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Australia captain Michael Clarke’s signing of a contract with the Sydney Thunder for next summer’s BBL may be the solution to an impasse that had left David Warner curiously unsigned

Daniel Brettig01-Aug-2012Australia captain Michael Clarke’s signing of a contract with the Sydney Thunder for next summer’s BBL may be the solution to an impasse that had left David Warner curiously unsigned at the end of the competition’s primary recruitment window.Clarke officially confirmed his move to the Thunder on Wednesday, and his signature grants the team the big Australian name they crave to sell their team to the public in the lead-up to season two. It was a role that had been taken up by Warner last summer when he captained the Thunder.”Playing for Sydney Thunder is a great opportunity for me to play for a team rooted in Sydney’s western suburbs as well as to support Cricket Australia in building on last year’s Big Bash success,” Clarke said. “I am really excited about playing a part in the Big Bash, particularly as it will be against the other Sydney team.”Not only do I get to play alongside superstar T20 internationals like Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi but also with a bunch of great young guys just starting to make their mark, many of whom grew up in the west.”However Warner is understood to be keen to move across town to the Sydney Sixers for 2012-13, and had begun discussing terms with the team that lifted the inaugural BBL trophy.This is believed to have led to an untidy round of discussions between Warner, the Sixers, the Thunder and Cricket Australia, as the opening batsman’s personal preference was weighed up against his value as the face of the Thunder and its desired market in Sydney’s west.Apart from winning the BBL last summer, the Sixers cultivated a happy team environment around the SCG under the coaching of Trevor Bayliss and the wider management of Stuart Clark.By contrast, the Thunder battled for strong results and faced difficulties surrounding their home base at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, with transport believed to be one of several issues for players.Warner, meanwhile, had also changed management since the summer, moving across from Peter Lovitt’s Driver Avenue Group to Tony Conolly’s Entourage Management, which handles the business of the Test vice-captain Shane Watson.As current members of Australia Test team, Warner and Clarke are unlikely to play more than one BBL game, the season-opening ‘derby’ between the Sixers and the Thunder at the SCG, but their presence in competition marketing and advertising is considered critical to drawing crowds to the games.Clarke’s presence at the Thunder allows the team a major Australian name on which to hang its colours, alongside the high-profile overseas imports, Gayle and Afridi. It also allows Clarke to be more firmly engaged with the western suburbs in which he grew up.Last summer Clarke chose not to take part in the BBL and concentrated his energies on making a strong start to his Test captaincy of Australia, leading the team to a 4-0 hiding of India in the series played opposite the Twenty20 competition. However he warmed to T20 later in the year, accepting Sourav Ganguly’s lucrative offer to play for Pune in the IPL.This short stint signalled Clarke’s interest in making a T20 nest for himself that may extend beyond the end of his international playing career, as it has done for the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Matthew Hayden.

12-Aug-2012
ScorecardAbdur Rehman marked his Clydesdale Bank 40 debut with 6 for 16 – a Somerset record in 40-over cricket – to help them to a five-wicket win over Nottinghamshire at Taunton.The Pakistan left-arm spinner extracted turn and bounce from the pitch as Nottinghamshire struggled to 206 for 9, having been 96 for 1 in the 14th over. Riki Wessels hit 53, Michael Lumb 41 and Graeme White 39 not out.Somerset needed only 29.2 overs to reach their target, Craig Kieswetter leading the way with a rapid 44 and skipper Marcus Trescothick seeing his side home with a responsible 87 not out off 69 balls with 10 fours and a six.Rehman, who was given the new ball, switched ends twice during three spells and made the ball turn with increasing venom. His first victim was Alex Hales, lbw reverse sweeping for 7 with the total on 19.There was no sign of the carnage ahead as Wessels and Lumb put on 77 for the second wicket in good time before Lumb carelessly pulled a to midwicket off Gemaal Hussain. Having switched to the River End, Rehman bowled Wessels middle stump with a ripper that pitched on leg and then had Adam Voges caught at slip by Trescothick for 1.Hussain produced a beauty to clean bowl Chris Read for 10 and it was 133 for 5 in the 25th over. Samit Patel was then caught behind for 22 advancing to drive the left-arm spin of Arul Suppiah.Rehman reverted to the Old Pavilion End to take three more wickets. Steve Mullaney was caught behind and Jake Ball taken at slip by Trescothick, both victims of turn, before Luke Fletcher drove to Steve Kirby at mid-off.That meant the new overseas signing had bettered the previous best 40-over bowling spell by a Somerset player, set by Sir Viv Richards when he took 6 for 24 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1983.The home side’s reply was given a whirlwind start by Kieswetter, who smashed four fours and a six off the first five balls of the third over, sent down by Patel.When England’s one-day wicketkeeper departed for 44, Peter Trego smacked 26 off 20 balls to keep the momentum going and all the while Trescothick was building towards his first meaningful score since returning after ankle surgery.He reached his half-century off 30 balls, with seven fours and a six. James Hildreth failed, offering a catch to slip to give White a second wicket on what was proving a good day to bowl left-arm spin, but Jos Buttler contributed 26 to put Somerset on the verge of victory.

