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ESPNcricinfo previews the 24th match of the IPL between Chennai Super Kings and Pune Warriors in Chennai

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran 18-Apr-2012

Match facts

Thursday, April 19, 2012
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Chennai slipped after their fantastic chase against Bangalore•AFP

Big picture

For the third time in as many seasons, Chennai Super Kings have got off to a slow start in the competition. They have three defeats from five games, with their two victories coming against teams placed lower than them in the points table. It could have been worse though. The heist they pulled off against Royal Challengers Bangalore should have boosted their morale. They are back at home in the return match against Pune Warriors, their previous opponents. Their batsmen were strong against the Warriors quicks, but against the spinners they managed 63 runs in ten overs. In the end,155 wasn’t enough. They should expect to do better at home, given the batting-friendly conditions. However, a hamstring niggle for captain MS Dhoni, which makes him a doubtful starter, and Albie Morkel’s return to South Africa after the death of a friend, will have them worried ahead of the game.Warriors have injury worries of their own. Ashok Dinda* impressed with his economical last over in their last game against Royal Challengers but, on the down side, also picked up a side strain in the match. That means he could miss this game. Also, Warriors have had only a day to recover from that loss. There, their bowlers tightened the noose in the first ten overs, giving away only 63, but lost the plot especially in the final over. With 21 to defend, the bowling team would always back itself but AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary manufactured their own luck and pulled off a thriller. Warriors’ batting looks settled, with their openers Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa scoring a fifty each. However, Sourav Ganguly is due for a bigger score, with an average of 12.20 in five games.

Players to watch

With 171 runs in five games, Faf du Plessis, is the leading run-scorer for Super Kings. He has been solid at the top of the order and was the Man of the Match against Royal Challengers, with his 71 off 46 balls keeping his team in the hunt in their tall chase of 206.The match will be Sourav Ganguly‘s 50th appearance in the IPL. Ganguly has scored 1142 runs in the tournament so far. However, only 111 have come till now in this season. Amid questions over his fitness and form, Ganguly could find Super Kings’ spin-heavy bowling attack to his liking.

Stats and trivia

Bilal Shafayat made 93 in his first appearance for Hampshire while Jimmy Adams’ century helped lead the hosts to 352 for 8

David Lloyd at West End11-May-2012
ScorecardHampshire captain Jimmy Adams scored 122 to end a run of poor form•Getty Images

