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Ben McDermott smashed 110 not-out from just 60 balls in a 176 chase as the revived Hobart Hurricanes notched consecutive wins

Tristan Lavalette27-Dec-2021Ben McDermott continued to relish his elevation up the order with a blistering century as Hobart Hurricanes overcame struggling Adelaide Strikers at Blundstone Arena.The recently promoted opener, who had started the season slowly at No. 4, thwarted Strikers’ star spin tandem of Rashid Khan and Fawad Ahmed to lead Hurricanes’ overhaul of the 176 target with nine balls to spare.McDermott smashed 110 not-out from just 60 balls as the revived Hurricanes notched consecutive wins, while Strikers are falling off the pace.McDermott is relishing his new role
McDermott’s recent elevation to partner Matthew Wade has been a master stroke for Hurricanes. He took the aerial route in the powerplay to get Hurricanes off to a fast start even though they lost Wade for just six.Much of Strikers’ strength is their spin duo of Rashid and Fawad, who once again bowled in tandem after the powerplay. But McDermott targeted Fawad down the ground and smoked him for three consecutive boundaries as he combined with D’Arcy Short in a strong partnership of 81.Short has started to show a liking to No. 3 as he slowly rediscovers his best form underlined by smashing a pull shot out of the ground. Just when the pair were taking control, Short fell to a superb yorker from Perter Siddle although the batter felt aggrieved with the lbw decision.McDermott, however, remained unruffled and continued to toy with Fawad as he once again smashed the spinner to his sweet spot down the ground. The 16th over loomed as defining, with Rashid bowling his final over but McDermott continued his merry way with a six although the Afghan star claimed the wicket of Harry Brook.McDermott never gave Strikers a sniff and he effectively sealed the game when he clubbed three boundaries off Siddle in the 18th over. He then reached a deserved century with a six in the penultimate over as he became the first player with two centuries in BBL chases.Wounded Strikers have no answers
Strikers had to guts it out with quicks Siddle and Wes Agar both injuring their fingers while bowling. With Fawad nullified by McDermott, the burden fell on Rashid who also could not weave his magic against the rampaging batter.Strikers have a strong bowling attack although will be sweating on the fitness of Agar, who suffered a dislocated finger, and the indefatigable Siddle, who looked in anguish throughout after dropping a tough return chance off Short.With teams being cautious against Rashid, Strikers need other bowlers to step up, otherwise their season will be quickly a lost cause.Meredith is Hurricanes’ bowling talisman
Hurricanes did a serviceable job to restrict Strikers’ batters on a belter of a pitch. Their attack has looked far more potent with the inclusion of speedster Riley Meredith.After returning from a hamstring injury and bowling just one over in his season debut against Perth Scorchers, Meredith claimed three wickets in Hurricanes’ win over Melbourne Stars and backed that up with another trio of scalps against Strikers.The 25-year-old, who has played five T20Is for Australia this year, bowled with trademark fire but mixed things up nicely by taking the pace off the ball – a skill he has sharpened this season.Amid a strong attack, Meredith looms as its talisman as he proved with the key scalps of Jake Weatherald and Matthew Renshaw in a momentum-shifting 15th over.He was occasionally wayward and predictable but Meredith’s impact has already been pronounced.Renshaw and Weatherald provide silver linings
Strikers are in a rut but Weatherald’s return to form and the belligerence of Renshaw, who had looked one-paced in his previous two games, are desperately needed tonics.Renshaw mixed orthodox shots with inventiveness in the most commanding knock by a Strikers batter this season. His fluency seemed to spark Weatherald, who had only mustered 53 runs from his previous five innings. The pair combined in a century stand as Strikers laid their best platform of the season until their departures triggered fears of another collapse.But impressive youngster Thomas Kelly continued his breakout season with an 18-ball 28 as Strikers conjured their highest total of the season, though it ultimately proved insufficient.Strikers appear short of firepower underlined by hitting just one six on the small Blundstone Arena and they are running out of time to resurrect their season.

KKR have several bowling options, but Kuldeep’s form may be a cause for concern

Shashank Kishore29-Sep-20206:38

Spotlight on Kuldeep Yadav, should KKR change their winning combination?

