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30-man Australian team for Champions Trophy hidden from media
Ahead of one of the most challenging periods of cricket in their history, Cricket Australia (CA) appears to be almost in a state of melt down.
Following on from the disastrous tour to India, where the side were totally outplayed in all four Test matches, and beaten by 4-0, CA has made a rather unusual request to the ICC. Appealing for secrecy over their squad of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy, due to be played in England in June, ahead of the Ashes series. Participating teams are supposed to submit their list of probable squad members to the organisers in April. While Australia will comply with this regulation, a spokesman for the ICC has confirmed that CA have made a request that the list of names submitted, is not made public.
Such a request has only added fuel to the argument that CA is an organisation, or perhaps the selection part of it at least, in a state of confusion, and perhaps paranoia in the wake of the controversy surrounding events during the tour to India.
Pakistan, for so long the cricket board that seemed fraught with internal divisions, become the first competing country to submit their 30-man squad, and has no qualms about the release of the names. Veteran batsman Younis Khan being a notable absentee from the list.
India vs Australia Preview
India will play the Australian team in the 3rd Test of the series at the PCA Stadium in Mohali from March 14, 2013. After convincing victories and gaining a 2-0 lead in the series, the Indian players will be raring to have another go at the Aussies in this Test match.
The visiting team suffered another setback after the Australian management decided to suspend four of their key players in the squad for this game on disciplinary grounds. The vice-captain Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja are the players who will be serving the punishment after they failed to give a presentation on their view of the series that includes a plan of action to be suggested by each member of the squad. One change in the Indian squad will be the exclusion of the out of form Virender Sehwag. His opening partner Murali Vijay on the other hand, made good use of himself in the second Test with a big hundred and thus has an opportunity to establish himself in the Test side ahead of the tour to South Africa. Shikhar Dhawan is likely to get his first Test cap in this game, ahead of Ajinkya Rahane who has been labelled as a future middle-order batsman by the selectors before the start of this series.
Cheteshwar Pujara will be the key player with the bat for the home side after his terrific knock in the second game. Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar and skipper MS Dhoni are also in good form with the bat and will look forward to putting up a competitive total on the board. The cause of concern for the home side is Ravindra Jadeja, who is yet to display his batting skills though he has been terrific with the ball.
India vs Australia Preview
A cracker of a contest in the offing as India takes on Australia in the first of four Tests at Chennai.
India will look to end their season on a high as Australia come calling on these shores with the two heavyweights clashing in the first of four Test match series that is to be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.India have made some changes to their squad with Gautam Gambhir the most high profile casualty.
Whether his exclusion comes back to bite India during the course of the series will be interesting to see given his century in the tour match. Virender Sehwag will in all probability open the batting alongside Murali Vijay.
Sachin Tendulkar will be back in the side as well which may well prove to be the difference at the end of the day.
Allan Border Medal Live: Michael Clarke wins again
Declared Test cricketer of the year while Clint McKay wins ODI cricketer of the year award.
Monday night saw Australian Test captain, Michael Clarke, awarded the Allan Border medal for the fourth time. On the same evening in Melbourne, he was also named as the Australian Test Player of the Year. The other major awards of the evening went to Clint McKay, who was named as the One-Day International Player of the Year, and Shane Watson who took the Twenty20 International Player of the Year.
Clarke received 198 votes in the poll for the Border medal, which put him well ahead of Watson and the retiring Michael Hussey, who finished in joint second position with 165 votes each. David Warner and Mitchell Starc finished fourth and fifth places respectively.
Australia look for a more convincing series win against West Indies
They will need more from their batsmen on difficult swinging tracks.
The Australian broadcasters of the ODI series against the West Indies may be trying to sell the product on the back of the nostalgia from yesteryear, when the Windies would have arrived with the likes of Lloyd, Richards, Garner and Lara among their ranks. The point they seem to have missed, is that the side from the Caribbean, under the captaincy of Darren Sammy, arrives as the World Twenty20 Champions. A title that they won as recently as last October in Sri Lanka.
Perhaps the marketing men are looking at the West Indies more recent form, when they fell to an ODI series defeat in Bangladesh, despite winning the preceding Test series.