Some counties wait all season for a successful comeback but Hampshire had two in a day here, with Bilal Shafayat making 93 and Jimmy Adams pressing on to 122 after the hosts had been stuck in on what appeared, at first sight, to be a seamer’s dream of a pitch.Shafayat’s return to centre stage was especially remarkable, given that his Championship career looked as though it might have stalled, never to start again. Released by Notts at the end of the 2010 season, he played only second XI cricket last year and was signed up by Shropshire for their Minor Counties campaign this term. In some ways, though, Adams’ innings was even more pleasing for Hampshire. Their captain missed the last two Championship games for undisclosed “personal reasons” and, before that, four innings had brought the opener only 24 runs.Prospects did not look great for any batsman when, after two days of rain, the covers were removed this morning to reveal a green pitch. No wonder table-topping Derbyshire opted to bowl first – and no surprise, either, when Hampshire found themselves one down through Liam Dawson snicking a catch to second slip.In truth, though, the hosts were not required to play nearly enough against the new ball and when they did find themselves pressed into action, it came off the surface so slowly that adjustments could be made. But, that said, the stand of 164 between Adams and Shafayat was still special enough to have home supporters purring with pleasure.Shafayat looked to have the cricketing world ay his feet during the early stages of his career. He made a Championship debut for Notts in 2001, when still a week short of his 17th birthday, scoring an eye-catching 72. Soon enough, the youngster was not only playing for England Under-19s but also captaining them and huge things were expected. Somehow, though, Shafayat failed to kick on. A spell at Northamptonshire did not do the trick, nor did a return to Trent Bridge, and when Notts decided to let him go in 2010 he had averaged less than 12 across six Championship matches and his career figure was down to a distinctly modest 29.72.Since then, Shafayat’s only first-class cricket has been played in Pakistan but neither that nor a second XI double century for Hampshire last season had persuaded anyone over here to take a serious punt on him – until now. Hampshire decided to register the 27-year-old last Friday on a short-term basis and a combination of events this week (with Michael Carberry playing for England Lions and this game being reduced to a two-day affair, thereby encouraging the hosts to leave out a front-line bowler) brought about his selection.It will take more than this knock – lasting 93 balls and containing 17 fours, many of which were clipped, turned and forced through the leg side – to remove ‘riled Ricky Ponting’ from the top of Shafayat’s CV. But it’s a good start. “I don’t want that to be my only claim to fame,” he said with a smile when reminded of how he annoyed Australia’s captain while serving as England’s 12th man during the tense final stages of the drawn 2009 Ashes Test in Cardiff.Required, on two occasions, to take gloves and water to last pair Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar, Shafayat felt the rough edge of Ponting’s tongue for playing his part in what the boys in Baggy Green saw as a dastardly time-wasting plot. Here, Shafayat appeared all set to celebrate a century until chasing a wide one from seamer Jonathan Clare to edge a catch behind. He left to warm applause but looked particularly disappointed, and understandably so.As for Adams, he showed why his name was in the England frame not so long ago, producing a steady stream of straight and cover drives. His hundred was reached off 176 balls and the left-hander looked set for a big one until he was rightly sent back by Sean Ervine and run-out. Still, Hampshire’s stall had been well and truly set out and, although wickets fell regularly during the second half of the day, the home side were more than happy with their 352 for eight. And they may be happier still if they can persuade Derbyshire to set up a contest on Saturday through the forfeiture route.”I think they are keen but we’ll talk again in the morning,” Adams said. “We want to have an entertaining final day if we can and hopefully we’ll have a game for everyone tomorrow.”And as for the two major run-makers? “It was pretty obvious I’ve been short of runs so it’s nice for me to get back and make some,” said Adams. “But I thought Bilal played magnificently and it was a pleasure to bat with him. He has scored buckets of runs for our second team, it was a great effort from him today and it gives us a few good headaches and some tough decisions for next week.”

An SLC official has told ESPNcricinfo that they have issued 13 bid applications for the seven franchises so far, with significant interest from investors based in India as well

Tariq Engineer20-Jun-2012There is a healthy appetite for the privatisation of cricket in Sri Lanka, going by the number of potentially interested investors in the Sri Lanka Premier League. Despite uncertainty about the participation of Indian players in the event, an SLC official told ESPNcricinfo that they have issued 13 bid applications for the seven franchises so far, with significant interest from investors based in India as well.”The last date for submitting the bids is June 25, so we could see as many as 15 or 16 applications being bought,” the official said.The base price for the franchises has been set at US$3 million, a far cry from the $50 million that the IPL set for the first team auction in 2008, but Sri Lanka is a much smaller market than India and the SLPL franchises are not being sold outright. They are being leased for a period of seven years, after which the franchisees will have to renegotiate their deals.The decision to franchise the teams is a marked difference from the original intention last year, when SLC would have retained ownership of all seven teams rather than involve private enterprise. The results of the process are bound to be closely watched, as they could provide a blueprint for smaller countries that want to host their own Twenty20 leagues.The deadline to submit bids is 2pm on June 25, and all the bids will be opened later the same day. The same investor can bid for up to three franchises. If one bidder submits the highest bid for more than one franchise, they will be allowed their choice of franchise. Once the franchises have been allotted, a player draft will be held to determine the composition of the teams.The tournament starts on August 10, with the final to be held on August 31. There will be 24 games in total, split between Colombo and Pallekele.

