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ESPNcricinfo previews the opening match of the Champions League Twenty20 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Warriors

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran22-Sep-2011

Match facts

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Warriors, September 23
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Chris Gayle wowed the Bangalore crowds with his flamboyant batting in IPL 2011•AFP

Big Picture

Royal Challengers Bangalore have a trend to break: they have played the opening games of two IPLs and one Champions League at home and ended up losing all three. They are among the favourites for the tournament, but are up against a side their coach rates highly – South Africa’s Warriors, who were the losing finalists last year.It’s likely to be a straight fight between Bangalore’s batting might and Warriors’ bowling strength. Bangalore have several of the most dangerous overseas Twenty20 batsmen in their line-up, as well as Virat Kohli, who has shown over the past couple of seasons that he can crack the game’s shortest format, and Saurabh Tiwary, who made his name in the 2010 IPL with batting that was unattractive but extremely effective.Ranged against this is the bowling of Warriors. Johan Botha, with his pushed-through offspinners, and the hugely experienced Nicky Boje form the spin department, while the pace attack is filled with players on the fringe of the South African side and a 101-Test stalwart in Makhaya Ntini.One of the big worries for Warriors is that the man who was instrumental in their march to the finals last year, former captain Davy Jacobs, isn’t with them this time around, having chosen to play for the Mumbai Indians. Botha insisted the team could thrive without Jacobs, who repeatedly provided explosive starts in the 2010 campaign.”We’ve known now [that Jacobs won’t be with Warriors] for a few months and we’ve got over it as a team,” Botha said. “Davy did do well in the CL, but after that he was injured quite a few times, and then in our local Twenty20 he had an up and down season, we’ve got young guys who can cover him.” Strong words but at the Pro20 this year, almost all their batsmen struck at a rate below 120, not nearly enough. Can they find a batsman who can turn the game around with a sustained burst of big-hitting?

Watch out for …

His international career may be mired in litigation, but Chris Gayle’s career as a Twenty20 freelancer is going great guns. He was the most arresting presence in the IPL: smashing a league-leading 608 runs at a strike-rate of 183.13. He also chipped in with his flat offspinners, taking eight wickets at the miserly economy-rate of 6.77.Can Johan Botha be the inspirational captain Jacobs was in the previous season? He has shown himself to be a shrewd leader when he got the chance with South Africa. He is also a successful limited-overs bowler, and also made runs when surprisingly pushed up to No. 3 by Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

Team news

While most of the Bangalore squad have been training since the weekend at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli joined the squad on Thursday morning. They have five world-class players in their team. As captain, Daniel Vettori is an automatic pick; as the man who turbo-charged their IPL campaign, Gayle should start; in the absence of Zaheer Khan, Dirk Nannes should also be in the XI. And in a squad bereft of other wicketkeepers, AB de Villiers should get the nod ahead of Dilshan.In the absence of Jacobs, Warriors will likely open with Ashwell Prince and 23-year-old JJ Smuts. The big question for the management will be choosing the fast bowlers: Ntini was their most successful bowler in the Pro20, Justin Kreusch was their most economical bowler in the Pro20, Rusty Theron is their death overs specialist, and they have two other quicks with international experience in Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Stats and trivia

• Warriors made only one of the 16 highest totals in the Pro20 this season
• With 70 sixes, Gayle is fourth on the list of most sixes hit in the IPL, though he has played less than half the number of matches of the top three
• Bangalore will become the only team to have played all three seasons of the Champions League

Quotes

“At St George’s Park, we get a nice vibe but we only get 15-20,000 people at capacity. The noise level here [at the Chinnaswamy Stadium] will be different for some of the guys who are experiencing it for the first time.”

“My pace has always been my strength. I’m not thinking of slowing down, perhaps speeding up if anything.”

