Stuart Broad claims he is fresh and looking to add some energy to the England bowling attack for their World Cup assault

ESPN staff17-Feb-2011Stuart Broad claims he is fresh and looking to add some energy to the England bowling attack for their World Cup assault.Broad missed the majority of the victorious Ashes series and the ODI mauling at the hands of Australia after being struck down by an abdominal injury. He returned from two months on the sidelines to spare England’s blushes with a five-wicket haul in the victory over Canada on Wednesday. He has admitted to pulling up a little stiff, but expects to be at full tilt for the World Cup opener with Netherlands on February 22.”It is really good to be back,” Broad told Sky Sports News. “It was two months since I last played so I was a bit nervous before the start. But it was great to get back on the pitch and take a few wickets.”England were far from impressive in beating Canada by 16 runs, but Broad feels there were positives to take from the game – notably assured batting from Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior and his own efforts with the ball. “We weren’t overly happy with the performance but there are positives we can take out of the game,” he said.”I feel very fresh. Having not played for a long time it was all training-based, so I felt fit and excited to be back on the park and can bring some energy to the unit. I feel like I am bowling at a decent pace. The ball was going through nicely.”I pulled up a bit stiff this morning but hopefully I can recuperate for tomorrow and put in another strong performance [against Pakistan].”Everybody is excited to be here and the energy levels are fantastic. It has been a long winter but it is something you have to crack on with and when you have an opportunity to play a world tournament, it is something everybody is tuned in to.”

Ricky Ponting has been reprimanded by the ICC over the incident that resulted in damage to a television set inside the Australian changing rooms during their win over Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2011Ricky Ponting has escaped with a reprimand from the ICC after the incident that resulted in a damaged television in Australia’s dressing room during the win over Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad on Monday. Ponting was not fined and there was no formal hearing, after he accepted a level one charge and the reprimand from the match referee Roshan Mahanama.Ponting was visibly frustrated as he left the field after being run out, and he threw his groin protector at his kit bag, only for it bounce up and hit the corner of the television. The Australian camp stressed that the damage to the TV was accidental and he immediately reported it, but the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) still filed a complaint with the BCCI.Ponting was found to have breached clause 2.1.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match”. However, while the level one charge could have carried a fine of up to 50% of Ponting’s match fee, the ICC accepted that the incident was unintentional.”Ricky knows that his action was in breach of the code, involving a brief moment of frustration,” Mahanama said. “That said, it was clear that the damage he caused was purely accidental and without malice, he apologised shortly after the incident at the ground and immediately agreed to pay for the damage.”It was the second time in two months that Ponting found himself charged with a level one offence, after he was fined 40% of his match fee for the Boxing Day Test, over a prolonged debate with the umpire Aleem Dar over a decision review that went against the Australians. The latest incident has captured the attention of the local media, with several newspapers reporting on the morning after the game that Ponting had smashed the TV with his bat, which was not the case.

Opening batsman Jimmy Adams scored a century to lead Hampshire’s resistance at the Rose Bowl as Durham had to be content with a draw despite dominating the first three days

