Where Mitchell Johnson signalled his intent to again dent England neither Shane Watson nor Mitchell Marsh were able to push ahead as the allrounder most likely to take a pivotal place in Australia’s first Test X

Daniel Brettig in Canterbury26-Jun-2015
Scorecard1:25

Allrounder slot remains an issue for Australia

Where Mitchell Johnson signalled his intent to again dent England with spells of speed and venom on a Canterbury pitch that offered him little help, neither Shane Watson nor Mitchell Marsh were able to push ahead as the allrounder most likely to take a pivotal place in Australia’s first Test XI.After Steven Smith surged ominously to his first – and surely not last – century of this tour, Watson and Marsh both had the opportunity to make a substantial score against tired bowlers and on a blameless pitch. Each had their moments, but tallies of 21 and 30 were of the unconvincing kind – not least because Australia’s tail-enders have been bettering those starts with increasing regularity.The two dismissals were characteristic. Watson lathered a short ball square of the wicket but close enough to Joe Denly for him to dive brilliantly and pluck the catch, leaving the 34-year-old to wander off with the pained look of a latter-day King Lear. Marsh looked balanced and powerful during his stay, but grew overconfident enough to swish across the line at Matt Hunn and lose his off stump.

‘No way I get paid enough to be facing him’

Thirteen years ago in Australia, Rob Key faced up to Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie at their best. Facing up to a rapid Mitchell Johnson at Canterbury, he used long-suppressed memories of those days to combat a bowler who had him questioning whether Kent paid him enough danger money for the task.
“For a large part of that I thought, there is no way I get paid enough to be facing him. And I do alright for myself, don’t get me wrong,” Key said. “He is a different level. The pace he has, he gets the odd one to swing. It doesn’t matter which pitch you are on, that bloke is a serious bowler. He can intimidate you but he can also move the ball around a little bit. He’s tough.
“You don’t face that type of bowling in county cricket. For the first bit out there, you had to kind of remember what you used to do against bowlers like that. He’s a proper, proper bowler.”
With competition tight for pace bowling places in the Australian side, some have speculated that Johnson may find himself running the drinks despite his shattering displays in the 2013-14 Ashes. Key struggled to picture that.
“I think if he wasn’t playing there would be a lot of batters quite happy,” he said. “We’ve seen it in the Ashes back home, he’s just quick and he’s something different to everyone else. But they’ve got a battery of seamers now. They are all just very very good, but his pace and what he can do … Clarke uses him brilliantly because he keeps him fresh. He’s a different level.”

Such errors of judgment continue to frustrate the coach Darren Lehmann, who has made a virtue of mistakes being fine so long as they are not repeated. Nevertheless he is wedded to the concept of choosing an allrounder as the team’s fifth bowler, and further dead heats will likely mean that Watson keeps his place for Cardiff.Johnson took the new ball alongside Ryan Harris, and immediately set about staking his claim for one of three pace bowling places in the first Investec Test. In a swift first over he accounted for the promising opener Daniel Bell-Drummond, first pushing him back onto the stumps then pinning him lbw with a full delivery that swung back just enough to have Nigel Llong raising his finger.At the other end Harris landed his first ball on the postage stamp around off stump, but still looked to be finding the zip of his very best work. Lehmann has stated that Harris still looks “short of a gallop”, and needs some more overs before being ready for Test duty, and that looked the case here. Peter Siddle replaced him at the Pavilion End, bowling sturdily and eventually coaxing an edge from Denly after a pesky stand with Rob Key.It is 13 years since Key appeared down under as a plucky middle-order batsman who did rather better than a series average of 17 would suggest, and he worked diligently to provide some sort of resistance against Australia’s attack. Fawad Ahmed flighted the odd delivery teasingly but was also taken for runs, and it was something of a surprise when Key, on 87, swatted the legspinner to midwicket.Key’s exit was the signal for a renewed burst of pace from Johnson, as Sam Northeast then Ben Harmison were undone by his speed and direction. Northeast edged behind while trying to leave a lifter, and Harmison was beaten for pace and movement to be comprehensively bowled.That left Sam Billings and Adam Ball to hold on until the close, thwarting the efforts of Mitchell Marsh to add a wicket to his earlier batting cameo. Watson was curiously unused as a bowler, leaving open the question of where he now sits in the scheme of things.

