MELBOURNE: Australia"s players have had a long and frank discussion about their on-field behaviour as aftermath of the heated battle with West Indies continues to simmer.
Australia are trying to focus on Pakistan, whom they face in the Boxing Day Test starting on Saturday, but the Chris Gayle-Shane Watson bickering just won"t go away.
A day after Watson said he was baited by Gayle at the WACA, Gayle has responded by calling Watson "soft" and "easy to get wound up over silly things".
Watson"s over-the-top celebrations at dismissing Gayle in Perth led to a fine of 15% of his match fee, making him the third Australian to be docked by the match referee during the Test.
Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson were also fined for their ugly clash with Sulieman Benn and in the Adelaide Test Doug Bollinger was reprimanded for showing his anger at an umpire"s decision. The incidents have left the Australian team embarrassed and Simon Katich said the squad had addressed player behaviour on Wednesday.
"As a group we"ve spoken about that at length this morning at our meeting," Katich said. "It"s good to get it out in the open. The problem sometimes is that emotions come out on the field and in the heat of the moment you do things that later on you probably hope you"d do things differently. We"ve all been there and done that, from that point of view it"s a matter of learning from your mistakes."
Haddin is certain that he has learnt from his experience in Perth, where he pointed his bat angrily at the bowler Benn after a relatively innocuous clash between Benn and Johnson. Haddin conceded that his own actions were not appropriate but he said that Gayle "needs to get over" his incident with Watson and the Australians were especially keen to move on.
"It wasn"t a good look pointing my bat," Haddin said. "It was probably a bit too animated for what the occasion was. I apologise for that, I shouldn"t have pointed my bat, but apart from that, Test cricket is an emotional rollercoaster sometimes. It"s a pretty tough environment to be in, so there"s going to be occasions when your emotions get the better of you.
"It"s just one of those things that happened in the heat of battle and with a bit of luck it won"t happen again. It wasn"t a good look for the fans and it especially wasn"t a good look for the kids. I"ll be working on that to make sure it doesn"t happen again."
The all-too-regular meetings between Australia"s players and the match referee also attracted the attention of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland. He agreed with Watson"s own assessment that he had gone over the top with his celebrations at dismissing Gayle, but he was confident Ricky Ponting was doing his best to improve the behaviour of his men.
"I was as disappointed as anyone about a couple of incidents in the last two Test matches," Sutherland said.
MELBOURNE: Australia"s players have had a long and frank discussion about their on-field behaviour as aftermath of the heated battle with West Indies continues to simmer.
Australia are trying to focus on Pakistan, whom they face in the Boxing Day Test starting on Saturday, but the Chris Gayle-Shane Watson bickering just won"t go away.
A day after Watson said he was baited by Gayle at the WACA, Gayle has responded by calling Watson "soft" and "easy to get wound up over silly things".
Watson"s over-the-top celebrations at dismissing Gayle in Perth led to a fine of 15% of his match fee, making him the third Australian to be docked by the match referee during the Test.
Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson were also fined for their ugly clash with Sulieman Benn and in the Adelaide Test Doug Bollinger was reprimanded for showing his anger at an umpire"s decision. The incidents have left the Australian team embarrassed and Simon Katich said the squad had addressed player behaviour on Wednesday.
"As a group we"ve spoken about that at length this morning at our meeting," Katich said. "It"s good to get it out in the open. The problem sometimes is that emotions come out on the field and in the heat of the moment you do things that later on you probably hope you"d do things differently. We"ve all been there and done that, from that point of view it"s a matter of learning from your mistakes."
Haddin is certain that he has learnt from his experience in Perth, where he pointed his bat angrily at the bowler Benn after a relatively innocuous clash between Benn and Johnson. Haddin conceded that his own actions were not appropriate but he said that Gayle "needs to get over" his incident with Watson and the Australians were especially keen to move on.
"It wasn"t a good look pointing my bat," Haddin said. "It was probably a bit too animated for what the occasion was. I apologise for that, I shouldn"t have pointed my bat, but apart from that, Test cricket is an emotional rollercoaster sometimes. It"s a pretty tough environment to be in, so there"s going to be occasions when your emotions get the better of you.
"It"s just one of those things that happened in the heat of battle and with a bit of luck it won"t happen again. It wasn"t a good look for the fans and it especially wasn"t a good look for the kids. I"ll be working on that to make sure it doesn"t happen again."
The all-too-regular meetings between Australia"s players and the match referee also attracted the attention of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland. He agreed with Watson"s own assessment that he had gone over the top with his celebrations at dismissing Gayle, but he was confident Ricky Ponting was doing his best to improve the behaviour of his men.
"I was as disappointed as anyone about a couple of incidents in the last two Test matches," Sutherland said.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Trescothick signs 3-year contract with Somerset
TAUNTON, England: Former England opener Marcus Trescothick signed a new three-year contract with county side Somerset on Tuesday and hopes to keep playing until he is 40.
Trescothick has continued to shine in spite of the stress-related illness that hastened the end of his international career and forced him to withdraw from the Twenty20 Champions League in October.
Somerset has supported its 34-year-old captain, who has played for the southwest team since he was 17, throughout his difficulties.
"I am absolutely delighted to have signed a new contract with Somerset," Trescothick said. "My aim is to play for as long as I can, at least until I am 40, and beyond if I am fit enough."
Trescothick hit 5,825 runs in 76 Tests and helped England win the 2005 Ashes before retiring internationally last year because of the illness that kept him out of his country"s tours since 2006.
He bounced back to hit 1,817 runs in this year"s County Championship at an average of 75.70, helping Somerset finish third. He scored 2,934 runs in all competitions and was the Professional Cricketers" Association player of the year.
His illness resurfaced when he left the Champions League in India after scoring just 17 runs in two tournament innings, but Somerset"s faith remained undimmed and he was immediately reconfirmed as Justin Langer"s successor as captain.
"There is a lot more movement of players between counties than there was in my playing days, so it is a great sign that our best player is pledging his future to the club where he started," Somerset director of cricket Brian Rose said on Tuesday.
Source:Thenews
Trescothick has continued to shine in spite of the stress-related illness that hastened the end of his international career and forced him to withdraw from the Twenty20 Champions League in October.
Somerset has supported its 34-year-old captain, who has played for the southwest team since he was 17, throughout his difficulties.
"I am absolutely delighted to have signed a new contract with Somerset," Trescothick said. "My aim is to play for as long as I can, at least until I am 40, and beyond if I am fit enough."
Trescothick hit 5,825 runs in 76 Tests and helped England win the 2005 Ashes before retiring internationally last year because of the illness that kept him out of his country"s tours since 2006.
He bounced back to hit 1,817 runs in this year"s County Championship at an average of 75.70, helping Somerset finish third. He scored 2,934 runs in all competitions and was the Professional Cricketers" Association player of the year.
His illness resurfaced when he left the Champions League in India after scoring just 17 runs in two tournament innings, but Somerset"s faith remained undimmed and he was immediately reconfirmed as Justin Langer"s successor as captain.
"There is a lot more movement of players between counties than there was in my playing days, so it is a great sign that our best player is pledging his future to the club where he started," Somerset director of cricket Brian Rose said on Tuesday.
Source:Thenews
"I"m ready for Australia"
KARACHI: Mohammad Sami on Wednesday staked a claim for a place in Pakistan"s Test eleven by issuing a pace warning to Australian batsmen with a hostile spell against Habib Bank that earned him six wickets and his team Karachi Blues the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy here at the National Stadium.
Later the comeback fast bowler declared himself as "mentally and physically" ready to play a role in Pakistan"s campaign in the eagerly-awaited series against Australia that will begin with the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne from Saturday.
He was picked as a "reinforcement" player earlier this month in a bid to boost Pakistan"s pace attack in Australia, making him the 17th member on the touring party.
"I"m in good form and my fitness is excellent which is why I believe I"m ready for the Test series against Australia, both mentally and physically," he told "The News" after leading Karachi Blues to a 141-run title-winning triumph in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final against HBL.
Just hours after spearheading Blues to a memorable win, Sami was packing his bags to head for Melbourne where he will join his teammates just a day before the start of the opening Test.
Bowling at an express pace, Sami picked up 6-38 and together with new-ball partner Tanvir Ahmed (4-27) bowled out HBL for a mere 66 in their second innings on what was only the third day of the five-day contest.
Sami"s victims included former Pakistan captain Younis Khan, who flopped again in the second innings, and former internationals Saleem Elahi and Humayun Farhat.
"It"s the sort of spell that gives your confidence a big boost," said Sami, who last played for Pakistan on the 2007 tour of India.
"To bowl well in the (Quaid-e-Azam Trophy) final and help your team win makes you feel great. I"m really pleased that it came just before the series against Australia."
Sami is confident that the fact that he hasn"t played any international cricket for the last two years won"t affect his showing in Australia, where he is expected to get a chance to play following reports that pacer Umar Gul is injured and might be out for the entire Test series.
"I was out for two years but have been playing a lot of cricket," he said referring to the fact that he featured for Lahore Badshahs in the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Sami was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last year after he switched allegiance to the rebel league but was pardoned in November when he broke ties with the cash-rich ICL.
After his ICL stint, the 28-year-old Sami kept himself fit by regularly playing club cricket in Karachi during the last few months.
"Playing club cricket really helped," he said. "It kept me in the game and helped me improve my fitness and retain my rhythm."
Speaking on the final against HBL, Sami said that he was confident of his team"s win even though the bankers just needed 208 to win the final.
"The wicket was good and didn"t allow any easy runs to the batsmen," he said. "I was confident because we just needed to bowl in the right areas to get the wickets."
Sami lavished praise on Tanvir, saying that the prolific pacer bowled his heart out during the entire season.
"Tanvir is a really good fast bowler. He works hard and has proved his worth by picking up the highest number of wickets this season."
Tanvir topped the bowling charts with 85 wickets from 11 matches at 17.12.
Sami said the fact that he formed a lethal partnership with Tanvir helped Karachi win the title this year. "For fast bowlers it is very important to have a proper partnership and I"m lucky I had Tanvir bowling with me."
Source:thenews
Later the comeback fast bowler declared himself as "mentally and physically" ready to play a role in Pakistan"s campaign in the eagerly-awaited series against Australia that will begin with the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne from Saturday.
He was picked as a "reinforcement" player earlier this month in a bid to boost Pakistan"s pace attack in Australia, making him the 17th member on the touring party.
"I"m in good form and my fitness is excellent which is why I believe I"m ready for the Test series against Australia, both mentally and physically," he told "The News" after leading Karachi Blues to a 141-run title-winning triumph in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final against HBL.
Just hours after spearheading Blues to a memorable win, Sami was packing his bags to head for Melbourne where he will join his teammates just a day before the start of the opening Test.
Bowling at an express pace, Sami picked up 6-38 and together with new-ball partner Tanvir Ahmed (4-27) bowled out HBL for a mere 66 in their second innings on what was only the third day of the five-day contest.
Sami"s victims included former Pakistan captain Younis Khan, who flopped again in the second innings, and former internationals Saleem Elahi and Humayun Farhat.
"It"s the sort of spell that gives your confidence a big boost," said Sami, who last played for Pakistan on the 2007 tour of India.
"To bowl well in the (Quaid-e-Azam Trophy) final and help your team win makes you feel great. I"m really pleased that it came just before the series against Australia."
Sami is confident that the fact that he hasn"t played any international cricket for the last two years won"t affect his showing in Australia, where he is expected to get a chance to play following reports that pacer Umar Gul is injured and might be out for the entire Test series.
"I was out for two years but have been playing a lot of cricket," he said referring to the fact that he featured for Lahore Badshahs in the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Sami was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last year after he switched allegiance to the rebel league but was pardoned in November when he broke ties with the cash-rich ICL.