11-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Opening batsman Jimmy Adams scored a century to lead Hampshire’s resistance at the Rose Bowl as Durham had to be content with a draw despite dominating the first three days.
Hampshire, chasing a nominal 490 to win, reached 345 for 5 before Durham ran out of time in their pursuit of a morale-boosting first win of the season.Durham captain Phil Mustard was hampered by the loss through injury of former England pace bowler Steve Harmison, who bowled only three overs in the Hampshire second innings and not at all on a blustery last day. Harmison damaged his forearm while batting on the first day and Durham’s attack was visibly weaker for his absence.Hampshire began the final day at 87 without loss and batted through to stumps, losing only five batsmen as Mustard attempted to make the best of his bowling attack. Opening pair Adams and Liam Dawson put on 171 for the first wicket on an easy-paced surface as Durham toiled for their first breakthrough.That came two balls after lunch when Dawson, who had made 70 to add to the 50 he compiled in the first innings, turned legspinner Scott Borthwick to short leg where substitute fielder Joe Coyne held the catch. Dawson hit seven fours and a six off Borthwick in his 149-ball innings and
played a major part in helping Hampshire towards safety.Adams stayed until the score was 242 before being dismissed soon after completing the 12th first-class century of his career. He was caught at fine leg by Liam Plunkett attempting to sweep
Borthwick to finally fall for 105 in an innings which included 19 fours and came off 248 balls.Durham struck again next ball when Adams’ partner in a third-wicket stand of 71, newcomer Johann Myburgh was caught at slip by Michael Di Venuto off spin bowler Ian Blackwell for 42.
James Vince was the fourth to go at 288 to a brilliant catch in the covers by Ben Stokes, giving Blackwell his second wicket and there was a glimmer of hope for Durham when a fifth Hampshire wicket went down at 312.South African Neil McKenzie guided Plunkett to wicketkeeper Mustard down the leg side, giving Durham another 12 overs to run through the Hampshire tail. But sixth-wicket pair Nic Pothas and Sean Ervine held firm until the close, reaching stumps 145 adrift but having extended their second-innings rearguard to a full day’s play and 20 overs of day four.Durham, for whom Stokes was a dominant force over the first three days, had to be content with 11 points and Hampshire with eight.

Gautam Gambhir will captain India’s one-day squad in the West Indies with Suresh Raina as his deputy

ESPNcricinfo staff13-May-2011Gautam Gambhir will lead a depleted Indian side to the limited-overs leg of the West Indies tour, with five first-choice players including Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni either rested or injured. As expected, the national selectors haven’t given much weightage to performances in the IPL, instead rewarding results in the more traditional domestic competitions. S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel muscled their way in helped by the weight of runs in both formats of the Ranji Trophy.R Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra made their way back, replacing Ashish Nehra (injured), Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla (both dropped). Praveen Kumar duly took his place back, having recovered from the elbow injury that had kept him out of the World Cup. He replaces Zaheer Khan, who has been rested.With five vacancies created – Virender Sehwag being the other – there had been some hype created around the IPL performers in the week leading to the selection meeting. The selectors seem to have learned from the debuts handed to Manpreet Gony and Ashok Dinda based on the first IPL, and also from RP Singh’s comeback based on the second IPL. As it turned out, the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Rahul Sharma missed out this time. Badrinath and Rohit were the two top run-getters in the Ranji Trophy first-class competition while Parthiv was the second-highest in the Ranji one-dayers. The exclusion of M Vijay – who has a highest of 33 in 11 ODI innings – makes Parthiv the likeliest candidate to open the innings with the captain, Gambhir.”I am confident that we will do well and win the series in the West Indies. The team is well balanced,” said Kris Srikkanth, India’s chairman of selectors. “Everything is on merit. It’s a great opportunity for a lot of players.”On tours, we always take two wicketkeepers. It’s a 16-member team and in case of a wicketkeeper getting injured, you have to understand the logistics [of getting a replacement to] in the West Indies [are complicated].”This is not Gambhir’s first shot at leading India – he was the captain when India beat New Zealand 5-0 in ODIs last year. The selectors are believed to be impressed with his leadership skills, and are likely to make him full-time vice-captain ahead of the slightly reluctant Sehwag, although they haven’t yet made any formal announcement to that effect.There was a minor surprise thrown up in the bowling department with Mishra getting in ahead of Pragyan Ojha as the third spinner. In his 16 ODIs – all but three of them against Sri Lanka, who are good players of spin – Ojha has given away runs at only 4.31 an over. However, he was injured before the World Cup and missed the first-class season as well. In the domestic one-dayers, Mishra, with 18 wickets from six games, outperformed Ojha, who managed five in five.Vinay and Ishant, who have been there or thereabouts, are the only ones to have benefited from good showings in the IPL. It can be argued, though, that they are not unknown commodities and their performances in the IPL have been more of reassurance than first notice. India also picked wicketkeeping cover for Parthiv, making Wriddhiman Saha the 16th member of the squad.India play one Twenty20 and five ODIs against the hosts beginning with the Twenty20 game on June 4.Squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha (wk).

