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It has taken Chris Wright a while to find his feet in professional cricket. But he’s clicked at Edgbaston. He took his best figures for the county as they steamrollered Durham on the final day

Alex Winter at Edgbaston20-Apr-2013
ScorecardChris Wright’s best figures for for Warwickshire will encourage the belief that a Test cap is not beyond him•Getty ImagesIt has taken Chris Wright a while to find his feet in professional cricket. He was overlooked by three counties and even went to Sri Lanka to get a game. But he has clicked at Edgbaston. He took his best figures for the county as they steamrollered Durham on the final day.Warwickshire got their title defence up and running by demolishing Durham with 46 overs to spare on the final day. Wright, having taken the one wicket to fall before the close on Friday, followed up with a morning spell of 3 for 10 and finished with 6 for 31 – his best performance for the county.Hampshire, Middlesex and Essex all got a good look at Wright and will wonder why the skills that increasingly encourage talk that he is an England bowler-in-waiting never previously surfaced.He nearly did not get his chance at Warwickshire either. Graeme Welch had to lobby Ashley Giles extensively to get him to take Wright on loan during 2011 but Giles was grateful for Welch’s insight.Wright’s bowling inspired Warwickshire to glory almost immediately. His first three appearances included two five-wicket hauls and 22 wickets at 24.31 nearly won the Championship in 2011. 62 scalps at 24.06 last year saw Warwickshire romp away with the pennant. Only poor weather prevented their coronation earlier than the penultimate match of last season.It is hard to make a case against them winning consecutive titles. The bowling attack is unmatched and the batting has enough runs in it, particularly the lower order, to allow the unrelenting foursome of Wright, Keith Barker, Rikki Clarke and Chris Woakes, plus the spin of Jeetan Patel, to win matches.Warwickshire underlined that, given a full match, they will outlast most teams. Durham competed very well for two-and-a-half days but eventually fell away like a tired jet skier, falling to their heaviest runs defeat against Warwickshire. Phil Mustard’s 28 in 140 minutes was as stubborn as they got until he was last out, carving Chris Woakes to point. Paul Collingwood clung on for an hour for 5.The result in no way reflects the situation on the third morning where Durham got on top. That moment and their defeat of Somerset in the opening round will be give confidence that they will survive comfortably. But their batting is not good enough to finish any higher than mid-table. In 16 innings this season the first four Durham batsmen have scored 99 runs and mustered only three double-figure scores between them.Their top three is especially vulnerable. Mark Stoneman and Will Smith are both experienced players with average-to-poor returns. Smith is on an especially poor run. His last 13 innings in the Championship have yielded 74 runs. He was picked this season only on the strength of a century against Durham MCCU in the first match of the year.Twenty-year-old Keaton Jennings is also in that top three. All of them fell to Barker in the first innings and all were claimed by Wright in the second innings. They were not the first and won’t be the last to succumb to highly accurate seam bowling that swung a little.It swung more as the match went on and the wind calmed. Wright said both teams struggled in the strong gusts of the first two days. But the Durham attack – most notably Ben Stokes – found some reverse-swing on the third afternoon and that was a precursor to Warwickshire finding some deadly movement on day four.”The fact that we were moving it both ways made it a lot harder for them,” Wright said in sympathy for the Durham batsman who were rolled for their lowest total against Warwickshire. “Moving the ball around in the air is something this team has been particularly good at.”Wright enjoyed a winter in India working with England bowling coach Kevin Shine. He developed a delivery that shapes away from the left-hander – a skill that has been extremely beneficial for James Anderson – that was evident in the first dismissal of the day. Stoneman followed a back of a length ball that left him slightly and edged behind.But new deliveries or not, Wright felt the full force of flat Australian wickets after Christmas with just four wickets at 49.00 as England went winless on the seven-match List A tour. It was a chastening experience but Wright is used to some low points in his career.”More than anything it was good to be exposed to the conditions, the flatter wickets, and to be involved in the England set up,” Wright said. “But you did need to keep your chin up.”