Big picture

It was last in 2015, the year before their two-year ban, that Rajasthan Royals won their first three games in a season. Having started the 2020 season with two wins, including a record-breaking highest successful IPL chase on Sunday courtesy Rahul Tewatia and Sanju Samson, they go in to Wednesday’s clash with a chance to emulate this.Having played their opening two games in Sharjah, where they made scores of 216 and 226, they will now play on a bigger ground and on perhaps a more challenging surface in Dubai. This could mean a slight recaliberation of their plans. Their spinners will come into play a lot more and their batsmen may not find hitting through the line as effortless as they may have in Sharjah.Royals, however, have concerns in their bowling even though Sharjah may not be an ideal barometer to base their performance on. Jaydev Unadkat, their lead Indian bowler, has proved expensive in both his outings. The highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy season is yet to strike. He also didn’t complete his quota of overs against Kings XI Punjab. His potential replacement Varun Aaron has also been expensive in the past. They have two rookies in Kartik Tyagi and Akash Singh waiting on the bench. Should they call up one of them on a bigger ground?Knight Riders, meanwhile, rebounded strongly after a pounding at the hands of Mumbai Indians in their opener. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Eoin Morgan, their finisher, sewed up a regulation chase. Shubman Gill, who they see as a future star, set it up for them upfront along with Nitish Rana, another talent they’ve invested heavily in. Questions over Sunil Narine’s form and his effectiveness against the short ball continue to persist, but the upside to his patchy form is that he doesn’t eat up too many balls in the powerplay.Kuldeep Yadav’s form, however, continues to be a real concern. The team’s strike bowler until 2018, Kuldeep averages a wicket every 55 balls since IPL 2018. Last season, nine games yielded a mere four wickets. In their second game, after going for 39 runs in four wicketless overs, he didn’t even bowl his full quota of overs.Varun Chakravarthy, their second spinner – more in the Narine mould – helped get through the middle overs economically on his debut for the franchise. Over the years, Knight Riders have had the reputation of backing their players – both Indian and overseas. Russell, who had to serve a year-long doping ban, and Narine, whose action had been under scrutiny on and off, being prime examples. Can Kuldeep repay that faith?

In the news

• Royals don’t yet have the services of Ben Stokes, who is with family in New Zealand. However, he has started training and could return from compassionate leave early October.
• Over the last couple of seasons, Knight Riders have had to furiously seek replacements in the first half of the tournament because of injuries. This year, they look settled on that count and have all players available for selection.

BCCI

Likely XIs

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 Steven Smith (capt), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Riyan Parag, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Shreyas Gopal, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Ankit Rajpoot/Varun Aaron, 11 Jaydev Unadkat Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Shivam Mavi, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Strategy punts

• Sunil Narine has an excellent record against the Royals’ top three – Jos Buttler, Steven Smith and Sanju Samson. Narine has dismissed Samson thrice while ensuring he has only managed to strike at 87 off the 45 deliveries he has bowled. Smith, who has been out twice to Narine, only strikes at 115. Perhaps, there’s a case for Narine to bowl out with the new ball, given Knight Riders’ bowling depth.
• Dinesh Karthik has opted to bat at No. 3 in the first two games. Since IPL 2019, he’s been dismissed thrice by googlies, the most for a batsman. He’s been out to the delivery in each of his two previous knocks this season too – lbw to Rahul Chahar and Rashid Khan respectively. Royals could perhaps look to attack him with Shreyas Gopal, who has an excellent googly, and Rahul Tewatia.

Stats that matter

• Pat Cummins is two short of 100 T20 wickets.
• The last time these two sides played in the UAE, Royals beat Knight Riders on boundary count after the Super Over also ended in a tie. It was the second tied game between the two sides in IPL history. The first one happened at Cape Town in 2009, when Yusuf Pathan won the Super Over for the Royals.
• Buttler averages 57.2 as an opener since IPL 2018, the third best after David Warner and KL Rahul among all batsmen with 200-plus runs. In the 16 innings he has opened, he has just dismissed five times inside the powerplay. His strike rate of 160 in this period is second best in the IPL in this qualifying period.
• Prior to this season, Samson had managed just four half-centuries in 27 IPL innings; his form tailing away after strong starts somewhat becoming a trend. He’s so far managed 159 runs, including two half-centuries in his first two outings. Can he sustain his good run of form?

