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Shaun Marsh has been “tentative” in his first two Test appearances at home and needs to rediscover the decisive footwork and wise judgement of which balls to leave, Australia’s head coach Mickey Arthur has said

Daniel Brettig07-Jan-2012Shaun Marsh has been “tentative” in his first two Test appearances at home and needs to rediscover the decisive footwork and wise judgement of which balls to leave that made him look so accomplished overseas, Australia’s head coach Mickey Arthur has said.During his first three Tests in Sri Lanka and South Africa, Marsh appeared the most organised of Australia’s batsmen, but convalescence due to a back problem and lack of first-class match preparation on recovery left him hesitant during three brief innings so far against India.Each time Marsh’s feet have not quite reached the place they needed to be to cover the line, length and movement of the bowling, and Arthur said that he and the batting coach Justin Langer would be putting “plenty of work” into Marsh ahead of the Perth match.”The thing with Shaun is, when he’s playing well, he leaves very well,” Arthur said. “And I’m not talking behind his back because these are conversations we’ve had with him. He’s probably been a little tentative, and that’s natural when you come back into international cricket [after injury].”It only takes one shot, one innings, batting for 25 minutes, getting through those first 20 balls that we are so pedantic about in our dressing-room for him to rediscover that touch and form, and get that confidence back. I’m not worried. Shaun is a fantastic player who is going to score a lot of runs for Australia.”In contrast to the cachet Michael Clarke has won as captain and batsman with his 329 not out in Sydney, Marsh’s innings of 0, 3 and 0 in front of his home audience has caused many to doubt his capability in the No. 3 spot. His innings in Sri Lanka were not seen by nearly as many observers, and do not carry quite the same weight with the public or even the current selection panel who, aside from Clarke, were not in place at that time.However Arthur said Marsh was a man who had been earmarked for a lengthy spell in the Australian top order, and would be persevered with.Arthur’s eye view of Clarke

As South Africa’s coach, Mickey Arthur searched for weaknesses in Michael Clarke. Having watched Clarke enrapture the SCG with his 329 not out, Arthur said the best indicator of whether or not Australia’s captain is at his best can be seen in how late he plays the ball.
“He worked extremely hard, especially in the lead-up to the Melbourne Test match, to technically get everything working again,” Arthur said. “I think we saw the signs of all the work he put in escalated in this [SCG] Test. When Michael Clarke’s hitting the ball late and hitting the ball under his eyes, he’s playing exceptionally well.
“I think there were so many graphics of him during this innings [that show he] hits the ball under his eyes and hits the ball late, which was fantastic. The minute he pokes out in front of his front pad, that’s when he gets himself into a little bit of trouble. He’s not doing that now, he looks the complete package, and he’s also the complete captaincy package as well. Truly, he’s inspirational within the dressing-room.”

“We’ve got to back that we’ve put our faith in, the right personnel,” Arthur said. “Shaun’s certainly a guy that we have got a lot of faith in. He’s shown when he’s played that he can do exceptionally well. He has been a little out of touch but form’s temporary, class is permanent and Shaun certainly has a lot of class and is one that is definitely worth persevering with.”We’re comfortable that we’ve got the best top six available to us right at the minute. We’ll get a lot more work into that top six before Perth.”Less certain of his place is Shane Watson, who was not considered for Perth due to his continuing leg muscle problems, and may yet miss the Adelaide Test also. Arthur said Watson needed more time to get his body right, and to have confidence in its ability to do the job.”He’s not yet fit … we feel we’ve got to get a little bit more time into Shane. Hopefully it’s Adelaide, maybe it’s the one-day series. We’ll just have to see how he progresses,” Arthur said. “We like to think we’ve got eight real quality batters at the moment. Eight doesn’t go into six, so we’re always going to have two missing out. We feel we’re developing a core, we’re developing depth in each department, which is really exciting.”That depth extends to Australia’s bowling options, which has allowed Ryan Harris to prepare carefully for a recall in Perth. Arthur said the extra week of training during the Sydney Test had been valuable for Harris, and gave the selectors extra assurance about choosing him.”The value [of Harris’ extended preparation] is we’ve got a proven Test quick bowler waiting in the wings, ready to go,” Arthur said. “We’ve put a lot of work into Ryan over the last two weeks. He was close to getting a game here [in Sydney]. We felt he hadn’t had enough work. We’ve put that work into him and we’re satisfied that, if selected, he’s ready to go in Perth.”