ESPNcricinfo tracks the developments around the IPL 2013 spot-fixing crisis

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2013

Bhuvneshwar Kumar ended the Sri Lanka chase early with a spell of 6-1-8-4, his best international figures, to take India to the final

The Report by Abhishek Purohit09-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRohit Sharma fought hard on a difficult surface to remain unbeaten on 48•AFPAfter a four-and-a-half hour rain interruption, Sri Lanka had ten wickets available over a truncated 26 overs to chase 178. India needed to restrict Sri Lanka to 167 or below to make the final ahead of West Indies. In an ideal Twenty20 world, this was a situation loaded in favour of the chasing side. The Queen’s Park Oval pitch, with patches of green spiced up by all the rain, was an ideal Test bowler’s paradise, though. And Bhuvneshwar Kumar used it to perfection, ending the chase early and taking India to the final with a spell of 6-1-8-4, his best international figures.Bhuvneshwar got the ball to do so much, even survival became a lottery, leave alone a chase that began at an asking rate of close to seven an over. Some moved in, some moved away, some hit a green patch and bounced extra, with Bhuvneshwar’s impeccable control forcing the batsmen to play at almost everything. It was only his 16th ODI, but Bhuvneshwar has already built up a reputation for striking early in his spell. Again, he did not disappoint.Upul Tharanga flashed to the slips in Bhuvneshwar’s second over, Kumar Sangakkara got a first-ball shocker of a leg-before decision, Mahela Jayawardene could not keep a cut down, and Lahiru Thirimanne hit an airy drive. In no time, Sri Lanka were 31 for 4, and India already had the final within their sights. Of course, it was the asking rate that made the batsmen play all those strokes, but against the combination of Bhuvneshwar and the pitch, the attempts were doomed to fail. The spinners found generous help from the pitch as well, and made sure there was no fightback from the Sri Lanka lower middle order. The margin of the win showed just how futile a T20-style chase can be on a difficult pitch.This pitch was so difficult it forced even the usually flashy Rohit Sharma to play the survival game. A battered and struggling Rohit fought the conditions, his own lack of touch, and a disciplined Sri Lanka attack but still hung in to build a base for India. But we will never know what could have been in this Rohit knock as the rain terminated India’s innings at 119 for 3 in 29 overs.Though the normally free-flowing Rohit’s grind wasn’t easy on the eye, it was far more refreshing to see him unwilling to fall to a soft dismissal, though he benefited from a dropped catch off Lasith Malinga when on 11.Despite West Indies losing both their games on the same ground after choosing to bowl, Angelo Mathews had no hesitation in doing the same. And his attack bowled far better than West Indies had, which was highly commendable, considering they had sent down 41 overs a day ago against the hosts. There was swing, seam, sharp lift, and the occasional low bounce.Rohit was beaten several times by the movement initially, but to his credit, he played the original line close to his body. For some time, Virat Kohli looked even more uncomfortable than Rohit had and even played out a maiden to Malinga for the first time.Kohli slowly started to come to terms against the fast bowlers and put away the rare wide delivery. Perhaps the pitch made Kohli hesitant to get forward against spin as well, and led to his downfall, when he went back and was caught in front by a flighted Rangana Herath slider, cutting short a second-wicket stand of 49 in 14.1 overs.Rohit, meanwhile, continued to find it hard, inside-edging onto the box, and taking blows on the glove. He did slog-sweep Herath for six but the left-arm spinner hit back in his next over, when another India batsman played back to him. This time, Dinesh Karthik got a turner that spun away to hit his off stump. India were three down now, making it even more important for Rohit to not give it away. As it turned out, though, he had already done enough, after which Bhuvneshwar took over.

