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Suspicions and doubts about the priorities of Cricket Australia’s management have filtered steadily out of the Australian dressing room

Daniel Brettig23-Jan-2012Suspicions and doubts about the priorities of Cricket Australia’s management have filtered steadily out of the Australian dressing room in the months since the appointment of Pat Howard as the team performance manager.A year ago the players readily questioned the priorities of CA and its desire to equip the team in the best possible way to win matches, to the point that management and selectors were banned from the dressing room during the ODI series against England. Now there is confidence that Howard and the coaches and selectors underneath him are committed to creating the best environment for success, and will not allow compromising decisions to be made.Causes for most anger in the ranks last summer included the 17-man squad named in advance of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, and the refusal to release Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger from the Twenty20 Champions League to prepare for a Test series in India.Such decisions fell within the remit of Michael Brown, the former general manager of cricket operations. Brown has left CA to oversee preparations for football’s 2015 Asian Cup, having been shifted to one side by Howard’s appointment. Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association, said the new structure had bred trust.”Under the new structure I’m reasonably confident that we won’t see another 17-man home Ashes squad announced just to keep the marketing people happy,” Marsh told ESPNcricinfo. “What the players want more than anything is a support structure that gives them the best possible chance to be successful. I don’t think the previous structure always allowed this but the new structure has an individual in Pat Howard who is accountable solely for team performance.”This has quickly created an environment where the players now feel that they have someone within CA senior management who is completely aligned to the goals of the team. The immediate impact of this is that players are starting to feel that the performance of the Australian cricket team is the high priority it should be for CA, whereas for the past few years this has rightly been questioned by the playing group.”Brown’s former role was unwieldy, covering an enormous amount of ground. It included the team, playing conditions, disciplinary measures, television rights and pay negotiations. He was seldom heard from by the players unless it was a call to inform them of their selection in the national team, or to notify them of a disciplinary breach.By contrast, Howard is a consistent presence around the team in his oversight role, sitting in on selection meetings and working closely with the head coach Mickey Arthur. His background as a former rugby international and coach has also given him a closer appreciation of high performance sport and its demands than Brown was able to call upon.Ultimately accountable for the performance of the team, Howard has said he is less an auditor than an agent of collaboration, between players, coaches, the national team and the states.”I don’t see myself as looking over their shoulder, I see myself as enabling that performance – we’ve all seen there’s a lot of talent there – and making sure that talent gets an opportunity is really important,” Howard said. “And I think most of the Australian public have seen, given a chance there are some guys who are really well and truly up to it or can grow into it.

I think for a while there everyone did get a bit insular, and it was a bit quieter, we were a bit more intense. But I think now the new coach has set in, the new selectors have stepped in, the communication’s been really good, everyone knows where they stand.”Michael Hussey on the new structure

“That’s one of the great stories of the summer. Everyone, be they players or management, want the same thing, they want Australia to win, to perform, and they bring to the table lots of ideas about how we can improve. If we can bring that collaboration to the table then as a consequence we can only improve over the next couple of years.”The strong results seen so far against India have suggested that the team is benefiting from the change, and Hussey said there was an air of refreshment that had come from the knowledge that everyone was working towards the same goal.”Certainly winning breeds fun, but also there’s been so much change around the team, and I think for a while there everyone did get a bit insular, and it was a bit quieter, we were a bit more intense,” Hussey said. “But I think now the new coach has set in, the new selectors have stepped in, the communication’s been really good, everyone knows where they stand, they know what their roles are, and they know where they want to take the team in the future.”I think that gives everyone a lot of heart and a lot of confidence. And then you can really be yourself and really see the characters come through in the team.”

Shane Warne has been fined US$50,000 by the BCCI but was spared a ban for his public spat with Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary Sanjay Dixit

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2011Shane Warne has been fined US$50,000 by the BCCI but was spared a ban for his public spat with Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary Sanjay Dixit over changing of pitches in Jaipur during the IPL. On Tuesday the pair faced an IPL commission, comprising Ravi Shastri and league chairman Chirayu Amin, which ruled Warne to be in “serious breach of his IPL playing contract” for criticising Dixit.The RCA had complained to the BCCI and IPL that Warne reportedly abused Dixit after his team’s loss to Bangalore in Jaipur last week. The pitch used for that game, and the previous one against Chennai Super Kings, was different from the one Warne’s team had enjoyed a strong home advantage on.In taking its decision the commission took into account Warne’s apology to Dixit and his status as one of the all-time greats of the game. “It (the Commission) regards the public criticism of Mr. Dixit as being a serious breach by Mr. Warne of his IPL playing contract,” a BCCI release said.”However, at the same time, the Commission also recognises that Mr. Warne has apologised to Mr. Dixit, and that the incident occurred just after the match. In addition, the Commission is cognisant of the contribution to the game of cricket in general, and to the Indian Premier League, which has been made by Mr. Warne.”The Commission also said that further breaches could result in a fine, a match ban or points deduction for the player’s team, or a combination of the three.Since the pitch was changed on May 9, Warne and Dixit have engaged in a war of words that has been fought in public, private and through the media. The hearing in Mumbai followed RCA’s rejection of an apology offered by the Rajasthan franchise, with the state board also threatening further action if the matter was not resolved to its satisfaction.

