B-G Trophy 2008 : Build-up

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Symonds quick return will undermine teammates: Coach Australian coach Tim Nielsen has ruled out the volatile all-rounder's quick return to the national side. More... Symonds quick return will undermine teammates: Coach Agencies Posted: Sep 17, 2008 at 1228 hrs IST Melbourne, September 17:: Australian coach Tim Nielsen has praised Andrew Symonds for realising his mistake but ruled out the volatile all-rounder's quick return to the national side, saying such a move would undermine his teammates' position. Nielsen said Symonds has done a great job by pledging to behave "responsibly" in future but his comeback to the national team would take time. "At the moment, Symonds' selection is something I don't want to think about it. It would only undermine the players that are there," Nielsen was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'. "It's brilliant that he has got to this stage and put out a positive message, but I don't even want to start speculating about when he might return," he said. Cricket Australia Chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch had also said Symonds will be monitored for a while before considering his inclusion in national squad. "We have to see whether the all-rounder is fully committed to all of the things needed for a cricketer to be a member of the world's number one team," Hilditch had said. Symonds, who has apologised for his "irresponsibility" and pledged a better conduct, is expected to make a comeback in competitive cricket with his grade side, the ‘Gold Coast Dolphins’, over the next fortnight. After that he is due to feature in a few Twenty20 matches for Queensland and three Sheffield Shield and four domestic one-dayers to prove himself for a possible call-up in the home Test against New Zealand in November.

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Siddle raring to go Victorian fast bowler Peter Siddle is praying his recent shoulder problems are well and truly behind him as he prepares for Australia's tour of India next month. More... Siddle raring to go 19/09/2008 1:11 PM Brandon Cohen Victorian fast bowler Peter Siddle is praying his recent shoulder problems are well and truly behind him as he prepares for Australia's tour of India next month. Still pinching himself a week after earning a call-up to the 15-man squad, the 23-year-old was all smiles as he faced the media just days before departing for the four-Test series which begins in Bangalore on October 9. Siddle was one of four newcomers named in the 15-man squad last Friday alongside Tasmanian off-spinner Jason Krejza, New South Wales quick Doug Bollinger and Bushrangers team-mate Bryce McGain. Long regarded as one of Australia's most promising youngsters - he once took 11-47 in a state under-17 match - Siddle has been plagued by shoulder problems that have curtailed his career to just 11 first-class matches. That he has captured 41 wickets at 21.65 in that time shows why selectors have kept faith in him. Siddle - nicknamed 'Vicious' or 'Dermie', after former Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton because of his blond tips - had his second shoulder reconstruction after Victoria's Pura Cup final loss to NSW in March after picking up match figures of 9-167. "It's all coming along real quickly now, it's feeling great," he said on Friday. "I'm just getting ready to get right into cricket now. I can't wait." Siddle realises he will most likely be watching from the dressing rooms as Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark lead the Australian bowling attack but says just being selected in the squad is a bonus. "Obviously the main aim is to get over there and hopefully get my first Test. But … we've got a great bowling attack. If they're going well they're not going to change the side," Siddle said. "I'm just going to do my best in the nets and try my hardest, keep fit and if the opportunity comes up it's going to be a great chance. If it doesn't come up, there's obviously a lot of time down the track to hopefully get on another tour and hopefully wear the baggy green." Siddle recently returned from India where he was on duty with Australia A. Rain in the three one-day matches meant he had little chance to bowl but he said the experience on Indian pitches would hold him in good stead for the future. Growing up in Morwell in country Victoria, Siddle - who counts among his cricketing heroes Glenn McGrath and Allan Donald - was a competitive junior woodchopper before giving it away to follow his cricketing dreams. "(Woodchopping) is probably a bit too dangerous when you want to pursue other sports," he said with a smile. Meanwhile, former Victoria paceman Dirk Nannes has captured career-best figures with 6-32 for English county side Middlesex. Nannes ripped through the Worcestershire line-up to spark a dramatic second-innings batting collapse which saw it reduced from 2-62 to 122 all out. Middlesex needs just 67 runs for victory when play resumes on the third day. Nannes' previous best was 4-49 for Victoria against NSW at the MCG in 2007/08.

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Ponting needs patience: Chappell FORMER Australia captain Ian Chappell has urged Ricky Ponting to show some rare patience in his bid to end an Indian curse on his batting average. More... Ponting needs patience: Chappell By Jon Pierik September 19, 2008 FORMER Australia captain Ian Chappell has urged Ricky Ponting to show some rare patience in his bid to end an Indian curse. Ponting has compiled more than 10,000 Test runs and averaged 58.37 in a glittering career, but the one black spot has been his form in India. In eight Tests he has a mere 172 runs at a staggeringly low average of just 12.28. His top score is only 60, and just once in 14 innings - in the Test in Delhi in 1996 - was he dismissed by a fast bowler. The Australia captain has been particularly tormented by feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who again looms as a major threat in the upcoming four-Test series. Chappell, who conquered India in 1969-70 with 324 runs at 46.28, said Ponting would need to rethink his approach when the Australian team arrived on Monday. "Playing good spinners has always been Ponting's achilles heel. He tends to push out at the ball when defending rather than letting the ball come to him," Chappell said. "Good players of spin reach out to smother the spin in attack, but in defence let the ball come to them. "Ponting has been dismissed for so many low scores, he hasn't found a method that will allow him to survive this danger period. "Also, Ponting's desire to dictate gets him into a bit of trouble in India. He hasn't displayed the patience required at the start of an innings when you are facing good spinners in India." Chappell said it was crucial Ponting worked his way into his innings, rather than attack from the get-go. Ponting has a strong career strike rate of 59.04 runs per 100 balls, but in India it has already been a relatively tame 46.11 - highlighting the difficulties he has had. "Adjusting to playing good spin bowling in India is the toughest challenge facing an Australian batsman," Chappell said. "The important things . . . are finding a survival method, watching the ball off the pitch really closely, working out what shots you can and can't play and learning you have a fraction of a second longer to play the ball off the pitch when compared to Australia." Ponting has unfinished business in India in more ways than one after missing out on being a real part of Australia's 2004 series win because of a broken thumb. He had to sit out the opening three Tests, including the series-clinching win in Nagpur, and only returned for the final clash - which Australia lost. Ponting begins this latest series under another injury cloud after having surgery on his wrist. But he is expected to be fully fit come the series opener in Bangalore, on October 9.