Chris Rushworth knows he might just be a stand-in until Graham Onions is released by England at Trent Bridge but he busied himself all the same with six Derbyshire wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2013Durham 253 and 208 for 2 (Borthwick 117, Jennings 65*) lead Derbyshire 113 (Rushworth 6-64) by 348 runs
ScorecardChris Rushworth began the match as Graham Onions’ stand-in but made an impact with six Derbyshire wickets•Getty ImagesSix wickets for Chris Rushworth, who began the match expecting to be a temporary stand-in for Graham Onions, and a century by Scott Borthwick put Durham in a position of total command on the second day of their LV= County Championship match against Derbyshire at Chester-le-Street.After dismissing Division One’s bottom club for 113, Durham reached 208 for 2 in their second innings to lead by 348. Keaton Jennings, who narrowly missed out on a maiden Championship hundred in the first innings, was unbeaten on 65 after sharing a stand of 168 with Borthwick.This was one of Derbyshire’s most pitiful displays of a season which seems certain to end in immediate relegation back to Division Two.Resuming on 15 for 1, they never recovered from losing lost two wickets in the first eight balls. The Durham seamers produced some excellent swing bowling in the baking heat and the only lengthy resistance came from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who batted for 103 minutes for 14.Rushworth swung one in to take out Richard Johnson’s off stump in the first over and went on to finish 6 for 64. He is the one player named to stand down if Graham Onions is not required by England at Trent Bridge. It will be intriguing to see if Durham replace him.Wayne Madsen tried to turn Callum Thorp’s second ball of the day to leg and gave the first of four catches to wicketkeeper Phil Mustard. Thorp also had Dan Redfern caught at first slip in recording figures of 11-5-11-2, then Mark Wood struck in his second over when Tom Poynton edged a drive.Ben Stokes troubled Chanderpaul more than anyone, but it was the irrepressible Rushworth who removed him with the third ball of his second spell. The West Indian made a very late decision to play at it and edged to Mustard.Two balls later Jon Clare wafted loosely to be caught at gully, completing Rushworth’s second five-wicket haul of the season.Derbyshire were 81 for eight at lunch, needing 23 to avoid the follow-on, and Rushworth had five for 39 at that point. He came under fire for two overs before taking the final wicket when he bowled Mark Footitt for 16.Mark Stoneman, captaining Durham in the absence of Paul Collingwood with a thumb injury, fell lbw to Tim Groenewald for 10 when shouldering arms.But Derbyshire began to look demoralised as Borthwick raced to 50 off 48 balls, pulling powerfully as he took advantage of too many short balls.He reached his 117-ball century with a six pulled over mid-wicket off left-arm spinner David Wainwright, but departed for a career-best 117 when he was lbw on the back foot to the off spin of Redfern.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out fresh elections for the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by October 18 this year

Umar Farooq20-Jul-2013The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out fresh elections for the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by October 18 this year. The judgement overrules all major decisions taken by the interim chairman Najam Sethi, who took over last month.The 30-page judgement, a copy of which ESPNcricinfo has obtained, has asked for changes in the structure of the PCB, questioned the appointment of the selection committee, as well as its financial and recruitment affairs. According to the order, a candidate competing for the post of chairman must be an ex-cricketer, a graduate and also comply with Article 62, 63 in the constitution of Pakistan.The judgement will not affect the Pakistan team currently in the West Indies for a limited-overs series. However, one of Sethi’s major decisions was appointing Moin Khan as the chairman of selectors, but as per the court’s ruling, Moin’s appointment stands cancelled.The judgement, made public on Monday, has reduced the powers of the President of Pakistan, also the patron of the PCB. Since 1960, the President had the power to appoint the PCB chairman but the judgement has reduced the President’s extensive role and going forward the PCB will have to consult the country’s Prime Minister for various decisions, apart from appointing the chairman.”These provisions give powers to the Patron-In-Chief of PCB i.e. President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, to have the first and final say in the matter which authority is no more vested in the President after the 19th Constitutional Amendment. The President’s status is merely symbolic and authority has to be exercised, if any, through the Prime Minister,” Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui wrote in his judgement.*The High Court has concluded the writ petition filed by a former Rawalpindi Cricket Association official against the board elections held in May, when Ashraf was elected chairman for a four-year term under the new PCB constitution. Ashraf was later suspended from his post by the IHC, after there were questions raised about the legality of his election. The High Court said the process had been “dubious” and “polluted” and Sethi was appointed as interim chairman.”Practically, Najam Sethi is no more the acting chairman, rather his status is of a caretaker being appointed by the court for a period of 90 days with the objective of looking into the day-to-day affairs of the PCB, cooperate and ensure the holding of elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan within the stipulated period commencing from July 21 to October 18, which period shall not be extended on any pretext whatsoever,” Justice Siddiqui wrote.”Now, in order to achieve the objective of a free, fair, credible and transparent election, this court is convinced that this objective can be achieved with the help of Election Commission of Pakistan, (which) shall hold the election of the chairman of the PCB within ninety days starting from July 21, 2013.”The judgement will affect the PCB’s daily affairs, as well as its budget this year, selection of its Under-23 teams and that of the national team’s Zimbabwe tour and the renewal of the broadcaster deal. The PCB, in general, has been seized and will remain so till the newly elected chairman takes office. The PCB, being an autonomous body, isn’t regulated by the government, and engaging the ECP for electing the PCB chairman is a complex scenario to carry out.In response, the PCB has said it will contemplate appealing the judgement. “The PCB hasn’t yet received the official copy of the judgement of the Honourable Islamabad High Court,” PCB legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi told ESPNcricinfo. “We are still waiting for it but in light of media reports the decision may have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan cricket as it has the potential of being misinterpreted. Some of the findings in the judgement as reported were neither argued nor raised in the pleading of the parties, therefore the PCB will have no other legal option but to file an Appeal, which will be vehemently pursued.”Sethi’s role has also been curbed and all decisions made by him are assumed as null and void and against the law having no legal sanctity. Since taking over, Sethi has attended the ICC’s annual conference in London, headed a meeting of the PCB board of governors (BoG) and appointed Moin as chairman of the selection committee. Justice Siddiqui although didn’t suspend the entire constitution, but has suspended the process of the appointment of the PCB chairman.”Appointment of members of the selection committee, its chairman and other appointments/termination of services in the PCB as well as any major decision shall be the right domain of the newly elected chairman of the PCB,” Justice Siddiqui wrote.”Criteria for appointment of the selection committee is also highly questionable but no remedial steps are being taken to bring credible criteria of the nomination/appointment of the member of the selection committee and its chairman. The decades-old formula of appointing the committee needs to be reviewed, all the regions to be given the right to be a member of the selection committee on rotation. The scope of the selection committee is required to be enhanced by including one sports journalist, cricket commentator and one keen follower of the game of cricket having sufficient knowledge from the general public.”Regarding the financial affairs of the PCB, the judge directed the special audit of the PCB as well as the National Cricket Academy, to be conducted by the Audit General of Pakistan, whose report shall be made public.* – Tuesday July 23, 2013, 0900 GMT – Story updated to include quotes on the Prime Minister’s role