Brad Haddin speaks with the assured air of a man who knows he has done all he can to regain his Test place for Australia when the team is named for the first Test against South Africa

Daniel Brettig03-Oct-2012Brad Haddin speaks with the assured air of a man who knows he has done all he can to regain his Test place for Australia when the team is named for the first Test against South Africa in Brisbane next month.Following a winter of personal trauma, in which his daughter Mia was diagnosed with cancer, Haddin has benefited from a strong pre-season with New South Wales, and showed he was in good fettle with bat and gloves during two Sheffield Shield matches in September.Pleased with how he kept wicket against Western Australia in Perth, Haddin followed up with a first innings century against Tasmania at Bankstown Oval, and effected a snappy legside stumping off the bowling of Trent Copeland in the second innings to underline his sharpness.Now helming the Sydney Sixers’ preparations for a tilt at the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa, Haddin said selection for the Brisbane Test – ahead of Matthew Wade who deputised ably for Haddin in the Caribbean earlier this year – would follow naturally provided he kept himself in decent touch with the gloves and the bat.”Selection is the easy part, if you’re performing well there’s no topic of conversation about it, and if you’re not performing the way you should then it’s open for debate,” Haddin said.”From that point of view my mindset is the same as when I started playing, I’ve just got to make sure I’m in the best possible space I can be as a cricketer, and everything else takes care of itself.”There’s enough to worry about as a team without worrying about selection. If you’re playing well as a team and winning games, more guys get pushed on to higher honours. I’m happy with where my game’s at batting, keeping and just enjoying being back playing cricket.”Haddin’s desire to be with his family at a time of adversity meant he departed suddenly from the West Indies tour in March, and since then the matter of his international availability has been an open question. He remained in touch with Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur, captain Michael Clarke and the national selector John Inverarity, and took his place as a contracted player when the slimmed-down list was announced in June.While Wade retained the limited overs gloves he had taken from Haddin on merit last summer, there remains the strong sense that Haddin, having shown his readiness for NSW, will retake the Test gloves in November.”The pre-season has been good. With the way international cricket is shaped these days you don’t often get a long pre-season, so it was good to get a pre-season under my belt and get my body where I needed it to,” Haddin said. “But the bottom line is cricket’s about performance and that’s what you’ve got to do, you’ve got to make sure you do your pre-season, the reason you do it is to get out on the pitch and perform.”The Sixers’ qualification for the Champions League, thanks to their victory in the inaugural BBL last summer, means a choppy preparation for several members of Australia’s likely Test squad, including Haddin, Shane Watson and Pat Cummins. Haddin said the players would deal with it as best they can, and felt happy he at least had been able to play a pair of Shield games before departing for the event.”That’s international cricket these days, you chop and change formats and that’s been happening for a long time now, so from that point of view it’s not that big a change,” Haddin said. “What’s good about it actually is getting the volume from a cricket point of view, the Shield has given us a chance to get some cricket and some miles in our legs.”I find preparing for tournaments like a T20 event, there’s no better way to do it than actually get some longer form cricket, so your body gets used to playing cricket again. You can go through all your processes, get all your shapes right, without having to rush into the T20 format. Now it’s just a bit of maintenance and making sure we get the squad together and everyone knows what we need to do once we get to South Africa, because with these tournaments it is very important to start well.”

