All posts by n8rngtd.top

Both teams will need to ponder the balance of their attacks on a late-season pitch that may aid turn

Preview by Andrew McGlashan12-Mar-2020

Big Picture

Coronavirus is throwing sport events around the world into doubt, with many already suspended, and the impact is likely to be felt in Australia soon but, for now, the home international cricket season is set for an unseasonably late return with the Chappell-Hadlee series back after a gap of three years.Logically this would have been played after the Test matches in January, but Australia instead had to head to India for a one-day series. Since then, they have also been to South Africa and this late-season return to home puts a final stamp on what has been a disjointed men’s summer.This will be the last one-day series the two teams play before the ICC ODI league launches in May, part of the pathway for qualification to the next 50-over World Cup, adding some much-needed context to bilateral ODIs. For now, this remains a private battle by the trans-tasman rivals with Australia trying to regain the Chappell-Hadlee which has been in New Zealand hands since their win at home in 2017.New Zealand come into the series as the in-form side, having beaten India last month while Australia are on a run of five consecutive losses as their ODI limitations were exposed on the road. Justin Langer has admitted his team are weary but they have the motivation of trying to finish the home season unbeaten after T20I and Test success.Although three years away, there are also glances towards the next World Cup with players trying to ensure they remain in the selectors’ plans.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
Australia LLLLL
New Zealand WWWTW

In the spotlight

Mitchell Marsh returned to the ODI side in South Africa with limited success and he needs a good series against New Zealand to be sure of going to England in July. He made three starts with the bat – twice getting into the 30s – but could not convert into the significant score the middle order needed and was also wicketless in the three games.Lockie Ferguson limped out of the Test series on the opening day in Perth and if he plays in Sydney it will be his first international since then. It would also come at the scene of his international debut in 2016 where he took 1 for 73. If he does get an outing, his contest with Steven Smith will be worth watching as he dismissed Smith with a short ball during the World Cup.

Team news

Aaron Finch said it was important to give the middle order a chance to bed into their roles, which suggested the same combination as in South Africa would get another opportunity, although Ashton Agar may come back into consideration on a late-season pitch. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are expected to return.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt.), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 D’Arcy Short, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Mitchell Marsh, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam ZampaNew Zealand’s top five is settled while they will be able to recall Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson after injury. Their main decision will rest around whether Ish Sodhi plays as a second spinner.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Henry Nicholls, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

This is very late in the season for cricket at the SCG and as soon as these two matches are completed, the groundstaff will be transforming the venue into an AFL arena. It is unlikely that the pitch will have much pace and may offer some assistance to the spinners. The forecast for Friday is good, less so over the weekend

Stats and Trivia

• Outside of the 2015 and 1992 World Cups, the last time an international was staged so late in the season at the SCG was when these two sides met in a one-off ODI in 1983 to raise funds for the bushfire appeal.
• New Zealand have not won an ODI at the SCG since 2002.

Quotes

“The results aren’t improving but we feel having a bit more stability in that middle order will give them a chance to keep batting together a bit more and build those relationships in the middle. At the end of the day it comes down to the top three, as experienced players myself, Davey and Steve haven’t got as many runs as we should’ve so that’s where the buck stops.”
“Rotation is never a word I’ve enjoyed too much, it’s more about horses for courses and putting out the best team suited to that. The one-day side has been tracking nicely but you don’t look back too much on past performances because conditions can vary so much. Our plans may be slightly different over here looking at the surface.”
Kane Williamson on how the side may shape up

Gary Kirsten has called the tough quarter-final against Australia was a tipping point in self-belief in the Indian camp, and that it led to a “sense of destiny” about winning the World Cup

