened by the loss of three key players, all of whom are integral to West Indies’ limited-overs setup.Trinidad is among the six teams that will play a qualifying round, starting October 9. The other teams in the mix are Yorkshire, Uva Next, Auckland, Sialkot Stallions and Hampshire. The top two teams in the qualifying round will join the remaining eight sides for the group stage, starting October 13. The final will be played on October 28, in Johannesburg.Meanwhile Virender Sehwag, who led Daredevils to the top of the table in the league phase of the IPL this year, has stepped down as captain, with Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene taking over. Sehwag has been Daredevils’ regular captain for most seasons, except in 2010 when Gautam Gambhir was put in charge.Auckland Aces: Gareth Hopkins (capt), Andre Adams, Michael Bates, Brad Cachopa, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Anaru Kitchen, Mitchell McClenaghan, Azhar Mahmood, Bruce Martin, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, Lou VincentChennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (capt), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Ravindra Jadeja, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, S Anirudha, M Vijay, V Yo MaheshDelhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Virender Sehwag, Varun Aaron, Ajit Agarkar, Unmukt Chand, Morne Morkel, Pawan Negi, Naman Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Kevin Pietersen, Andre Russell, Venugopal Rao, Ross Taylor, David Warner, Umesh YadavHampshire: James Adams, Shahid Afridi, Kabir Ali, Michael Bates, Daniel Briggs, Michael Carberry, Liam Dawson, Sean Ervine, David Griffiths, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Hamza Riazuddin, Bilal Shafayat, Glenn Maxwell, James Vince, Christopher WoodHighveld Lions: Temba Bavuma, Gulam Bodi, Zander de Bryun, Quinton de Kock, Neil McKenzie, Pumelela Matshikwe, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Ethan O’Reilly, Alviro Petersen. Aaron Phangiso, Dwaine Pretorius, Sohail Tanvir, Jean Symes, Thami TsolekileKolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Iqbal Abdullah, Shakib Al Hasan, L Balaji, Rajat Bhatia, Manvinder Bisla, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Yusuf Pathan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Shami Ahmed, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary

No break for some Australians

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke had stated that the Twenty20 Champions League would be an equal impediment for both his side and South Africa’s ahead of their Test series down under in November. However the announcement of the squads for the club competition has shown that in this case, one side is slightly more equal than the other.
Seven Australian Test players have been chosen for T20 duty in South Africa: Ben Hilfenhaus and Michael Hussey (Chennai Super Kings), David Warner (Delhi Daredevils), and Pat Cummins, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Starc and Shane Watson (Sydney Sixers). The five South African Test players to be involved will be Morne Morkel (DD), Alviro Petersen (Highveld Lions), Jacques Kallis (KKR), AB de Villiers and Jacques Rudolph (Titans).
Two likely Australian Test players, Ed Cowan and James Pattinson, hold T20 contracts but were not chosen for their respective sides. Players participating in the final of the Champions League on October 28 will have little more than three days to change gears before South Africa’s tour match against Australia A at the SCG from November 2. The first Test begins in Brisbane on November 9.

Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Mitchell Johnson, Dinesh Karthik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Richard Levi, Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Thisara Perera, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Dwayne Smith, Suryakumar YadavPerth Scorchers: Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Paul Collinwood, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ryan Duffield, Ben Edmondson, Herschelle Gibbs, Brad Hogg, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Joe Mennie, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Nathan Rimmington, Luke RonchiSialkot Stallions: Shoaib Malik (capt), Qaiser Abbas, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shakeel Ansar, Mohammad Ayub, Umaid Asif, Bilawal Bhatti, Raza Hasan, Ali Khan, Imran Nazir, Faisal Naveed, Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Rehman, Haris Sohail, Shahid YusufSydney Sixers: Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Michael Lumb, Nathan McCullum, Nic Maddinson, Ian Moran, Phil Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic ThornleyTitans: Martin van Jaarsveld (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Marchant de Lange, AB de Villiers, Paul Harris, Heino Kuhn, Eden Links, Ethy Mbhalati, Mangaliso Mosehle, Rowan Richards, Jacques Rudolph, Roelof van der Merwe, Alfonso Thomas, David WieseTrinidad and Tobago: Denesh Ramdin (capt), Samuel Badree, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Rayad Emrit, Shannon Gabriel, Sherwin Ganga, Jason Mohammad, Evin Lewis, Yannick Ottley, William Perkins, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons, Navin StewartUva Next: Thilina Kandamby (capt), Fawad Alam, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dilhara Fernando, Umar Gul, Charith Jayampathi, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Andrew McDonald, Dilshan Munaweera, Jacob Oram, Seekkuge Prasanna, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sameera Zoysa, Sachithra Senanayake, Upul TharangaYorkshire: Joe Root, Moin Ashraf, Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Andrew Gale, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Dan Hodgson, Phil Jaques, Adam Lyth, David Miller, Steve Patterson, Azeem Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Iain Wardlaw