Former Zimbabwe batsman Dave Houghton has returned to Derbyshire as batting coach

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2011Former Zimbabwe batsman Dave Houghton has returned to Derbyshire as batting coach. Houghton, 54, was the county’s director of cricket between 2003 and 2007 and has also held coaching roles with Worcestershire and Zimbabwe.”David is a premium world-class batting coach,” said head coach Karl Krikken. “His knowledge and experience will be of great benefit to all of our batsmen, as it has been to players in the international set-up during periods of coaching with the ECB.””Clearly David’s vast experience and success in the game will be a major asset to the whole club, and in particular our batsmen,” added chairman Chris Grant.Houghton was first offered the role of director of cricket at Derbyshire in 2003, having cemented his reputation as a good leader during a spell as coach with Worcestershire in the mid-1990s. He is also the uncle of Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance, who first arrived in English cricket with Derbyshire when Houghton was in charge.He quit his post with Derbyshire in July 2007, Don Amott – who was the county’s chairman at the time – saying that the parting was amicable.Houghton played 22 Tests and 63 one-day internationals for his country, was their first Test captain and holds the record for their highest Test score with 266 against Sri Lanka in 1994. He also represented them at hockey, as a goalkeeper.

N Srinivasan has said the BCCI convinced the other member boards of the ICC to make the DRS optional by showing them a presentation on how Hot Spot had failed during India’s tour of England

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2011N Srinivasan, the new BCCI president, has said the Indian board convinced the other member boards of the ICC to make the DRS optional by showing them a presentation on how Hot Spot had failed during India’s tour of England. In an interview with , Srinivasan said the BCCI was not a bully but brought up the issue of the DRS again at the ICC executive board meeting in Dubai because the problems with Hot Spot were apparent.”The BCCI takes positions based not just on its own interests but also on its view on cricket,” he said. “In England, everyone could see the problems with Hot Spot, so we took the matter up again. We made a presentation of the decisions that clearly showed that Hot Spot was lacking accuracy. That is what convinced the members to revert to an optional DRS.” It is learned that the BCCI’s presentation showed eight correct decisions using the Hot Spot technology and also eight errors to make its point about the technology not being close to the 100% accuracy that is sought of the DRS.”We are not at all the bullies of world cricket,” Srinivasan said, “but on the contrary we go out of our way to assist other member nations. It’s difficult to dispel the notion that we are [bullies] because it is constantly referred to, but it is not a fact.”Srinivasan has taken over as president at a difficult time for the board, which is facing criticism after India’s disastrous tour of England. He refused to accept the claims that India’s slew of injuries during the England tour was down to a packed schedule or poor player management, repeating what he had said earlier about India playing the same amount of cricket as all other countries. “If we had won on the England tour no-one would have brought up the packed schedule,” he said. “It was a tour where we had bad luck. A number of players got injured during matches. Also, cricketers are highly paid professionals and are expected to take care of themselves.”He did say the board would look at the schedule again, “critically to see if anything can be done but I don’t accept the criticism that there is too much cricket being played.” He said it would be difficult to rework the schedule because the FTP was already decided and added, “It’s not so much the IPL and the Champions League, we have now got one ICC event every year … on the whole it is a crowded calendar.”Another issue that has been raised against the BCCI is that their earnings should be taxed as they are a profit-driven private body. Srinivasan denied this and said
(video) the Rs 1.89 billion ($39.68 million) surplus the board made last year would all be spent on cricketing activities.”We are not a profit-driven organisation. As a professional, I would naturally like to get the best value for the product I have. So why would I sell my media rights short? Only to that extent do we run as a business.”Beyond that all the income we have is applied to cricketing activities: 26% goes back to the players, we spend on infrastructure, 70% of our income goes to the state cricketing associations and we also give them subsidies to build stadiums, plus the National Cricket Academy has a budget of 10 crores every year.”So, the 190 crores is a surplus, not a profit. By our own charter we have to spend 85% of the money we make in a year on cricket activities. If we don’t we can keep it in a fund but that needs to be spent in five years.”The reason it is important for the BCCI to have tax exemption, Srinivasan said, is because there is a lot of infrastructure that needs to be put in place and that will get delayed if the BCCI’s earnings are taxed.”If you take the number of venues we have in our country as compared to the population and size, we should have many more stadiums. It may cost thousands of crores of rupees to have all these built and the benefit of tax exemption is this can be done quickly and cricket can be taken to all parts of India.”One criticism often made of Srinivasan is that he has a conflict of interest from being a member of the IPL’s governing council and the head of the company India Cements, which owns the franchise Chennai Super Kings. Former BCCI president AC Muthiah has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking them to pass an interim order preventing Srinivasan from functioning as the board’s president. Srinivasan said (video) there had been no occurrence in the running of the IPL to suggest any conflict of interest.”I don’t see any conflict of interest affecting my role as BCCI chief. On the IPL’s governing council there are eminent people, all independently capable of making their minds up on things. Nothing has been done specifically for one team. Everything that is decided is common for all teams.”I don’t think anything has happened which can be a cause of concern to anyone. All decisions have been fair and everyone has taken part in them. I have not really spoken on Chennai Super Kings. I have enough propriety.”Srinivasan said his first aim as the BCCI president was to ensure a better performance from the Indian cricket team than the one they put in on the England tour, and also said he wanted to “change the perception of the BCCI”.

