Sunday, September 23, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Redbacks bring in Botha for Klinger
Michael Klinger has stepped down as South Australia's captain to make way for South African Johan Botha.
Botha, who played for the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash last summer, will captain the Redbacks for the next two seasons.
Klinger said the opportunity for Botha, a former South African limited overs and T20 captain, to lead the Redbacks was "too good an opportunity".
"There is no doubt captaining the Redbacks and the Strikers has been a highlight of my cricket career so far," Klinger said on Saturday.
"I have loved every minute of it and am really proud of what I have achieved.
"No one just walks away from captaining.
"But I agreed Johan was too good an opportunity ... I have already rung Johan to offer him my full support and start planning."
South Australia coach Darren Berry praised Klinger for his attitude to the leadership change.
"It is a testament to the character of Michael Klinger that he made a tough decision to make the ultimate act of leadership and support Johan's captaincy," Berry said.
Berry said Botha offered "the complete package" as a leader.
"A ruthless international competitor who has the experience of leading a successful international team," Berry said.
"And he has the know-how to harness our younger talent.
"I unapologetically state that this journey is not for everyone and that it will be tough.
"Our objective is to become the most respected first class system in the country and we need to be strong in our pursuit of this objective."
The Redbacks won this year's one-day competition and also last year's T20 trophy, before the competition was altered to city-based franchises this season.
But South Australia has collected three consecutive Sheffield Shield wooden spoons.
AAP
Tags: cricket, sport, sa, australia First posted March 31, 2012 12:50:18Saturday, January 21, 2012
Bring Watto back but don't cut me: Cowan
In-form Test opener Ed Cowan says Australian selectors must find a place for a fit-again Shane Watson in the upcoming Tour of the West Indies but is determined to make sure it will not be at his expense.
Cowan has made a solid fist of his call-up to the national team, scoring 166 runs at 41.5 in three matches against India, including 74 in last week's demolition in Perth that handed Australia a 3-0 series lead.
With Watson in line to make his long-awaited return from injury for the Sydney Sixers in Sunday's Big Bash League semi-final, selectors will have to weigh up how - or if - he will be used in the West Indies in March-April.
And while Cowan continues to earn plaudits for his promising opening partnership with David Warner, the 29-year-old believes he needs a strong performance in next week's fourth and final Test, starting in Adelaide on Tuesday, to consolidate his spot.
"He (Watson) is probably the best player in the country so they certainly do have to fit him in," Cowan told reporters in Sydney this morning.
"It's no different to any other team, when guys are coming back you've got to hold your place in the team through weight of runs.
"How I see my job is to make it so difficult for the selectors, that Shane Watson has to bat somewhere else in the batting order.
"That's simply done by me going out and making runs and the rest takes care of itself.
"If they're having a discussion 'should Shane Watson be opening the batting' then I'm not doing my job."
Cowan gave himself a "pass mark" for his performances so far in his first Test series.
"Two 50s in three games... that's OK, that's a pass, but it's not brilliant," he said.
"That's why there's excitement for this Test as well, to really cement that spot and make that a really difficult conversation for the tour of the West Indies."
Cowan insisted Australia were not lacking in motivation for the fourth Test, despite having the series wrapped up.
"It's exciting that we're on the verge of something special as a team," he said.
"Four-nil would be an absolute drubbing of the second best team in the world."
AAP/ABC
Tags: cricket, sport, australia First posted January 20, 2012 12:03:57Saturday, May 14, 2011
Billy wants to bring back the swing
Australia's spearhead during the late 1980s and early 1990s, McDermott has been appointed to replace Troy Cooley in the Australian team coaching staff.
While McDermott knew how to dig the ball in short as well as anyone, he snared the majority of his 291 wickets in 71 Tests with deliveries which pitched on a length and had batsmen fending at his pace and swing.
While reluctant to focus on the enigmatic Johnson, McDermott admitted he was looking forward to working with the 29-year-old before the August tour of Sri Lanka.
When Johnson swings the balls he can rip the best batting line-ups apart, while when he loses his rhythm he can be wild and expensive.
But McDermott saw good signs from him on the recent one-day international tour to Bangladesh.
"I thought Mitchell had his head in a really good space in Bangladesh," he said.
"If he can get it together he's like no other bowler we've got in the country.
"His arm speed is phenomenal and when he gets it right, he's unplayable.
"He was working on a couple of things in Bangladesh and if he gets it right he will bowl well and he'll be around for a long time."
The 46-year-old McDermott said he remained a fan of pitching the ball up to get wickets.
"Everything is not a quick fix. It's a long-term thing. Certainly I'd like to put an emphasis on that part of our bowling," he said.
"If you pitch it up you're a much better chance of getting lbws, caught behinds and clean bowls."
McDermott would not go into specifics on theories for why Johnson could bowl brilliantly one day and be so wayward the next.
"I'm not really here to talk about the p's and q's of Mitchell Johnston or anyone," said McDermott, who has 12 months to get results.
Did he think today's quicks had the same fire and mongrel as the likes of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson?
"I think there's enough fire there," he said.
"All our fast bowlers have to have some aggression in them, it's just how they use that sometimes.
"You can be too aggressive and actually forget about what you're trying to achieve at the other end.
"I was guilty of that in my time as well on the odd occasion.
"It's a fine line you walk.
"I had a number of ups and downs in my career until I got it right in about 1990."
Despite coming up short in last summer's home Ashes series when Australia's bowlers were carved up, McDermott is confident the future looks good.
"We've got more than enough (bowling) depth for Australia to be top in all three forms of the game," he said.
"It's a challenging time but I enjoy a challenge."
- AAP
Tags: sport, cricket, australia First posted May 12, 2011 18:40:00