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Captain comfortable in handing leadership to Carey or Cummins if he’s not fit to play T20I opener v Sri Lanka

Daniel Brettig25-Oct-2019Australia’s captain Aaron Finch is firming to play in the opening international of the summer, a Twenty20 date with Sri Lanka at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, though he has no qualms about lending the leadership to Alex Carey or Pat Cummins should he still require more time to recover from a side strain that was initially disguised by a parallel back spasm.The road to hosting the 2020 T20 World Cup has begun with a series of meetings, media commitments and training, with Finch and the coach Justin Langer eager to ensure the group chosen for six matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan over the next two weeks starts to develop role clarity and comfort in each other’s company.ALSO READ – Langer’s bid to turn Australia into a T20 fortressIf Finch is unfit, there is the strong likelihood that the wicketkeeper Carey will lead Australia for the first time, after his leadership credentials were strongly endorsed by the selection chairman Trevor Hohns, who has gone as far as to say that he would like to see the South Australian leading the Redbacks in place of Travis Head.”The two guys who are vice-captains, Alex and Patto, both are well-placed to do it. Everyone who’s involved with the leadership group is across a lot of things. They’ll have no issues stepping in if need be,” Finch said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a long-term injury. I’m feeling better and better every day. It’ll be a case of having a hit today, assessing how it goes, having a hit tomorrow and keep reassessing each day.”Probably a little bit of a later diagnosis than what we first thought it was, a bit of a back spasm. It sort of started to get better and then I felt a bit of a twinge in my side. As a result, had a scan on Monday in Perth. Maybe last Friday actually in Perth. Just a little tear there, not a hell of a lot. So I still think I’ll be fine on Sunday.”The back was the same thing [as end of BBL last summer]. The side is something that’s totally new. Sitting down for a couple of days in that Shield game at the Junction Oval and then coming out and trying to swing a bit too hard. It wasn’t one [shot] in particular. Could have been a number. I went pretty hard.”Having worked assiduously alongside Langer to build a strong 50-over World Cup campaign out of the humblest of beginnings last year, Finch argued that the scheduling of plenty of T20 matches for the Australian short-form team over the next 12 months, certainly when lined up against their regular split of Tests, ODIs and T20s, should allow for a similarly promising build-up.”It’s great that we’ve got 21 games of T20Is over the next 12 months leading into the T20 World Cup,” Finch said. “That’s probably the first step, having that continuity of selection in the T20 format. We’ve probably not had that in the past. It’s been a process of managing players of the back of Test series or high workload tours. It’s going to exciting to be able to have a similar squad over the next 12 months to two years with the two T20 World Cups back-to-back.”The 50-over World Cup was exciting and certainly didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to. We fell two games short. But as the lead-up went, from about December right up to the end of that World Cup, we got a lot of things right. We built a lot of good stuff through the Indian ODI series and the Pakistan series in the UAE and continued that on. That’s a really key thing we’ve taken out of it and hopefully with this as well.”Australia’s T20I captain Aaron Finch and coach Justin Langer•Getty Images

As flagged by Langer to ESPNcricinfo, Australia’s T20 blueprint for the next 12 months will draw a lot from his experiences at the Perth Scorchers, who were masters of creating pressure through use of the game’s defensive skills, while also allying superior fitness to predatory fielding and proactive running between the wickets. Finch said that planning was certainly more advanced than at the same point 12 months out from the 50-over World Cup.”A bit more advanced I would say, especially with the style we want to play,” Finch said. “We know what style we want to go with over the next 12 months. That makes it a bit clearer to be able to map out how you go about that. I expect it to be a little bit smoother. Obviously, with form and injury, the personnel can change. But the 14 guys we have got here, that’s the plan to move forward with. Over the next 12 months and leading up to that World Cup to have that solid base of 14-16 players that can take us into that tournament.”It’s about having specific guys for the roles as well. Ashton Agar is in there as the allrounder, the spinning allrounder, if we do decide to play two spinners we’ve still got the option of three genuine quicks. If we go without the legspinner then we still have four genuine quicks as well. It’s just a bit of a change of mind-set of balancing up our team. It’s still going to be a case of managing players through workloads at various points. All in all, we want to win as many games as we can and create a style and culture around the group of winning T20Is.”

