All posts by h716a5.icu

Moeen Ali has once again proved himself to be a fearless advocate of Britain’s maturity as a multi-cultural nation by telling the British Indians who booed him at Edgbaston that he looks forward to the day when they support England

David Hopps at Headingley04-Sep-2014Moeen Ali has once again proved himself to be a fearless advocate of Britain’s maturity as a multicultural nation by telling the British Indians who booed him at Edgbaston that he looks forward to the day when they all support England.Moeen was persistently booed during the fourth ODI in Birmingham, the city of his birth, as some Indian supporters, most of them also British born, picked him out for special abuse in deference to traditional Indo-Pak rivalry.”I just go out and block it out and try and play as best as I can,” he said. “It’s fine, it just goes straight over my head. I think it’s maybe because my background is from Pakistan but it doesn’t bother me.”Moeen, a practising Muslim, and instantly recognisable by the long beard that he proudly presents as a label of his faith, has previously expressed the belief that British-born Asians should support England.He said at Headingley ahead of the final Royal London ODI that it was especially odd to hear Birmingham voices cheering on India. “Definitely – and they’ve got a Brummy accent or whatever and some of the chants are English chants. But it’s just the way it is. Hopefully over time we can change that.”I spoke to a lot of people and there were a lot of Asians there who were supporting England as well. But, obviously, the majority were supporting India.”Moeen was warned by the ICC in July after taking the field against India during the third Test at the Ageas Bowl wearing “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” wristbands. ICC rules state players should not wear messages relating to “political, religious or racial activities”.His evident pride in wearing the Three Lions of England promises to make him into a cult figure among England cricket supporters during a summer in which he has impressed with both bat and ball. He has shown it is possible to be both a devoutly practising Muslim and a ‎proud England cricketer and British citizen. Such are the tensions of multiculturalism in Britain, however, he never expected it to be an easy ride.

Gareth Breese struck the winning runs in what is likely to be his final appearance for the club, earning Durham their fifth major trophy since 2007. It was no surprise that the word “fairytale” cropped up

Alan Gardner21-Sep-2014Ten years ago, in Gareth Breese’s first season with Durham, the youngest first-class county finished bottom of Division Two of the Championship. On Saturday at Lord’s, Breese struck the winning runs in what is likely to be his final appearance for the club, earning Durham their fifth major trophy since 2007. It was no surprise that the word “fairytale” cropped up.Durham’s success has not been a case of waving a magic wand, however. Their resources are more limited than most, part of the reason that Breese will not be staying on. While the team that won Durham’s first piece of silverware, the 2007 FP Trophy, was built around experienced signings such as Michael Di Venuto, Dale Benkenstein and Ottis Gibson, this side featured important contributions from homegrown players such as the captain, Mark Stoneman, England allrounder Ben Stokes and Chris Rushworth.Breese, along with Paul Collingwood and Phil Mustard, played in both games. The 38-year-old Jamaican, who holds a British passport, could not eat his Lord’s lunch due to nerves but showed stomach for the fight when joining Stokes in the middle with Durham seven down and 36 short of victory. His unbeaten 15 followed 3 for 30 with the ball.”He’s been outstanding in his contributions for Durham and for him to go out on a high, hit the winning runs in a Lord’s final – you couldn’t script it any better really,” Stoneman said.Gareth Breese celebrates with the Royal London Cup after what could be his final appearance as a professional•Getty ImagesBreese has not retired, despite being released, and is open to offers of a contract elsewhere. Pride in what Durham had achieved was his overriding emotion as he held the Royal London Cup, which had become a handy receptacle for a celebratory rum. “If it’s my last game at this level, then I’ve had a fantastic last game,” he said.”It’s a bit bittersweet. I’m enjoying my cricket, I’d love to play a bit more but circumstances dictate and I’m moving on. It’s just been a fantastic farewell to have another team performance and bring another trophy to the northeast.”To move from being one of the beating sticks of county cricket to having won five trophies in the last seven years, that is what the club is all about … We’ve had some really good Kolpak and overseas players come in over the last few years, like Di Venuto and Benkenstein, who’ve contributed so much to Durham, and we’ve been able to mix that with the academy players we’ve been able to produce. You saw today, Paul Coughlin come in and have a really fantastic game.”I was so nervous sitting in the dressing room, I couldn’t eat my lunch – lunch at Lord’s is fantastic, and not to eat it says enough. I just kept pacing the dressing room and in the back of my mind was ‘Can we pull this off’?'”They could, despite the best efforts of Jeetan Patel and a tenacious Warwickshire side who lost an important toss but fought to keep their hopes of a limited-overs double alive. When Breese attempted to leave what turned out to the final delivery of the match and the ball squirted off the bat to third man for the winning boundary, the boisterous team celebrations, which included a rendition of “Blaydon Races” with the Durham supporters, could begin.It completed their sixth 50-over win in a row as part of a dramatic late-season resurgence, which has seen them win six consecutive games in all competitions. In August, when Durham lost by one wicket to Lancashire, the 2013 champions were second from bottom in Division One; they could end up finishing second, to go with the Royal London title.In the revamped one-day competition Durham only used 13 players, again testament to a tight-knit squad. Stoneman also had praise for Coughlin after his first ever appearance at Lord’s as a replacement for John Hastings, Durham’s overseas signing who had left to take part in the Champions League. Next season, they can expect to see less of Stokes – though his ECB central contract may free up some funds to spend elsewhere – and Breese’s departure will also leave a hole to fill in limited-overs cricket.”It’s going to be tough but when I look a the way we’ve gone this season, if we’ve lost a player someone has come in and performed,” Stoneman said. “There’s definitely strength and depth in the club and some younger players coming through, which is why Durham County Cricket Club came about in the first place. There are a lot of good cricketers in the region, so hopefully that production line can continue.”Durham’s team spirit and sense of the collective was summed up the Man of the Match, Stokes: “We’ve been around each other for a number of years now and we know how everyone plays cricket and everyone’s personality. Everyone fits into the changing room and we’re not just colleagues, we’re mates as well. I think that goes a long way to how successful we’ve been this year.”The celebrations, Stoneman acknowledged, would be at the player’s own expense. “But we’ll not worry too much about that.” Durham, it seems, have a few things that money can’t buy.

Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and fast bowler Rubel Hossain have been included in Bangladesh’s 15-member men’s team for the Asian Games, which will be held in Incheon, South Korea, between September 19 and October 4

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2014Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and fast bowler Rubel Hossain have been included in Bangladesh’s 15-member men’s team for the Asian Games, which will be held in Incheon, South Korea, between September 19 and October 4. The two players have been named as replacements for offspinner Sohag Gazi and fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain, who were reported for suspect actions recently.According to ICC regulations, both Gazi and Al-Amin are expected to undergo tests to have their actions examined. While Gazi was reported during the ODI series in West Indies, Al-Amin was reported after the first Test in St Vincent.The selection in the Asian Games squad can be considered an important step for Shakib, who has faced a turbulent time in the past few months. In July, the Bangladesh Cricket Board suspended the allrounder for six months for what it considered “serious misbehaviour” with Bangladesh’s new coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, and for his altercation with a spectator during an ODI against India. However, in August, the board reduced his suspension by three-and-a-half months, making him eligible for selection from September 15.Rubel had picked up an injury during the World T20 and only recently made his return to the national side on the West Indies tour, playing a T20 and the first Test. He was not part of the squad for the three-match ODI series against India in June.Bangladesh, led by Mashrafe Mortaza, will participate in the Asian Games alongside teams from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives and hosts South Korea.Bangladesh men’s squad for Asian Games: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Shamsur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Muktar Ali, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed

The five-match ODI series starting on Friday in Perth between Australia and South Africa will be important for both teams as they prepare for the World Cup