Northern Districts continued their winning streak in the HRV Cup by beating Canterbury by five runs in Hamilton

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2012
ScorecardNorthern Districts continued their winning streak in the HRV Cup by beating Canterbury by five runs in Hamilton, their third victory in as many games. No other team has more than one.The Northern Districts openers made a swift start after Canterbury won the toss, adding 97 by the time Brad Wilson was dismissed for 35 in the 11th over. Anton Devcich carried on, making 62 off 43 balls. Corey J Anderson blitzed 35 off 15 deliveries to lead his team to 186 for 5. Spinner Ronnie Hira was Canterbury’s best bowler, taking 1 for 24 in four overs.Canterbury also made a good start, Bradley Cachopa dominating a first-wicket stand of 63 with George Worker. By the time Cachopa was dismissed for 58, Canterbury were 93 for 2 in the 12th over. They stumbled thereafter, losing Peter Fulton and Gareth Andrew in the space of eight runs, and then Tom Latham and Dean Brownlie fell in the space of four. Canterbury were 159 for 5 in the penultimate over and eventually fell five runs short.

Tim Southee, the New Zealand fast bowler, has been ruled out of the Test series in South Africa because of a thumb injury

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2012Tim Southee, the New Zealand fast bowler, has been ruled out of the Test series in South Africa because of a thumb injury. He needs surgery for a ruptured ligament and is likely to be sidelined for six-eight weeks.Southee sustained the injury while diving in the field during a Plunket Shield match between Northern Districts and Wellington at Karori Park. He scored 156 off 130 balls and took seven wickets in Northern Districts’ six-wicket win.”He landed heavily on his thumb while fielding, with scans indicating the ligament has fully ruptured and retracted,” New Zealand physio Paul Close said. “After consultation with NZC medical staff and a hand specialist it was decided the best course of action is for him to have surgery.”He will commence rehabilitation immediately following the procedure, with a view to him returning to cricket during the home summer.
The procedure is likely to keep him out of the game for 6-8 weeks.”Southee, who is due to become a father soon, was already missing the Twenty20s in South Africa. New Zealand had not decided on a replacement for Southee, who was their best bowler in the drawn Test series in Sri Lanka, where he took 12 wickets in two matches. Eight of those came in the second Test in Colombo, which New Zealand won by 167 runs.

Essex have revealed plans for an £80 million upgrade of their Chelmsford home

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2013Essex have revealed plans for an £80 million upgrade of their Chelmsford home. The development will turn the County Ground “from a stadium into a destination” according to club treasurer Keith Brown.The plans include a new pavilion and banqueting suite for 500 people, a new indoor school, car park, public square and a bridge over the river Chelmer, which runs behind one end of the ground.The development will be funded by 320 apartments built on land owned by the club adjacent to the ground.The project has been delayed by the economic downturn with plans initially drawn up in 2004 and planning permission granted in 2010.The first phase will see 62 apartments built on the current car park. 90% of those apartments have already been sold. Work on the pavilion is not expected to begin until 2014 with the whole project completed by 2017.”Chelmsford is becoming very attractive,” Brown said. “The current stadium is very old and quite simply, needed replacing, and the only way was to have an enabling development. The whole site will link up to the city much more and offer much more for people to visit to the club ground.”The model of development reflects Gloucestershire’s plans to fund their own £10 million ground revamp with a block of apartments at Bristol.

South Africa’s young quick Marchant de Lange will make a comeback to domestic cricket this weekend after an absence of close to eight months.