Given the way England have dominated this series it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that the only thing that will stop them completing a whitewash is the weather

The Report by Andrew McGlashan18-Aug-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndrew Strauss and Alastair Cook batted throughout the morning session before rain arrived•Getty ImagesGiven the way England have dominated this series it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that the only thing that will stop them completing a whitewash is the weather. Rain wiped out play after lunch on the opening day at The Oval, but during the two hours possible Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook formed a solid platform against a very disappointing India attack as England reached 75 without loss.This was as poorly as India had bowled all series as they wasted whatever help was on offer under overcast skies. There was barely a chance created during the session and the whole attitude portrayed by the visitors was of a team low on confidence and waiting for the series to finish. Defeat here will leave them third in the world rankings but it’s difficult to see them limiting England’s in-form batting line-up with a better forecast for Friday.RP Singh, on his return to the Test team after a three-year absence for the injured Praveen Kumar, didn’t set a good tone with his opening over. The first ball was sprayed down the leg side and the batsmen were offered some gentle leg-stump deliveries to open their accounts. He was also about the same pace as Praveen, but with less swing, which wasn’t entirely surprising considering he hadn’t played first-class cricket since January.Although a couple of early boundaries came to third man they were played with soft hands by Strauss and Cook. There was an alarming lack of intensity from India, both with the ball and in the field, as they failed to make any use of the overcast conditions. Sreesanth’s first spell was poor with too many deliveries on leg stump which ensured the scoreboard kept ticking over with Cook, for the time being at least, taking his average over 50.India showed slightly more energy during the second hour – although everything is relative – and Strauss had his most uncomfortable moment when he was struck on the helmet by an Ishant Sharma bouncer that took a chunk out of the lid. From that moment Strauss was more reluctant to get forward, but was still able to play a beautiful off drive against Sreesanth.Ishant remained the pick of the three quicks, probing away outside off and finding a touch of troubling bounce, but there were few alarms for the openers. Even with two left-handers at the crease it was a surprise when Suresh Raina’s part-time offspin was used ahead of Amit Mishra who removed Strauss at Edgbaston.Earlier, James Anderson had been passed fit to take his place in the England side as they remained unchanged. A thigh niggle had created doubts about his fitness, but he came through a net on Wednesday so Graham Onions or Steven Finn, who left to play for Middlesex against Kent, were not required. On the evidence of the first session, and with the impact of the weather, Anderson might not be needed until well into the weekend.

The cash-strapped Sri Lanka Cricket has handed over three international stadiums to the military

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2011Three of Sri Lanka’s international venues, including the newly built stadiums in Pallekele and Hambantota, have been handed over to the military indefinitely. The move comes as Sri Lanka Cricket is battling costs on several fronts.The R Premadasa stadium in Colombo – redeveloped for the World Cup earlier this year – is being taken by the air force. The navy has taken over the Pallekele Stadium, near Kandy, while the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota has gone to the army.The grounds in Hambantota and Pallekele, built at a combined cost of nearly US$ 11.79m, were finished just before the World Cup, which Sri Lanka co-hosted with India and Bangladesh. The R Premadasa Stadium was renovated at a cost of nearly US$8m. The country hosted 12 matches in the tournament.The World Cup had left Sri Lanka Cricket in debt to the tune of $23 million thanks to cost overruns and heavy expenses incurred in building the stadiums, and the board had to ask for a grant from the Sri Lanka government. The board has not paid some of its players since the tournament.

Shelley Wickramasinghe, who was known as the Grand Old Man of Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, died at his home in Colombo on Wednesday at the age of 85

Sa'adi Thawfeeq12-Aug-2011Shelley Wickramasinghe, who was known as the Grand Old Man (GOM) of Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, died at his home in Colombo on Wednesday at the age of 85.The 119-year old Bloomfield club is one of Sri Lanka’s oldest cricket clubs and Wickramasinghe had three stints as its club president – from 1972-73, then 1976-77 and the third a 21-year span from 1979 to 2000.Wickramasinghe also served as president of the Mercantile Cricket Association and chairman of the National Sports Council. He was also vice-president of Sri Lanka Cricket in the mid-eighties.Wickramasinghe was closely associated with former India and Bombay captain Ajit Wadekar, and several Bombay cricketers, including Vasu Paranjpe, played for his club in the local domestic tournament.Paranjpe, who was coach of Bombay and also at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, coached Bloomfield for three seasons during which they won the Division I club title three times.