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale13-Nov-2014Match facts Friday, November 14, Perth
Start time 1120 local (0320GMT)Big PictureBack at home after the tribulations and humiliations of the Test series in the UAE, Michael Clarke’s Australians will begin their home summer on Friday at the WACA. Of course, a team that called itself Australia has played three Twenty20s over the past week and a half, but Glenn Maxwell was the only man in that side who had been part of the Test debacle against Pakistan. His team-mates – Clarke, David Warner, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Marsh – have all rested and now return to the national side. They do so in conditions that should make them happier; the surfaces in Abu Dhabi and Perth share about as much in common as the surfaces of Neptune and Mars.But their opponents, South Africa, don’t mind the quick and bouncy conditions either. In fact, across all formats they have played 11 matches at the WACA and have only ever lost once. Johnson will like bowling on the Perth pitch, but so will Dale Steyn. And Morne Morkel. And Vernon Philander. South Africa can also claim the recent advantage, having beaten Australia in the tri-series final in Zimbabwe in September. It has been a busy year of Australia-South Africa clashes; by the end of this month the two teams will have met in 16 games across all formats in 2014.However, this will be the first meeting of Steyn and Clarke, neither of whom were part of the T20 series, since a certain sledging incident on the final day of the Cape Town Test in March. As the Australians moved towards a series win, Clarke said something to Steyn that stuck with the South African. During the tri-series in Zimbabwe he suggested that he had not forgiven Clarke for the comment, and had taken it personally. It might seem a petty squabble but could add some extra heat to a series that will already be important for both teams, the Nos.2 and 3 on the ICC’s one-day rankings, as they prepare for the World Cup.Form guide (last five completed games most recent first)
Australia WWWLW
South Africa WWWWLIn the spotlightA year and a half ago, Matthew Wade was Australia’s incumbent wicketkeeper in all formats. Now, Brad Haddin is, and the strength of the wicketkeeping contenders around Australia meant there was no clear second in line. But when the selectors wanted to give Haddin a rest they chose Wade for the two Perth games, and the shoulder injury Haddin sustained in the UAE means Wade is likely to play the whole ODI series. And if there is any lingering doubt over Haddin’s fitness for the first Test against India at the Gabba, this is Wade’s big chance to remind everyone of his international credentials.Steyn is not the only fast bowler who will be keen to reacquaint himself with Australia’s captain. During the Cape Town Test, Clarke was left with a fractured shoulder after a bouncer barrage from Morne Morkel, who also struck him on the helmet, forearm, ribs, hands and elbow during the fierce spell. Clarke went on to make an unbeaten 161, but not without some serious discomfort. The bounce available for fast men at the WACA will make Morkel a challenging opponent once again.Shane Watson is back in Australia’s one-day side having missed their past two series•Getty ImagesTeam news The return of Shane Watson, who missed the tri-series in Zimbabwe and the tour of the UAE, will necessitate a reworking of the batting line-up. He will slot in at No.3, which means that Steven Smith has been squeezed out despite his excellent one-day form against Pakistan. Australia have opted against taking a specialist spinner to Perth, where Glenn Maxwell will be their only slow bowler. They have opted for a deep batting line-up with allrounders Watson and Mitchell Marsh both in the team.Australia 1 Aaron Finch, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Matthew Wade (wk), 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 11 Josh Hazlewood.JP Duminy’s knee injury has opened up a spot in the South Africa line-up and should mean that there is room for both Rilee Rossouw and David Miller, with Ryan McLaren able to slot in at No.7. The rest of their side seems settled and the only question would be whether they play a spinner on the fast Perth pitch.South Africa (possible) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 Rilee Rossouw, 6 David Miller, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir/Kyle Abbott.Pitch and conditions The WACA is back to its fast and bouncy best, which means encouragement for the quick bowlers but also for batsmen who can use the pace of the ball. When England batted first in the most recent ODI at the venue, they posted 316. The forecast for Friday is for a sunny day and a top of 24C.Stats and trivia South Africa have played eight ODIs at the WACA and have lost only once, to Australia in 2001-02 Despite Mitchell Johnson’s formidable Test record at the WACA, he has taken only 11 wickets in nine ODIs there, and none in his past three games. His last ODI wickets in Perth came in February 2011 Australia have five bowlers in the top 50 ODI rankings but Johnson is the only one playing. James Faulkner and Mitchell Starc are playing Sheffield Shield cricket instead, while Clint McKay and Xavier Doherty are on the outer Discussions between the TV umpire and the on-field officials will be broadcast to viewers at home during this seriesQuotes “I saw it the other day and it looked quite fast and bouncy. That was with the pink ball. Normally the white ball can go through pretty quickly and swing nicely.”
“We play a very similar style of cricket on the field. We are competitive. We like to get into each other’s faces.”