Australia vs West Indies Preview
Australia will look to make a good start to their ODI series against West Indies at Perth.
West Indies will take on Australia in the first of five ODI at the Western Australia Cricket Association ground in Perth on Friday, February 1.The home team will be without David Warner, who fractured his thumb in the buildup to this series, in the first couple of matches at the WACA at the very least.
The selectors will take a call on his fitness thereafter. The Aussies will be raring to go after a drawn ODI series against Sri Lanka as they look to prepare with an eye on the champions trophy in England later this year.
Australia v West Indies 2013 schedule
Australia to play West Indies in five ODIs, one T20I
West Indies’ Australia tour will be started with a practice match against Prime Minister’s XI at Manuka Oval, Canberra on January 29. This limited-overs series will feature five ODIs and only one Twenty20s.Australia’s international summer schedule was begun on November 9 with a Test match against South Africa at Gabba. The summer season will be ended on the same ground with a Twenty20 match against West Indies on February 13.
From February 1 to February 13, Australia will play the final part of their international summer season against West Indies. Manuka Oval ground will host an ODI as part of centenary celebrations at Canberra.
Ashes 2013 in England schedule
The Ashes 2013 will begin with a four-day game at Taunton on June 26 this year.
The defending champion England’s mission of the Ashes 2013 will be started with back-to-back Tests at Tent Bridge and Lord’s in July.With the beginning of the first Test at Tent Bridge, a run of 15 Ashes Tests between England and Australia will be kicked off within a period of two years.
The fourth match of the series will be held at Durham’s Chester-le-Street, which will be Australia’s first Test match at this ground.
Since 2010, no Test has been held at Old Trafford. Now, Test cricket will return to that ground with the third match of the series. The traditional venue ‘The Oval’ will be the host of the concluding match of the series.
Australia vs Sri Lanka Preview
Sri Lanka will be looking to win the fifth and final match of their series against Australia and win the series with it in Hobart. After rain played spoilsport in Sydney with the series standing 2-1 in favor of the visitors, the Australians can only hope to draw the series when they take the field on Wednesday, January 23.
Australia will be very displeased about their overall performance in the ODI series if they come up short once more in Hobart and the home team will be hoping that it is not the case at the end of the match. The Australians, in all probability, will be missing their skipper Michael Clarke, who injured his ankle in training the other day. George Bailey was the man who featured in the pre match press conference for the captains and he may find himself at the toss tomorrow as well.
The Australians would be heavily dependent on the performances of David Warner and David Hussey to have any chance of a positive result. The former was turning it on with the bat at the SCG before rain stepped in while the latter has been falling to Sri Lankan swing bowling after a good start to the series.
Australia to field first-string team for remaining three ODIs
Australia will field their strongest available side for the rest of the ODI series against Sri Lanka, following their dismal performance during the second ODI, that saw the touring Sri Lankans draw level at 1-1 in the five match series.
Australia, under the captaincy of George Bailey had played well in Melbourne when winning the first match of the series, but had failed to build on that victory, with a sub-standard effort in Adelaide last Sunday. Test captain, Michael Clarke, returns to the ODI side, at will bat at No.3, while the team's leading run scorer in 2012, David Warner is restored to open the batting, and Matthew Wade who has played in 47 of the 50 days of international cricket that has featured Australia in the last year, returns to keep wicket in place of Brad Haddin. The returning players, will see Australia fielding what is close to their best ODI side.
Shane Watson is the only major name missing from the selected squad. The selectors made the decision that with Watson absent, they wanted to have a seam-bowling allrounder to replace him at the Gabba, and with that in mind they called up Moises Henriques, who hasn't appeared in an ODI since 2009.
Unfortunately for Henriques, he has suffered two blows to the hand during training over the past two days, and is awaiting the results of scans that have been taken of the injured hand, before a decision is made as to whether he can take his place in the starting XI.
Australia vs Sri Lanka Preview
Australia will be looking to establish a clear advantage over the Sri Lankans when the two meet for the third One Day International at Brisbane on Thursday, January 18.
The big guns are back in the Australian side after a hiatus of a couple of matches that saw a young Australian team play some brilliant cricket over the past week. Regular skipper Michael Clarke will be back in action and he will be accompanied by his trusted lieutenants in the form of the explosive David Warner and Matthew Wade, who will be looking to prove a point or two to a certain Ian Healey.
