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Shane Watson has conceded he doesn’t know where he will fit back in to Australia’s Test side after missing all six matches of the home summer due to injury

Brydon Coverdale28-Feb-2012Shane Watson has conceded he doesn’t know where he will fit back in to Australia’s Test side after missing all six matches of the home summer due to injury. Watson was on Monday named Australia’s best ODI and Twenty20 international player of the past year at Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne, a day after he made his return to the national side.He captained Australia to a one-day victory over India on Sunday in Sydney, in the absence of the injured skipper Michael Clarke, and opened the batting with David Warner. It was Watson’s first game for Australia in more than three months after hamstring and calf problems sidelined him for the Tests against New Zealand and India.In the meantime, Warner established himself as a Test opener and Ed Cowan proved a solid companion at the top of the order. Warner, Watson and Cowan are all likely to be part of the Test squad that will tour the West Indies in April but it is not clear whether Watson will resume in the opening position or will slot in down the order, which would allow him to take more of a role with the ball.”I’m not exactly sure to be honest,” Watson said. “I’ve been watching from afar how impressive this summer has been. I want to be a part of that, wherever that is. I’ve loved opening the batting, there’s no doubt about that. But I want to be a part of it because it’s been very exciting to watch from afar and I really want to play a big role in that, whatever role that is.”One possibility is that Watson could move in to the No.3 spot that is almost certain to be vacated by the out-of-form Shaun Marsh, which would allow Warner and Cowan to remain the opening combination. Whatever the case, Clarke is excited at the prospect of regaining his vice-captain, and a man who will strengthen a side that won five of its six home Tests this season.”I can’t wait to have him back,” Clarke said after winning the Allan Border Medal and sharing the spoils of the evening with Watson. “It’s great to see him back playing one-day cricket. I have absolutely no doubt that he’ll walk straight back into our Test team. He’s been a great player for a long time but his performances over the last three years have been very consistent. It’s no surprise to me that he sits here again with another two awards.”If we keep him on the park he’ll be sitting here with a few more next year as well because he’s an amazing talent. He’s one of the few players these days who can perform in all three forms of the game with the bat, with the ball, pretty good in the field as well. He makes a big difference to our team. We’ve played some really good cricket throughout this summer to be able to win this most recent Test series without him. But as captain of the team it always makes life easier when you’ve got Watto in your team.”Watson’s two awards were all the more impressive given that he has missed so much cricket recently. But despite missing the first three quarters of the Commonwealth Bank Series, he was a close second to Clarke on Australia’s ODI run tally during the voting period and continued his individual success having won the Allan Border Medal in 2010 and 2011.”A couple of months ago I was struggling physically with my body to be able to even get on the park,” Watson said. “To even think I was going to come back and have a game like we did last night and then come tonight and get a couple of awards, it’s nice to think I must have performed quite well in the first part of the year because I haven’t played much recently.”

Mumbai’s chairman of selectors has said he was “very hurt” at Zaheer Khan comments on the axeing of Ajit Agarkar from Mumbai’s XI for the Ranji Trophy game against Orissa

