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Chandika Hathurusingha, assistant coach of New South Wales, has brought four young Australian spinners on a coaching tour of Sri Lanka

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Jul-2013Chandika Hathurusingha, the assistant coach of New South Wales, has taken three potential teenage spinners – Soumil Chhibber, an offspinner who has a bowling action like Muttiah Muralitharan, and legspinners Shane Cassel and Daniel Sallens – along with Australian left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe on a 15-day coaching tour to Sri Lanka.The four NSW spinners have been practising and playing in the ongoing SLC Under-23 tournament to gain experience of bowling in subcontinent conditions . They are also due to meet the coaches of SLC’s spin bowling staff, headed by former Sri Lanka spinner Piyal Wijetunge.Hathurusingha, who is assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss at NSW, is on a mission to help the state groom spinners for the future. “The state gets a sponsorship grant each year under the Basil Sellers Scholarship Programme and this year we thought of coming to Sri Lanka and groom some spinners giving them the subcontinent experience,” he said.Midway last season, when NSW sacked their head coach Anthony Stuart, it was Hathurusingha that the state turned towards to take them through the rest of the season.”We won seven out of nine matches and were deprived of a place in the Sheffield Shield final by one point because we had some points deducted for a slow over rate,” Hathurusingha said. He was also part of the coaching staff of Sydney Sixers when they won the Champions League T20 in 2012-13, beating South Africa’s Highveld Lions in the final by 10 wickets in Johannesburg.With Bayliss returning from coaching Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, NSW made him head coach and retained Hathurusingha as assistant coach. In the Big Bash League, where Sydney have two teams, Bayliss is coach of the Sixers and Hathurusingha coaches the Thunder.”It’s a big honour for me to coach arguably the best domestic cricket team in the world – NSW Blues,” he said. “I am more settled and I am quite happy.”Following his success with the NSW teams, Hathurusingha has been appointed assistant coach to Troy Cooley of the Australian A team that is due to tour South Africa and Zimbabwe for from July 18. When asked if the chance to coach NSW was the best thing that had happened in his coaching career, Hathurusingha replied, “It was a good break but there’s nothing like coaching your own national team.”Hathurusingha had been groomed to become the next head coach of Sri Lanka after Bayliss, but was unceremoniously dumped by the SLC interim committee headed by DS de Silva in early 2011, after which he left for Australia with his family.

A predatory mauling that lasted for most of Chennai Super Kings’ innings set up a mammoth 77-run for the visitors, who ruined Sunrisers Hyderabad’s perfect home record and placed themselves on the very brink of another playoffs berth

