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Saturday, January 30, 2016
■ CRICKET
In brief
Black Caps eye up Australia Pakistan end their six-game tour of New Zealand at Eden Park tomorrow, but minds are starting to turn towards Australia’s visit. The Australian tour group start arriving in Auckland today, with the first of their three ODIs at Eden Park on Wednesday. It’s the blue riband event of the home summer after – no disrespect – lower key series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. However New Zealand’s players won’t have any difficulty keeping their thoughts on the Pakistanis, according to bowling coach Dimitri Mascarenhas. As he pointed out, courtesy of the washout at Napier on Thursday, New Zealand are in an unbeatable position, 1-0 up with one to play. But there’s a world of difference between a drawn series and a 2-0 beating. “In cricket, players and coaches are only thinking about the next game, that’s most important,” Mascarenhas said yesterday. “We’ve got a big series against Pakistan, then we look ahead to the Australian one-dayers a few days after that. “Pakistan are a very strong team, and showed glimpses of that at the Basin (last Monday) so we want to be on top of our game on Sunday.” Mascarenhas yesterday confirmed he is stepping down from the job at the end of the Australian tour to spend more time with his family in Melbourne. The former England allrounder began working with New Zealand last March and insisted family reasons were the only issue around his decision. “It’s been really tough being on the road a long time. I think it’s the right thing to go home and spend more time with them.” His decision had only been made recently, and wasn’t easy as he’d had “an amazing time and it’s been a great job”. Mascarenhas insisted he had strong relationships with the players and fellow team staff. New Zealand Cricket are embarking on a search for Mascarenhas’ replacement. New Zealand’s next assignment is to Zimbabwe and South Africa in August.
Shield squad Nic Maddinson will skipper a NSW squad comprising Test incumbents Nathan Lyon and Peter Nevill for their Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia in Christchurch. For the first time a Shield game will be held across the Tasman, with the match also being used as a warm-up for Test players involved in Australia’s tour of New Zealand. Off-spinner Will Somerville has been selected and is no stranger to New Zealand conditions having played first class cricket for Otago. The Blues will be without left-arm spinner Stephen O’Keefe, who is still recovering from a calf injury sustained during the third Test against West Indies in Sydney, while fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu has been omitted for the match beginning on February 3. - AAP
Off to China
Captain Brendon McCullum should be on the park against Pakistan tomorrow. As for tomorrow, regular skipper Brendon McCullum is expected to return after being absent since injuring his back colliding with advertising hoardings at Hagley Oval against Sri Lanka on December 28. Coach Mike Hesson was adamant a few weeks ago, before the injury, that while McCullum might miss the odd game over the home summer, whenever he played, he would lead. There would be no playing under the skipper-inwaiting Kane Williamson, who has been in charge in McCullum’s absence. Wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who missed out in the Napier rain, will get a rare chance tomorrow replacing regular short form wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi, who is sorely
out of form with the bat – just one score above eight in his last eight ODI innings. New Zealand’s ODI squad to play Australia is expected to be named this morning, making performances tomorrow irrelevant in that specific context. Pakistan gave New Zealand’s batsmen a serious hurry up in the opening game in Wellington before the lower order wagged hard, lifting the team from 99 for six to 280. Lefthander Henry Nicholls announced himself with a fine 80, and Mitchell Santner and seamers Matt Henry and Mitch McClenaghan did what fast bowlers love doing and swung hard and well – until McClenaghan was clunked
a nasty blow above an eye which required surgery yesterday. New Zealand’s superior familiarity with Eden Park’s geographic peculiarities should stand them in good stead tomorrow. That said, Pakistan were well worth their 16-run T20 win on the ground a fortnight ago. The boundaries square of the wicket can be deceiving to batsmen eyeing the crowd, especially considering the substantial difference with the lengths to clear the straight hit boundary. “We know we don’t want to be pitching it up in the (batsman’s) arc too often. Well look at other ways to get people out,” Mascarenhas said. - NZME
T20 hard format to dominate: Watson Twenty20 is the one format Australia are yet to dominate. They won the inaugural T20 International against New Zealand in Auckland - made famous for Glenn McGrath’s feigned underarm delivery, the opposition’s beige bucket hats and Hamish Marshall’s afro. But since the format has become serious business, success has proven elusive. Australia’s win-loss T20 rate is a tick over 50 per cent, while they’ve failed to lift the trophy at all four World Cups. Part of that record is explained by the hit-or-miss nature of shortened contests. But not all of it according to
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Watson, who has played in all four of the side’s T20 World Cup bids. Watson, named player of the tournament at the 2012 World Cup, feels scheduling has made it hard to build the same confidence exhibited by the Test and ODI sides. T20 clashes are usually tacked onto the end of an ODI series and often the first thing to be cut in jam-packed schedules - Australia played a single T20 fixture in 2015. “There’s not much continuity with the Twenty20 group until really it gets into Twenty20 World Cup mode,” Watson said. “The make-up of the Twenty20 squad (often changes). “It makes it very, very challeng-
ing. That’s one of the major reasons why we have been so inconsistent.” Watson added the contests often boiled down to “pure entertainment value” when the carrot of a World Cup wasn’t there. “It’s challenging. Apart from a Twenty20 World Cup, there really isn’t that much riding on the series apart from of course national pride,” he said. “There’s no rankings and big things.” Bowling looms as a major concern in the side’s upcoming World Cup campaign, which starts against New Zealand in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala on March 18. The national pace battery was
depleted recently by Mitchell Johnson’s retirement, while Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins remain sidelined because of injuries. Johnson, Starc and Cummins were all part of Australia’s successful ODI World Cup campaign in 2015. “There’s no doubt some of the injuries we’ve had are big blows. Especially someone like Mitchell Starc,” Watson said. “He’s an incredible T20 bowler ... he’s got incredible skill with the brand new ball and at the back end of a game as well. “But the guys we’ve got coming into the team, they’ve got very good skills and good experience.” - AAP
Socceroo James Troisi has joined the growing ranks of Australian players in China by signing for big-spending Liaoning Whowin. Troisi, who has been a free agent since severing ties with Saudi outfit Al-Ittihad earlier this month, reportedly had offers on the table from four A-League clubs, including hometown side Adelaide United, as well as interest from America’s Major League Soccer and elsewhere in Asia. But instead, the 27-year-old has taken up a lucrative deal with the ambitious Chinese Super League club, who last week signed another Australian, former Perth Glory skipper Michael Thwaite. - AAP
Johnson’s back Halfback Shaun Johnson will make his return from injury to captain the Warriors at next weekend’s Downer NRL Auckland Nines at Eden Park. Johnson will line up alongside new marquee signing Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and fellow new recruits Jeff Robson, Blake Ayshford and Henare Wells, in his first taste of football since recovering from the broken ankle which ruined his 2015 NRL season. Johnson is pleased to have achieved his goal of being able to play in the tournament and holds no reservations about whether his ankle is ready. - NZH
Perry in demand Dual international Ellyse Perry is a chance to turn out in crucial matches in two codes within 48 hours this weekend. Perry was involved with the Australian women’s cricket team as they attempted to level their T20 International series with India in game two at the MCG yesterday. While the T20 series is due to conclude tomorrow afternoon in Sydney, Perry has been named by her football club team Sydney FC to play in the W-League grand final at Melbourne’s AAMI Park at the same time. - AAP