Australia could realistically have a permanent head coach before the start of the home summer, according to Cricket Australia’s new general manager of team performance, Pat Howard

Brydon Coverdale09-Nov-2011Australia could realistically have a permanent head coach before the start of the home summer, according to Cricket Australia’s new general manager of team performance, Pat Howard. The first Test against New Zealand begins on December 1, just a week after the Test squad returns home from South Africa, where Troy Cooley has been the acting head coach.Howard started his new role this week and immediately flew to Cape Town to meet the Australian squad, including the fielding mentor Steve Rixon and the assistant coach Justin Langer, who are both likely to be candidates for the head coach position. Rixon is considered a front-runner due to his strong relationship with captain Michael Clarke.The new position is an expanded role compared to the job that was occupied by Tim Nielsen. Following the appointment of Howard and the national selection manager John Inverarity, it is the one remaining major role to be filled. The new coach will report to Howard, who said he was optimistic about finding a candidate before the New Zealand series.”The process is well and truly in train,” Howard said. “It is realistic yes, it is better than hopeful, but we have to get it done and as part of the process is to make sure not only that they are appointed but that they hit the ground running so part of the process is thoughts of how are we going to able to do this and move it forward.”But the reality is there are always negotiations, contract negotiations, current employment status. When I left my job I had two months’ notice but fortunately my previous employer were good and let me go early. There’s a whole heap of conditions but to know where we are going for the New Zealand Test is the absolute ideal.”In one of his previous jobs, as high-performance chief with the Australian Rugby Union, Howard was central in the appointment of several coaches including Robbie Deans, the current Wallabies mentor. Cricket Australia have launched a global search for Nielsen’s replacement and Howard said it was important to keep an open mind.”Often the trap in sports is names come to mind first,” he said. “But any time you go and recruit in a normal sense and a corporate sense and a world sense, you think what are the skills I need in this situation and let’s get those right first. So that’s been the start of the process, getting that right and trying to steer people away from names, know what you want then start dealing with the recruitment process.”Head coaching experience matters and I mean that in terms of there’s assistants and there’s heads … success, demonstrated success and the ability to consider where Australia is today and where we want to go to. Those factors have all got to be weighed up.”If Australia want someone with previous head coaching experience, that would enhance the prospects of Rixon, who led New Zealand during a successful period and also won titles during his time in charge of New South Wales. He has also spent time in charge of Surrey and has been an assistant to Stephen Fleming at the Chennai Super Kings.The other major positions that need filling are the two part-time selector roles, which Howard said Inverarity would have a say in determining. For the time being, Andrew Hilditch’s panel remains in a standby capacity – Hilditch is the selector on duty in South Africa – but Inverarity is expected to choose his first squad for the Test series against New Zealand.”John’s heavily involved in the process,” Howard said of picking the other two selectors. “There are some areas the Argus review talks about and so we can say, John, here are some frameworks here are some ideas. There are a long list of candidates to get through.”

Ricky Ponting remains vital to the development of Australia’s Test side but cannot keep earning a place in the team based on his reputation, according to the coach Mickey Arthur

