The five-ball over gave MS Dhoni an opportunity to raise the question that if with so much technology available the officials couldn’t ensure the proper counting of balls in an over

Sidharth Monga at the Adelaide Oval14-Feb-2012India don’t want to create controversy about the five-ball 30th over that may or may not have made a difference to the final result of a tight game, a tie. However, it gave MS Dhoni an opportunity to raise the question that, with so much technology available, why couldn’t the officials ensure the proper counting of balls, and why blindly follow the DRS?The essence of Dhoni’s comments, though, was that this could easily be turned into a controversy but he didn’t want to do so. “Duncan [Fletcher, the coach] told me about it,” Dhoni said. “There have been five-ball overs in the past, but we have seen the third umpire interfere and you have to come back and bowl that ball. Usually that’s what has happened to us also. It didn’t happen in this game, fair enough. Nothing much can be done now.”I don’t know [if a full over might have broken the tie] because you could have had a dot ball. It happens in cricket, so maybe it would have been a dot.”Dhoni said India were not going to lodge an official complaint. “Well because it’s done and dusted,” he said. “That’s what is important. We can create a big fuss out of it but what’s the point? It’s like a controversy standing right at the edge, just about to happen, because we have seen in the past that we have bowled an over and they have almost changed ends. But then the third umpire interferes and says, ‘Okay you have to bowl one more ball in this particular over”. It didn’t happen in this game. I don’t know why. We don’t really want to create a controversy.”As an afterthought, Dhoni took a dig at DRS. “If this can happen then I don’t know why people back DRS so much,” Dhoni said. “We have seen people happy with DRS in one series as long as it goes in their favour. Once it doesn’t go in their favour, they are quite unhappy about it so. I am quite happy with three individuals. If I am not wrong, two umpires in the middle and the match referee and the scorer [are there], and it has still happened. Better off accepting it because we humans are bound to make mistakes.”The said over was, at that time, the second best of India’s innings. Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni had taken nine off Malinga when over was called after five balls. Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain, said he didn’t know of the error. “I am not complaining,” he joked.

Chris Gayle, the West Indies batsman, is scheduled to meet officials from the West Indies Cricket Board and CARICOM in St Vincent on Monday to discuss his future with the West Indies team

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2012Chris Gayle, the West Indies batsman, is scheduled to meet officials from the West Indies Cricket Board and CARICOM in St Vincent on Monday to discuss his future with the West Indies team. The has reported that Gayle is likely to either submit an apology or retract his comments made against the board and the coach Ottis Gibson during a radio interview.”A meeting has been arranged for tomorrow morning (today) between Gayle, the WICB and a few heads of government in a bid to arrive at an amicable solution that could result in Gayle returning to the team,” Fritz Harris, the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) secretary, was quoted as saying in the paper.”As we are all aware, there have been efforts to have the matter resolved in recent weeks, including all the workings coming out of CARICOM etc, and I suspect that this meeting is a sort of culmination of the efforts.”In October last year, the WICB had said that Gayle could return to the West Indies team if he retracted his critical statements about the board. Gayle had initially said the board was playing mind games with him by not specifying exactly what he needed to apologise for. That meant the already longstanding impasse between Gayle and the board continued, with even the Jamaican prime minister becoming involved by coming out in support of Gayle.In February this year, the WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire said he wanted Gayle to make his priorities clear, saying that Gayle could not ask for unconditional no-objection certificates (NOCs) to play domestic Twenty20 tournaments around the world and simultaneously make himself available for West Indies selection.Gayle last played for West Indies in the 2011 World Cup, and has since taken part in Twenty20 leagues around the world, including the IPL, the Big Bash League in Australia and the BPL in Bangladesh. He has turned out for Jamaica in the domestic one-day and four-day competitions. He was left out of the WICB’s 30-man squad for a fitness and training camp ahead of the home series against Australia. However, he was spotted in the stands during the second one-dayer against Australia on Sunday, in St Vincent.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Sunil Narine, the West Indies spinner who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $700,000, will be available for the entire duration of the 2012 IPL, a franchise official has said