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Apr-2011Gary Kirsten has called the tough quarter-final against Australia a tipping point in self-belief in the Indian camp, and that it led to a “sense of destiny” about winning the World Cup. Though no host country had won the World Cup before, Kirsten said he thought there was “never any doubt” about India becoming champions as the knockout stage progressed.”I felt we were going to do this thing. And to the point the day before the final we knew were going to win,” he told ESPNcricinfo on Monday (full interview here). “We actually even spoke about it. That we were going to win this thing. It [the issue] is how we prepare to deal with the success because we are going to win. There was never any doubt at that stage.”Kirsten said he was thrilled with the resilience of the Indian team, which managed to win though their opponents were generally viewed to have the edge at the halfway stage of each of the knockout matches. “The one thing what really worked for us in the tournament was that we got ourselves into tough situations in virtually every game,” he said. “Even the games against Ireland and the Netherlands were tough. But I believe that really helped us. We were battle-hardened. We had no easy build-up.”For me the key moment was the Australian game where we chased down 260, which was a tough ask. And from that moment I just got a real sense that within our unit that now we can actually believe that we can win this (World Cup) because we can confront any situation.”We just believe that we can do anything. It stems from Harbhajan Singh scoring hundreds. It stems from Ishant Sharma batting with [VVS] Laxman to save a game. It stems from Gautam Gambhir batting out a day against South Africa in really tough conditions at Newlands. And then all the one-day efforts from difficult situations.”One man who rescued the team from tight situations in several matches was Yuvraj Singh, who had lost his place in the one-day side last year after struggling with form and fitness, but transformed into a match-winning allrounder in the World Cup.”Yuvi had a turnaround I would say about six months ago when he got left out of the side in Sri Lanka. From that moment he did a lot of work with Paddy [Upton, the mental conditioning coach]. He made some personal decisions about what he was going to do in preparation for the World Cup: one of them was his fielding, one of them was his fitness.”He had been through a tough six months, and to end up being the player of the World Cup that is as good a turnaround I have seen in world sport. He just personified the desire and the pride that these individuals have in playing for the country.”Among the people who inspired Yuvraj and the rest of the Indian team in the build-up to the tournament was Mike Horn, a high-altitude climber and Arctic explorer, who returned to help the team in the knockout phase as well. Among Horn’s extreme adventure feats are climbing a 8000-metre peak without oxygen, navigating 7000km of the Amazon river besides traversing the Arctic circle without the help of motorised transport.”The guys were really impressed with Horn’s first session, which was during the Kolkata Test against South Africa last year,” Kirsten said. “So we got him again during the pre-tournament stage. And again he went down remarkably well with the players, really connected with them, players love him, gave a couple of chat sessions, got involved in the practices.”We wanted him (again) from the quarters but he said he couldn’t make it but he came for the semis. The players were unaware when he entered the room in Mohali. He gave three very really inspirational talks leading into the final. He really just shares his personal experiences about his life and his adventures. He was the X-factor. He was that little bit of extra kick we needed.”Horn may have provided the extra kick, but it was Kirsten’s low-profile coaching technique that constructed the base for the team to succeed. Everyone from Sachin Tendulkar to Virender Sehwag have repeatedly spoken of how Kirsten has helped them with their game, and the respect with which the players hold Kirsten was demonstrated when they chaired him around the ground during the victory celebrations at the Wankhede Stadium.Despite the high esteem in which he is held within the Indian establishment, and the many successes during his three years in charge, Kirsten ruled out continuing to coach the national team and said he hadn’t been approached by the BCCI to change his mind. The time away from his young family in South Africa was one of the factors in his decision, and he was yet to decide on what his next job would be.”There is a lot on the table, you know. South Africa have approached me, and a couple of IPL teams have approached me,” he said. One of them is the Mumbai Indians, and the other is a team that he has “forgotten” but for now it seems the only way in which he may remain connected to Indian cricket will be through the IPL.

