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Jason Holder has put West Indies’ loss in the first T20 against Pakistan largely down to the unfamiliarity factor

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2017Allrounder Jason Holder has put West Indies’ loss in the first T20 against Pakistan largely down to the unfamiliarity factor.Shadab Khan, the 18-year-old debutant legspinner, did a lot of the damage as West Indies were kept to 111 for 8 in Barbados, a total Pakistan chased down with 17 balls and six wickets to spare. Going into the rest of the series, Holder said West Indies would need to come up with plans to counter the new faces they are up against, especially the spinners.”We need to just sit down and work out our plans against all their bowlers,” Holder said. “Obviously we are coming up against some guys who we have never played. In this situation, we need to find how best to play them given the conditions that we have.”We struggled with their slow bowlers, and it’s a situation where we need to counteract their slow bowlers in the middle. Those were the guys who really put the strangle on us up front.”Holder said while the pitch was slow, it was not to blame for West Indies’ score; that was down to the early run-out of Evin Lewis and the repeated loss of wickets at “crucial stages”.”I felt that the wicket we had today was slow, it was a little bit more difficult to hit on. It broke up a little earlier than I thought it would, but bearing that in mind, we just needed to find ways to knock some balls back down the pitch. It was a good enough pitch for us to get 150 at least. Definitely think if we had 150 on the board it would’ve been a much better game.”It’s clear we didn’t bat well. We started off with a run-out, which gave them momentum. It was a very good piece of fielding, but we never really recovered from there. It was a situation in the middle where we had to consolidate, build a partnership.”We tried to do that with Sunil [Narine] and [Kieron] Pollard, probably our last recognised partnership, and Carlos [Brathwaite] came in and joined Pollard and played a good knock, but we were always struggling with wickets. We lost wickets at crucial stages and we could never lay a platform from where we could blast.”The second of four T20s will be played in Port of Spain on March 30.

South Africa have named an unchanged squad for the last two Tests of the home series against England

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-20161:35

Selectors keep faith in South Africa squad

South Africa’s selectors have kept faith in the squad that drew the Newlands’ Test and named an unchanged 16 for the remaining two matches against England. They also largely stuck with the same ODI squad that beat India 3-2 last November, with left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso left out and batsman Rilee Rossouw brought back in. AB de Villiers will lead both sides after taking over from Hashim Amla as Test captain.That meant no space for specialist opening batsman Stephen Cook in the Test squad, which suggests out of form Stiaan van Zyl will have another opportunity to take ownership of the role. Vernon Philander, who has been sidelined with torn ankle ligaments, also does not appear to be in line for an international comeback until at least the end of February, and offspinner Simon Harmer also misses out.”We were highly encouraged by the performance put up at Newlands. The very fact that they were nearly able to force a win after conceding 600 runs on the first innings speaks volumes for the character of this group of players,” said Linda Zondi, South Africa’s selection panel convener. “We feel we have all our bases covered and also the options that will enable the team to exploit whatever conditions they encounter at the Wanderers Stadium and at SuperSport Park.”Both venues promise fast, bouncy surfaces with good carry so South Africa’s hopes will be pinned on Dale Steyn being fit after he missed four of the last six Tests with injury. At the conclusion of the Newlands match, Steyn was said to be 50-50 and team management will reassess his status when the squad regroups in Johannesburg on Monday. If he is fit, they will have to leave out either Chris Morris or Kagiso Rabada.Should Steyn still be struggling, South Africa have options. Kyle Abbott has fully recovered from a hamstring niggle while Hardus Viljoen, who plays his domestic cricket for the Johannesburg-based Lions franchise and knows the Wanderers well, has also been retained in the squad. South Africa have thus also left open the possibility of playing four quicks.Changes to the batting department appear unlikely as the only reserve batsman in the squad, Rossouw, is not a specialist opener and the only place open would be in the top two. Van Zyl has scored just 52 runs in this last seven innings as an opener but is holding on to his place.After Faf du Plessis regained form in Cape Town and Temba Bavuma showed what he is capable of in the middle order, JP Duminy will find it difficult to find his way back into the XI. He made a strong case for comeback though, with a double hundred for the Cobras against the Lions in Paarl in the first-class competition. In the same match, discarded wicketkeeper Dane Vilas scored 150 to remind the selectors that Quinton de Kock is not the only option available to them. For now, they don’t seem to think so.Test squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, Stiaan van Zyl, Hardus ViljoenODI squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn

Shane Watson followed James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc in providing a tantalising glimpse of the destructive power to be found within this Australian side as they warmed up against Somerset

The Report by Daniel Brettig27-Jun-2013Stumps
ScorecardMichael Clarke looked in no discomfort in his first innings back from injury•Associated Press

Shane Watson followed James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc in providing a tantalising glimpse of the destructive power to be found within this Australian side as they warmed up against Somerset. In sending Watson up to open the innings and promising he will stay there, the new coach, Darren Lehmann, appeared to bring an immediate change to the allrounder’s previously drifting game.An innings of 90, on a blameless pitch against presentable bowling, does not quite indicate that Watson is to regain the Test match effectiveness that won him two Allan Border Medals, and had him named as Michael Clarke’s deputy in 2011. In fact the score itself was emblematic of Watson’s career aversion to making Test hundreds. But the clarity of his stroke production and the ease of his rapid scoring was exactly what Lehmann will hope for against Jimmy Anderson and company.It was a marked contrast from Watson’s previous innings, a brief affair against Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy when one cover drive was followed by a horrid attempt to cut in line of the stumps. Wasteful dismissals such as these have been a significant factor in the failure of Watson to deliver on a promise that has hung in the air around him for a decade now, but there was nothing muddled about the way he opened up at Taunton, driving when the bowlers overpitched, pulling or glancing when short, and leaving most in between.Michael Clarke also offered a promising cameo, finding touch in his first innings of any kind for three months before rain brought an early end to day two. A pair of low scores for Ed Cowan and Usman Khawaja did not enhance either left-hander’s chances of winning a place in the XI for the first Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. As the others proved, these were ideal conditions for batting.Phillip Hughes and Brad Haddin were easing their way towards useful tallies when the showers arrived. Haddin lofted George Dockrell down the ground with typical flourish to have the ball pounding off the scorers’ window in the Taunton press box. When the match resumes, Hughes should have the opportunity to press his case for retention after Cowan and Khawaja had failed to capitalise on their precedence in the batting order.Watson ran up a huge percentage of his runs in boundaries, his straight drives a particular delight. He also took full advantage whenever Craig Meschede angled into the pads, flicking with wristy power between midwicket and mid on. He briefly threatened to collar a century before lunch, but a front edge from the bowling of the slippery Craig Overton ended a stay that lasted only 94 balls, 20 of which reached the rope.Clarke’s start was a little less forthright, as could be expected for someone who had not batted since the Mohali Test match against India in March, when the suspension of four players for failing to follow instructions was followed by the flaring up of his chronic back condition. But he punched a couple of drives through cover off the back foot to get going, and showed familiar balance and footwork against Dockrell’s left-arm spin. It took a precisely-pitched away swinger from Meschede to dislodge Clarke, although by then he had probably given his back enough of a work out.Cowan, whose odds of playing in Nottingham were lengthened somewhat by the coach Darren Lehmann’s declaration that Watson would definitely open, fell in the very first over of the morning when he was deemed to have touched a Gemaal Hussain delivery on its way through to the wicketkeeper Alex Barrow. The dismissal had Cowan pointing agitatedly towards his trouser or pocket, but whatever the merits of the decision it now means one less opportunity to make the runs that would shore up his place, which may need to be earned again to some extent under Lehmann.Khawaja survived somewhat longer for his 27, but it was a scratchy effort with numerous angled deliveries troubling him outside off stump. He was struck on the body when trying to pull Overton, who was slippery, and fell in an unsurprising manner by wafting at Meschede to be pouched in the slips. Hughes had time to snick one streaky boundary before the morning session concluded.Minus Watson, the afternoon’s scoring was more sedate, but Clarke’s lack of discomfort was a welcome sign that his back has settled, and Hughes worked the ball around effectively with only the occasional flirt through the slips. He remained a little more hesitant against spin, but at least managed to get off the strike every now and then, which represented progress from India. Like Watson, a fresh start may be about to do him some good.

Sajid Mahmood had a night to forget as Lancashire lost to Derbyshire by 17 runs via the Duckworth/Lewis method in a Friends Life t20 game played in steady rain under the County Ground floodlights.