Simon Kerrigan spent much of Sunday still trying to soak up the “surreal” experience of being named in an Ashes squad after being handed his first senior call-up for the final Investec Ashes Test at The Oval

Andrew McGlashan18-Aug-2013Simon Kerrigan spent much of Sunday still trying to soak up the “surreal” experience of being named in an Ashes squad after being handed his first senior call-up for the final Investec Ashes Test at The Oval. However, Peter Moores, his county coach, believes he is there by right rather and not because of the difficulties being faced by Monty Panesar.Little more than two weeks ago, Panesar was part of England’s squad for the Old Trafford Test, but shortly after that his season came off the rails during a night out in Brighton, which led to him being fined for drunk and disorderly conduct. The matter is still being investigated by Sussex, but Panesar is on the brink of needing a new county and is seemingly facing a lengthy period away from the international scene.That has led to England needing to reconsider who is their No. 2 spinner to Graeme Swann and there was not really a second option behind Kerrigan despite James Tredwell’s stellar one-day performances this year. Kerrigan, with 47 wickets in the Championship, is far and away the most prolific spinner this season and has been a regular with England Lions. It was a logical progression.It would still be a surprise if he played at The Oval – two spinners, especially in a four-man attack, is rarely seen outside of the subcontinent by England – but even if he does not earn a first cap on Wednesday, he has two days to train in front of Andy Flower and Alastair Cook ahead of their deliberations over the Test squad to Australia later this year.”I found out yesterday when I got a call from Geoff Miller. I’m delighted to be selected, but it was a bit hard to take in when he rang,” Kerrigan told the Lancashire website. “It all felt a bit surreal to be honest. Hopefully I can impress over the next couple of days and be ready if they choose two spinners.”I’ve been inundated with messages of good luck and congratulations. My phone went into a bit of a meltdown this morning, and I’m grateful for all the messages and good wishes.”Moores has overseen the rise of Kerrigan since taking over as Lancashire coach in 2009, during which time Kerrigan had assumed the No. 1 mantle even before Gary Keedy’s departure to Surrey, and he now sees a potential changing of hierarchy in England’s spin options behind Graeme Swann.”Monty’s obviously had an interesting season and also an interesting few weeks and I think the one thing you would say is that Simon has statistically performed much better than Monty has this season, so that’s probably why he’s got his recognition as much as anything else,” Moores told .”The key here is Simon’s earned that right through his own performance and what he does do is get a lot of five-wicket hauls. So when he gets on a roll he seems to really be able to drive that home and make a big difference in a game, and that’s something I think would excite England.””What he does is he spins it hard, not dissimilar to Graeme Swann in that respect. Graeme does give the ball a heck of a rip and gets turn on almost any surface and Simon’s similar, he spins the ball very hard, he’s an aggressive attacking spinner.”