He will leave England, for whom he has been bowling coach, after the end of the third Test against West Indies in September

George Dobell30-Aug-2017Ottis Gibson has been appointed as the head coach of the South Africa team.Gibson, the former West Indies seamer, will leave his role as England bowling coach at the end of the Investec Test series against West Indies. He has previously been head coach of West Indies (2010-2014), during which time he helped lead the side to success in the 2012 World T20.ESPNcricinfo had previously reported that a compensation package had been agreed between Cricket South Africa and the ECB to allow Gibson to leave his ECB contract early.”I am delighted to embark on this new chapter in my coaching career and I would like to thank Cricket South Africa for giving me this opportunity and the England and Wales Cricket Board for their understanding of my position,” Gibson said. “I have spent a number of happy times in South Africa as a player and I am now looking forward to return as a coach.”The news confirms the departure of Russell Domingo who has moved to the role of head coach of the A side. He was the South Africa coach for the last four years but was obliged to reapply for his job when CSA announced it would be reviewing its options for the position in January; a stance originally explained as an exercise in corporate governance.Ultimately, however, the five-man panel charged with appointing the coach – a panel that included former national coaches Gary Kirsten and Eric Simons – concluded that Gibson would be a better option. Domingo’s next assignment will see him coach Pretoria Mavericks in the T20 Global League.Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Russell Domingo for his positive contributions during his time with the Proteas and I am delighted he will remain in our setup as head coach of the South Africa A side. This is an important position that prepares our up-and-coming players in the next stage of their journey to become potential Proteas. I must also thank the ECB for their understanding and co-operation in releasing Ottis from his current contract.”Gibson, who played domestic cricket in South Africa, has had two spells as England’s bowling coach. He first joined them in 2007 and remained with them until he took the West Indies job in 2010. He returned to the ECB in 2015.It is understood that the ECB will advertise for a new bowling coach immediately. Richard Johnson (who is currently with Middlesex), Graeme Welch (who is currently with Leicestershire) and Steffan Jones (who is currently freelance) are all thought likely to apply. There may also be short-term consultancy roles for the likes of Darren Gough available.”Ottis has played a vital role in our progress over the past few years,” Trevor Bayliss, the England head coach, said. “His knowledge of the international game and the way he has supported all our bowlers in their development has been immeasurable.”He will no doubt relish the challenge of becoming a head coach once again and coupled with his strong affinity with South African cricket, he will look to take them forward.””I would like to place on record my thanks to Ottis Gibson for his services to English cricket,” Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, said. “Ottis has been an integral part of the England team in his two stints as bowling coach. His experience, tactical awareness and understanding of bowling in all conditions has benefited our approach and has helped our bowling unit develop greatly across all formats of the game.”He is an ambitious man and when this opportunity presented itself it was difficult for him to turn down. On behalf of the ECB, I would like to wish him every success in the next chapter of his career.”

A devastating spell of bowling from Mark Footitt – or perhaps that should be Mark F00000itt – powered Surrey into an overwhelmingly dominant position at The Kia Oval

