Cricket News - by Craig Hill

Twenty20 International Teams - Cricket News

10/10

October 26th 2009 01:17

Whilst for many people the demise of 50 over cricket is inevitable, surely the more pressing concern is that 20 over cricket will go the same way and be replaced by 10/10 games. Why? 50 over cricket is becoming obsolete because teams have mastered the ability to time their innings,leading to the tawdry "knock the ball around" overs between overs 20 and 35/40. Surely as 20 over cricket becomes more popular, teams will discover a consolidation period in their innings also. Admittedly it might be only for overs 7-14 but it will still happen. So this leads to 10/10 cricket to try and drive out the boring overs and then where do we stop. 5/5? 2/2? Or maybe Brett Lee and Chris Gayle should have a 6 ball contest so everythings over in 20 minutes. I fear that our generation's need for immediacy will lead to this.

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Posted By: Oliver Paterson - Category: Twenty20, International Teams

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Ponting hit for six - dropped from Twenty20

August 25th 2009 12:00

Following Australia’s historic Ashes defeat on Sunday, Australian Captain Ricky Ponting has been dropped from the up coming Twenty20 matches in England and Scotland starting Aug 28th. Other casualties include out of form batsmen Mike Hussey and seam bowler Peter Siddle.

Despite publicly backing Ricky and his teams’ performance throughout the Ashes series it seems that the Australian Selection Panel’s actions are somewhat different from their words – Australia lost to England therefore changes need to be made.

National Selector Andrew Hilditch commented that the Twenty20 squad was picked keeping in mind the looming World Twenty20 series in the West Indies in May.

Hilditch goes on to say that the omission of Ricky Ponting will provide a great opportunity for Vice Captain Michael Clarke to captain in the two Twenty20 matches and one ODI against Scotland.

“The selection panel is using the two matches against England to look at different make-ups to the squad and include players who we consider Twenty20 specialists in preparation for the ICC World Twenty20 next year," he said.

Gary Bowen

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Posted By: Gary Bowen - Category: One Day International, Twenty20, Australia, England, International Teams

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Shaun Tait Still Has What It Takes

January 12th 2009 07:30

David Warner was not the only positive for Australia on Sunday night as Shaun Tait made his return to international cricket against South Africa.

Playing his first game for Australia in nearly a year, Tait, though overshadowed by Warner's heroics, showed he was still one of the fastest bowlers in the world in a spell which impressed captain Ricky Ponting.

Tait was intimidating in his first over, regularly reaching the mid 150km/h mark.

His pace was too much for AB de Villiers, who fell onto his wickets after being struck on the hip by Tait.

"The first ball he bowled to (Jacques) Kallis was 152(km/h), bouncing right on the button," Ponting said.

"Any batsman, that's probably the last delivery you want first-up."

"Someone like that setting the scene at the top of the bowling innings for us was backing up what Dave did with the bat so we started both our innings really well."

Ponting said David Hussey's effort to take 3-25 during the middle stages was another positive for the home side.

De Villiers has a 'badly bruised hip', according to team management.

"We can only really assess it in the morning but we seem to think he can recover quite quickly," a Proteas spokesperson said.

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Posted By: Oracle of Delphi - Category: Twenty20, Australia, International Teams

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David Warner Leads Australia To Victory

January 12th 2009 07:22

Debutant David Warner clubbed the second fastest Twenty20 international half-century ever as a new-look Australia defeated South Africa by 52 runs at the MCG on Sunday night.

Warner, who is yet to make his first-class debut, had the 62,148 fans in frenzy, smashing 89 off only 43 balls and rewriting several chapters of the history book.

He spearheaded Australia's charge to 9-182 before the Proteas, aided by 78 from 48 balls from the unflappable Jean-Paul Duminy, were dismissed for 130.

The Proteas were not in the hunt after losing wickets in each of their opening three overs as Australia bounced back from its Test series defeat earlier this summer.

But it was Warner, just the third Australian in 158 years to represent his country before making his first-class debut, who stole the show with his man-of-the-match performance.

Plucked from obscurity after several equally electrifying innings for New South Wales in limited overs cricket, Warner has suddenly become the cult hero of Australian cricket.

In just over an hour of power, Warner smashed six sixes and seven fours to be the owner of the equal fifth highest Twenty20 international score and third best by an Australian, and the sixth fastest international half-century in all forms of the game.

Only Yuvraj Singh has hit a faster half-century in Twenty20 internationals than Warner, reaching the mark off 12 balls against England in Durban in 2007.

Warner's heroics enabled Australia to set a challenging run chase despite losing 7-42 in the final 38 balls.

Not only did he upstage several of his more decorated team-mates, including Test captain Ricky Ponting, Warner showed no respect at all for several members of the Proteas attack.

Test stars Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn were all in the destructive path of Cyclone Warner.

Warner showcased a high-voltage blend of traditional and unorthodox shots and, of course, a slice of luck.

His square cut off Kallis which beat gully and point was straight from the text book, while his six off Steyn's bowling, which roared some 25 rows into the stands, lifted him past 50.

He was fortunate edges flew through a vacant slip and gully area but was otherwise unthreatened.

But the Australians, who reached their 100 in the 10th over, lost momentum following Warner's dismissal in the 14th over.