Firdose Moonda23-Jan-2013South Africa’s young quick Marchant de Lange will make a comeback to domestic cricket this weekend after an absence of close to eight months.De Lange has been out of action since June last year with a stress fracture and is due to test his readiness for first-class cricket in a three-day amateur game between Easterns and Kwa-Zulu Natal in Chatsworth.De Lange was due to play last weekend for Easterns against Boland on the strict condition that he would only play in the Twenty20 match that followed the first-class match. Rain stopped play before de Lange could bowl so his comeback was postponed to this week.Physiotherapist Ian Repton has been working with de Lange since he was sent home from South Africa’s tour of England in July. Then, it was thought that de Lange had overcome the injury which he picked up during South Africa’s unofficial T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe. When de Lange complained of pain in the United Kingdom, he was assessed, deemed to be carrying an even more serious injury and given a three-month recovery period.That was then extended to six months when Repton began working with De Lange and predicted he would only be back around Christmas. “It took longer than that for two reasons,” Repton told ESPNcricinfo. “We had to try and get his action absolutely correct so that the injury does not recur and then we had to wait for the muscle memory to take hold.”There is no point in him bowling a few balls with the new action and then reverting back to the old. We were willing to take as much time as we needed.”Repton has promised De Lange will return with a more efficient action, which will involve less pressure being placed on his lower back. “It will be a biomechanically better action,” Repton said. De Lange has already been practicing in the nets under the watchful eye of Corrie van Zyl, Cricket South Africa’s general manager of cricket.With three first-class matches remaining in the season, it appears unlikely that de Lange will feature in that format this summer. “It is very important that he gets overs into the legs now, so he is going to start off slowly and then we will see how it goes,” Repton said. De Lange has remained upbeat throughout, according to Repton, “because it was explained to him that this would take time and may not be simple to fix.”Rusty Theron, the Warriors quick, is suffering from the same injury and has yet to make his comeback after being out for the same length of time.De Lange has played two Tests for South Africa and was 2011’s most successful Test debutant with 7 for 84 against Sri Lanka in Durban. He was also becoming an important member of the Twenty20 side and bowled South Africa to a series win against New Zealand in March with his last over heroics.But he has lost ground in the Test stakes since Rory Kleinveldt became the preferred reserve seamer. Kleinveldt has also played two Tests for South Africa and is now considered back-up if one of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel or Vernon Philander is injured.

Starting a series with a total of 49 leaves a low base for improvement, but Pakistan’s second innings showed them in a far better light as they ensured the Test would enter a fourth day

The Report by Andrew McGlashan03-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAzhar Ali was lbw to Jacques Kallis and used up one of Pakistan’s reviews•Getty ImagesStarting a series with a total of 49 leaves a low base for improvement, but Pakistan’s second innings showed them in a far better light as they ensured the Test would enter a fourth day. At 82 for 4, chasing a huge 480, a swift conclusion was still on the cards before Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq combined in an unbroken century stand including a wicketless final sessionThere will be no concern over the scoreline from Graeme Smith, but maybe just the odd glimpse towards weather forecasts. They are unpredictable, especially for Johannesburg, although do suggest a greater threat of rain over the last two days. Having not enforced the follow-on with Pakistan on the ropes yesterday he will not want any hiccups.South Africa could have been closer to victory, and perhaps savouring a celebratory drink already, if it had not been for two spurned chances in the final session. Firstly Shafiq, on 40, edged Vernon Philander to first slip only for replays to show a clear no-ball. In the next over Misbah cut Jacques Kallis to backward point but Robin Peterson dropped a relatively straightforward chance. Smith started chewing on his gum just that little bit harder.The chances should not remove the fact that Misbah and Shafiq provided an important lesson for the remainder of this series. Pakistan will, weather permitting, still lose here but it was vital that the aura around South Africa’s attack was at least pierced a fraction. The surface had lost some of its spite, and the ball grew softer, but the principles they showed of sound judgement and solid concentration will serve batsmen well in any conditions.It was a proper rearguard from the pair as they dug in either side of tea. The hard work brought rewards, particularly against the slightly erratic Morne Morkel, although both batsmen nearly lost concentration against Robin Peterson when their eyes lit up at something slower.Shafiq is an impressive young batsman, already with an average over forty, had enjoyed a solid 2012 with runs against England and Sri Lanka. He does not mind soaking up the dot balls, but also has a range of shots to take advantage of loose deliveries. His ninth boundary, a square cut, took him to his half-century from 117 balls.He was partnered by a player who adores the chance to drop anchor. Misbah was tested by Dale Steyn in a spell after tea but he left the ball well and drove strongly through the off side. He was less convincing on the pull and, ten minutes before the close, nearly top-edged to deep square-leg. It would have been a horrid waste of his diligence.There was another encouraging performance in the shape of Nasir Jamshed who dominated the early scoring after losing Mohammad Hafeez, caught down the leg side, in the fourth over. He was strong on the drive and through the leg side but had some uncomfortable moments against Morkel before, sensing another boundary for a maiden fifty, pulled Steyn to mid-on.Kallis’ productive match with the ball continued when he trapped Azhar Ali lbw, the batsman wasting a review which bordered on the selfish. The ball was full, nipped back, and struck him in front of middle.Younis Khan could only contribute 15 – and he already survived a mighty close review for lbw on 11 – when he tried to leave Morkel and provided a very thin edge to the keeper. Younis walked and Hot Spot showed a small white mark, but this time the focus was on Morkel’s front foot which was close to a no-ball.South Africa’s innings had lasted for a further nine overs during the morning as Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers added 68 more. De Villiers was at his expansive best, taking balls from outside off through the leg side and also reverse sweeping Saeed Ajmal. The concerns about his workload have certainly been helped by the ability of South Africa’s quicks to skittle a team at least once in a Test.His 11th boundary, slotted through the covers, took him to his hundred from 117 balls. The applause had just died down when Smith stood in the dressing room and waved his batsmen in to begin searching for a quick finish. It did not quite work out that way.

