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Parthiv Patel, Vinay Kumar and James Franklin are part of the coaching staff too, while Robin Singh is the general manager – cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2022Shane Bond, the bowling coach at Mumbai Indians in the IPL since 2015 – a job he will continue to do – has been named head coach of MI Emirates, the Mumbai Indians-owned team in UAE’s ILT20. The staff also has Parthiv Patel [batting coach] and Vinay Kumar [bowling coach] making their debuts as coaches, and James Franklin will be the fielding coach. Additionally, Robin Singh will be the general manager of cricket.While the fixtures for the ILT20 are not out yet, the tournament will be played in the same January-February 2023 window as the SA20 league in South Africa. That required the Mumbai Indians group to appoint multiple coaching teams, since they have teams in both the competitions.With the latest round of appointments, that exercise is complete.Related

• IPL team owners buy all six teams in SA20

• Jayawardene, Zaheer elevated to global roles with MI

• Pollard, Boult, Pooran, Tahir picked up by MI Emirates

Mark Boucher, who will step down from his position as the head coach of the South Africa men’s national team at the end of the team’s campaign at the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, has been signed up to be the head coach at Mumbai Indians in the IPL.That position opened up after Mahela Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians head coach since 2017, was elevated to a more global role within the Mumbai Indians group. Jayawardene has been made the group’s global head of performance. He will be overseeing the scouting and coaching of all three teams that the owners have – at the IPL, the ILT20, and the SA20. And Zaheer Khan, earlier the director of cricket operations, has been made the global head of cricket development for the three teams.Simon Katich, meanwhile, has been made the head coach of MI Cape Town, the SA20 team. Katich will be assisted by Hashim Amla as the batting coach, while Robin Peterson will be the team’s general manager. James Pamment will take charge as fielding coach [and continue in the same role with Mumbai Indians at the IPL too].MI Emirates have Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult and Dwayne Bravo, among others, in their roster of non-UAE [overseas] players already.”Having been an integral part of MI for various periods of time, the coaching team is exceptionally well-versed in the values that make MI what it is,” Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, which owns the three teams, said in a statement.For his part, Bond said, “It’s always exciting to build a new team and I’m looking forward to furthering the MI legacy and inspiring our players to take the game to new heights.”Bond, the former New Zealand quick, has been a part of the coaching set-up of a number of teams in the past. Apart from being the New Zealand bowling coach and part of the team’s backroom staff at various stages, he has also been the head coach at Sydney Thunder in the BBL, a position he held between 2018 and 2021. He has also been part of the England team as a bowling consultant in the past.

First squad of new selection era will test depth of England’s reserves

Andrew Miller18-May-2021Chris Silverwood, England’s head coach, says he is comfortable that the buck now stops with him, after unveiling a 15-man squad for the two-Test series against New Zealand next month – his first since being named as the new supremo of the ECB’s selection process, following the end of Ed Smith’s three-year tenure as national selector last month.Silverwood’s squad includes two uncapped players in James Bracey and Ollie Robinson, and a recall for Somerset’s Craig Overton, but it will be missing both Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer due to injury, as well as the contingent of multi-format players – Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow among them – who flew home from India earlier this month following the postponement of the IPL.However, with England’s busy schedule in 2021 including a five-Test series against India and culminating in an Ashes campaign in Australia, Silverwood has called on the players at his disposal to seize their opportunities in the absence of their more established colleagues, and ensure that England travel Down Under in November with a squad that is brimming with both confidence and experience.Related

• Do you get England's rest and rotation policy? I don't

• James Bracey, Ollie Robinson in line for Test debuts as England name 15-man squad

• Ollie Robinson senses Test cap is close

• Smith's tenure ends as national selector as role is made redundant

• Parkinson: 'I don't just want to be in England squads on potential'