Steyn was again Australia's nemesis, claiming 3-38, including the wickets of Luke Ronchi and James Hopes.

Duminy lifted the Proteas from a dire position at 3-12 after three overs with an innings which, if not for Warner's earlier in the night, would have wowed the fans.

He slashed nine fours and one six - an outrageous scoop above the wicketkeeper off Shaun Tait's bowling - but could not rescue the visitors.

His dismissal, lbw trying to reverse sweep David Hussey, all but ended the Proteas' bid for victory.

Tait, in his first match for Australia in nearly a year, bowled with extreme pace and fire.

AB de Villiers felt Tait's wrath when he fell onto his wickets after being struck on the hip.

He has a 'badly bruised hip' and struggled onto his feet after his dismissal.

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Posted By: Oracle of Delphi - Category: Twenty20, Australia, International Teams

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David Warner To Make Debut

January 11th 2009 09:26

Emerging New South Wales talent David Warner will make his Australian debut on Sunday night after coach Tim Nielsen confirmed he would play in the KFC Twenty20 international against South Africa at the MCG.

Twenty-nine-year-old Queenslander Ryan Harris and Warner's Blues team-mate Nathan Hauritz were both left out of the XI.

The swashbuckling Warner, who has clubbed 101 runs off just 62 balls in three KFC Big Bash matches at a strike rate of 162.90, will join a host of fresh faces in the national team and Nielsen admitted he was energised by the prospect of seeing players who are foreign to the Test arena wearing the green and gold.

"To see the likes of Warner and (Shaun) Marsh back in the squad, or in the squad for the first time, and (Luke) Ronchi having a run around (and Ben) Hilfenhaus there is going to be really exciting for us," he said on Sunday morning outside the team hotel in Southbank.

After nine Test matches in just 11 weeks, Nielsen is also anticipating the dramatic change of pace that the Twenty20 clash will bring in front of what is expected to be a crowd of nearly 80,000.

The highly-anticipated encounter will be another date in what has been an intense international workload for Australia since the start of October.

"I think we're playing a lot of cricket at the moment because in the past there's been series that have been cancelled or had to have been delayed," Nielsen explained.

"We're in a busy part of our future tours program, we have a couple of years every now and then where it's quieter, we're going into a very busy period."

"South Africa have just come off the back of that period for them so it's something we need to be aware of and we need to manage our players' programs accordingly."

One such player Nielsen said would need to be managed is captain Ricky Ponting who will lead Australia in a Twenty20 international in Melbourne for the first time.

"Coming up we play both the one-day series against South Africa and New Zealand and then the next day, after a Twenty20 game (against the Black Caps), we take off to South Africa for the Test series," he said.

"We'll certainly be aware of how much work our players are doing and trying to give them a bit of a rest at some stage mainly to ensure we don't take them to high injury-risk periods."

Australian team: Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Nathan Bracken, Luke Ronchi, Shaun Marsh, Shaun Tait, David Warner, Cameron White. 12th man: Ryan Harris or Nathan Hauritz.

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Posted By: Oracle of Delphi - Category: Twenty20, Australia, International Teams

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Australia's Big Hitters Promise Big Things In Twenty20

January 10th 2009 08:44

The build up to this year's ICC World Twenty20 in England escalates on Sunday when Australia tackles South Africa at the MCG.

The match heralds the start of the Commonwealth Bank Series and possibly the international careers of explosive New South Wales batsman David Warner and Queensland all-rounder Ryan Harris.

A crowd in excess of 70,000 has been tipped to walk through the turnstiles on Sunday and they are likely to see a relatively fresh-faced Australian side.

Hard-hitting New South Wales batsman David Warner and Queensland paceman Ryan Harris are in line to make their international debuts.

Cameron White

Players such as David Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Shaun Marsh, Cameron White and Nathan Hauritz - who have all played little international cricket - will also get the opportunity to don the national colours at home.

Should Warner get the nod from selectors on Sunday or Tuesday he will become only the third person in the history of Australian cricket to play for his country before making his first-class debut.

The 22-year-old burst onto the scene this summer with a New South Wales record of 165 in a Ford Ranger Cup match followed by an electrifying 97 off 54 balls in the same tournament.

The extravagant hitting and fast pace of KFC Twenty20 cricket will be in stark contrast to the battle of attrition waged between Australia and South Africa in the recently-completed Test series which captivated cricket fans from both nations.

The MCG crowd will be hoping they get more of a contest than the one-sided affair they witnessed in last summer's corresponding fixture against India when the tourists crumbled to be all out for a meagre 74.

And the Proteas should be well placed to deliver at least a competitive showing.

Unlike the Indian team, which featured many players who had not played in the Test series and thus were not acclimatised to Australian conditions, the bulk of the Proteas squad are experienced on these shores.

Of the 11 who played in South Africa's 2-1 Test triumph, only the injured Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie and Paul Harris have already headed home.

Hitherto unheralded names such as all-rounder Albie Morkel, paceman Lonwabo Tsotsobe, teenager Wayne Parnell and batsman Vaughn van Jaarsveld will get their chance to ply their wares in the coming few games.

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Posted By: Oracle of Delphi - Category: Twenty20, Australia, International Teams

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