A record-breaking stand of 211 between openers Mark Stoneman and Phil Mustard helped Durham maintain their winning start in the Royal London Cup

ECB/PA29-Jul-2015
ScorecardMark Stoneman recorded his fifth one-day hundred•Getty Images

A record-breaking stand of 211 between openers Mark Stoneman and Phil Mustard helped Durham maintain their winning start in the Royal London Cup.Having been set a target of 328, the visitors won with seven wickets and 21 balls in hand, courtesy of Stoneman’s 100-ball century and 98 from wicketkeeper Mustard. It was not only a second successive defeat in Group A for Somerset, but an eighth defeat in their last 10 completed games, in all competitions.Director of cricket Matthew Maynard, whose side has won only twice on home soil in all forms of the game this season, put his faith in youngsters Tom Abell and Adam Hose at the top of the order after captain Jim Allenby had chosen to bat first.The pair added 69 for the first wicket, inside 13 overs, before both batsmen departed within the space of three balls. The impressive Hose was caught by Mustard off the bowling of Usman Arshad for 41 before Abell fell to a Scott Borthwick catch, for 23.Peter Trego, for whom runs have been hard to come by, and Tom Cooper, added 90 for the third wicket in 17 overs before Trego, who reached his 50 off 52 balls, with seven fours and a six, holed out to Ryan Pringle off John Hastings at 159 for 3.Although James Hildreth was brillianty caught in the slips by Borthwick, Cooper continued to dominate the visiting attack for whom Hastings was the pick. Cooper hit 12 fours in passing three figures for the first time since arriving in the west country. He faced just 95 balls.With Craig Overton weighing in with 49 from just 25 deliveries, Somerset posted 327 for 8 in their 50 overs. Hastings took 5 for 41 off his 10 overs whilst Arshad, who was struck for four sixes by Overton in the space of two overs, finished with 3 for 80.Durham wasted little time in establishing themselves with the bat. Stoneman, who struck seven fours and two sixes in reaching 50 off 30 balls, led the way alongside Mustard. The pair passed 50 off the penultimate ball of the seventh over and brought up their 100-run partnership in the 14th.In the end, Mustard chanced his arm once too often and was caught at short third man by Hildreth, off Craig Overton, for 98. It was the highest stand by a Durham pair against county opposition in one-day cricket. By the time Stoneman posted his century, from 100 balls, Durham were within sight of victory. Borthwick continued where Mustard left off and Somerset, despite the efforts of the Overton twins, and spinner Jack Leach, had no answer.Stoneman eventually perished, caught by Hose off Jack Leach for 112, and Graham Clark miscued a pull to Jamie Overton off Lewis Gregory for 12. Still, Borthwick took just 36 balls to register his half-century and, with Paul Collingwood at his side, duly guided Durham to victory in the 47th over.

A maiden List A five-wicket haul from Ashton Agar formed the base for Australia A’s three-wicket win over India A, their third successive win in the tournament