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando08-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA predatory mauling that lasted for most of Chennai Super Kings’ innings set up a mammoth 77-run for the visitors, who ruined Sunrisers Hyderabad’s perfect home record and placed themselves on the very brink of another playoffs berth. Michael Hussey’s 42-ball 67 fanned the sparks of a bright start into a roaring middle-over onslaught, before Suresh Raina acquired the bellows and set the stadium ablaze. At the close of the innings, he was one run short of a deserved hundred, having struck at over 190, and with the aid of a brief late burst from Ravindra Jadeja and a woeful Sunrisers attack, he had lifted his side to 223 for 3.Sunrisers rarely looked capable of challenging that total during their response, and finished eventually on 146 for 8, now facing a steep climb into the playoffs, as their net run rate (-0.228) suffered due to the big defeat.At the toss MS Dhoni said he had instructed his side to drive their 60-run loss to Mumbai Indians from their minds, and it is difficult to imagine how his side could have been more emphatically obedient. The same top order that succumbed to 40 for 6 in their last match appeared in supreme collective form in Hyderabad, and though their opponents were lacklustre at best, Super Kings’ batsmen not only exacted a heavy toll from the bad balls, they heaped pressure on the bowling by creating their own space and blasting even good deliveries to the fence.Ishant Sharma began the rot for Sunrisers on his way to figures of 0 for 66 in his four overs – the worst ever spell in the history of the tournament. Dale Steyn, who conceded only 17 in contrast, had begun the match with a maiden to Hussey, but the batsman quickly amended his strike-rate against Ishant, before his opening partner M Vijay exploited the poor bowling even more brutally in Ishant’s next over, by hitting him for three consecutive on side sixes.Hussey’s knock was drenched in class. Running hard as always, and finding gaps with uncanny precision, Hussey moved smoothly through the gears after his slow start, and before long, Super Kings were hitting 10 runs or more an over as a matter of routine. The spinners were treated little different from the errant quicks – Hussey launched both Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma into the stands – before Raina came quickly up to speed and had eclipsed his senior partner before Hussey’s dismissal.Sunrisers continued to stray, though it must be said the flat pitch offered little wiggle room for bowlers, and Raina, moving particularly swiftly around the crease, rarely seemed to be breaking a sweat as he hit ball after ball to the fence. He tortured a broken Ishant in his final over, hitting four pretty fours and a slogged six, plundering 23 from that over for himself, though two wides added a couple more to the team tally.Sunrisers failed to rally at any point after Super Kings had set off, and though Parthiv Patel gave the hosts a sliver of hope, as he set off quickly in their reply, the clatter of wickets at the other end snuffed that chance, and left them still outside the top four on the table. Super Kings consolidated their position at the top with 20 points, with three league games to play.

Peter Fulton’s twin centuries put him in rare company as he became the fourth New Zealand batsman to complete this feat

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland25-Mar-2013It has been an extraordinary few days in the life of Peter Fulton. A maiden Test hundred on Friday, then another century to make it back-to-back tons in the same match on Monday, then being included in a tweet by John Key, New Zealand’s Prime Minister.His post had gone unnoticed by Fulton, until it was mentioned after play. “I’m not on Twitter,” he said. “I hadn’t heard that. I guess that’s one to cross off the list.”In front of his parents, and an increasingly large band of supporters, Fulton wrote himself a place in New Zealand’s history books with a crunching straight six off Stuart Broad, to become just the fourth New Zealand batsman – after Glenn Turner, Geoff Howarth and Andrew Jones – to score twin hundreds in a Test. Small boundaries or not, it was a mighty blow with which to reach a landmark.His second fifty took 41 balls, as the confidence and adrenalin surged through him. Gone was the understandable nervousness of his maiden hundred, during which he sweated on 99 for 10 balls, with his last 36 runs taking 143 balls. The situation had changed, and so did the batsman, which showed that Fulton is not just someone to grind out an innings. An over against Monty Panesar changed the tempo as he took the left-arm spinner for 14 off three deliveries. From then he was unstoppable, until clubbing to long-on for 110.”I thought if he [Broad] pitches it up, I’m going to try and hit it back over his head,” he said. “It’s just one of those things, I just wanted to get there and make sure we kept being aggressive. I didn’t want to slow down too much looking for a personal milestone.””The first innings was a bit nervy, and I’d decided when we came out after lunch that I’d just play the same way as I had before, regardless of what score I was on. It made for slightly less of a nerve racking time for myself anyway.”Early on during the onslaught, Matt Prior thought it was a decent time to mention the lack of runs Fulton had scored through the off side – in the first innings he made 107 of his 136 on the leg side, second time around it was a 64-46 split. There were not many words from the England team when he launched a skimming flat six over long-off against James Anderson.”I guess everyone would like to be able to score to all parts of the ground, but you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got,” he said. “I can play through the off side, but I guess I’ve already been out three times trying to play through the off side in the series. It’s probably a bit silly to keep trying to flog a dead horse. It was nice once I’d got myself in to play a few through the off side. I’m not really too bothered where they come, or what direction they go in, as long as I get them.””The situation of the game helped, it’s a bit tougher to play like that on day one. You hit one straight up in the air, and you get castigated for it. It was nice to show a few people, who don’t watch a lot of domestic cricket, that I can bat like that, and adapt to the situation.”Fulton has helped give the team stability in an area they had floundered for a long time. Hundreds by openers had become a collector’s item, and now there are three in a series for only the second time for New Zealand. Fulton’s part could so easily have not happened, at the age of 34, especially after a knee injury in South Africa curtailed his first attempt at a comeback late last year. “Hopefully it proves if you keep sticking at it, and you don’t lose faith in yourself, then good things can happen.”