Tariq Engineer03-Apr-2012Sunil Narine, the West Indies spinner who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $700,000 in the January player auction, will be available for the entire duration of the 2012 IPL, a franchise official has said. The IPL overlaps with West Indies’ home Tests against Australia, and while Narine does not have a WICB contract and hasn’t played a Test yet, his excellent form in the limited-overs series against Australia could have resulted in a call-up.Venky Mysore, the Knight Riders chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo that Narine will be landing in Kolkata today and is free to play in the tournament. Narine and the WICB had been in discussions behind the scenes but the West Indies coach, Otis Gibson, had admitted it would be difficult to stop Narine playing in the IPL if that was his preference. Narine, 23, has taken 34 first-class wickets at an average of 11.88.Narine first attracted international attention during the 2011 Champions League T20. Opposing batsmen found his assortment of offbreaks and ‘knuckle balls’ difficult to pick and the most runs he conceded in any game was 26 against New South Wales. In the next match against the Super Kings, he took 3 for 8, accounting for Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and M Vijay.

Kane Williamson was unbeaten on 89 at the end of another shortened day after Gloucestershire were inserted by Yorkshire

Alex Winter at Bristol10-May-2012
ScorecardNew Zealand batsman Kane Williamson has continued his recent Test form with Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Few would have expected such a scorecard at the end of a day when at the start everything pointed to a feast for the bowlers. Heavy cloud, a brisk wind, intermittent rain and the deluge that was very well soaked up by the Bristol outfield were the factors in Andrew Gale’s decision to bowl first. Had he inspected a little closer under the covers, he might have made a different call.Though even if a reasonable deck were to have been discovered, the horrendous light – which prevented play later in the day – was reason enough to send Gloucestershire in. It was miserable. Benny Howell edged to third slip in Tim Bresnan’s second over and everything was as expected. But then Kane Williamson provided a classy innings.Last season, he looked a good player with a very correct technique. There wasn’t much excitement about him; he didn’t make the eye-catching scores one would hope from an overseas signing; he made one century – on a terribly flat pitch at Leicester. He was getting a good run in the New Zealand team, playing all formats of the game, without too much success. His run had been earned by a century on debut in Ahmedabad and the general perception that he was the future for New Zealand.His subsequent scores didn’t match that glorious debut and observers wondered whether he had been thrust in too soon. One innings changed those doubts. Battling on the final day to save a Test against South Africa at Wellington he made an unbeaten 102. He was dropped, hit on the body, sliced in two, beaten on countless occasions but made an innings of much acclaim against arguably the most fearsome attack in world cricket: Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. It confirmed his talent in some fashion.”That was a great challenge,” Williamson said. “They came really hard and it was a really nice innings to play against such quality bowlers. It was an interesting period in the winter; I didn’t spend too much time at the crease. We played Zimbabwe and I wasn’t required much of the time.”Arriving back for a second season with Gloucestershire, he made 128 in the second innings at Derby. If he can add another 11 runs tomorrow it will be three consecutive centuries for Williamson and Gloucestershire’s faith that John Bracewell had plucked a star in the making will be restored.He was sublime after making a 90-ball half-century against perhaps the best new-ball partnership he will face all season. Ryan Sidebottom and Bresnan quickly became frustrated at their lack of penetration and especially at Williamson’s ability to play with the most delicate of hands – playing under his nose; guiding runs through gully.He has seemed to gain an ability to score more easily, overcoming a lack of power. His off-side play was a joy to watch. Coming forward with a large stride he drove straight and through cover exactly as the textbook describes. Equally, going back he was quickly into a comfortable position and timed several boundaries to the shorter tennis-court boundary.The chief criticism of his cricket is playing the short ball: a few times he was found out in Australia. Here there was no short bowling to worry about – Bresnan and Sidebottom bowled full but found little enjoyment off a slow surface. The only time Williamson pulled was a long hop from Anthony McGrath – dispatched over square leg.The 146 Williamson and Chris Dent added in 43 overs was the third century stand Williamson has contributed to in the two games he has played for Gloucestershire – highlighting his value to an order that would otherwise have to be led by Dent. He was more patient, taking 123 balls to reach fifty and didn’t play any of the pleasant drives his partner showed. But he cut very well and ground out a score in a challenging situation. He fell to Steven Patterson, lbw playing back, as Yorkshire found something late on a day they expected far more from.

