Ryan Harris has admitted he was so consumed by keeping his place in the national ODI team that it resulted in his worst bowling in recent memory

Daniel Brettig13-Mar-2012As he prepares to match wits with his Australia team-mates Ricky Ponting and Ed Cowan in the Sheffield Shield final, Ryan Harris has admitted he was so consumed by keeping his place in the national ODI team that it resulted in his worst bowling in recent memory.Recalled to the team for the triangular series against Sri Lanka and India after a break of more than a year, Harris was both expensive and wayward in his four matches, claiming only three wickets at a cost of 57 runs each while being taken for 5.51 runs per over.They were figures in marked contrast to his Test efforts earlier in the summer and also his previous ODI appearances, and there was no surprise when he missed a place in the limited-overs segment of the Caribbean tour.”The main reason I put it down to is I really wanted to be back in that one-day team,” Harris told ESPNcricinfo. “After I got that opportunity I just tried so hard to be able to get wickets and bowl well, and in the end I tried too hard. It pushed me the other way. Normally I’d come back and be relaxed and just bowl the way I bowl.”But I went over the top in trying too hard and ended up bowling a heap of rubbish, and so it’s no surprise that I’m not in the West Indies now. But that’s fine, purely my fault. A few people have said I shouldn’t have been dropped, but I wasn’t bowling well enough. That’s the way it goes and I’m happy to be here now, working on those things that got me into the team in the first place, relaxed and bowling well.”There was plenty of anger in Harris, as much at himself as anyone else, at how his return to the ODI team unravelled, and it took time back in the familiar surrounds of the Queensland squad to regather his focus – helped by the presence of the Queensland coach and former South Australia captain Darren Lehmann.”The game [after being dropped from the national team] against NSW, I bowled 27 overs and I think I bowled about eight good overs,” Harris said. “The game against SA I started off bowling a lot better and by the end I felt really good: my pace was back, I had the swing back … So it’s been a really good time for me to get back and play with guys I’ve loved playing with and just relaxing a bit more.”Having Darren there has been good as well, he’s calmed me down a bit. But it’s been real good to get back and not try too hard. That’s exactly what I was doing back in that one-day team and it’s no coincidence that I tried too over the top and ended up being dropped from the team, because I wanted it too much. It’s been good to get back to how I was bowling when I was picked for Australia in the first place.”Now Harris will lead the Queensland attack, likely to also comprise Steve Magoffin, Ben Cutting, Alister McDermott and the captain James Hopes, in the Shield final against a Tasmanian side well versed in the art of winning finals. Harris acknowledged the importance of Ponting and Cowan, but counselled McDermott and Cutting in particular not to be distracted by the identity of the batsmen they confronted.”You can definitely get into that frame of mind, but I think I’ve played enough cricket now to know that whoever you bowl to you’ve got to get them out,” Harris said. “With Steve Magoffin likely to play, he’s another who’s played a lot of cricket as well and probably won’t get too wrapped up in the moment.”Ali McDermott’s our youngest one and Ben Cutting, they’re probably the ones who may get caught up in that moment, but I’ve played enough cricket to know no matter who’s at the other end, whether it is Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar or Luke Butterworth or whoever, I’m still trying to do the same thing and trying to get them out and not worrying about anything else.”I’ve been asked a lot about Ricky and how I’m going to get him out, but if we worry about Ricky too much the other guys can get away from us. The guys are excited about playing Tasmania as well, because they know we’ve probably been the best two teams in this competition for the year.”Harris’ winding journey from Adelaide to Brisbane has lifted him into the Australian team and now has him playing a first Shield final at the age of 32. He noted that the assistant coach Martin Love played in 11 finals in 16 years – Queensland’s era of plenty – while Ponting has played only one in 20 years, though he has often been waylaid by the international schedule.”It’s half the reason I moved to Queensland, to play in finals, and they’ve played in two since I’ve been here and I’ve missed them both,” Harris said. “A lot of guys go through their careers not playing in one, so for me to play in a Shield final is up there almost with playing for your country. We’ve trained really hard to get to this and it is a great feeling to do it with your close mates who you spend a lot of time with. For me to play my first one at 32, I’m really excited about it.”