Northants have signed Australian seam bowler Trent Copeland on a short-term deal for the first half of the season.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2013Northants have signed Australian seam bowler Trent Copeland on a short-term deal for the first half of the season.Copeland, 26, will join the county for the first County Championship match of the season against Glamorgan on April 10 and play seven Championship matches and six Yorkshire Bank 40 League matches.He will return to Sydney on June 8 before Cameron White arrives for the Friends Life t20, which begins on June 26.Copeland has taken 131 first-class wickets at 26.12 and made his Test debut for Australia in Galle in September 2011. He played all three Tests of the tour but after six wickets at 37.83 he was dropped and hasn’t played a Test since.But he remains a talented bowler that should enjoy early-season English conditions. He also recently showed some ability with the bat, making 106 against Tasmania in Hobart in his last first-class match.”We are delighted to welcome Trent to Northants,” Northants Cricket Head Coach David Ripley said. “It’s not been a straightforward journey but he was the first player we approached in October about becoming our overseas bowler for the first part of the season and with a few twists and turns he is now coming.”Everybody I have spoken to about Trent – Michael Hussey, Cameron White and Matt Nicholson to name three, have been consistent with their opinion – skilful, accurate, long spells, should be perfectly suited to early-season conditions in England and a top bloke.”He has a first rate record in Australian state cricket and we are looking forward to him shaping our season in the two months he is with us. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that he has just scored his maiden first class century too.”

Warwickshire have named Dougie Brown, their assistant coach and Academy director, as the successor to Ashley Giles as their new director of cricket

George Dobell31-Jan-2013Warwickshire have named Dougie Brown, their assistant coach and Academy director, as the permanent successor to Ashley Giles as their new director of cricket.Brown has fought off other leading candidates for the job such as Graeme Welch, his former Warwickshire team-mate and the county’s bowling coach, and the West Indies coach Ottis Gibson, who has also been discussing the details of a promised new contract with the national side. Welch, meanwhile, has been given the compensation of promotion to assistant coach.Brown, who worked in close association with Giles as Warwickshire won the Championship last summer, and also reached the final of the CB40, is a former England and Scotland allrounder who can be sure to bring a passionate approach to the role. He is also a former PCA chairman.”We wanted to test the external market but also be sure that we stuck with what has brought the club success,” Colin Povey, the Warwickshire chief executive, said. “In the end we had many high-quality candidates – a testament to the strength of the team and the club – and concluded that Dougie was the ideal man for the job.””Dougie has been an integral part of the club’s success over many years and there really isn’t anyone more committed to the club than him. It is hard to define exactly what ‘a Bear’ is, but whatever it is, he epitomises it. No-one has more passion for Warwickshire and no-one understands the culture of the club and the current squad better.”Much the same could be said for Graeme Welch. He has done an exceptional job and we value him enormously. To reflect that, he is being promoted to the position of assistant coach and, while he will naturally be disappointed at missing out on the main job, I’m sure he will continue to support Dougie and the team as well as ever.”In the end, we felt that Dougie’s background beyond cricket – his media work, his experience as chairman of the PCA and his experience with budget management – made him our ideal candidate.”Other candidates for the Warwickshire role included David Parsons, the ECB performance director, David Hemp, former Glamorgan and Bermuda captain and now coaching at Solihull School and Andy Moles, the former Scotland, Kenya and New Zealand coach, who was discounted before the interview stage.