Parthiv Patel will lead the Rest of India squad in the Irani Cup match against Ranji trophy winners Rajasthan in October

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2011Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel will lead Rest of India in the Irani Cup match against Ranji Trophy winners Rajasthan in October. Legspinner Rahul Sharma, who was ruled out of the recent Emerging Player’s Tournament in Australia due to a back injury, has been included in the squad.Delhi batsman Shikhar Dhawan was named Rest of India’s vice-captain. The squad included Mumbai’s Ajinkya Rahane, who made his international debut in the ODI series in England, where he opened with Parthiv. Rahane scored 158 runs in five ODIs, averaging 31.60 with one half-century on the tour. He had a strong domestic season in 2010-11, making 609 runs at an average of 87 in the Ranji Trophy.Tamil Nadu’s Abhinav Mukund, who scored 620 runs in the Ranji Trophy and made his Test debut for India on the West Indies tour earlier this year, was in the squad as was Manish Pandey, Karnataka’s second-highest scorer in the previous domestic season. Jharkand fast bowler Varun Aaron, who was part of the ODI squad in England but didn’t play, was also included.The Irani Cup, the fixture that begins India’s domestic first-class season, will be played in Jaipur from October 1 to 5.Rest of India squad: Parthiv Patel (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Abhinav Mukund, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Mandeep Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Rahul Sharms, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Prashant Parmeshwaran, Pawan Suyal, Jalaj Saxena, C Gautham.

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a further setback ahead of their Premier League meeting with Liverpool tonight.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (via Evening Standard), Jurgen Klopp revealed that he has a fully fit squad at his disposal for the meeting with Spurs, with the 54-year-old hinting that Roberto Firmino will be available for selection should he feel that the centre-forward is required.

When asked whether the Brazil international will be fit to feature against Spurs, the German said: “I don’t know, but he is back in training, so now we have to make a decision about that. But let’s see. Yesterday he was in training, was great.”

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When asked whether the remainder of his squad will be available for selection, Klopp added: “Yes. I don’t have my smartphone here, because I get messages pretty late, but when I checked it last time, yes.”

Conte will be gutted

Considering just how important tonight’s fixture is for Tottenham’s hopes of securing a top-four finish this season, the news that Firmino looks as if he will be available and that the rest of the Liverpool squad are fit, coupled with Spurs’ earlier loss of Sergio Reguilon to injury, is sure to have left Antonio Conte gutted.

Indeed, the Reds have been in exceptional form across all competitions this season, having already lifted the Carabao Cup, secured a place in the final of both the Champions League and the FA Cup.

In addition, they are just one point behind Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, with Klopp being in with a fantastic chance of securing an unprecedented quadruple.

As such, when taking into account just how talented the current crop of Liverpool players quite clearly is, the news that the Reds have no injury concerns ahead of the Tottenham game is sure to come as a huge blow to Spurs’ chances of picking up a positive result at Anfield, with Conte in desperate need of the three points if he is to give his side the best possible shot at securing Champions League football next season.

AND in other news: Conte starts “really special” talent & drops “awful” £82k-p/w flop: Spurs predicted XI

Trevor Bayliss has been snapped up by the Sydney Sixers after being overlooked for the job as coach of New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2011Trevor Bayliss has been snapped up by the Sydney Sixers after being overlooked for the job as coach of New South Wales. Bayliss lost out to Anthony Stuart in the race to become the mentor of the Blues, but he has picked up a two-year deal to coach the Sixers, who will be based at the SCG and are one of the two Sydney sides for the new-look Big Bash League.Missing out to Stuart last month was a blow for Bayliss, who had just finished a successful near four-year stint as coach of Sri Lanka, and had coached New South Wales prior to winning his first international role. However, Bayliss will now play a key role in the Big Bash League alongside Stuart Clark, who was in May named general manager of the Sixers.”Trevor is a high quality coach with a huge amount of success domestically and internationally,” Clark said. “His ability and respect amongst the playing group provides the foundation to have a successful winning culture.”Bayliss, 48, and Clark can now start the search for players to sign up, with the existing state sides not automatically feeding talent into the Big Bash teams. However, after the Australian Cricketers’ Association pushed for free agency in the Twenty20 tournament, there is every chance the majority of the Blues players will be keen to stay in Sydney, with either the Sixers or the Thunder, who will be based at Olympic Park.”New South Wales has plenty of talented T20 cricketers and when you potentially add in a couple of international stars, the blend of youth, ability and experience makes for a very exciting prospect,” Bayliss said. “I am really looking forward to working with the Sydney Sixers at the SCG over the next few years.”Bayliss has a fine record as a coach, having steered Sri Lanka to the World Cup final this year, in his last act with the side. And as coach of New South Wales until 2006-07, he helped the Blues win a Pura Cup title as well as a domestic one-day trophy.