The BCCI has given N Srinivasan a clean chit and said no action will be taken against IPL COO Sundar Raman in the IPL corruption case

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-20144:43

‘He’s one of our own, let’s protect him’

The BCCI has said allegations against its sidelined president N Srinivasan, who is also the ICC chairman, are baseless and has given him a clean chit in the IPL corruption case after its working committee reviewed the Mudgal report at a meeting in Chennai.It also decided to not take any action against IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman, whom the Supreme Court-appointed Mudgal committee had found to “know a contact of a bookie and contacting him eight times in a season” and not taking any action on information he had received about betting by two IPL team owners.The working committee also postponed the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting, for the second time, to December 17. It will now be held two-and-a-half months later than it is customarily held each year.”The Members noted the conclusions in the final report of the Mudgal committee,” the BCCI said, “and felt that there is no taint on the conduct of Mr. N. Srinivasan and the allegations levelled against him by unscrupulous elements were baseless and were aimed at destabilising the working of the BCCI.”The release was similarly forthright in expressing the BCCI’s support of Raman. “Mr. Sundar Raman gave his explanation relating to his role with reference to the conclusions relating to him in the report of the Mudgal committee. The Members heard his explanation and decided that the Board should support Mr Sundar Raman to represent himself before the Supreme Court.”On November 24, Raman will have to respond to the Mudgal report charges in the Supreme Court.Last week, the Supreme Court of India named four key individuals connected with Indian cricket, including Srinivasan, and Raman, in connection with the Mudgal report into the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case. The report found Srinivasan not guilty of either betting or fixing, or of having tried to prevent the investigation into the IPL 2013 corruption scandal. However, the report stated that Srinivasan, along with four other BCCI officials, knew about an IPL player violating the code of conduct, but took no action.

Brad Haddin has looked awkward against the short ball during the series, but he says India’s fast bowlers are welcome to keep bouncing him

Daniel Brettig01-Jan-20152:39

Bevan: Leadership a key factor Haddin brings

Australia’s vice-captain and senior pro Brad Haddin knows he looked ugly when turning his back on short-pitched bowling from India on Boxing Day. He doesn’t care.Haddin also knows there will be more short stuff coming his way should he survive any length of time at the SCG. He looks forward to it.The awkward evasive action Haddin took at the MCG was so pronounced that even after he swatted away another series of bouncers the following morning, India were adamant he would receive more of the same in future. “We really thought he had a genuine weakness over there,” said R Ashwin during the Test. “We continue to think he has a weakness over there. We will continue to target him in the next Test match as well.”‘A true gentleman’

Brad Haddin was warm in his praise for MS Dhoni and his unfailingly even temperament, something Australia’s wicketkeeper believes was the key to his opposite number’s survival for so long as India captain.
“The great thing about MS Dhoni was his temperament,” Haddin said. “No matter where the game was going you wouldn’t know. He had a pretty even tempo through whatever situation was going on and that’s why he’s had such longevity in the game.
“I was very surprised [he retired]. He’s been a great servant for Indian cricket, the way he handles himself and the team, the calmness he brings to a very, very big job in captaining the Indian cricket team. He was great to play against and a true gentleman of the game. I think he’s left Indian cricket in a better place than it was when he took over.”
Given their confrontations during the MCG Test, it was no surprise Haddin had less to say about Dhoni’s successor Virat Kohli, though he did acknowledge an “outstanding” innings on the last day in Adelaide. “I’m not here to talk about Kohli,” Haddin said.