14-Jun-2012
ScorecardSajid Mahmood had a night to forget as Lancashire lost to Derbyshire by 17 runs via the Duckworth/Lewis method in a Friends Life t20 game played in steady rain under the County Ground floodlights.Mahmood went for 42 off 15 balls and 17 off his last three as Derbyshire reached 118 for 5 in the 12th over after Stephen Cross hit three sixes to top score with 46 out of Lancashire’s 168 for 6.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan helped Derbyshire get ahead of the rate with an unbeaten 19 before the rain became too heavy after his four overs had earlier cost 56, the second most expensive spell by a Derbyshire bowler in T20 cricket. In testing conditions, Rana’s reputation as one of the competition’s top bowlers was dented with his first over costing 21 as Stephen Moore pulled and drove him for two sixes. When he returned 10 overs later, Croft pulled him for two more.In between the assault on Naved, Derbyshire bowled well in the blustery, wet conditions with Tim Groenewald having Moore caught behind for 34 from 21 balls in the sixth over. Karl Brown made 27 off 25 balls after he was dropped twice before Chesney Hughes took a fierce return catch, and with David Wainwright also bowling his left-arm spin tightly, Lancashire could not break free.Gareth Cross pulled Mark Turner for six but was run out by a smart piece of fielding by Naved off his own bowling and Croft missed out on his 50 when he chipped Turner to mid off in the 19th over.With the rain falling, Derbyshire needed to keep up with Duckworth/Lewis and Wes Durston gave them just the start they needed with 31 from 16 balls before he sliced the expensive Mahmood to point. Lancashire were back in it when Derbyshire slipped from 74 for 2 to 82 for 5 in three overs, but the game was decided when Mahmood returned to the attack in the 12th over.Rana cut his first ball for four before the former England paceman conceded six wides and a no ball. 17 had come from three legitimate balls when the umpires took the players off with Derbyshire 17 ahead of the required rate.

David Hussey has said he empathises with Simon Katich after the Test opener was left out of Cricket Australia’s contract list on Tuesday

Brydon Coverdale08-Jun-2011David Hussey has said he empathises with Simon Katich after the Test opener was left out of Cricket Australia’s contract list on Tuesday. Hussey was one of the surprise winners in the 25-man group, regaining his national deal a year after being axed, and despite turning 34 before Australia’s next tour, he remains confident that Test cricket is within his reach.Hussey and his Victoria team-mate James Pattinson were among six players added to the contracted group, while the unlucky men to be cut included Katich and Adam Voges. Hussey said he felt for Katich, whose international career has been all but terminated by Andrew Hilditch’s selection panel as they plan for the 2013 Ashes, and for his Nottinghamshire colleague Voges.”Simon has been a fantastic player not just for Australia but in domestic cricket as well,” Hussey told ESPNcricinfo from England, where he is playing county cricket. “He’s a fantastic person and I know him really well. You do feel for him but I know good things happen to good people, and things will be better after cricket for him, you just know that.”Currently I’m playing for Nottinghamshire with Adam Voges and every time I get contracted he misses out and vice-versa. We get the same bittersweet feeling. But at the end of the day we all know that cricket is a business and a game that we love and irrespective of if you’re contracted or not, you’re still a chance of playing for Australia.”Hussey benefited from the inclusion of Twenty20 in the contract considerations this year, while his recall to the one-day squad for the World Cup also went in his favour. Hussey still hasn’t spoken to Hilditch about the promotion, which he learnt of via a voice-mail message, but he is hopeful that there could be opportunities in the longer format as well as the coloured clothing.”I was surprised, but elated at the same time,” Hussey said. “I didn’t know which direction Cricket Australia were going to go, but I’m just happy to be a part of their plans for the next 12 months. I never gave up hope, that’s why I’m still playing. I want to play Test cricket and until I achieve that goal I’ll continue to strive to do everything possible to achieve that.”Hussey was the only older player to be added to Australia’s contract list, with the remaining five new faces aged from 18 to 28. One of the most junior members of the squad is the fast bowler Pattinson, who made his ODI debut during the tour of Bangladesh in April, but still has only six first-class appearances to his name.Pattinson’s brother Darren played a Test for England in 2008 and was one of the first to hear his sibling’s good news, despite being in the UK. “I actually rang him first to tell him, I was a bit over the moon,” James Pattinson said. “It was 5 o’clock in the morning over there and he had a go at me for waking him. He rang me back a bit later and said well done.”The younger Pattinson believes he would be ready for Test cricket if the selectors called on him this year, but Hussey said his colleague had “a little bit of a way to go”. Pattinson has been viewed mostly as a limited-overs prospect so far, and he’ll be aiming to prove himself at Sheffield Shield level this summer.”I still think he’s got a little bit of a way to go to play Test cricket,” Hussey said. “He’s only played six first-class games but he’s unbelievably talented, he bowls fast away swing and the world’s at his feet. He’s a very talented boy, he loves bowling and he loves working hard. You see him in the gym all the time. Hopefully this is a bit of a motivational kick for him, to step him up to a new level.”Pattinson has recently returned from India, where he was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad and worked with Brett Lee and the bowling coach Wasim Akram. In the Australia setup he’ll be one of the junior members of a young attack, and he said he was looking forward to the chance to be part of Australia’s long-term plans.”I’m honoured to get a contract with Australia,” Pattinson said. “I’m still a bit speechless. I was up in the gym having a ride on the bike and I got the phone-call from Andrew [Hilditch]. The way the selection panel has gone, they’ve picked a lot of young blokes in the squad. I think they’re just looking forward and pushing towards the next Ashes and upcoming series, to put Australian cricket back on track and win the Ashes and bring it back home.”