A devastating spell of bowling from Glen Chapple and Gary Keedy helped Lancashire to an innings-and-55-run victory over Sussex in their County Championship match at Liverpool

11-Apr-2011
Scorecard
A devastating spell of bowling from Glen Chapple and Gary Keedy helped Lancashire to an innings-and-55-run victory over Sussex in their County Championship match at Liverpool. The majority of the final morning’s play was wiped out due to wet weather and that gave the visitors plenty of hope in their bid to save the game.When played resumed at 1.10pm at total of 24 overs had been lost. Sussex were 151 for 3 after 47 overs and still faced a deficit of 78 runs. But Murray Goodwin’s men slipped to 174 all out in double quick time thanks to four wickets for Chapple and three for left-arm spinner Keedy.At their worst, Sussex lost six wickets for 12 runs in 35 balls to fall from 152 for 3 to 164 for 9. In victory, Lancashire collected 22 points from the game. Keedy finished with innings figures of 5 for 41 from 26 overs and Chapple 4 for 49 from 19.5.The rain may have provided the Lancashire duo with a little more assistance from the pitch but Sussex’s batsmen did not do themselves any favours at all with their kamikaze approach. Chapple struck with the eighth ball of the day when he had Joe Gatting caught behind by Gareth Cross for 28 before Ben Brown left a ball from the Lancashire skipper which cannoned into his off stump.Goodwin was then caught by Paul Horton at first slip to give Keedy his third wicket of the innings to leave the score at 154 for 6 in the 52nd over. With the Zimbabwean’s departure went Sussex’s last realistic hope of salvaging a draw, although Lancashire would not have dreamt that an opening-round win could come as quickly as it did.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan crashed Keedy down the ground for six with his second ball at the crease but could only divert the same bowler into the hands of Steven Croft at silly mid-off shortly afterwards. Naved Arif was just as expansive as his team-mate and fell the very next ball -bowled when trying to crash the ball through the off side.James Anyon was the ninth Sussex wicket to fall – and the third with the score on 164 – when he was well caught by a diving Tom Smith at second slip off the bowling of Chapple. The match was concluded when Chapple trapped Monty Panesar lbw for 4 with the last ball of the 63rd over.Sussex closed with little cheer and just three points from the fixture.

Tottenham Hostpur have been dealt a huge injury setback ahead of their Premier League meeting with Arsenal on Thursday.

What’s the latest?

In a recent post on Twitter, Alasdair Gold relayed comments made by Antonio Conte in his pre-match press conference, in which the 52-year-old manager confirmed that the left-back, who has missed Spurs’ last two fixtures due to a knock, has once again been ruled out for tomorrow’s clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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Regarding the current condition of the 25-year-old, Gold said: “Conte on injury news: ‘The situation is the same and the same of the last game against Liverpool. Reguilon is not available and I don’t think he can recover. There is only 10 days to go. Only the same players as Liverpool’.”

Conte will be fuming

Considering just how important Thursday’s North London Derby is in Tottenham’s bid to secure a top-four finish in the league, the news that Reguilon will once again miss out due to injury is sure to have left Conte fuming.

Indeed, over his 25 Premier League outings this season, the £25.2m-rated left-back has scored two goals, provided three assists and created five big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 0.8 shots, making 1.2 key passes and completing 0.8 dribbles per game.

The £53k-per-week defender has also helped his side keep six clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.2 interceptions, 1.6 tackles, 1.6 clearances and winning 4.6 duels – at a success rate of 52% – per fixture.

These returns have seen the former Real Madrid starlet average a SofaScore match rating of 6.91, ranking him as Spurs’ 12th-best player in the top flight of English football.

As such, the Spaniard’s absence will certainly come as huge blow to Conte and the Italian’s hopes of securing all three points against the Gunners tomorrow – with anything but a win against Mikel Arteta’s fourth-placed side all but ending Tottenham’s bid to seal Champions League football next season.