The primary laws applied to determine the fairness of Renshaw’s catch were 19.4 and 19.5, which concern the fielder and the ball being grounded

Nagraj Gollapudi09-Jan-2020Matt Renshaw pulled off a spectacular, dynamic fielding effort on Thursday that took place beyond the boundary at the Gabba to get rid of Hobart Hurricanes opener Matthew Wade.Responding to a powerful lofted stroke from Wade, Renshaw ran to his left at wide long-on and caught the ball overhead with reverse-cupped hands a yard inside the rope, but then lost his balance as he skipped over the rope. But Renshaw’s brilliance, as well as presence of mind, were highlighted as he lobbed the ball before he jumped over the ropes and then skipped again to sort of spike the ball back into play for Tom Banton, who completed the catch.

The laws used

Law 19.4.2 The ball in play is to be regarded as being grounded beyond the boundary if:
– a fielder, grounded beyond the boundary as in 19.5, touches the ball;
– a fielder, after catching the ball within the boundary, becomes grounded beyond the boundary while in contact with the ball, before completing the catch.
Law 19.5.1 A fielder is grounded beyond the boundary if some part of his/her person is in contact with any of the following:
– the boundary or any part of an object used to mark the boundary;
– the ground beyond the boundary;
– any object that is in contact with the ground beyond the boundary;
– another fielder who is grounded beyond the boundary, if the umpire considers that it was the intention of either fielder that the contact should assist in the fielding of the ball.

Law 33.2.1 A catch will be fair only if, in every case either the ball, at any time or any fielder in contact with the ball,is not grounded beyond the boundary before the catch is completed.
Law 33.2.2.4 A fielder catches the ball after it has crossed the boundary in the air, provided that the conditions in 33.2.1 are met.

Wade was as dumbstruck and clueless as Ben Cutting, the bowler, when this sequence ended. Neither of them was aware whether it was out or not. Even the third umpire initially ruled not out, but reversed his decision upon studying the replays, and probably, the laws, which were changed first in 2013 and updated in 2017 to encourage fielders to go for such dynamic fielding efforts.The primary laws applied to determine the fairness of Renshaw’s catch were 19.4 and 19.5, which concern the fielder and the ball being grounded. The key thing for the match officials to determine was if Renshaw’s first contact with the ball was inside the boundary – it was – and whether his feet were not touching the ground beyond the boundary when he lobbed the ball back in for Banton – they weren’t. He came out clean on both counts.ALSO READ – Maxwell criticises boundary-catch law change“I was just worried about where the rope was and trying to keep it in,” Renshaw told the host broadcaster, describing the catch. “They always say play to the whistle in warm-up games. I made sure I played the whistle. I was trying to pass it to myself and luckily my twin Bants [Tom Banton] was over there ready to catch it as well. Just tried to play the whistle and keep the ball up and made sure I was in the air. But there was a fair bit of luck I reckon.””Pretty good,” was how Wade marked Renshaw’s brilliance. “I had no idea of the rule really – once he hit outside the field of play I didn’t know if he was allowed to touch the ball or not,” Wade told the host broadcaster. “Umpires said he was, and once they told me he was allowed to (go) outside the field of play and tap it back in, I knew I was out. It was pretty good work – I’m not sure he would’ve been able to have done that a few years ago, Renshaw.”

He also said “batting under lights was difficult” on the first day which prompted India to declare before tea on Saturday