Brydon Coverdale20-Dec-2011Ricky Ponting remains vital to the development of Australia’s Test side but cannot keep earning a place in the team based on his reputation, according to the coach Mickey Arthur. As Australia’s batsmen began their batting camp in Melbourne on Tuesday ahead of the Boxing Day Test against India, the selectors were faced with some tough decisions over the make-up of the squad.The batting order was especially fluid, with questions over whether Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh would return from injury, whether Daniel Christian would be squeezed in as an allrounder, and whether the irresistible form of the opener Ed Cowan could be ignored. And while Ponting is expected to play at the MCG, Arthur said nobody was a certainty to take on the Indians.”I don’t think anybody is guaranteed a start,” Arthur said. “Ricky Ponting is really vital to where we want to take this team so we’re really hoping he finds his form and hopefully his form is just around the corner. We’ll discuss that again tonight and make sure we’ve got all our bases covered in terms of selection.”Following Australia’s loss in Hobart, their first defeat at the hands of New Zealand in 18 years, Arthur said he viewed Ponting and Michael Hussey, who are struggling for runs, as important men in the future of the side due to their middle-order experience. And while Arthur still believed they have roles to play, he said both men would need Test runs to continue justifying their selection.”I have backed Ricky Ponting like I’ve backed Mike Hussey for a period of time because I think they’re crucial for the development of the side,” Arthur said. “For our young guys to bat with guys like that is fantastic, but again they need to keep giving us ammunition.”They need to keep giving us performances. Nobody has got a privilege to play in the Australian cricket team. They are the type of characters that we want in our side, most definitely.”Ponting, who turned 37 on Monday, showed glimpses of his previous form when he made 62 in Johannesburg and 78 at the Gabba over the past month, but his dismissals in both innings at Bellerive Oval were clumsy. He walked across his stumps in the first innings and was lbw as he was caught in two minds, and in the second his attempted punch through the off side resulted in a loopy lob to cover.In his past 16 Tests, Ponting has averaged 27.48 and has not scored a century. Arthur said over the next two days at the batting camp in Melbourne, the plan for Ponting was to “free him up” ahead of a series against an Indian attack that could feature Ishant Sharma, the fast bowler who has dismissed Ponting six times from eight Tests.Arthur said while the batsmen would work against the moving ball at the batting camp – a weakness that was again exposed against New Zealand in Hobart – and would face bowling machines designed to replicate Ishant and Zaheer Khan, major technical overhauls were not on the agenda.”This is giving us the best opportunity for us to be in the best possible space for Boxing Day. That’s it,” he said. “We’re not reinventing the wheel in any way, we’re giving our batters the maximum opportunity to get themselves ready to play a Test match starting on Boxing Day. We feel there are one or two things we need to discuss.”We’re also going to have a look at India, we’re going to talk about their attack, talk about what we can expect from them and practice accordingly. It’s certainly no boot camp. It’s giving our batters an opportunity to get themselves into the best possible frame of mind for the 26th.”

Michael Hussey is uncomfortable with the possibility of batsmen being rotated out of the Australian Test team

Daniel Brettig05-Dec-2011Michael Hussey is uncomfortable with the possibility of batsmen being rotated out of the Australian Test team, though this is the scenario that may be about to play out as the selectors ponder whether to press allrounder Daniel Christian into the XI in Hobart.The opener Phillip Hughes, presently wrestling with his technique and the bowling of Chris Martin, is the obvious player to leave out of the second Test against New Zealand, should John Inverarity and his panel choose to augment Australia’s attack with Christian.While rotation has been acknowledged as a likely strategy to manage Australia’s bowling stocks this summer under the new regime headed by the team performance manager Pat Howard, Hussey said he had not considered that batsmen might be shuffled for reasons of team balance.”It hasn’t really been communicated to us yet in that sort of way,” Hussey said. “I think from a batting point of view, if you’re playing well you want to keep batting, and if things aren’t quite going right, you want to keep playing so you can get that big score.”So I think it’d be more so with the bowling stocks, because there’s so much cricket and back-to-back games, it is tough to keep backing up. Maybe more [rotation] with the bowlers, but I think from a batting point of view, once you get in there you want to keep the roll going.”It is a good thing there are going to be so many quality players who are going to be coming back from injury and putting pressure on everyone in the order. As a batsman you need to be scoring runs, and doing it consistently to keep your place in the team.”Watching Hughes’ performances, Hussey counselled the 23-year-old to keep playing his way, and not to shelve the cut stroke that had him pouched in the gully. Hughes was caught Guptill, bowled Martin in each innings, prompting New Zealand’s captain Ross Taylor to foreshadow a similar fate in Hobart should Hughes be retained.”I thought the first one that he got dropped was a pretty good ball, it left him a fair bit,” Hussey said. “The second one, it is his signature shot really, the cut shot, and many times you’ve seen it whistle to the fence for four. So I certainly wouldn’t be saying to him to stop playing the cut shot, because he’s got so many runs from it and will continue to.”He works extremely hard and he knows the areas he’s got to work on, and I just think it is really important for him to keep a clear mind and keep playing his way. There’s always things you want to get better at, but he’s still put together some real good scores for us in difficult conditions in South Africa and also in Sri Lanka.”Hussey is no stranger to technical foibles, having re-invented his own game numerous times over a long career. He said in his case, the solution to an early problem of head position had been basic.”Early in my career, my head used to fall over quite a lot, so I was definitely vulnerable more to lbws and missed out on a lot of runs off my pads,” Hussey said. “So that’s something I had to nut out over quite a period of time. That’s the one that sticks in my mind.”I used to stand with my bat on the ground, so my head was always over my stance, that’s when I started standing up so I could then take my head towards the bowler rather than falling over. That’s a pretty basic sort of change, but it’s definitely effective.”Australia’s dressing room was a vibrant place after the first Test victory, as team-mates young and old enjoyed a comprehensive victory. Hussey reserved particular praise for fast bowler James Pattinson, who he felt delivered the kind of second innings spell that would have done for batsmen of any nation.”I just remember back to my first Test [against West Indies at the Gabba in 2005] it is pretty much a write-off emotionally, because its such a big event and a big sort of five days,” Hussey said. “But I was really happy with the way all the guys were able to get over that first spell, get over those first nerves, and get in and concentrate on what they had to do. James Pattinson in particular, that spell was unbelievable really, and just ripped the heart out of the New Zealand batting order. That was awesome to watch and be a part of it out there.”Ahead of the squad’s journey to Hobart, Hussey said it was fitting that Ricky Ponting had put together a pair of promising scores, suggesting he would be ready to occupy the crease for a long time on his home ground – coincidentally the place of his last Test century, 209 against Pakistan, 29 innings ago.”I reckon his last two innings have been really good and he’s still building,” Hussey said. “He’s batting well, he’s got good scores, but in his mind he’ll be seeing them as good starts, and he’ll want to double and triple that sort of start. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets in in Tassie he’ll be a very, very difficult man to dismiss.”

