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The draw seems to be the most South Africa can take out of the SSC Test considering their target and the conditions but AB de Villiers says they could still push for a win

Firdose Moonda at the SSC27-Jul-2014If South Africa are still batting at tea on day five, they will go all out to win the Colombo Test. That is the warning AB de Villiers sounded after a day in which momentum was finally infused into a match that has stood in limbo through its middle portions.”If I am coming in after tea and we need six or seven an over I might give it a go,” de Villiers said. “After tea tomorrow if we have wickets in hands that possibility will be there. You’ve got to find the balance between being positive and defensive. If we’ve got a sniff at tea-time tomorrow, we might have a go.”Most of South Africa’s actions in this match have indicated the opposite but de Villiers explained the slow scoring rate in the first innings was merited by circumstance and conditions, not a tactics as Kumar Sangakkara suggested. “They have more spinners, which slowed the game down more,” he said. “The wicket also got drier which made it tough to score.”Sangakkara believed South Africa were “playing a lot for time rather than scoring runs.” He called their approach “negative,” and said they gave Sri Lanka the “opportunities” they needed to take a big first-innings lead. “The more negative you go, the more defensive you are,” he said. “It also tires you out.”South Africa looked ready for a repeat of that at the start of the second innings when they scored just four runs in the first half-hour of their time at the crease. But they were determined that was not how they wanted to play the game and promoted Quinton de Kock up the order to show it. “He is positive player and he bats up the order at home. That was thinking behind letting him at No.3,” de Villiers said. “We would like to keep our options open. With some more hard work tomorrow, you never know.”‘Morkel gives us fear factor’ – de Villiers

Morne Morkel became the sixth South African bowler to collect 200 Test wickets after Dale Steyn, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis. He reached the milestone in his 58th Test, courtesy a stunning catch from Faf du Plessis. Kithuruwan Vithanage skied one over the covers and du Plessis ran back from point to collect.
Although Morkel has not registered his numbers at the same rate as Steyn and Vernon Philander, his value to the attack cannot be underestimated.
“It’s difficult to put in words what Morne has achieved. He might not have gotten to 200 wickets as quickly as Dale or to 50 as quickly as Vernon but there is a fear factor he puts into batting line-up,” AB de Villiers said. “I play in quite a few teams around the world and I hear what people say about him. They are quite scared of him. He is definitely the worst bowler to face in the nets so I get a bit of it too. And it makes Dale and Vern perform better because of that.”

South Africa may never have made their sentiments public if they had not shown they were capable of batting for long periods of time to save matches. That they came millimeters from turning their heroics against India at the Wanderers into victory showed that a big chase was not beyond them.While the pitch will make a Johannesburg-like effort difficult, de Villiers said South Africa were ready to show what they were capable of even in conditions which may not be suited to their ambitions. “Sri Lanka have played most of the cricket n this Test match and credit to them for this but we are in the fight,” he said. “The way I know our batters, we are not going to give it up. Sri Lanka know what we are capable of. We have had a great tour so far and we want to finish on a high.”A series win will make this South Africa team the first side to win both ODI and Test series in Sri Lanka on the same visit. It will also give the South African Test team their first series win in Sri Lanka in 21 years and will put them back on top of the Test rankings. That can all be achieved by simply hanging on for the draw but de Villiers said a win would make it that much sweeter.”It will mean everything to us,” he said. “It’s what we want to be about. We don’t want to be winning and losing. We want to be consistent. We would hate to lose. We’re going to come here positive.”

India have appointed Ravi Shastri as the director of cricket for the one-day series coming up

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-20144:33

Agarkar: Bizarre timing for support staff changes

India’s cricket bosses have reacted to the embarrassing Test series defeat to England by ringing in changes among the coaching staff, including appointing former captain Ravi Shastri as the director of cricket for the one-day series coming up. Duncan Fletcher remains the head coach but Shastri has been given the reins of the team.Team captain MS Dhoni is safe, with officials saying he had the full backing of the board for the entire series.Shastri’s column on Tuesday: ‘glam boys’ and penance

Ravi Shastri’s column in the on Tuesday was full of strong stuff. He called India’s showing in the Test series “wretched” and said it remained to be seen if the team was ready to do “penance”.
“Five sessions and not five days have been enough to nail them,” he wrote. “But move on we must. Sit back and watch if these glam boys are ready for penance. If they are prepared to plunge their bare hands into the coal of fire and start from scratch.
“England have made runs, but anyone would if the other side makes 100 or so.”