After his ICL stint, the 28-year-old Sami kept himself fit by regularly playing club cricket in Karachi during the last few months.
"Playing club cricket really helped," he said. "It kept me in the game and helped me improve my fitness and retain my rhythm."
Speaking on the final against HBL, Sami said that he was confident of his team"s win even though the bankers just needed 208 to win the final.
"The wicket was good and didn"t allow any easy runs to the batsmen," he said. "I was confident because we just needed to bowl in the right areas to get the wickets."
Sami lavished praise on Tanvir, saying that the prolific pacer bowled his heart out during the entire season.
"Tanvir is a really good fast bowler. He works hard and has proved his worth by picking up the highest number of wickets this season."
Tanvir topped the bowling charts with 85 wickets from 11 matches at 17.12.
Sami said the fact that he formed a lethal partnership with Tanvir helped Karachi win the title this year. "For fast bowlers it is very important to have a proper partnership and I"m lucky I had Tanvir bowling with me."
Source:thenews
Ponting bats in strong Boxing Day warm-up
Ricky Ponting's prospects of leading Australia in the Boxing Day Test appear strong after he batted in the nets at the MCG without any clear signs of discomfort in his injured left elbow. Australia will wait to see how Ponting pulls up on Christmas Day before confirming him in the starting line-up but the indications were positive two days out from the first Test against Pakistan.
Ponting batted for about half an hour in the nets over three separate stints, starting with throwdowns before he went behind closed doors with the physio Alex Kountouris. He returned and spent 15 minutes facing Shane Watson and a group of young fast bowlers, and was strong in his grip and extended his arm without any obvious problems.
Apart from strapping on his elbow and the fact that he wore an arm-guard, there were few signs of his injury. Michael Clarke, who would step in as captain if Ponting was unavailable, was happy with how his leader performed.
"We'll obviously have to see how he pulls up tomorrow but we're all pretty confident," Clarke said. "It looked like he hit the ball quite well and he's obviously in very good form. Fingers crossed he pulls up tomorrow but we're pretty confident. He's a very tough bloke and cricketer and I think you'd probably have to cut his arm off for him to miss a Boxing Day Test match."
It was the first time Ponting had batted since the second innings against West Indies in Perth, when he came in at No. 9 and survived for only six deliveries, batting in obvious discomfort. The problem arose when he was struck on the elbow by a bouncer from Kemar Roach in the first innings at the WACA, which left him with tendon damage.
He has had several sessions in a hyperbaric chamber in an effort to speed up the recovery process for a problem that Kountouris last week said left his elbow like meat bashed with a mallet. Ponting has not missed a Test since 2004.
Source:Cricinfo
Ponting batted for about half an hour in the nets over three separate stints, starting with throwdowns before he went behind closed doors with the physio Alex Kountouris. He returned and spent 15 minutes facing Shane Watson and a group of young fast bowlers, and was strong in his grip and extended his arm without any obvious problems.
Apart from strapping on his elbow and the fact that he wore an arm-guard, there were few signs of his injury. Michael Clarke, who would step in as captain if Ponting was unavailable, was happy with how his leader performed.
"We'll obviously have to see how he pulls up tomorrow but we're all pretty confident," Clarke said. "It looked like he hit the ball quite well and he's obviously in very good form. Fingers crossed he pulls up tomorrow but we're pretty confident. He's a very tough bloke and cricketer and I think you'd probably have to cut his arm off for him to miss a Boxing Day Test match."
It was the first time Ponting had batted since the second innings against West Indies in Perth, when he came in at No. 9 and survived for only six deliveries, batting in obvious discomfort. The problem arose when he was struck on the elbow by a bouncer from Kemar Roach in the first innings at the WACA, which left him with tendon damage.
He has had several sessions in a hyperbaric chamber in an effort to speed up the recovery process for a problem that Kountouris last week said left his elbow like meat bashed with a mallet. Ponting has not missed a Test since 2004.
Source:Cricinfo
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