The Report by Alagappan Muthu in Chennai10-Aug-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA maiden List A five-wicket haul from Ashton Agar formed the base for Australia A’s three-wicket win over India A, their third successive win in the tournament. The win sealed their spot in the A-team tri-series final.That the margin was so narrow was because the hosts’ spinners created a little panic in the Australia A middle order. Karn Sharma bowled 10 probing overs for 45 runs and three vital wickets, while Axar Patel and Karun Nair provided brilliant back-up.The trick was in bowling slow, tossing the ball up and letting a slow, dry and worn pitch do the dirty work. Australia A lost four middle-order wickets for 25 runs, including that of Chris Lynn for 63, and their chase seemed to have gone off the rails.But Adam Zampa, who got the better of the India A with the ball earlier in the series, showed some spunk with the bat. He contributed 54 to a seventh-wicket partnership of 80 runs with Callum Ferguson to ensure victory.The Australia A bowlers conceded their biggest total in the tri-series so far, yet their target was only 259. The quicks have managed to hold their lines well, and the spinners have been conscious about bowling slow, and have actually tried to turn the ball. They brought three frontline spinners on tour – Cameron Boyce helped turn the tri-series opener with 2 for 34, Zampa, a legspinner, took 4 for 49 on Friday. Today Agar coasted to 5 for 39, and it was shock impact – three wickets in 24 balls when the game had been with India A.Mayank Agarwal had collected his second fifty-plus score in as many days. He sent the first ball of the day packing to the fine-leg boundary. He had four boundaries by the end of 10 overs and was responsible for India A’s acceleration after captain Unmukt Chand fell early and Manish Pandey retired hurt after cutting his chin during a collision with Australia A wicketkeeper Matthew Wade. Agarwal had added 60 runs in 63 balls with Karun Nair, and had reached his half-century with a six and a four against Gurinder Sandhu in the 15th over.Then Agar came on in the 19th over and changed the game. A loopy delivery pitched around the leg stump, squared Agarwal up, ripped across his poke and clipped the off stump, and the bewildered batsman walked back for 61. The follow-up was a full toss that Kedar Jadhav tamely bunted to short midwicket. Sanju Samson and Axar Patel played ill-advised sweep shots and offered a couple more dollies. Agar bagged his fifth and India A had slumped from 98 for 1 to 161 for 6.Pandey, who had walked out again in the 33rd over, cruised to a half-century off 36 balls. India A squeezed out 72 runs in the final 10 overs to put up a competitive score.Australia A, however, whisked back the lost momentum as Travis Head, opening in place of the rested Joe Burns, cracked 45 off 43 balls. They cruised to a fifty off only 32 balls and that allowed Lynn the time he needed to get settled. A similarly aggressive innings from Zampa – his second List A fifty included seven fours and a six – helped Ferguson hold firm at the other end. Ferguson ended up unbeaten with 45 off 63 balls and hit the winning boundary.

Kumar Sangakkara scored his fifth Championship hundred of the season before Sam Curran’s maiden fifty kept Surery on track

Vithushan Ehantharajah at the Kia Oval23-Sep-2015
ScorecardKumar Sangakkara recorded another Championship hundred (file photo)•Getty Images

No one grumbles quite like a county cricket fan. Each individual has a slightly different tone shaped by their gender, experience and own personal angst. Some just sigh, a handful swear (loudly, too). Most reserve the chuntering for wickets but the ones that really pay attention can spend 10 minutes chewing your ear off about a couple of plays and misses from a different game entirely.Some do it among themselves, some to one another: at a ground like the Kia Oval, where the attendance is consistently good, you are never more than a row away from another fan. All it takes is a knowing look or a nod to begin conversation on a spinner introduced too late, a Curran bowling from the wrong end or another Gary Wilson 40. Here, on 49, Wilson edged Rory Kleinveldt to Rob Keogh at second slip. There were grumbles, but most of them were from Wilson.Two overs later, when Tom Curran was squared up by the same bowler and lost his off bail – Northamptonshire’s sub fielder Saif Zaib found it about 20 yards in from the fine leg boundary – the groans in the OCS stand were audible. At that point, Surrey were 47 runs shy of full batting points – a must, really, as they search for the points-heavy result that would see them promoted as Division Two champions. There were plenty of overs to go before the 110-over cut-off but just two wickets left.But as Surrey walked off for bad light, with 22 needed and 20 overs left – and those two wickets still in hand – spectators rose, shook hands with one another and promised to do it all again on Thursday. Because this season, Surrey fans have not had much reason to grumble. And it’s on days like these that you understand how lucky they have been.Just as they were about to forget that, when both Arun Harinath and Rory Burns fell to Maurice Chambers – both misreading the bounce to top-edge to the keeper and flick to fine leg, respectively – Kumar Sangakkara began his latest piece. For a good few hours, all you could hear were purrs.As he got going, Northants wilted. But there’s a small nugget in your brain that convinces yourself that maybe they were happy to be there, too, as Sangakkara took the scenic route to his fifth Championship hundred of the season. For those present, it was an incarnation of the dream scenario in which your favourite musician is in your front room, taking your requests and happy to oblige as you ask for the fifth rendition of “Tiny Dancer”. And out it comes, with just as much soul as was dished out at Central Park in 1980.He showcased all the classics – the driving against the seamers, that skip and whip to midwicket against the spinners, the straight-bat cut to both. At the lunch intermission, brought about by the wicket of Ben Foakes, he was 22 off 44 balls. Back out for the afternoon session, having been presented his county cap, he began once more, this time at a higher tempo, picking off boundaries at will.A luscious six over straight back over the head of Keogh – whose offspin had caused Sangakkara the most discomfort early on – took the Sri Lankan to fifty off 82 balls. A four in the same direction came a couple of balls later.He was backed up intermittently at the other end. Steven Davies hit as dreamy a 21 as you can imagine. Jason Roy was nearly out twice in three balls when on nought, edging Keogh just short of second slip and then ran past one, only for Murphy to fluff the stumping.It was left to Wilson to offer the congratulatory hug in the middle, as Sangakkara completed his jaunt to three figures by hitting his 139th ball through extra cover for four. By this time, he had opted to bat in a cap, which he doffed to the crowd and his dressing room. He was out on his 140th, dabbing Keogh to short leg. He walked off to his second standing ovation in as many minutes, looking over his shoulder and wondering if he could have given more.As he returned to the dressing room, he joined the huddle of Surrey players that had congregated around the analyst’s laptop. Perhaps they were looking to see if the dismissal was legitimate. They were probably just watching his highlights.So it was left to Sam Curran to keep the crowd sweet. A maiden first-class fifty came off 87 balls, featuring eight fours and a strong six. He moved to 48 playing a late cut off his toes, like it was the most normal thing for a 17-year-old to be doing on a Wednesday afternoon.Of course, it is important not to bestow the world upon this teen before he has even registered a full summer. But it is that train of thought that has you saying no to extra cheese or chocolate dusting on your tiramisu. This wasn’t a day for worrying about repercussions. This was another when the grumblers left the Oval contented.

Karun Nair, who made an unbeaten 119, said that he benefited from Manish Pandey’s positive approach

Vishal Dikshit in Bangalore09-Oct-2015Karun Nair has already been a part of the India Test squad. He has had a taste of the international circuit by spending time in the Indian dressing room after being picked for the third Test in Sri Lanka as M Vijay’s replacement, less than two months ago.Nair had been picked on the back of an unbeaten first-class century against South Africa A and a stellar 2014-15 season. Nair didn’t get an international debut and he is back to where he belonged – the Karnataka dressing room – to score more runs, more centuries, and register more wins for his side. His sixth first-class hundred and his third fifty-plus score in four first-class matches, including a 71 against Bangladesh A recently, placed Karnataka on top after two well-fought days against Bengal.”I wanted to start the season well and once you get starts…I got a start in the first game, I scored 30-odd and then couldn’t convert well. So it’s a relief of starting the season well and making it big,” Nair said.

Bhavane fit to bat on third day

Karnataka manager B Siddaramu said at the end of the second day’s play that No. 3 Shishir Bhavane, who had retired hurt on 32, was fit to bat on the third day as scans revealed there was no injury.
“He’s ok, he went to the hospital and he took an X-ray and CT scan. It’s only the impact when he got hit, no swelling, no fracture, he’s fit and ready to bat,” Siddaramu said. “He would have batted today but it’s good these two [Karun Nair and Shreyas Gopal] batted well and he’ll get one more day extra [to rest] and it will be slightly easier to bat.”
Bhavane was facing Ashok Dinda in the 27th over when a short ball climbed and hit him on the right wrist in the last over before lunch before Bhavane could drop his hands. Karnataka physio Sharavan came out and assessed Bhavane’s wrist before they walked off and the umpires ended the session there with only four balls left in the over.