Australia will hope for similarly brief encounters with England’s ODI captain, Alastair Cook, in the NatWest Series. He made only 5 as the tourists routed Essex at Chelmsford in their final warm-up match.

Daniel Brettig at Chelmsford26-Jun-2012
Scorecard
Michael Clarke retired with Australia’s top score as they routed Essex ahead of the NatWest Series•Getty Images

Australia will hope for similarly brief encounters with Alastair Cook over the next two weeks. So dominant with the bat in his recent appearances as ODI captain of England, not to mention a 766-run Ashes jaunt down under in the last Ashes series, Cook lasted only 15 balls for 5 as the tourists routed Essex at Chelmsford in their final warm-up for the looming NatWest Series which begins at Lord’s on Friday.Cook’s conqueror here was the Victorian seamer Clint McKay. Cracked to the backward point boundary early on, he persisted with a back-of-a-length line outside off stump and was rewarded when Cook edged an attempted forcing stroke to Michael Clarke at slip. By that point Mark Pettini had already departed, slicing Brett Lee to third man, and the Australians’ towering 313 for 9 was never to be threatened. Ravi Bopara and James Foster came closest to disrupting the procession.Aside from the early demise of Cook, Australia were also encouraged by a decidedly swift contribution from the 19-year-old Pat Cummins, who beat both Tom Westley and Greg Smith for pace to clatter their stumps. He later nudged the helmet of Reece Topley to demonstrate the aggression so admired by his teammates and coaches. Having earned selection for this fixture ahead of James Pattinson, Cummins is now heavily favoured to play at Lord’s, where he may find the slope to his advantage.Australia had limbered up by rushing beyond 300. The captain Clarke and the seasoned David Hussey did best for the tourists with a pair of half centuries, after David Warner and Shane Watson had sprinted at the start. Matthew Wade and Steve Smith also contributed at the end, leaving George Bailey as the only batsman not to have made a score of any real note in two county innings on the tour so far. His stay was ended by Topley, who caught the eye with his height, bounce and modicum of movement and finished with four wickets.Lee took the new ball and swung his first two past Pettini, though being right-handed the ball struck Wade’s gloves rather than the stumps as it had in two of his first three balls against Irish left-handers at Stormont. McKay took the second over, though it is unlikely he will get such a privilege for long consaidering the form Cummins is in.Westley lost his off stump to a delivery angled in and moving away, before Ryan ten Doeschate was involved in a mix-up with Bopara and elected to give up his wicket to the run-out instead of his England partner. The gesture was not to benefit Essex too much, as Bopara’s stay was ended by a diffident wave of the bat at Watson and a simple catch for Wade.All Australia’s bowlers finished the evening with wickets, Steve Smith’s snare to dismiss Foster a particularly laudable piece of fielding as the visitors reached a decent level of sharpness ahead of the first match against England.Clarke had won the toss on a beautiful summer’s afternoon, sending out his third top-order batting combination in as many matches by pairing Watson and Warner to open, with Bailey slated to come in at No. 3 after recovering from a groin strain. The visitors’ pace attack comprised Brett Lee and Cummins, who each bowled against Ireland, and Clint McKay who did not.Warner and Watson were off to a rollicking start, adding 51 in little more than 6 overs as they took advantage of an invitingly short western boundary. A Warner pull shot sailed clear beyond the stands, while a Watson on-drive clanged off the back of an open stand. Mercifully for Essex, Warner would perish for only 26, unable to control a hook towards the more distant fence and being caught in the deep off Graham Napier.Watson was soon to follow, touching a bouncing delivery from Topley as it arrowed down the legside and offering a catch to Foster. When Bailey cut the promising Topley to an alert Greg Smith at backward point having made only 12, Essex had rather made up for the flowing runs off the first six overs.Clarke had picked the gap at mid wicket to reach the boundary from his first ball, and with Hussey he set about regrouping. All of the bowlers were to be taken for greater than five runs per over with batting that was more busy than bluster, Clarke timing the ball sweetly across a swift outfield and Hussey punching his strokes with typical purpose. Their stand was worth 137 in 123 balls by the time Clarke decided he’d had enough and retired, and Hussey stayed only another four runs before he swung once too often at Tim Phillips’ slow left-arm.Smith and Wade contributed useful cameos to hurry the tally along towards 300, and Lee put a capstone on the innings by lathering a six to rival those of Watson and Warner before Topley removed his leg stump. There was some evidence of reverse swing late in the innings on a dry pitch, a skill the Australian bowlers would also go on to rehearse.