Further clipping Fletcher’s wings, his two assistants, fielding coach Trevor Penney and bowling coach Joe Dawes, have been “given a break” for the one-day series in England. In their place come former India allrounder Sanjay Bangar and former India fast bowler B Arun as assistant coaches. R Sridhar, the former Hyderabad left-arm spinner, will join the support team as the fielding coach for the one day series.While the BCCI’s official press release soft-pedalled the news, saying Shastri would “oversee and guide the Indian cricket team”, board secretary Sanjay Patel was more emphatic while talking to ESPNcricinfo. “The team is with Ravi Shastri,” he said. “Now it is his baby. He will handle everything.”This is not the first time the BCCI is turning to Shastri during a crisis – he was named the Indian team’s cricket manager after an embarrassing first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup.A BCCI release said: “In their continuing efforts to re-energise the support to the team, the BCCI has given a break to the bowling coach Mr Joe Dawes and the fielding coach, Mr Trevor Penny for the one day series and appointed Mr Sanjay Bangar, former Indian all rounder and former India fast bowler Mr Bharat Arun as the Asst. coaches of the team. Mr R.Sridhar will join the support team as the fielding coach for the one day series.”Dawes, a former Queensland fast bowler, has been India’s bowling coach since the 2011-12 Test debacle in Australia, while Penney has been in charge of the fielding after India’s victorious 2011 World Cup.Bangar retired from first-class cricket in 2013 and has since coached India A, and been part of the support staff of various IPL franchises, with his reputation getting it biggest boost after he coached an unfancied Kings XI Punjab to their first IPL final earlier this year.Sridhar, who began his coaching career in 2001, has been part of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and was the India Under-19’s assistant coach during the World Cup in February in the UAE. He has also worked with Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2014 as the franchise’s fielding coach.Arun, a former Tamil Nadu fast bowler, has overseen India’s two previous Under-19s campaigns, including Unmukt Chand’s title-winning side in 2012. He was also among the senior coaching staff at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore till he resigned last year.The developments come a day after BCCI joint-secretary Anurag Thakur had suggested that a former India player should work with Fletcher to guide the team. He had also told PTI: “I would ideally like an Indian support staff to work in tandem with Fletcher, which might help him to prepare better for the future tour.”

Coasting in their chase of 264, West Indies imploded against India’s bowlers on a two-paced Feroz Shah Kotla pitch and sunk to a 48-run loss in the second ODI

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy11-Oct-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli and Suresh Raina added 105 for the fourth wicket•BCCIChasing 264, West Indies were coasting. Dwayne Smith had gone past his highest ODI score, and his second-wicket partnership with Kieron Pollard was assuming threatening proportions. With nine wickets in hand, a long list of batsmen waiting in the dressing room, and 128 required at exactly a run a ball, this was West Indies’ match to lose. They went and lost it.It started with the wicket of Pollard, who chased a wide ball and dragged Amit Mishra onto his stumps. From that point, West Indies imploded. On a two-paced Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, India’s bowlers put the brakes on the scoring, and panic took hold of the batsmen. West Indies lost their last nine wickets for 79 runs, and their last eight for 45.West Indies fined for slow over rate

West Indies have been penalised for a slow over rate in their defeat against India in the second ODI in Delhi. They were found to be two overs short of the target.
The West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo was fined 40% of his match fee while his team-mates were fined 20%. According to the regulations for minor over-rate offences, players are fined 10% of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.
If Bravo is found guilty of one more minor over-rate offence in ODIs over the next 12 months, he will receive a one-match suspension.