New Zealand’s top 20 cricketers have been asked for their views on the leadership capabilities of Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2011New Zealand’s top 20 cricketers have been asked for their views on the leadership capabilities of Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, as well as the culture within the national side, as part of their end-of-season reviews. The interviews are taking place at the same time as New Zealand Cricket considers whether to appoint Taylor or McCullum as the team’s next captain.John Buchanan, New Zealand’s director of cricket, confirmed on Saturday that the subject of captaincy had been broached with the players, but said there was no question of the players picking the man for the job. Buchanan, national selection manager Mark Greatbatch and coach John Wright are all currently interviewing players.”One of the areas they needed to comment on was leadership,” Buchanan told the , “the culture of leadership and what their views and thoughts are of it within and around the Black Caps. We asked their views and thoughts on the captains they have played under – either Ross and/or Brendon. We wanted them to express their views on that.”We listened to what they had to say and that’s really the process of the reviews at the moment.”Buchanan said it was not the intention of the reviews to find out if the players preferred a particular captain. “I’m sure it’s probably been interpreted that way but I don’t think that’s specifically been asked. It’s a broad topic of leadership and, when it comes to captaincy, they are the frontrunners and the players have been asked to provide a view on them as individuals and what they bring to the captaincy role.”We are not necessarily canvassing them on a voting process… we really just want a viewpoint.”

In the end England’s squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka wasn’t signed and sealed weeks ago

Andrew McGlashan22-May-2011In the end England’s squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka wasn’t signed and sealed weeks ago. The selection meeting stretched late into Friday afternoon and Eoin Morgan’s 193 proved a deciding factor despite Geoff Miller, the national selector, making it clear that he would prefer players to commit to English cricket rather than the IPL.It was that decision by Morgan to spend six weeks with Kolkata Knight Riders, and Ravi Bopara twice declining advances from the IPL, that was seemingly going to sway the selectors’ minds. However, it has emerged in recent days that Bopara has become a father over the last month so that removes a little of the kudos for turning away from big-money offers.And then Morgan went and played superbly against the Sri Lankans at Derby, four days after arriving back from India, which made such a strong case that the selectors couldn’t ignore him. “Ravi has been getting a lot of runs for Essex, but the controlled innings that Eoin played just gave him the nod,” Miller told . “That innings really just showed us what he is capable of doing. It shows his strength of character.”That mental strength of Morgan, which he showed at the World Cup when he came back from the cold after injury to hit a half-century against Bangladesh, has been enough to outweigh lingering doubts over his preference for the IPL rather than domestic cricket. But Morgan will be spoken to about comments on Thursday that he would have returned to India if not selected for the first Test.”We understand that situation. We have given them the window to go to the IPL,” Miller said. “I will be having a chat to him about what his priorities are. The answer is I am happy about his commitment, but I need to verify that and make him aware of where we’re coming from.”However, Morgan’s selection follows the recent well-trodden path of rewarding those of who have bided their time in the squad. Morgan was present throughout the Ashes and would have played if any of the main six batsmen had been injured. “Eoin was involved in the winter but didn’t get the chance to be involved and came back here with very little four-day cricket,” Miller said. “He produced a good-quality innings and showed his character. It was a tight decision, they always are with quality players.”We are pretty consistent and know which way we are going, but we want to have difficult decisions on selections and this was difficult. Ravi’s bowling came into the equation and there are varying reasons. There is the character factor, the quality of play and the consistency. I keep hammering that word and we’ll continue to run down that line.”A very disappointed Bopara will now return to Championship cricket and have to wait for an injury or significant loss of form. Morgan will have at least the Sri Lanka series to establish his credentials and most of the other batsmen are coming into the series in decent first-class form. It’s hard to see any of them losing touch to such an extent they’ll be ditched during the summer, but Kevin Pietersen needs to return to scoring hundreds consistently again.”Everybody needs runs, we are talking about batters for England,” Miller said. “If they are out of form over a period of time then we can reassess it. We know what a quality player Kevin Pietersen is and it’s about him going out and getting that form. He got 200 in Australia recently and now it’s about being consistent for us and we are giving him that opportunity.”The good news for England is they have some strong back-up options in most departments, especially the pace-bowling ranks where there are at least eight viable options. Steven Finn was preferred this time – again part of the Ashes loyalty – but the quicks could well be rotated during the season.”It counts that we’ve got strong back-up to take places if necessary. We’re in a situation where we’ve got a lot of quality seamers,” Miller said. “Steven Finn was involved in the start of the Ashes, and then his place was taken by Chris Tremlett – who did really well.”But that doesn’t stop the next in line, the peripheral players, from really working hard to try to overtake if they possibly can. Strength in depth is a massive part of international cricket.” As Bopara has found out, though, it takes a long time to move to the head of the pack.