“It’s one thing we’ve talked about, to try and get to the point where we’re not debuting anybody in Australia,” Silverwood said. “It’s been a plan now for a while and we have given different people different experiences, debuted people, got more experience into people, so we’re banking that all the way to the Ashes, really.”To the youngsters who are coming in: ‘Take your opportunity’,” he added. “It’s very simple. For the rest of the guys, it is to find that form and keep working on the game-plan we have, which is very simple – big first-innings runs and then finding a way of taking 20 wickets.”I think we have a great mixture of experience and youth and it’s a great opportunity to keep pushing that game-plan and keep getting better. Not only do we play New Zealand, one of the top nations in the world, but we also have India. It is another opportunity to keep galvanising this team moving forward to the Ashes.”Due to the expanded touring parties required for international cricket in the Covid era, Silverwood is better acquainted with the newer members of his England squad than many coaches before him would have been – which is part of the reason why the ECB deemed Smith’s bespoke role to be surplus to current requirements. And though it means an extra workload for Silverwood, he said he welcomed the clarity that comes with the new arrangement.”Busy is one way of putting it,” he said. “But to be honest, ultimately the buck stops with me anyway, whether the selector was there or just me. If the team underperforms, it is me for the high jump. You have to accept that and I’m at peace with that as well.”What I would not want to do is worry about it because that will stop me making decisions and pushing the team forward, so I’m comfortable with it. It has been busier contacting players and getting the relevant information together that would previously have been done by the chairman of selectors, but I’m happy with where things are at.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bracey’s selection could come to be seen as a test case for Silverwood’s new role. For all that his county form this summer merits a call-up – he has made 478 runs at 53.11 to date in Gloucestershire’s rise to the top of the Group 2 standings – most of his progress towards a Test debut has been made from within the England set-up, be it with the Lions in Australia two winters ago, or during his diligent hours of training in the bio-secure Test environment for the past year.”There is a lot of downside [to bio-secure squads], but one of the upsides is I have spent so much time with players I would not usually see much of, and Bracey is one of those,” Silverwood said. “He applied himself through last summer and this winter, when he was on the fringes and further away from playing than he would have liked, and his attitude in helping the squad and improving has been exceptional.”When Bracey was called into England’s 55-man training squad last summer, he was a relative unknown who had averaged in the mid-30s in each of his previous two seasons for Gloucestershire. Since returning to his county, however, he has shown the value of being hot-housed in an elite environment, a point that Silverwood was keen to recognise.”We have seen him come back from those experiences a better player, and I have no doubt if he were to play in the first Test, he will give himself the best chance of success,” Silverwood said. “He is a quick learner, whatever situation we put him in, and he will move forward and take the opportunity with both hands.”It can only help, having the best players in the world around you, and arguably some of the best coaches, and exposed to different conditions as well,” Silverwood added. “They learn a lot from each other. You listen to guys talking at nets, and the experiences they share when it comes to playing different deliveries. If you are being exposed to that you can only be better if you go with your eyes open.””Bracey is just one example. Look at the spinners who have come back this summer,” Silverwood added, referencing the likes of Matt Parkinson, who has taken 19 wickets at 19.21 so far for Lancashire, and Dom Bess, who bounced back from a tough tour with a matchwinning five-for for Yorkshire at Hove. “They have all been involved somewhere and been successful in their own right. The investment in players this winter has been very rewarding.”In the absence of Stokes, as well as Woakes, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran, the other recognised allrounders in England’s Test set-up, the issue of team balance will be a pressing one for Silverwood. But with Overton and Robinson both very capable batters in their own rights, he’s confident that England will have the depth to withstand one of the world’s leading seam attacks, as well as the firepower to make inroads of their own.”I’ve selected a squad that gives me every option, to be honest,” Silverwood said. “You lose a Woakes, a Curran or a Stokes, it does make it very difficult to balance a side. But the two of them [Overton and Robinson] are very capable with the bat and will give us those options around seven or eight, which is what we need really.”I think the two of them are competing with each other realistically,” he added. “They have done exceptionally well this summer, hence they are both in the squad. It is difficult to split the two of them on their performances and I can’t fault their attitude on the field in the games and what I’ve seen of them. They are fantastic cricketers with opportunities in front of them.”Amid all the rhetoric about peaking for the Ashes, there is an obvious danger for England in facing India and New Zealand this summer. They are, after all, the two best Test teams in the world, to judge by their places in next month’s World Test Championship final. Silverwood, however, insisted that the processes put in place since he and Joe Root took control of the team’s Test fortunes two years ago were robust enough to cope with such a relentless set of challenges.”We want to travel to Australia, fitter, faster, leaner, more ready than ever before, and they get off the plane and it is ‘right we’re here, we mean business and we’re full of confidence’,” he said. “But the here-and-now is part and parcel of the gradual process of getting to the Ashes.”We talk a lot about what it’ll look like when we get to the Ashes, but that game-plan has to be practised and instilled in the India series, the New Zealand series. It’s a continuation of working on the game-plan and getting people in a good space, making sure they have banked plenty of Test experience before they arrive there.”We have the greatest respect for our opposition. We have two great Test teams here. To get to where we want to be against Australia, we have to perform well and carry that respect into these Tests as well.”