Vikram Solanki is to leave Worcestershire at the end of the 2012 season and will join Surrey on a two-year contract

George Dobell19-Jul-2012Vikram Solanki is to leave Worcestershire at the end of the 2012 season and will join Surrey on a two-year contract. Solanki, the former England limited-overs player and former Worcestershire captain, made his first team debut in 1993 but, after 20 years with the club, is out of contract at the end of this season and was recently given permission to talk to other counties.”I’m incredibly grateful to Worcestershire for giving me my chance all of those years ago,” Solanki said. “I have many, many fond memories with the club both on and off the pitch, with players, staff and supporters alike and the decision to end our long relationship has not been easy.”In recent weeks, with my contract ending and the club unsure of their direction for me, I’ve been able to discuss opportunities with interested counties. It’s been from these discussions that Surrey have offered me an exciting chance to finish my career at The Oval.”Solanki’s attraction to Surrey is obvious. The club have recently lost three of their first-choice batsmen: Tom Maynard, to a tragic accident; the club captain and Maynard’s flatmate, Rory Hamilton-Brown, to long-term compassionate leave; and Mark Ramprakash to retirement. Solanki’s class as a batsman – he has scored over 16,000 first-class runs – and his leadership ability will both prove of value to a club currently struggling to regain equilibrium after a chastening few weeks.There may be some raised eyebrows at the signing. Solanki is 36 years old and is averaging just 26 in this Championship season. But he enjoyed an excellent 2011, scoring more than 1,100 runs at an average in excess of 40, while he remains an effective top-order player in limited-overs cricket. He is averaging in excess of 40 in List A cricket this season.His departure will also cause some consternation at New Road. Always a popular player, many at Worcestershire wanted to retain Solanki’s services but, at a club where finance remains an on-going issue, the cost of such an experienced cricketer’s salary was a significant factor.Worcestershire’s chief executive, David Leatherdale, said: “It is with regret that Worcestershire and Vikram Solanki have agreed that he will leave the county at the end of the present season. Vikram approached the club a few weeks ago with regards his future, as his contract ends this September, and it was expressed at that time that the county would not be in a position to offer a contract but hoped to be in a position to do so later in the year when the financial position is clearer.”The club fully understood Vikram’s wish to have greater certainty about his future and gave permission for him to talk to other counties. The club and its supporters thank Vikram for his 20 years of service to the county, and for his elegant batting and successful captaincy. Vikram will always receive a warm welcome at New Road and we wish him the very best for the future.”

It was brash, it was brilliant and it came almost out of the blue. Even by his own extreme standards, Kevin Pietersen’s 21st Test century was one of his most remarkable

The Report by David Hopps04-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKevin Pietersen was at his unique best at Headingley to haul England back into the match•Getty Images