Samit Patel and Craig Kieswetter have been recalled to England’s Twenty20 and ODI squads for the matches against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-2011Samit Patel and Craig Kieswetter have been recalled to England’s Twenty20 and ODI squads for the matches against Sri Lanka. Steven Finn is a surprise selection in both teams while James Anderson has kept his one-day place after being dropped during the World Cup but isn’t in the Twenty20 side.Ravi Bopara has been named for both formats despite a slump in form since not being selected for the Test series against Sri Lanka while Jade Dernbach and Chris Woakes have earned call-ups, but there is surprisingly no place for Chris Tremlett. The Twenty20 and ODIs mark the real start of England’s three-captain policy as Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook take charge of the limited-overs sides.The most notable recall is Nottinghamshire’s Patel, a punishing middle-order batsman and handy spinning allrounder, whom England had been desperate to call upon for the World Cup. However, his persistent failure to meet England’s exacting fitness standards told against him, and it is only now, after a feisty start to the county season, that he has come back into favour.”Samit Patel has taken significant steps in the right direction and he has more hard work ahead in order to make further progress,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said. “Samit is one of a number of players, like Craig Kieswetter, who comes back into the limited-overs set up on the back of some excellent form and plenty of hard work. Craig has been in exciting form for Somerset so far this year and while Matt Prior has been outstanding in the Test team we believe Craig will offer some real fire power with the bat along with his ability with the gloves.”The Twenty20 squad will obviously be led by Stuart Broad who is extremely excited by the prospect of captaining his country in such a dynamic form of the game,” Miller added. “Stuart has a young and powerful side at his disposal and will be looking to build a team for the next World Twenty20 tournament where England will obviously be defending world champions.”Kieswetter’s return had been widely tipped at the expense of Matt Prior. Despite continuing to dominate in Test cricket, Prior has never cracked one-day cricket batting in a variety of positions throughout the top order. Kieswetter burst to prominence during England’s World Twenty20 victory in the Caribbean last May, but was found out by the moving ball during his subsequent ODI appearances.In his absence the wicketkeeping gloves were passed first to Steve Davies, and then back to Prior, when it became clear that England missed his energy and expertise behind the stumps. However, with the bat, he has consistently struggled to reproduce the free-flowing form that has marked his Test career, and Kieswetter’s ability to clear the in-field in the Powerplay overs is an asset worth revisiting. In the Twenty20 he will link back up with his World Twenty20 partner Michael Lumb after the Hampshire left hander was recalled.The notable omissions of players involved at the World Cup are Ajmal Shahzad who has been struggling for form with Yorkshire and Tim Bresnan who is only going to resume playing this week after injury. Luke Wright is also dropped from the 50-over team while James Tredwell’s career high looks like it’ll remain the match-winning display against West Indies.It also appears to be the end of Paul Collingwood’s career after he was left out of both squads. He scored a hundred for Durham on Tuesday, but both teams named by England have a push towards youth and Collingwood is at the wrong end of the age spectrum.Collingwood recently returned from a two-month break following knee surgery, an operation which he said has put a new spring back into his step. But despite his undeniable value to the team as an elder statesman, canny medium-pacer and lightning sharp fielder in the gully, the extent to which his runs dried up in the winter was alarming. He managed 83 in five Ashes Tests, and a further 114 in eight sporadic ODI appearances, and by the time of England’s World Cup quarter-final elimination by Sri Lanka, he was no longer a member of their first-choice team.Miller, though, hasn’t closed the door on him. “Paul Collingwood has been an inspirational limited overs cricketer for England over many years and we still see a role for him in this capacity based on form and fitness,” he said. “His omission is purely down to form over a period of time and we look forward to him getting plenty of cricket under his belt for Durham as he presses to reclaim a place in the England limited overs set up.”He has always brought a great deal to the England team and we know he’ll be working as hard as ever to reach peak form and fitness with an England recall firmly in the forefront of his mind.”Twenty20 squad Stuart Broad (capt), Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright.One-day squad Alastair Cook (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes.