Joe Root scored 222 not out to confirm his rich promise as an potential England opener and give Yorkshire a fourth batting point at Hampshire

Ivo Tennant at West End13-Jul-2012
ScorecardJoe Root made his career-best first-class score with an innings that included his second, third and fourth sixes•Getty ImagesNo-one has ever doubted Joe Root can bat. Not in Yorkshire, not the England Under-19 coaches and, it can be assumed without fear of contradiction, not the national selectors. His second century in three matches and highest score of his career, an unbeaten 222, enlivened a match that has been wretchedly affected by the weather. There was just about every orthodox shot in anyone’s book, as well as a few unfamiliar ones, as Yorkshire sprinted to an unlikely fourth batting point.”I am very proud of what I achieved,” Root said. “But I was equally proud that we achieved that extra batting point which could be vital come the end of the season. The pitch was flatter than on the first day, when I had to work hard, and the key was to absorb the pressure when Hampshire bowled well and capitalise when they didn’t. I am not renowned for hitting sixes but was given licence to try to reach the fourth point by the coach and captain.”I am very pleased I made my family proud as they have done such a lot for me, carting me to matches around the country. I’ll have a little celebration but then will really celebrate if we achieve promotion at the end of the season. That is our most important aim – to play in the first division once again.”Quite where Root’s innings will lead to in the context of this match is another matter. After three days, we are barely into the second innings of four. To highlight the magnitude of Root’s contribution, the next highest score in Yorkshire’s total of 350 for nine declared, was 37, made by the No. 9, Steven Patterson. The pitch was sluggish, the ball still nipping off the seam.Towards the end of his innings, Root took a step down the pitch and straight drove Kabir Ali for six, only the second of his first-class career, followed by a vicious square cut for four and a further six, this time over midwicket. He is not powerfully built, so this was quite a statement against the bowler who had removed Phil Jaques and Jonny Bairstow so quickly the previous day. There were 25 fours and another six in his double century besides. His second century was achieved at better than a run a ball.Patterson’s contribution was significant, for he and Root, who went past 500 first-class runs for the season and was not dropped until he had made 215, put on 121 off 199 balls. This after Yorkshire, 83 for 3 overnight, had slumped to 108 for 6 through the dismissals of Anthony McGrath and Richard Pyrah, both off Dimitri Mascarenhas. Azeem Rafiq, and then Patterson, bolstered the total.Statistics came in a flurry, now: Root reached his double century off 260 balls, the final 50 runs of his 222 took just 24 balls and his innings in all amounted to 63% of Yorkshire’s total. That there was a declaration upon reaching a fourth batting point at least enabled Stephen Harmison, that honorary Yorkshireman, to have a burst in – remarkably – late afternoon sunshine. Only it amounted to a burst of wides – three in the opening over. Hampshire survived without losing a wicket.Among Root’s numerous admirers is one Geoffrey Boycott, who has already stated that he can succeed Andrew Strauss in the England side in due course. High praise indeed.

At 35 and having retired from Test cricket, Brett Lee stands on the verge of becoming Australia’s leading wicket taker in one-day Internationals

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2012At 35 and having retired from Test cricket, Brett Lee stands on the verge of becoming Australia’s leading wicket taker in one-day Internationals.He insists, though, that he isn’t motivated by the prospect of breaking Glenn McGrath’s record of 381 wickets during the upcoming series against England – after closing the gap with two wickets against Ireland in Belfast – and in the latest edition of Alison’s Tea Break he explains how he is now acting as a mentor to the younger bowlers coming through.Speaking to host Alison Mitchell, Lee touches on the depth of fast bowling in Australia cricket at the moment, saying he is excited by what James Pattinson and Pat Cummins have to offer with a Test series against South Africa coming up later this year, followed by back-to-back Ashes.He warns, though, of the “blood, sweat and tears” that it takes to be a fast bowler, particularly with the amount of cricket that is played now, and says that bowlers in particular must be prepared “to do what’s best for the team” should management decide to rest and rotate players.As far as Lee’s own future is concerned, he has set no time frame as to when he might step away from the international scene. “As long as I’m doing my job and being an asset to the Australian cricket team and helping the young guys come through, and still enjoying my cricket, then I’ll keep playing for a few more games and we’ll see what happens after that. Whether that’s three months or twelve months or eighteen months, who knows.”Watch the interview here.

