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Former Australia spinner joins after serving coaching apprenticeship with Brisbane Heat and Queensland Fire

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2022Ireland have announced the appointment Nathan Hauritz, the former Australia spinner, as their spin bowling coach.Hauritz, 40, took 128 wickets for Australia, playing all three formats in a nine-year international career. He retired from the game in 2016, and has been coaching with Brisbane Heat in the BBL and women’s team Queensland Fire since 2020.He is due to join up with Ireland in August, subject to a work permit being issued. As part of the role, he will work with the senior men’s and women’s squads, as well as players in the pathway system.”The opportunity was too good to not even think about,” Hauritz said. “I love discussing spin bowling from all facets, and to be able to do that in an international environment while travelling the world, how could you not want to do it.”My particular interest as a coach is the tactical and mental side of spin bowling. When you play at the top level of cricket your game is generally in a pretty sound space, but more often than not it comes down to how you perform on the day that needs the most work. I believe my career and experience will help me communicate with, and support the development of, our current groups of spinners. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be part of cricket in Ireland.”Hauritz was one of a number of spinners picked to try and fill the void left by Shane Warne in the Australia Test team, featuring in the 2009 Ashes and taking his maiden five-for against Pakistan later that year. He had a longer run in the ODI team, for whom he played against Ireland in 2010.”I fondly remember playing a tour game for Australia against Ireland at Clontarf back in 2010,” Hauritz said. “We were actually in a spot of bother in that game – we were under the pump early from the Irish openers. I was lucky enough to take a couple wickets and we won the game. But the main thing that sticks in my mind was that it was an amazing atmosphere.”Hauritz represented both Queensland and New South Wales in first-class and List A cricket, as well as featuring for Brisbane Heat, Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash.Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s high performance director, said: “We’re delighted that Nathan will be joining the high performance staff and look forward to getting him over here to start working with our spin groups. Filling this role now completes our elite coaching restructure and provides what we believe is a great coaching and support team around our performance squads.”Not only will Nathan’s skills and experience be invaluable to our spinners in both the men’s and women’s squads, but he will also be looking at the next generation coming through the pathway system.”

They will meet the Perth Scorchers at Canberra on Thursday

Daniel Brettig31-Jan-2021Sam Heazlett and Jimmy Peirson took full toll of some obligingly loose death bowling from the Sydney Thunder at Manuka Oval to rocket the Brisbane Heat into a preliminary final meeting with the Perth Scorchers, also to take place in Canberra on Thursday after a late change due to a snap lockdown in Western Australia.The Heat had control of the Thunder’s innings for most of its journey thanks to a tight initial powerplay and then quality overs of spin from Mitchell Swepson and Marnus Labuschagne. However some characteristic big hitting from Ben Cutting allowed the Thunder to hammer 48 from the final four overs of their innings and set-up a defendable tally.A couple of early wickets gave the Thunder further reason for optimism, but Heazlett held his nerve to get himself set alongside Labuschagne, before counter-attacking boldly and in the end definitively in the company of the wicketkeeper Peirson. The Heat, having won two finals in a row from fourth on the table, are now two more wins from plucking the title itself.Heat plans give and take awayQuite transparently, Brisbane’s new ball plan called for a single over from Xavier Bartlett before he was subbed out for Morne Morkel. But so well did Bartlett bowl, bending the white Kookaburra late and at decent pace, that not only should he have had Usman Khawaja out lbw but his opening maiden raised questions of whether or not the Heat should divert from the blueprint and give him another over. Chris Lynn elected not to step in, handing the ball to Ben Laughlin and leaving Bartlett’s contribution to end with 1-1-0-0.Whatever the debate over this decision, the Heat ended up enjoying much the better of the powerplay anyway. Laughlin should have had Alex Hales caught at short third man only for Mark Steketee to mistime his jump and see the ball skate through his unsteady fingers. Steketee, though, bowled beautifully at the other end, rewarded when Hales jammed a catch to mid on to depart for just eight after a dominant BBL.Swepson’s middle overs, Cutting’s late showMuch as Khawaja and the captain Callum Ferguson tried, the Thunder were unable to build much momentum at all through the middle overs, held back largely by the spin of Swepson and Labuschagne on a surface that gave them just enough assistance. Swepson’s command of changes in pace while bowling a stumps-threatening line was testament to his evolution over recent years. Alex Ross and Daniel Sams were both beaten comprehensively on the back foot to each be lbw, while at the other end Labuschagne tempted Khawaja into a stumping.Mitchell Swepson celebrates with team-mates after dismissing Alex Ross•Getty Images