Soumya’s record double-century in the Dhaka Premier League will give the batsman confidence ahead of the World Cup, says Tamim

Mohammad Isam in Dhaka24-Apr-2019Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das, both talked up as among the most talented top-order batsmen in Bangladesh, have been frustratingly inconsistent in their international careers so far. With the World Cup coming up, Tamim Iqbal, the senior opening batsman, is hoping the two youngsters grab their chances as best as they can, first in the tri-series in Ireland and then at the showpiece event.The only time Liton has really shown his ability was at last year’s Asia Cup final, in which he dominated India’s bowling to make 121 as Bangladesh went down off the last ball. Soumya made a sound start in 2015 but has had to mostly fight for his place in the ODI team since 2016. Earlier this year, he made a maiden Test hundred, against New Zealand in Hamilton, and yesterday, he became the first Bangladeshi to score a List A double-hundred.Tamim said that a score like the unbeaten 208, which came in a crucial Dhaka Premier League game for Abahani Limited on Tuesday, was bound to give Soumya confidence ahead of the bigger challenges. The batsman was having an ordinary time in the league, having scored just 197 runs in 11 innings, but hit 106 and then the record double-ton in Abahani’s last two matches.”It is a great achievement to become the first Bangladeshi to score a (List A) double-hundred,” Tamim said on Wednesday. “Although we will play in completely different conditions and against vastly different bowling attacks (when on tour), scoring runs is still a positive. It will give him confidence, regardless of where he has scored these runs. If he had made 10 and 5 in his last two innings, it would have left a percentage of doubt in his mind.”But now he knows he has scored the runs, and how he has done it. When you are in bad form, you forget how to score runs. Therefore, it is very positive for him that he has two big knocks before going to Ireland.”Since the 2015 World Cup, Tamim has had five different opening partners in ODIs: Soumya, Liton, Imrul Kayes, Anamul Haque and Mohammad Mithun. When Tamim was out with injuries occasionally in the last two years, Bangladesh used five different opening pairs. There is currently no word on who should open with Tamim in a best-case scenario, but it will be one of Soumya and Liton, the only other openers in the World Cup squad.Liton Das goes downtown•Getty Images

But while Soumya has shown that he has some form on his side, Liton followed up his poor New Zealand tour with only two fifties in eight DPL outings for Mohammedan Sporting Club. Tamim, however, felt that both batsmen could fulfil their potential in the coming months.”A regular opening partnership means that the two know each other’s game quite well,” he said. “For example, if I am hitting the fielder, he needs to take that extra chance. I can do the same if the other batsman is struggling.”But if somebody is not settled at the crease or in the team, it’s very unfair to go and tell him, ‘brother, now you take the risks’. But I am confident that Liton and Soumya have enough chances, and I am sure this is the right time to show the world how good they are.”
Tamim agreed that Bangladesh were still waiting to identify their ideal opening pair, which every successful cricket team must possess.”It happens in every profession where your colleague of 20 years, for example, will know how you operate, and what you like and dislike. There was always understanding between some of the best opening pairs in the world like Hayden-Gilchrist, Ganguly-Tendulkar or Sehwag-Tendulkar,” Tamim said. “If you look back at those games, they seem to be having fun in the middle and they each knew what the other wants.”We haven’t had that opportunity yet but those two who have been picked in the World Cup squad, I am sure they can represent Bangladesh for the next 10-15 years. I feel this is the best time for them to perform.”