A six down the ground from Ashwin was about Haddin’s only moment of poise that evening, and he said he had one thing on his mind – surviving until the second morning in the company of Steven Smith.”I think I’ve said for a while I feel in better touch with the bat than I did leading into last summer. It was good to contribute with the bat the other day but the big thing was we had to get through that night,” Haddin said. “We couldn’t expose our lower order late that night and that was the most pleasing thing from Steven and my point of view – getting through that uncomfortable 10 overs knowing the Indian bowlers had to back up the next day.”That was a pretty big moment in the game where Steven and I had to take responsibility just to get through. I just took the risk out of the game from my point of view. It was about getting through that moment, that was a big moment in the Test match. We know we need their bowlers backing up day after day. And we’ve got a strong tail but we don’t want to expose them to fresh bowlers.”We had a day under the legs of the Indian bowlers, that was the main part of it, getting through and not exposing tail to the new ball and an uncomfortable period. You’ve seen what Ryano [Harris], Mitch [Johnson] and all the guys did when the Indian bowlers got tired. I think we put on over 250 runs and I was pleased to get through that period with Steven to set up the game and make the Indian bowlers keep coming back for more and more.”India’s tactical approach was about as subtle as Ashwin’s words. On Boxing Day night and the following morning, they hared in at Haddin from around the wicket, with a field set so exclusively for bouncers that he barely needed to ponder any other option. It helped that the swifter Umesh Yadav was curiously unused when Haddin began to think more of scoring.”I knew where they were bowling. It was about survival the night before, to get through and not expose our tail late in the day,” Haddin said. “The next day was about changing the momentum of the game. There was no secret where they were going to bowl – it was pretty predictable what was going to happen but the difference was I needed to change the momentum of the game because it was a different stage and we needed to drive the game.”In that respect it was pretty easy to get a plan because we knew what was coming. I hit two fours and they went back to conventional bowling. If that’s their plan, they’ll have plans for it and I’ll combat them whatever way I see fit. If their bowlers want to bang it down halfway for an hour and a half then go for your life.”Haddin was understandably supportive of the tactical rein pulled by his pupil and now captain Smith, declaring only when India’s chances of chasing a final day target had become minimal and thus sealing the series. Haddin’s view is that Australia earned the right to close India out by dictating the direction not only of the game but the series.”We won the series, that’s the main thing we took out of it,” he said. “I think we earned the right to play the way we did in Melbourne. We’ve played India totally out of the series. Come Sydney if we get ourselves into that situation it’d be different because we’ve taken India out of the series. We earned the right to play the way we did.”We knew exactly where the game was going, what path it was, and we were very happy with where it ended up with a series win. We went out there and said if we were to create 10 chances we’ll win the game and we did create 10 chances, we just didn’t take a few.”Those few across two innings were more than an Australian side have shelled for quite some time, and Haddin accepted this as the major area in which the team needed to improve over the course of the final Test. “That wasn’t acceptable for an Australian cricket team,” he said. “We set our standards a lot higher than that and we’ve got to improve. We can’t do that to our bowlers.”Our bowlers are creating chances and we only need them to create 20 chances. We should be doing the best we can to take all those chances and make the job as easy as we can for the bowlers. They’ve got a hard slog out there. It’s not acceptable from us. Everyone knows it wasn’t the way Australians present themselves in the field and we’ve got to be better.”

Being England cricket captain throws up its fair share of challenges, but blackmail plots are not usually among them

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-20150:41

Butcher: Can’t recall anything like Morgan’s blackmail

Being England cricket captain throws up its fair share of challenges, but blackmail plots are not usually among them. However, Eoin Morgan has been embroiled in a bizarre case of an Australian man demanding £35,000 from the ECB otherwise he threatened to release “embarrassing” information about a relationship Morgan had with an Australian woman five years ago. Both were single at the time.The plot came to light in the build-up to the one-day international against Australia in Hobart following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police and ECB staff with the squad in Australia. The man at the centre of the incident has been identified, and is the current partner of the woman Morgan dated, but no charges will be brought.An ECB statement said: “In the last few days, the ECB received an email from an Australian man demanding a five figure sum to prevent a story about our one-day captain Eoin Morgan appearing in the national newspapers in the UK and Australia.”The allegations related to a brief relationship Eoin had with a woman from Australia five years ago. Following liaison with the Metropolitan Police, our support team on the ground in Australia investigated the blackmail.”This involved approaching the man in question who, when confronted, admitted and apologised for his actions, blaming jealousy (he is presently in a relationship with the woman concerned).”The ECB will not allow anyone to disrupt our team’s performance on the field of play. We are wholly focussed on winning cricket matches. This matter has now been brought to a conclusion and we will not be seeking further action against the individual at this stage.”Paul Downton, the managing director of England cricket, added: “We will not allow anyone to disrupt our team’s preparation or performance in the tri-series and as we build up to the World Cup. I am pleased that this issue has now been brought to a swift conclusion.”At this point we’d like to thank the Metropolitan Police for their advice, which assisted us in dealing with this in the swiftest possible manner.”

Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes England’s decision to axe Alastair Cook as captain so close to the World Cup was a case of “better late than never”

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2015Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes England’s decision to axe Alastair Cook as captain so close to the World Cup was a case of “better late than never”. Dravid was speaking on Contenders, ESPNcricinfo’s preview show on World Cup 2015. Dravid’s co-panelist on the show, former South African captain Graeme Smith said Cook could never shed the “baggage” of poor form that he carried from England’s disastrous Ashes campaign in Australia in 2013-14.”They tried to give him every single opportunity to try and correct that because they believe he was the right leader to take England into the World Cup,” Dravid said. “But his form was not good enough to warrant a place in the playing eleven. There were others exciting players. It was almost changing the way England plays cricket to suit one person and try and get him into the playing eleven. They hoped that he would get into good form. But once it did not happen, they made the change. Better late than never. It would have been really difficult for them to go into a World Cup with the captain in such poor form.”Smith drew on his own experiences as captain when battling poor form as one of the team’s frontline batsmen. “For me it was never was about selectors, it was always about team-mates,” he said. “You are asking a lot from your team. You’re trying to get the best out of your team consistently. It’s very important that as a captain you perform yourself, that you lead by example – often that benefits your leadership.”Both Dravid and Smith said they thought the ECB cutting ties with Kevin Pietersen was not the best decision for the team. Smith was of the view that England’s mindset to playing the game was completely different to Pietersen’s, and said it may have been the reason for the relationship to rupture. However, he said, Pietersen still was a “match-winner”.”You always look at how that player was managed,” Smith said. “Did they have a lot of discussion? Did they give him an opportunity to put things right and did he not listen? For me, I think it was a mistake. He was one match-winner in the team. What it boils down to is the mindset of the England team. It is very stats driven, lots of sheets of paper, trying to decide what’s the best way to run a team, the best way to play cricket. And it sort of lacks the instinctive style of play that KP has. They probably need more of that in cricket and less of the sort of run-of-the-mill, tick-the-boxes.”Dravid said: “In my opinion they made that decision a little too early because he’s been a great player. And irrespective of what your feelings are about him, he’s the kind of player that can impact a game, change a game. I mean, England’s one big ICC tournament success in the recent past has been the World T20 and Pietersen played a big role in that. He’s one power player, one X-factor that England had and I thought they would have tried their best [to keep him playing]. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t and we will never know the real story. But once they went down that path to change it at the last minute was never going to happen.”

Though a low-key approach to the knockouts has suited New Zealand at past world events, they have a target painted on their backs this time around, coach Mike Hesson acknowledged

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2015Dark horses no longer. New Zealand sounded their loudest warning yet as they defeated Sri Lanka by 98 runs on Saturday, confirming their place among the favourites. But though a low-key approach to the knockouts has suited New Zealand at past world events, they have a target painted on their backs this time around, coach Mike Hesson acknowledged.”I don’t think we can fly under the radar,” Hesson said. “We’ve performed well for a while, people have taken note of that. If we keep performing well, we’ll get some attention. It’s important that we’ve built up momentum and confidence – that’s a big part of being consistent. But as a group we don’t get carried away.”Among the hallmarks of New Zealand’s style in the past 18 months has been their aggression, with bat, ball and in the field. Brendon McCullum has led by example in that front, memorably hitting his first ball of the tournament for four to launch his innings of 65 off 49 balls. He has also continued to search for wickets with his bowlers, employing close-catchers well into the middle overs, while he uses up overs from his most penetrative bowlers without fear of being exposed later in the innings.”I think the sides that continue to attack with the ball are the ones that can turn an opposition 350 into 180,” Hesson said. “The new rules have taken out that trivial play between 15 and 40 overs. That area of the game has been invigorated, and there are more boundary opportunities. Therefore if you sit back and watch and wait, you can be chasing a big total.”On Saturday, New Zealand hunted for middle-overs wickets with Daniel Vettori, who snared Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene, and Adam Milne, who finished with two wickets. Hesson had praise for Milne and said that though there were “sore bodies” in the New Zealand camp, they possessed the bowling resources to cope with potentially unavailable players for Tuesday’s match against Scotland.”Adam’s bowling got better as the game went on,” he said. “He bowled with some gas and would have got a lot of confidence out of the wickets he picked up at the end.””But for us Adam and Mitchell McClenaghan do a similar role. They are the first-change bowlers who can keep attacking through those middle overs. Mitch and Adam can also take the new ball if required. Kyle [Mills] has also shown how good he can be in certain conditions as well. It’s nice to have five guys that are performing pretty well.”The game against Scotland is expected to be one of New Zealand’s most straightforward challenges, in their current form.”I’ve stated before that there would be a number of upsets in this tournament. If sides take others lightly, they could get turned over and we’ll definitely prepare and scout as best we can with Scotland,” he said. “They smashed Ireland and they’ve put a lot of other sides under pressure. We don’t have a heck of a lot of footage, but we do have some good information. We’ll prepare as well as for any international.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody believes England “would be foolish” not to consider Kevin Pietersen “as a serious option” if he is able to prove his fitness and form in county cricket