At 8 for 134 with 10 balls remaining, the Thunder were staring at the sort of total they had themselves successfully chased to knock out the Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba. Cutting, though, had plenty of reason to be focused against the Heat after a running verbal battle with his former club for much of the season. He was able to find the range of Morkel, cracking one six over midwicket in the 18th over that pinged off the top of the Bradman Stand, then following up with two more telling blows in the 20th. Brendan Doggett chimed in with a couple of boundaries and suddenly the Heat was facing a pursuit closer to 160.Heat regather after initial reversesWhen Joe Denly and then Lynn were dismissed cheaply by the hard new ball, the Heat captain causing scenes of unrestrained jubilation when he miscued Doggett wretchedly to mid off, the game was drifting very much towards the Thunder. Brisbane’s response may in the past have been to panic; certainly that had been a not uncommon occurrence in recent seasons. Instead, Labuschagne and Heazlett took their time, calmly allowing the required rate to drift towards 11 per over but building a base from which to attack.Importantly they did not allow Tanveer Sangha or Chris Green to be as impactful as their Heat counterparts, leaving plenty of overs for the pacemen to bowl in the closing overs. Labuschagne’s exit, to a highly debatable run out decision when it could not reasonably be determined whether the bails had been first dislodged by the ball or Sam Billings’ gloves, looked to be a blow to the chase, but also allowed the busy Peirson to enter the fray with plenty of balls to spare.Heazlett and Peirson bring it homeWhat the calm, “take it deep” attitude of the Heat did was it presented a scenario where the Thunder bowlers could not afford to miss their marks as the overs ran out. Heazlett was by this time well established at the crease, familiar with the pace of the pitch, and able to capitalise with some panache from all the various errors in line and length the Thunder’s pacemen proceeded to serve up. Peirson was as effective himself, their left-right combination helping to bring further errors from the bowlers, with the runs piling up at better than two per ball.There will doubtless be plenty of post-mortems from the Thunder and their coach Shane Bond on why the Sydney side’s bowling fell apart so completely. But the value of set batsmen for the closing stages was writ large across a stand worth 92 from 44 balls, bringing a conclusion that was both dramatic in its turnabout but also remarkable for how much ease the Heat ultimately won with. For Heazlett, given an arguably premature ODI debut in New Zealand as far back as 2017, it was a cathartic performance; demonstrating quality that has seldom been seen on this stage. A light sprinkling of drizzle in these overs made the ball fractionally greasy, aiding Heazlett as he feasted square of the wicket.