The preview of the CLT20 final between Lions and Sydney Sixers, in Johannesburg

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran27-Oct-2012

Match facts

October 28, 2012
Start time 1730 local (1530 GMT)Sydney Sixers’ attack will be led by Mitchell Starc who has been among the best bowlers of the year in Twenty20s•Associated Press

Big Picture

The Champions League T20 may be the ugly step-sister of the cricketing world, with most fans giving it the cold shoulder, but for many of the players involved the final will be the biggest payday of their lives. With the champions getting a cool $2.5m, the money on offer will bump players, especially those who aren’t part of national teams or aren’t globetrotting T20 specialists, up a tax bracket or two. Adding to the occasion will be the sell-out crowd at one of cricket’s iconic venues, the Wanderers Stadium, which will make it among the biggest audiences some of the domestic players will play in front of.And contesting the final are the two most consistent sides of the tournament. Lions weren’t topping anybody’s list of favourites when the tournament began, but they have exceeded expectations through a combination of teamwork and temperament, keeping their head when things start to get tight. They have plenty going for them. The Wanderers is their home ground, and no one knows the conditions there better than Lions. The diversity in their batting – Twenty20 batting doesn’t get too much more of a contrast than the leg-side biffing of Ghulam Bodi and the surgical precision of Neil McKenzie – has been married to consistency through the tournament. And the bowling has four match-winners: their two imports Dirk Nannes and Sohail Tanvir, their best bowler in the domestic tournament, Chris Morris, and one of the bowlers of the CLT20, Aaron Phangiso.Their one reverse in this tournament came against their opponents in the final, Sydney Sixers. When the Big Bash League was launched a year ago, Sydney Sixers were the butt of jokes for their flamboyantly pink outfits, a colour which they started to refer to as ‘mangenta’. A year on, they have earned the respect of Twenty20 fans after winning the inaugural BBL, and are yet to drop a game in the CLT20.They came into the tournament as one of the leading contenders and have so far lived up to the tag, despite losing the services of Dwayne Bravo and Brett Lee to IPL teams, and that of possibly the most valuable player currently in T20 cricket, Shane Watson, midway through the tournament. They could also be without their captain, Brad Haddin, for the final, as he picked up a thumb injury – though he was fit enough to bat on Friday.

Watch out for…

Steve O’Keefe has opened the innings only three times in T20s: the semi-finals and final of the BBL, and Friday’s CLT20 semi-final against Titans. On all three occasions he has made a significant contribution, including a Man of the Match performance against Titans. In addition, his left-arm spin has been taken for less than a run-a-ball this tournament.Fast bowler Chris Morris was the top wicket-taker in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 competition last season, and he came into the CLT20 on the back of a 12-wicket haul against Dolphins in a first-class game. He started off quietly in this tournament but hit the headlines with his spell against Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals, helping his team defend a sub-par score by taking the key wicket of David Warner and then killing off the game with scalp of Kevin Pietersen.

Weather and conditions

Despite gloomy weather forecasts, the showers thankfully stayed away during both semi-finals. The organisers will hope that trend continues for the final as well, when light rain is predicted.