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Ricky ready for India Australian captain Ricky Ponting is confident his new look 15-man squad is up to the sizable task awaiting them on their four-Test tour of India. More... Ricky ready for India 21/09/2008 9:59 PM Steve Orme Australian captain Ricky Ponting is confident his new look 15-man squad is up to the sizable task awaiting them on their four-Test tour of India. Speaking at Sydney Airport on Sunday evening, Ponting labelled the highly anticipated tour a 'great challenge' for his inexperienced side and conceded he himself feels like a new face following an eight-week absence after wrist surgery. But Ponting is hopeful the injection of fresh faces won't bring an end to Australia's recent good record on the sub-continent. "They've (India) got an experienced side and they'll play their conditions well," Ponting conceded. "But the flip side of that is whenever we've toured the sub-continent in the last 10 years we've played and held our very high standards that we've had in most other conditions around the world." "And whether it's been Test or one-day cricket against India in India of late we've done very, very well, I know the build up once we get there's going to be massive … but it's up to us to make sure that we don't let anybody down, most importantly ourselves." Ponting concedes not entering the series as undisputed favourites is a little strange but insists his side's approach will not be altered by external opinions. "We never look at any match or any series as us being any better or any different than anybody else we just try and play the best cricket that we can and try and turn situations in games into winning ones for us," he explained. "It'll be exactly the same this time around, I think our tactics over there last time were sensational we really did have the Indians under a lot of pressure with bat and ball and that's what we'll be about this time as well." Meanwhile, the 33-year-old expressed his sympathies to the victims of the overnight bombing in Pakistan. "It is an absolute shame that things like this continue to happen in Pakistan because believe it or not as players you want to travel all round the world and you want to play in all the conditions around the world," Ponting said. "Unfortunately right now at the moment there's no way that we can be touring Pakistan." Ponting has every confidence in the security measures in place for the Indian tour and confirmed the safety of the touring party would continue to be monitored throughout. "With the state of the world and the state of some of the countries that we're playing in, it's vitally important that me as captain and all the players in this national team are kept in the loop as much as possible and as often as possible," he said.

[DomainK]

Bhajji will be happy to hear.:D

[Sachinism]

Australian cricket team arrives in India The 15-member Australian cricket team, led by Ricky Ponting, arrived in Mumbai on Monday for a four-Test tour, commencing in Bangalore from October 9. The squad arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport but did not come out of the international terminal and were scheduled to take a connecting flight from the domestic terminal to Jaipur, according to sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The team is scheduled to play a few practice games in Jaipur before reaching Hyderabad on September 29 to commence official part of the tour, they added. The Aussies are without all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who was involved in the racism row with Harbhajan Singh when India toured down under last year, after he was disciplined for going fishing rather than attending a compulsory team meeting during the one-day series against Bangladesh last month. The Indian squad for the first Test in Bangalore will be named after the Irani Trophy match. Earlier, the tour of India was early put in jeopardy after 20 people were killed in the serial blasts in Delhi, the venue of the third Test. Cricket Australia confirmed the tour after a review was carried out following the terrorist attacks, receiving input from the Australian government's department of foreign affairs as well as conducting their own independent assessment. Australian squad: Ricky Ponting ©, Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke , Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Simon Katich, Jason Krejza, Bryce McGain, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson. The itinerary: September 27-28: vs RCA's Centre of Excellence in Jaipur. October 2-5: Warm up match in Hyderabad. October 9-13: 1st Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. October 17-21: 2nd Test at Mohali, Chandigarh. October 29-November 2: 3rd Test at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi November 6-10: 4th Test at VCA Ground, Nagpur. http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/sep/22oz.htm

[Online]

Bring it ONNNNNNNN!!

[Dark Warrior]

Bring it ONNNNNNNN!!

:eyedance:

[Desi Cartman]

why is chappel traveling with the aussie team ?

[h4te]

why is chappel traveling with the aussie team ?

Greg? I think that mofo runs something in Jaipur, and he has arranged some practice matches for Australia since BCCI wouldn't give them more than 1 practice match.

[Desi Cartman]

he is their adviser for this tour :(( ..

[h4te]

[Dark Warrior]

tfs do u have links to more pics

[Dark Warrior]

he is their adviser for this tour :(( ..

then he's gonna advice aussies to send shane watson as a opener in tests. just like wat he did to us in irfan case. :haha:

[h4te]

tfs do u have links to more pics

np, i just grabbed them off of cricinfo

then he's gonna advice aussies to send shane watson as a opener in tests. just like wat he did to us in irfan case. :haha:

if he does as 'good' a job as he did as the coach/roach of India, i'd be ecstatic :giggle:

[Desi Cartman]

its on the homepage of the australian

[anbuchelvan]

WELCOME CHEATER.

[h4te]

its on the homepage of the australian

LMAO! WTF?

[Dark Warrior]

lol nice pic

[Dark Warrior]

WELCOME CHEATER.

"if u r actually questioning my integiry, u shouldnt b standing here" :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: