Australia’s captain Michael Clarke was taken by ambulance to Sutherland hospital in Sydney overnight after suffering a severe bout of gastroenteritis

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2013Australia’s captain Michael Clarke was taken by ambulance to Sutherland hospital in Sydney overnight after suffering a severe bout of gastroenteritis.Having returned home early from the Test tour of India due to back and hamstring problems that have since ruled him out of the IPL, Clarke was waylaid by the stomach trouble on Sunday night and treated overnight before returning to his home on Monday.”Cricket Australia today advised that Michael Clarke was hospitalised overnight with gastroenteritis,” a CA statement said. “Clarke has since been discharged from hospital and CA confirms that he is recovering at home.”Clarke is working to return to fitness in time for the Champions Trophy tournament in England which serves as a precursor to this year’s Ashes series.

Opening batsman Alviro Petersen has replaced the injured Graeme Smith in South Africa’s Champions Trophy squad

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2013Alviro Petersen has replaced his Test opening partner, Graeme Smith in South Africa’s Champions Trophy squad. Smith has been ruled out following the recurrence of an ankle injury that requires surgery. Petersen will partner Hashim Amla at the top of the order to bring stability to a South African line-up that will be without Smith and Jacques Kallis, after the latter opted out due to personal reasons. He was picked on the value of his experience, strong county form and a modest record in the format, despite not having played an ODI since January 2012.In the last month, Petersen has scored 537 runs for Somerset across the county championship and the Yorkshire Bank 40 series to enjoy what convener of selectors, Andrew Hudson called the “form of his life.” More importantly for Hudson, it proves Petersen has adjusted well to English conditions, which South Africa see as a challenge they must overcome if they hope to lift ICC silverware for the first time in 15 years.”With the tournament being played early in the England summer, we envisage that bowling conditions will favour the seamers and getting good partnerships going up front is going to be paramount to success,” Hudson said.Patience is one of the hallmarks of Petersen’s game, as he showed during his 182 at Headingley during South Africa’s tour of England last year. “He is a proper, proven opening batter,” Geoff Toyana, Peterson’s coach at the Lions franchise in South Africa, said. “He is technically sound and he knows how to build an innings.”Although Petersen played only one 50-over game for the Lions last season, due to international commitments, Toyana chose to use him in the final when he was available. He scored 56, batting at No.4 in the washed-out encounter.He also played an important part in the Lions Twenty20 campaign, which they won. In those matches, Petersen also batted in the middle-order as part of the Lions’ plan to “see his other game”. Toyana explained they wanted Petersen to show he could accelerate when needed.”We wanted to show what he could do when the field was out, and he could clear boundaries and hit into gaps. He adapted to that very well, he showed he can hit the ball in the latter stages of the innings,” Toyana said. “I think he can get that balance right for South Africa, as well. He is a smart guy and he will work it out. He knows it’s a great opportunity for him especially because he has not played much one-day cricket.”While scoring runs will be Petersen’s primary job, he will also have to fill in for Smith in the leadership role. South Africa’s one-day squad is notably lacking in players of stature on whom AB de Villiers has leaned on heavily in the past to assist in decision-making. As captain of the Lions, and a regular member of the Test team, Petersen has earned the respect of his compatriots and will be in a position to assist de Villiers if needed.That “added value” Petersen can offer is, according to Toyana and Hudson, what tipped the scale in his favour and saw him picked over the liked of Henry Davids or Quinton de Kock.The former will be forgiven for feeling aggrieved. Davids is 33 years old, has done his time on the domestic scene and has played a handful of Twenty20 matches for South Africa with some success. But, he has no playing experience in the UK.De Kock will have less reason to consider himself snubbed. He has had a tough time at the IPL, where he has played just three matches for Sunrises Hyderabad and managed six runs. Toyana, who also coaches de Kock at franchise level, had comforting words for the 20-year-old. “His time will come,” he said.

Essex’s head coach Paul Grayson has issued a public apology over what he described as the county’s “shambolic” display in losing to Northamptonshire by an innings

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2013Essex’s head coach Paul Grayson has issued a public apology over what he described as the county’s “shambolic” display in losing to Northamptonshire by an innings in Division Two of the Championship at Northampton last week.Grayson’s admission that Essex’s performance was “totally unacceptable” has brought further problems for the county in a week when the spot-fixing shame surrounding the county again returned to prominence.Danish Kaneria’s appeal against his life ban for spot fixing while playing for Essex is being heard by the ECB in London this week – and a former Essex bowler, Mervyn Westfield, who was jailed after being found guilty of involvement, has only agreed to give evidence to the hearing after he was ordered to do so by the High Court.Grayson, whose six-year tenure has now reached a critical stage, said: “As head coach, I feel that I wish to publicly express my apologies to all members and supporters for the shambolic performance produced by the Essex players that resulted in an innings defeat at Northamptonshire last week.”At one stage on day two with only two first-innings wickets intact, our opponents were still trailing by 12 runs but by the time the final two wickets had been claimed, they had forged a lead of 216 runs. We then generally batted poorly to add to the obvious shortcomings in the bowling department, all resulting in a defeat by a highly embarrassing margin.”I feel that it is right that our members and supporters should be aware that the players have been told in no uncertain terms that their performance, as a team, was totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”I can assure you that changes will be made for the next match that starts on Monday week against Hampshire at Chelmsford.”I feel that it is important to stress to our members and supporters that I, and the coaching staff, will continue to do everything in our powers to bring success to this club but the players have, of course, a major part to play if that desire we hold is to be realised.”The coaching staff have every confidence in the potential of the squad and we will continue to all work together to get our season back on track.”

Ricky Ponting knows that coming out of Test retirement for an Ashes recall is exceptionally unlikely, but he would consider such a move if Australia came calling

Brydon Coverdale and David Hopps29-May-2013For a few, brief hours, Ashes nostalgia got the better of Ricky Ponting as he indicated that he would be prepared to answer an SOS call from Michael Clarke and help out Australia in the Ashes.”You wouldn’t say no, would you, if that call came and I would never say never,” Ponting told the when asked if he would consider an Ashes comeback. “But you have to say a call-up like that now is extremely unlikely.”But never again the twain shall meet, unless it’s for a beer as Michael Clarke’s men tour the country. A Ponting return would have been akin to a desperate England sending for a 41-year-old Colin Cowdrey midway through the 1974-75 Ashes. In other words, it sounded from the outset as likely as David Warner hiring Robert Craddock to write his biography.A good night’s sleep later, Ponting reconfirmed his international retirement. He had never seriously intended to suggest he was fingering his mobile, awaiting a call. One of cricket’s toughest performers was just indulging in a flight of fancy.”I did an interview with the Mail yesterday and probably didn’t answer this question exactly the way I would have liked,” he told Sky Sports. “I’m a happily retired international cricketer. There’ll be a squad of 17, 18 players and there’ll be reserve batsmen on standby, ready to go if anyone in the starting XI loses a bit of form.”I won’t be playing Ashes cricket this time, there’s no doubt about that. I’m pleased everyone out there thinks that there’s still an opportunity, that I might be good enough to play, but I’m happily retired and it’s time for the young guys now to make the most of their opportunities.”To date, Michael Vaughan, his opposite number as England captain in 2005, has been able to keep his excitement in check. Clarke, too, presented a straight bat when asked about a possibly Ponting return at his Champions Trophy press conference in Cardiff on Wednesday.”You should never say never in life, that’s for sure, but I think Ricky also made it very clear that his time had finished at international level,” Clarke said. “He’s retired from the Australian cricket team. I hear he’s very focused and excited about being a part of the Surrey team. Right now we have a 15-man Champions Trophy squad, and then we’ll have a 16-man Ashes squad. Ricky is not selected in either of those squads at this stage.”Ponting will be in England for a county stint with Surrey in June and July and it could make for an interesting sideshow if he continues the first-class form that he showed for Tasmania after his Test retirement – he topped the Sheffield Shield run tally with 911 at 75.91. Australia’s batsmen struggled in India in February and March on their first Test tour since the departures of Ponting and Michael Hussey and several top-order men will enter the Ashes under pressure.There is no question that Ponting’s decision to play on after giving up the captaincy was made with this Ashes tour in mind. But by the end of the home series against South Africa late last year, when he was embarrassed at his output of 32 runs in five innings, he knew that the time had come to retire, or risk a tap on the shoulder from the selectors.”I felt Australia would have been a stronger side in this Ashes with both me and Mike Hussey in the side,” Ponting said. “The Ashes are the pinnacle and England is the greatest tour to be on. But the bottom line is I just wasn’t good enough any more to be a part of this team. I knew that.Ricky Ponting topped the Sheffield Shield run tally last summer•Getty Images

“Hussey is missing because of different circumstances and I’m surprised he’s not here but I know how hard it can be to keep on touring with a young family. As for me, my time had just come. I knew it so I had to bow out against South Africa. It’s down to the young lads now.”While they’re all young lads to Ponting, some members of Australia’s squad are not so youthful by international cricket standards: the selectors hope that the recall of the 35-year-olds Chris Rogers and Brad Haddin will add some experience and stability to the side. Much will depend on the form of Clarke, but Ponting believes the series could be closer than many people expect and he said the output of the other batsmen like Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson would be critical.”I think it’s going to be a lot tighter than a lot of people have been saying,” he said. “There has been a lot of doom and gloom and negativity about our side but not too long ago we were all being pretty positive about where we stood. Our batting is the key. If it can stand up to the English bowling then we will be competitive. We have a good, solid number of bowlers and our young quicks are really exciting as a fast-bowling group.”England are a very good side, and they played exceptionally well against us in Australia last time. I must admit Alastair Cook surprised me in that series but I see he’s just got his 25th Test century and he’s proving a worthy successor as captain to Andrew Strauss. Joe Root looks a good young player, Jonny Bairstow has something about him and when Kevin Pietersen is fit England will be getting a world-class player again. They are a quality side – but quality sides have been beaten in the past.”Another important factor for the Australians will be their preparation and off-field efforts, which slipped so significantly on the Indian tour that Clarke, coach Mickey Arthur and team manager Gavin Dovey suspended four players for not completed a so-called “homework task”. Ponting said he was uncertain how he would have dealt with such issues if he had still been in charge.”I can understand what the captain and coach were trying to achieve but I’m not sure I totally agree with what happened,” he said. “I don’t know for sure how I would have handled that situation but those type of things didn’t happen when I was captain.”

India have name an unchanged squad from the one playing in the Champions Trophy for the ODI tri-series in the West Indies, which begins on June 28

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2013

India team for tri-series v WI, SL

MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan, Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar

India have named an unchanged squad from the one playing in the Champions Trophy for the ODI tri-series in the West Indies, which begins on June 28. The continuity is reflective of the team’s success in the ongoing tournament, where they have reached the semi-finals after winning all their group matches.The squad includes five seam bowlers in Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Irfan Pathan and Vinay Kumar, and three spinners: R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra. MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay constitute the batting.India will travel to the West Indies following the Champions Trophy, for the series that also includes the hosts and Sri Lanka.The make-up of the squad indicates that the Indian selectors, in relation to the one-day team, have turned their focus firmly on World Cup 2015. India had fielded a new-look team for the Champions Trophy, dropping seniors like Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. These players as well as others – including Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh – who had been central to India’s success over the previous decade but have had form and injury issues of late, remain sidelined.

India A’s batsmen have faltered twice in chases against Australia A in a series full of huge totals. Will it be any different in the final?