In ODI cricket, six an over is usually a doddle when you have wickets in hand and not too many runs left to get. On this pitch, however, scoring quickly wasn’t easy unless you had your eye in. India had discovered this to their detriment earlier in the day, both at the start and the end of their innings.Having opted to bat first, they had struggled to break the shackles against accurate new-ball bowling from Ravi Rampaul and, in particular, Jerome Taylor, who attacked a good-length area close to off stump and allowed the pitch to do the rest. The second-wicket pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu had looked quite ill at ease while adding 46 in 67 balls, and even Virat Kohli had taken his time to find his feet.Suresh Raina looked fluent right from the time he walked in, however, and his front-foot stride – the surest sign that his mind isn’t entirely consumed by thoughts of the short ball – was light and sure whenever the bowlers gave him half an opportunity to drive through the off side.Raina and Kohli slowly got on top of the bowling, and began the batting Powerplay on the cusp of India’s first century stand for the fourth wicket since August 2012, and the score read 163 for 3.It looked like a launchpad to a 280-plus score, but the dismissals of Raina and Kohli, in the 37th and 41st overs, sucked the momentum out of India’s innings. Without MS Dhoni’s unbeaten 40-ball 51, it’s unlikely India would have gotten near their total of 263, with pretty much everyone else at the other end struggling to come to terms with the surface and West Indies’ adroit use of the slower ball at the death.The wicket of Pollard caused a similar, and even more dramatic, turnaround in the tempo of West Indies’ innings. Till then, Mishra had endured a frustrating evening. He had bowled a number of good balls, had had a close lbw shout against Pollard turned down, and had been picked off for three massive sixes, two of them by Pollard, and not necessarily off the middle of his bat. Having just struck his third six, he went after one tossed up wide outside off and inside-edged it onto leg stump.Following that breakthrough, Mishra bowled 16 successive dot balls, landing everything on a good length on off stump, getting some balls to grip on the pitch and others to skid off the surface, and completely confounded Marlon Samuels, who had scored a century against this same attack three days ago.Smith carried on fluently at the other end, picking off Kohli’s wrong-footed legcutters for four fours in two overs, and launched Mohammed Shami over the long-on boundary in the first over of the batting Powerplay. In sight of his first century in ODIs and List A cricket, however, Smith received the perfect riposte from Shami, a full, fast ball that swung in a touch and cannoned off the pads and into the stumps.The required rate crept up to over seven, and Samuels slapped a perfectly slappable long-hop from Umesh Yadav straight to cover. The spinners then discovered the turn available on the pitch, Mishra spinning one sharply to find Denesh Ramdin’s outside edge, Ravindra Jadeja doing the same to beat Andre Russell’s edge and have him brilliantly stumped by Dhoni. By this point, West Indies had been knocked out – the four wickets that remained fell in the space of 26 balls, and India won with 21 balls left to play.

Kemar Roach thrilled on his way to a five-wicket haul, leaving the Bangladesh batsmen dazed and confused in their reply to West Indies’ 380