George Dobell at the Kia Oval08-Apr-2017
ScorecardA devastating spell of bowling from Mark Footitt – or perhaps that should be Mark F00000itt – powered Surrey into an overwhelmingly dominant position at The Kia Oval.Footitt claimed 6 for 14 as Warwickshire were bowled out for just 91, the lowest first-class total by a visiting team to The Oval since 1999 and their fourth lowest total this century, to give Surrey a first innings lead of 363 runs.At one stage Footitt, generating sharp pace on an easy-paced wicket, claimed six wickets for three runs in 32 deliveries as Warwickshire collapsed from 30 without loss to 48 for 8. It was a passage of play that saw five Warwickshire batsmen – including Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell – dismissed for ducks and gave Footitt a five-wicket haul for the fourth Championship match in succession.No other bowler in this match – and there are several who have been in international reckoning in recent times – has come close to replicating the bounce and pace achieved by Footitt as he charged in from The Vauxhall End. In one over before tea he accounted for Trott, set-up by some back of a length deliveries and then pinned by a lovely full inswinger as he fell over to the off side, and Bell, edging a peach of a ball that bounced and left him, while Sam Hain, drawn into a poke outside off stump, fell in his next over.William Porterfield was beaten by another beauty that bounced and took his outside edge, Rikki Clarke played across another that swung in and Keith Barker was bowled by one that may well have kept a bit low.While a couple of Warwickshire batsmen – not least Bell, who received one that scuttled along the pitch two balls before he was dismissed, and Barker, who was struck by a bouncer the ball before he was bowled – may point to some variable bounce as mitigation for their dismissals, the fact that their tenth-wicket pair posted the equal highest stand of the innings underlined the failings of the top-order and they may reflect that it was their choice to bowl first. Chris Wright, coming in at No. 10, finished as their highest scorer with an unbeaten 28 as reward for some application and a straight bat.It may well be that Footitt’s England chance has passed him by. He made it into the squad during the 2015 Ashes and then went on the tour to South Africa but, after an understandably nervous performance during the warm-up games, was overlooked for the start of the series. He came tantalisingly close to selection for the final Test in Pretoria but, in the end, the England management went for Chris Woakes instead. There is every chance that was as close as Footitt will get to a Test cap.But in form like this, he really does present a compelling case for a recall. Offering left-arm pace and swing, all delivered amid an awkward flurry of arms and legs, he challenges batsmen in a variety of ways and has the ability to unlock strong line-ups in good batting conditions. Certainly he looked a far more dangerous bowler than the relatively sedate Sam Curran, another left-arm swing bowler who has been tipped for selection, and he might yet – aged 31 – add some bite and variety to the England attack.It might be that he did not help himself at the start of last season. Having come back from what was, ultimately, a bit of a disappointing tour of South Africa from a personal perspective, he went into his first season with Surrey a little short of match fitness. He subsequently suffered a side strain in the opening weeks of the season after coming up against better batsmen on flatter tracks and finding it took more out of his body than had been the case at Derbyshire. It has taken time to recover his confidence, rhythm and pace.It would be a risk to take him to Australia. He is, despite his age, relatively inexperienced and might well find the aggression and pressure of an Ashes series a huge culture shock. He would have to learn to swing the Kookaburra ball, too. But if he can bowl like this, he will enjoy the pace of Australia pitches and no batsman will fancy facing him. It would be a stretch to compare him to Mitchell Johnson – he’s not that quick or awkward – but the challenges he offers are not so different.”I still have the ambition to play for England,” he said afterwards. “If it’s too late, it’s too late. But Gareth Batty went on the last tour and we was 38, so I’ve not given up and I don’t think you’re ever too old.”Would I like to go to Australia this winter for the Ashes? I’ve never even been there, so it would be nice just to go. Perhaps I wasn’t quite there fitness-wise this time last year but I feel strong now and I have my pace back.””I’ve seen a few spells over the years,” Jim Troughton, Warwickshire’s first team coach said, “but that’s right up with the best of them. He got pace and shape and bounce. I wouldn’t say any of our batsmen threw it away but we weren’t up to it and we’re going to have to front up in a big way over the next couple of days. I still think it’s a pretty decent track.”At least Warwickshire showed a little more resolve having been asked to follow-on. But any doubts Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s new director of sport, had about the enormity of the task facing him upon his return to Edgbaston should now have been dispelled. An ageing side lacked the pace to extract life from the surface and the batting line-up looks overly reliant upon two men in their mid-30s. There are few obvious reserves pushing for selection, either. These are early days, but it could well be the start of a painful transition for Warwickshire.They had actually enjoyed the best of the first half of the day. Bowling with excellent discipline, they slowed the Surrey rate of scoring to a crawl and then picked up wickets as the batsmen’s frustration mounted. From a platform of 314 for 2 in the 86th over, Surrey lost their last eight wickets for 140 runs in a further 55 overs – and the last five for 49- with Wright recovering from an expensive start to finish with a five-wicket haul for the first time since July 2015. It was nothing compared to what followed from Footitt, though.

Aaron Finch is expected to be sidelined for 12 weeks after having surgery on his injured left hamstring in Melbourne on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2015Aaron Finch is expected to be sidelined for 12 weeks after having surgery on his injured left hamstring in Melbourne on Tuesday. Finch suffered the injury while batting for Mumbai Indians in the IPL last Tuesday and his recovery time-frame will have consequences for his county cricket schedule: he was due to join Yorkshire at the end of May.”After returning to Australia injured from the IPL, Aaron had scans that confirmed a high grade hamstring injury,” Cricket Australia’s physio Alex Kountouris said. “As such, Aaron was assessed by a surgeon who felt that he would have a better outcome with surgery.”Aaron subsequently had surgery yesterday that has gone well. Aaron will now commence his rehabilitation and we expect that rehabilitation to take up to 12 weeks.”If the full 12 weeks is required, Finch would be unavailable until at least July, a worse outcome than Yorkshire expected. Finch was originally due to arrive at Headingley at the end of May.”It is disappointing news for Aaron and for us,” said Moxon. “We were hoping that he would be with us in May but that is not going to happen.”Plans are in place to fill the void that Aaron will leave. We are hopeful that we can get this sorted sooner rather than later and remain confident that we’ll find a replacement for the County Championship and the NatWest T20 Blast.”Moxon later confirmed that Yorkshire “had irons in the fire” regarding Finch but the county’s officials had other injury problems as their fit players sought to force a victory against Nottinghamshire.Meanwhile, Ryan Sidebottom’s calf injury will keep him out for six weeks while Cheteshwar Pujara was off the field after injuring the webbing in his left hand. Moxon, however, thought that Pujara would be fit for Sunday’s match against Warwickshire.Yorkshire supporters will not be slow to point out that their side’s problems would be considerably eased if four of their players were not busy doing nothing with England in the West Indies. The county asked for Adil Rashid to be allowed to fly home in time for the Warwickshire game but that was turned down by the ECB on Wednesday.