Stats and trivia

• Mitchell Starc is the leading wicket-taker not just in the tournament but in all Twenty20s this year, with an astonishing 56 wickets in 26 matches
• Six of the Lions players who were part of the semi-final have a batting average over 26 in T20s, while the highest among Sydney’s players in the semi-final was Nic Maddinson’s 25.76

Quotes

“I think the middle overs will be important. We’ve dominated that period in almost all our games and I think that will play a massive role once again.”

“Lions are very desperate to win. This is a chance for the domestic teams to showcase their skills at the international stage.”

Shane Watson’s return to the Australian Test squad for Adelaide has ramped up pressure on David Warner to hold his spot at the top of the order

Daniel Brettig16-Nov-2012Shane Watson’s return to the Australian Test squad for Adelaide has ramped up pressure on David Warner to hold his spot at the top of the order, as the national selectors consider the possibility of pairing Rob Quiney with Ed Cowan.While Watson is still considered unlikely to return in time for the second Test against South Africa, it is far from certain that Quiney will be the man to drop out of the hosts’ XI to make room for the vice-captain and No. 3 batsman. Warner’s place in the team may hinge in his display in Adelaide, and another brief stay with the bat would be likely to have Quiney walking out to bat with Cowan in Perth.The national selector John Inverarity was unable to guarantee Warner’s place ahead of the Adelaide Test, in marked contrast to his supportive words for Cowan before the Brisbane Test squad was even announced. “We’ll make the decision closer to the time,” Inverarity said. “I mean we’re here at the WACA. Less than 12 months ago David played a wonderful innings here. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Australia Test squad

Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Ed Cowan, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Quiney made only nine in his one innings in Brisbane, but impressed the selectors with his gully fielding, part-time medium pace and an unruffled, mature demeanour that fitted neatly into the Australian dressing room. His upright, powerful batting would make a neat balance with the more obdurate Cowan, while offering a little more restraint than Warner.Watson’s preferred place in the team remains as an allrounder. Inverarity explained that if Watson was not fit to bowl, he would more than likely also not be fit to run swiftly between the wickets or show the required level of agility in the field. This, as much as the team’s desire to have him bowling, will influence the selectors in their deliberations, which will likely reach a decision by Wednesday.”Yes he could [play as a batsman],” Inverarity said. “He’ll have to be fit to perform regarding running between the wickets, chasing in the field, diving. It’s unlikely – I’m not saying it’s not possible – but it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to build his workloads so that he’ll be able to bowl in the Test.”If you’ve got the continuum there, there’s only a small margin in which he’s fit to perform as a batsman but not able to bowl. We’re hoping he’ll be beyond that, he’ll be able to bowl. But he may not be able to. And if he’s not able to, there’s a fair chance he won’t be able to be fit to perform in terms of running between the wickets, chasing in the field, diving in the field. We’ll just wait and see.”Mitchell Starc’s chances of earning a place in the team for Adelaide have been enhanced by a four-wicket haul for New South Wales against Victoria at the SCG. Ben Hilfenhaus, the man considered most likely to make way for Starc, is working closely with the bowling coach Ali de Winter to try to eradicate the flaws picked up in his bowling action during the Gaba Test.”I thought the bowlers bowled much better the second day they bowled, and then on the final day I thought they all improved again,” Inverarity said. “So they’re running into some form and you need to get some bowling under your belt and I thought in particular Ben Hilfenhaus got better as the game went on, so we’ll just have to assess how they go and what sort of shape they’re in and make a decision a couple of days before the Test.”Inverarity indicated that whichever bowler was 12th man in Adelaide would then be a probable inclusion for the third Test in Perth, given that only three days separate the end of the second match with the start of the final one. Australia played four quicks and omitted the spinner Nathan Lyon for the Perth match against India last summer, and that possibility will depend on the preparation of the surface.”I think it’s very difficult to go Brisbane, Adelaide and then a break of just a couple of days and then to Perth for the same bowlers to do all of that,” Inverarity said. “It’s not unlikely that a different bowler will come in for that Test and you would recall that last time in Perth we played four fast bowlers and we’ll just have to wait and see what the wicket is like. The decision last year I think was the right decision and we’ll have to wait and see what happens this year.”