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit13-Aug-2013

Match facts

August 14, Pretoria
Start time 0930 (0730 GMT)India A’s batsmen have come up short against Australia A twice this series•Getty Images

Big Picture

It looked an excellent plan on paper. Send your fringe players, and a few first-choice batsmen, to South Africa on an A tour three months before the senior side travels to the country. Ideally, far better preparation than any camp in home conditions would have been. The main course – the two unofficial Tests – are yet to arrive, but going by what has happened in the one-day tri-series, India A haven’t missed home much.The pitch at the LC de Villiers Oval in Pretoria has been so flat the South Africa A captain Justin Ontong has been left hoping for some grass on the wickets for the unofficial Tests. Given that one of them will be played on the same ground, Ontong might as well put in a prayer along with hoping.India A have not experienced what the senior team management might have wanted them to, but they have done what they usually do on such pitches back home. The batsmen have prospered, the bowlers have suffered. In their defence, the other sides have fared similarly.Barring the opening match, the side batting first has scored big and won, although the biggest margin has been only 39 runs. India A have made 291 and 285 and still lost, both times to Australia A. They have also shown off their batting firepower as they often do in one-dayers in benign conditions, plundering 309 in 38 overs against South Africa A. Shikhar Dhawan’s astonishing 248 helped them to 433 against the same opposition.However, it is Australia A, and not the hosts, who await India A in the final. They are the only side to chase successfully in this series. They then went ahead and defended successfully from a seemingly lost cause as India A choked.Just like their opponents in the final, Australia A have several international players, who will be eyeing selection for the limited-overs leg of the senior side’s dismal England tour. “Hopefully some of the performances coming off the back of this tour have got some guys in there,” Aaron Finch, the Australia A captain, said. “Some of the guys definitely have their fingers crossed.” Unlike India A, they can claim their workout in South Africa has been ideal, and timely.

In the spotlight

Suresh Raina has been India A’s most economical bowler. While all the batsmen are internationals, India A have come with an inexperienced bowling attack. The spinners are yet to play for the senior side, as are two of the fast bowlers. Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat are raw in international cricket. All of them have been expensive, but Ishwar Pandey came in for praise from the coach Lalchand Rajput in his only match of the series. Rajput said Pandey came back strongly after an expensive opening spell against South Africa A to bowl several yorkers at the death and pick up four wickets. India A will need plenty more of them.Glenn Maxwell has taken a liking to the Indians this series. He savaged them for an unbeaten 145 off 79 at No. 7 to launch Australia A from 152 for 8 to 298 for 8. That earned him a promotion to No. 4, from where he hit 93 off 56. What does he have in store for India A in the final?

Quotes

“There has been a run fest for the batters on this pitch and a hard time for the medium-pacers. We have a team of pretty aggressive players and we’re all very experienced in one-day cricket, we’re very confident of our abilities and it’s been good that we haven’t quite played our best cricket and yet we’ve won three matches so far.”

Simon Harmer produced the best bowling figures for South Africa A to guide them to a comprehensive seven-wicket win, and 1-0 series win, against Australia A in the second unofficial Test in Rustenberg

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2013
ScorecardOffspinner Simon Harmer produced the best bowling figures for South Africa A to guide them to a comprehensive seven-wicket win, and 1-0 series win, against Australia A in the second unofficial Test in Rustenberg.Harmer ended the innings with 8 for 87, and in the process, bettered the previous record held by medium pacer Alan Dawson who took 6 for 44 against Sri Lanka A in 1998/99.Australia A began the day at a steady 112 for 2, but the hosts seized back the initiative as Harmer, the Man of the Match, dismissed Alex Doolan, Tim Paine and Glen Maxwell in the first session.Nic Maddinson, much akin to his one-man show in the first innings, once again stood out for Australia A with a fighting 90. He struck 12 fours, but with wickets falling regularly at the other end, Australia A failed to build any substantial partnership and were subsequently bowled out for 277. Apart from Chadd Sayers’ run-out, Harmer picked up all the other wickets that Australia A lost on the third day.Chasing a modest 68, South Africa A completed the victory in just over 15 overs, but after losing their top three batsmen. Haroon Lorgat, the newly-appointed CSA chief, commended the team on the result. “This is a highly encouraging result against opponents who are always tough to beat,” he said, “and an encouraging acknowledgement of the depth we have in multi-day cricket.”This was a classic display from our point of view in that our seamers bowled the Australians out in less than 40 overs after losing the toss and then our specialist spinner, Simon Harmer, took an outstanding 8/87 in the second. This incidentally is one of the best ever bowling performances at this level.”From a batting point of view it was highly encouraging to see three of our batsmen – Dean Elgar, Thami Tsolekile and Rilee Rossouw – all make big centuries during the series.”Coach Vinnie Barnes and captain Justin Ontong and the rest of the squad are to be congratulated on their outstanding performance. We now look forward to next week’s triangular limited overs series that also features a very strong India A side.”The triangular ODI series between the three teams starts on August 6.