There is no official word on the salaries for domestic cricketers yet

Mohammad Isam11-Oct-2019Each of the seven Bangladesh Premier League teams for the upcoming season of the T20 tournament must have an overseas quick bowler who bowls above 140kph and a legspinner, who has to bowl four overs in each game, the Bangladesh Cricket Board director Mahbubul Anam has announced.But he didn’t provide any clarity on how much the domestic cricketers would be paid. Khaled Mahmud, another BCB director, had recently said that the board, which has taken over the running of the BPL from the franchises, would try to match what the players receive as match fees for T20Is, but there has been no official confirmation of that. It’s important to remember that if a top domestic player takes part in all the BPL matches, the amount he makes will still be well short of what he would have made in the BPL previously.”The players shouldn’t be worried about money,” Anam said. “We are holding this tournament by keeping them in mind. Salary isn’t very important, but it will definitely be respectable.”Each team must also have an overseas coach, physiotherapist and trainer, while local coaches can only work as assistants to the head coaches. Anam also said that each team must appoint a BCB director as the team director.ESPNcricinfo understands that the order about the 140kph quick bowler and legspinner has come from the Bangladesh team management, which, Anam said, has been concerned about the side’s ability against the two kinds of bowlers when playing internationally.”BCB wants this BPL to be about improving Bangladesh’s cricketers in T20s, so we want to make sure that our batsmen and bowlers get enough opportunities [against quicks and legspinners], something that was not possible when it was a franchise-based BPL,” Anam said.The BCB has reportedly received 390-plus registrations from players to be included in the draft, and there have also been requests put in by several coaches. With the BCB stipulating a sponsor for each team, they can bring overseas players from outside the draft too. Paying foreigners high salaries, however, might not sit well with domestic players, especially as the BCB’s message for the 2019-20 BPL is to be fully focused on the local talent.As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the next edition of the BPL will not be a franchise-run affair and, instead, be owned by the BCB following a clash between the board and six of the seven existing team owners, Dhaka Dynamites the only exception.

Desire for austere ceremony has ruled out the fascinating prospect of Indian cricketing royalty’s presence for Imran Khan’s inauguration

Danyal Rasool and Umar Farooq02-Aug-2018Plans to invite foreign dignitaries, including some of India’s greatest cricketers, to Imran Khan’s impending inauguration as Prime Minister of Pakistan have been shelved. Fawad Chaudhry, the spokesperson for the party Imran heads, said Imran had ultimately decided on a “simple ceremony” that would include just a few of his close friends.That was a 24-hour turnaround in which Imran’s party had first floated the tantalising possibility of the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev flying in for the inauguration. Chaudhry had confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that enquiries had been made of the Foreign Office to see if foreign delegates could be invited to the oath-taking ceremony. Those in line for invitations to the event included Gavaskar and Kapil, contemporaries of Imran in his cricketing heyday, as well as Navjot Sidhu. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was also in the frame for an invitation, but the change of stance today means those high-profile guests from across the border will not attend.”The PTI chairman [Imran Khan] has directed us to stage the oath-taking event with austerity,” Chaudhry told . “He will take his oath in a simple ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr (President House). It has been decided that no foreign personalities will be invited to the ceremony — it will be a completely national event. Only a few close friends of Imran Khan will be invited. There will be no show of extravagance at the event.”Imran, whose party the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the most seats in the country’s general elections last week, is effectively Pakistan’s Prime Minister-elect, with his inauguration likely to be days away. His decision to invite cricketers who were among the biggest rivals of his career appeared to be, prima facie, an extension of the agreeable tone he struck towards India in his unofficial acceptance speech following the elections.Imran has enjoyed convivial relations with most of his contemporaries across the border. When he was an opposition leader in Pakistan’s parliament in 2016, he was a high-profile attendee in Kolkata for the India-Pakistan game at the World T20, and was part of an entertaining evening after-dinner talk on a panel that also included Kapil. The pair were two of the great quartet of allrounders that dominated the game in the 1980s, alongside Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee.Kapil was among the first from the cricketing fraternity to send his congratulations to Imran following his party’s victory, saying it “felt really good” to see a cricketer he had played alongside become Prime Minister of his country. Sidhu was particularly effusive in his praise of Imran following the election, calling him a “pure soul who led from the front”.Long-suffering fans across both sides of the border may have drawn a flicker of hope from this recent outpouring of warmth for the India-Pakistan on-field rivalry, currently on hold by factors unrelated to cricket. Political tensions have meant the two countries haven’t played any bilateral cricket since Pakistan toured India in 2012 for two T20Is and three ODIs, while the last time they clashed in a Test match was back in 2007. Of the Indian side currently playing the first Test against England at Edgbaston, only two players – Dinesh Karthik and Ishant Sharma – have played a Test against Pakistan. India and Pakistan will clash in the Asia Cup in the UAE in September.The last time Gavaskar toured Pakistan as a cricketer also had heavy political overtones. It was the ill-fated tour of 1984, which saw an ODI between Pakistan and India in Sialkot cancelled halfway through after news broke of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination, with the tour immediately called off. Gavaskar was never to play in Pakistan again.*Aug 2, 1215 GMT: The piece was edited to reflect the fact that Imran Khan decided against a lavish oath-taking ceremony, effectively ruling out the possibility of Kapil Dev and Sunail Gavaskar’s attendance at his inauguration.

ESPNcricinfo understands the CAC will first speak to both Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli in an attempt to resolve any differences that may have emerged between the pair

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jun-2017The three-member cricket advisory committee (CAC) tasked with finding a new coach for India will first attempt to keep hold of the incumbent, Anil Kumble. ESPNcricinfo understands the CAC will speak to both Kumble and captain Virat Kohli in an attempt to resolve differences that have emerged between the pair. In case that fails, the CAC is likely to sit separately with Kohli – who has publicly maintained he has no issues with Kumble – to reach a deeper understanding of the reasons why he, and some players, are finding it hard to cope with his approach, which has been said to be headmasterly.Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, the CAC trio, met for the first time formally on June 8 in London and are understood to have had “good detailed discussions” on the matter. Also present were BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary and the board’s chief executive officer Rahul Johri.And as it stands now the role of the CAC is a problem-solving one. Only if the differences cannot be resolved will they move on and invite the rest of the shortlisted candidates for interviews. According to one official, one reason the CAC and BCCI are keen for Kumble to stay on – beyond the obvious importance of continuity – is that they believe there is no certainty similar issues will not arise with a new man in charge. The committee understands the “onus” is on them to make the right choice, especially as Kumble was their choice in the first place.Given the significance of the task, the CAC is not likely to be pushed into making any hasty decisions. With Kumble’s contract coming to an end after the Champions Trophy, and India’s tour of West Indies starting on June 23, the BCCI was in favour of appointing the new coach as soon as possible. But the CAC has asked the BCCI to allow it time and space to work through the situation, facilitating where needed in arranging various meetings.The BCCI’s acting president CK Khanna has sent out an email to Choudhary asking the interview process to be postponed to after the board’s special general meeting on June 26, though there is an element within the administration that would prefer the issue to be resolved sooner rather than later.The performances of the Indian team in the ongoing Champions Trophy will not have any bearing on the CAC process. With Ganguly and Laxman in the UK on broadcast assignments and Tendulkar also present, much of the CAC’s deliberating will take place in the country.

Despite Royal Challengers Bangalore losing their sixth game of the season, batsman KL Rahul has said the team was peaking as the 2016 IPL approached its business end

Deivarayan Muthu in Bangalore12-May-20161:22

Road ahead for us is very clear – Rahul

Despite Royal Challengers Bangalore losing their sixth game of the season, and needing to win their remaining four to possibly make the playoffs, batsman KL Rahul has said the team was peaking as the 2016 IPL approached its business end. RCB were sixth in the standings after their six-wicket defeat to Mumbai Indians at home on Wednesday.”The plans are clear, we need to win all our games,” Rahul said. “I honestly believe that the team is peaking – the batting has come together, we’re fielding well, we’re taking some good catches, the bowling is getting better and better with each game. We need to win four out of four. We’re going to go out there and play fearless cricket.”Rahul was pushed down the order against Mumbai, in spite of enjoying success as an opener in previous games, to accommodate the returning Chris Gayle, who was out for 5. Gayle has been dismissed for less than ten in all seven innings since his century against England in the World T20, but Rahul urged support for the West Indies batsman.”Chris is dangerous up the order and we all know if he fires he can get us to 200-250 on any wicket, on any ground,” Rahul said. “You back a guy like Chris Gayle to go out there and give his best for the team. You can’t always expect him to deliver; sometimes it doesn’t happen.”The ball did not come onto the bat on Wednesday night, as it usually does at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, forcing the batsmen to manufacture shots. After Virat Kohli stabbed Mitchell McClenaghan to fly slip and Gayle toe-ended Tim Southee to mid-off, left-arm spinning allrounder Krunal Pandya suffocated RCB further with the joint-second best spell – in terms of economy (3.75) – by a spinner bowling a full quota at this venue.”After losing Virat and Chris early, we had to obviously change plans,” Rahul said. “The wicket was sticky, it was a bit damp, and it wasn’t easy to start hitting the ball right away. That’s what me and AB discussed – to take our time initially and if we batted out ten overs, then we could look at a target after that.”Rahul had come in to bat at the fall of Gayle’s wicket in the fourth over and went on to make his fourth half-century – and best score – of the season: 68 off 53 balls. He and de Villiers added 43 in 6.3 overs for the third wicket before Krunal dismissed de Villiers for 24 off 27 balls. Rahul also overcame an ankle niggle to ramp up the pace in the end overs, leading RCB to 151, which he thought was an “ideal score”.”After the loss of the first two wickets, we decided to get around 140-150, which was an ideal score,” Rahul said. “150 was what we discussed during the strategic time-out. We were happy with what we got. In the second innings it got easier to bat.”Mumbai’s chase boiled down to them needing 55 off the last five overs and then they lost Ambati Rayudu for 44 off 47 balls. Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler, however, ran down the target with eight balls to spare.The RCB captain Virat Kohli, who had been dismissed for his first single-digit score of the season, said his team had been about 20 runs short, and that he would relish the pressure of the remaining matches. “We will literally play knockouts now and I love this situation,” he said.