Faf du Plessis has been asked by Cricket South Africa not to play for Somerset in the Friends Life T20

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2012Faf du Plessis has been asked by Cricket South Africa not to play for Somerset in the Friends Life T20. He will now stay at home and play for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A and join South Africa’s Twenty20 tour to Zimbabwe.”The period that Somerset want him for is when we have some tours of our own,” Mohammad Moosajee, South Africa team manager, told ESPNcricinfo. “Faf features in the selectors’ plans for those tours so it would not be possible for him to go.”Du Plessis has played 21 ODIs for South Africa and is currently taking part in the IPL, having been signed by Chennai Super Kings for $120,000 in 2011. He will also play for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A in June before South Africa’s T20 side travel to Zimbabwe for an unofficial tri-series that also features Bangladesh.The loss of du Plessis is another blow to Somerset’s plans for the Flt20. They signed Albie Morkel and hoped to bring in Chris Gayle as a second overseas player. But Gayle reneged on his deal and agreed to be available for West Indies’ ODI series against England, potentially making his international comeback after more than a year’s absence.Morkel, who will not be part of the four-day matches against Sri Lanka A, has been given the green light by CSA to play for Somerset. If Morkel is selected for South Africa’s T20 squad to tour Zimbabwe, though, Moosajee said Somerset would have to release him for that period.Along with losing Gayle, Somerset have a string of injuries with captain Marcus Trescothick out with an ankle injury and only 12 fit players available at the moment. They were forced to cancel a second XI match with Gloucestershire this week due to a lack of players.Somerset were also asked by CSA to limit the workload of Vernon Philander, the South African bowler who has taken 18 wickets in four first-class matches.Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, said he “thought there was a possibility” that du Plessis would be barred from joining them. “We’re still exploring the market but I think I must have run over a whole road of black cats.” Along with Trescothick, Somerset are currently without bowlers Adam Dibble, Gemaal Hussain, Steve Kirby and batsman Jos Buttler.Somerset will keep a close eye on Pakistan’s potential series against Australia. It will no longer be hosted by Sri Lanka and if the tour is postponed, players may become available for the second half of the season.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL game between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers in Delhi

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria18-Apr-2012Match factsThursday, April 19, Delhi
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Daredevils are riding high on their success train•Hindustan TimesBig pictureDelhi Daredevils’ stocks in the tournament have risen higher after their bowlers masterminded a seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians. While other teams have been busy putting up and chasing down totals in excess of 160, Daredevils’ hustling pace has razed three strong batting line-ups to scores below 110. The only game that they lost was to Royal Challengers Bangalore, partially due to the inexperience of their middle order and partially, due to the guile of Muttiah Muralitharan who took three wickets. However, that batting order has been beefed up since then. With the influx of Ross Taylor in the last game, their batting looks as intimidating as their bowling. Daredevils will need to be careful though, as their batting firepower hasn’t been tested yet. In all four games, they have batted second after their bowlers had done the job.Deccan Chargers on the other hand have lost three games in a row – the last two slipped through their fingers. Although such defeats can be disheartening, Kumar Sangakkara could take positives out from the fact that their relatively inexperienced team has had their chances. They have just missed that one last push. Dale Steyn and Amit Mishra will both need to fire in tandem and their fielding needs to inspire.Daredevils test is as hard as it gets for Chargers. It could be a daunting challenge, but it could also kindle the fire inside the big names among Chargers’ ranks. Both teams will hope to win the toss and avoid fielding first in the sun. However, sun or no sun, Daredevils bowlers should be a handful.Players to watchUmesh Yadav has been cranking up the pace in every game and has proven to be a difficult bowler to hit. In his last match, he took out Kieron Pollard and Dinesh Karthik, beating both batsmen for pace. Such was his accuracy that he didn’t give away a single boundary in his four-over spell.Chargers replaced a struggling Cameron White with JP Duminy and his 26-ball 58 pushed the team to 196, which had looked improbable. Duminy, who hit five sixes in his innings, can also hold an innings together if required.2011 head-to-headDaredevils played Chargers twice in 2011. They lost their home game by 16 runs while a Sehwag century helped them win the second by four wickets in Hyderabad.Stats and trivia Sehwag’s 32 against Mumbai Indians came in 36 balls. In all Twenty20 innings where he has scored more than 20, this was his slowest innings. This year, the three most economical spells (four overs) have been bowled by Yadav (2-11), Dale Steyn (3-12) and Irfan Pathan (1-12). Chargers have played the Daredevils nine times in IPL. They have won four and lost five of these games. However, in Delhi, the record is 2-1 in favour of Chargers.Quotes”We would work more on the fielding. We were working on it earlier too but now we would stress on it a bit more.”