Tasmania’s squad has had a significant overhaul ahead of next season as they aim to defend the Sheffield Shield title with a new-look group

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2011Tasmania’s squad has had a significant overhaul ahead of next season as they aim to defend the Sheffield Shield title with a new-look group. Nine players are gone from last year’s contract list, including the fast bowlers Brett Geeves, Adam Griffith and Gerard Denton, who have all retired, and Tim Macdonald, who has been delisted.Also cut from the squad were the opening batsmen Jon Wells and Rhett Lockyear, the wicketkeeper Brady Jones and the rookie bowler Hamish Kingston, while the batsman Travis Birt has headed to Western Australia. The Victorian allrounder Evan Gulbis has joined the Tigers, along with Matt Johnston from Western Australia and Jackson Bird from New South Wales.The gloveman Tom Triffitt has been upgraded from a rookie deal to a full contract, effectively making him the backup to Tim Paine, while Nick Kruger and Matthew Day have also been named in the squad. Sandy Rogers, from New South Wales, has been given a rookie deal, as have the Tasmanian duo of Sam Rainbird and Marc Simonds.”I am really comfortable with our new signings and the list that we have put together for 2011-12,” the coach Tim Coyle said. “We have obviously cut some players from the squad, lost some to retirement at the end of 2010-11 and have also recruited from interstate, but we are also backing our outstanding local talent to keep the Tasmanian Tigers at the top of Australian domestic cricket.”We have some experienced players on the list who will play big roles for us, but we must not forget that we have an exciting bunch of young cricketers as well, and we are committed to seeing these young players get opportunities to play at the highest level throughout the upcoming season. I feel that we have got our list right with a mix that will set us up for years to come, and with five Tasmanians with Cricket Australia contracts I think the current strength of Tasmanian cricket is evident.”Tasmania squad George Bailey, Jackson Bird, Luke Butterworth, Steven Cazzulino, Mark Cosgrove, Ed Cowan, Matthew Day, Xavier Doherty (Cricket Australia contract), Alex Doolan, Brendan Drew, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus (CA), Matt Johnston, Jason Krejza (CA), Nick Kruger, Adam Maher, Tim Paine (CA), Ricky Ponting (CA), Tom Triffitt.Rookies Ashton May, Sam Rainbird, Sandy Rogers, Jeremy Smith, Marc Simonds.

A round-up of the seventh round of matches from the 2010-11 Plunket Shield

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2011Canterbury moved up to third place in the Plunket Shield table, beating Wellington by 76 runs in a closely-fought game at the Manipower Oval in Rangiora. A five-wicket haul from left-arm seamer Andy McKay helped bowl out Canterbury for 162 on the first day. Half-centuries from Wellington captain Grant Elliott and then Jeetan Patel lower down the order gave Wellington a handy 85-run lead though Canterbury did well to fight back with legspinner Todd Astle taking five wickets.Canterbury batted more spiritedly in their second innings, overcoming a poor start by way of a 167-run fifth-wicket stand between Shanan Stewart and Reece Young. Stewart made 99 while McKay backed up his first-innings performance with a four-for. Canterbury managed 339, a lead of 254, and Wellington faced a challenging chase. The way the openers Stephen Murdoch and Cameron Merchant were going, adding 105, it seemed Wellington would ease to victory. But Matthew Henry starred on debut, triggering a collapse and grabbing a five-for. Nine wickets fell for 73 and Wellington, who are now second from bottom, fell 76 short.Auckland and Northern Districts served up a thriller at Seddon Park in Hamilton, one in which Auckland held their nerve to seal their first win of the tournament. Auckland batted first and, thanks to a lower-order revival, led by Michael Bates and Bruce Martin, reached 228. Bates, in a fine all-round performance, combined with Chris Martin to limit the lead to 63. He picked up five wickets, Chris Martin took four, but fifties from Brad Wilson and Peter McGlashan ensured the advantage remained with ND.A collective bowling display led by seamer Trent Boult who took four wickets pegged back Auckland further. Gareth Hopkins resisted with 85, and was supported by useful contributions from Anaru Kitchen, Bradley Cachopa and Daryl Tuffey. But a target of 197 didn’t seem sufficient. No one told the Auckland bowlers that, as Chris Martin again stepped up, taking a five-for to finish with nine in the match. The ND batsmen would regret not capitalising on starts. The last three wickets fell for just two runs and ND capitulated to 178, losing by 18 runs.Rain ruined what was shaping up to be an exciting game at the University Oval in Dunedin, between Otago and Central Districts. Kieran Noema-Barnett grabbed four wickets to bowl out Otago for 147 and a lower-order led effort steered CD to a 75-run lead. Kruger van Wyk and Tarun Nethula struck half-centuries to give CD the edge. However, Otago replied strongly in the second innings, and were at 113 for 2 at the end of the third day. Rain, which had washed out the second day, returned to haunt the fourth as well.

Afghanistan will play three 50-over matches against Pakistan A this summer, and have invited Pakistan A to come to Afghanistan and play the inaugural match at the international stadium in Nangarhar

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2011Afghanistan will play three 50-over matches against Pakistan A this summer, and have invited Pakistan A to come to Afghanistan and play the inaugural match at the international stadium in Nangarhar. Afghanistan’s players will also be taking part in a domestic competition in Peshawar. The 50-over games against Pakistan A will be played in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.”Afghanistan will send its national team to Pakistan in July and play the Pakistan A team, and hopefully this will benefit our team,” Naseem Ullah Danish, chief executive of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, told . “We have also invited the Pakistan A team to Afghanistan for the inaugural match in Nangarhar where we have almost completed an international stadium.”There has not been any international cricket played in Pakistan since the Lahore attacks on Sri Lanka’s cricketers and support staff. Danish, however, said Afghanistan had no concerns about security. “Security is not an issue and by playing in Pakistan we want to send out a positive message to the world and hope that teams come to Pakistan and play here.”Afghanistan played Pakistan in the Asian Games in China in November last year, and pulled off an upset, albeit against a second-string Pakistan side.Cricket relations between the two countries are strengthening after a six-member delegation from the Afghanistan Cricket Board, including Danish, met PCB chairman Ijaz Butt on Friday. Butt pledged that Pakistan would provide any support needed to develop Afghanistan cricket and appointed Amir Nawab as a coordinator for Afghanistan.

Sunderland reportedly now risk losing Ross Stewart in the summer, as per journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Play-off hero

Stewart bagged the only goal of the game as Alex Neil’s team won 1-0 in the first leg of their play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday at the Stadium of Light on Friday night.

The striker put in a very impressive performance, winning a joint player-high 13 of his duels and making three key passes, while he also recorded one successful dribble, clearance, interception and tackle (SofaScore).

The Latest: Rangers interest

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, O’Rourke has shared that Glasgow Rangers are now ‘keeping tabs’ on Stewart ahead of a potential love this summer, and it would be ‘hard’ for him to reject their advances:

“It looks like he’s obviously on their wanted list, Ross Stewart. It’s been talked about now for quite a few weeks that Rangers are keeping tabs on him.

“If Rangers do come calling, it’s going to be hard for somebody like Ross Stewart – a Scottish player – to turn down their advances.”

The Verdict: Worrying

It is certainly worrying for the Wearside club and its supporters that the Gers could come calling for Stewart.

He has been nothing short of ‘incredible‘ this season, as Black Cats legend Kevin Phillips points out, and so would be very difficult to replace.

Given the size of Rangers, and the fact that they have reached the UEFA Europa League final, with a spot in the Champions League up for grabs for the winner, it is hard to see Stewart turning them down if an offer came in, and so the board must do everything in their power to try and keep him.

In other news, find out what big dilemma SAFC now face here!

Adrian Barath scored his maiden ODI century and his partnership with Ramnaresh Sarwan drove West Indies to a competitive total in the first of three ODIs at the SSC