Delhi Daredevils have not given the Feroz Shah Kotla a lot to crow about in 2015, but in their final home match at this ground in the IPL group stage, they gutted Kings XI Punjab’s top order, then blew past the opposition’s 118 for 8 by nine wickets

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando01-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:49

O’Brien: One of the most insipid performances in a T20 match

Delhi Daredevils have not given the Feroz Shah Kotla a lot to crow about in 2015, but in their final home match at this ground in the IPL group stage, they gutted Kings XI Punjab’s top order, then blew past the opposition’s 118 for 8 by nine wickets. Zaheer Khan claimed a wicket in each of his first two overs to kick Daredevil’s most dominant performance of the season into gear, while JP Duminy and Nathan Coulter-Nile chipped in with scalps of their own. After 3.3 overs, Kings XI were 10 for 4 – their chance of rising above last place already on the rocks.Coulter-Nile returned to terrorise the middle-order later on, finishing with figures of 4 for 20. Daredevils’ openers Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer struck casual half-centuries in the reply, and the hosts raced home inside 14 overs.Zaheer had not played competitive cricket in almost a year, following the strain sustained in his back at last year’s IPL, but his impact at the Kotla was nearly immediate. Virender Sehwag was coming back to the Kings XI side himself, after a one-match layoff, but could find no end to his poor stretch of form against his former India team-mate. Sehwag aimed to push his second ball from Zaheer through the covers, but as the ball seamed away a touch, could only get a thick outside edge to it. Mathews took the catch at a close-in point.Duminy opened the bowling from the other end, and hit Shaun Marsh in front of the stumps with a slider first ball. Manan Vohra tried to blast Kings XI out of the mire, but a Zaheer short ball next over put paid to those ambitions, catching the advancing batsman’s outside edge en route to the keeper. Coulter-Nile bowled sharp outswing in his first spell. His reward was the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha, who drove loosely at one of those balls, and presented another catch to the keeper.David Miller and George Bailey threatened a recovery, before Bailey was out missing a sweep off Amit Mishra in the eighth over, to embed Kings XI in misery at 37 for 5. It wasn’t until Miller and Akshar Patel were joined at the crease that some semblance of a partnership materialised for the visitors. Those two shelved the more aggressive tenets of their game in the 59-run stand that gave Kings XI something to bowl at. Coulter-Nile had them both caught in the deep in the 19th over.From the second over, Delhi’s chase seemed a cakewalk. Shardul Thakur was wayward in his first IPL over, feeding Iyer two short wide balls to be cut over third man off successive deliveries. When he attempted to correct his line, he went too far the other way, first delivering a leg-side wide, then being clipped to the fence off the pads. There were quiet overs, and a tight spell from Sandeep Sharma, but the batsmen were largely untroubled in pursuit of such a meagre score. Iyer slammed the wayward Thisara Perera to the square-leg fence to reach his half-century in 38 balls, but he was caught at deep midwicket next over. Agarwal remained unbeaten with 52 from 40.