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Nov-2011 Ajit Agarkar’s decision to return home from Cuttack after being dropped by Mumbai for the Ranji Trophy match against Orissa has spun off a separate controversy, with his team-mate Zaheer Khan defending him and in turn being criticised by Milind Rege, Mumbai’s chairman of selectors.Zaheer had said Rege and Sulakshan Kulkarni, the Mumbai coach, could have handled the situation with better “communication” and that there was no need to “humiliate” Agarkar.”I am not the kind of person to say all this, but I just feel that people like Rege and Sulakshan are actually pulling Mumbai cricket back,” Zaheer had told Mid-Day. “This is an utter disgrace. I am very disappointed and hurt by the way the whole situation has been handled. It is high time things get sorted out.”A disappointed Agarkar left Cuttack on the morning of the match despite Rege and Nitin Dalal, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) secretary, asking him to stay with the team.”I am very hurt,” Rege told ESPNcricinfo, when asked about Zaheer’s reaction. “Because if anybody questions my ability to select or my judgment, it is an opinion of the other person. But if anybody questions my integrity, I will not accept it.”Rege, a former Mumbai captain, said Zaheer should not have made a “personal attack” on him. “He is a very mild guy and I do not know what provoked him to say something so harsh. It is not fair on his part.”Agarkar said he was upset that he hadn’t been informed of the team management’s decision to drop him earlier, and was told of it only on the eve of the match. Zaheer supported Agarkar’s decision. “A player who has done so much for the country and state, has taken over 300 international wickets, has been consistent performer and a certainty in the team at least deserves better communication and respect. There is no reason to humiliate someone who has done great service to your team.”Explaining his decision to leave the squad, Agarkar said what hurt him most was that Rege, who had helped him play for the Tatas, did not inform him in advance. Rege disagreed, saying the policy of the selection panel was clear: select the 15 and then let the captain and coach pick the final XI. “The selection committee feels the coach and the captain are the people on the job on the ground, so how can we select the team five days prior to match. The strategies are discussed in the selection committee but the final decision of whom to take or whom not to take in the XI depends on the wicket and the conditions.”Rege he had spoken to Agarkar on the morning of the game. “He was extremely upset. He was not in a frame of mind to listen. I pleaded with him, literally, to not come back and we would sort out the issue. Even Nitin Dalal tried to convince him. But he was not prepared not to listen.”Rege, however, was confident the issue could be resolved. “I will sit with Ajit and try and defuse the situation.” He said Agarkar would be considered during their next selection committee meeting on Saturday to pick the squad for Mumbai’s match against Saurashtra in Rajkot from December 6.

James Franklin blasted 68 off 38 balls to take bottom-dwellers Wellington to a comfortable win over table-toppers Auckland at the Basin Reserve

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2011
ScorecardJames Franklin blasted 68 off 38 balls to take bottom-dwellers Wellington to a comfortable win over table-toppers Auckland at the Basin Reserve. Franklin and Brendan Taylor, who made 53, helped the hosts chase Auckland’s middling total of 157 in just 18.3 overs, giving Wellington their first win of the tournament.Wellington lost a wicket in the first of their chase but Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, scored quickly to give them a platform. When Taylor was dismissed in the 14th over, Wellington needed 51 to win off 39 balls. Franklin needed just 30; he hit three sixes and five fours in his knock to take Wellington home.Auckland’s innings had been hampered by a cluster of wickets falling at the start and then again in the end. Early strikes had left them 45 for 3 in the seventh over. They recovered to reach 150 for 5 in the 19th but five wickets fell in the last two overs, preventing a final surge. In between those spells Gareth Hopkins and Anaru Kitchen played important hands. Kitchen scored 39 off 27 balls while Hopkins hit seven fours in his 49 off 33 balls. Grant Elliott struck twice in the last over and there was also a run-out. The flurry of the wickets at the end cost Auckland a few runs and made the chase easier for Wellington.

Wahab Riaz, debuting for Kent, and Sam Northeast shared an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 66 in 26 balls to help Kent win their first Friends Life t20 victory with a six-wicket win over Glamorgan

11-Jun-2011
ScorecardWahab Riaz, debuting for Kent, and Sam Northeast shared an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 66 in 26 balls to help Kent win their first Friends Life t20 victory with a six-wicket win over Glamorgan.After being put in to bat, Glamorgan appeared in control of the contest after posting a more than competitive 154 for five in their 20 overs on a slow Cardiff pitch. Kent looked in some difficulty at 59 for two at the halfway stage, which left them needing 96 off the final 10 overs. But Riaz (32), the Pakistan seamer, and Northeast (33) held their nerve to win the game with two balls to spare.Glamorgan had got off to a rattling start with skipper Alviro Petersen, who was awarded his Glamorgan cap in the interval, and Mark Cosgrove scoring 56 from the opening six overs. Cosgrove looked in prime form as he struck Azhar Mahmood for 15 off the third over of the innings including a six over long-off. Cosgrove followed that up by stroking a straight six off Charl Langeveldt before hitting Riaz for two boundaries in his first over.But Kent fought back well to slow Glamorgan’s run rate, which was helped when Cosgrove was dismissed for 47 from 31 balls after being caught by Robert Key at extra cover off Adam Ball.Glamorgan found themselves struggling for runs against the slower Kent bowlers on a tough pitch. It was left to Petersen, who scored 65 from 56 balls, to try to bat through the innings which he nearly did until he was bowled in the final over.At the start of their reply Kent’s openers Rob Key and Joe Denly found runs hard to come by, making just 37 runs in the opening six overs. And Glamorgan appeared to be heading for their second win when the spinners Robert Croft, who went for just 21 from his four overs, and Dean Cosker tried to strangle the Kent run rate.There were signs that Kent were not going to give up when Darren Stevens hit two sixes off Cosker. When Stevens was caught at long-on off Croft, Kent were reduced to 89 for four in the 15th over.But Riaz was sent up the order and immediately had an impact by taking sixes off Croft and Will Owen. Kent were left with 33 to get off the final three overs but kept their focus as Riaz struck the winning runs.