Nair’s century today can be split into two parts – the supporing role and the lead role. The risk-free nature of his strokes did not change through the day but his partner and approach did. His first rescuing act was with Manish Pandey in a brisk partnership of 98 runs in 21 overs after the score was effectively 76 for 3, since Shishir Bhavane retired hurt, and Pandey dominated the stand with as many as nine fours. Nair said it was Pandey’s attacking approach that helped him bat without pressure.”Manish batted really well, he came out and batted very positively and that helped me also,” Nair said. “I got a lot of loose balls because of him playing positively. It was disappointing that he got out on 50-odd, still we are in a good position right now and we’d like to capitalise tomorrow.”There was no plan as to how to go about our partnership. Manish played his natural game, he scored off good balls and in between he received loose balls as well. The only plan was to bat throughout the day… Bat tight and straight.”Nair hopped into the driver’s seat once he saw Pandey and CM Gautam fall within half an hour. Karnataka were now 209 for 4 and unaware if Bhavane was going to bat again or not since he was sent to a hospital for scans after being hit on the wrist by a Ashok Dinda short ball. That did not perturb Nair and he marshaled Shreyas Gopal in the third session that went wicketless. In those two hours, Nair faced plenty of deliveries from spinners Pragyan Ojha and Manoj Tiwary, who pitched several ones outside the leg stump, only to see Nair play the ball late, use his feet to go back and forth, and find boundaries regularly.”I think I’ve been naturally like that [against the spinners],” Nair said. “I play spin naturally and haven’t done any special preparation as such, just the normal net sessions. It is one of my strengths but I think all-round I play quite well.”I was patient throughout, I didn’t play any rash shots, I was waiting for the loose balls and it all worked out well.”What also worked out well was that Karnataka got a lead by the end of the day with six wickets in hand as Bhavane was declared fit. Nair said they would look to bat the whole day on Saturday and the pitch had developed some cracks which could get worse by the end of the third day.”We should bat the whole day [tomorrow], we shouldn’t think about the runs, bat out the day and take whatever comes.”Pitch is right now good only. Outside the leg stump obviously the footmarks will be there but generally the pitch is good, the cracks are coming a little bit. Maybe tomorrow end of day it might become difficult to bat on, maybe till lunch or till tea it will still remain the same.”

Marlon Samuels will be allowed to bowl in the second ODI after the ICC admitted to making an error with regard to grace period for reported bowlers

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Nov-2015The ICC has made an allowance for Marlon Samuels to bowl in the second ODI against Sri Lanka, although the match is being played outside the 14-day grace period allowed for bowlers reported for a suspect action.The ICC said the exception was made because “the West Indies team was incorrectly advised that he was eligible to bowl in this match”, and that West Indies had “selected the team based on this information.” After this match “Samuels will not be allowed to bowl in international cricket until the results of his assessment are known,” an ICC release said.Earlier on Wednesday, the West Indies management expressed concern after being told Samuels was not allowed to bowl only after the match had begun. They said match referee David Boon had conveyed to them that the second ODI would be played inside the 21-day grace period afforded to reported bowlers.The West Indies management said they had taken Boon at his word. However, following a rule change this year, that grace period had been shortened to 14 days, which meant Samuels’ grace period had already expired.Samuels has not bowled in Sri Lanka since being reported, but his bowling may be required for the second ODI as allrounders Jason Holder and Andre Russell were both unavailable for selection.Samuels was reported for a suspect action on October 19, but is understood to have no plans to undergo a biomechanical test until the team travels to Australia for their series which begins next month.