Nepal nearly claimed a fourth final-over win, but excellent death bowling by UAE gave them a seven-run win and a Group A spot in the World Cup Qualifiers

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Windhoek15-Feb-20182:13

Delighted to get across the finish line – Dougie Brown

The Cardiac Kids from Nepal nearly claimed a fourth final-over win, driven by captain Paras Khadka’s second List A ton, but Ashfaq Ahmed’s first-innings 114 proved decisive as UAE held on for a seven-run win to claim the WCL Division Two title at the Wanderers Sports Club.For Ashfaq, it was his maiden List A ton, following in the footsteps of Rameez Shahzad who achieved the same feat last month against Scotland, as UAE continue to lessen their dependency on Shaiman Anwar for match-winning totals.Ashfaq and Rohan Mustafa dominated the opening passage of play, after UAE chose to bat first, putting on a 109-run stand in 24 overs that set up a commanding total. Ashfaq eventually fell to Sandeep Lamichhane in the 43rd over, before Rameez made an unbeaten 41 off 46 balls, and Shaiman offered a quick burst with 40 off 24, including an exquisite extra cover drive for six.Nepal got off to their best start of the tournament in reply, as Gyanendra Malla and Dilip Nath put on 38 for the first wicket, before Nath was bowled by Rohan Mustafa, attempting an ungainly slog. Two balls later, Malla fell to a carbon copy of his dismissal from a day earlier, caught lacing a pull to short midwicket off the medium pacer Amir Hayat, who ended with four wickets.1:58

We showed a lot of character – Khadka

Khadka and Dipendra Airee added 73 for the third wicket, though it was aided by some sloppy keeping from Ghulam Shabber, who dropped Airee twice and also fluffed a regulation stumping chance off Khadka on 22, when the Nepal captain charged at legspinner Imran Haider and was beaten by a googly.Haider eventually claimed Airee for 35, and for a while, it appeared as though the missed chance of Khadka would result in another final-over finish. Even though he continued to lose partners, Khadka chanced his hand with some streaky shots, as the ball continued to evade fielders. However, Khadka made plenty of sweet contact as well, cracking eight sixes in his innings.With 34 needed off three overs, and Khadka on 89, UAE’s bowlers rose to the occasion with spectacular death bowling. Whether it was Mohammad Naveed’s medium pace in the 48th, or Mustafa’s offspin in the 49th, UAE’s bowlers restricted Khadka with pinpoint accuracy on a yorker length, as Nepal entered the final over needing 28. Two singles off the first two balls clinched victory mathematically for UAE, before Khadka struck a six off the fourth ball to bring up his ton off 100 balls. He clattered two more, over extra cover and long-off, to eclipse Ashfaq by four runs as the tournament’s leading scorer with 241 runs.Ashfaq was named Man of the Match for his century. The Player-of-the-Tournament award was claimed by Lamichhane, whose 17 scalps tied him with Oman’s Bilal Khan for most wickets, although Lamichhane’s tailend contributions with the bat, holding up one end in a pair of match-winning last-wicket stands, were arguably just as valuable. Mustafa was his nearest competitor for the award, finishing third with 13 wickets while also scoring 183 runs – eighth in the aggregate.The win for UAE means they join Group A at the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, where they’ll be alongside West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea. As the WCL Division Two runner-up, Nepal go into Group B with Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Hong Kong.

Moises Henriques and Peter Nevill shared a 291-run stand, the highest partnership for New South Wales against Queensland, to lead the hosts’ dominance on day two

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Moises Henriques struck a career-best 265 to put New South Wales in command•Getty Images

Moises Henriques and Peter Nevill combined for the highest partnership for New South Wales against Queensland as bat dominated ball for the second consecutive day of the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.In enervating heat, the home captain Henriques collared 265, his highest score, while adding 291 with Nevill who finished unbeaten on 143.Their union surpassed the 272 put on by Don Bradman and Alan Kippax at the SCG in 1930, when Bradman was on his way to the then world record first-class score of 452.Queensland were left with a little less than a session to bat after the declaration, and were guided to stumps without loss by Peter Forrest and Joe Burns, albeit after evading some concerted shouts for lbw by New South Wales.More troubling was a blow on the helmet to Daniel Hughes while fielding at short leg. Momentarily stunned, he was assisted from the field by the NSW doctor John Orchard and was assessed for a possible concussion.