The corpse is still twitching but realistically Derbyshire’s Division One life is over for the moment

Jon Culley at Derby25-Sep-2013
ScorecardChris Woakes extended his overnight score to a career-best 152 not out•Getty ImagesThe corpse is still twitching but realistically Derbyshire’s Division One life is over for the moment. They needed to win this match, which is not going to happen; they also need to do so, as things stand, with more batting points than Somerset, a similarly unlikely scenario. They will be lucky if they manage one, in which case everything else will be academic.Karl Krikken, their head coach, spoke as positively as he could in the circumstances, vowing to fight on. But he is as aware as anyone that for an inexperienced squad beaten seven times in their first 10 matches a full recovery was always a tall order. To go into the last round of games not already doomed was some kind of achievement.”In these last six games we have played some good cricket,” he said. “In the first half of the season we did not know where a win was coming from but since then we have picked up three wins, which I felt might be enough. If we do go down, Nottinghamshire will stay up with not as many wins as us, and we’ll have the same as Somerset.”You look back, and if we had held our catches in the Surrey game, which we more or less threw away, we would have gone into this game in front, or at least level. But you have to take those chances.”We had chances in this game but we let them off the hook when they were 120 for 6 and we let them off the hook again by allowing the ninth wicket pair to add so many.”Warwickshire have bowled really well on a wicket that is helpful but there is still hope while the little maestro is still there and we will turn up tomorrow and fight, as Derbyshire sides always do.”Yet in truth it will take something exceptional, with some exceptional support, from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the little maestro in question, to haul Derbyshire anywhere near contention from 44 for 5. Warwickshire may have given up the title but have their eyes on third place in the table after a late-season recovery.With Keith Barker and Maurice Chambers exploiting a swing-friendly humid afternoon to maximum effect, Derbyshire were in trouble after an over from each as they sought to build a reply to Warwickshire’s 391 for 9.They lost Ben Slater to Barker’s third ball and Wayne Madsen, the captain from whom a substantial score was vital, to Chambers’s fifth, which forced him back and had him caught at first slip. Barker struck again in his third over as Paul Borrington edged to gully and Chambers in his fourth, when Rikki Clarke’s catch at second slip saw off Richard Johnson. The umpires signalled tea at that point, with Derbyshire 14 for 4.Chanderpaul has 24 but Alex Hughes had gone too by the time bad light forced an early close, a third victim for Barker, the left-armer, whose absence from any of England’s winter squads is almost as baffling as that of his colleague Chris Woakes. Barker, from only 11 matches, has 43 Championship wickets at 23.30.Woakes supplied more reason to question the selectors’ judgment by turning his overnight century into a career-best 152 not out, demonstrating his ability to defend for long periods in difficult conditions as well as the shot-making quality that has identified him as a batsman of high talent, regardless of what he can do with the ball.Yet he could not have done it without some unlikely help in a partnership of 166 that set a ground record for the ninth wicket in first-class matches. Maurice Chambers, with a career average under six, whose 30 for Essex against Leicestershire in 2011 was his highest score in 49 first-class matches until this one, stayed with him for almost three-and-a-half hours after a start delayed until after lunch, in doing so reaching 58 before he attempted to boss the left-arm spinner David Wainwright and was stumped.”Duncan Fletcher told me when he was England coach that I would never get in one of his teams if I couldn’t bat and I’ve worked really hard on my batting in the last couple of years,” Chambers said. “Some people may say it is only a 50, but for me it is everything I’ve been working towards. I think I can hold a bat, I don’t see myself as a genuine tailender and I want to show that.”Chambers, currently on loan with Warwickshire but surplus to requirements with Essex, where he had slipped out of favour, must be tempting Warwickshire to offer him a longer deal after taking 12 wickets so far. He would not comment on what stage preliminary discussions had reached but said he would welcome the chance to stay at Edgbaston.”I’m not 100 percent sure where I will be next year but there are a few counties interested,” he said. “I’m very confident I will get a contract somewhere next year and if it were Warwickshire, why not?”