The ICC has admitted that third umpire Nigel Llong made “an incorrect judgement” while deciding on New Zealand’s review of the appeal for catch against Nathan Lyon

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-20155:08

Chappell: The decision unsettled NZ

The ICC has admitted that third umpire Nigel Llong made “an incorrect judgement” while using technology to decide on New Zealand’s review of the appeal for catch against Nathan Lyon, which had been given not out on the field on the second day of the day-night Test in Adelaide.”ICC has reviewed the decision and acknowledged that it was incorrect,” it said on Twitter, adding that it had replied to New Zealand Cricket’s questioning of the decision. “ICC confirms the umpire followed the correct protocol, but made an incorrect judgement.”The decision was hotly debated and criticised by television commentators and the media at the time, and drew unhappy but guarded reactions from New Zealand players Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, and the coach Mike Hesson because it had a significant impact on the Test.Australia were 8 for 118 in reply to New Zealand’s 202 on the second day when Lyon top-edged an attempted sweep off left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner into his shoulder and up to slip. New Zealand’s appeal was denied on field by umpire S Ravi, and McCullum asked for a review.After five minutes of replays, Llong upheld Ravi’s decision though there was a clear Hot Spot on the top edge of Lyon’s bat, and the batsman had walked halfway to the dressing room. There also seemed to be a deviation in the ball’s course, but nothing showed up on Snicko, which also failed to read the impact of the ball on Lyon’s shoulder.Lyon had not scored at the time of his reprieve, and he eventually went on to make 34. Australia’s last two wickets added 108 runs in all, and earned a first-innings lead of 22. New Zealand were dismissed for 208 in their second innings, and Australia chased down the target of 187 with only three wickets in hand.

Round-up of the Group C Vijay Hazare matches played on December 15, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Dec-2015
Bhargav Bhatt and Aditya Waghmode continued their good form with ball and bat, respectively, to guide Baroda to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Maharashtra.Bhatt, who was coming off a stellar performance of 2 for 16 against Odisha on Monday, picked up three wickets in the 35th over and one in the 37th, as Maharashtra slid from 135 for 4 to 145 for 9 within five overs. Nikit Dhumal then paired with Domnic Muthuswami to add an unbeaten 31 for the last wicket, taking Maharashtra to 176 for 9 in their fifty overs. Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel picked up one wicket each, while pacer Rishi Arothe picked up two.Waghmode followed up his maiden List A century against Odisha with an unbeaten 77 to steer Baroda’s 177-run chase. He found an able partner in Deepak Hooda, who scored 58 not out off 78 deliveries, and contributed to the 132-run, third-wicket partnership that sealed Baroda’s win in the 40th over.Odisha suffered their fourth consecutive defeat, losing by 55 runs to an Andhra side that was guided by AG Pradeep’s 102* and D Siva Kumar’s 4 for 37.Opting to bat, Andhra’s innings was anchored by Pradeep’s second List A hundred, after Alok Chandra Sahoo sent back the openers within the first ten overs. Pradeep shared a 79-run stand for the third wicket with captain Prashanth Kumar (46), and then posted a partnership of 138 runs for the fourth wicket with Jyothi Sai Krishna, lifting the team score to 261 for 4 in 50 overs.Odisha were off to a poor start, losing two wickets to Siva Kumar in the first over. Anurag Sarangi (52) then combined with captain Natraj Behera(42) and Biplab Samantray (44) to post partnerships worth 71 and 56 respectively, but Andhra’s bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets. Odisha lost their last six wickets for 60 runs and were eventually bowled out for 206 in 48 overs.Centuries from Ganesh Satish and Jitesh Sharma drove Vidarbha‘s colossal 158-run win over Tripura. Satish’s unbeaten 140 off 134 included 12 fours and four sixes, while Jitesh stroked ten fours and one six in his 108-ball 105. The pair added 172 for the second wicket, after opener Faiz Fazal fell for 12 and the partnership took Vidarbha to a commanding 324 for 5 in their 50 overs, after they were put in. None of Tripura’s bowlers conceded less than 50 runs, with Manisankar Murasingh (79 for 1) the most expensive bowler.In reply, no Tripura batsman scored more than 40 as the side was dismissed for 166 in the 48th over. Offspinner Akshay Wakhare picked up 3 for 29, while Ravikumar Thakur and Akshay Karnewar picked up two each.