South Africa will play a Gabba Test for the first time in 49 years and Sri Lanka will return to the MCG for their first Boxing Day Test since Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled for throwing in 1995, as part of Australia’s international schedule for 2012-1

Brydon Coverdale19-Jul-2012South Africa will play a Gabba Test for the first time in 49 years and Sri Lanka will return to the MCG for their first Boxing Day Test since Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled for throwing in 1995, as part of Australia’s international schedule for 2012-13. The summer will also feature a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka at Sydney’s Olympic Park on January 26, the first time in a decade Adelaide Oval has missed out on hosting the national team on Australia Day.Australia will also play an international in Canberra for the first time, a one-dayer against West Indies, who will visit for a five-match ODI series in February. The one-day tri-series, which was reinstated last summer when India and Sri Lanka competed, has not surprisingly been ditched again, and both Sri Lanka and West Indies will play separate limited-overs series against Australia.The international season will begin at the Gabba on November 9 with the first Test against South Africa, who will then move on to play Tests in Adelaide from November 22 to 26 and Perth from November 30 to December 4. South Africa’s desire to play cricket at home around the Christmas-New Year period meant the only option was to play them earlier in the season.The Gabba match will be South Africa’s first Test in Brisbane since 1963, when Ian Meckiff was no-balled for throwing and Graeme Pollock made his Test debut. Australia have not lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988, when West Indies beat them, and facing Dale Steyn and his colleagues at the venue could provide them with their toughest challenge yet to keep that record alive.Sri Lanka’s three-Test series begins in Hobart on December 14, and it could be an extra special match for the Tasmanian fans. If Ricky Ponting plays all three Tests against South Africa he will be in line to break Steve Waugh’s all-time record of 168 Test appearances for Australia and he will do so at his home ground, Bellerive Oval.Sri Lanka will then play the MCG Boxing Day Test for only the second time, and while the first holds dark memories for the Sri Lankans after Muralitharan’s no-balling, both teams have moved on since then. Ponting is the only man who played in that Test who is likely to be part of this year’s Boxing Day encounter, and the Sri Lankans have enjoyed success at the MCG in the shorter formats over the past few years.The Test summer finishes with the third Test against Sri Lanka, at the SCG from January 3 to 7, before the limited-overs part of the season kicks in. From January 11 to 23, Sri Lanka play five ODIs at the MCG, Adelaide Oval, Gabba, SCG and Bellerive, before two Twenty20 internationals in Sydney on January 26 and Melbourne on January 28.It will be the first time since 2003 that Adelaide Oval has not hosted the national team on Australian Day, a decision that came about largely because the venue is being redeveloped and will have a reduced capacity this summer. Adelaide’s Australia Day tradition is expected to resume when the ground’s redevelopment is complete.The final part of the international summer will consist of five ODIs and a T20 against West Indies from February 1 to 13. As part of Canberra’s centenary celebrations, Manuka Oval will host an ODI on February 6, and the other one-dayers will be held at the WACA, SCG and MCG, before the Gabba finishes the international season with the one-off T20.”Over the last 12 to 24 months we’ve seen some young and exciting talent injected into the Australian men’s team and those changes are starting to reap the rewards of the hard work led by Michael Clarke and Mickey Arthur,” James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said. “The Australian men’s team has a chance to test themselves early in the summer against a very strong South African side and the series is a great way to start the program.”We’re also fortunate to have Sri Lanka back again. They play a very entertaining and attacking style of cricket and as we saw last year have a passionate and vocal fan base around Australia. This year we also return to head-to-head Commonwealth Bank Series and a highlight will be the Australian men’s team first international match in Canberra.”The match is part of a big year of celebrations for Canberra and fans will be spoilt for choice with West Indies playing in the city twice and Sri Lanka once over the course of the summer. The Test and one-day series are again complemented by KFC T20 Internationals, including the Australia Day blockbuster at Sydney Olympic Park that I’m confident will draw a bumper crowd after last year’s first international match at the venue.”Australia’s schedule for 2012-13
Nov 2-4: Australia A v South Africans, Sydney

Nov 9-13: Australia v South Africa, 1st Test, Gabba
Nov 22-26: Australia v South Africa, 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval
Nov 30-Dec 4: Australia v South Africa, 3rd Test, WACA

Dec 6-8: CA Chairman’s XI v Sri Lankans, Manuka Oval, Canberra

Dec 14-18: Australia v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Bellerive Oval
Dec 26-30: Australia v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, MCG
Jan 3-7: Australia v Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, SCG