Andy Flower, the England team director, has said that Stuart Broad’s recurring injury problems are a worry

Andrew McGlashan09-Apr-2012Andy Flower, the England team director, has said that Stuart Broad’s recurring injury problems are a worry. However he is resigned to Broad linking up with the IPL if he recovers from the calf strain that ruled him out of the second Test against Sri Lanka and has admitted the event is a “tricky” subject.It was the latest in a list of injuries for Broad over the last 18 months, starting with the stomach muscle strain that ruled him out of three Ashes Tests in Australia before a rib injury curtailed his World Cup campaign. Towards the end of the English season he then damaged his shoulder and missed the end of the India home series and Twenty20 matches against West Indies, plus the return contest in India during October which meant Graeme Swann was required as a stand-in T20 captain.”It is a concern,” Flower said. “He’s one of the leaders in our attack and our T20 captain as well. But he’ll be working hard to get back in readiness for the West Indies series.”Broad’s workload is one of the highest among the England squad with him playing all three formats but he has a contract with Kings XI Punjab which Flower knows he will need to honour if his calf recovers. If he does join up with the tournament he will return home to play one County Championship match, against Middlesex, before the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s on May 17. He was due to meet the ECB medical staff on Monday to assess his progress.”The IPL is a tricky subject and a tricky time in the cricketing calendar, and I don’t think there’s a perfect answer there,” Flower said. “My priority now is getting the guys ready for the West Indies series.”He’s contracted to his IPL side so if he’s fit he’ll go and play IPL and come back and play that first-class game prior to the West Indies series, as planned. If he’s not fit enough to do that, and calf injuries can take a bit longer than some of the other muscle groups, he won’t go.”Any England centrally contracted player who appears in the IPL – so that also includes Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan – are monitored by the ECB’s medical staff who keep in touch with the franchises to ensure any predefined programmes are adhered to and how any niggles are treated.Playing the IPL would mean no significant rest period for Broad until at least after the World Twenty20 where he will be captain and even then it will be short as the team are due to start a four-Test series in India in November. However, on the flip side the tournament could be a useful chance to expand his game ahead of the World Twenty20 in September where England will defend their title. Broad also missed last year’s IPL due to the rib injury he picked up at the World Cup.

Prasanth Parameswaran, the Kerala left-arm seamer, has been included in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad, after S Aravind was ruled out of the IPL with an injury

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2012Prasanth Parameswaran, the Kerala left-arm seamer, has been included in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad after S Aravind was ruled out of the rest of the IPL with an injured right knee.Parameswaran played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the 2011 IPL, taking four wickets in five matches. On debut, he dismissed Delhi Daredevils’ Virender Sehwag in his first over and was named Man of the Match as Tuskers won the game by seven wickets. However, he later suffered against Royal Challengers, with Chris Gayle going after him in an over that yielded 37 runs. In last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic Twenty20 competition, Parameswaran picked up seven wickets in five games for Kerala at an economy rate of 5.93.Aravind played just one game in this IPL, against Rajasthan Royals, and went for 48 runs in three wicketless overs. He was troubled during the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy as well with a knee injury, which sidelined him for four weeks.”We are happy with the induction of Prasanth Parameswaran in our squad,” Royal Challengers owner, Sidhartha Mallya said. “He will boost our bowling resources during the most critical phase of the tournament.”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is all set to appoint Richard Pybus as the national head coach after a day of meetings and “fact-finding”

Mohammad Isam11-May-2012The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is all set to appoint Richard Pybus as the national head coach after a day of meetings and “fact-finding”. None of the other candidates who were shortlisted – Mick Newell and Mark Greatbatch – are due to be interviewed, and Pybus’ appointment is likely to be confirmed within a week.”There won’t be any more interviews, nobody else is coming. We want one person and I’m sure we will succeed,” BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal said. “We have spoken to him [Pybus] and we are quite interested to get him. We can get a concrete decision from him in six to seven days.”After arriving late on Thursday night, Pybus spent time with Kamal at his residence. On Friday, he visited the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur to check out the facilities and meet some of the directors. In the evening, he met with some of the senior Bangladesh players in Dhaka. He is due to head back to Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.”This is nothing official nor is it an interview,” Pybus told reporters. “This is a fact-finding mission on my behalf and I am here to meet the president and the support staff. I want to make an informed decision and find out whether I can make a valid contribution.”It is about meeting people and finding a common ground. I have a family back in South Africa and I will go back and tell them whether it is feasible.”The living situation is the only hitch in an otherwise done deal as the BCB chief confirmed that there won’t be any more interviews or meetings with the other candidates.Pybus has seen Bangladesh up close a few times as Pakistan’s coach, most famously when Bangladesh upset Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup in a group game in Northampton. Before heading to Bangladesh, he spoke the wife of the late South Africa allrounder Eddie Barlow, who was Bangladesh’s coach after that World Cup.”Eddie Barlow was a friend of mine in South Africa and before he passed away, he spoke very highly about Bangladesh cricket,” Pybus said. “I spoke to his wife Cally last week and she only had good things to say about the people in Bangladesh.”Pybus will be coaching an international side for the first time since 2003. He was impressed with Bangladesh’s performance of late and said that he has a passion for the top job.”There is a lot of raw talent, and they have started to play some good cricket, build on the work done by Stuart [Law] and the support staff on the progress of the boys. It (Shere Bangla Stadium) is a wonderful, world-class stadium. It is nice to be here and nice to be in a country where the passion is incredible.”There’s never a shortage of hunger there. There’s always a challenge but it is about making a valid contribution. Those are the important things,” he said.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Muttiah Muralitharan has declared his intention to play in the Big Bash League next season, and the Melbourne Renegades could be the most likely team to win his services