Two days shy of his 38th birthday, Brad Hodge put on a batting master-class to help the Melbourne Stars to a crucial win over the Adelaide Strikers

The Report by Alex Malcolm27-Dec-2012
ScorecardBrad Hodge’s aggressive half-century set up a match-winning total for the Stars•Getty Images

They speak of Twenty20 as a young man’s game, but the evergreen Brad Hodge, like Ricky Ponting, continues to dispel popular opinion. Two days shy of his 38th birthday Hodge put on a batting master-class, at one of his favourite and most prolific venues, the Adelaide Oval, to help the Melbourne Stars to a crucial win over the Adelaide Strikers.Hodge’s 88 from 58 balls featured ten fours and three sixes, but it was the purity of his timing, the stillness of his head, and the artistry of his placement which made it so much more. He spoke in a pre-game interview of the importance of a 360-degree range of stroke-play for modern batsmen in T20 cricket, and sure enough, like the old pro he is, he walked out and delivered what he spoke about.First he swept Johan Botha to the boundary. Then he uppercut Shaun Tait fine of third man before glancing him wide of fine-leg for consecutive fours in the third over. He drove elegantly through cover and lofted powerfully over long-on. He hit Botha miles into the stands to bring up 50 from just 39 balls.The following over he cut Tait twice, once through backward point, the other through cover, both hitting the fence before the bowler had completed his short follow-through.Hodge eventually fell to a full toss from Matt Johnston, which he drilled straight to deep midwicket, but he had already taken ten from the over with a delicate steer past short third man and a third six crushed into the construction site at long-on.Hodge was supported by small cameos all the way down the star-studded order, to set an imposing total of 8 for 175 after stand-in captain Cameron White chose to bat first.The Strikers were always just out of arms reach in the run chase. Tim Ludeman continued his exceptional form and Callum Ferguson played well but neither could convert their starts, both undone by clever slower-balls from James Faulkner. Clint McKay, Lasith Malinga, and Faulkner bowled tightly through the middle overs to strangle the Strikers. The use of slower-balls was the most damaging tactic. Faulkner’s fourth over, the 16th of the chase, cost just five runs and claimed the vital scalp of Ferguson. McKay followed that with an over comprised of three dot balls, two singles, and a leg bye to leave the Strikers needing 58 from the last 18 deliveries.The only danger was Kieron Pollard. He had scored just 27 runs, from 30 balls faced, when the 18th over began. He took 13 from John Hastings first four balls, before Johnston added two twos, making it 41 required from 12.Malinga then delivered one of his most expensive overs of the tournament. Fourteen runs were scored from seven balls, the extra ball cost three wides, as Pollard shelved his power-hitting for a delicate paddle sweep to find the rope.White had gambled by bowling out his big guns to ensure the Strikers had too many score off the last over. Unfortunately Pollard had put it within reach, with 27 runs required from six balls.Left-arm orthodox spinner Clive Rose, on T20 debut in the absence of Shane Warne, was asked by his stand-in captain to close it out. Pollard and Johnston managed singles from each of the first two balls to mean only a tie was possible. Pollard miscued short of the point rope to ensure the game was beyond his reach. Never has a man been more furious when hitting two sixes in excess of 100 metres off the last three balls of a match than Pollard was, when his team fell eight runs short despite his 65 not out.The Stars recorded their fourth consecutive win. The Strikers’ next assignment is against the only unbeaten team of the tournament – the Melbourne Renegades.