The Report by Mohammad Isam14-Sep-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShivnarine Chanderpaul shared crucial lower-order partnerships with Jerome Taylor and Sulieman Benn•WICB MediaKemar Roach thrilled on his way to a five-wicket haul, leaving the Bangladesh batsmen dazed and confused. His 12-over spell after the tea interval gave West Indies full command at the end of the second day, with the visitors left lurching at 104 for seven.They are now 276 runs behind West Indies’ 380 all out from earlier in the day. The three-man pace attack was what Denesh Ramdin used for all but two overs till stumps.Roach removed Shamsur Rahman in the sixth over and after tea, and accounted for Anamul Haque, Tamim Iqbal, Nasir Hossain and Taijul Islam to complete his sixth five-for and his first of the year. His deliveries would invariably be on a good length or further up, tempting the batsmen to either play the ball or leave with some confusion.Roach was lucky to get the wicket of Shamsur, who tickled a legside delivery, neatly caught by Ramdin diving to his left. Anamul couldn’t make up his mind whether to leave or play the ball. He suffered that torment for just over an hour until his attempted leave took the bat’s face and ended up in Darren Bravo’s hands at first slip. Tamim, having made 48 off 75 balls, was constantly being dragged away from the stumps even when he was leaving the ball. After several close shaves, Tamim went sideways, edging the ball far from his body.Nasir Hossain’s prod was more out of speculation but he hardly wasted time in the middle. Taijul was set up with relentless short balls, two hitting him in the gloves, and then he timed one right into third-man’s lap. Roach’s five-for was completeApart from Roach’s five, Jerome Taylor took two wickets while Shannon Gabriel went wicketless, but the plan to attack Bangladesh was a three-man strategy.Gabriel was the quickest of the lot, regularly hitting 90mph and he attacked the stumps mostly but he also beat the bat a number of times. He had stung Tamim on the front boot with a yorker just before tea and the batsman only survived the review because Hawkeye suggested the ball had pitched inches outside the leg stump.Taylor bowled more at the body, reintroducing the Bangladesh batsmen to their old fear: the short ball. His delivery to Mominul Haque was virtually unplayable with the batsman completely unaware where the ball that hit him in the gloves had gone.It was smartly caught by Jermaine Blackwood at short leg, and the spit that was created by the seam hitting the pitch just short of a good length made it the most dangerous delivery of the day.Thirty-nine minutes later, Taylor moved the ball back into Bangladesh’s best batsman on the tour, Mushfiqur Rahim, and dislodged the off stump.Earlier, the West Indies innings ended an hour into the second session, after Shivnarine Chanderpaul had held it together with an unbeaten 84. He had made an unbeaten 85 in the first innings of the first Test, but here in St. Lucia the situation was more complicated.When he joined Darren Bravo late on the first day, the fourth-wicket pair had to negotiate an invigorated Bangladesh bowling attack. They guided West Indies to safety but Bravo didn’t last too long in today’s morning session, losing his patience after Robiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain had strung together seven parsimonious overs. In the first six overs of the day, West Indies scored only two runs, both being no-balls.Bravo was drawn into following a Robiul outswinger, edging to the wicketkeeper for 46. It triggered a collapse and three more wickets – those of Jermaine Blackwood, Ramdin and Roach – fell in the next 21 balls. Al-Amin was on a hat-trick at one stage after he had made the ball straighten after pitching to find the edges of Blackwood, caught at first slip, and Ramdin, caught behind.West Indies were 269 for 7, and Chanderpaul only had the tail for company. Help came from No 9 Jerome Taylor, who hammered 40 off 31 balls with five fours and two sixes. The 41 minutes of mayhem threw Bangladesh off-kilter, evidenced by Mominul Haque dropping Taylor at cover, when he was on 18. And even after Taijul Islam broke the 54-run eighth wicket stand, Bangladesh’s wait wasn’t over.Sulieman Benn made 25 and added 52 with Chanderpaul for the ninth wicket, before he was caught at fine leg off Al-Amin. The innings ended soon after, when Robiul bowled Shannon Gabriel in the 124th over. Al-Amin finished with three wickets while Shafiul, Robiul and the expensive Taijul picked up two each.The bowlers may have thought they did a good enough job by taking 7 for 134 in the first three hours but they will have to put in a gargantuan effort with the bat as well, to drag the Bangladesh innings past the follow-on mark, if they are to have another bowl at the home side.

South Australia earned a consolatory win at the end of their Matador Cup campaign with a 37-run victory over Tasmania

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2014
ScorecardTom Cooper made 72 off 69•Getty ImagesSouth Australia earned a consolatory win at the end of their Matador Cup campaign with a 37-run victory over Tasmania, but still ended at the bottom of the table. Their win was set up by fifties from Andrew McDonald and Tom Cooper and a four-for from Kane Richardson, which put Ben Dunk’s 92 in vain.The Redbacks were given a strong foundation after they were put in to bat. McDonald (53) and Travis Head (44) put on 98 for the opening stand but both were dismissed in successive overs. Cooper, 72 off 69, had Alex Ross for company for the fourth-wicket stand of 80 runs that took the score past 200. But once the stand was broken, the Tigers didn’t allow any partnership to flourish till the end. Hamish Kingston and Evan Gulbis troubled the middle and lower order with three wickets each before a late attack from Richardson and Adam Zampa took the side to 295. The Redbacks scored 6 for 83 in the last 15 overs, and Xavier Doherty finished with 3 for 50.The Tigers got a solid contribution from their in-form opener Dunk. He hardly got any support from the other end as his first four partners fell before reaching 20. Jonathan Wells and Dunk then put on 60 for the fifth wicket, before the latter was run-out in the 39th over. The Tigers needed 123 from 10 overs which soon became 100 from five. Wells hammered six consecutive fours in the 48th over off Gary Putland but it wasn’t enough.

Most of the focus in the run-up to the third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand has been on Daniel Vettori’s inclusion, and the likelihood of the visitors playing a three-pronged spin attack

The Preview by Rachna Shetty25-Nov-20141:12

New Zealand target spin win

Match factsNovember 26-30, Sharjah
Start time 1000 local (0600 GMT)Irrespective of how many overs Daniel Vettori will bowl, his experience is important to the side in spin-friendly conditions•Getty ImagesBig pictureIn September this year, Daniel Vettori had admitted that his Test future was “on the backburner” after a spate of injuries had left him unsure of his fitness to cope with the demands of the format. Expectedly, then, most of the attention in the lead-up to the Test has been on his inclusion in the New Zealand squad, even if it is only a “one-off”.Vettori, who last played a Test in July 2012, was travelling in the UAE with the New Zealand A squad, focused on building up his workload ahead of the World Cup. His selection, unconventional as it is, also shows New Zealand’s desperation to win the final Test and level the series. They put Pakistan under pressure on the final day of the second Test, with an interesting declaration, but the inexperience of their spinners also came through.In terms of number of matches, not much separates the spin pair of Ish Sodhi and Mark Craig from Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar – where Sodhi and Craig have played 15 Tests between them, Babar and Shah have 10. Towards the end of the day in Dubai, however, Craig and Sodhi couldn’t summon the consistency and guile to make use of a day-five pitch and choke Pakistan.Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, has pointed out that making use of footmarks on tracks was something the pair were still adapting their technique to, and on a track that’s likely to be the lowest and slowest of all the surfaces in the series, the visitors will be banking on Vettori’s experience and knowledge.For Pakistan, the second Test was a trip out of their comfort zone, a break in their series of bat-first-bat-big strategy that brought them so much success against Australia and in the first Test of the series. Their second innings on the final day of the game was one of the toughest they have played in recent Tests in the UAE and while they were jittery, it gave the likes of Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq a chance to show their mettle in negotiating the draw. Pakistan will be wary of the fact that a 1-1 scoreline at the end of the series could cost them the No. 3 spot in the Test rankings, as they will fall behind England if they lose this match.Form guidePakistan: DWWWL (most recent first, completed matches only)
New Zealand: DLWLWIn the spotlightSince his debut in 2010, Kane Williamson has been New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in away Tests, scoring more than half his runs overseas. In five Tests played in the calendar year, prior to this series, Kane Williamson had scored 583 runs at an average of more than 60. In four innings here, he has managed 69 runs. With Tom Latham and Ross Taylor finding form, a big innings from Williamson could give New Zealand a decisive advantage.One of the cogs of Pakistan’s recent domination has been the solid starts provided by Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez. With both batsmen out due to injuries, Pakistan were forced to put together a new pair in Shan Masood and Taufeeq Umar. While Umar failed in both innings, Masood scored a 40 in the second innings. Pakistan will hope both batsmen can find form in Sharjah but will also be aware that Azhar Ali has contributed to two fifty-plus stands in the last two games in which he has opened.Team newsNew Zealand have opted to bring in Vettori in place of Jimmy Neesham, who has had scores of 11, 0, 17 and 11 in the series so far.New Zealand (probable) 1. Tom Latham, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 Mark Craig, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Tim Southee 11 Trent BoultPakistan could make one change, bringing in Imran Khan in place of Ehsan AdilPakistan(probable) 1 Shan Masood, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Ehsan Adil/Imran Khan, 10 Zulfiqar Babar, 11 Rahat AliPitch and conditionsCoaches of both sides have acknowledged they expect the track at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium is expected to be low and slow. In the pre-match press conference, Brendon McCullum said: “There’s no grass on it… It looks glassy”. The side winning the toss can be expected to bat first as McCullum stressed that doing so provides the best opportunity for a win. When asked if he would put Pakistan in to bat, along the lines of his intriguing declaration in the second Test, McCullum quipped: “There’s bravery and then there’s stupidity.”
The weather is expected to be dry and hot for the duration of the Test.Stats and trivia One of the last instances of New Zealand fielding three spinners in a Test came in 1998 against Sri Lanka in Colombo, where the side’s spin attack included offspinner Paul Wiseman and left-arm spinners Vettori and Mark Priest. Daniel Vettori is set to become New Zealand’s most capped Test player. He is currently tied with Stephen Fleming (111 games) on that list. Overall, Vettori’s career tally of 112 games includes one for the ICC World XI. Pakistan’s highest score at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium is 493 against West Indies in 2002. However, they have also been dismissed twice in one game for scores of 59 and 53 at the ground against Australia, also in 2002. Quotes”He’s very much in the Kane Williamson mode as a type of analytical batsman who can work out the situation of what’s unfolding in the middle and devise a simple game plan and stick to it.
“We have played quite a bit of cricket here, one-dayers and Tests and we are sure we are going to do well here but we are not going to do anything different from what we did in the first two Tests.”