Chief selector Kris Srikkanth has blamed India’s collective batting failure for their poor performances, and said it had nothing to do with fatigue or poor preparation in the lead-up to the series

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2011Kris Srikkanth, India’s chief selector, has blamed the collective batting failure for series defeat in England, and said the loss had nothing to do with fatigue or poor preparation.”If you see the FTP, all countries are playing cricket 365 days a year whether England or Australia,” Srikkanth said. “It is not the Indians only. The fact is that cricket is being played the whole year in whatever format – Test, ODI or Twenty20. So I don’t think that it is the fatigue factor for the performance in England.”However in the last 12 months India have played more Tests than any other team and more one-day games than anyone except Pakistan. In addition to 14 Tests and 29 ODIs over the past year, India’s players also took part in the gruelling IPL, which began within a week of the World Cup final.In the first three Tests this series, India have not managed to post a total in excess of 300, and Rahul Dravid is the only batsman to have averaged more than 40. Srikkanth said the batting had failed to perform as a unit. “The batting did not click for us. In the Indian side, if batting clicks everything clicks. We also did not do well in bowling and fielding. England bowling attack is ideally suited for the conditions.”It is a fact that our top five batsmen have not clicked in the series so far. But the same bunch of cricketers have been doing well during the last couple of years. The same combination had defeated South Africa in South Africa. It our bad luck that in this particular tour nothing has clicked for us.”India had England struggling at 124 for 8 in the first innings at Trent Bridge, but a ninth-wicket 74-run partnership between Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann played a crucial role in England getting to 221. Srikkanth said India’s failure to capitalise on the opportunity was one of the key turning points in the series. “It is a question of mental toughness and our cricketers are mentally very tough … [but] at 124 for 8, if you look at it psychologically … psychologically there we lost the battle,” he told .The BCCI has been criticised by former cricketers for its failure to prioritise Test cricket, but Srikkanth defended the Indian board. “Let us not indulge in the blame game – on the players or the administrators or the BCCI. Nobody is to be blamed and it’s not the time for that. It is just that we are going through a bad phase.”England have replaced India at the top of the Test rankings, but while Srikkanth was confident India would be able to bounce back, he said it was time to rebuild the team. “We have to learn from the series in England, look into what went wrong. We also have to identify and support new talent when the time comes,” he said.”We all have to put our heads together and plan for the future,” Srikkanth told the . “We have to start the process all over again without complaining. We have to try our various combinations to get the best team like we did before the World Cup. We even dropped Yuvraj Singh, who came back strongly into the ODI team and left a huge impact on the tournament. We want to do similar things now.”

Luke Wells and Murray Goodwin both made centuries as Yorkshire’s decision to put Sussex in badly backfired