David Warner’s 180 powered Australia to a strong lead before their bowlers set about routing India a second time on day two of the third Test at the WACA ground

The Report by Daniel Brettig14-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMitchell Starc dismissed Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar in the second innings to send India hurtling towards defeat•Getty Images

David Warner’s 180 powered Australia to a strong lead before their bowlers set about routing India a second time on day two of the third Test at the WACA ground. Australia were cut down for 369 after an opening stand of 214 between Warner and Ed Cowan, but any gains made by India’s bowlers were frittered away by their batsmen, who limped to 4 for 88. They were still 120 runs short of making Australia bat again, and a handful of wickets away from surrendering the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.It was the left-armer Mitchell Starc’s turn to be the visitors’ chief tormentor, swinging the ball at high pace while also gaining some steepling bounce. Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus also struck to maintain their summer jaunt through the visitors’ batting, while Ryan Harris beat the bat often.Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli were India’s last faint hope, but it seemed a forlorn one given how the ball continued to swing, seam and bounce. The failures of the other top-order batsmen opened the question of whether or not Rohit Sharma will debut in Adelaide.Starc defeated Gautam Gambhir with a ball that pranced at the batsman and looped to gully off the bat handle, and then pinned Sachin Tendulkar lbw with in-swing. Tendulkar was unhappy about the decision, shaking his head as he walked off then reacting with dismay to replays that showed the ball clipping leg stump. Virender Sehwag was undone by a Siddle delivery that lifted and left him, while VVS Laxman made another duck on a wretched tour, edging Hilfenhaus’ outswinger into the cordon.For all of India’s woes, their bowlers had again found a trace of brittleness in the hosts’ batting. Australia lost all 10 wickets for 155 from the time Cowan was the first man out, underlining the value of Warner’s innings, among the most brazen played by a Test opener, and his partnership of contrast with the more restrained Cowan. However it reflected poorly on the batsmen that Siddle’s 30 was the next best score.Yadav claimed five wickets for the first time in Tests, striking three times in a hostile morning spell, then Ishant, Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar chimed in across the afternoon to limit the hosts’ lead to 208.Resuming at 0 for 149, Cowan and Warner played in more or less the same vein as the previous evening. If Warner reined in his game at all, it was only in a nod to better bowling from the visitors. He was still inclined to swing for the fences every now and then, and crashed another straight drive over Ishant’s head for his fourth six.The first chance of the innings arrived at 193, Warner touching a well-pitched delivery from Zaheer only for it to be dropped by Kohli at first slip. Cowan accumulated soundly at the other end, reaching his second half-century of the series and rotating the strike intelligently. It was he who raised the 200 stand, pulling Yadav to the square-leg boundary to take Australia’s openers past that mark for the first time since Simon Katich and Phil Jaques did it against West Indies in 2008.Thoughts had turned to the possibility of a Cowan century when Yadav moved around the wicket and produced a delivery that moved back a shade to burst between the opener’s bat and pad and disturb the stumps. Cowan was crestfallen to have left the middle, but the following passage would show that batting was not as easy as it had seemed.Warner was struck a painful blow on the elbow, requiring the physio’s attention for the second time in his innings, and Marsh fell cheaply for the fourth time in as many innings this series. He played at a delivery that left him and snicked to Laxman at second slip. Ponting managed one back-foot cover drive before he too was undone by Yadav, who found just enough swing and seam from the off to flatten the former captain’s middle stump.The merry progress of Warner continued in a stand of 48 with his captain Michael Clarke, before the opener finally miscued a loft to offer an outfield catch. Much as Warner cussed, the end of the innings reflected the crazy brave manner of its construction.Clarke received a fine delivery from Zaheer, angled in then moving subtly away, and a similar ball also accounted for Brad Haddin, the wicketkeeper’s duck raising further questions about his place in the side. Michael Hussey battled for fluency and was oddly subservient to the cleaner hitting of Siddle in another brief stand, before Vinay collected his first wicket when Hussey cut to gully.Siddle’s fluent stay was ended when Yadav beat the outside edge to flick off stump, Harris perished for 9 when he lobbed a pull shot to square leg, and Hilfenhaus could not contain himself against Sehwag’s off spin. But bad as Australia’s batsmen had done once Warner departed, India would do worse.