Post by Fraser-McGurk invited comments from team-mates that seemingly mocked non-native English speakers

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2020Cricket Australia will consider sanctions on a number of players from the Under-19 squad after a post on Instagram by batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk invited comments that seemingly mocked non-native English speakers.The image Fraser-McGurk posted of himself batting and captioned “Quarter Finals here we come” shortly after Australia’s victory over England prompted a series of replies from team-mates, which have subsequently been removed and commenting has been disabled.”Sir great player, big fan and will play for India one day,” wrote Oliver Davies.”Sir, give me WhatsApp number, I want to be friend,” commented Liam Scott.Lachlan Hearne, Tanveer Sangha and Sam Fanning also posted similar comments.

Sean Carroll, the board’s integrity chief, said in a statement provided to ESPNcricinfo that “some of the language could be interpreted as ridiculing non-native English language speakers”.”We are extremely disappointed that some of the Australia under-19 squad members have used inappropriate language in posts on social media, which we reported to the ICC as soon as it came to our attention,” Carroll said.”I have spoken to the players this morning and have expressed in no uncertain terms that such language has no place in society and falls well short of the standards we expect as Australian cricketers. The players have apologised for the language and taken down the posts.”Cricket Australia will consider sanctions upon their return from South Africa, which will include but not be limited to education and cultural sensitivity training. Most of the players do not have their parents present with them in South Africa and some of them are minors. Accordingly, we believe it is appropriate to consider their sanction upon their return home.”Fraser-McGurk, one of the players involved, has already flown home to receive treatment after being scratched by a monkey at a nature reserve during a team outing in Kimberley.

The allrounder, who is returning form injury, will take the field for Baroda instead of India A with a view to specifically get match fit for Boxing Day

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2018Hardik Pandya, who is set to return to competitive cricket in Baroda’s match against Mumbai in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, is also targeting a comeback to the Indian Test side that is currently playing in Australia.Hardik had been sidelined with a back injury sustained during the Asia Cup in September, and he was originally selected in the India A squad for their three-match one-day series against New Zealand A. However, he said it made sense to focus his energies on the longest format first, with the ODIs against Australia only scheduled after the Test series ends.”If I am playing a Test match, I should play a four-day game (rather) than one-day,” Hardik told on Thursday. “Because one-day is later on. I am focusing right now that if I can make it to the team, because there is scope of me making a comeback into the Test team, if I am fit to play a Test match. That’s why I wanted to take my time and see where exactly I stand in Ranji Trophy.”Playing a Test match is a different league. The workload goes very high, so I wanted to see if I can manage the workload. I knew I would get enough match preparation before the Australia ODIs. Therefore I focused on playing Ranji Trophy.”India will play their second Test against Australia in Perth from Friday. That still leaves room for Hardik to be added to the squad before the last two matches, the Boxing Day and New Year Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.”Before I go for any major series, I wanted to see where exactly I stand,” Hardik said. “Ranji Trophy is the best domestic tournament. I wanted to check my fitness levels there, and then take a call about how I am feeling and what should be the next step. Right now, I am only focusing on the Ranji Trophy and then obviously, I want to get back to the team as soon as possible, because it’s difficult to stay away for so long.”Baroda are currently in fifth place on the combined Groups A and B points table with 13 points, while Mumbai, who have played four matches to Baroda’s five, are in 16th place with just five points. The top five teams at the end of the league stage in the two groups combined will qualify for the quarter-finals.