23-year-old Joel Paris, who has been fast-tracked into the Australia ODI setup in the absence of Mitchell Starc, stands a chance of making his debut in the first ODI at the WACA

Brydon Coverdale09-Jan-2016In the months after the 2011 World Cup, James Pattinson made his ODI debut. So did Pat Cummins. So did Mitchell Marsh. All players who have impacted international cricket, and who got their first chance near the start of a new World Cup cycle. Selectors view one-day cricket in four-year blocks, and after Australia lifted the trophy at the MCG last March, the search is now on for men who could become key players in the coming years.The ODI series against India, starting in Perth on Tuesday, is Australia’s first home one-day series since their World Cup triumph, and while the usual suspects will be there – Steven Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell – there could be a very different looking pace attack. Two fast men are both in line for debuts, the Western Australian left-armer Joel Paris, and the Victorian right-armer Scott Boland.Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner are in the squad, as is Kane Richardson, so there is international experience among the fast men, but Australia’s selectors will be especially keen to see how Paris and Boland handle the step up. At 23, Paris has impressed the selectors already with his bounce and swing; he has been a leading Matador Cup wicket taker in the past two seasons, even if he only made his first-class debut in November.Part of that is down to injury preventing him from breaking into the Sheffield Shield last summer but now at full fitness, Paris has been fast-tracked into the ODI squad in the absence of injured Mitchell Starc. He is every chance of making his debut on his home ground at the WACA, where he has taken all 14 of his first-class wickets at 16.85.”If I do get the opportunity to play, it is going to be a fantastic crowd in WA and being my home state as well, little bit of nerves but I think that is a good thing,” Paris said in Perth on Saturday. “I will certainly be using that as a positive rather than a negative.”It has been a tough couple of years. I have not played a lot of cricket over the last couple of years. I had a quad injury last year that kept me out for the majority of it, and then earlier in the pre-season I had a bit of a relapse with it again. I was not really sure if I would play any cricket this year and fortunately it has worked out pretty well so far.”Paris has the height to extract good bounce and worry the Indian batsmen on the WACA surface, but swing is a key weapon for him, and he knows what works best for him is not always digging it in too short. He will also be keen to play the second ODI at the Gabba, a venue that has brought him the remarkable figures of 7 for 47 from two List A games.”It’s no secret here and the Gabba are the two pitches in Australia that have the most bounce and carry,” Paris said. “Especially here if you put the ball in the right areas, pitch it up and try and bowl full and swing the ball you’re as good a chance as anyone of taking a wicket.”Boland, 26, also has strong recent form at the WACA, having bowled Victoria to victory there with 7 for 31 in the second innings of a Shield game in November. His state team-mate and ODI wicketkeeper Matthew Wade believes Boland could become a key death bowler for Australia, having worked hard at that part of his game in recent seasons.”Scotty was already pretty good at that just with natural talent; he’s worked really hard over the last 18 months to really hone those skills and be a finisher,” Wade said. “That’s probably got him picked in the Australian team, to be honest. He can bowl up front with the newer ball but his death stuff’s been outstanding over the last 12 months. So he’ll own that and hopefully dominate that for us.”Both Paris and Boland are expected to play at some point during the five-match series against India. And if they handle the step up to international cricket well, the best part of a four-year World Cup cycle remains for them to establish themselves in the ODI setup.

Stephen Fleming has been named as head coach of the Pune franchise for the next two seasons of the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2016Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has been named as head coach of the Pune franchise for the next two seasons of the IPL. The appointment was confirmed in a media release by Sanjeev Goenka, head of New Rising group which owns the franchise.Fleming, who had previously coached Chennai Super Kings, was always a favourite for the job once Pune made MS Dhoni their first pick in the IPL player draft on December 15. In Fleming and Dhoni, Pune have gained the brains trust that helped Super Kings become the most successful team in IPL history, including back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011.”He [Fleming] has been remarkably successful as a player in the international arena and I firmly believe that his technical knowhow, perseverance and organisation skills will work wonders for our team,” Goenka said in the media statement.Goenka’s New Rising bagged the ownership rights for the Pune franchise in December in the reverse bidding process put in place by the BCCI to select the two new franchises that would replace Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, both of whom were suspended by the Lodha Committee in relation to the 2013 IPL corruption case.