England are 1-0 up in their Test series against India, but are determined to continue to show the ruthlessness that can take them to the top of world

Andrew McGlashan at Trent Bridge28-Jul-2011England know what it is like to come to Trent Bridge and be caught out by India. Four years ago they were ambushed on the opening day by Zaheer Khan and never recovered. Ensuring no repeat of that is now top of Andrew Strauss’s agenda as England aim to show the ruthlessness that can take them to the top of world.The situation in 2011 is quite different for both teams compared to what they faced in 2007. For starters India have some major injury issues – and theirs far outweigh the potential loss of Chris Tremlett for the hosts. Zaheer has already been ruled out, they were already missing their most destructive opening batsman and now could lose their second senior opener as well. Meanwhile, England are buoyant after their 196-run victory at Lord’s rather than frustrated after being denied by India’s tail and the weather.When things go bad for cricketers and cricket teams the players often claim not to take much interest in the media, but the praise being lavished upon Strauss’s team since Lord’s has been noticed. Yet they are only too aware how quickly fortunes can change and after enjoying their success in the dressing room on Monday evening it’s now in the past.”I’m not getting carried away,” Strauss said. “If you are too self-satisfied you can get caught out pretty badly on the pitch. We came into the 2007 game pretty confident having just missed out at Lord’s but got surprised on the first day. We were in trouble from ball one and India never let us back in the game.Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook prepare for the second Test at Trent Bridge•PA Photos

“They showed their competitiveness and showed they weren’t in England just to make up the numbers. I’m sure this side is very similar. I think we are better prepared to put in another good performance having won before because we did in Australia, but we aren’t taking anything for granted.”That 2007 series also became increasingly bad-tempered with the infamous jelly-bean incident on this ground which left tensions frayed on both sides. Sreesanth, who is the likely replacement for Zaheer, was then involved in a number of heated moments but Strauss doesn’t see this series going the same way.”We’ve learnt our lesson,” he said. “The guys are more mature now and understand their responsibilities. They understand things like that don’t help the team win. It was a silly little thing, it won’t be repeated.”At Lord’s England were dominant for all bar one session, when Ishant Sharma rattled the top order on the fourth morning to leave them 62 for 5, and even though the end result was emphatic it is moments like that which Strauss wants to eradicated in the quest for perfection.”We can still get far better at being more consistent,” he said. “Being 60 for 5 in the second innings wasn’t ideal – I don’t think we should have let India back in the game – but it’s an ongoing process. You can always improve, we could have caught better at Lord’s, and it’s very hard to put in the absolutely perfect performance. The key is to be good enough, often enough to win matches consistently.”During England’s upward curve in Test fortunes since Strauss and Andy Flower took permanent charge in 2009 there has still been the propensity to suffer a rapid reversal after seemingly being in control. Twice against Australia, at Headingley and Perth, they have been heavily beaten with a major goal within sight (in that case either regaining or retaining the Ashes) and last summer they succumbed to Pakistan at The Oval having comfortably reached 2-0 ahead. India, it should be remembered, are still No. 1 and have some very fine cricketers who are capable of levelling the series.”I think they are going to come back hard at us, their record certainly backs that up. We are expecting them to raise their performance and we have to raise ours accordingly,” Strauss said. “We did a lot of things right at Lord’s but had to work hard for the victory and have to be prepared to do the same again. They’ll want to show they were better than at Lord’s.”

Title-chasing Middlesex did their promotion cause the world of good by dismissing Kent for 242 on day one of their Division Two match at Canterbury

17-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Title-chasing Middlesex did their promotion cause the world of good by dismissing Kent for 242 on day one of their Division Two match at Canterbury. When bad light ended play early with 18 overs of the day still remaining, the visitors had reached 55 without loss in reply with Scott Newman on 16 and Sam Robson unbeaten with 37.Having elected to bat first, in what transpired to be the brightest conditions of the day, Kent made a watchful start through openers Rob Key and Joe Denly. Against a seaming ball, the pair mustered 24 runs and only four boundaries in the opening hour in the face of a stern examination by Corey Collymore, Tim Murtagh and Steven Crook – the nominated player to stand aside should Steve Finn return from England stand-by on day two.Crook found the outside edge three times only to see the opportunities fall short of the slip cordon, leaving Collymore to make the first breakthrough by having Key (17) caught low at slip by Dawid Malan as the Kent skipper aimed a back-foot force through the offside.Only 10 runs later Sam Northeast (3) nicked another fine delivery from Crook into the gloves of wicketkeeper John Simpson and, without addition to his lunch-time score of 2, Martin van Jaarsveld fell in identical fashion as the Kent innings began to unravel.Having looked sound in reaching his 84-ball half-century, Denly’s two-hour stay ended when Murtagh trapped him leg before prodding forward, bringing together Darren Stevens and Geraint Jones for a bright fifth-wicket riposte. With both right-handers going for their strokes, Kent added 45 in 9.2 overs before Collymore returned to snare Jones lbw on his way to eventual figures of
4 for 69.Azhar Mahmood fenced Collymore’s next ball toward mid-on and looked vaguely interested in a single, but Stevens said no and as Mahmood dithered Collymore threw down the striker’s end stumps to run out Mahmood as he lazily tried to dot down his bat.Stevens’ cameo knock for 27 ended when he chopped on against former team-mate Neil Dexter, then Collymore had Adam Ball snaffled at second slip with Kent still 45 short of a batting point. It took a bright stand of 57 for the ninth wicket – the second best of the innings – between Matt Coles (41) and James Tredwell (31) to take Kent through to 200 and their sole batting point.Tredwell’s fun ended when he dragged one from Collymore onto middle stump, then Coles pulled one from Murtagh into the hands of Jamie Dalrymple on the ropes at deep midwicket.

The fact that South Australia play together more regularly than some of the IPL teams will be an advantage for them going in to the Champions League Twenty20, their coach Darren Berry has said

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2011The fact that South Australia play together more regularly than some of the IPL teams will be an advantage for them going in to the Champions League Twenty20, their coach Darren Berry has said.”Teams like [Royal Challengers] Bangalore, with Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes are very strong. However, we play together all year and have a great synergy. IPL teams can be full of stars but disjointed,” Berry, who was formerly part of the coaching staff of IPL side Rajasthan Royals, told the .South Australia won the 2010-11 KFC Big Bash in Australia and were semi-finalists in the last edition of the Champions League Twenty20. They have won 15 of their last Twenty20 matches across the Big Bash and Champions League.Berry said they would be aiming to win the tournament this time and that his side had enough backup to cover for Aiden Blizzard and Kieron Pollard, who will play for Mumbai Indians in the tournament. “We are going there [the CLT20] with the expectation that we will win it. If you go there saying you’ll be okay, then that is all you will be.”Taity [Shaun Tait] is the trump card with the pace, while Daniel Christian’s played for Deccan [Chargers] in the IPL and his variety with bat and ball covers for Pollard.”Captain Michael Klinger, Berry pointed out, finished the third-highest run-scorer in last year’s CLT20, while batsman Daniel Harris was named state Twenty20 player of the year in Australia. South Australia also have strong and varied spin options, who, he said, could prove handy in Indian conditions. “[Legspinner Adil] Rashid was underdone entering the Big Bash but will come straight from a county season with Yorkshire. [Left-arm spinner Aaron] O’Brien’s been a standout Twenty20 bowler for us and Nathan [Lyon, an offspinner] will come from the Sri Lanka Test series.”Apart from the team combination, Berry said the research put in by the team’s support staff could prove to be a big advantage. “It can be as simple research as knowing when Zaheer Khan is most likely to bowl a full toss. I pride myself on providing research as a coach.”South Australia’s first assignment in this year’s CLT20 will be a match in Kolkata on September 25 against the side they lost to in last year’s semi-finals – Warriors from South Africa.