Surrey fought back thanks to Stuart Meaker’s five wickets on day three as Somerset closed with a second-innings lead of 278

David Lloyd at The Oval18-May-2012
ScorecardStuart Meaker claimed five wickets to take his tally to 21 in three Championship games•PA Photos

The Test cricket was on the other side of the Thames. But for really tough cricket, in terms of a terrific, see-sawing battle between bat and ball, one could not wish for much better than that on offer at The Oval.Graham Thorpe, England’s lead batting coach and a Surrey legend to boot, was among those watching as an absorbing contest changed direction several times before bad light ended the action almost an hour early. The loss of nearly 13 overs this evening could prove costly so far as obtaining a positive result is concerned but at least the forecast for tomorrow is good.Somerset, with a lead of 278 and three wickets in hand, find themselves in the better position but all outcomes remain possible. As for the quality of the cricket, that will struggle to get any better than we witnessed for long periods today while Stuart Meaker and Jon Lewis were bowling in tandem for the hosts against a batting department held together for three hours by the run-ravenous and yet ultimately unsated Nick Compton.Thorpe did not see as much of Tom Maynard as he might have wished, Surrey’s No. 6 adding only 26 runs to his overnight 63 before he was prised out. But one of several young batsmen around the country now attracting serious attention from on high had done just about enough to ensure the hosts were not made to follow-on for a second consecutive match.As for Compton, Thorpe must add more words of praise, surely, to the many already written this season, if he is filing a report to HQ. True, the Somerset man made ‘only’ 50 – small beer for him in a campaign that has brought 869 first-class run so far – but his technique stood up to a long and searching examination until he was finally dismissed in artificially enhanced but still tricky light.Having scored nearly 7,000 Test runs, Thorpe is also more than capable of making constructive comments with regard to what makes an international-class fast bowler. And it would be surprising indeed if he were not hugely impressed with Meaker, who ought now to be added to the admittedly long list of those pacemen pushing for an opportunity in five-day cricket.Now 23, Meaker played a couple of ODIs for England over the winter. But he continues to improve by leaps and bounds and his performance today, while taking five for 42 from 16 overs, was top-drawer. At 6ft 1in, he is not especially tall by current fast-bowling standards. But he is especially quick (a 90mph merchant, without doubt) and here he demonstrated not only great pace but also excellent control. So few deliveries were wasted, particularly during the session between lunch and tea, that Compton – a batsman in the form of his life, remember – scored one run in 10 overs as Meaker and the ever-reliable Lewis joined forces.The wickets, when they came, were eye-catching, too. Extra bounce did for Alex Barrow, James Hildreth snicked a particularly rapid ball and Peter Trego managed to get only part way through an ambitious pull shot, to name just three of the victims. Compton, to his great credit, survived everything hurled at him by Meaker – and survived most of it with calm assurance. He failed to see out the day, though, with an attempted pull against Chris Jordan going sadly wrong.That wasn’t the last bit of damage inflicted by Jordan before the evening’s second and final stoppage for bad light. The allrounder hit Vernon Philander on his bowling hand with a short ball, leaving the South Africa Test star in some pain. Philander called for the physio but was able to carry on after some TLC.

Evan Gulbis bowled Tasmania to victory in his first match for the state as the Tigers crushed Western Australia by 67 runs at the WACA

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2011
ScorecardEvan Gulbis picked up 4 for 8 from five overs•Getty Images

Evan Gulbis bowled Tasmania to victory in his first match for the state as the Tigers crushed Western Australia by 67 runs at the WACA. Gulbis, an allrounder who moved from Victoria during the off-season, finished the remarkable figures of 4 for 8 from five overs, and it was a terrific way for him to end the match after he ran out his captain George Bailey trying to get off the mark earlier in the day.Tasmania’s 231 looked below par on a pitch with plenty of bounce and carry but the Warriors never looked totally comfortable in their chase, as James Faulkner ran through the top order and Gulbis destroyed the middle order. Faulkner picked up 4 for 48, including the top scorer Liam Davis for 38, but it was Gulbis who all but confirmed the result.Perhaps bowling with more speed than the batsmen expected from an allrounder, Gulbis began with Travis Birt caught for 25 when he was surprised by extra bounce and was caught at gully off a leading edge. Tom Beaton followed soon afterwards, caught by Jason Krejza at fine leg when he tried to swivel a pull over the boundary.Luke Ronchi was out for a duck when he muscled a ball straight back at Gulbis, who took a smart return catch, and he had 4 for 4 when Nathan Rimmington edged behind for another duck. There was some late resistance fro Nathan Coulter-Nile and Michael Beer, but the Warriors were dismissed for 164 in the 35th over, well short of their target.The Tigers had also been bowled out, in the 50th over, as Coulter-Nile finished up with 4 for 66 from 12 overs. Tasmania had contributions from Mark Cosgrove (43) and Ed Cowan (40), but their effort having been sent in had appeared sub-standard.Bailey had made a brisk 21 when he was caught short diving at the striker’s end, having responded to a call from Gulbis, who was trying to get off the mark. By the end of the day Gulbis, who made 24, was the toast of the Tasmanian team.