Gaurav Kalra25-Mar-20155:25

‘Pietersen has higher things on his list to address’ – Moody

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody believes England “would be foolish” not to consider Kevin Pietersen “as a serious option” if he is able to prove his fitness and form in county cricket. Sunrisers had agreed to release Pietersen from the group stages of IPL 2015 to allow him to pursue his ambition of earning a recall to the England Test team.”A player of this stature on and off the field is a big loss to any side, particularly because he had so much to prove and he had such a good Big Bash, so he is in such quality form,” Moody told ESPNcricinfo from Perth. “It is disappointing but we also recognise his personal situation and I don’t think we can ever step in the way of anyone’s desire to want to continue, or at least pursue their international dream.”While thanking Sunrisers for their “support and understanding” in making the decision, Pietersen accepted he will need to “focus on performing domestically” to give himself the best possible chance of meriting selection again. Moody believes that a lot of “water has to pass under the bridge” before Pietersen can hope to even be considered.”The last 12-18 months of his international career was plagued with injury,” Moody said. “So he needs to prove his fitness and form. His record shows what he is capable of delivering. So you put those two things together and I think England will be foolish not to consider him as a serious option. Where he fits into the balance of their Test side is another question because their top six look quite settled at the moment.”So things will have to happen with regard to that opening, but as we know, with our game things can happen pretty quickly. To have him eager, on the sidelines, fit and punching out runs game after game is only a positive sign for England.”Moody, who played several seasons of county cricket himself, is convinced Pietersen will be highly motivated and do “everything he possibly can” to finish some “unfinished business” with regards to his international career.”A chapter of his international career is still left and it was cut short and any chance is good enough at that level to try and scale that mountain again,” Moody said. “If it means to him that he has to go through the hard graft of building a huge amount of runs in the early part of the summer and if his opportunity doesn’t come till the back end of the summer or even after that, I am sure he’s prepared to give it a shot.Tom Moody – “I think his motivation is going to be very high, purely because he’s got an agenda, which is to score as many runs as he can to make it impossible for the selectors to ignore him”•PA Photos”I think his motivation is going to be very high, purely because he’s got an agenda, which is to score as many runs as he can to make it impossible for the selectors to ignore him. It is not going to be easy, at the start of the English summer the ball can seam around a bit, it is going to be hard work for a batsman.”Those cold mornings, getting up with three jumpers on, is not as glorious as representing an IPL team in a blockbuster Twenty20 tournament. But he has got higher things on his list to address and that is to rejuvenate his international career.”Pietersen’s skirmishes with coaches in the past have been well documented. He was less than charitable towards Andy Flower in his autobiography, and in 2008 when he was captain, had a fallout with Peter Moores, leading to both men losing their jobs. In his second stint as England coach , Moores is already under pressure after England’s early exit from the World Cup. Moody, who has coached several teams including Sri Lanka, believes handling players with differing personalities in a team is part of the “excitement of management.””I think in every team you are going to have different personalities,” he said. “We are all not cut out of the same cloth, that needs to be embraced. Quite often your best players are those challenging players who push the boundaries. At the end of the day that’s all part of the excitement of management, to mould those contrasting personalities into a successful team.”Although Pietersen would have added muscle to the Sunrisers squad, Moody is confident there is enough batting depth available among the international recruits to tide over his loss. The presence of David Warner, who has been named captain, Eoin Morgan, Kane Williamson and Ravi Bopara makes Moody believe the team has “all bases covered” to mount a strong campaign.