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were expected to go further than the first round of the Champions League, but they struggled to adjust to the conditions

Firdose Moonda21-Oct-2012The Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings squads were sitting in a hospitality suite in the top tier of the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It is one of the best places to watch cricket in the ground but it may not have been that pleasant for them that day.As they looked down on Lions’ Jean Symes mowing the ball through mid-on for four, both sides knew that no matter what they did, the rest of their time in South Africa would be inconsequential. With that one shot, Symes took Lions into the semi-finals and knocked out three other teams, including both IPL representatives in the group.Without much time for their elimination to sink in, Mumbai and Chennai took the field in what seemed like a daze. Faf du Plessis looked like he had been given a licence to go wild, then Lasith Malinga reined it all in. Chennai retained control though, until Dinesh Kartik began pulling away. He tugged and tugged and eventually the rope snapped and Mumbai were left holding the short end.The contest was one of the best of the tournament. The advantage shifted throughout, audacious shots were played, extraordinary catches taken and a healthy crowd had remained in the ground to see it. But it was difficult to get excited about any of that, as it will be when Chennai play Yorkshire and Mumbai take on the Syndey Sixers in their final acts of the event.Three of the four IPL teams will not participate in the knockouts, a surprise considering how loaded the format was in their favour. Their failure can be put down to an inability to adjust to early season South African pitches, bad weather (Mumbai and Kolkata had a rained-out encounter each) or as, Karthik said, simply being worked out by better opposition.”We should put it down to the fact that we haven’t played good cricket and that other teams have played better than us,” he said. “It’s been hard because we were looking pretty good in terms of batting in the one game [against Yorkshire] and then it was washed out. That’s how this tournament goes. We had a great start against the Lions but it was a game we could have played better.”Karthik denied there was any other explanation for their performances, and he thought there had been enough preparation time. “All the teams were here a week before and we acclimatised,” he said. “These days international cricketers travel around the world and it’s the domestic cricketers who don’t know a place like South Africa. The pitches are a little different to those in India but we even played practice games. They have been good wickets, and good teams could play well on them. One whole IPL was held here.”Ben Hilfenhaus, the Chennai Super Kings fast bowler, shared that sentiment. “With so many good players and so many good competitions around the world, when you get the best teams together, you’ve got to expect some good cricket. It doesn’t matter where those teams come from,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any extra pressure on IPL teams. It is 20-over cricket, and results don’t necessarily go to the favourite team.”As defending champions and the most successful franchise in the IPL, Mumbai and Chennai were two of the fancied bunch. Now, they have nothing but self-respect to salvage, and that kept them motivated when they played each other. “Both teams have a rich tradition. We’ve played each 12 times and it was six wins each, so there’s a bit of history there,” Karthik said. “Both the teams played with a lot of spirit and a lot of energy. We didn’t play thinking that it was okay if somebody loses. Both our teams came hard at it.”Whether they will have that same enthusiasm against non-IPL opposition in their final matches is doubtful. “The feeling was probably a little flat during the warm-ups,” Hilfenhaus admitted after the game against Mumbai, hinting that Chennai may have some feet on the plane already.For Karthik and Mumbai, the hope is that only remaining IPL representatives, Delhi Daredevils, can restore all of their reputations. “They are a team well suited to these conditions, and being an Indian team I would love to see them win,” Karthik, who was once a Delhi Daredevil, said. “If Delhi goes on to qualify, it will be a great thing for the CLT20 because you will definitely get a lot of viewers from India watching them pretty keenly, and I will be one of them. It will be great to see Delhi do well.”

Phillip Hughes scored his first Test century in two-and-a -half years to give Australia every chance of playing out a series-winning draw at the SSC

The Report by Brydon Coverdale19-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPhillip Hughes scored his first Test century since March 2009•AFP

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