Coach Mike Hesson said while each individual had a different method of tackling the spinners, it was important to not sweat over the “mystery” element

Arun Venugopal15-Oct-20171:09

We should not take too much baggage from past results – Williamson

A flexible approach to negate the challenges thrown by different pitches and conditions will remain crucial to New Zealand’s success during their upcoming limited-overs tour of India. Such tactical fluidity, according to captain Kane Williamson, was the major takeaway for his team from the 3-2 defeat in the ODI series against India last year.While the general perception is that a limited-overs series in India invariably features good batting surfaces, a 300-plus total hasn’t always been a given. In fact, the recent five ODIs against Australia saw only one game that produced totals in excess of 300. Also, New Zealand’s tour of India last year didn’t produce even one such game. Williamson pointed to the varied nature of surfaces across India, and said it was hard to predict what each venue would offer. He felt the two practice games ahead of the first ODI on October 22 would not only help the team come to grips with the pitches but also the climate.”The thing with the wickets over here is they vary so much within the country,” Williamson told reporters in Mumbai on Sunday. “So, when you say you come into India to play, you are required to adapt. From ground to ground you are never quite sure of the surface that you are going to get.”Yeah, naturally spin in this part of the world is always a key factor, one that you know you have to come up against majority of the overs. But, I think coming over here, you play on some very, very good surfaces and you play on some of the more challenging [ones which] spin a lot more. In our last series, we saw glimpses of a variety of surfaces where, at times, we have seen the winning score being 250. Being flexible with your approach, I think, is very important. In our last series, there were those mid-200 scores, you had dew factor, you had a number of things that came into it. So, it is important that you have flexibility, adapt well. I think that’s very important when you are coming over here playing any format.”I guess part of the adapting is the conditions and the surface but also the climate that you are in. So, it is nice to be here a few days early and get guys used to the heat and the humidity. Like I said, a number of guys have had experiences over here which is always helpful, but saying that we still want to prepare well.”During their visit last year, New Zealand were severely hurt by the legspin of Amit Mishra, who finished with 15 wickets from the five ODIs. This time they are confronted with a pair of wristspinners – Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal – both in fine wicket-taking form. Coach Mike Hesson said while each individual had a different method of tackling the spinners, it was important to not sweat over the “mystery” element.”You know a number of players have faced Kuldeep during the IPL,” Hesson said. “Some have played [in] the same team, so there is enough information-sharing going out there. But, it’s very much an individual thing. Some guys watch the hand, some guys look at the wrist, some guys read off the pitch, some guys see it in the air. Everybody is a little bit different, so I don’t think it’s one-size-fits-all.”We do know that wristspinners also provide scoring opportunities, so we have got to make sure that we aren’t necessarily jumping at shadows and we are actually playing the ball rather than thinking of them as too much of a mystery spinner.”New Zealand recently added six members to their squad – Glenn Phillips, Todd Astle, Colin Munro, Matt Henry, George Worker and Henry Nicholls – from the A team that played against India A recently. Even as the results didn’t go their way – New Zealand A lost both the unofficial Test series and the limited-overs fixtures – Williamson acknowledged that the exposure was “fantastic”.”It’s nice for guys to get that exposure and most of those guys haven’t experienced this part of the world before, so it is a very important part of our High Performance where we are getting guys with a wider squad exposure to different conditions, different levels of cricket which we are starting to see now. The results haven’t been what we would have liked, you always want to do better. But, it’s a great place to start,” he said.”Obviously, [this is] a short tour and we have had some time off which has been nice. The guys are here about 12 days earlier before our first ODI which is great for our preparation coming into it. And, the guys are excited as well to get into this series. India have been playing plenty of cricket, and I have been following the Australian series fairly closely and it has been a good competition. It’s important for us to not take too much baggage from historical results and obviously get up for the challenge. It’s going to be a tough challenge, but one the guys are looking forward to.”New Zealand will play the three ODIs in Mumbai, Pune and Kanpur followed by a three-match T20I series in Delhi, Rajkot and Thiruvananthapuram.

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc who beat Saqlain Mushtaq’s 19-year record to become the fastest ever to 100 ODI wickets has played down the landmark

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2016Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who beat Saqlain Mushtaq’s 19-year record to become the fastest ever to 100 ODI wickets, played down the landmark and described it as “something he could sit back and reflect later”.Starc achieved the feat in his 52nd ODI when he had Dhananjaya de Silva skewing a catch to midwicket off a deceptive slower delivery in Colombo on Sunday. Starc did not concede a boundary and finished with figures of 3 for 32, which laid the foundation for Australia’s first win of the Sri Lanka tour.”I guess it’s [being the fastest to 100 ODI wickets] something I could sit back and reflect on later on,” Starc said following Australia’s three-wicket win. “Quite frankly I’m glad it’s finished now, I don’t have to hear about it or talk about it anymore. I was just glad I could contribute to a win tonight. I guess it was a scrappy game, and once the series is finished or later down the track I could reflect on.”Starc was Australia’s lone bright spot during the 0-3 defeat in the Test series in Sri Lanka, taking 24 wickets at an average and strike rate of 15.16 and 25.80. No other bowler has picked up 20 or more wickets in a Test series in Asia at a better strike rate than Starc’s. He generated reverse swing from over the wicket as well as from around the wicket, which affirmed his status as one of the fiercest fast bowlers. Starc said the presence of former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald as the side’s bowling coach was “fantastic”.”I have enjoyed working with AD through this tour,” Starc said. Obviously worked with AD in the IPL [with Royal Challengers Bangalore] in the last couple of years and hopefully will in the years to come. Through this tour, he has been fantastic for us, his knowledge of playing in Sri Lanka, talking about reverse swing, it has been fantastic.”Starc also credited Donald’s predecessor Craig McDermott for setting him on track for the 2015 World Cup, where he returned 22 wickets at 10.18, the best average in a World Cup for a bowler who took at least 15 wickets. Starc ultimately bagged the Man-of-the-tournament award.”It [the turnaround in white-ball cricket] was work done before the World Cup with Craig McDermott especially, maybe 12 months prior to the World Cup and tinkering on a few things – my wrist [position] and swinging the ball and a tri-series [against India and England] before the World Cup,” he said. “I think everything started to click and it all felt really good. Then obviously the World Cup was a pretty special period for the whole group and for me it was nice just to get the ball in the right areas more often than I probably had in the past. The one little period that will always stand out was the World Cup. That was very special not just for myself but for the whole squad and the staff. That is probably going to be a hard one to top.”

Ryan Sidebottom grabbed a triple-wicket maiden as Yorkshire routed Middlesex for 106 while becoming County Champions for a second successive season and the 32nd time in their proud history

ECB/PA09-Sep-2015
ScorecardYorkshire became County Champions on a dramatic day at Lord’s, with second-placed Middlesex routed for 106 and Ryan Sidebottom grabbing a triple-wicket maiden in perhaps the most remarkable opening over of a match even the world’s most famous ground has witnessed.It was the 32nd outright Championship title in Yorkshire’s proud history, and the Division One game’s first day also included a cathartic 98 from 110 balls by captain Andrew Gale as his team reached 238 for 9 in reply. Prevented by suspension from receiving the Championship trophy last year, Gale will now get his chance to hold the trophy aloft when the official presentation is made at the end of this game.Gale and Lees had shaken hands in the middle of the pitch, with Gale also raising his gloved fist in triumph as his team celebrated on their dressing room balcony, when news came through from Trent Bridge at 3.06pm that Nottinghamshire had been bowled out without collecting the batting bonus points they required to keep the title race alive.”There’s no better place for us to receive the trophy than Lord’s, if it isn’t Headingley of course, and I believe this season’s title win has been a greater achievement given the circumstances of having so many players going off to play for England right across the summer,” Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket, said. “We’ve also done it with two-and-a-half games still to go.”We played brilliantly to win last year, don’t get me wrong, but it’s been a real squad effort this season. It’s been frustrating at times losing so many players to England but we knew, going into the season, that this would probably happen so we have prepared for that. Credit to all our support staff, too, for what they have done.”In truth, there has not been much of a race for the Championship title this summer, because Yorkshire have been seemingly too powerful to be challenged by anyone. Middlesex, indeed, plunged to a barely believable 0 for 3 after just six balls of this game as their hopes of holding up Yorkshire disappeared in a flurry of wickets.By lunch Middlesex had staggered to 92 for 7, and their first innings did not last long afterwards with Tim Bresnan sending back James Franklin and Toby Roland-Jones, leg-before aiming across the line, in the space of four balls during the fourth over after the interval to finish with 4 for 30.Fittingly, however, it was Sidebottom who wrapped up the innings by bowling Tim Murtagh for 3 to earn himself the superb final figures of 12-5-18-5. The other Middlesex wicket to fall was taken by offspinner James Middlebrook, who came on for the last over before lunch and promptly had John Simpson caught at the wicket with the final ball of the morning for 28.Ryan Sidebottom claimed four wickets in an immaculate opening spell to put Yorkshire on their way•Getty Images

