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Murali puts Kiwis in a spin |
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Aug 21, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
Black Caps trailing Sri Lanka by 171 with two first-innings wickets in tact By Joe Drabble First Test Match
Galle
Sri Lanka 452 (T T Samaraweera 159, D P M D Jayawardene 114, T M Dilshan 92, D L Vettori 4-78, C S Martin 4-77) v New Zealand 281-8 (T G McIntosh 69)
Muttiah Muralitharan claimed three wickets on day three as Sri Lanka took complete control of the first Test against New Zealand in Galle.
The leading Test wicket-taker of all time bowled beautifully in tandem with Thilan Thushara (3-80) to reduce the tourists to 281-8 at stumps - still trailing Sri Lanka by 171 runs.
New Zealand's plight would have been much worse had it not been for a spirited eighth-wicket partnership between Jesse Ryder and Daniel Vettori which ensured the Black Caps passed the follow-on target.
The pair shared a determined 76-run partnership before Nuwan Kulasekara snatched the breakthrough shortly before stumps.
Resuming the third day on 80-2, overnight pair Tim McIntosh and nightwatchman Jeetan Patel made an assured start before the latter departed for a stubborn 26. |
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Aug 20, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
Plighted spinner Nathan Haurtiz, who has struggled to keep his place in Australia's XI for the ongoing Ashes series, has enlisted the help of former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.
Mushtaq, who recently worked with New Zealand ahead of their tour of Sri Lanka, claimed 208 Test wickets for Pakistan between 1995 and 2004 and is credited with inventing the 'doosra' - the delivery that spins away from the right-hander.
"We mainly spoke about the philosophy of spin bowling, trying to work out different ways to deceive batsmen" Hauritz told Cricket Australia TV.
"There wasn't really any great technical work spoken about. He obviously showed me different grips holding the ball and how he bowled the doosra.
"It was just great to speak to someone who was so passionate about spin bowling."
"Generally, we just chatted about the tactics and the plan to batsmen and his grip. He's a very talented guy," added Saqlain.
Meanwhile, former Aussie fast bowler Jason Gillespie insists the tourists should go into the fifth and final Test at The Oval with an all-pace attack, in the process resisting the urge to pick Brett Lee ahead of Stuart Clark.
"Expect to see Stuart Clark involved as the fourth quick. I don't like going into a match without a specialist slow bowler, but spin hasn't played much of a part in the whole series, ruling out Nathan Hauritz," Gillespie wrote in his Cricinfo column.
"That also means no spot for Brett Lee. Time has been against him in this series. In previous decades a side injury would have meant missing a couple of Tests, but because of the modern itinerary it's rubbed Brett out for a whole campaign.
"I feel for him, I really do, but I just can't see how he can come in ahead of Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus or Clark." |
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Hauritz omission sign of spin dilemma |
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Aug 21, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
AUSTRALIA'S decision to ignore spinner Nathan Hauritz despite a dry and dusty pitch at The Oval again highlights Australia's spinning conundrum.
If ever a team was going to play a spinner, it was on the surface prepared for the fifth and final Test.
Almost from the first ball puffs of dust came up from under the fast bowlers' feet and their boots scarified the pitch, suggesting it will help spinners sooner rather than later.
Shane Warne went into a state of apoplexy went he heard that Australia had gone into this Ashes deciding Test without a frontline spinner.
Mike Atherton felt that England should have played two.
Yet Australia stuck steadfastly to the team which won the previous Test at Headingley by an innings in two and a half days. Stuart Clark stayed as the fourth fast bowler.
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Indian spin bowling will never die |
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Aug 20, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
By Partab Ramchand
When a legend retires, he is quite irreplaceable. That is what Australia is realizing at the moment. They have been able to make up somewhat for the retirements of Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, even Glenn McGrath as the bench strength consisted of able batsmen and fast bowlers. But it is the absence of Shane Warne that has really hit them the most. To make matters worse Stuart MacGill called it a day at about the same time and the spin attack is as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. The gallant efforts of Nathan Hauritz and Jason Krejza notwithstanding, they have their limitations and it was not exactly a surprise that the Aussie team management opted for an all out pace attack in the fourth Test at Headingley. There is little doubt however that a quality spin bowler lends balance to the bowling line-up.
Looking at how the Australians are struggling without Warne, I’m reminded of how Indian spin bowling – Indian cricket’s traditional strength – has never really suffered such a lacuna for the last 70 years. Great spinners have graced the line-ups over the decades but when the time has come for them to ride off into the sunset more than adequate replacements have always been found. |
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England's spin-guru backs Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar to be be long-term hits |
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Aug 19, 2009 at 12:00 AM |
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• 'Swanny is a match-winner' says Mushtaq Ahmed
• Believes Monty will add variation to his game When England's spinners gather round Mushtaq Ahmed, a short man with a long, grey-streaked beard, one is reminded of the spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the "Sixth Beatle", who was often surrounded by the Fab Four as they searched for wisdom and transcendental meaning.
Mushtaq is England's spin doctor, the leading wicket-taker in English domestic cricket for five summers from 2003 and a man who has certainly grown more guru-like since his retirement from the first-class game last year.
But today, as the England team prepare for their crucial Test against Australia at The Oval, Mushtaq, who signed a three-year part-time contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board in October is, like Andy Flower and the rest of the coaching staff, coming under greater forensic scrutiny.
One supposed reason why England would beat Australia in the Ashes (a daft prediction, probably, since while England were being beaten by West Indies, Australia were winning away to South Africa, on modern evidence the best side in the world) was the superiority of their spinners. England had Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, who were both apparently so much better than Australia's solitary spinner, Nathan Hauritz. |
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Back in the day.. |
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"Chirps" |
"He is essentially a bowling machine. He has had success by operating mechanically."
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