The four captains have said the Asia Cup is ideal for their World Cup preparations, in terms of identifying the right blend of youth and experience

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Dambulla14-Jun-2010The captains of the four countries participating in the Asia Cup, which begins in Dambulla on Tuesday, have said the tournament is ideal for their World Cup preparations, in terms of identifying the right blend of youth and experience and building confidence.Unlike the last edition in Pakistan in 2008, this one features only the four Test-playing Asian nations and no Associates, making it more competitive. India and Sri Lanka have bolstered their squads with senior players, after resting them for the tour of Zimbabwe which just concluded.Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain who was rested for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, hoped his team would take inspiration from being the defending champions in the 2008 tournament.”The Asia Cup (2008) final was won by two exceptional performances, one was Sanath Jayasuriya’s freakish hundred when we were about 60-4, and when we were defending a score of 274, Ajantha Mendis came and took 6 for 13,” Sangakkara said. “Today, we don’t have either of them in our squad but that gives the opportunity for the rest of the players.”In light of the World Cup being a few months away this tournament is about building confidence and building a team towards the World Cup.”Following their disappointing performance in Zimbabwe, where they failed to qualify for the final of the tri-series, India will start the tournament under pressure. However, their captain MS Dhoni said it was a scenario his team wasn’t unfamiliar with.”We’ve been in situations like this more than once,” Dhoni said. “We have had to cope with pressure hundreds of times. We are fresh and most of the guys have got decent time off cricket and most of the senior guys were rested for the Zimbabwe tour.”Every tournament you play is as important as the World Cup. It’s important to focus on the present. The World Cup is still ten months away so we’ll concentrate on this tournament which is a big one considering the teams that are participating are the big ones from the subcontinent.”His views were shared by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, who leads his team in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. “It is a preparation for the World Cup as well,” Afridi said. “Tomorrow’s game is very important. We are playing against Sri Lanka which is a good team and full of talent.”Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan backed his team to perform better in the one-dayers than they did in the Tests in England, where they lost 2-0. “We have been playing very good cricket, although we didn’t finish well in England in the Tests,” Shakib said. “We have been playing non-stop for the last 12 months. The boys are really looking forward to this tournament. It is very important for us. We know it’s a very difficult task but not impossible. On our day we can beat any side.”Syed Ashraful Haq, Asian Cricket Council secretary, praised the Pakistan and Bangladesh Cricket Boards for altering their international schedules to participate in the Asia Cup. Pakistan had postponed their tour of England by about ten days and Bangladesh had agreed to split their tour of England.