Sidebottom, the 37-year-old former England left-arm fast bowler, removed Stirling, Nick Compton and Dawid Malan with the second, fifth and sixth balls of the game’s first over after Gale had won the toss under overcast skies. Stirling was leg-before to a perfectly-pitched inswinger, giving Sidebottom his 700th first-class wicket, Compton caught behind off one angled across him and Malan bowled first ball by a beauty which spreadeagled his stumps.Gale’s decision to bowl first bore even more fruit when Sidebottom had Stevie Ezkinazi, a 21-year-old on debut, caught for 4 by Adam Lyth at second slip to leave Middlesex on 14 for 4.Moxon added: “What Ryan did today was remarkable, and that first over epitomised what he is all about. He’s contracted to the end of next season, and he still works so hard on his cricket. But, as a team, we have bowled really well this season.”Sidebottom’s new ball spell was a magnificent 6-2-11-4 and Yorkshire, who began the match knowing five bonus points by them would ensure successive Championship titles for the first time since 1968, actually only required their three bowling points because both Middlesex and Notts had bad days with the bat.Following Sidebottom’s initial burst, there was a 30-run partnership for the fifth wicket between opener Sam Robson and Leicestershire-bound allrounder Neil Dexter before Bresnan removed both players in his first and fourth overs. Dexter, on 18, edged Bresnan’s fifth ball to wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd, diving to his right to hold a good catch, and Robson’s 45-ball 26 ended eleven runs later when he edged to Lees at first slip to leave Middlesex 55 for 6.Franklin also played and missed several times at Steven Patterson in an unhappy 12, which ended when he swished to third slip, but at least Simpson offered six fours in a punchy 22-ball cameo before Middlebrook struck at the end of an action-packed first session.When Yorkshire batted, Roland-Jones won lbw appeals to claim the wickets of Lyth, for 25, and Gary Ballance for a duck, in a new ball spell of 2 for 34 and he later returned to have Middlebrook caught behind for 4 as Yorkshire’s innings fell away following Gale’s exit. Murtagh also picked up the scalps of Hodd for 20 and Patterson for 0 before bad light ended play four overs early.Lees had been leg-before for 39 to Stirling’s offspin on the stroke of tea, while Dexter chipped away at Yorkshire’s middle order after tea to remove both Jack Leaning and Bresnan lbw, before ending Gale’s fine knock, which included 18 fours, to earn figures of 3 for 24.With a lead already of 132, however, Yorkshire are scenting a 10th win from 14 Championship games this season. “We want victory here, for a start,” replied Moxon, when asked about Yorkshire’s future ambitions. “But if we are to surpass the great Yorkshire sides of the past we have to win a few more Championships yet, although it’s great we now have a chance to leave that sort of legacy.”