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2011Match abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKumar Sangakkara congratulates Adrian Barath on his first one-day hundred•AFPThe rescheduled one-day leg of West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka got off to a futile start as heavy rain in Colombo forced the abandonment of the first ODI at the SSC. The series had been postponed from December because bad weather had ruined the Test series but the move has had little effect.Before it began to rain during the lunch break, Adrian Barath scored his maiden ODI century and his partnership with Ramnaresh Sarwan drove West Indies to a competitive total. Their efforts at posting a strong score, however, were undone by lack of contributions from their team-mates and Lasith Malinga’s death-over burst, which weakened the platform that had been laid for the acceleration.The overcast day in Colombo began badly for West Indies when Chris Gayle nicked Nuwan Kulasekara’s outswinger in the fourth over, depriving the innings of a potentially rapid start on a placid pitch. Barath and Darren Bravo consolidated and saw off the new ball without further damage. Their partnership was promising when a mix-up ended with Bravo being run out for 8, leaving West Indies 42 for 2. Bravo had backed up too far at the non-striker’s end and failed to beat Kapugedera’s return from midwicket at the bowler’s end.Sarwan, who was making a comeback to the team after being omitted from the original tour party to Sri Lanka last year, had a point to prove and he did it in some style. Barath and Sarwan steadied the innings, scoring at a healthy pace and rendering Muttiah Muralitharan wicketless during his ten-over spell. Barath was lucky to be let off on 54, when he played uppishly to an Ajantha Mendis delivery and Mahela Jayawardene managed to get his hand to the ball but could not catch it. Otherwise his innings was without blemish. He struck two sixes and eight fours during his 113 off 129 balls, while Sarwan took 100 deliveries to score 75.West Indies took the batting Powerplay in the 44th over and the recent international trend of wickets falling during the fielding restrictions continued. Both Barath and Sarwan fell to Malinga in the first over of the Powerplay and Kieron Pollard followed soon. Malinga had both well-set batsmen caught at wide long-on by Chamara Kapugedera as they tried to take him on, and bowled Kieron Pollard with a well-disguised, slow inswinger. He had ripped out three wickets for three runs off eight balls and West Indies managed only 27 off the Powerplay.It was left to Darren Sammy to strike a couple of boundaries and provide the late momentum. The weather, however, wiped out any possibility of play after lunch, frustrating both teams.

Graeme Smith paid tribute to his team for a “dominant performance” after their innings-and-25-run win over India in the first Test in Centurion

Firdose Moonda at SuperSport Park20-Dec-2010Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, paid tribute to his team for a “dominant performance” after their innings-and-25-run win over India in the first Test in Centurion. “We controlled the game throughout the five days,” he said. “We were ahead of the game the whole time.”South Africa put in a superior performance and there was only one passage of play in the Test where they felt under threat – during Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni’s 172-run seventh-wicket stand on day four. “That was the one time that we really put in the yards. The wicket flattened out a lot, it was hot and windy and the guys showed a lot of character in that situation, especially Dale’s spell at the end,” Smith said. Steyn clocked close to 145kph to remove Dhoni late in the afternoon and swing the advantage firmly in South Africa’s direction, a position they held from the first session of the first day.MS Dhoni, India’s captain, placed a lot of importance on the toss and the way the pitch played during the first two sessions on day one but Smith thought it was a case of too much hype. “I don’t think the wicket actually did that much. For a wicket that was under covers for four days, I thought it would do a bit more.” He added that the expectation of a bouncy wicket, and not the wicket itself, may have been what undid India. “In my mind, I think India expected more from the wicket than what actually happened. They were tentative and were on the back foot a lot of the time.”Although the pitch was thought to have played a big role on first day, with India losing nine wickets in 38 overs, Smith said most of the credit belonged to his bowlers. “Our bowlers bowled well. When you bowl on a wicket that you think is going to do a bit, you’ve got to get the ball in the right place. We were very controlled.” Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the only bowler that India could pick on but Smith did not label the left-armer the weak link. “He’s inexperienced, he has to grow as a cricketer and we have to give him the tools to do that.”The main battle of this No. 1 versus No.2 ranked Test teams has centred on South Africa’s bowling against India’s batting and after the first match, it’s clear that South Africa won the tussle by some stretch. South Africa have not forgotten about the lesser clash, between their batsmen and India’s bowlers and Smith said it’s important that the line-up doesn’t take for granted that India did not manage to bowl them out once.”Who knows how the wicket will play in Durban? There’s been a lot of rain there around this period also. We’ve got to be realistic,” Smith said. Kallis talked up the Kingsmead pitch as the one that offers “the most bounce in South Africa” and it’s also become known for its swing. With Zaheer Khan likely to spearhead the line-up, South Africa will face a different threat to the one they had in this match. Smith thinks they have done a good job at adapting to bowlers on various pitches over the years. “We’d like to think we are a strong, powerful batting unit and we can cope with conditions wherever we go.”India will look to prove they too have a similar batting unit after a match in which everyone except Tendulkar and Dhoni underperformed. Dhoni said the focus will be on levelling the series in Durban, before entertaining any thoughts of how they are going to win it from this position. Smith had said India were under pressure from before the first Test, now he thinks they face even more strain. “When you go 1-0 down in a three match series, there’s always extra pressure. The build-up to the next Test becomes crucial – the decisions you make, how you train, the selection, how the squad moves to the next Test. I know the Indian team always plays under pressure, and there are high expectations on them.”