“He gave me a call and was worried for my injury. But he is now happy seeing me back in action.”
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The wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi will pursue a career in New Zealand in a bid to win a place in their national side

Brydon Coverdale16-Feb-2012Western Australian wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi will pursue a career in New Zealand in a bid to win a place in their national side. Ronchi has told his Western Australia team-mates of his decision and he will finish his commitments with the Warriors this summer before heading to New Zealand next season.Ronchi, 30, played four one-day internationals and three Twenty20s for Australia in 2008 and 2009 when he was second in line to Brad Haddin, but he lost his place in the state side towards the end of 2008-09. He has struggled to hold down his Sheffield Shield spot since then, although he has made two Ryobi Cup hundreds this season.In the national setup, Ronchi has been overtaken by Matthew Wade and Tim Paine, and probably others like Peter Nevill, and his chances of further games for Australia were slim. Ronchi will qualify to play for New Zealand having been born there, although his family moved to Perth when he was six years old.Under the ICC’s qualification rules, Ronchi will be eligible to play for New Zealand next January, having last played for Australia in January 2009. The ICC condition states: “Where a male player is seeking to qualify to play for a Full Member, he must not have participated in an international match for any other Full Member during the immediately preceding four years.”Ronchi may yet be able to play for the Perth Scorchers squad at the Champions League Twenty20 later this year as the tournament will be held before New Zealand’s domestic season begins. Ronchi said he knew the move was a risk but he felt it was his best chance to play international cricket again.”I am heading across the Tasman with no guarantees but at 30 years of age I feel that I still have a lot to offer at the very highest level and I am looking forward to making the move with my family,” Ronchi said. “I have been around so many outstanding players, coaches and administration staff in my time at the WACA and I can’t thank them enough for the support they have provided to me over the past decade.”Ronchi has chosen a good time to push his case, with New Zealand having sifted through five wicketkeepers in all formats over the past two years. Gareth Hopkins and Reece Young have both been tried and discarded, while Brendon McCullum no longer takes the gloves in Test cricket.BJ Watling was behind the stumps in New Zealand’s last Test, while the South African-born gloveman Kruger van Wyk was also in the squad for the Test against Zimbabwe. But Ronchi will need to prove himself in New Zealand’s domestic cricket before he will be considered for higher duties, and having not scored a first-class century since 2009-10, his chances might be more likely in limited-overs cricket.A powerful striker, Ronchi scored what was then the fastest century in Australian domestic one-day history in 2006-07 when he reached triple figures in 56 balls against New South Wales. In a first-class game the following summer he struck a 51-ball ton against Queensland, his second fifty coming in a remarkable 11 deliveries, and his 22-ball fifty in St Kitts in 2008 was then the equal third-fastest half-century by an Australian in an ODI.