Sachin Tendulkar will return as the Mumbai Indians captain for the sixth edition of the IPL, which will commence on April 3

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2013Sachin Tendulkar will return as the Mumbai Indians captain for the sixth edition of the IPL, which will commence on April 3. Tendulkar, who will turn 40 during the course of IPL 6, had given up the Mumbai franchise’s captaincy after IPL 2011 and his India team-mate, Harbhajan Singh, had taken over.ESPNcricinfo understands that Tendulkar agreed to lead the team this year after Harbhajan, who had captained the franchise owned by the Reliance Industries Ltd in the Champions League 2011 and IPL 2012, expressed his inability to continue in the role.The development on the eve of the player auction puts to rest all speculation that Mumbai Indians are likely to go all out for Ricky Ponting or Michael Clarke during Sunday’s auction, as a captaincy candidate.Tendulkar, who missed the first seven games of IPL’s inaugural edition due to injury, was at Mumbai Indians’ helm since its inception. After he passed on the reins to Harbhajan, Mumbai Indians won their maiden title when they claimed the Champions League T20 title in 2011. In IPL 2012, under Harbhajan, Mumbai Indians made it to the knockouts where they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the Eliminator.

Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa coach, has been appointed the new coach of Australia

Daniel Brettig22-Nov-2011Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa coach, has been appointed the new coach of Australia, a role with wide-ranging responsibilities after its redefinition under the recommendations of the Argus review.Arthur is the first foreign-born coach to be appointed to oversee Australia’s fortunes, and will be in place in time for the first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane from December 1 to 5. Arthur’s contract will run until the end of the 2015 World Cup.”I am honoured and privileged to have another chance to coach an international team, particularly a team of the ilk of Australia,” Arthur said. “I think I bring a fresh, unblinkered eye to the role after plotting against Australia when coaching South Africa, and having now worked within the Australian system with the Warriors.”Australia has an abundance of cricket talent and I am confident the talent is there to ensure Australia is successful.”Following a thorough search that included entreaties to the England coach Andy Flower, among others, Arthur was confirmed in the job after a final round of interviews last week. Steve Rixon, Tom Moody and Justin Langer were among the other contenders for the job.Since resigning from the South Africa job, Arthur worked as coach of Western Australia, familiarising himself with the Australian game and also showing his capability for tough decisions as he worked to revitalise a state that had developed, in his words, “too many comfort zones”.Arthur had kept one eye on events at Cricket Australia since his arrival to coach WA, but said he became seriously interested in the role only after Tim Nielsen’s position was opened up to new candidates and the incumbent chose not to reapply.”Once Tim vacated the role [at the end of the Sri Lanka series] then it got serious,” Arthur said. “It was too good an opportunity not to have a look at, so I think I became interested once the advertisement went out for the post. I was really happy at Western Australia and really happy that we were trying to build something, but this job was just too good not to have a look at.”In addition to coaching Australia, Arthur will be a selector, and also the man responsible for ensuring the coaching philosophy and structure across all state sides will be consistent with and helpful to the progress of the national team. It is a commission similarly powerful to that held by Flower in England, and not dissimilar to Arthur’s in his time with South Africa between 2005 and 2010.During that tenure, Arthur formed a strong relationship with the captain, Graeme Smith, as the team rose from mediocrity to a peak that included in 2008-09 the first Test series win in Australia by any side for 15 years. Arthur acknowledged that his formation of a strong bond with Clarke, who was known to be a backer of Rixon, would be crucial to the team’s success.”I think the relationship between your captain and coach is one of the most important relationships there is in the game. It is almost like a marriage,” Arthur said. “The captain and the coach feed off each other and there can be no discrepancies. Certainly the captain and the coach need to have consistent messages they’re continually giving to the players.”But it doesn’t mean the captain and the coach can’t challenge each other, that’s all part of it and that’s done behind closed doors. I’m really excited to work with Michael Clarke, he’s an incredible talent and I’ve been very excited by the way he’s gone about his captaincy. I think since he’s taken over he’s been innovative, he’s captained with a lot of flair, and I’m really looking forward to supporting him, so he can be the best he possibly can and get the most runs he possibly can as well.”Shaun Pollock, the former South Africa captain and fast bowler, described Arthur’s role with South Africa, and his qualities as a coach. “He’s got a good understanding for the game and he will challenge the players,” Pollock said. “He’s not scared to take on and confront issues, but I think he would be defined more as a man manager.”Arthur’s appointment concluded a momentous round of changes to the structure around the Australian team, including the appointment of Pat Howard as team performance manager, the induction of a new selection panel that will now comprise the national selector John Inverarity, Clarke, selectors Rod Marsh and Andy Bichel and Arthur.The Western Australia coaching position Arthur departed from, also responsible for the Perth Scorchers in the BBL, will be taken over by his assistant Lachlan Stevens.