On Rohit and Kohli: “Obviously any team would want to have both of them for as long as possible”

Abhimanyu Bose22-Jul-20240:50

Gambhir: Any team would want to have Rohit and Kohli

Gautam Gambhir, whose stint as the new India head coach will start with the tour of Sri Lanka later this month, has had his share of on-field run-ins with Virat Kohli in the past, but said their equation is “between two mature individuals” and not for public consumption. He also said that the two are “on the same page” when it comes to the shared goal of achieving success for the men’s national team.”Good for the TRP, but my relationship is not public,” Gambhir said on Monday when asked about Kohli in his first press conference since assuming his new role. “What kind of relationship do I share with Virat Kohli, I think it is between two mature individuals.”On the field, everyone has got the right to fight for their own team, for their own jersey, and want to come back in a winning dressing room. But, at the moment, I think you are representing India and representing 140 crore Indians and I am sure we are going to be on the same page and try and make India proud.Related

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“I share a very good relationship off the field and we will continue to do that. But yes, to make it more public what kind of a relationship [we have] I think it is between two individuals.”Kohli and Gambhir had a scrap during an IPL match in 2013, when Gambhir was the Kolkata Knight Riders captain. Later, there was another incident when Gambhir was the Lucknow Super Giants mentor in IPL 2023. Gambhir, while celebrating LSG’s one-run win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru, was seen shushing the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, a gesture which Kohli reprised at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium when RCB won the return fixture. Kohli and Gambhir had to be pulled apart by people around them in the end.During IPL 2024, however, the two were friendly with each other in public. When asked about his relationship with Kohli, Gambhir had said “perception was far from reality”. And when Kohli was asked about it during the season, he said: “I hugged Naveen [ul-Haq, with whom he had an altercation in IPL 2023], and then the other day, Gauti came and hugged me… We’re not kids anymore.”Gambhir said that he and Kohli have had discussions in recent times, but didn’t want to divulge the details.”How many chats have I had with him, after my announcement or before my announcement, during the games, after the games – I think sometimes just because we want headlines – it is not important,” Gambhir said. “The most important thing right now is that we both have got to be working extremely hard to make India proud. And that is our job.”He is a thorough professional, he is a world-class athlete, he is a world-class player. I have always said that. I have huge respect for him as a player and it is going to continue. And hopefully we can work together really well.”Gambhir on Rohit and Kohli: “Both those guys have a lot of cricket left in them”•Getty Images

Gambhir backs Rohit and Kohli to play 2027 ODI World Cup

Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who retired from T20Is after India’s World Cup win last month, have been picked in the ODI squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, but they are both past 35, and the next 50-over World Cup is only in 2027. How long will they be around? Gambhir has left that decision to the two players but feels they still “have a lot of cricket left in them” if they “can keep their fitness”.”I think they have shown what they can deliver on the big stage, whether it’s the T20 World Cup or the 50-over World Cup as well,” Gambhir said. “One thing I can be very clear of is that both those guys have a lot of cricket left in them. More importantly, with the Champions Trophy [in 2025] and a big tour of Australia [in November 2024], obviously they would be motivated enough. And then, hopefully, if they can keep their fitness, the 2027 [ODI] World Cup as well.”But this is a very personal decision. I can’t say how much cricket is left in them. Ultimately, it’s up to them as well, it’s up to the players. How much can they contribute to the team’s success. Because, ultimately, it’s the team that is important.”But looking at what Virat and Rohit can deliver, I think they still have a lot of cricket [left to play]. They’re still world-class players and obviously any team would want to have both of them for as long as possible.”

Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach believes that Warner’s fearless mindset will get bring him back to his best

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-20232:50

Tait: Warner seemed ‘pretty frustrated’

Shane Watson, Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach, has said he will be “blown away” if David Warner, the franchise’s under-fire captain, doesn’t “set the IPL alight” in the rest of the season after struggling for rhythm in the first four games.Warner is the second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 and has hit three half-centuries in four games, but has scored at a sluggish strike rate of 114.83 and is yet to hit a single six this season.Warner punched his bat in frustration upon reaching a 43-ball half-century during Delhi’s loss to Mumbai Indians on Monday night, their fourth defeat out of four this season. But Watson stressed that he had shown a “more fearless mindset” during that innings, and said that he was “so close” to recapturing his best form.Related