Sri Lanka’s premier one-day bowler Lasith Malinga will return to international cricket towards the tail-end of the seven-match ODI series in New Zealand in January 2015

Sa'adi Thawfeeq21-Dec-2014Sri Lanka’s premier one-day bowler Lasith Malinga will return to international cricket towards the tail-end of the seven-match ODI series in New Zealand in January 2015. Malinga underwent surgery on a troubled left ankle in September and is currently recuperating. He missed Sri Lanka’s last two ODI series played against India and England.”Malinga is still recovering from surgery and everything is going well according to plan. He will return for the last two ODI games in New Zealand,” assured Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu.Malinga, who has been named in Sri Lanka’s provisional World Cup squad of 30, has 271 wickets from 177 ODIs. Without him Sri Lanka managed to beat England 5-2 at home after losing 0-5 to India.Suranga Lakmal made up for Malinga’s absence with two telling spells in the final two ODIs against England.”The way he [Lakmal] bowled especially at Pallekele is what we all welcome. We all knew what he could bring into the side. In Malinga’s absence we needed that tight bowler and he has come and delivered straightaway,” Atapattu said.On his return to international cricket from an ankle injury Lakmal took a career-best 4 for 30 in Pallekele and followed it up with figures of 2 for 25 in Colombo.”It’s nothing like you having your settled combination. If Malinga and [Nuwan] Kulasekera can come back and bowl the way they have done in the past it will be fantastic,” Atapattu said.Kulasekara remains in contention for a place in the World Cup squad, on the back of his domestic performances, Atapattu said. Kulasekara had been an integral cog in Sri Lanka’s ODI attack since 2007, but had encountered an extended lean patch this year, during which he claimed only two wickets in his nine recent outings.He has been active in Sri Lanka’s Premier Limited Over tournament since, most recently taking 4 for 30 in the final against Sinhalese Sports Club. Kulasekara took 11 wickets in seven matches at an average of 22.45 all told, during that tournament.”Kulasekera is going through the club season at the moment and he is working through his action [for] inswingers and outswingers with the coaches in the academy,” Atapattu said. “We didn’t want to rush him but give him plenty of confidence before he comes and plays.”His greatest strength is to move the ball at the pace that he bowls at: 120-130. He lost a little of his natural swing in the latter part of the match he played against India lately. It was quickly identified by the bowler and he is doing some remedial work.”

Mitchell Marsh, returning to the Australian side after hamstring troubles, will only bowl in the latter stages of the triangular series that serves as a prelude to next month’s World Cup

Daniel Brettig13-Jan-2015Mitchell Marsh, returning to the Australian side after hamstring troubles, will only bowl in the latter stages of the triangular series that serves as a prelude to next month’s World Cup. Marsh will play the first part of the tri-series as a pure batsman, and could potentially bat up the order until he is fit enough to bowl his swinging fast-medium.Australia will play matches against England in Sydney and India in Melbourne before Marsh is seriously considered for selection, with the third match against Eoin Morgan’s men in Hobart marked down as the return date. He may not bowl until the tournament final in Perth, provided Australia qualify.”The plan is for me to be available for selection for the Hobart game but obviously I have got a few things to get past first,” he said. “At this stage I will be playing the first few games as a batter while I build my workloads up and go from there, hopefully if it all goes to plan I can start playing as an allrounder at the back half of this series.”Over the last 12 months I have got my body to a stage where I feel comfortable and strong going out to play. I have gained great confidence in my body that has given me the ability to go out there and play with freedom and that’s what the Australian team is all about.”This is a minor setback for me, and if we didn’t have the World Cup I probably wouldn’t be out for this long. We all had our eye on the big picture and the hammy’s feeling great. The last six months has given me great confidence, and hopefully I can keep building.”Marsh’s career was drifting along and not achieving much beyond fat Twenty20 paycheques when he decided – in concert with his father Geoff Marsh, state coach Justin Langer and mentor Tom Moody – that he would shelve his T20 plans in order to focus upon the longer forms of the game. While he was unable to secure a place with an English county team in the winter of 2014, the change in mindset bore fruit for Australia A against India, and national call-ups duly followed.”I didn’t go to the IPL and I really wanted to go to England last year to play some four-day cricket because that’s really the most challenging format for me,” Marsh said. “I didn’t go but that was really a point in time where I had some time off and got stuck into the gym. I started off really well in the A series and that’s where it started to happen for me. Last year I really made that decision to concentrate on my goal of playing Test cricket.”I had a few things I needed to work on technically and mentally as a young player, and I certainly think I’m learning every day with those sorts of things. My batting mentor and coach is Tom Moody and he’s someone who’s been unbelievable for me not only as a cricketer but as a person as well. I’ve learned so much off him the last 18 months and he’s been massive for me.”Marsh was one of few players to emerge with great credit from the triangular series in Zimbabwe, where the Australians lost to the hosts for the first time since 1993 and were beaten again by South Africa in the final. Marsh played several innings of note, most memorably taking to the high-class offerings of Dale Steyn and also trialling at No. 3 in the batting order.”That Zimbabwe trip gave me a lot of confidence. It was a bit of a breakout tour for me and has given me great hunger to stay around this group, it was a turning point for me,” Marsh said. “I did have a bit of a taste and I did enjoy batting up there, but I think this one-day team’s pretty settled with our top order and I’m happy to slot in anywhere.”Moody was part of no fewer than three World Cup campaigns for Australia, and also coached Sri Lanka on their way to the 2007 final. His insights as a former allrounder but also a team leader may well prove valuable for Marsh as he works towards a peak of fitness and focus for the major 50-over tournament, aware that it will be a tight squeeze for spots alongside his fellow allrounders Shane Watson, James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell.”There probably is [competition for spots], there’s no beating around the bush there, but I think the balance in this squad with so many allrounders gives us great depth and if we get an opportunity we’ll all be putting our hands up,” Marsh said. “If you’re making enough runs or taking wickets you’re going to be picked anyway, but my bowling hopefully adds something to our team.”It’s something I really need to focus on and hopefully I can play a role as a batter and a bowler in this team.”

A confident and settled Australia have set themselves a target of 12 straight wins starting from the Hobart ODI against England, and are waiting to unleash Mitchell Johnson on the same opponents in the triangular series final