29-May-2011
ScorecardLuke Wells and Murray Goodwin both made centuries as Yorkshire’s decision to put Sussex in on the first day of their County Championship tussle at Hove badly backfired. Wells enhanced his reputation as one of the best young batsmen in the country with his third hundred in only his eighth Championship game, while Goodwin scored his second century of the season as Sussex closed on 295 for 2.Yorkshire skipper Andrew Gale probably felt a pitch with an even covering of grass would assist his seam attack and Ajmal Shahzad, who is one of the contenders to replace James Anderson in the England squad for the Lord’s Test, did take the scalp of the in-form Chris Nash in the ninth over with one which nipped back.Wells was only opening because Nash’s regular partner Ed Joyce is playing for Ireland. Joyce is due back in time for the third day and his nominated substitute, Joe Gatting, struggled to take his chance.Gatting failed to score off 40 of the 44 balls he faced before he drove loosely at Steven Patterson and was well caught by the diving Joe Sayers at cover. But that was as good as it got for Yorkshire.Wells, briefly becalmed before lunch, reached his 50 with a cover-driven boundary off Patterson and during the afternoon session he and Goodwin made serene progress. Wells had one alarm on 79 when he was knocked off his feet by Ryan Sidebottom’s yorker but umpire Richard Kettleborough adjudged the ball was sliding down the leg side.The 20-year-old left-hander reached his century off 198 balls with successive boundaries when leg-spinner Adil Rashid obligingly dropped short and added seven more boundaries after that. He will resume on 143, having so far faced 286 balls and hit 23 fours.Goodwin lost little in comparison to his partner although he did have one alarm on 49 when he edged between the two slips off Patterson. Otherwise Sussex’s vice-captain looked in total control, feasting when he bowlers dropped short to play his favourite back-foot shots.He reached his 46th hundred for the county, in 217 balls, with his 13th boundary in the final over of the day and so far the third-wicket pair have added 217 in 71 overs.Sussex are giving Championship debutants to two South Africans. Left-armer Wayne Parnell only arrived at 6.30am on an overnight flight from Johannesburg to replace Pakistan’s Rana Naved as overseas player, while all-rounder Kirk Wernars, who qualifies because of his Dutch passport, was also included.

Australia’s captain George Bailey has conceded it does not look good for his team to have slipped below Ireland in the ICC’s Twenty20 rankings ahead of the World T20 later this month

Brydon Coverdale08-Sep-2012Australia’s captain George Bailey has conceded it does not look good for his team to have slipped below Ireland in the ICC’s Twenty20 rankings ahead of the World T20 later this month. Australia dropped to tenth on the rankings after their Super Over loss to Pakistan in Dubai on Friday, and it was far from the ideal situation less than two weeks before their World T20 opener – against Ireland.However, the T20 rankings points are accumulated from such a small pool of matches that it is difficult to read too much into them. In the current rankings period, which began on August 1, 2010, Australia have won only four of their 13 games, which have all come against South Africa, Pakistan, England, India, Sri Lanka and West Indies.By comparison, Ireland have won eight of 11, but all of their victories have come against Associate nations: Kenya, Scotland, Canada, Netherlands and Afghanistan. The only matches they have played against full ICC members came during a three-match series against Bangladesh in July – and Ireland lost all three games. Similarly, six of the eight games Bangladesh (who are ranked eighth) have played in that time have been against Associates.”It doesn’t look very good,” Bailey told reporters in Dubai after Australia’s loss on Friday. “I’m still not sure how the rankings work. So Ireland go past us tonight. I’m not sure if we’ve ever played Ireland in a T20. Make of that what you will. If Ireland are a better side than us I guess they’ll show it in a couple of weeks in Sri Lanka.”Rankings aside, Australia have several things to work on ahead of the World T20, including settling on their best combination. Mitchell Starc was impressive in the second match having been left out of the first game and Bailey’s own T20 form with the bat took an encouraging turn with his brisk 42 from 27 balls, which nearly got the Australians home.David Warner and Shane Watson also provided a solid start with their 40-run opening stand from less than five overs, and similar efforts will be essential in Sri Lanka. Bailey said despite the loss there were plenty of positives for Australia to take from Friday’s game, especially after they were bowled out for 89 in the first match two days earlier.”I’m really pleased we performed much closer to what I think we’re capable of,” Bailey said. “I think we can take a lot of confidence out of it as a team, I think individually we’ll take a lot of confidence out of it. But to be so close and then to lose leaves a lot of questions in your head.”We’ve got a lot to get out of [the third game on Monday]. Full credit to Pakistan, I think they’ve played two excellent games and certainly deserve to have won the series. But we’ve got a lot to play for. It’s the bigger picture, we all know what’s coming up. As a group, individually I still think there’s plenty to play for.”