Australia have named their squad for next week’s first Ashes Test, but their starting line-up is no clearer. Xavier Doherty and Callum Ferguson were the major surprises in a bloated 17-man group that also included Usman Khawaja, Ryan Harris and Peter Sidd

Brydon Coverdale15-Nov-2010Australia have named their squad for next week’s first Ashes Test, but their starting line-up is no clearer. Xavier Doherty and Callum Ferguson were the major surprises in a bloated 17-man group that also included Usman Khawaja, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, but there was no place for the backup opener Phillip Hughes, who was the only unexpected omission.The squad, which is bigger than England’s touring party for the entire series, will be trimmed to 12 or 13 after this week’s round of Sheffield Shield matches before the first Test begins at the Gabba next Thursday. The selectors are also keen to see how some of the contenders perform for Australia A in their match against England starting on Wednesday in Hobart.The four-day game between New South Wales and Tasmania shapes as a particularly fascinating contest, with the spinners Hauritz and Doherty to go head to head on an SCG pitch that should offer assistance. The inclusion of the left-armer Doherty, who made a promising ODI debut this month but was viewed as a limited-overs specialist, has placed extra pressure on the incumbent Hauritz, who has struggled over the past month.”Nathan Hauritz has performed exceptionally well over the past 12 months for Australia,” the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said. “One of the biggest decisions we will need to make is whether we go into the first Test in Brisbane with a right-arm offspinner or with the variation of a left-arm orthodox bowler.”Xavier Doherty has been very impressive in both limited-overs and first-class cricket, in particular last season and the start of this season, and it will be a great opportunity for us to observe both of the spinning options in the Sheffield Shield clash between New South Wales and Tasmania at the SCG this week.”Hilditch’s comments suggest the selectors are not considering an all-pace attack at the Gabba, where the seam-friendly conditions sometimes encourage sides to risk leaving out their frontline spinner. That means the most likely pace attack is Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger, who made a promising return in club cricket on the weekend.Bollinger has been out with an abdominal strain since the first Test in India last month, and he collected 1 for 30 in ten overs for Fairfield on Saturday. He will continue his return in the Sheffield Shield game and providing he comes through unscathed, will be a certain starter on a Brisbane surface that should offer him some assistance.His recovery also reduces the chance of Siddle being included for his first Test since January, while the in-form Harris would need to also shake off a knee problem if he was to make the side. Harris bowled himself into contention with a match haul of 9 for 140 for Queensland at Bellerive last week but after the match had a swollen knee – he had surgery on the joint during the off-season – and his availability won’t be known for several days.”Ryan Harris has a chronic knee injury that requires ongoing management,” the team physio Alex Kountouris said. “As such he will not play in the next round of Sheffield Shield games or for Australia A starting 17 November to allow his knee to fully recover. His availability for the first Ashes Test will determined later this week.”There are unlikely to be any surprises in Australia’s batting line-up, although they are waiting to confirm the fitness of Michael Clarke, who suffered a recurrence of the disc problem in his back while playing for New South Wales on the weekend. Clarke will sit out of this week’s Sheffield Shield match but he is hopeful he will take his place at the Gabba.”I’m not going to play against Tasmania on Wednesday,” Clarke said. “I’m going to give myself another few days off to get my back right. But I’m confident that if I do all the right things over the next week I’ll be 100% ready to go come Brisbane.”Unless Clarke succumbs to the problem, there shouldn’t be any changes to Australia’s established top six, meaning Khawaja and Ferguson will have to wait to receive their baggy greens. Their selection is a strong indication that they will be vying for a position in the middle order should the selectors lose faith with Michael Hussey or Marcus North during the summer.The exclusion of the opener Hughes is a sign that Simon Katich will be fit for the Test, having been out of action due to a broken thumb. Katich made his comeback in grade cricket on the weekend, making 94 for Randwick-Petersham, and will line up for New South Wales in their four-day match this week.Australia squad Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin (wk), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Xavier Doherty, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger.