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Hauritz sheds scars of the past |
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Nov 24, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
Since the conclusion of The Oval Test in August, the Australian rumour mill has been abuzz with theories as to the motives behind Nathan Hauritz's omission from the starting XI. The move to play an all-pace attack on a parched pitch that turned early and substantially played a sizable role in Australia's eventual 197-run defeat, and prompted on-duty selector Jamie Cox to offer a rare mea culpa on behalf of the panel after the match.
But murmurings around the Australian camp suggest there is more to the overlooking of Hauritz than meets the eye. Several team sources have told Cricinfo that Australia's selectors intended to play their specialist spinner in the series decider but, hit with a crisis of confidence before one of the most important Ashes Tests in modern history, Hauritz either withdrew his candidacy or was deemed too great a risk.
Whether true or not - and Hauritz insists upon the latter - the issue of the spinner's confidence has been a discussion point within Australian cricket for some time. Greg Matthews, one of his spin-bowling mentors, once described him as "heavily scarred" following his arrival in New South Wales from Queensland, and Hauritz himself has been candid in discussing his need to be more assertive as a bowler. |
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Cricket: Saqlain's an honorary Kiwi |
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Nov 24, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
If Saqlain Mushtaq feels divided loyalties as he helps New Zealand prepare for the first test against his countrymen he hides it well.
The former Pakistani offspinner, now sporting a long beard, is working with New Zealand's players, both the spin bowlers and giving the batsmen tips on how to play the twirly stuff.
He knows his oats. Saqlain, still only 32, was an outstanding bowler who took 208 wickets in 49 tests and a whopping 288 ODI wickets in 169 games at just 21.78 apiece in a nine-year career which ended prematurely four years ago.
Saqlain is credited with being the first spinner to master the doosra, the delivery which looks to the batsman like an offspinner, but instead turns away from the bat.
"People are saying 'what are you feeling'?" Saqlain said yesterday. "But that is our religion. Where you are working you have to be 100 per cent honest and it is a big honour for me to be with the Kiwis."
He admitted his old friend, Pakistan's captain Mohammad Yousuf, has been pulling his leg over his switch of allegiance for the series.
"They gave me a bit, but they were all very happy. They all understand that this is a game, and it is part of my job."
Saqlain toured New Zealand in 2001, taking eight wickets to spin Pakistan to a huge 299-run win at Eden Park, then hitting his only test century, 101 not out, at Christchurch later in the series, when his former roommate Yousuf made 203.
He has talked through aspects of Pakistan's game and what New Zealand might expect in terms of where they will bowl and batting strengths and weaknesses.
"I am giving the psyche of how the bowler feels when they bowl to batsmen and how they work, how they see the feet movement, is he picking me or not," Saqlian said.
"Whatever information I had I pass on to them. I had to. If we wear it [pointing at the silver fern on his sweater] and it is on my heart, then my heart should be 100 per cent in place."
Saqlain will leave New Zealand just before the second test starts in Wellington next week.
By David Leggat |
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Krejza pulls out a doosra in bid for recall |
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Nov 23, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
THE doosra was delivered late in a Sheffield Shield match already pronounced dead. NSW versus Tasmania was out of breath as a contest, a draw the inevitable result, the crowd either yawning or leaving or long-gone … and then … and then … Jason Krejza ambled in and bowled the most significant delivery by an Australian spinner since the retirement of Shane Warne.
Krejza was bowling to NSW's Usman Khawaja. He'd already cleaned up Test vice-captain Michael Clarke with a top spinner that jumped like Steve Hooker. Krejza's offering to Khawaja landed a metre outside offstump and, as the left-hander was entitled to do, he ignored it, shouldering arms. The stock ball of Krejza and every other off-spinner in the country would have spun farther from harm's way - but the the elusive doosra, jagged back and disturbed the stumps.
"If I never get that ball again, ever, it'll be too soon," Khawaja told the Herald yesterday. |
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Hauritz now Australia’s No.1 spinner: Warne |
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Nov 22, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
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Melbourne, Nov.22 (ANI): Former Australian leg spinner Shane Warne believes that off-spinner Nathan Hauritz is the country’s number one spinner.
“I think Nathan Hauritz is doing a pretty good job,” Warne said before training in the nets for the first time in six months.
“First of all, the sign of any good international cricketer is if you improve, and I think Nathan Hauritz has improved since he first started. So, I think he’s going pretty well,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Warne, as saying.
Warne also believes Australian spin stocks are healthier than most realise. However, he urged domestic captains to be more aggressive in their approach to benefit slow bowlers.
“The spinning cupboard is not bare, we’ve got the talent there. It’s up to the captains to make sure they captain them right, and Shield cricket is played in the right spirit where we try to win games rather than bat too long, and that gives the spinners a chance,” Warne said. (ANI) by Editorial Team Armoks News |
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Zimbabwe: Another Price Rise |
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Nov 19, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
IN Zimbabwean sports the name 'Price' is synonymous with greatness, thanks to the legendary deeds of our former world number one golfer Nick Price, a World Golf Hall of Fame inductee.
Such was the impact on his sporty siblings that Price's nephew, Raymond, grew up aspiring to be a world-class athlete just like his famous uncle.
Now at a ripe age of 33, Ray has done his bit, albeit in a different sport. Last week after taking six wickets in two ODIs against South Africa, the Zimbabwe left-arm spin bowler shot to number three on the world ODI bowling rankings.
"That has been a goal for me to be in the top five, hopefully I will soon overtake (New Zealand's) Danny Vettori (the number one bowler)" Price tells IndependentSport. "Obviously the goal as a team is to get back to Test cricket, hope I will still be able to play."
Price came out of international cricket exile in 2007 after having been part of the "rebels" who clashed with the Zimbabwe board in 2004. His second spell has been as impressive as the first, perhaps even more remarkable having ably assumed the role of a stabilising factor and spiritual leader of a lowly international side.
"Its just my experience, obviously all the experience that I gained playing in places like England; and my first international spell have helped. |
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