An opening stand of 154 between Chris Hartley and Usman Khawaja set Queensland on the path to a 30-run victory over New South Wales in Canberra

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2012
Scorecard
An opening stand of 154 between the captain Chris Hartley and the opening batsman Usman Khawaja set Queensland on the path to a 30-run victory over New South Wales in the domestic limited overs match in Canberra.Hartley and Khawaja laid a platform for the Bulls’ eventual total of 6 for 292, its dimensions ultimately proving out of reach for the Blues despite a doughty rearguard from Ben Rohrer.NSW lost regular wickets in their pursuit as Cameron Gannon picked up a first five-wicket haul of his domestic limited overs career, before Rohrer added 81 with Josh Lalor in a mere 56 balls to give the Bulls a fright.The match was the last of the Australian domestic summer before the states break for the Twenty20 Big Bash League, which commences on December 7.

Rangers winger Ryan Kent “will look to leave” the Ibrox during this summer’s transfer window and Everton are keen on acquiring his services.

What’s the word?

That is according to Dean Jones, via GIVEMESPORT, who claims that the 25-year-old Englishman could leave Scotland behind.

Jones said: “I’m told Ryan Kent will still look to leave this summer as he wants to play in the Premier League. Rangers are ready to make him a new contract offer, but it sounds like he fancies a move, and he knows clubs like Leeds and Everton are keen.”

Lampard will be buzzing

With the latest report around the Rangers winger indicating that he will be looking to move on in this summer’s transfer window, Lampard will be excited at the prospect of landing the 25-year-old.

And with Kent’s contract expiring next summer, he finds himself in a good position to depart, with Rangers surely opposed to letting the £12.6m-rated man leave on a free.

In 24 appearances for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side, Kent has registered 13 returns in the form of two goals and 11 assists. For Everton, it means that they may be able to pick the forward up for less than that quoted price and would present a real bargain in today’s market for a player who is uber-creative.

Not only has he played a big part in Rangers’ road to the Europa League final, chipping in with ten for teammates in the Scottish Premiership this season.

Compared to Everton’s squad, he would rank first for this metric, with Richarlison getting the closest with five big chances created.

With Everton ranking second bottom in terms of big goal-scoring opportunities created this term, Lampard will know as well as anybody that the Toffees are in dire need of a creative spark.

The latest news will have Lampard and the Toffees faithful buzzing, as Kent can indeed be the spark that reignites Everton Football Club.

In other news: Everton targeting £42m move for “absolutely crazy” talent, he’s better than Allan 

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, has said the conditions in Mirpur would favour his side more than West Indies in the series starting this week

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2011Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, has said the conditions in Mirpur would favour his side more than West Indies in the series starting this week. Shakib, who last month was relieved of the captaincy, was also bullish about Bangladesh’s chances during the series.”I don’t see many problems in Mirpur,” he said after training at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. “We have played in England and also against Australia here, so I don’t think the short ball is much of a problem for us.”Back from Kolkata Knight Riders’ Champions League T20 campaign, Shakib insisted that there was no question of burnout. “I’m very relaxed. I can think more about myself [now that I’m not captain]. I think I’m quite fresh. It’s not like, ‘Oh I’m mentally tired’. There’s nothing like that.”Shakib also called for more international Twenty20 matches for Bangladesh. His side has played only 16 international T20 matches so far, the same as Zimbabwe, but less than half the amount other Test nations have played. “No matter how much we work on it, the best way is to play lots of matches. We play international T20s after three-six months. It becomes difficult to adjust. If we play them regularly, at least play one every series, it would do us a lot of good.”Bangladesh lost both the Test and the one-day series against Zimbabwe, their previous international engagement, but Shakib said the team was better prepared for this series. “I think the preparation has been very good. We played lots of matches, there was a tournament [BCB Cup]. We’ve all been working hard during the practice sessions.”The last time Bangladesh took on West Indies was in the World Cup when they were bowled out for 58. Shakib said that defeat wasn’t playing on the batsmen’s minds. “It is a challenge for our batsmen; if we could do well against them our confidence will be much better. But I think our batsmen have the confidence to produce the goods.”Our batting group has to be careful and disciplined against their pace bowlers, if they want to do well. I think 150-160 is a good total here, on an average that’s a good score. Making a big score is difficult in this ground as it is quite big. One needs a lot of strength to clear the rope here.”