Australia Women’s spin duo of Jess Jonassen and Erin Osborne shared seven wickets between them to orchestrate a batting collapse at Lord’s, giving the visitors a 27-run win in the first ODI

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2013
ScorecardJess Jonassen took 4 for 38•PA Photos

Australia Women’s spin duo of Jess Jonassen and Erin Osborne shared seven wickets between them to orchestrate a batting collapse at Lord’s, giving the visitors a 27-run win in the first ODI. Chasing 204, England Women progressed steadily to 99 for 1 but lost their last nine wickets for 77 runs.After opting to bat first, Australia got off to a shaky start, losing Rachel Haynes in the first over, caught and bowled by Katherine Brunt. Brunt returned to dismiss Jess Cameron, caught at square leg. Opener Meg Lanning gave Australia the platform with a half-century, adding 74 for the third wicket with the captain Jodie Fields. Lanning hit eight boundaries in her 56 before she was dismissed by Laura Marsh, caught at mid-off. Marsh dismissed Fields for 32 shortly after, caught at the same position, leaving Australia at 113 for 4.The middle and lower order chipped in to push the score past 200. Jenny Gunn, the right-arm seamer, became England’s leading ODI wicket-taker when she had Sarah Coyte caught, claiming her 103rd victim and going past Clare Taylor.England’s openers, Charlotte Edwards and Arran Brindle, started steadily, adding 63 in just under 20 overs. Offspinner Osborne struck by getting rid of Brindle for a watchful 21 off 72 balls. Edwards and Sarah Taylor took the score to 99 before the left-arm spinner Jonassen claimed the first of her four victims, trapping Taylor lbw. She struck again soon after, dismissing Lydia Greenway.Edwards held the innings together with a half-century, but her dismissal in the 38th over, caught behind trying to cut Osborne, marked the turning point. The spinners chipped away in tandem, as England lost their last six wickets for 34 runs.Australia took the lead in the Women’s Ashes points table with four points, while England still held two from the drawn Test.

Two politicial heavyweights from Maharashtra, including chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, have expressed their interest in taking the plunge into Mumbai Cricket Association’s administration

Amol Karhadkar16-Sep-2013Two politicial heavyweights from Maharashtra, including chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, have expressed their interest in taking the plunge into Mumbai Cricket Association’s administration.On Monday, a day before the clubs’ deadline for submitting their respective representative for the MCA elections to be held on October 18, Chavan was nominated by Mazgaon Cricket Club. ESPNcricinfo understands that Stylo Cricketers, another cricket club affiliated with the MCA, is set to pronounce Gopinath Munde, the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (the principal opposition) deputy leader in Lok Sabha, as their representative for the elections.It was the Mazgaon Cricket Club that had nominated former Maharashtra chief minister and union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, whose death in July 2012 had paved the way for Ravi Savant to be the interim president for the last 14 months. Despite their political rivalry, Chavan and Munde are likely to join hands for the MCA elections.While MCA old-timers believe it is a matter of time before Chavan announces his intentions “to be the next MCA president”, the Mazgaon CC secretary Shahalam Shaikh said Chavan hadn’t made up his mind yet. “Chavan agreed to fill in the void created by Deshmukh’s untimely death and represent our club at the MCA elections,” Shaikh told ESPNcricinfo. “Whether to contest or not is entirely his own decision and he hasn’t yet conveyed it to us till now.”It is expected that while Chavan will file papers for the president’s post, Munde will contest for one of the two vice-presidents’ posts. If at all Chavan faces resistance, it will be from another political heavyweight Sharad Pawar, the former MCA, BCCI and ICC chief. Though Chavan’s and Pawar’s political parties run an alliance government in the state of Maharashtra, both the leaders have waged a war of words against each other of late.It is expected that Chavan and Pawar will strike “some sort of a deal” ahead of the elections, but the Bal Mahaddalkar panel, a powerful group in MCA, stood firm behind Pawar. “As of now, Pawar has made his intentions clear of returning to the MCA and we firmly back him as our leader,” Nitin Dalal, MCA joint secretary, said just after the panel’s first official meeting with voters.If elected, Chavan and Munde will join a long list of political figures heading various cricket boards in India. Seven of BCCI’s 27 affiliated units are headed by political figures. The MCA, one of the most prestigious provincial cricket bodies in the world, too has had a long tradition of politicians at the head. Barring the exception of former Test cricketer Madhav Mantri (1987-88 to January 92) and Savant (August 2012 till date as interim president), all the presidents over the last 50 years have been politicians.While Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya are already voters in MCA along with senior state minister Narayan Rane, Nitin Sardesai, a member of legislative assembly from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, will represent Dadar Parsi Zorastrian Cricket Club.MCA’s biennial elections have been delayed by three months and are slated to be held on October 18. The last date for filing nominations is October 11. The MCA elections are held for president, two vice-presidents, two joint secretaries, treasurer and 11 managing committee members.