It was brash, it was brilliant and it came almost out of the blue. Even by his own extreme standards, Kevin Pietersen’s 21st Test century was one of his most remarkable. It took a Test series that had been characterised throughout by South African discipline and English subjugation and it turned it thoroughly, thrillingly, on its head.As ever with Pietersen’s greatest innings, it grew not just from innate talent but a colossal belief in his own ability. Shortly after tea, he became the fastest batsman, in terms of time, to 7000 Test runs – beating South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith, his compatriot and not exactly his biggest fan, by almost a year. He gazed upon his statistic, adorned with his own image, on the big screen as if drawing new energy, new belief, from the magnitude of his achievement.One point that has not been stressed enough about Pietersen’s retirement from England’s one-day side after a stand-off with England’s management is that feelgood is not just beneficial to him, but essential to all he achieves. When the ego is not fed, the magic departs.He was comparatively restrained up to tea, making 43 from 83 balls, but in a prolonged final session of 3 hours 10 minutes something clicked. He destroyed the finest attack in Test cricket, surfing on a wave of self-belief. There was still something in the pitch but it became an irrelevance. In that final session, England made 168 runs in 42 overs and Pietersen got 106 of them. Nobody can suggest this Test is not alive after that. South Africa suffered a further blow shortly before the close when captain Graeme Smith had to be helped from the field after injuring his left knee in chasing a ball to the boundary.Perhaps South Africa should not have tried to bounce Pietersen out immediately after tea. It was a legitimate tactic and, if Hashim Amla had held on at short leg when Pietersen was 52, a push off his hip against Morne Morkel, Smith’s gambit would have succeeded. It fell to earth.Pietersen then imagined himself invincible. It must be the sort of feeling most of us only ever recognise after about three drinks when the music is playing, except in Pietersen’s case, the more he sups the better it gets. He flung his front leg to the leg side, to haul a succession of short balls from Morkel riskily above and beyond three boundary catchers, causing South Africa to abandon the ploy prematurely; he stood tall to drill Dale Steyn through point; and he met Jacques Kallis with the whippiest of straight drives.As the Test series was transformed, he lacerated Vernon Philander through the offside to reach 99 and then, next ball, stole a single to midwicket for his 100, leaving him level with his captain, Andrew Strauss and one behind those at the top of the pile: Colin Cowdrey, Geoff Boycott and Wally Hammond. His high-hurdle celebration was regarded by some South Africans as rather tasteless, and after he had raised his bat to his wife in the crowd, his hug of celebration with the diminutive James Taylor, on debut, was amusingly chaste. How do you hug a man on public view who you barely know and who is more than a foot shorter than you are? Carefully, according to Pietersen.Taylor played dutifully on his Test debut, a predominantly back-foot player, like most small batsmen, who fell half-an-hour before the close when he chopped on against Morkel for a considered 34, in a stand of 147, that provided a careful counterpoint to the mayhem around him. He must have observed Pietersen, 22 yards away, and imagined a different world.

Smart stats

• Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten 149 is his third century and second-highest score against South Africa. In ten Tests against South Africa, he has scored 805 runs at an average of 50.31.

• Pietersen became the eighth England batsman to pass the 7000-run mark. He achieved the feat in his 88th Test. Both Pietersen and Wally Hammond, the quickest England batsman to the 7000-run mark, are the only batsmen on the list with 50-plus averages.

• Pietersen’s century is his 21st in Tests. It brings him level second on the list of England batsmen with the most Test hundreds.

• Pietersen is one run short of equalling the record of Hammond and Len Hutton for the most 150-plus scores (10) by an England batsman. Pietersen currently has nine such scores including three double-centuries.

• The 147-run stand between Pietersen and James Taylor is the fourth-highest fifth-wicket stand for England against South Africa and the highest since South Africa’s readmission.