Izatullah Dawlatzai took eleven wickets in the match as Afghanistan defeated Scotland by an innings and five runs in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIzatullah Dawlatzai took eleven wickets in the match as Afghanistan defeated Scotland by an innings and five runs in Abu Dhabi. Scotland were trailing by six runs on the third morning, and in the first over Dawlat Zadran picked up the last wicket of Gordon Drummond to seal the victory.Scotland, in their first innings were wrapped up for 125, through a six-wicket burst from Dawlatzai. Afghanistan, led by contributions from Rahmat Shah (67*), Asghar Stanikzai (41), and Mohammad Shahzad (41), posted 275, leaving a deficit of 150 for Scotland to overcome. Despite Kyle Coetzer’s 57, Scotland folded for 145, as Dawlatzai once again starred with 5 for 37.

Chennai Super Kings’ new recruit, fast-bowling South African allrounder Chris Morris, was quite pleased with how Wednesday’s match against Kings XI Punjab turned out

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2013For Chennai Super Kings’ new recruit, fast-bowling South African allrounder Chris Morris, Wednesday night’s match against Kings XI Punjab was a mixed bag. He leaked 11 runs in his first over, but finished with tidy figures. He began the day nervously – “I left my bag behind at the hotel” – but ended it feeling part of the set-up, having “never waved so much at a crowd in my life”.Overall, it was quite a clinical performance from Super Kings, as they strolled to a ten-wicket victory over Kings XI at their home ground. That, the players who spoke after the match from both camps agreed, came down to the hosts not having scored enough runs. Kings XI were a comfortable 106 for 3 after 14 overs, before being skittled out for 138 with a ball to spare.Talking to the IPL website about Kings XI’s slide, Morris said: “I think we bowled well. It was a good wicket to bat on, and I thought the guys played well to pull it back the way they did.”Morris got his first over in the fourth of the match, and began with an impressive ball in the blockhole. However, he then strayed a bit in line, getting too close to the batsmen’s pads, and was hit for two four by Manan Vohra. In his second over, M Vijay dropped a simple catch off his bowling, allowing David Hussey a life. In his third, Morris got his first wicket as Azhar Mahmood mistimed a pull. “It was unbelievable to get that first [wicket]. I knew he was going to have a go. I thought I would take the pace off and fortunately it worked for me, because he is quite a dangerous player,” Morris said. “I am very happy that my plans worked.”In his final over Morris claimed the wicket of Ryan Harris to finish with 2 for 27, figures that he was quite satisfied with: “Unbelievably happy with my first [match]. If anyone told me before the game what my figures would have been, I would have taken it.”Morris had arrived in India on Monday, following the conclusion of his domestic commitments, and learned he would play during Tuesday’s training session. “I had a bit of a run with the team and [the coach] Stephen Fleming came to me and said we need you in this role. Then I had a rough night’s sleep and got it together this morning.”Expectedly, Morris said, the conditions were new to him: “There is not as much bounce as in South Africa and that I have to get used to, but I will work in practice and I will get better.”Vohra, who was one of the key figures in Kings XI’s victory in their opening game against Pune Warriors, said his team had fallen well short of a par score on this pitch. “It was good batting track and we scored really few runs. A total of 180 was needed here.”The ball was coming on to the bat really well, and we were playing well. But when David Hussey got out, a couple of bad shots made it [the slide] happen.”