Sidharth Monga in Perth31-Jan-20151:37

‘Nice to unleash Johnson’ – Bailey

On Friday, England and India were locked in a tough scrap to find out who the second-best team in this triangular series so far was. It was around the second drinks break during the chase when the game was in a delicate situation. England had only just begun to build a partnership after having been reduced to 5 for 66 while chasing 201. Fans of the two teams had just stepped out during the break when a taxi whizzed by, and a head sticking out from the front seat shouted, “If you want to see a real team, come here on the Sunday.”The real team will be playing on Sunday for sure. The real team knew it would be playing here more than a week in advance. The real team has gone unbeaten all summer across formats. The real team has set itself a goal to stay that way. Australia’s captain for the moment, George Bailey, was asked about momentum when he revealed the “side goal” the team had set itself. “It’d be nice to win,” he said. “Absolutely. We play every game to win. We spoke as a group before the Hobart game about winning 13 games straight as a bit of a side goal. So it’ll be great to win.”It’s actually 12 games from Hobart onwards. Australia have won one, they couldn’t do much about the rained-out encounter in Sydney, and are favourites to win on Sunday. The scary part is they haven’t yet played their best XI. From what we are hearing from their players at press conferences, there is a mean bowler coming back for the final against England.”It’s tempting to play all four quicks, I reckon, when you see a wicket like that,” Bailey said. “We are sitting down this afternoon to sort that out but we are really happy that Mitchell Johnson is back and not that happy that he has been building up his overs in the nets. So it will be nice to actually see him unleash on the opposition rather than us being a cannon-fodder for the last couple of days, which has been a bit nasty.”There was a bit of humour involved in Bailey’s press conference when he was asked if the World Cup champions and the Champions Trophy winners were not there in the final. “Not really, no,” Bailey said. Then he added that it was not surprising because India had spent their energies on the Tests. That even Australia had, but it hasn’t shown. They have a line-up whose firepower has made them real favourites for the World Cup. And Bailey said they had moved beyond the experimentation stage. They are ready to come at the world.”At this stage I don’t think we will be talking about mixing it up too much,” Bailey said of the batting. “We’ve been pretty consistent with how we have approached the batting order for a long time and one of the good things about that is that it has given guys really well-defined roles. To pick one example out of it we have seen some real positive signs from Brad Haddin in one-day cricket. I think he has really nutted out his role in how to approach coming in late in the innings and closing out games or icing the cake when we are batting first. So I think we’ll just stick with what’s working.”The only aspect not working so far has been Bailey himself. He could become the joint-second-fastest Australian to 2000 runs but since his bumper tour of India in late 2013, he has averaged only 23 and hasn’t scored a century. He spent a long time in the nets today, but didn’t quite say he was out of form. Elsewhere Michael Clarke returned to grade cricket and batted for close to three hours. Bailey said he was happy because this means Clarke is ahead of schedule when it comes to his recovery, but it will also mean Clarke could take Bailey’s place when he comes back.A slightly uncomfortable question followed: “If you are going to win the World Cup, you need Clarke back and leading the side, do you think?”Bailey waited. He thought. Then he said it was a weird question. Then came through the confidence: “I still think we can win it without him, but I’ll certainly prefer to win it with him.”It’s true too. Australia can win the World Cup even without Clarke. It will all come down to playing their best cricket on the big knockout nights. Their first experience, albeit at a much smaller stage, comes on Sunday when they face England in the triangular series final. The “real team” v the second-best team so far.

Victoria gained a strong 95-run lead over Queensland riding mainly on Rob Quiney’s 111 and fifties from Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Rob Quiney and Marcus Stoinis starred with the bat for Victoria•Getty ImagesVictoria gained a strong 95-run lead over Queensland riding mainly on Rob Quiney’s 111 and fifties from Marcus Stoinis (71) and Peter Handscomb (50).In their reply to Queensland’s 207, Victoria’s opening stand was broken by seamer Mark Steketee who had Chris Rogers caught behind for 6. Quiney then paired with Stoinis for a 168-run second-wicket stand that frustrated the Queensland bowlers.Offspinner Michael Philipson ended the big partnership when he had Stoinis caught by James Hopes. Philipson struck 10 balls later to trap Quiney leg before and later also had Victoria captain Matthew Wade caught behind for 23.David Hussey’s brief innings of 12 was brought to an end by Steketee in the 58th over. Handscomb had steadied the middle order with his fifty, but when he was sent back by Hopes, Victoria had slumped from 1 for 181 to 5 for 248. However, they ended the day on top with Daniel Christian and James Pattinson unbeaten on 25 and 0 respectively at the end of the second day.Earlier, Queensland were able to add just one run to their overnight score of 9 for 206. Legspinner Fawad Ahmed dismissed Peter George in the second over of the day to finish with 5 for 50, his sixth five-for in first class cricket.