On 110, Pietersen lashed Steyn so fiercely back towards him that it was a relief the bowler was not struck. Every onlooker, English or South African alike, would have had their most memorable moment. This might be a bit left field: on 143, he failed to spot a googly from Imran Tahir. No matter, he concluded, I will switch hit the next one. He missed it. He probably never read it. He probably did not even try to. But it spoke volumes about how he believes that attitude can conquer all.Until Pietersen deemed what had passed before immaterial, the suspicion was growing that South Africa’s accession to the No 1 Test ranking by winning this three-Test series was only a matter of time. South Africa looked purposeful; England slightly listless. It was the draining feeling when a side suspected that in the home conditions where it had normally been so dominant, it had finally met its match.Pietersen’s conviction contrasted vividly with the dismissals of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell as England struggled to break the shackles. Smith’s catch at first slip, as Steyn dismissed Trott for 35, came from a cross-batted carve at a length ball and worse was to when Bell, who had announced himself by lofting the legspinner Tahir imperiously for a straight six, chased a curly outswinger from Kallis that swung wide and early.It was an abysmal shot by Bell, one of the weakest of his 79-Test career, especially considering that his dismissal brought in Taylor, on debut, only five minutes before tea. It did at least allow Taylor to make his first Test runs by the interval, an off drive against a long half-volley from Tahir that would have settled his nerves.Strauss was the first wicket to fall after lunch, a laborious innings coming to grief when Steyn, who had bowled too wide at him, finally found a tight enough line to force a catch at the wicket. Alastair Cook fell in a rain-affected morning, the sort of Headingley morning when the fancy dressers would have been better coming as frogmen than paying homage, as many did, to the Leeds DJ, TV personality and eccentric, Sir Jimmy Savile, who died last year.Cook was lbw pushing forward to Philander, the sort of low-trajectory bowler with an ability to swing the ball at a good length who often succeeds at Headingley. He stayed around for an umpiring review, however, which predictably was entirely wasted when the ball was shown to be hitting middle, two thirds of the way up. There might have been a glimmer of hope that the ball was pitching outside leg but it was a wasted review.Batting relationships, as well as the status of players within a side, can often be revealed by attitudes to reviewing decisions that even in real time seem to have a high probability of being out. Cook is not only one of the most valued wickets in the England side, which gives him a slightly greater claim to a review, he is also Strauss’ heir apparent and the relationship between the two men is strong. It all tipped England into a review that Strauss must have agreed to against his better instincts.

Leicestershire beat promotion hopefuls Hampshire by 126 runs despite a swashbuckling last-wicket stand of 168

24-Aug-2012
ScorecardLeicestershire secured their second win of the season, beating promotion hopefuls Hampshire by 126 runs despite a swashbuckling last-wicket stand of 168 between Chris Wood and David Balcombe.Wood smashed a maiden first-class century off 80 balls and finished unbeaten on 105 as Balcombe was finally bowled by Nathan Buck for 73 off 70 balls. Leicestershire opener and part-time legspinner Will Jones took three wickets, with Matthew Hoggard and Wayne White claiming two apiece. The win lifted Leicestershire off the bottom of the table.Hampshire resumed at 77 for 4, still 363 runs behind, and negotiated the first ten overs of the morning with very few alarms, moving the score on to 109. Then, in the space of four balls, the game dramatically changed as three wickets fell for one run.Leicestershire captain Hoggard called up Jones for a spell at the Pavilion End and the 22-year-old responded by taking two wickets with the final two balls of his second over. Nightwatchman James Tomlinson popped up a catch to Matt Boyce at short leg and Sean Ervine was bowled as he tried to cut a delivery that kept low.Michael Bates then bagged his second duck of the match when he was bowled by White in the next over as Hampshire collapsed to 110 for 7. Their woes continued, with Jones claiming his third wicket – and career-best figures – when Liam Dawson charged down the pitch at him and was stumped one run short of his half-century.A direct hit on the stumps by Hoggard from mid-wicket ran out Kabir Ali but Leicestershire’s victory charge was spectacularly halted by the last-wicket pair of Wood and Balcombe, who suddenly unleashed a barrage of boundaries in an astonishing partnership.Wood raced to 50 off 37 balls and Balcombe, dropped at slip by Michael Thornely on 6, reached his half-century off 47 balls. The blitz continued, with the shell-shocked hosts appearing to have little idea of how to end the carnage, and the next landmark was Wood’s century off 80 balls with two sixes and 15 fours.Another six by Balcombe off Hoggard sent the sides into a delayed lunch with Hampshire on 305 for 9 and the stand worth 159 in just 20 overs. But Leicestershire finally clinched the win in the third over after lunch, Buck bowling Balcombe for 73 as Hampshire were dismissed for 314.The 23 points the Foxes collected takes them off the bottom of the table above Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, who both have a game in hand.