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2012Muttiah Muralitharan has declared his intention to play in the Big Bash League next season, and the Melbourne Renegades could be the most likely team to win his services. Muralitharan played for Wellington in New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition last summer instead of turning out in the BBL but he has said he is keen to take part in the Australian tournament before he retires.Muralitharan, 40, is currently playing T20 cricket with Gloucestershire and having retired from international cricket, he has become something of a domestic T20 specialist. Already this year he has played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and the Chittagong Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League, and several BBL sides would be interested in signing him to their squad.”Yes, I’m going to play there next summer,” Muralitharan told the this week. “It is going to be maybe the last year of mine so I may as well come and enjoy the Big Bash. I am still bowling well.”If Muralitharan does join a BBL side it won’t be his first flirtation with Australia’s T20 cricket. In 2009, he signed with Victoria for what was then called the Big Bash, but the deal fell through due to Sri Lanka’s international commitments.He told the his relationships with Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald made the Renegades an attractive proposition, and such a move would also set up a cross-town spin rivalry between Muralitharan and the Melbourns Stars’ Shane Warne. However, the BBL contracting window does not open until next week, after the end of the contract period for the state sides.

Kevin Pietersen’s absence from international cricket continues after he was left out of England’s squad for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka

Andrew McGlashan21-Aug-2012Kevin Pietersen’s absence from international cricket continues after he was left out of England’s squad for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka as well as the group for the one-day series against South Africa.Michael Lumb, the Nottinghamshire opener, and Sussex allrounder Luke Wright, who were both part of the team that won the title in 2010, are recalled in the 15-man squad. Ravi Bopara, whose summer has been interrupted by personal problems, secures a place in both the T20 and one-day squads.Stuart Broad, who captains England in Twenty20, has been rested from the one-day series against South Africa with the selectors feeling he will benefit from a break before leading the side next month. James Anderson, Broad’s new-ball partner in Tests, does make the squad while Danny Briggs is the second specialist spinner.Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: “Stuart Broad has an important period coming up leading our T20 side and with a three match series followed closely by the ICC World T20 we feel a two week break from cricket is in the best interests of both Stuart and the team.”Kevin Pietersen’s future involvement is still being determined and he was therefore not considered for selection in either squad.”

England World Twenty20 squad

Stuart Broad (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright

Pietersen’s omission was expected following the controversial last few weeks which included being dropped for the final Test against South Africa at Lord’s. Although he apologised to the ECB for ‘provocative’ texts he sent to South African players during the Headingley Test the board have indicated there will not be any swift conclusion and return for Pietersen.Andy Flower, the England team director, said: “It’s a sad situation for everyone involved. He played superb in the last Twenty20 World Cup but the circumstances at the moment mean he can’t be selected,” he told Sky Sports News. “There are still issues unresolved and we will be addressing those when we have time.”Let me be clear, this is not just an issue between the captain and Kevin. There are deeper issues, certainly of trust and mutual respect that need to be addressed. Those issues have to be resolved before there is anyway forward.”Pietersen was Man of the Tournament in the Caribbean when England won their first global trophy, but in June retired from limited-overs internationals after deciding to quit 50-over cricket which made him unavailable for Twenty20 under the terms of the central contracts. However, following the Headingley Test against South Africa he had a u-turn and via a video on YouTube made himself available for all international cricket before, the next day, being left out of the Test side.Most of the players selected have been part of England’s Twenty20 cricket this year, but Wright and Lumb both last played in June 2011 against Sri Lanka at Bristol. The pair enjoyed impressive Friends Life t20 seasons with Wright making 309 runs at a strike-rate of 161.78 while Lumb made 252 runs in eight matches. Wright also struck a 44-ball hundred during the Big Bash League in Australia.Lumb formed England’s opening partnership alongside Craig Kieswetter during the 2010 tournament in West Indies but his career took a slump, not helped by injury, following that event before his move to Nottinghamshire sparked a revival this season.The same 15-man squad will face South Africa in three matches next month. England begin the defense of their title against Afghanistan on September 21.

Tim Ambrose and Ian Blackwell piled on the runs at Edgbaston as Warwickshire all but ended Nottinghamshire’s Championship hopes

Jon Culley at Edgbaston30-Aug-2012Nottinghamshire 188 for 4 (Hales 80*, Read 54*) trail Warwickshire 504 for 6 (Ambrose 151*, Westwood 81, Blackwell 69*) by 316 runs
ScorecardTim Ambrose notched his first century in three years, while Ian Blackwell added quick runs•PA Photos

If the bounce in Warwickshire’s step and the low set of Nottinghamshire’s shoulders was anything to go by as Tim Ambrose and Ian Blackwell piled on the runs at Edgbaston, the participants in this game believe the die is already cast in the race for the County Championship.Warwickshire, with every chance of taking maximum bonus points, will be happy with a draw from a rain-affected match, which would consolidate what already looks like a title-winning lead. When Nottinghamshire slumped to 69 for 4, their cause not helped when James Taylor trod on his stumps after he had scored only a single, it seemed they might do even better than that. At least Chris Read, who comes with a desire to uphold team pride as fierce as most players, was ready to make a fight of it.When bad light forced an early close – early in times of overs left, if not the time on the clock – he and Alex Hales had put on 119 for the fifth wicket, with every hope of adding a few more on the final morning. Another 167 are required, however, for the follow-on point to be passed.This is because Warwickshire, who were 298 for 5 before rain washed out the whole of the second day, cracked on at such a pace in the morning session against a weakened Nottinghamshire attack they were able to declare on 504 for 6, just seven overs after lunch. Maximum batting points were sealed with eight balls of the first 110 overs to spare during an onslaught that added 206 in just 37 overs.Tim Ambrose finished unbeaten on 151 – his first century since he hit three in 2009 – after rarely passing up a chance to score against weary Nottinghamshire bowling. His hundred came off 169 balls with 17 fours, to which he had added five more plus a six before the declaration came. There was an impressive crispness to his driving and there was a confidence about him, after so long without a substantial score, that you suspect reflects the buoyancy in the whole Warwickshire team at the moment, aware that the title that eluded them last season is now theirs to lose.Nottinghamshire have conceded, more or less, that if anyone is to deprive Warwickshire this time, it will not be them. With Andre Adams taking no further part after aggravating his calf injury on Tuesday, the seam bowling trio of Luke Fletcher, Andy Carter and Paul Franks were unable to do much to stem the flow of runs and Graeme White, the left-arm spinner, took some heavy punishment, especially at the hands of Ian Blackwell. Fletcher, who is not the lightest man on the field, deserves special mention for his stamina, getting through 37 overs and finishing with an economy rate of 2.75 even after his last three went for 24.The only wicket to fall went to White after Chris Wright had added a first-half century for Warwickshire to the 69 Championship wickets he has taken since joining them from Essex towards the end of last season. Attempting to hit the ball over midwicket, Wright – ostensibly nightwatchman – got a leading edge which Carter collected at mid-off.Blackwell, on loan from Durham and with an interest in following Wright’s lead by obtaining a full contract, hit 69 off 59 balls, with five sixes, four of them off White. He may have to do more with the ball, however, to make his move permanent.Nottinghamshire, needing to pass 354 to avoid the follow-on, started badly when Riki Wessels, who had just found the boundary on the leg side with a similar shot, flicked a ball from Wright straight into the hands of Ian Westwood at square leg. Keith Barker, finding some dangerous swing, then drew the left-handed Michael Lumb to play at one outside off stump, taken by Varun Chopra at first slip.Taylor was unfortunate – or careless, depending on your point of view – when he went back to a ball from Wright and knocked the bails off with his boot as he played on the leg side. Either way, it was not what Nottinghamshire needed from the newly elevated Test batsman and when Adam Voges, chasing a widish ball from young Tom Milnes that kept somewhat low, was snapped up superbly by William Porterfield at gully, Nottinghamshire were in serious trouble. For Milnes, the 19-year-old seamer who has come in for Darren Maddy in this match, it was a first Championship wicket at Edgbaston and Warwickshire, their tails up, celebrated it with some gusto.But Alex Hales, after surviving an edge between first and second slip off Wright on 43, completed an 86-ball half century and had moved to 80 from 136 deliveries at the close, with Read responding to the challenge in his familiar, positive style. There is much work still to be done, however, if Warwickshire’s charge is to be delayed.

James Vince score a hundred for Hampshire before late wicket left Derbyshire wobbling in their bid to secure promotion

Jon Culley at Derby11-Sep-2012
ScorecardJames Vince has had a good season in one-day cricket but finally passed fifty in the Championship in the last match•Getty Images

Given that Derbyshire appeared such a solid bet for promotion only a month or so ago, you cannot blame Karl Krikken, their coach, for taking steps to soften the blow should his embryonic team be knocked out of the top two places right at the death.Krikken insisted on the eve of the final round of matches that “to actually be here now with a chance of promotion is magnificent” and he is right to be proud that the club most frequently associated with the wooden spoon have set the pace for much of the Division Two season.Yet after winning only one match since the end of May, Derbyshire were always vulnerable to a late surge from one of the chasing pack and Kent, whose win over Derbyshire last week followed victory at Leicester a week earlier, have emerged with a threat to wreck their happy ending. It is now, it can be argued, that they need to dismiss the notion of remembering the season for a gallant near-miss and find a steely resolve.It will be needed, surely, on day two of this contest, which will resume with Derbyshire in trouble at 50 for 3 after a nervous 18 overs with the bat rather took the gloss off what had been a decent day’s work with the ball.Despite a partnership of 136 for the fifth wicket between James Vince (114) and Sean Ervine, Derbyshire restricted Hampshire to 272, claiming maximum bowling points in doing so. Given that the opening day at Cardiff did not go well for Kent, it may be that a draw for Derbyshire will be enough to clinch their elevation to Division One but even that will take some work to achieve. Hampshire, the Twenty20 champions and potential double-winners in white ball cricket, have underachieved in the four-day competition and that makes them a dangerous opponent.Indeed, they may consider that their opening-day performance here was not as satisfactory as it might have been. Well though they batted after Derbyshire, who won the toss, had opted to bowl first on a well-grassed pitch, both Vince and Ervine to some extent gave their wickets away. Ervine certainly did, attempting needlessly to reverse sweep David Wainwright, the left-arm spinner, and departing somewhat red-faced after he was bowled behind his legs.Vince had hit the ball handsomely at times, his confidence growing as did his boundary count, and given that he has had a lean season in the Championship, in and out of the side and without a half-century before this match, he deserved the congratulations that came his way. Yet the ball that did for him was a wide half-volley from Ross Whiteley that he slapped straight to extra-cover.Derbyshire had made the start they wanted. Tony Palladino, the former Essex seamer whose experience has been one of the counters to the youth that has been given its head under Krikken’s stewardship, delivered a fine spell with the new ball in which he did not concede a run until his fourth over and at one point had figures of 6.5-4-9-3 as Hampshire lost their first three wickets for 26.He bowled Michael Carberry off an inside edge, had Bilal Shafayat, pushing forward, caught at third slip and nipped one back to pin Liam Dawson leg-before as he played back. When Jimmy Adams, who has a technique good enough to earn a mention at least in connection with England’s top-order vacancy, fell for 20 as Whiteley found some late away swing and Usman Khawaja took a fine catch at second slip, Hampshire were 59 for 4 and Derbyshire had every reason to feel pleased with themselves.The Vince-Ervine partnership tempered their mood somewhat, but there was a comeback. After Vince had gone, Chris Wood flicked a ball from Tim Groenewald obligingly to square leg, Michael Bates edged Wes Durston, the offspinner, to slip, David Griffiths was caught behind driving at Wainwright, who then had James Tomlinson leg before first ball to end on a hat-trick as the last three Hampshire wickets fell in the space of ten deliveries.On a surface that had good carry and offered no significant help to the bowlers, 272 may have been a shade under par, which would have given Derbyshire every reason to be optimistic if they could see off the new ball without too much damage.In the event, the came up against a couple of bowlers in David Balcombe and Tomlinson who put them under immediate pressure and were duly rewarded. Wayne Madsen, trying to fend a ball from Tomlinson that climbed on him, gloved a catch to wicketkeeper Bates, while Paul Borrington edged one high off the bat to gully, where Carberry took a good catch diving forward. Durston then edged Wood tentatively to second slip. Much now depends on Khawaja.