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“The other night, Dave [Warner] definitely had a [much] more fearless mindset with the way he was batting,” Watson said on the podcast. “He was taking the game on… yes, he missed a few balls that in the past he would have hit for four or six, he’s mis-hit a couple of balls, but that’s all part of Dave just working through the technical side of his game.”That’s also part of my role as well, as a coach. Because I know Dave so well from batting with him and playing with him, there’s one or two little things that I know he’ll get right over the next couple of days and I’ll be blown away if he doesn’t – yes, he’s been scoring runs, but from a scoring perspective – if he doesn’t set the IPL alight from now on, knowing that he’s so close.”He’s batting very nicely. He’s just mis-hitting some balls that he’d normally hit for four or six. Once you do that, once you start really finding the middle of your bat, then your scoring rate just goes through the roof.”Warner became the fastest man to reach 6,000 runs in his IPL career during Delhi’s defeat to Rajasthan Royals, and Watson said that his stellar record in the competition underlined his ability. “His strike rate across his career in the IPL is nearly 140,” he said. “He’s been a great player in the IPL for a long period of time.”He added that Warner had been “working through” a “challenging inner battle” in the first three games of the season, grappling with whether or not to take risks as wickets fell at the other end. “It goes against a lot of the things that you’re taught as a kid growing up,” Watson said. “You lose a wicket, you’ve got to establish a partnership – even in T20 cricket – for five or six balls.”But then, if you do that and you keep losing wickets after five or six balls, before you know it, you’re three overs down and you’ve just been rotating ones to try and build a partnership. Dave was just working through that himself in the first few games.”Delhi play their next game away against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday afternoon, and will have Mitchell Marsh available again after he missed their last two games due to his wedding back home in Australia.”It’s never perfect when you lose your first four games,” Watson said, “but that is the beauty of having someone with the skill of Ricky Ponting as a coach, and just his understanding of people. That’s the beauty of being a coach, to be able to help the guys where they need it.”These are the times when you really see the true colours of people and coaches, when things aren’t going well. It’s a true sign of character: how you can work through the little things that are not going how we want them to, to turn them around and be more consistent.”

The quick bowler has suffered a recurrence of the injury which ended her T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2022Australia fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck will miss her second consecutive World Cup as well as the remainder of the ongoing Ashes after suffering another stress fracture in her right foot.Vlaeminck played the opening T20I against England in Adelaide where she bowled with good pace but then reported soreness and was seen in a moonboot during the second match that was washed out on Saturday.The injury has again occurred in the navicular bone, which is the same one which ruled her out of 2020 T20 World Cup on the eve of the tournament although that fracture had completely healed, and she will now miss the ODI event in New Zealand.Australia have tried to carefully manage Vlaeminck, one of the quickest bowlers in the world, through the early stages of her career and she has been limited to 24 appearances across three formats since her debut in 2018.Related

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“She’s done a great job getting through to this point,” head coach Matthew Mott told Channel Seven. “We were always going to look to manage her through. But for it to happen so early in this Ashes campaign, it’s absolutely shattering for her and for the whole group. It was a pretty sombre dressing room last night. I spoke to the group about what it would look like for her and we all went through it before, leading into that T20 World Cup.”She knows what it’s about, she’s come back before and that’s what we’ve got to hold out hope for. We’ll put our arm around her and do everything we can to build her back up. She’s a young fast bowler and we see it in the men’s game all the time, if you’re going to run in and bowl as fast as you can it’s a dangerous activity. So we’ll do everything we can to get her back up but it’s a tough couple of days for her, definitely.”Comparisons have been drawn with the journey Pat Cummins went on after his Test debut as a teenager and the subsequent injuries which then saw him not play another Test for more than five years.”I knew Patty as a young fast bowler. It’s very similar,” Mott said. “When you’re going through those flat spots and you’re rehabbing over and over and it seems like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. To see what he’s done off six years basically out of international cricket, to come back a stronger more mature bowler it just goes to show it can be done.”That won’t give her a lot of solace at the moment. She’s going to go through some tough times over the weeks and months to come and it’s our job as an organisation to make sure that we can put enough support around her, get her back to her best and we will see the rewards in a couple of years time.”Australia team doctor Phillipa Inge said: “Tayla has sustained an acute navicular stress fracture. She had a similar injury in early 2020; this fracture completely healed and Tayla made a successful return to play to international cricket in March 2021.”Tayla reported a return in midfoot pain and subsequent images have confirmed a recurrent stress fracture of the navicular.”The Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria medical teams will work collaboratively on the immediate management over the coming days and a subsequent return to play plan.”Australia’s selectors will decide on a replacement for Vlaeminck in the coming days but, if they want a like-for-like, it could open the door for tall quick Stella Campbell who made her debut against India earlier this season. Campbell is currently part of the Australia A squad and took 7 for 25 in the WNCL at the start of January.Vlaeminck adds to a growing list of injuries for Australia as they begin an intensive period of cricket. Legspinner Georgia Wareham is out until next season due to an ACL injury while left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux is unavailable for the Ashes due to a stress fracture of her foot, but it is hoped she will recover for the World Cup.Beth Mooney has missed the start of the Ashes after suffering a fractured jaw at training although has already returned to light training following surgery last week.