David Warner, the Australia batsman, has revealed he received some home truths from former Australia captain Mark Taylor about his floundering career

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2013David Warner, the Australia batsman, has revealed he received some home truths from former Australia captain Mark Taylor about his floundering career. Warner has endured a difficult six months where controversy has never been far away and Taylor advised him that he is in danger of being remembered for the wrong reasons. Warner admitted he had been a “pest in the past” and now needed to start acting like a “mature adult”.Fined for a Twitter spat with a journalist in May and thrown out of Australia’s Champions Trophy squad for punching England’s Joe Root in June, discipline and professionalism deserted Warner for the third time in six months when he was handed a suspended one-match ban by New South Wales on Tuesday.”The old saying is that things come in threes and I think I’ve had my turn now,” Warner said. “There’s always going to be ups and downs in your life but it’s probably been a pretty bad six months for myself, but now it’s about moving forward and getting on with cricket and trying to be a mature adult.”I had a talk with Mark Taylor yesterday and you’re basically remembered for your stats that are brought up on the screen. You look at your average and the games that you’ve played and if those two don’t add up then you’re really not going to be remembered.”Warner was left out of Australia’s tour party for the one-day series with India, following being dropped from the ODI series in England. Having been one of the most exciting cricketers in the world for three years, and being named the Bradman Cricketer of the Year in 2012, Warner admitted he cannot take success for granted.”I’ve probably been a pest in the past but now it’s about maturing and settling down and actually working hard at the game,” Warner said. “As a young guy, the last probably three or four years I probably have taken things for granted and now it’s about trying to be as consistent as I can and trying to be a leader around the group.”The way you act and the way you can lead the team by example and the role model that you are, that’s how you remember the likes of Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Ricky Ponting, there’s a long list there.”Those guys are so good at what they did that they’re always going to be remembered and everyone will always walk past you down the street and say, ‘you know what mate, you had a great career and we always loved watching you’.”And that’s the type of person that you want to be remembered for, for what you did on the field and what you do off the field.”

Northamptonshire have re-signed left-arm spinner Graeme White after a four-year spell with Nottinghamshire

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-2013Northamptonshire have re-signed left-arm spinner Graeme White after a four-year spell with Nottinghamshire. White returned to Wantage Road on loan for a period last season and has now agreed a two-year deal.White, 26, has played most of his cricket in the limited-overs formats and averages 19.07 with an economy of 7.41 in Twenty20. In the 2013 Friends Life t20, he took seven wickets in three games for Northants – who eventually went on to win the competition – and then a further ten when recalled by Nottinghamshire. He was also involved in Notts’ successful Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign.”I’ve truly loved representing Nottinghamshire over the last few seasons and wish to thank Mick Newell, management and the team for helping to evolve my game during this period,” White said. “It is such a fantastic team and club, which made it such a hard decision to make.”But I feel the time is now right for a new challenge, so I’m delighted to be returning back to Northants and excited by the opportunity to compete for a club whom I represented since their academy level. Northants have shown this summer that they possess a potent squad of cricketers, which I am thrilled to be joining and look forward to pursuing yet more silverware going into 2014.”As well as winning the FLt20, Northamptonshire achieved promotion to Division One of the Championship. White will provide further spin options for Northants, who have James Middlebrook and Matt Spriegel on their books, and his signing could end the prospects of a return for another left-arm spinner, Monty Panesar.”It’s great to welcome Graeme back to the County Ground,” Northamptonshire’s coach, David Ripley, said. “He returns a better bowler than when he left and is hungry to push his career forward in all formats. He performed well while on loan last year and he slotted back into the changing room perfectly. I would like to thank Nottinghamshire for their help in allowing Graeme to leave, a very player centred decision.”

Shane Watson considers himself a strong chance of resuming at the bowling crease during the first Ashes Test, the major question a matter of when

Daniel Brettig18-Nov-20130:00

Switch Hit clip – Johnson either ‘brave or stupid’