Varun Shetty in Kolkata23-Nov-2019India Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, has suggested that Test cricket is alive and that the ongoing day-night match against Bangladesh will put the longest format in good stead. Eden Gardens is purportedly sold out till the fourth day, and although the game looks unlikely to stretch that long, the more than 40,000-strong attendance on the first two days has buoyed the players.”When you’re playing Test cricket and when the crowd comes in, it’s always motivating for the players,” Pujara said at the press conference after the second day’s play. “I feel that Test cricket is still alive and this was one of the occasions which will boost Test cricket. As players, we do enjoy this atmosphere, especially when we’re fielding. When you’re batting, you’re always concentrating on the ball. Bowlers need a lot of support. And when we’re fielding, the moment the crowd starts supporting the bowler and fielders, it’s a great atmosphere. The bowlers are always charged up. It’s a nice atmosphere, although the game might not go on until day four, but it’s still a good experience and I’m sure the crowd is also enjoying it.”Pujara was the second-highest scorer for India in the first innings with his 55. Although he played no part with the bat on the second day, an early finish to Bangladesh’s first innings gave him a feel of both the much-discussed twilight as well as batting under lights. Pujara said that the lights made batting much harder, and this was also behind India’s decision to declare just before tea on the second day.”I think batting under lights was difficult when I batted yesterday,” Pujara said. “Even when I saw on the TV what was happening in the first session, I think the first session is slightly easier to bat. Because there’s no [artificial] lights. And when there’s light, I think the ball starts swinging a little more. So it is a bit challenging. And also the kind of experience we have, most of the Test matches we’ve played are during the day. So during the sunlight it’s easy to see the ball, whether it’s red or pink. But when it comes to lights, it is a little challenging for the batsman.”This much was evident during India’s innings. Starting the middle session at 289 for 4, India’s lower-middle order collapsed as Bangladesh’s seamers, particularly Ebadot Hossain and Abu Jayed, found prodigious swing with the second new ball. India made 58 runs after lunch but lost five wickets in doing so. With the comfort of a big lead, however, an early declaration even opened up the possibility of a two-day finish when Bangladesh were reduced to 13 for 4.”I think that was the right time to bowl because the ball was swinging,” Pujara said. “We felt that if we start bowling at that time, we can start picking early wickets, and that’s what happened. That was the right time. Dew wasn’t there. Dew started after tea time. So it was the right time.”A late counterattack from senior batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah took Bangladesh past 150 at stumps, as the dew started setting in and the lateral movement in the last session didn’t quite hold up. But India still have a cushion of 89 runs, with Bangladesh having only four wickets in hand. There is also the possibility India’s spinners might come into the picture in the day session on Sunday. So far in this Test, they have bowled only a combined six overs for 24 runs. But Pujara reckoned the pitch had begun taking turn, and that the SG ball offers something for spinners as compared to the Kookaburra one.”Not a major difference [between the two balls]. Even this ball is travelling from the bat. The SG ball is swinging a little more than Kookaburra. But I think there’s a little more spin with the SG ball. When I played Duleep Trophy with the Kookaburra ball, I don’t think there was much assistance for spinners, apart from the wristspinners. So with this ball I think there is some spin. We saw when Taijul [Islam] was bowling, he got a little spin, and [R] Ashwin also got a little bit of spin. So I think there’s little more assistance for spinners. But it is still not as much as what you get from a red ball.”

David Warner’s maiden first-class century has kept alive New South Wales’ slim hopes of hosting the Sheffield Shield final

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2011
ScorecardDavid Warner enjoys reaching triple-figures in the four-day format•Getty Images

David Warner’s maiden first-class century has kept alive New South Wales’ slim hopes of hosting the Sheffield Shield final. The Blues need full points from their match against Western Australia to have any chance of hosting the decider and at stumps on the second day, they were 5 for 248 in reply to the Warriors’ 382.Warner fell late in the day for 114, the first breakthrough for the debutant fast bowler Matt Dixon. At the close, Steve O’Keefe was yet to score and Ben Rohrer had 1, and the Blues needed another 135 runs to take first-innings points.Phillip Hughes made 54 and was the first to depart, one of three wickets for Nathan Coulter-Nile, who also picked up Phil Jaques (13) and Simon Katich for 1. Nic Maddinson chipped in with 44 before he was run-out by Mitchell Marsh, who earlier in the day had become Western Australia’s fourth-youngest centurion.Marsh, 19, beat his brother Shaun by 54 in reaching his maiden first-class ton and he finished with 111, a strong contribution in his 248-run stand with Marcus North. The Western Australia captain North made 158, while the teenager Pat Cummins had the best figures for the Blues, with 3 for 111.