Jan 11: Australia v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI, MCG
Jan 13: Australia v Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI, Adelaide Oval
Jan 18: Australia v Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, Gabba
Jan 20: Australia v Sri Lanka, 4th ODI, SCG
Jan 23: Australia v Sri Lanka, 5th ODI, Bellerive Oval

Jan 26: Australia v Sri Lanka, 1st T20I, Sydney Olympic Park
Jan 28: Australia v Sri Lanka, 2nd T20I, MCG

TBC: Prime Minister’s XI v West Indians, Manuka Oval, Canberra

Feb 1: Australia v West Indies, 1st ODI, WACA
Feb 3: Australia v West Indies, 2nd ODI, WACA
Feb 6: Australia v West Indies, 3rd ODI, Manuka Oval, Canberra
Feb 8: Australia v West Indies, 4th ODI, SCG
Feb 10: Australia v West Indies, 5th ODI, MCG

Feb 13: Austalia v West Indies, Only T20I, Gabba

A controlled spell from Monty Panesar coupled with some aggressive fast bowling by the likes of Steve Magoffin and James Anyon, was too much for Worcestershire

Ivo Tennant at Hove03-Aug-2012
ScorecardMonty Panesar produce an impressive spell to trouble Worcestershire•Getty Images

A controlled spell from Monty Panesar, one in which he took 4 for 23, coupled with some aggressive fast bowling by the likes of Steve Magoffin and James Anyon, was altogether too much for Worcestershire. They succumbed in three days – or just about two given the time lost in this match – and had to contend without James Cameron, who was hit on the helmet, returning to the crease. The extra half hour was needed, but not for long.So what a triumph for Ed Joyce, the new Sussex captain: a century, the correct decision upon winning the toss, and a convincing victory. He knows, and we know, that leadership will not always be so straightforward and – yes – easy as this. All that inconvenienced him was a delayed start, in bizarre circumstances. And even the absence of play in the morning was ultimately of no concern.That play did not start until after an early lunch was understandable: it rained heavily shortly before the start and nothing was possible before 12.20 pm. At least that should have been the starting time. Yet when the umpires had come out, content that the drainage system had worked properly, and the opening bowlers were marking out their runs and the fielders were moving into position, the water table apparently was such that a damp patch roughly at the start of a medium-pacer’s run-up from the Sea End was too squidgy.So off they all went again, in bright sunshine, to the inevitable slow handclap. Understandable, yes, but not from a public relations perspective. When they did all re-appear at 1.10pm, Magoffin – who, incidentally, compared this bouncy pitch to ones he has experienced at the WACA in Perth – and James Anyon made plain their intention to score quick runs.And score them they did. Magoffin biffed 41 with five fours until he played on to the persevering Alan Richardson, whereupon Amjad Khan came out and batted in that flailing way which makes field settings an impossible task for the opposing captain. He and Anyon, who finished with an unbeaten 56 including eight fours, not far short of his career best score, added 60 runs before Joyce declared with a lead of 258. He could so easily have continued with the innings.Worcestershire fared no better than at the start of their first innings. Phil Hughes, undeterred by the steepling bounce, went for his shots in characteristic style, until, that was, he could not contend with lift outside leg stump generated by Anyon and deflected the ball to Ben Brown. Then Vikram Solanki lost his off stump to Magoffin, late on his defensive shot once again.Nothing seemed more likely at tea than that Worcestershire would be beaten in three days. After all, there were 42 overs still remaining and neither Daryl Mitchell nor Moeen Ali imbued their supporters with any confidence. Indeed, Moeen was dropped at second slip by Mike Yardy on 7 – a difficult attempt, this, for the ball was travelling – and he was to be held there, off Magoffin, after he had added a further 20 runs. This time the now former Sussex captain juggled the ball and caught it as he fell.Mitchell at least remained at the crease for 52 overs for his 48 runs. At the other end, though, wickets continued to fall, or, in the case of Cameron, a departure caused by having been struck by Magoffin, his eye off the ball. He was not to return. Panesar, bowling with loop and accuracy, had Matt Pardoe picked up at a wide second slip, bowled Gareth Andrew and had Ben Scott taken at silly point. As Joyce left the field, Hove was bathed in its fabled golden glow.

Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh put together Essex’s first opening century partnership of the season against Leicestershire at Chelmsford to finish on 161 without loss

01-Aug-2012
ScorecardTom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh put together Essex’s first century opening partnership of the season as they reached the close of a rain-affected opening day in their Division Two match against Leicestershire at Chelmsford on 161 without loss.Only 57 overs were possible, with the afternoon session limited to 8.3 overs. Mickleburgh, appearing in only his third Championship match of the season, was first to his half-century, reaching that landmark with an on-driven six at the expense of left-arm spinner Claude Henderson.In the bowler’s next over, Westley swept the ball to the square-leg boundary rope to take the total into three figures, and soon after collected a single that took his own contribution to 50.At that stage, he had faced 126 deliveries and struck half-a-dozen boundaries but he was a little fortunate immediately afterwards when an attempted pull fell just short of diving wicket-keeper Paul Dixey.Westley once again showed his liking for the Leicestershire attack having recorded 81 – his highest Championship score of the season thus far – when the teams met earlier in the campaign at Grace Road.With another 39 overs lost to the weather, Essex have now lost 1,576 overs in the County Championship so far this season. Twelve days have been completely washed out.

Lasith Malinga came good in the Super Over, defending 13 and trumping a super effort from Tim Southee to give Sri Lanka their first Super Eights points

The Report by Sidharth Monga27-Sep-2012
Sri Lanka won the Super Over
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Tillakaratne Dilshan played the defining innings in Sri Lanka’s chase•AFP

Tillakaratne Dilshan, who had scored 76 off 53 in regulation time, set himself under the ball at long-off, turning side ways to make sure he knew where the boundary cushions were – they were six inches from his toenails – and took the catch after the ball had passed his body and had almost entered the air space beyond the boundary. Had Dilshan missed that, this Martin Guptill hit off Lasith Malinga would have left New Zealand needing two off the last ball of the Super Over. The catch sealed Sri Lanka’s win. Such were the margins of a freak match that was tied with a freak run-out off the last ball.About 40 minutes ago, Sri Lanka were 143 for 3 after 16.3 overs, the same score that New Zealand had after 16.3. New Zealand would have been disappointed with the 31 they got after that, considering the start given to them by Rob Nicol, in association with Guptill and Brendon McCullum. With the ball, though, Southee and James Franklin pulled things back against the faltering hosts, who lost two batsmen to run-outs.

Smart stats

• This is the seventh Twenty20 to end in a tie. New Zealand have been involved in four of the seven. It is also the second tie in the World Twenty20 after the game between India and Pakistan in 2007.

• Rob Nicol’s 58 is his highest score in Twenty20 internationals and the third-highest for a New Zealand batsman against Sri Lanka.

• Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 76 is the second-highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman against New Zealand in World Twenty20 matches. It is also his second-best score in World Twenty20 games after the 96 against West Indies in 2009.

• Ajantha Mendis conceded 48 off his four overs, the most he has conceded in a Twenty20 game, surpassing the 42 runs against Australia in the World Twenty20 in 2010.

• New Zealand’s total of 174 is their highest score in Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka. It is also their second-highest score in Pallekele, after the 191 against Bangladesh.

• Sri Lanka’s score of 68 in the first six overs is the fifth-highest Powerplay score in the World Twenty20. The highest Powerplay score (20 overs per innings) is West Indies’ 71 against Australia at The Oval in 2009.

Only 30 runs had come in 5.3 overs leading to that even point, which had put Sri Lanka under some pressure. Southee added to it with an over of yorkers to leave them needing 21 off the last two. Ross Taylor risked bowling Franklin, who had helped them win a similar chase recently against India. Dilshan slog-swept the first ball for a six. On the next ball, though, he took an ill-advised second and even a desperate dive couldn’t save him.Thisara Perera scooped Franklin for a four later in the over. At eight required from seven balls, Perera was one delivery from making Southee’s last over irrelevant, but Franklin’s slower ball arrived after he had finished his swing, and it had enough legs to tickle the bail out of its groove. Southee went back to bowling full and straight from round the stumps. Angelo Mathews took a single first ball, and it was time for Lahiru Thirimanne to test weak hearts.The first ball he faced, Thirimanne moved well across to the off side in an attempt to beat short fine leg. Southee stayed in the block hole, and Thirimanne managed just the single. Another yorker, another single for Mathews: five off three. Southee remained full, Thirmanne drove and was beaten. Advantage New Zealand.Thirimanne now dug Sri Lanka out of a hole he had partly dug. Again he took the incredible risk of aiming over short fine leg, Southee missed his yorker by six inches, and Thirimanne got under it. Fists were pumped both in the middle and in the dugout as soon as the ball cleared the fielder. The best New Zealand could get now was a tie. Earlier in the afternoon, Nicol had hit debutant mystery bowler Akila Dananjaya smack on the face with a straight drive, but he and McCullum did not run off the ricochet. Would things have been different had they not been such sports?That would have been the last thing on their minds when New Zealand pulled the field in to try to save that single. Southee surprised Thirimanne with a short ball, he bat-padded it to point, where Franklin kept a cool head and returned a gentle throw on a comfortable bounce to Taylor at the non-striker’s end. Taylor fumbled the take. He missed a dolly. Sri Lanka began to celebrate, and a disappointed Taylor shook hands with the umpires, who – just to be sure – asked for the third umpire’s help. The stumps had somehow been broken.The replays showed the ball had hit Taylor’s hand and bounced on to the stumps. In real time it seemed as though Taylor had broken the wicket without the ball in his hands. Technology surprised everyone, and the game went into the Super Over. Southee continued his good work in the tiebreaker, but two of his yorkers were wides. Even so, he had conceded just 10 off the first five balls, but Perera scooped the last delivery over short fine leg to register three crucial runs.Malinga, who had an average tournament until then, decided this was a moment as good as any to make an impact. He hardly missed his length with the first four balls: two, one, two byes, one. Malinga then missed his yorker by about a foot, Guptill got under it, but this was Dilshan’s night.

ESPNcricinfo previews the qualifying match of the Champions League T20 between Auckland and Hampshire

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran09-Oct-2012

Match facts

October 10, 2012
Start time 1330 (1130 GMT)Hampshire are coming off a sparking limited-overs season in England•Getty Images

How they qualified

Hampshire won the Friends Life t20 by beating Yorkshire by 10 runs in the final at Cardiff.

Big Picture

Hampshire are making their Champions League debut and on paper are a force to reckon with thanks to their limited-overs form this season, winning the Friends Life t20 and the CB40 competition. Led by Dimitri Mascarenhas, the county doesn’t have any England stars, but have a couple of exciting overseas picks like Shahid Afridi – although not in the best of form – and Glenn Maxwell. This will be their only chance to make an impression here since English teams are likely to be absent from the next season. They didn’t get off to a good start in the warm-ups, losing to Uva Next by six wickets.One thing that will be in their favour is that their opponents Auckland played the late game on Tuesday, and will have to turn up for the first game on Wednesday. Auckland’s new-ball bowlers were in top form against Sialkot Stallions, strangling the top order – No. 3 Haris Sohail took 13 deliveries to get off the mark as Kyle Mills bowled his way to the most economical figures in CLT20 history. Their batsmen were also canny in playing out the dangerous left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, while taking on some of the less threatening bowlers. The big win over Sialkot also means auckalnd’s net run-rate gets a healthy boost, which could prove pivotal in deciding who qualifies for the tournament proper.

Players to watch

Dimitri Mascarenhas was Hampshire’s leading wicket-taker in the T20 competition in England with 15 wickets in 11 games and fifth best overall. What made his performance more commendable was the fact that he battled the pain of twice tearing tendons in his shoulder. He played a vital role in the knockouts, taking 2 for 11 in the semi-final and 2 for 20 in the final. His big hitting will be a plus for Hampshire.Martin Guptill didn’t have a productive World T20 for New Zealand, scoring 75 runs in four games. However, Auckland will need him to provide strong starts at the top of the order. Guptill was in spectacular form in the domestic HRV Cup 2011-12, scoring 504 runs in ten games, including a century. He found his touch against Sialkot as well, top scoring with a fluent 70 before picking out deep square leg with a powerful pull.

Quotes

“We haven’t yet had a team from New Zealand go into the main tournament in the CLT20. So, that’s something we want to prove to the world and to ourselves that we can do”
.”We’re not expecting a whole lot from him with the bat, whatever we get is a bonus but we know he can do it if he has to. We will use him more as a bowler who can bat a bit.”

Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard has expressed his disappointment at the Sydney Sixers Twenty20 team not passing on information about Pat Cummins’ condition before he was diagnosed with a back stress fracture

Daniel Brettig04-Nov-2012Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard has expressed his disappointment at the Sydney Sixers Twenty20 team not passing on information about Pat Cummins’ condition before he was diagnosed with a back stress fracture.Cummins is missing a second consecutive home summer due to injury, having developed soreness across the Champions League in South Africa that was revealed to be a stress fracture on his return home to Australia. Having already lost the allrounder Shane Watson to a pre-planned decision to bring him home to prepare for the home Tests, the Sixers did not initially inform Howard of Cummins’ discomfort.Howard, who remained in touch with the Sixers general manager Stuart Clark during the tournament, said he would be meeting with the Sixers at the next available opportunity.”We’re obviously disappointed we didn’t have the information as quickly as we should’ve,” Howard told ESPNcricinfo. “But for the opportunity to sit down with Sixers management on that, there’s a fair few other things going on. We know Pat’s out, and we have to deal with that, that’s life and you keep moving on. But we were disappointed with how that transpired.”Brett Lee meanwhile has volunteered to help Cummins rework his action after he was ruled out for the season with a stress fracture of the back. Cummins, 19, missed most of last summer with a foot injury and suffered a side strain during this year’s tour of England, and his latest injury is not the first back problem he has encountered during his short career.After scans revealed the extent of his injury, Cummins wondered whether he had fallen into bad habits with his action while playing so much short-form cricket, instead of bowling in the same manner he would when trying to swing a red ball. Lee had a number of injury troubles early in his career and he said he would be happy to pass on some advice to Cummins regarding the best way to bowl at express pace without damaging the back.”I’m not saying in any way, shape or form that Pat needs to change his action,” Lee told the . “But there are some things I reckon I could help him with [such as how] to clean his action up to make it a little bit easier on his back.”The one thing you don’t want as a fast bowler is hyper-extension and counter-rotation [like] he has [and] as I did when I was at the same age … I had that same set-up where there was a lot of twisting and turning in my action, which is where you get your pace from, but it does come at a cost.”Lee shrugged off injuries throughout his career to finish with 310 Test wickets and 380 one-day international victims, but unlike Cummins he did not make his Test debut until he was 23. Cummins was 18 when he wore the baggy green for the first – and so far, only – time against South Africa at the Wanderers last November, where he was Man of the Match for his seven wickets in Australia’s win.Cummins was especially impressive in the way he worked over the veteran Jacques Kallis, who struggled with a few short deliveries before edging to slip. The back injury means Australian fans will be denied the chance to see Cummins take on Kallis and the rest of the South Africans again this summer, and Lee said it was disappointing given what Cummins could have achieved on the Australian pitches.”This is a real blow. He’s a great fellow and I just want to see him out on the field and playing,” Lee said. “I’m shattered for Pat because someone like him bowling 155kph to 160kph at the Gabba would be exciting to see. It would be great to see him match what the South Africans have. It’s disappointing and frustrating to think we haven’t got that now, though it’s not the poor bugger’s fault. I’m 100% confident he’ll be back, but I would’ve loved to have seen him bowl to Jacques Kallis who, in my opinion, is the world’s best cricketer.”

Reigning Champions League and Big Bash League title holders the Sydney Sixers’ polish could not be questioned as they vanquished their motley local rivals Sydney Thunder by seven wickets at the SCG

The Report by Daniel Brettig at the SCG08-Dec-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrad Haddin began with a six for the Sixers•Getty Images

Reigning Champions League and Big Bash League title holders, the Sydney Sixers can rightfully call themselves the world’s most accomplished Twenty20 team. Their polish could not be questioned on this night, as the Sixers vanquished their motley local rivals Sydney Thunder by seven wickets at the SCG.More open to question was the Sixers’ crowd-pulling power, for the match was watched by a Sydney audience of 15,279 after most in the team’s marketing and membership camps had confidently expected a sell-out, or close to it. This was after all their tournament opener, a local derby, and a balmy Saturday evening with no major competing sport in the city.In truth, the attendance was an improvement on the 12,285 who turned out for the BBL’s inaugural match on this ground a year ago. But the amount of money outlaid on the second edition of the competition – a $10 million loss has reportedly been budgeted for by Cricket Australia – has been spent in the confident hope of greater gatherings than this.The Sixers’ successful chase was guided by the captain Brad Haddin and his deputy Steve Smith. Haddin’s 59 began with a six first ball before settling down, while Smith played with the purposeful busyness he has shown for most of the season so far with New South Wales. Nic Maddinson also contributed with a spiky 39 at the top of the order.Ryan Carters was the only Thunder batsman to pass 30, as most of the innings was constricted by Luke Feldman and Mitchell Starc, who claimed 4 for 46 between them. The Thunder will again be heavily reliant on the bludgeoning of Chris Gayle, who will join them in time for game two.David Warner had been the Sixers’ big ticket signing in the off-season after he did not enjoy his first season with the Thunder. But after a poor Perth Test match against South Africa Warner was also out of sorts as the chase began, his diagonal-batted swish at Chris Tremain unwisely reminiscent of the shot he played on the second morning at the WACA ground. Then as now, the result was an edge through to the wicketkeeper.Haddin has been in altogether finer fettle, and he blithely upper cut his first ball for six over point. Together with Maddinson, Haddin set about allaying any uncertainty among the Sixers’ batsmen via a series of punchy strokes. Maddinson’s highest score for New South Wales since returning from the Champions League had been a mere 36, but now he prospered, driving attractively and offering both a neat reverse sweep and a brazen straight hit as Luke Doran’s first over went for 18.Though Tremain returned to strike middle stump as Maddinson walked so far across his crease that he could barely reach the ball, Haddin and Smith kept composed to roll towards the target as the overs ticked by, piercing the field often enough while absorbing Dirk Nannes’ exemplary spell of 4-0-17-0. Haddin was bowled when trying to crash a six with the scores tied, but next ball Moises Henriques blazed down the ground to finish the chase.As he did in the Sixers’ very first BBL match on this ground against the Brisbane Heat a year ago, Haddin won the toss and sent the visitors in. Brett Lee and Starc shared the new ball, the latter not gaining much of his pet inswing to the right-hand batsmen but bending it the other way instead. Usman Khawaja, having been parachuted in on the day after playing two days for the CA Chairman’s XI against the Sri Lankans, was the victim of this movement, ruled lbw for 19 to a swerving yorker that may have missed leg stump.Chris Rogers and Martin Guptill both made starts, but at 61 in the ninth over Rogers tried to nibble Feldman down to third man and succeeded only in edging through to Haddin. Guptill perished to a premeditated mow over the legside, the ball plucking leg stump and causing the newly introduced “disco” bails and stumps to flash in a fashion more familiar to King’s Cross than the SCG.Playing his first BBL match after missing out on a contract last summer, Feldman returned a tidy 2 for 19. His efforts had swung the innings firmly towards the Sixers. Starc returned with another yorker that Cameron Borgas’ outlandish footwork rendered nigh on unplayable, and when Rhett Lockyear swung at Henriques and was also bowled, the Thunder had slipped to 5 for 88.At this point the ground PA system blared Gangnam Style, drawing a more lively response from the crowd than much of the innings, which concluded with a Thunder rearguard. Sean Abbott hoisted Lee into the Ladies Stand, and Carters hustled well between the wickets before slicing Jeevan Mendis’ final ball of the innings for six. Despite their efforts the final tally looked inadequate, and so it would prove.