Jos Buttler’s continued presence in England’s Twenty20 side has been rewarded with an ECB incremental contract.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2012Jos Buttler’s continued presence in England’s Twenty20 side has been rewarded with an ECB incremental contract. Buttler qualifies having played nine T20s and an ODI in 2011-12.Buttler made his England debut against India at Old Trafford in August 2011 before playing both T20s against West Indies at the end of the season, his first innings coming in the second match at The Oval. He has since been a consistent selection but it took until his 11th innings for him to make double figures with 32 from just 10 balls against South Africa at Edgbaston.”This award reflects the contribution Jos has made this year in the shorter formats of the game for England and we congratulate him on his achievement,” National selector Geoff Miller said.Incremental contracts are awarded to non-central contracted players on a points system: five earned for a Test appearance and two for an ODI or T20. Contracts are awarded automatically once a player has earned 20 points in during the 12 month contract period.

Shane Warne has urged Nathan Lyon to simply focus on his stock ball rather than worrying about developing any new tricks as he aims to lock in his place as Australia’s long-term Test spinner

Brydon Coverdale23-Oct-2012Shane Warne has urged Nathan Lyon to simply focus on his stock ball rather than worrying about developing any new tricks as he aims to lock in his place as Australia’s long-term Test spinner. And Warne said a potentially serious shoulder injury to the Victoria left-arm spinner Jon Holland, who he expected to be picked for next year’s Ashes tour, could be a big blow as Australian cricket would need Holland as well as Lyon going forward.Warne, who was at the MCG for his first net session since being named as captain of the Melbourne Stars, said there should be no question that Australia would play a spinner in the first Test against South Africa in Brisbane. The Gabba was Warne’s most successful ground as a Test spinner – he took 68 wickets there at 20.30 – but the seam-friendly nature of Sheffield Shield pitches at the venue often makes four fast men a tempting option for selectors.However, Australia’s desire not to ask too much of its young fast men, combined with the fact that Lyon picked up seven wickets in his only Gabba Test, against New Zealand last year, means he will almost certainly play. Lyon is trying to regain his form in the Sheffield Shield after a disappointing Australia A tour of England this year and Warne believes Lyon, who conceded he had struggled with the avalanche of advice he had received over the past year, should go back to basics.”Graeme Swann does okay [with only] the offbreak and the straight one. I think Nathan Lyon has done very well too,” Warne said. “I think if he can just concentrate on his offbreak and the straight one I’m sure he’ll be fine.”For Nathan it’s just to keep doing well. As a spinner, all you want to do is bowl well. Don’t try too much stuff, just bowl well, and over a period of time you’ll have better games than not. Keep spinning his offbreak, the odd straight one, think about the game pretty well, contribute to the team and that’s it.”Warne believed Lyon and Holland could both play roles for Australia in future and he said he had very impressed with what he saw of Holland last year, when they were both on the Stars roster. Holland had been mentioned by the national selector John Inverarity as one of the two best spinners in the country last week, only to suffer a shoulder injury while fielding in club cricket at the weekend.Holland was due to find out his prognosis after seeing a specialist on Tuesday, but there were strong fears within the Victoria camp that he would need a second shoulder reconstruction, having had one in 2010. Warne said Holland, who usually concentrates on a stock finger-spinner with subtle variations in pace and flight, was the kind of bowler who could provide value to Australia’s Test team.”Jon Holland is a big loss,” Warne said. “I had him pencilled in about 12 or 18 months ago that him and Nathan Lyon would be on the Ashes next year and I was hopeful that both of them would play, especially for the balance of the team when you’ve got guys like Watson, Mitchell Marsh who can play as allrounders, you can play two spinners and one or two other quicks.”It’s a real big loss to lose Dutchy. He’s really improved. I loved working with him last year. We worked on the mindset of bowling, how to approach bowling, and I think he really developed. He had a good finish to last year and he’s been bowling really well. I really feel for Dutch and hopefully he’ll be back as quick as possible because I really think Australian cricket needs him.”