Chris Gayle has arrived in South Africa carrying a grade two groin strain that could keep him out of action for the Dolphins for at least another week

Firdose Moonda21-Feb-2012Chris Gayle has arrived in South Africa carrying a grade two groin strain that could keep him out of action for the Dolphins for at least another week. Gayle is contracted to the Durban-based franchise for the entire MiWAY T20 Challenge but missed their first match on Sunday because of an injury sustained while playing for the Barisal Burners in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).Gayle’s injury was assessed in Durban on Monday, and both he and the Dolphins are remaining tight lipped about when he will be fit to play. The usual timeframe for an injury of this description to heal is two to three weeks and Gayle has already had a week’s healing time.”We will have to look at how the rehab goes,” Gayle said in Durban. “I’m feeling a bit better. The last couple of days I was feeling a bit on the negative side, but I’m walking much better than when the injury happened. It’s slowly progressing but, as a sportsman, I have to look after myself properly and try and get back on the park as quickly as possible. We will take each day as it comes.”The Dolphins play three matches this week, on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and then have a four-day break before their next match on March 2nd. They opened their campaign with a three-run win over the new seventh franchise, Impi, on February 19. Gayle is their only overseas signing after Australia quick Shaun Tait pulled out with an elbow injury.Gayle is aware that he is marquee player of the event, which has ten internationals spread across the seven franchises, and is determined to live up to the hype. “I know that the expectations are very high. I try not to overdo things and keep it as simple as possible,” he said. “It’s cricket and you never know when you are going to have a bad patch but once I get a start in a particular series, I try and maintain it as much as possible. You have to try and be consistent and score as many runs as you can.”While Gayle recovers from his injury, he will still be involved with Dolphins the camp. Interim coach Lance Klusener, who called him a “legend”, said Gayle would play an important role in mentoring some of the young players in the squad. Gayle has played in 20-over leagues across the globe, having participated in Australia’s Big Bash, Zimbabwe’s Stanbic T20 and the BPL in just the last three months.After the tournament in South Africa, he will play in the IPL. It’s this vast experience that the Dolphins hope to gain from and Gayle seems more than willing to share. “I try and deal with the mental aspect of my game first of all, make sure that I am very strong upstairs and ready for the challenges,” Gayle said.One of the people who may be most interested in Gayle’s tales is not a member of the Dolphin squad at all. Richard Levi, who shares the record with Gayle for the highest individual Twenty20 international score and broke his record for the most sixes in an innings on Sunday, plays for rival franchise, the Cobras.Gayle heard the news of Levi’s innings on his arrival in South Africa and announced his thoughts on Twitter.
He was full of kind words for Levi even days after. “Hopefully he can go from strength to strength, and do bigger and better innings in the future. He will have a lot on his shoulders now,” Gayle said. “I’ve been there, you might score a lot of runs on the international scene as a youngster but there is a lot of technology involved now and it’s going to get harder.”So you have got to learn how to manipulate bowlers. They are working you out, so you have to try and be a step ahead of them.” Levi, who returns home after Wednesday’s Twenty20 against New Zealand, will have the opportunity to meet Gayle on February 26, when the Cobras play the Dolphins in Paarl.