Shane Watson considers himself a strong chance of resuming at the bowling crease during the first Ashes Test, the major question a matter of when. In the latter phase of his recovery from a hamstring strain, Watson took his first tentative steps towards bowling at Allan Border Field on Monday, and will build up further as the Test creeps closer to the toss on Thursday morning.Watson told ESPNcricinfo he was keen to bowl in the critical first encounter of a series in which he will hope to play a pivotal role with bat and ball, but was also enjoying the fact he was not under pressure to be fit to bowl on the first morning of the match, in contrast to last summer when he was left out of the team to face South Africa for two Tests on the basis that he needed to bowl to earn his place.”It was nice to be able to roll my arm over and see how I pull up tomorrow, which I’m sure will be okay, and just gradually building it up to see what capacity I’ll be at for the Test match,” Watson said. “Potentially absolutely [I will bowl in the Test], the great thing is the pressure’s not on me to make sure I’m pushing to bowl on day one if we bowl.”It will just depend on how I continue to go over the next few days and get a gauge on what capacity I’ll be able to play. Everything’s progressing really well at the moment, but I’m not putting a huge expectation on me being able to bowl a huge amount in the first innings, it is more seeing how it progresses to get the balance right between getting as close to full capacity as I can without heightening the risk of re-injury.”Australia’s physio Alex Kountouris had opened the possibility of the allrounder being able to reach his top gear at some point during the match. While Watson’s bowling was decidedly gentle, off a handful of steps, the sight of his return to the crease re-opened the hosts’ selection options for Brisbane as they ponder the inclusion of Nathan Lyon or James Faulkner.The hamstring strain occurred during the final match of the recent ODI series in India when Watson was moving into his delivery stride at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Watson said he was not inconvenienced by batting or running, leaving only the motion of bowling his fast medium swing and seam to be negotiated at training.”Doing running between the wickets has been absolutely fine so far, it’s mainly just the bowling aspect, how I initially hurt it, which is trying to get that perfect balance,” Watson said. “If I’m not feeling it batting-wise like I did during that last one-dayer then I’m certainly confident it won’t get hurt batting.”Kountouris, who has groaned and grimaced as much as anyone over Watson’s litany of calf and hamstring ailments in recent years, offered an optimistic view of his recovery, noting that the fact he had been bowling consistently until suffering the strain meant less strength and conditioning work would be required to get him up to speed. This contrasted with the bowling coach Craig McDermott’s view that a return in Brisbane would be unlikely, leaving Watson and his captain Michael Clarke to consider their options.”The thing is he’s only stopped bowling two weeks ago,” Kountouris said. “He could just as easily have had a rest for 10 days and then come back to bowling so we’re not too worried about building him up with workloads. He’s going well with his rehab, he’s on track to play the game obviously, he was running today, he’s been running since last week. He did a little bit of bowling today so that’s in the infancy but he’s going well at the moment.”He’s on track to be bowling in the next week so which means he might bowl in this Test match if he keeps making good progress. He hasn’t had a long-term injury, so getting him up and going again is the most important thing and really he’s just got to get through a couple of sessions and then he can bowl some balls in the game. Probably not going to bowl 40 overs, but he can bowl some balls.”Shane Watson delivered linking spells usefully in England•Getty ImagesWatson’s fitness to bowl has implications for plenty of players around him in the Gabba squad. If he is unable to fulfil the duties of the fourth seamer the position of Lyon comes under increasing threat, given the likelihood of a grassy surface due to recent heavy rain around Brisbane and the presence of Steven Smith and Clarke as potential part-time spinners.However, a clean bill of bowling health would permit Clarke to employ Watson in the linking spells he delivered so usefully in England, allowing the pace vanguard of Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson some respite while allowing greater latitude for Lyon’s flighted offbreaks.”I was batting at the time but I heard he bowled and they came out well so everything’s okay,” Smith said. “Hopefully he pulls up well tomorrow and can do a bit more because he’s certainly going to be valuable if we can get 10 overs out of him in an innings at the Gabba. He was invaluable in England and if he do that again here it will be great for us.”Lyon possesses a fine record in the two Tests he has played in Brisbane, scooping 11 wickets at an average of 24.09 across matches against New Zealand and South Africa. Typically team-oriented, Lyon said he would be happy to bowl tightly on a surface more favourable to fast bowlers.”That’s going to have to come down to the conditions,” Lyon said. “If it’s turning a lot I’ll be more attacking, but if it’s not turning as much and if it’s seaming I might be thrown the ball to do a containing and holding role so we can rotate our fast men from the other end and try to create some pressure. That’s going to be game-dependent, and talking to Pup (Clarke) when and if that circumstance arises.”I’m happy to do whatever role it takes for Australia to win a Test match. I’m all for the team, I don’t care who’s taking the wickets. If Ryan Harris takes five and six wickets, I take none for the game and we win the Test match I’m over the moon. I’m happy with whatever role Michael Clarke comes up with and hopefully I’ll be able to take that and help get wickets from both ends.”