It’s that time of the season when the middle of the table is a logjam, with a constant churn in the teams’ positions after each match-day

The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy03-May-2015

Match facts

Monday, May 4, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big picture

It’s that time of the season when the middle of the table is a logjam, with a constant churn in the teams’ positions after each match-day. Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad are both in that logjam, and neither team can afford major slip-ups hereon.A Knight Riders win will take them to 11 points but a defeat will leave them outside the top four, with Sunrisers leapfrogging them on the table.The strengths and weaknesses of both teams are fairly well known. Sunrisers have plenty of options with the ball, but not a lot of genuine pace, with only one of Trent Boult or Dale Steyn able to play on most occasions. They have one of the best opening pairs in the tournament, but their middle order is an area of constant chop and change.Knight Riders have a strong bowling attack, and have been able to cope fairly well without Sunil Narine, but the two fast bowlers they’ve preferred – Umesh Yadav and Pat Cummins – have been expensive. Their regular top three have had erratic seasons, and while their middle order packs quite some punch, its ability against high-quality bowling can be questioned. Sunrisers themselves exposed this when Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Praveen Kumar stifled Knight Riders in a truncated run-chase in Visakhapatnam.But Knight Riders know how to win at their home ground. The pitch suits their style of play, and their spinners. Last season, Sunrisers had one of the best spin attacks in the competition, but this year they have let go of Amit Mishra and relied far more on their seamers. It’s only one of a number of potential factors that could decide this match, but Knight Riders will start favourites if the Eden Gardens pitch is anything like its usual self.

Watch out for

Knight Riders have preferred him to Morne Morkel for their last three matches, but Pat Cummins hasn’t delivered yet. He’s been expensive, giving away 9.70 runs an over, and has only taken one wicket in 10 overs. Cummins will need to step up if Knight Riders are to keep faith in him.A blistering 61 against Chennai Super Kings lifted David Warner above Ajinkya Rahane to the top rung of the IPL run-getter’s ladder. Warner has been extremely consistent for Sunrisers, with five half-centuries in eight matches, and his form has been key to their recovery from a slow start to the season. If he keeps at it, Sunrisers have a real chance of making the playoffs.

Stats and trivia

• Karn Sharma’s numbers have shown a steady decline over his three seasons at Sunrisers. His bowling average and economy rate were 20.90 and 6.60 in 2013, and 25.06 and 7.42 in 2014. This year, he’s picked up only four wickets in eight matches, at 47.75, and has conceded 7.95 runs an over.
• David Warner needs to hit four sixes, and Robin Uthappa six, to get to 100 in their respective IPL careers. Nine players have reached that mark so far, with AB de Villiers and Kieron Pollard also in the 90s.

Quotes

“We got four big games to go – we got two home games which are going to be important. We are pretty good at home. We are at the business end of the tournament, so there is going to be a pressure on us.”
“We certainly hope that that is going to turn around. We need to complement the confidence both David and Shikhar give. We know that we need to spring a few wins.”