Shane Watson is still missing in action for the Aussies, however, there is enough firepower in this lineup to pit them on level terms against 2011 ICC World Cup finalists Sri Lanka. Aaron Finch looks likely to make way for David Warner after missing out on the last match.
It looks like Phil Hughes will hold his place in the starting lineup for the next match. The team looks pretty balanced at this time and they will be pushing for a win.
Sri Lanka will be looking to their bowlers to come up with the goods once more as their batting has been exposed by the Aussies on more than one occasion.
Michael Hussey bows out on a high
Australia gift a third Test match win for Michael Hussey, who has now played his last Test match.
It may have been the last time that we will see Michael Hussey on the international stage during the fourth day of the third and final Test of the series at the SCG, but what we saw was a very familiar sight, as he helped steer his side to victory, as they had to withstand a few late jitters, as they clinched the match, to secure a series whitewash. To most watchers, it would have been most appropriate if Hussey had struck the winning runs, but despite his partner, Mitchell Johnson's best efforts to dead-bat the ball with one run needed, it wasn't to be, as the ball squirted away off of a thick edge, and Hussey scampered through for the winning single.
Australia take control of Sydney Test
But Sri Lanka will hope they can get going with early wickets.
Australia hold a small advantage in pure statistical terms at the end of the second day of the third and final Test at the SCG, but Sri Lanka continued to put up a much more competitive performance, just as they did on day one, than they did in either of the first two Tests.David Warner, Phillip Hughes and skipper Michael Clarke all past fifty for the hosts, but whereas in the previous two Tests they would have expected to go on and bury their opponents under an avalanche of runs, the tourists on this occasion dug in and continued to oppose the hosts with everything that they had at their disposal.
Australia complete easy win in second Test
Australia duly completed a one sided victory against the battered and demoralised Si Lankan tourists on the third day of the second Test, and thereby wrapped up victory in the three match series.
The home bowling attack was accurate and penetrating, which combined with a number of serious injuries to the tourists, saw the match completed by 2.10pm on the third afternoon. The Australians need to dismiss just seven Sri Lankan batsmen to end the innings, as Prasanna Jayawardene, Chanaka Welegedara and Kumar Sangakkara were all unable to bat due to their injuries.Mitchell Johnson, who was later to be named as the Man of the Match had begun the day by helping to steer Australia to a lead of 304, before he inflicted further damage by striking Sangakkara a blow on the hand, which has left the batsman with a suspected broken finger.
Problems began for the tourists in the very first over of their second innings, some of which was of their own making. Dimuth Karunaratne was run out in farcical fashion after scoring the first run of the innings, he failed to beat David Warner's throw to the bowler, whose dive to break the stumps beat the batsman easily, while the next ball saw Tillakaratne Dilshan caught at short leg off of a short delivery from Johnson, which dropped the tourists to 1 for 2.
It is sad for those who saw him at his best, to now see the decline of Jayawardene as a batting power away from Sri Lankan shores. On this occasion, he was undecided as to whether to play or leave a delivery from Bird. His indecision meant that he withdrew his bat too late and dragged the ball onto his stumps via the inside edge.
Australia vs Sri Lanka Preview
The Boxing Day test match is all set to get underway as Australia host Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The visitors will be hoping to level the series while, for the hosts, the sights would be set on wrapping up the series on a result-oriented pitch.
Australia won the first test by 137 runs after a gritty fighting effort by Sri Lanka who stretched the match to the final session before collapsing. Sri Lanka have never won a test match in Australia which makes the task look even more difficult, but not impossible.Its been a while since Australia entered a test match without any worries hampering their build up. This time too the injury list makes some cases of concern for the team management.
Michael Clarke, the captain, is the biggest doubt following a hamstring injury that severely restricted his movement in Hobart. The selectors are unlikely to gamble him with the New Year's test also in sights. That would see Shane Watson captain the side while Usman Khawaja will be included in the eleven. The bowling attack also sees reshuffling after Mitchell Starc and Ben Hilfenhaus were left out to give a chance to uncapped Jackson Bird and Mitchell Johnson.