Australia’s batting coach Stuart Law spoke of his desire to return to the nation’s batsmen the sort of collective “ruthless streak” that limited him to one Test in a career that ultimately reaped more than 27,000 first-class runs

Daniel Brettig20-Dec-2012As he set about the task of throttling back Usman Khawaja from Twenty20 to Test matches, Australia’s batting coach Stuart Law spoke of his desire to return to the nation’s batsmen the sort of collective “ruthless streak” that limited him to one Test in a career that ultimately reaped more than 27,000 first-class runs.Law had the help of Ryan Harris, recuperating from shoulder surgery, plus Ben Cutting and Nathan Hauritz to bowl to Khawaja at Allan Border Field, while time was also reserved for the Pro-Batter technology that allowed the left-hander to face up to a bowling machine synchronised with video footage of Sri Lanka’s pacemen and spinners.He defended Cricket Australia’s decision to pull Khawaja and the rest of the Test squad out of the BBL, and spoke with the passion of an unfulfilled international batting talent of the opportunities afforded to batsmen by the retirement of Ricky Ponting, who he debuted with in Perth in 1995.”We’re trying to get a ruthless streak back into our batters that we had going through domestic cricket 20-25 years ago,” Law said. “If we can get that back where players aren’t just scoring 60s and expecting the next step to happen, but they’re scoring 100s, 150s and doing it consistently, not just once or twice but three, four times, that will put their names up in lights.”What an opportunity now? Ricky Ponting, one of Australia’s greatest has retired, you’ve got an opportunity to take over his position – you’d cut your own leg off to have that opportunity, and you want to be doing everything you possibly can to get it. I know Big Bash is a big part of the Australian cricket calendar now, but we’re in the middle of a Test series.”We just got beaten by South Africa, we’ve gone 1-0 up, we want to put everything into winning this next Test match so we can take a series. That’s our whole objective. If that means sacrificing a few players who don’t play in the Big Bash, there’s more games after this Test series to be involved in and surely we’re all for the greater good of Australian cricket – the Test team is the No. 1 team to play for.”Khawaja’s time in Brisbane is geared more towards getting his batting rhythms and routines more right for Tests, after last summer’s disastrous India series for Shaun Marsh, who came back into the national team via the BBL. Marsh made an audacious 99 for the Perth Scorchers in Melbourne, then cobbled a measly 17 runs in six innings against MS Dhoni’s team, a contribution so meagre that it has probably ended his Test career. Law noted that if anything Khawaja’s international shortcomings so far have been more as a fielder, runner and athlete than as a batsman, but that he would benefit from deliberate time to adjust.”He’s one of the better batsmen technically going around, he’s very sound, [but] there’s other things these days to playing cricket,” Law said. “You’ve got to be able to do more than one skill. If you’re not bowling you’ve got to be able to field, and that was pointed out to Usman a while ago that he has to improve in certain areas, as well as going back and scoring runs.”He didn’t really have a problem with his batting, he didn’t get the big scores that would have kept him in the side. Usman’s joined the Australian team for the Boxing Day Test, so we’ve got to get him prepared as best as possible for that to take place. To get him out of Twenty20 mode and back into Test mode is pretty important.”Australia’s team performance manger Pat Howard, meanwhile, has spoken of how fervently CA are seeking ways of reducing the chances of the national team going a man down in mid-Test match. The loss of James Pattinson in Adelaide arguably cost Michael Clarke’s team the chance to defeat South Africa, while injuries to Ben Hilfenhaus and Clarke very nearly did the same against Sri Lanka in Hobart.”Absolutely the reality is the current situation’s not good enough,” Howard said of the injury toll. “We want to be better than that, and I’m really disappointed with where we’re at the moment. I’m not shying away from that, and we’re making sure that any issues we’ve seen come up have been raised. We need to be better.”