AND in other news: “Being monitored”: Kilpatrick drops Spurs transfer update, supporters will be buzzing

Simon Taufel has referred Phil Hughes’ lbw dismissal in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia to the ICC as a serious question mark against the accuracy of Hawk-Eye, the ball tracking technology

Daniel Brettig in Galle02-Sep-2011Simon Taufel, the senior international umpire, has referred Phil Hughes’ second innings lbw dismissal in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia to the ICC as a serious question mark against the accuracy of Hawk-Eye, the ball tracking technology. Taufel and the officiating umpires Richard Kettleborough, Aleem Dar and Tony Hill have have also sent the relevant footage of the incident to the ICC’s cricket operations department.Hughes was given out lbw on the second evening when he attempted to sweep Tillakaratne Dilshan. Replays indicated that the delivery had spun appreciably from around middle stump towards off, but the Hawk-Eye predicted path had the ball going straight on with the angle from round the wicket to to strike leg stump.Though he reviewed the decision, Hughes was sent on his way by umpire Kettleborough after consultation with third umpire Hill who is obliged to grant significant weight to the original decision made on the field when he decides whether to reprieve or dismiss a batsman.In Galle to conduct a third umpire accreditation seminar, Taufel has observed the first two days of the Test in part to assess the impact of technology’s inconsistent use and accuracy, having umpired in England’s home series against India under vastly different playing conditions and technological aids.Taufel told ESPNcricinfo that more needed to be done to prove the veracity of devices such as Hawk-Eye, HotSpot and Virtual Eye via independent testing that sits outside the views of broadcasters and suppliers.”Why can’t we tap into technology if the match official is missing a piece of information, and is it right that the match official has to make a decision before technology can be used?” Taufel said. “That’s a fundamental question I think we’re still working through. Under the current system we’re encouraged to make decisions and if a player feels they disagree with that then they’ve got the right to review. But if they get that wrong twice, then we can’t use technology anymore in that innings for that particular team.”They’re the parameters we’re working with and that’s the value we want to promote within the sport – do we just want to get the obvious mistake fixed up or do we want to get as many decisions right as possible? What are the technology tools we have to achieve that, and then how accurate are those tools? Have we really investigated that from an independent perspective, and have we got a categorical answer with that? Is it reliable on the day, rather than just relying on the provider of that technology to say ‘it is x-amount accurate and the result is right’ and we just take that on face value?”The third umpire’s job in particular has become increasingly difficult as each series brings a different set of parameters for reviewing decisions, and the technological means by which they may be reviewed. Taufel said players had also become confused on the field by the transient nature of rules relating to referrals and technology.”From the training perspective we did with the third umpire accreditation module it is very difficult, because there is no consistency of inputs,” Taufel said. “How do I train and develop a third umpire when I don’t know what technology tools are going to be available on the day?”From an umpiring perspective, as a third umpire, it is incredibly challenging here [in Sri Lanka] because the frame rates used by Ten Sports per second will be different to the ones used by Sky in Britain. There’s ultra-motion available in the UK, there’s none of that here. We have Hotspot in the UK, we don’t have Hotspot here. The camera rates used by Hawk-Eye here would be different to the camera rates used there.”Therein lies the challenge of consistency – how can you possibly expect consistent outputs if you’ve got inconsistent inputs? We’ve also noticed the players are somewhat confused as to what they can challenge and what they can’t. In the UK they couldn’t challenge lbws, they could only challenge caught decisions. Here we’ve gone back to a different system where you can challenge both.”Surely that’s got to be difficult for the players and the match officials to keep adjusting from series to series. Our message as umpires was rather strong at the ICC cricket committee meeting where we said, we either want to use everything or nothing at all, let’s try to make it consistently easier for everybody. That’s what we want to work towards.”

Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray has confirmed he has spoken to Leeds chiefs regarding Ian Poveda, The Lancashire Telegraph report.

The Lowdown: Poveda’s return from injury

Poveda, who Victor Orta signed for Leeds back in 2020, made the move to Ewood Park in the summer on a season-long loan deal. However, the 22-year-old has been out of action since November after requiring ankle surgery.

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He has recovered back at Leeds’ Thorp Arch training base but did go and watch Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon against Blackpool, suggesting a return to the second-tier side could now be on the cards.

The Latest: Mowbray’s comments

The Lancashire Telegraph relayed comments from Mowbray regarding Poveda on Thursday. The Rovers boss admitted he has ‘spoke to Leeds’ about the possibility of Poveda returning to the club for the Championship run-in.