The T20I series has been decided in the blink of an eye and Sophie Devine’s team need to quickly find some answers

Andrew McGlashan28-Sep-2020It took barely more than 24 hours for Australia to reassert their superiority after a six-month lay-off, but though the final T20I in Brisbane on Wednesday is a dead game in terms of the series, it shapes as a vital match in this short tour if New Zealand are to avoid things running away from them ahead of the one-day contests.Though the format will change next weekend, New Zealand’s record in the Rose Bowl ODIs doesn’t bode well for their chances of halting Australia’s dominance: it is 20 years since they have held the trophy, with one drawn series their best result in the last 17 attempts.Australia, who secured their tenth T20I prize in a row with this series victory, will be eyeing the world-record of 21 consecutive ODI wins – the milestone held by the men’s team in 2003 – and New Zealand desperately need a response in the final T20I after the one-sided contest yesterday.ALSO READ: Modest Alyssa Healy doffs hat to the bowlers after surpassing MS Dhoni’s recordAlyssa Healy believes Australia have a mental edge in knowing they can win from any position – a skill that came to the fore in tight circumstances at the T20 World Cup and in the opening game of this series when they were 5 for 82.”I’d like to think so. We really pride ourselves with cricket in this country that we know how to win and when our backs are against the wall we find ways to win games,” she said. “We showed that [on Saturday], we lost a few wickets and looked under the pump. I guess it’s some sort of psychological edge but saying that think our skills are fantastic at the minute.”Unsurprisingly, New Zealand captain Sophie Devine was not buying the notion of her team being overwhelmed by their Trans-Tasman rivals and believed they were the side who should be playing with more freedom.”If you are intimidated by teams you may as well not walk on the park,” she said. “For us we’ve got nothing to lose, they are the ones with all the pressure on their shoulders, they are world champions, and have had a great run against use lately but we know we can go out there with a sense of freedom because we aren’t the world champs. Don’t think there’s any psychological intimidation out there for us.”The balance of New Zealand’s side has come under scrutiny, especially when they named an unchanged XI for the second match and did not bolster their spin department. They have been hampered by the absence of offspinners Leigh Kasperek, who couldn’t make the tour due to travel restrictions, and Anna Peterson, who was unavailable for personal reasons.A lot has rested on the shoulders of legspinner Amelia Kerr – whose record against Australia is significantly inferior than her overall numbers – while part-time offspinner Maddy Green was pressed into service in the second match. They have offspinner Jess Watkin and uncapped legspinner Deanna Doughty in the squad and will need to consider bringing at least one into the side with the same pitch expected to be used again.”It can be a blessing and a curse having games that close together, you don’t have much time to dwell on things and likewise you might not have the time to correct a few wrongs,” Devine said. “We were poor again, completely outplayed by a quality Australia side in all facets of the game. We’ll take the next or two to really recoup and look at our plans again and what we need to do to beat a really strong side.”It’s what makes Australia such a great side, they don’t let you get away with too much. We were really confident going into this match, we were targeting 150 on that pitch which we knew if we got close to that we could put some pressure on them but getting late 120s won’t be enough.”Meg Lanning said before the series that Australia would not be handing caps out for the sake of it but there may be a temptation to give another player or two an outing before the ODI series. Tahlia McGrath, Annabel Sutherland, Belinda Vakarewa, Erin Burns, Molly Strano and the uncapped Maitlan Brown are the other available members of the squad.Ellyse Perry is continuing her recovery from the hamstring injury suffered at the T20 World Cup and ahead of the opening match said she had suffered a minor setback in recent days meaning she may not be ready for any of these New Zealand games.