Travis Head blitzed the first ton by an Adelaide Strikers batsman to lead his side to a five-wicket win despite needing 51 off the last 18 balls

The Report by Will Macpherson in Adelaide31-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTravis Head hammered gave Adelaide Strikers every one of the 56 runs they made in the last three overs•Getty Images

Pantomime season’s arrived in Adelaide. It’s the final day of the year, so let the good times roll. Or the mad times, in this case. A bumper crowd of 46,389 watched on, rabid, riotous and ever so partisan and Strikers batsman Travis Head gave them everything they could want with a blitz so grand that his team romped to a win despite needing 51 off the last three overs. He got every one of those runs himself, and the five more he needed to finish 101 not out off 53 balls.New Year’s eve arrived with a lot of fanfare, including a premature fireworks display, but everything faded into the background and a mighty game of cricket took centre stage. It contained moments of high farce; funky overthrows, dodgy drops, attempted mankads, mystery injuries and plenty of bickering and after all that – as far as the crowd was concerned at least – the good guys prevailed in a thrilling finish with a young hometown hero standing tall.A night of such oddities, surely, was made for Brad Haddin. An injury-enforced reshuffle meant he swapped opener for finisher, coming in at No. 4 and seeing an efficient Sydney Sixers’ innings home, after Michael Lumb and Ed Cowan – making his first appearance of the campaign – got them off to a flyer. But 66 for 0 became 66 for 2 in no time flat.Lumb was his usual mix of legside hoicks, lusty hooks and bunted inside-out drives, and it took a moment of inspiration to remove him. Alex Ross provided it by sprinting 30 yards round the offside fence to dive and intercept an uppish, well-struck drive. A ball later – Adil Rashid’s first – Nic Maddinson was gone too, trapped plumb in front playing a rather odd reverse sweep.Haddin joined Cowan, who ditched his usual orthodoxy with a couple of violent swipes to leg. It was that stroke that brought about his downfall, however, as he was caught at cow corner, and soon enough Rashid – now the competition’s joint highest wicket-taker – had snared Jordan Silk and Ryan Carters too. In a bit to push the scoring rate up, Sixers had lost half their side in the 14th over. They still had 105 on the board though.Former Strikers captain Johan Botha – who was roundly booed and spent the night donning the near permanent scowl of a man wronged – and Haddin saw the innings through, sharing a 71-run stand. Haddin twice slog-swept Rashid for six, and went after Kane Richardson too, while Botha ran hard before finding the boundary four times in the last two overs, including a magnificent slash over point in a fractious final over. The bowler Ben Laughlin and Haddin clashed when the batsman appeared to edge behind but stayed put, and the umpire doubled the home side’s fury by adjudging it a wide.Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman got the Strikers’ chase off to a brisk start. Simmons belted Jackson Bird’s opening over for three fours, once through point, then either side of square leg. Next over, he sent Ben Dwarshuis high into the stands with a pull. Ludeman was quickly in on the act, taking a pair of boundaries from each of Doug Bollinger and Botha’s opening overs.Simmons fell at the start of the fifth over, skying an attempted slog off Bird. An over later, Mahela Jayawardene was caught behind, and Ludeman soon followed off a top-edge. Brad Hodge wriggled to 17 off 18, including one mighty six, but when the New Year’s fireworks prematurely began, he and Alex Ross fell in quick succession to the impressive Dwarshuis, and the game looked up.Enter Travis Head. He had taken 19 balls to find the fence, but once he biffed both Bird and Botha for sixes, he was a man on the move. Sean Abbott was set to bowl the 18th over, with Strikers still requiring 51 runs and Head 45 off 38. Head sent Abbott for four to long-on, six to deep midwicket, four behind point, then for two enormous legside sixes. Doug Bollinger bowler an impressive 19th over, but Head still managed a monstrous six over extra cover, to go with five other scampered runs. And Abbott, amazingly, was left to bowl the last set with Strikers needing 13 to win.No Adelaide Strikers batsman had ever made a BBL century and Head was 17 short of a maiden T20 ton. The first was a half-volley on leg stump. Six. Slower-ball bouncer. Six. Short again. Slapped. Six. Century. Pandemonium.If 2016 is half as fun as all this, we are in for a treat.

It must surely rank as one of the funniest run outs in cricket history. As much as Samit Patel, Nottinghamshire’s England allrounder, might have wished otherwise, it was a natural for YouTube.