Toby Radford, the former Middlesex and Sussex batsman, has been named West Indies assistant coach in place of David Williams

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-2012Toby Radford, the former Middlesex and Sussex batsman, has been named West Indies assistant coach in place of David Williams.Radford has previously been in charge of the High Performance Centre (HPC) in Barbados and will now work with the senior team, which is coached by Ottis Gibson, on a tour-by-tour basis beginning with the home series against Australia which starts this month.After a brief playing career which amounted to 14 first-class matches, Radford was made Middlesex coach in 2007 before moving to the Caribbean in 2010.Williams, the former West Indies wicketkeeper who played 11 Tests and 36 one-day internationals between 1992 and 1998, said he still hoped play a role in the future of Caribbean cricket.”I am disappointed, but these things happen in life and you have to pick up the slack and move on,” Williams told the . “Just a couple of days ago they called me about the position. They wanted a coach to work with the younger batters.”I enjoyed my time. It was really a great experience and I want to thank the West Indies Cricket Board for that experience. It is not the end of the road. I hope the West Indies Cricket Board knows that I still have a lot to offer West Indies cricket.”Edited by Andrew McGlashan

ESPNcricinfo previews the eighth match of IPL 2012 between Pune Warriors v Kings XI Punjab in Pune

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria07-Apr-2012

Match facts

Sunday, April 8, Pune
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Following his solid cameo in Pune Warriors’ opening game, can Robin Uthappa produce a typical blitz?•AFP

Big Picture

After spending a season playing at their surrogate home ground in Navi Mumbai, Pune Warriors are back where they ought to be – in Pune. Here, they will take on Kings XI Punjab at the new Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium. The ground is 28 kms away from the city centre, but optimists among the fans would say that’s 100 kms closer than the DY Patil Stadium. Fresh from their 28-run heist against their more fancied neighbours, Mumbai Indians, Warriors will look to build some momentum against a Kings XI side that was razed by Ajinkya Rahane and Kevin Cooper in Jaipur on Friday.In that game, Adam Gilchrist’s side lacked bite in their bowling. With his reduced pace, Praveen Kumar has been easier to score off all season, and on the flatter pitches of the IPL his form is particularly worrisome. Kings XI’s follow-up bowlers lacked control and variety, and that makes a case for the inclusion of an experienced Twenty20 player like Azhar Mahmood.Warriors will be still be wary though, after their batting appeared light in their last match. In-form Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal could make his IPL debut. Their bowling attack, with its variety, wouldn’t solicit a change.

Players to watch

Robin Uthappa scored an uncharacteristically sedate 36 in Mumbai but, more importantly, controlled the slide with a crucial partnership in the middle overs. A strong hitter, Uthappa would fancy his chances against a less than commanding Kings XI bowling attack.Twenty-year-old Mandeep Singh was the top-scorer for Kings XI in their last outing. In a batting order dominated by the likes of Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh and David Hussey, Mandeep has the talent to become the local mainstay.

2011 head-to-head

Warriors overwhelmed Kings XI twice in an otherwise sorry campaign last year. The bowlers led them to a seven-wicket win in Navi Mumbai and repeated the performance in Mohali, ensuring a five-wicket victory.

Stats and trivia

• Shaun Marsh averages 50.96 for Kings XI, the highest in IPL history.
• Rahul Sharma leads Warriors bowling charts with 17 wickets at an average of 17. Neat.

Quotes

“There is a problem with the white ball on the flat subcontinent wickets. [For the] first few overs it’s manageable, but then both the new balls are an advantage to the batsmen.”

“We have been strictly instructed by Preity [Zinta, Kings XI’s owner] to go slow on serving the players any oily food, even if the cravings are intense.”