He also confirmed that Blackburn have continued to pay their contribution to Poveda’s salary and are looking to bring him back next week before Leeds’ trip to Crystal Palace.

The Verdict: Caution needed

Poveda is back in training but hasn’t had any game time, so Leeds, Blackburn and the winger need to be careful over the coming weeks.

It’s easy to see why Rovers want Poveda back at Ewood Park as they seek a playoff place, however, Leeds know the risk of bringing a player back too early from injury.

Patrick Bamford now looks set to miss the rest of the season following his setback, so the club won’t want the same thing to happen for Poveda.

In other news: ‘Big’ – Journalist excited by who Orta and Marsch may now ‘bring’ to Leeds this summer. 

At 35 Michael Hussey, his sideburns flecked with grey, has to convince himself to be free and focused, which aren’t always complementary aims

Peter English in Brisbane23-Nov-2010Word has filtered through to Michael Hussey that he must get runs in Thursday’s first Test. He hasn’t read the papers or watched the television, but he has been sledged by the Victorians and listened to more talk than usual. A check of his stats will show he hasn’t scored a century in his past six Tests and in those matches has averaged 26.Outside the team everyone is asking him if he’s playing for his place, directly and in roundabout ways. Even before a 17-man squad was picked early last week to let the senior guys know that it was time to perform or perish. Hussey is always a gentleman, almost always talking positive, but there is pain in his smiles.”In my mind I still have the belief that I’m good enough to be in the team,” he said as the team prepared in Brisbane. “But there’s been a lot of speculation … Certainly some has filtered through. It’s not nice when you hear negative things or people saying you shouldn’t be in the team or they seem to have lost faith in you.”Re-confirming your worth to the detractors is a common theme for the aging player. At first, runs were all that mattered, but as things wind down it’s a fight to hold on to everything: the spot, the goodwill, the reputation.”Certainly for me that’s a motivating thing, trying to prove them wrong,” he said. “I had to do that last year. Shane Warne was pretty outspoken in wanting me out of the team. At the end of the summer he came out and said, you’ve proved me wrong.” Centuries used to create the most satisfying feelings.At 35 Hussey, his sideburns flecked with grey, has to convince himself to be free and focused, which aren’t always complementary aims. Throughout his career the latter has been easier to achieve. His single-mindedness turned a decade in the first-class ranks into one of the most stunning entries, a Test run which included an average of 80 more than two years after his debut.The fun came from accumulating, but a bad Test at the Gabba could end the ride. Or the final stop might be Adelaide, or back home in Perth. It is not a series for guarantees.He is relieved that he made the squad on the back of a second-innings century for Western Australia last week. During that display, which followed an 18-ball duck, the negative comments from the fielders “were driving me on further and further”. With the batch of young players gaining interest from the national selectors, Hussey is playing for next week and beyond.”I want to enjoy it, enjoy that pressure,” he said. “I don’t want to walk away at the end of my career, thinking, ‘geez, I absolutely hated playing for Australia’. I want to go away knowing that I played the way I wanted to play and that I gave myself the best chance of performing well and I enjoyed every minute of it. Go away a happy man rather than having regrets.”He will not change his approach and does not think his problems are technical. If he’s tentative he will struggle early, if he’s positive he can live with the consequences. The last time he was under similar heat was at The Oval in 2009, when he had gone 15 Tests without a hundred. His 121 saved his spot, but not the game, with his dismissal ending the series and changing the owners of the urn.He is a meticulous planner and is an expert at hanging on with a well-timed exertion. Does he prepare differently for a pressure innings? “No, you try not to,” he said. But do you? “No, I try not to.” He smiles as he repeats the answer, at the same time trying to convince himself he’s right.”I try to block out as much as I can and know what worked in the past. Stick to my game plans. Half the challenge is to block out all the external distractions that go on. It’s definitely been a lot tougher [this time].”While England have experienced a flawless preparation for the Ashes, Australia’s travels have been as bumpy as a landing on a rural airstrip. The hosts lost seven matches in a row in all forms of the game before succeeding in a dead ODI against Sri Lanka in Brisbane at the start of the month. England have skipped across the country, getting all their men in some form, at the same time as their stuttering opponents have picked up injuries and stinging criticism.”It’s been perceivably up and down,” Hussey said of Australia’s recent results. “But I actually think we’ve been going really well. Even in India, we played some fantastic Test cricket … It’s more been external stuff causing conjecture. Within the team our plans are really specific.”When there’s a lot of pressure, a lot of speculation and tension, that sometimes brings out the best in players, and you know if you can stick together tight as a team, you can always turn in a positive direction.” Keep the faith, retain your spot, win the Ashes. That’s the theory.