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2013It must surely rank as one of the funniest run-outs in cricket history.As much as Samit Patel, Nottinghamshire’s England allrounder, might have wished the footage would never get out, it was bound to get onto YouTube before too long.Samit Patel’s run-out against Derbyshire in the Championship match at Trent Bridge was one of those moments when the batsman just had to put personal embarrassment aside and accept that his team-mates could do nothing else but laugh.”Samit Slips over!” is fast becoming the cricket video of the moment. As Stuart Broad, Patel’s England and Notts team-mate, remarked on Twitter: “Who put that banana in the middle of the wicket? A must watch.”Broad told Steve Davies, the Surrey and England keeper, on Twitter how he had to pad up immediately after Patel’s dismissal, trying to act professionally but with tears rolling down his face.Davies called the video “comfortably the funniest thing I have ever seen.” Chris Tremlett, another Surrey and England man, termed it “priceless” and there were comments from the outer that the heavy roller had returned to county cricket.Jon Culley, reporting for ESPNcricinfo from Derby, had sought to record the run out with more gravitas, merely calling Patel’s downfall “unfortunate”, although he did point out that Patel should have been run out for an earlier stumble when the fielder running in, Billy Godleman, missed the stumps from five yards.As for England, they might be tempted to remind Patel that it would not be quite so funny if it happened in the closing stages of a Champions Trophy final.

Back spasms have forced Lasith Malinga, the Mumbai Indians fast bowler, to return to Sri Lanka for treatment, and he could miss up to two weeks of the IPL as a result

Tariq Engineer21-Apr-2012Back spasms have forced Lasith Malinga, the Mumbai Indians fast bowler, to return to Sri Lanka for treatment, and he could miss up to two weeks of the IPL as a result. Malinga last played for Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals on April 11 and missed the match against Delhi Daredevils on April 16.”He is undergoing treatment [in Sri Lanka],” Nishantha Ranatunga, the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket, told ESPNcricinfo. However, Ranatunga was not certain how long Malinga would be out and said the fast bowler would have to be evaluated by the Sri Lanka team’s physio. It is understood that Malinga is planning to return by April 25 and targeting full fitness for the match against Delhi Daredevils on April 27.Malinga has reportedly not been training since the game against Royals and flew back to Sri Lanka on the morning of April 16. The team spokesperson said that Malinga “required rest and it made sense to send him back home”, but they were hopeful he would return in a few days.The loss of Malinga weakens the attack of Mumbai Indians, who have made an inconsistent start to the tournament and currently sit in sixth place in the points table, having won three of their five games. Malinga is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL and has been in good form again this season, taking nine wickets from four games at an economy-rate of 4.54.Injuries have been a problem for Malinga in recent years. A knee injury he picked up during Sri Lanka’s Australia tour in 2007 threatened to cut short his career and in April, 2011, he retired from Tests in order to spare his knee further damage.

The injury to Ashish Nehra has put the Indian team management in a dilemma over who should be his replacement for the World Cup final against Sri Lanka

Nagraj Gollapudi 01-Apr-2011The injury to Ashish Nehra has put the Indian team management in a dilemma over who should be his replacement for the World Cup final against Sri Lanka. The likely choices are Sreesanth and R Ashwin, but MS Dhoni said that he was yet to make up his mind on whether to go for a third seamer, or play two seamers and an extra spinner.”That is a tricky one,” Dhoni said 24 hours before the final. “If you see the Mumbai track there is a bit of pace and bounce for the seamers initially. Also if there is reverse swing going on, the third seamer can have an impact on the game. At the same time if the three seamers are bowling well I can easily manoeuvre the bowling.”According to Dhoni, playing only two seamers along with four spinners including part-timers did not afford him the same flexibility. Yet, on the two occasions India adopted that strategy, they won: in the final group match against West Indies, and in the quarter-final victory over Australia.”If one of the fast bowlers has an off-day it gets difficult,” Dhoni said. “Still we should not forget that, in whatever opportunities Ashwin has got so far he has done really well. We have confidence in him. But we have not thought out our bowling combination yet.”Dhoni disagreed that playing Sreesanth – who leaked 53 runs in five overs in his only game – would be a gamble. “He is one player who gets excited when it comes to big games,” Dhoni said. “If he is playing he will be in a good frame of mind. Sree is one character who can swing the ball and get you early wickets. It would be an exciting choice we would need to make.”But he did admit that being a volatile character, Sreesanth could easily disappoint. “The only person who can control Sreesanth is Sreesanth,” he said. “It is beyond my control and I don’t think too much about.”Dhoni, however, clarified that Sreesanth’s unpredictability was not the reason behind him not featuring in India’s campaign after the opening game against Bangladesh. Dhoni said that India had played the line-ups most suited to the conditions in the knockout matches, and Sreesanth did not fit in with the requirements. “It has been unfortunate that we could not give him any further chances after the first match where he did not bowl that badly,” Dhoni said. “But after that we gave chances to quite a few other individuals, which was needed at that point. After the last match in the group stages we have fielded the best XI, which suited the conditions.”Going by the two league games played here, the Wankhede pitch has proved beneficial to teams batting first. In the first of those games, New Zealand made 358 against Canada after being put in to bat. Four days later Kumar Sangakkara’s century helped Sri Lanka set a challenging target of 265 against New Zealand, who were flattened by the trickery of Muttiah Muralitharan. Dhoni was certain Muralitharan would play tomorrow despite fitness worries, and he believed the teams would prefer to bat first. “Being the final, more often than not most of the teams would love to bat first, put runs on the board and put pressure on the opposition,” he said. “You might see the wicket getting slower as the game progresses. There will not be too much of a difference apart from handling the pressure which might be more in the second innings compared to the first.”

The former Victoria fast bowler, David Saker, has been named as England’s new bowling coach, after a lengthy search for a replacement for Ottis Gibson, who took charge of West Indies in February this year

Cricinfo staff08-Apr-2010The former Victoria fast bowler, David Saker, has been named as England’s new bowling coach, after a lengthy search for a replacement for Ottis Gibson, who took charge of West Indies in February this year. Saker joins the ECB following a six-year tenure as assistant coach of Victoria, the state he represented at first-class level on 49 occasions.In his role as Victoria assistant coach, Saker helped to guide the team to the past two Sheffield Shield titles, as well as four domestic Twenty20 tiles in the past five years. He served as head coach of the Delhi Daredevils during last year’s Champions League, following an assistant coach’s role with the franchise throughout the initial two seasons of the IPL.Saker, 43, debuted for Victoria in 1994 before going on to play 23 first-class matches for Tasmania from 2000-2004. He returned to Victoria in the role of assistant coach and co-ordinator of Cricket Victoria’s high performance unit, working closely with the likes of Australian internationals Peter Siddle, Dirk Nannes, Clint McKay and Andrew McDonald.It is expected that Saker will link up with the England team in time for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean at the end of the month. “I’ve long held ambitions of coaching at international level so the prospect of working with the England team is something I’m very much looking forward to and excited by,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time as assistant coach with the Bushrangers and I’m now aiming to take my coaching to the next level with the England team.Saker’s duties will include guiding the fortunes of the established frontline bowlers, Stuart Broad and James Anderson, as well as working on the development of young prospects such as Steven Finn, Ajmal Shahzad and Chris Woakes.”I believe I can offer the England bowlers a great deal and oversee their development at the highest level,” he said. “This role will be challenging but there’s no question I’m looking forward to working with the impressive crop of bowlers currently in and around the England team.”England’s head coach, Andy Flower, said: “David has a wealth of playing and coaching experience and will be a valuable addition to the England set-up. His record with Victoria in recent times is second to none and he has managed the development of a number of top-class fast bowlers.”We were sorry to see Ottis Gibson leave the position but we believe we’ve found an excellent successor and look forward to David joining us in the lead up to what will be an exciting and challenging year ahead.”Saker was selected from a shortlist of five candidates – including Allan Donald, who worked with the England team briefly in 2007; the former Australian fast bowler, Craig McDermott; Dougie Brown, the Warwickshire assistant coach, and Stuart Barnes, a bowling coach at Gloucestershire and the ECB academy. His appointment means that Bruce French, who works with England’s wicketkeepers, is the only regular member of the coaching staff with an English background.Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, said: “We’re pleased to appoint David Saker as England fast bowling coach after an exhaustive recruitment process that included a number of world-class candidates. David’s credentials are exceptional and we believe we’ve secured an outstanding bowling coach who’ll take up a vital full-time role within the England team management.”