NSW Cricket News

WNCL Final Live Streaming

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +1100

Live Streaming of RTA SpeedBlitz Blues vs South Australia

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +1100

About Cricket Australia

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:14:12 +1100

Cricket Australia is the custodian of the game in Australia. It is made up of six member associations:

Cricket New South Wales;
Queensland Cricket;
South Australian Cricket Association;
Tasmanian Cricket Association;
Cricket Victoria; and
Western Australian Cricket Association.

The Australian Capital Territory Cricket Association and the Northern Territory Cricket Association are non-member associations.

Board of Directors

Cricket Australia is governed by 14 Directors appointed by their respective member associations, and managed by a Senior Management Team and approximately 60 full-time staff.

The Chief Executive Officer reports to the Board of Directors.

The state associations appoint the following number of Directors to the Board;

New South Wales - three Directors;
Queensland - two Directors;
South Australia - three Directors;
Tasmania - one Director;
Victoria - three Directors; and
Western Australia - two Directors

The Board of Directors maintains a strategic focus in its governance of the game. However, the responsibility for implementing the strategic plan and managing Cricket Australia's operating activities rests with the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Management Team.

Click here to go to the Board of Directors profile page.

Cricket Australia organisational overview

In addition to the Executive department, which manages the day-to-day operations of the Chief Executive Officer and Directors, Cricket Australia operates seven other departments.

Cricket Marketing Services

Overall role: Drive and consolidate revenue-raising and new business activities for Australian cricket. Incorporates Cricket Digital Active, the digital division of Cricket Australia.

Responsibilities:

management of digital assets;
acquiring and servicing commercial partners;
continue to develop the consumer products (licensing) program;
formulating advertising strategies;
market research;
event management for international matches; and
promotions.

Cricket Operations

Overall role: Manage Australian teams at international level, administer the country's premier domestic competitions, the Pura Cup and the ING Cup and oversee all umpiring.

Responsibilities:

all elite-level men's and women's cricket operations, including management of the Australian Test and one-day international teams;
programming for international and domestic cricket, including Australia A;
playing conditions for international and interstate cricket;
pre-tour inspections;
Australian Cricketers' Association relationship management; and
umpiring.

Finance and Business Services

Overall role: Manage Australian cricket's finances and administer its internal operations.

Responsibilities:

financial management of the business behind cricket;
human resources;
information technology infrastructure and service; and
office management.

Game Development

Overall role: Responsible for overseeing all cricket development activity from the game's highest level through to its grassroots.

Responsibilities:

increasing cricket participation across the nation;
fostering club cricket;
co-ordinating world-class development programs for players, coaches and umpires;
contemporary education and training models for coaches, umpires, administrators and curators, designed to better service the game;
national youth championships; and
ICC East Asia Development program.

Legal and Business Affairs

Overall role: Manage the provision of legal services to the organisation and assist with the implementation of various strategic business initiatives.

Responsibilities:

negotiate and draft agreements
review Codes and Policies and assist with player education
oversee the development and management of various special business projects
oversee the implementation of various strategic initiatives involving the use of digital technology

Public Affairs

Overall role: Plan and implement the organisation's strategic communications programs, ensuring that cricket's stakeholders are kept informed about the game.

Responsibilities:

issues management;
media relations;
strategic communications;
publication production;
publicity; and
corporate hospitality.

Media Rights

Overall role: Manage cricket's media partners including broadcasters.

Responsibilities:

managment of media partners;
strategic direction of media strategy;

Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association
Cricket Australia recognises the importance of Australian players' rights to an active independant representative body.

Cricket Australia works closely with the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) to ensure the best possible outcome for Australian cricket.

Click here to visit the ACA website.

Findings from the O’Regan Report

Download the attached PDF for the findings from the O’Regan Report

NSW triumph over Diamond Eagles in Airtel Champions League

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:25 +1000

NSW triumphed in their opening Airtel Champions League match in Delhi with a comprehensive win over the South African Diamond Eagles.

The match was the starting point for NSW in their group of three, with their second fixture against Sussex in Delhi on Sunday.

When he arrived at the stadium skipper Simon Katich found a wicket totally devoid of grass which looked as though it would lack any true pace.

This was proved correct as the evening went on and the bounce became lower, and boundaries harder to hit.

After winning the toss Katich had no hesitation in deciding to bat in order to post a total that would be hard to chase.

Hughes (1) departed early but a main partnership of 79 between David Warner (23 from 31) and Katich (53 from 41), stabilised the NSW innings. While Warner was content to play second fiddle, Katich was in masterful form and his timing was impeccable as he hit six fours and two sixes in his innings before being caught on the boundary from the bowling of Van Schalkwyk. From here it was a combination of some enormous hitting from Moises Henriques (27 from 19 balls) and sensible accumulating from Ben Rohrer (22no from 15) that got NSW to an above par score of 144 from their 20 overs.

Katich admitted later that having summed up the wicket while batting he thought that this would be a defendable total if NSW bowled to potential.

This they did with Brett Lee continuing his brilliant one-day form to snare Rossouw lbw early before Stuart Clark took over. Having not played a great deal of Twenty20 in recent years, Clark started superbly, having the dangerous van Wyk caught first ball of his spell for a duck and going on to take the bowling honours with 3 for 12 from his four overs. This rightly gave him a cheque for US$ 2500 as the most economical bowler of the match.

He was brilliantly backed up by the rest of the NSW bowling line up as the Eagles' middle order was strangled for runs. Moises Henriques was back to his penetrating best and picked up two wickets in a controlled spell of 3 overs for 13 runs, while Nathan Hauritz continued his Champions Trophy form to record one for 13 from his four overs.

Hauritz must surely be the most improved bowler in world cricket in the past 12 months.

At 6 for 36 from 9 overs the game was pretty much over but with run rates being vital in this competition, NSW were relentless as they held the Eagles to a final score of 9 for 91 from their 20 overs.

Katich was rightly named Man-of-the-Match after following up his innings with two direct hit run outs.

NSW now take on the Sussex Sharks from England at 4pm local time on Sunday.

NSW 6 for 144

EAGLES 9 for 91

NSW won by 53 runs

Stephen O'Keefe's Airtel Champions League Diary Part 4

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:21 +1000

Tonight’s gonna be a good night…

That’s the team song for the tour and it filled the change room on Binger's instruction at approx 3 o’clock one hour before the start of play. The hour before play is a frenzy as each player falls into their pre game ritual. As you look around the room, Dave Warner is applying bat tape to his plethora of bats, no one is quite certain how many he will use tonight but he will make sure they are all on standby.

The older guys begin their chemical warm up, as Muz cracks the lid on the medication box, urine samples are given to Tom to work out hydration, guys are crudely tailoring their clothes with tape and scissors and the tube of sunblock is being tossed around the room. On the surface it looks like mayhem, but underneath everyone is calm and ready.

It is generally around this time that the 4 ‘unluckys’ are told that. My attempts to hide, duck, weave and avoid all eye contact with the team selectors from the fateful tap on the shoulder were in vain as I was told I was missing out. I immediately switched to 12th man mode, which meant putting my running boots on, servicing the players needs and gelling my hair so I would look my best strutting past the cheerleaders!

3:15 stroll out to the ground that has overnight been turned into a nightclub. There are 6 of the biggest speakers I have ever seen and a resident DJ TAJ is belting out his nightclub beats for the small but very vocal crowd who have turned up to watch the warm up. The guys go through their paces with Tommy and then all turn to individual needs.

I had the pleasure of partnering Kat as he took aim at the solitary stump about 30 metres away. Things were looking ominous for the Diamond Eagles as Simon “Stiffness” Katich did not miss one attempt and this was simply a prelude of what was to come. With the bowlers warm, the batters finely tuned and the toss won, it was back up to the sheds with Stiffness electing to bat on what seemed a very flat wicket. Nearly the whole team pads up as coach Matthew “im not big on meetings” Mott’s strategy of who may go in next changes accordingly to the game situation.

After watching the wicket become low and slow we quickly adjusted our play, with Kat damaging down the ground and hitting a man of the match innings of 50 plus. Some excellent late hitting from Moises Henriques and Ben Rohrer saw NSW to a competitive total of 144.

Coach Mott and skipper Katich don’t have to much to say in the 2o minutes before the start of our bowling innings, however, we are reminded that no total is safe in this form of the game and with the slow nature of the wicket, the boys are instructed to bowl as straight as possible to make use of the uneven bounce. The start couldn’t have been better with early wickets to Lee and Clark and some excellent fielding clipping the Eagles wings as the run rate fell below 4 runs an over.

With the match under control I took it upon myself to hand out towels and drinks to the outfielders (perve on the cheerleaders) as DJ Taj belted out a new tune between overs or whenever a 4 or 6 was hit, coupled with random fireworks. This was amazing to be a part of.

After the early damage by the quick bowlers the Diamond Eagles never recovered. Kat carried on his early form in the warm up with 2 direct hit runouts and another third close one. Nathan Hauritz and Moises Henriques executed well under pressure and we reduced the Eagles to 91 for 9 from their 20 overs.

Victory! Fireworks and DJ Taj were at it again at the close of play, unfortunately we couldn’t savour the experience for long as the home team Delhi were on straight after us. However, the boys enjoyed a couple of quiet drinks at the Steve Waugh Charity event as well as some late dinner. It's always a buzz speaking to the great man, who is an inspiration and a hero to the squad.

1 down 5 to go…

Snap Dragon (SOK)

NSW beat Sussex Sharks to qualify for next stage in Airtel Champions League

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:15 +1000

NSW continued their excellent form in the Airtel Champions League by disposing of a determined Sussex Sharks side at the FSK Stadium in Delhi.

Winning the toss for the second time in consecutive games, skipper Simon Katich decided to bat first on a wicket that was an exact replica of game one at the same venue two days previously.

Runs were not easy to come by as Warner and Hughes looked to set the platform to allow the middle order to come in and play with some freedom. Both found boundaries elusive but put on 35 for the first wicket before Warner (14 from 18 balls) was run out by a superb piece of fielding from Dwayne Smith at point who hit the stumps from side on directly after a superb dive.

Hughes watched Daniel Smith (2) come and go quickly but then played his part in a vtal partnership of 90 with Moises Henriques that allowed NSW a target to bowl at. Henriques mixed quick singles with three fours and two sixes to record a final total of 51no from 33 balls while Hughes batted through to hold the innings together with 62 from 64 balls in a superb display of concentration.

In response NSW again received a great start with Brett Lee bowling oppostion skipper Ed Joyce for a first ball duck to leave Sussex reeling at 1 for 1.

From here it was a matter of tremendous NSW accuracy strangling the Sussex middle order as wickets fell at regular intervals. Sussex had reached 5 for 64 after 13.4 overs with the fall of Chawla first ball to Henriques, and could never get back close to the rate.

Lee, who took a blow on the thumb in his second over, returned the remarkable figues of 4 overs for 8 runs with one wicket which earned him a cheque for US$ 2500 as the most economical bowler of the day. He was brilliantly backed up by Moises Henriques whose figures of 3 for 23 from four overs helped him take out the Man-of-the-Match award.

Bollinger (4 overs one for thirteen) and Steven Smith (4 overs one for nineteen) were also very impressive.

NSW eventually held the Sharks to 8 for 95 from their 20 overs to triumph by 35 runs.

NSW 2 for 130

SUSSEX SHARKS 8 for 95

NSW now move to Hyderabad to prepare for stage two.

Great finish to Lismore Festival

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:00:50 +1000

The RTA SpeedBlitz Blues finished their pre-season tour of Lismore with a professional 54 run win over Victoria in a day/night Twenty20 match at Oakes Oval.

With first use of another immaculate batting wicket, NSW saw Phillip Hughes strike the early blows with 38 from 15 balls, before Peter Forrest continued the momentum. Forrest, who had limited opportunities during the week, showed his ability in this format by striking an innings high 45 from 34 balls which included 3 sixes and 2 fours.

This was backed up by the in-form Ben Rohrer who finished a superb week with 33 while Dominic Thornely controlled proceedings at the end to finish on 35 not out.

NSW finished on 8 for 196.

In response Victoria who were missing two of their main stars in Brad Hodge and David Hussey, searched for an explosive start.

This did not materialise and at 3 for 84 after nine overs they faced an uphill battle. When Wade departed for 33, the middle order fell away with the loss of 4 wickets for 8 runs. Chief destroyers during this period were Steve Smith (3 for 20 from four overs) and Dominic Thornely (2 for 9 from two overs).

Both showed the value of spin in this form of the game and Smith, who had a superb overall week with bat and ball, again proved difficult to attack.
With Mitchell Starc and Simon Keen chipping in with 2 wickets apiece, the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues ended up finishing the match with 5 balls to spare. A great overall boost for a team that will depart for India on Friday full of confidence.

NSW 8 for 196
VICTORIA all out 142

Pink has the Power

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:28:34 +1000

The Pink Power has taken the early lead in the 2009/10 Power Education Challenge, a tournament for the leading female players in NSW.

The PEC got underway last Sunday (September 27) with each of the four teams playing two Twenty20 matches at David Phillips Oval. The Pink Power won both their matches against the Harlequin Greens and Dodger Blues to move to the top of the competition ladder.

The Harlequin Greens and Dodger Blues both had one win each while last year’s winners, the Royal Reds, are yet to open their account.

Below are the match reports from each of the fixtures.

Harlequin Greens vs Pink Power

Batting first, the Harlequin Greens had a terrible start with openers Sarah Aley (0) and Laura Wright (2) both departing within the first three overs. They were in even more trouble at 3-23 when Rhiannon Dick was run out for 3.

However ACT player Kris Britt and NSW U/17 representative Lisa Griffith were able to rescue the Greens with an unbeaten 66 run third wicket stand. Britt finished on 39 not out with Griffith 31 not out. For the Pink Power, Lisa Sthalekar (1-2 off 3) and Aimee Harris (1-9 off 3) were the only bowlers to take wickets.

In contrast to the Greens innings, the Pink Power’s openers had no trouble scoring runs with Sarah Coyte hitting 46 not out and Claire Koski 32. The winning runs came in the 17th over for the loss of two wickets.

Harlequin Greens vs Royal Reds

The Reds batted first in this match to post 4-107. NSW U/17 captain Kate Waetford was the star of the innings with 41 not out, while Sharon Millanta hit 26 not out.

Nicole Goodwin was terrific with the ball, taking 2-16 from her four overs while Sarah Aley finished with 1-13 from four.

The Greens scored the winning runs in the final over of the match, thanks to 47 not out from Kris Britt. The always economical Sharon Millanta finished with 0-13 from her four overs while Hannah Perry, Angela Reakes and Corinne Hall all took a wicket each.

Dodger Blue vs Royal Reds

Dodger Blues’ openings bats, Leah Poulton and Kate Blackwell, made sure their side got off to a flying start with the first 40 runs coming in six overs. Poulton was the first to go for 22, sparking a mini collapse which saw the Blues lose 4-34.

The fall of wickets forced Blackwell to slow her scoring rate and she was eventually the sixth wicket to fall in the 18th over, out for 27 with the score on 102. The Blues finished their innings at 7-113.

Not one to muck around, Alyssa Healy got the Reds off to an absolute flier, smashing 33 runs from 23 balls. However only two other players reached double figures and the Reds were bundled out in the 18th over for 101.

Pink Power vs Dodger Blue

Dodger Blue batted first in the match to post 6-121 from their 20 overs. Opener Kate Blackwell top scored with 45 while captain Erin Osborne made 38 batting at number three. With the ball, Aimee Harris took 3-29 and Lisa Sthalekar 2-20.

To win the match, the Blues had to contain Pink Powers’ in-form top order of Sarah Coyte, Claire Koski and Lisa Sthalekar. However the challenge proved too much with openers Koski and Coyte putting on 59 runs for the first wicket.
Coyte was first out for 23 however Sthalekar and Koski maintained the rage, putting on a quick-fire 30 for the second wicket. Koski was eventually out for 36, with Sthalekar guiding the team home with 33 not out.

For the Blues, Erin Osborne was the pick of the bowlers. Opening the bowling with her off-breaks, she took 2-18 from four overs.

RTA SpeedBlitz Blues take revenge on Victoria

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:00:51 +1000

The RTA SpeedBlitz Blues gained revenge over Victoria with a decisive 6 wicket victory in this afternoon's double header in Lismore.

After Victoria won the toss and decided to bat, the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues achieved early success with Mitchell Starc bowling Rob Quiney with the first ball of the innings, followed by early dismissals for Blizzard (2) and Hussey (9).
Hodge and Finch then steadied the ship with a partnership of 48, before Hodge was caught trying to hit O'Keefe out of the ground for 34.

The rest of the innings was a struggle for Victoria with regular wickets falling and when Finch was bowled by Aaron Bird for 43 for the 8th wicket, they had only 134 on the board. They managed to lift this total to 139 before Harwood was brilliantly caught by Thornely with 10 balls left.

Aaron Bird with 2 for 29 from four overs and Simon Keen with 2 for 17 from three overs were the pick of the bowlers, and well backed up by Mitchell Starc who took two early scalps.

In response NSW started superbly with the powerful combination of Hughes (37) and Warner (30) putting on 70 in seven overs.

When Warner departed, and Katich was caught and bowled by Hodge for 1, NSW consolidated and a partnership of 53 between Steve Smith (22no) and Moises Henriques (36), took the team to the brink of victory, before Thornely came in to hit Blizzard for the winning four with 13 balls to spare.

A convincing win that will provide a boost leading into the rematch on Tuesday afternoon.

VICTORIA 139 all out
NSW 4 for 140

Victoria lead in Second XI match against NSW

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:10 +1000

Victoria is 4-170 approaching lunch on day two (October 13) of the Second XI match against NSW currently being played at Bankstown Oval. NSW were all out for 161 on day one.

Phil Jaques got NSW off to a flying start on day one with 30 from 23 balls. Unfortunately, his stay was cut short by a brilliant in-swinging yorker from Darren Pattinson. With regular wickets falling, NSW captain Greg Mail did his best to hold the innings together with a patient 52.

Victoria batted for 34 overs at the end of the day to reach 3-117. They have only lost one more wicket this morning with Nick Jewell falling to Beau Casson for 86. Michael Hill is the not out batsman on 51.

For NSW, Grant Lambert has two wickets with Casson and Burt Cockley taking one each.

NSW Second XI edge ahead

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:06 +1000

The NSW Second XI is 2-160 in their second innings after two days of a four day fixture against Victoria at Bankstown Oval.

Victoria began day two (October 13) on 3-117 with Nick Jewell and Michael Hill the not out batsmen. Jewell fell before lunch for 86 while Hill went on to make 60.

NSW fought back well to eventually bowl out the Vics for 268, with Darren Pattinson (58) the only other batsman to reach his half century.

Wicket takers for NSW were Josh Hazlewood (3-30), Burt Cockley (3-47), Grant Lambert (2-37) and Beau Casson (1).

NSW reached 2-160 at stumps, a lead of 53 runs, with Greg Mail 72 not out and Peter Forrest 37 not out. Phil Jaques made 19 and Usman Khawaja 30.

Play continues today (October 14) from 10:30am.

Progress Score – Day Two

NSW Second XI 161 (G Mail 52 P Jaques 30 D Pattinson 4-19 S Gilmour 4-56) and 2-160 (G Mail 72no P Forrest 37no) vs Victoria Second XI 268 (N Jewell 86 M Hill 60 J Hazlewood 3-30 B Cockley 3-47)

Mail and Forrest punish Vics

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:01 +1000

A massive 394 run third wicket partnership between Greg Mail and Peter Forrest has put the NSW Second XI in a terrific position heading into the fourth and final day of their match against Victoria at Bankstown Oval (October 15).

NSW started day three (October 14) on 2-160 in their second innings, a lead of 53 runs, with captain Mail (72no) and Forrest (37no) at the crease.

The pair set the tone for the day with a brilliant first hour where Mail reached his century and Forrest moved to 67not out. From here NSW dominated the Victorian bowlers, finishing the day at 6-574.

Mail was out for an outstanding 223 and Forrest made an equally impressive 183. Philip Wells also contributed a handy 60 not out.

NSW declared at stumps meaning Victoria will start batting today needing 468 to win.

Progress Score – Day Three

NSW Second XI 161 (G Mail 52 P Jaques 30 D Pattinson 4-19 S Gilmour 4-56) and 6 dec 574 (G Mail 223 P Forrest 183 P Wells 60no) vs Victoria Second XI 268 (N Jewell 86 M Hill 60 J Hazlewood 3-30 B Cockley 3-47)

Mail's double hundred creates a place in the top ten

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:50 +1000

By scoring 223 against Victoria in the current 2nd X1 match at Bankstown, Greg Mail took over 4th spot on the all-time list of highest 2nd X1 scores for NSW.

Mail, who has enjoyed considerable success in the First-class arena, led from the front in what was the opening 2nd X1 fixture for the season.

His score has only been bettered by Usman Khawaja (228 v Victoria at Penrith in 2008), Aaron O'Brien (231 no v Victoria at Hurstville in 2005) and Brett Van Deinsen (239 v Victoria at St Kilda in 2001).

Peter Forrest, who scored 183 in the match, moves into equal 12th on the list.

NSW attempt to push for victory against Victoria today on day four.

Second XI match ends in a draw

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:46 +1000

The Second XI match between NSW and Victoria at Bankstown Oval has ended in a draw. Chasing 468 to win on the fourth and final day (October 15), Victoria finished on 3-287.

NSW had declared on their overnight score of 6-574. They made an early breakthrough with Burt Cockley removing first innings centurion, Nick Jewell, for six.

On a flat pitch, the NSW bowlers worked hard for the remainder of the day and while the Vics were never in the hunt for the win, they only lost two more wickets.

Match Summary

NSW Second XI 161 (G Mail 52 P Jaques 30 D Pattinson 4-19 S Gilmour 4-56) and 6 dec 574 (G Mail 223 P Forrest 183 P Wells 60no) drew with Victoria Second XI 268 (N Jewell 86 M Hill 60 J Hazlewood 3-30 B Cockley 3-47) and 3-287 (B Forsyth 110 L Mask 105 M Hill 58 B Cockley 1-24)

Stephen O'Keefe's Airtel Champions League Diary - Part 5

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:40 +1000

Apologies for the delay on the latest update – particularly to my two fans who are keenly following my thoughts! I write this blog sitting in the comfort of the automatic massage chair in the physio’s room. The caress of steel ball bearings is a strangely relaxing moment in India.

On tour, the 3 VIPs score the best rooms – the coach (for tantrum chucking needs when we lose), the captain (to escape the ever present demands of managing 14 other players, media etc) and the physio (who apparently needs more room to store his extra 50 kg of ‘physio stuff’ ?? . . we all think he is just being precious). For security reasons there is, unfortunately, a lot of hotel down-time between games and training. We have shifted base to Hyderabad for the Group Stage of our campaign – how did we get here ?

Had an excellent victory over Sussex with everyone contributing. The standouts were Hughesy with bat, Moises Henriques with bat and ball and Binga Lee with the ball again. The NSW Blues are in ominous form that we hope to carry forward. There is a good feeling amongst the boys. This is potentially a once in a lifetime experience for all players and support staff – we are here to do something special !!

A day off in India . . . . Since our arrival we have had only one true day off from either training, playing or media commitments.

Each player has their own preference for spending time away for the game. A small group headed off for a round of golf, others did a little shopping, some went sightseeing to the Taj Mahal (including 8 hours on a packed Indian train First Class - meaning you didn’t risk sitting on the roof!), while some follow the Binga circus of media including Indian, South African, English, Russian and the rest of the United Nations!

Actually jokes aside Binga Brett Lee is very down to earth despite this attention, and gives all to the team and the younger guys in the squad. Funnily enough, none of the boys decided to join me for a tanning session by the pool – I’m not sure if the Indian locals know what to make of my Fluoro green budgy smugglers!

I’m slowly getting the team on the ‘budgy’ express that currently includes Warner (bright orange), Dan Smith (fluoro pink), Rohrer (fluoro yellow) and Quiney (fluoro blue - Vics). I have one bright yellow pair left with Simon Katich’s name all over them – he’s a closet Hoolio waiting to ‘come out’ following his victory in the men of cricket calendar last year!

Feeling refreshed we re-grouped the next day for a light training session, then packed the bags ready to fly to Hyderabad. It was a long day of travel yesterday, however, the change of scenery is welcome with potentially a little more to do in our new surrounds. Tonight we train under lights before our next game against Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow night . . . .

Two down . . 4 to go !

Snap Dragon SOK.

NSW go down in group stage to Trinidad and Tobago

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:30 +1000

NSW went down in their first group stage match to Trinidad and Tobago after an absorbing contest ended with an amazing innings from Kieron Pollard that turned the match on its head.

NSW won their third toss in a row and captain Simon Katich had no hesitation in batting on a wicket that had shown true bounce in previous matches.

The innings started well with Hughes and Warner taking 25 from the first two overs as conditions allowed them to play their shots with confidence. Hughes took the early initiative by smashing Dwayne Bravo through a sparce leg side field to dent the early hopes of the West Indian contingent in the crowd.

Hughes continued to carry the early load while David Warner drove and cut with increased confidence. The turning point came in the 12th over against the leg spin of Badree, when Warner smashed two consecutive straight sixes as he took 24 runs from 6 balls. This changed the momentum of the innings and despite Warner departing for 63 from 41 balls that included three sixes, Hughes accelerated with the help of a cameo from Henriques (17 from 11) to help NSW finish with a par score of 4 for 170 from their 20 overs.

Hughes departed in the last over from the bowling of Bravo for a well time 83 from 64 balls that included 11 fours and one six.

In reply NSW reduced Trinidad and Tobago to 3 for 30 in the fourth over before three run outs had the opposition requiring 80 from 42 balls. Enter Denesh Ramdin who initiated the turnaround with 23 from 13 balls before Kieron Pollard stole the game away from NSW.

His assault was brutal, scoring 54no from 18 balls in a display of hitting that it would be hard to match. It is rare that someone can come in so late in a game and win it so dominantly. It is even rarer that a team needing two runs a ball with half the team out triumph.

That they did was down to a man who had done the same to the Deccan Chargers in a previous round. His whirlwind contained five fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 300!

No one was spared, and Trinidad ended up passing the NSW total with nine balls to spare to win by 4 wickets.

For NSW, Brett Lee (3 overs one for 17) and Doug Bollinger (4 overs one for 22) were excellent, while Stuart Clark was also accurate, conceding only 27 runs in his four overs.

NSW now need to beat Somerset on Sunday in a match starting at 4pm local time to be sure of making the semi finals.

NSW 4 for 170

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 6 for 171

Stephen O'Keefe's Airtel Champions League Diary - Part 6

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:34 +1000

Happy Diwali!!

Diwali is an Indian festival celebrating the victory of light over darkness or good over evil, or in simpler terms, fire cracker night. Last night the Hyderabad night sky was filled with the sight and sound of millions of “Indian made” fireworks (colourful explosives). Unfortunately the Trinidad and Tobagians, (aka TnT) in particular Kieron Pollard decided to start the festivities a day early...

“Dangerous, Explosive and Unpredictable!”

No I am not talking about the plethora of fireworks that Doug and Brett bought and let off last night at the front of the hotel, I mean team meeting 362, slide 44, line 28.

The only line I managed to pick up in between stacking z’s or playing draw a race on my ipod (coach Mott believes I am not a visual learner). “Dangerous, Explosive and Unpredictable!” - these were apt words to describe the TnT’s as evidenced by Pollard's 52 off 18 balls to single handedly win them the match.

It was a mixture of emotions: feeling the disappointment of losing but seeing the joy and the celebrations of Pollard and the TnT’s. It put shivers down my spine seeing the big frame of Pollard fist pumping the sky, grabbing a stump and bolting towards the midwicket boundary with his team in pursuit.

The NSW boys, although very disappointed by the loss, are now more than ever motivated to bounce back against Somerset today. The ball is in our court still - a win today will give us the best chance of going through to the sudden death stage of the tournament. The game will be played late in the afternoon which should bring our spinners into the game more, with less dew to contend with.

In other Headlines . . . .

“Red Hot Reddin Claims First Test Scalp”

Trying to make up for his touch football misdemeanours, Red Hot bounced back claiming his first Test scalp, knocking out Nathan Hauritz's leg stump. After failing to bump out the tallest man (arch enemy Sarfraz) on the low flat wickets of Hyderabad bowling 102 Km/hr with a 105 over old ball, Tommy finally tuned into bowling mentor Sarfraz “pitch one up you idiot” Clark's advice with good results.

“Fred’s Shoulder Hanging on by a Thread”

Clocking up his 852 thousandth (700 thousand to me...cheers Fred!) throw down for the tour, David “Freddy” Freedman finally described his shoulder as (insert expletive). He was last seen heading towards the massage parlour via the medication box, although you would never hear him whinge about it.

“Towners in doubt...”

Media manager and County stalwart David Townsend suffered a horrific grade one, off the bone torn hamstring, seconds into support staff vs players touch football game during warm up for training yesterday. Bravely deciding to play on he was the difference between both teams letting the next 5 tries in.

“Laundry service doubles as folding service”

Experienced entrepreneurs Dan Smith and Moises Henriques have discovered a more efficient method of packing their clothes. We are allowed 10 items per day laundry. In India they come back neatly folded and pressed. Rather than fold their own clean clothes, the boys have decided to send their clean clothes with the dirty ones to avoid the strenuous demands of folding. The rest of the squad is beginning to follow suit - wives and girlfriends beware, it seems your men are getting lazier.

Snap Dragon
Sok.

NSW book themselves a place in the Airtel Champions League Semi-Finals

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:26 +1000

A convincing performance from NSW saw them convincingly beat Somerset by 6 wickets to advance into the semi-finals of the Airtel Champions League. Who they will play will be decided later tonight when Trinidad and Tobago take on the Diamond Eagles from South Africa.

After winning the toss skipper Simon Katich decided to ask Somerset to bat first after concern about the effect the dew might have on his spinners if they were forced to bowl second.

NSW then applied the screw to the Somerset top order to have them at 5 for 44 after nine overs. The star of the show was Stuart Clark who again exerted tremendous control mixing great line and length with slower balls to record innings best figures of 3 for 15 from his four overs. His second victim was opposition skipper and former Australian team-mate Justin Langer who skied a catch to the waiting Nathan Hauritz at deep square leg.

It was Langer's last ever match before retirement and Katich paid him the compliment afterwards of describing him as the most competitive cricketer he had ever played against.

From 5 for 44, Somerset never recovered and a steady flow of NSW wickets meant they rarely topped a run rate of six. Durston (20no), hit their only six late in the innings as they scrambled to 7 for 111 after their 20 overs. All bowlers tied Somerset down with Lee (4-0-15-1) and Hauritz (3-0-14-1), again proving very difficult to hit boundaries from.

In response NSW looked for an explosive start and were again indebted to the most prolific opening pair in the tournament as Warner and Hughes put on 56 in 4.4 overs! Warner took centre stage and was in devastating form hitting 40 from just 16 balls before being caught at long off from the bowling of Omari Banks.

Hughes (18) was also in great touch and the run rate continued to fly as Dan Smith, batting at three, smashed 20 from 12 balls to leave NSW looking for an early finish.

A small mid innings collapse left Katich (18no) and Steven Smith (5no) to see the team home by 6 wickets with 49 balls to spare.

Stuart Clark was named most economical bowler and Man-of-the-Match for his efforts.

This clinical victory will see NSW now either travel to Delhi or stay in Hyderabad to face Victoria or the Cape Cobras in the semi-finals, depending on tonight's result.

SOMERSET 111

NSW 4 for 112

Warner makes All-Star X1 at Airtel Champions League

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:20 +1000

The eye-catching performances of Trinidad & Tobago’s Keiron Pollard and NSW’s David Warner has earned them selection in the latest round of the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) All-Star XI.

The All-Star XI was updated after the completion of last night’s League stage, with Delhi’s Dirk Nannes and Victoria’s Andrew McDonald among the others to force their way into the team.

Pollard has been one of the standout players of the tournament. His match-winning 54 from 18 balls against New South Wales in the League stage is the performance of the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 so far. He leads the tournament with a strike rate of 203.39 and along with RC Bangalore’s Ross Taylor has cleared the boundary 11 times.

NSW Blues opener Warner made it impossible for selectors to leave him out after a pair of explosive innings in the League stage. The left-hander smashed 63 from 41 balls against Trinidad & Tobago and followed up with a whirlwind 40 from 16 balls against Somerset to help NSW book a semi-final appointment against the Victorian Bushrangers.

Delhi Daredevil Dirk Nannes is another to earn place in the second selection of the XI. Nannes sits second on the wicket-takers’ list with nine, including five dismissals in his previous two matches. His 3-19 in last night’s match against Cape Cobras at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium was instrumental in ensuring Delhi recorded a win in their final match of the tournament.

The CLT20 All Star XI is a team chosen by ESPN Star Sports commentators containing six batsmen, four bowlers and one wicket-keeper based on the Group and League stages of the tournament.

Today’s selection is the second of three that will occur before the final All-Star XI is named after the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 Final on 23 October. The XI will be next updated after the Semi Finals.

To be considered for selection in the All Star XI, a player must be ranked in the top 20 for batting (runs scored), top 15 for bowling (wickets taken) or among the top four wicket-keepers (dismissals).

If a player is listed in more than one category, selectors have the flexibility to name them in either group.

All the statistics for the tournament can be found on the Airtel CLT20 website, www.clt20.com.

The full CLT20 All-Star XI is as follows:

CLT20 All-Star XI

Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils)
David Warner (NSW Blues)
JP Duminy (Cape Cobras)
Ross Taylor (RC Bangalore)
Jacques Kallis (RC Bangalore)
Keiron Pollard (Trinidad & Tobago)
Denesh Ramdin (Trinidad & Tobago) wk
Dwayne Bravo (Trinidad & Tobago)
Andrew McDonald (Victorian Bushrangers)
Dirk Nannes (Delhi Daredevils)
Anil Kumble (RC Bangalore)

Michael Clarke wishes NSW the best of luck against Victoria

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:14 +1000

New Australian Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke has offered his support to the NSW team that takes on Victoria tonight in the semi-final of the Airtel Champions League.

Clarke, who is currently recovering from injury and is hopeful of joining the Australian One-Day squad for some part of their upcoming series against India, wished the NSW team the best of luck for their match against old rivals Victoria later today:

“I wish NSW all the best in their semi-final against Victoria. I have been watching the Airtel Champions League with great interest and have been proud of the way that the NSW side have gone about their cricket. I look forward to today’s match and hope that the boys can continue their form and reach the final”.

NSW play Victoria in Delhi tonight at 8 pm local time (1-30 am time on Thursday morning in Sydney). The match will be broadcast live on ONE HD.

Steve Waugh throws his support behind NSW

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:03:07 +1000

Former Australian and NSW captain Steve Waugh has thrown his support behind the NSW team that will take on Victoria tonight (8pm local time) in the semi-final of the Airtel Champions League.

Waugh, who was in India recently promoting his charities, is as passionate about his home State as ever: ‘I only ever wore one Green Baggy Cap during my Australian career and I only ever wore one Baggy Blue Cap for NSW, that’s how much they both meant to me’ Waugh said when asked about his feelings about tonight’s match.

The winner of tonight’s game will take on either Trinidad and Tobago or the Cape Cobras in Friday night’s Final in Hyderabad.

NSW beat Victoria to make the final of the Champions League

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:02:53 +1000

There was no nerve-jangling, last-ball finish today, like there was when New South Wales pipped Victoria twice to win last season's Big Bash. Instead, the Australian champions delivered a clinical performance on a difficult Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, one that ensured the first semi-final of the Champions League was one of the most one-sided matches of the tournament.

On the same pitch where fewer than 200 runs were scored in the match between Delhi Daredevils and Cape Cobras a day ago, the NSW openers David Warner and Phillip Hughes provided a powerful start, which allowed them to post 169, far more than the 110 Victoria captain Cameron White had hoped to limit them to. A tough chase became virtually impossible when offspinner Nathan Hauritz, who was given the second over, struck twice in three deliveries, getting rid of Victoria's openers.

The build-up to the highly anticipated contest between the Australian sides centered around how difficult the track would be for power-hitting and, when Hughes was struck on the arm by a bouncer from Peter Siddle in the second over, it seemed the batsmen would have toil for their runs.

Warner, though, doesn't toil for his runs. His Australia call-up and an IPL contract were results of his ability to tear into bowling attacks and he did just that in front of a disappointingly thin Delhi crowd. The stand-out feature of his innings was his straight-hitting on a pitch with low bounce: both his sixes were clean hits over long-off and he started the onslaught with a searing flat-batted swipe past the bowler, Shane Harwood, in the third over.

That boundary began a prosperous period for NSW. Warner was sublime, bludgeoning 25 runs off ten deliveries he faced from an off-colour Siddle. He rounded off the Powerplay with a lofted straight drive over Siddle's head and launched him to the extra-cover boundary to take NSW to 56.

Victoria got a lucky break in the next over, when Warner was run out attempting a suicidal run after Hughes pushed the ball to point. A livid Warner stormed back to the dug-out, falling two short of a well-deserved half-century.

Hughes had coasted through the Powerplays but switched to top gear after that dismissal. Most of his shots started with him getting the front foot out of the way, whether he crashed the ball past point, caressed it through extra cover, or bludgeoned towards midwicket. He had scored 20 off his previous seven deliveries when he was foxed by Clint McKay's back-of-the-hand slower ball, which batsmen have found extremely hard to pick in this tournament.

Daniel Smith, promoted to No. 3, and captain Simon Katich kept the momentum up, picking off boundaries early in the over and working the singles. Victoria did manage to restrict the runs towards the end though; the only boundaries in the last five overs were a couple of innovative paddle-scoops to fine leg from Ben Rohrer.

The only thing that prevented New South Wales from entering the semi-final unbeaten was a stunning 18-ball 54 from Trinidad & Tobago batsman Kieron Pollard. Victoria needed something similar but Hauritz's blows, followed by Lee's dismissal of Aiden Blizzard, made their task incredibly hard.

After the Powerplay, Victoria had limped to only 17 for 3, and even their experienced and highly-rated duo of White and David Hussey couldn't pull off a rescue act. It was a slow and painful slide to an embarrassing defeat for Victoria and they didn't even manage three figures. White had predicted at the toss that it would be a "hell of a chase" whatever NSW managed; he couldn't have imagined a more hellish chase.

Lee, Henriques and Hughes join NSW Blues teammate Warner in last preliminary selection

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:02:50 +1000

The NSW Blues’ comprehensive semi-final victory over the Victorian Bushrangers has resulted in the Aitrel Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) Finalist having three more players added to the latest All-Star XI

Fast bowler Brett Lee, all-rounder Moises Henriques and opening batsman Phil Hughes have all been included as selectors rewarded the Blues’ imposing form throughout the latter stages of the tournament.

The All-Star XI was updated after the completion of last night’s semi-finals, with NSW (four) and Trinidad & Tobago (three) not surprisingly holding seven of the 11 places in the team.

The CLT20 All Star XI is a team chosen by ESPN Star Sports commentators containing six batsmen, four bowlers and one wicket-keeper based on the Group and League stages of the tournament.

The final All-Star XI will be named after the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 Final tonight. The match between the NSW Blues and Trinidad & Tobago will be played at 2000 at Uppal Stadium.

To be considered for selection in the All Star XI, a player must be ranked in the top 20 for batting (runs scored), top 15 for bowling (wickets taken) or among the top four wicket-keepers (dismissals).

If a player is listed in more than one category, selectors have the flexibility to name them in either group.

All the statistics for the tournament can be found on the Airtel CLT20 website, www.clt20.com.

The full CLT20 All-Star XI is as follows:

CLT20 All-Star XI

Phil Hughes (NSW Blues)
David Warner (NSW Blues)
JP Duminy (Cape Cobras)
Ross Taylor (RC Bangalore)
Jacques Kallis (RC Bangalore)
Keiron Pollard (Trinidad & Tobago)
Denesh Ramdin (Trinidad & Tobago) wk
Dwayne Bravo (Trinidad & Tobago)
Moises Henriques (NSW Blues)
Brett Lee (NSW Blues)
Clint McKay (Victorian Bushrangers)

NSW win Airtel Champions League

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:02:44 +1000

In true reflection of Australian grit, New South Wales, raised their game several notches to bowl out favourites Trinidad and Tobago for 118 and take the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 title.

The Big Bash winners, who managed a 159 for 9 earlier in the evening, turned in a team effort to bowl out the boys from the Caribbean for 118 in under sixteen overs to clinch the final by a convincing margin of 41 runs.

After starring with the bat earlier in the evening, Brett Lee, steamed in with a new Kookaburra in hand and picked up two wickets in his first two overs to derail the Trinidad and Tobago innings at the very start of the run chase. The rest of the Blues bowlers kept nipping wickets at regular intervals, and the fielders supported them in the field by taking some outstanding catches, to never really give Trinidad and Tobago any kind of momentum in the run chase.

Lee, who averaged 149 kph (excluding the two slower deliveries he bowled) in his spell, got the innings off to a sensational start. His dismissal of William Perkins, is a sight fast bowlers would love to see; Perkins stepped to leg and exposed his stumps with the intention of playing through the off side, but Lee bowled one at 150.2 kph, landed it full and straight, beat the batsman for pace and knocked two of his three stumps out of the ground.

Adrian Barath thrashed away at leg-spinner Steven Smith, who shared the new ball with Lee, for two boundaries and a six off his first three deliveries, but perished when he outside edged a flipper to the wicketkeeper.

Lee then returned and accounted for the wicket of Lendl Simmons, but this time with a slower delivery bowled at 110 kph. Simmons made room and tried to hammer straight down the ground, but didn't quite pick the change of pace and played a tad too early, only to watch Lee move swiftly and take the return catch with ease. Dwayne Bravo played some exquisite shots in his brief innings of 17; he got off the mark with a lofted off-drive which raced away to the long off boundary, caressed Doug Bollinger for a six over long on in the following over, and then picked up a boundary through point.

But his brief innings was cut short when, attempting to dead bat a short delivery from Bollinger, he only managed a thick inside edge which crashed back onto his stumps. Daren Ganga (19) and Denesh Ramdin negotiated the next few overs without any further damage; the pair added 23 runs over the next 26 deliveries, before the skipper hit a half-tracker from Steven Smith straight to David Warner at point.

That left the last two recognised batsmen - Kieron Pollard and Ramdin - at the crease, and the equation facing them was 92 runs from 10 overs. But Ramdin's dismissal in the fourteenth over put paid to all of Trinidad and Tobago's hopes.

The big-hitting Pollard tried to revive the run chase with a few lusty blows; he hit three sixes in his brief knock of 26 (15 balls), but his dismissal at the hands of Nathan Hauritz meant the Red Brigade were well and truly out of the race.

Stuart Clark picked up the wickets of Navin Stewart and Dave Mohammed in his final over - the sixteenth of the innings - to draw the curtains on the run chase. The Blues bowler was the most successful bowler for his team, finishing with figures of 3 for 21. Lee (2/10), Steven Smith (2/32), Hauritz (2/23) and Bollinger (1/27) chipped in with wickets.

Earlier in the evening, New South Wales, who were asked to take first strike on a great batting surface, made an outstanding start.

The two left-handed openers - David Warner and Phil Hughes, set a great platform, before both perished.

Simon Katich (16) hit Dwayne Bravo for two sixes, but perished as he attempted to hit a third one. Moises Henriques went next, while Ben Rohrer made a quick-fire 16.

From 75 for 5 in the eleventh over, the Blues slipped further down into trouble when wicketkeeper Daniel Smith (3) was bowked by Ravi Rampaul. But then came the rescue act.

Brett Lee joined Steven Smith in the middle with his team reeling at 83 for six in the twelfth over, and the pair bailed their team out of trouble by adding 49 runs over the next six overs. Smith was dismissed in the eighteenth over after he'd made 33 from 26 balls, aided with two boundaries and a six. Lee, meanwhile, in his first major innings in the competition, waltzed his way to his career-best performance with the bat in Twenty20 cricket; he hit five sixes - each one of them coming off the middle of the bat, each one clearing the fence by a comfortable distance, and four of them straight down the ground - in a 31-ball innings during which he scored 48.

Ravi Rampaul was once again the pick of the bowlers; he used the crease and the angles well - bowling from both sides of the wicket, varied his lengths and pace well, to finish with impressive figures of 3 for 20. Bravo, despite getting hit for three sixes, picked up two wickets while conceding 27 runs in his three overs. Sherwin Ganga (1/29), Kieron Pollard (1/27) and Dave Mohammed (1/19) were the other wicket-takers.

RTA SpeedBlitz Blues name strong side for Ford Ranger Cup opener

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:02:40 +1000

The RTA SpeedBlitz Blues have named a strong team for their season opening Ford Ranger Cup match against the Retravision Western Warriors at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.

While the nucleus of the side is the same as the one that won the Airtel Champions League in India, it is bolstered by the inclusion of Brad Haddin who continues his comeback into competitive cricket. Haddin was due to play for the NSW 2nd X1 in a match against South Australia this week, that was unfortunately cancelled due to weather.

The team also sees the return of Test opener Phil Jaques who has started the season with a mountain of runs in Grade cricket.

The squad of twelve is :

S.KATICH (c )
S.CLARK
B.COCKLEY
P.HUGHES
B.HADDIN
S.O'KEEFE
P.JAQUES
B.ROHRER
M.STARC
S.SMITH
D.THORNELY
D.WARNER

12th man to be named the morning of the game.

* The match will start at 11-15 am at North Sydney Oval
* The match will be covered live on Fox Sports
* Tickets available from Ticketek on www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849

Stephen O'Keefe's Champions League Diary - Part I

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:05:20 +1000

Must start by looking back at Lismore. A series of one-dayers and Twenty20 meant that everyone benefitted from the trip.

The crowd needed protecting at times from the missiles launched from Warner, Hughes, Rohrer and Smith. With the Twenty20 scores averaging up around 200, Stuart 'Sarfraz' Clark captained the side for the first two games in the absence of Simon Katich (MasterChef). I learnt alot from Fraz, particularly his attention to detail with recovery, with him referring to the ice baths as beer coolers and the protein recovery drinks as chocolate milk!

A quick one day stop over at home and we were back on the plane and off to India. Unfortunately, the cockpit like seating configuration didn't come with an instruction manual so i felt a bit silly trying to figure out (along with Moises 'Moey' Henriques) the place to put the glass of champagne after take-off!

When we arrived we were greeted by Faisal aka Wesley Snipes our Security Advisor! He greeted us at the airport in New Delhi and i would be lying if i didn't say that we were all a little nervous about this trip. One handshake and a visual survey of Faisal's Security Team (ex South African Military) and my fears eased!

I'm currently on the Physio's bench with Murray (Muz) Ryan, who's room looks like Carl Williams Lounge Room! It has a large flat screen TV and enough pills to cure half of India! I had better sign off as the Grand Final is about to start. Our Media Manager David Townsend has negotiated for the hotel to show the match although im not sure if it involves two locals having to stand on the roof holding the satellite dish for 80 minutes towards Australia!

Must head to a Reception at the Australian Consulate so till next time!

SOK

Strong 2nd X1 named for season opener versus Victoria

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:05:15 +1000

Cricket NSW has named a strong 2nd X1 to face Victoria at Bankstown Oval in a four-day fixture starting on Monday 12th October.

Greg Mail will captain a side that would hold it's own in many First-class competitions and can call upon a very strong bowling attack.

Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Burt Cockley form an impressive trio of pace bowlers that will threaten most batting line-ups. They are backed up by the leg spinning pair of Beau Casson and Brendon McDonald. Casson has just returned from a successful off-season playing cricket in the Northern Territory.

The batting has opener Phil Jaques playing his first match for over 8 months. Jaques will be keen to spend valuable time in the middle in his comeback season after bad back problems.

He will be well backed up by RTA SpeedBlitz Blues members Usman Khawaja, Peter Forrest and Peter Nevill as well as promising teenager Nic Maddinson.

The full squad is :

G.MAIL (c )
B.CASSON
B.COCKLEY
P.FORREST
P.JAQUES
J.HAZLEWOOD
U.KHAWAJA
G.LAMBERT
N.MADDINSON
B.McDONALD
P.NEVILL
M.STARC

Stephen O'Keefe's Airtel Champions League Diary - Part II

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:05:10 +1000

“To appreciate the rainbow, you must be prepared to put up with the rain” Dolly Parton (The Office)

Picture this;
non-english speaking country
rain/drizzle 24/7
security tighter than Steve Smith’s wallet
65 channels of Bollywood
= bored cricketers, coaches and support staff = recipe for madness . . . read on for squad shenanigans.

Reddin’s Red Hot 24 Hours
After honourably completing his 20 catch punishment for missing the first team meeting, Red Hot Reddin was found snug asleep on the feather down pillows whilst the entire squad was waiting in the foyer to leave for the Australian Consulate dinner. Reflecting on his own ‘no sleep before 8pm curfew’ from the night before, Tommy fell out of the lift into the foyer with one shoe, sock in hand, no belt and shirt straight from the packet. As Sarfraz elegantly summarized in Tom’s defence, “when you do 18 fitness sessions a day, you’re gonna get tired.”

Casino Royale (Room 1574)
In a scene befitting Underbelly, team manager/selector Marshall “the hitman” Rosen provided each of us with special “Sandwich” allowances at the start of the day containing Indian Rupee Monopoly money (remember $100 = 4000rs). Mix that with above conditions and it was inevitable that Pit Boss Smithy would get a game of cards going. “Acey Ducey” being the game of choice, I found myself on the high rollers table mixing it with Warner, Henriques, Thornley, Smith, Bird and Hughes. The boys directed their pent up energy at whacking cards instead of cricket balls. Unfortunately, some of the boys may be eating ‘something’ on a stick with the street hawkers a little later in the week. Stuart Clark’s cameo appearance proved profitable for everyone but Sarfraz, as he was bullied by the deal of the cards.

Battle Royale (Room 1576)
Long after the tables closed in room 1574 following the controversial bullying of Sarfrazs' lunch money, Stephen “Whalan” Smithers and David “Deep Pockets” Warner resumed their Acey Ducey battle royale – Daniel Smith has Fazel Snipes on speed-dial in preparation for the imminent ‘finale’.

Support Staff
Not interested in the Acey Ducey battles occurring upstairs, the support staff decided on their own touch football battle on the manicured hotel lawns much to the fascination of the Indian hotel staff. His tail clearly still between his legs, and looking rather hungry for some reason, Sarfaz joined the touch footy game. With Reddin in tow the competitive level was always going to be high, unfortunately, the skill wasn’t with Muz Ryan, a 33 year old man trapped in a 43 year old body trying to back up his complex sidestepping patterns. Performance analyst Andrew “the Wolf” Ware trying to avoid Tommy’s wrath, attempted a miraculous ‘dive and slide’ try, succeeding only in slicing his knee open – he was last seen looking for the dettol. Matthew Mott, as always, ‘best on ground’ by his own admission.

We hope tomorrow sees an end to the rain, and our first trial game against the Delhi Daredevils and something cricket related to report!!

Katich talks Airtel Champions League Twenty20

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:05:05 +1000

The NSW Blues have been in India now for almost a week in preparation for their opening match of the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 on Friday night (October 9). Shortly before leaving home, captain Simon Katich provided nswblues.com with some of this thoughts on the up-coming tournament.

How much do you know about the other teams in the Champions League?

I know a little bit. The two English teams who are going, I’ve played in County Cricket, and there are three teams from the IPL. Quite a few of our guys who have been to the IPL have come up against those teams.

For the remainder of the teams, Andrew Ware (NSW Performance Analyst) will look at the footage from the last IPL and other tournaments. By the time the tournament comes around we would have seen every team. But at the moment our focus is on Sussex and the Eagles from South Africa.

How important is that analysis on your preparation?

We’ll spend a fair bit of time on it because there are a few teams that we haven’t played before. There will be players that we’ve played before, but not complete teams. Our preparation is vital because it’s going to be a cutthroat event. We need to get two wins under our belt to qualify for the Quarter Finals. Our homework will be done - in depth.

You’ve got a few Australian guys coming back into the side. How is the team going to gel?

We’ve got a few coming back from South Africa, but the good thing is they would have played a lot of one-day cricket which is ideal preparation for Twenty20. And the rest of the squad has just had a solid nine days of cricket in Lismore before going to India. It’s a matter of making sure that the guys coming in are aware of their roles and how they slot into the team.

It’s a nice situation to be in, getting the likes of Brett Lee back when he’s bowling good pace. Nathan Hauritz has been bowling very well too.

There are quite a few young players in the team, what role do you see them playing?

All the guys that played last year will be putting their hands up for selection because they’re the ones that got us to this tournament. There’s no doubt that their contributions last year played a big part. Aaron Bird was sensational. Phil Hughes played a crucial role, so did Dave Warner and Stephen O’Keefe, the list goes on!

We had a very young team and I am sure that they’ll all get opportunities. There are going to be four guys sitting out each match and we’ve got to make sure we are picking the right squad for the right conditions.

NSW match against Delhi DareDevils affected by wet wicket

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:54 +1000

The NSW match against the Delhi DareDevils was reduced to a 10 over match in which only spin bowling was allowed after the wicket at the Palam Stadium on the outskirts of Delhi was found to be too soft.

Delhi batted first and reached 119 thanks to contributions from Dinesh Kartik and Tiwali.

In response NSW were struggling early and had dropped behind the rate after the loss of David Warner, before contributions from Hughes, Thornely and Steven Smith brought them to the last ball needing two to win. Stephen O'Keefe was then run out going for a second run to leave the game tied.

NSW face the Victorian Bushrangers today in a Twenty20 fixture.

NSW lose final warm up game in Delhi

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:36 +1000

NSW completed preparation for their first Airtel Champions League match against the Diamond Eagles from South Africa on Friday by losing in the last over against Victoria at the Palam Ground in Delhi.

With the Diamond Eagles taking on the Delhi DareDevils on the adjacent ground the scene was reminiscent of two Grade matches with balls flying on to the other arena with regularity! While Nannes, Sehwag, Shah and company fought it out in 35 degree heat next door, NSW took on Victoria for the 4th time in two weeks after the battles in the pre-season tournament in Lismore.

After winning the toss and deciding to bat on a wicket that had dried considerably from the previous day, NSW struggled for most of their innings. David Warner (7), went early and the two main scores were provided by Phillip Hughes (20) and Simon Katich (32). Dominic Thornely added 14 but no one else reached double figures as NSW were bowled out for 97 in 14.2 overs.

At this stage some rule revision took place and NSW were allowed to bat a 12th batter in Stuart Clark as well as allowing Ben Rohrer to have another innings. Rohrer took advantage of this scoring 21 from 12 balls to lift NSW to 126 from their 20 overs.

In response Victoria found it hard work on a deteriorating pitch but eventually amassed 7 for 111 from their 20 overs which was enough to defeat the original NSW total. Rob Quiney (28) and Andrew McDonald (29) were the main scorers while leg-spinner Steven Smith continued his superb bowling efforts here with 3 for 16 from four overs. Stuart Clark was also impressive with 1 for 17 from his four overs.

NSW all out 97

VICTORIA 7 for 111

Stephen O'Keefe's Airtel Champions League Twenty20 Diary - Part III

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:04:30 +1000

We’re Away! Finally the rain broke and we were able to get in a net session under lights at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium (Delhi).

Great session with all boys batting, bowling and fielding with real energy. The trip to the stadium reinforced the observation that there is 3 levels of authority in India
1) Police/Army
2) The size of your vehicle i.e buses stop for no one
3) Anyone packing heat ie a machine gun + ammo

This was made clear by our on-bus guard (packing a machine gun) stopping peak hour Delhi traffic to do a U-turn across 6 lanes after missing the proper turn.

Game day finally arrived, and yet again it was raining. The wickets were uncovered and the outfield was being mowed as the boys made their way to the change rooms (a nice big white tent). It seems that the tournament budget team may have cut a few corners, with the warm up games missing the priority list.

The rain eventually stopped and the brains trust (coaching staff) knocked heads together to come up with a game that involved 12 overs per side with only spinners allowed to bowl due to the wet run ups… perfect if you ask me and when I returned to the hotel I immediately made some phonecalls to trademark this 12-12 version of the game, in the hope SPL (spinners premier league) will displace the IPL.

The Daredevils batted first and made 2/120. Simon Katich and myself where the only wicket takers and it was gentle reminder of how well the Indians play spin in their backyard. Our run chase was a little less fluent but equally effective with most batters getting starts and some good clean hitting by Dan Smith and Phil Hughes. The match finished a tie with Steve Smith hitting 3 late sixes. Thinking that we needed 8 off the last ball to win, Steve Smith and I turned an easy 2 into just a single, I think the score board attendants may have been on the same pay roll as the grounds keepers… not making any excuses though, all you young kids make sure you run the first one hard.

Off to bed, game 2 awaits

Snap Dragon.

RTA SpeedBlitz Blues defeat WA

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:01:10 +1000

The RTA SpeedBlitz Blues started the domestic season in style with an emphatic 7 wicket victory over the Western Warriors at a sun drenched North Sydney Oval.

After winning the toss and deciding to bowl on a wicket that looked similar to the surfaces NSW had played upon recently in Delhi and Hyderabad, the Warriors struggled to ever really get their innings started and eventually were all out for 179 with the first ball of the 44th over.

Their innings was a series of small partnerships with only Robinson (78 from 91 balls), showing the concentration required against an inexperienced NSW attack.

Ronchi (25), North (17), Bandy (16) and Fawcett (15) all got out at the wrong moments as the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues bowlers showed immaculate control. Leading the way was Stuart Clark who again proved difficult to get away, mixing up his pace well to concede only 15 runs from his eight overs.

He was superbly backed up by Mitchell Starc who was on debut (receiving his cap from Geoff Lawson before the game ), but bowled with good pace to record four maidens in his 10-4-24-2. Stephen O’Keefe (7-1-22-1) used changes of pace well but the starring role went to Burt Cockley in only his third Ford Ranger Cup match who looked sharp in picking up 4 for 39 from 8.1 overs. He was backed up by overall fielding that had lost none of it’s sharpness from the Champions League and which was highlighted by a superb catch from Starc on the long on boundary.

In response the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues lost Warner (1) early, but Hughes and Jaques steadied things with a 74 run partnership that saw Hughes play an accumulating role as Jaques cut with authority to reach 50 from 51 balls before he was yorked by Noffke. Haddin (27 from 26) played a great cameo before also getting yorked by former Sydney bowler Michael Hogan.

Steven Smith then came in to finish the job with Hughes and hit two sixes and three fours in his 29 not out while Hughes remained undefeated on 72 from 110 balls with 7 fours and a six.

The RTA SpeedBlitz Blues chased down the runs in the 36th over for the loss of three wickets to record a win and capture a bonus point in the process.

WA 179

NSW 3 for 184

RTA SpeedBlitz Blues defeat WA by 7 wickets

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:02:36 +1000

Coming Soon - Members Articles

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:01:34 +1000

Real men wear pink for 3 mobile Test at the SCG

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:28:55 +1000

Following the outstanding success of last season’s Pink 3 mobile Test and Jane McGrath Day in support of the McGrath Foundation, this season’s Second 3 mobile Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground will be bigger and……… pinker!

Cricket Cares and 3 mobile, together with the SCG Trust, have once again joined forces to ensure the SCG is resplendent in pink when the 3 Mobile Test is played between January 3-7.

Jane McGrath Day, formerly Ladies Day, will be celebrated on day three of the Test, January 5, which includes a High Tea with a special guest speaker.

McGrath Foundation Chairman, former Australian and NSW fast bowler Glenn McGrath, launched the 3 mobile Pink Test at the SCG today with Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and the world’s top-ranked women’s all-rounder, Lisa Sthalekar.

“Last summer’s Test was an overwhelming success and, with the support of cricket fans and the wider community, we are looking to build on that success in January,” said Glenn.

“It costs approximately $350,000 to employ each full-time McGrath Breast Care Nurse over a minimum three year period. In the course of the last 12 months we’ve grown our nurse numbers from eight back in October last year to now 53 … soon to be 54 .. and we’re committed to continuing to roll our nurses out until every Australian family affected by breast cancer has access to a breast care nurse.

“I encourage all cricket fans to buy their Test tickets and get in touch with their pink side so they join in the fun at the SCG in January where there will be a greater array of merchandise available for all five days of the Test,” he added.

In addition to the popular bandanas, this summer will see men’s and women’s polo shirts available, plus caps, hats, ties, flags and even pinks wigs. While 3 mobile will be introducing a new look to cricket this season as fans can purchase pink zinc from 3 mobile volunteers for a gold coin donation to the McGrath Foundation.

Haddin says that he agrees with Jane’s original idea that it takes a real man to wear pink and that he, like the rest of the Australian team, is looking forward to making sure his true colours come through.

“It was a tremendous sight to see the SCG bathed in a sea of pink last January and we now want to surpass that benchmark,” said Haddin.

“Some guys thought the Pink Test gave them permission to wear pink, but in actual fact it takes real men to wear pink,” he said.

Sthalekar, whose own family has been touched by breast cancer, said it was important that Jane McGrath’s legacy continues to thrive.

“Jane left a wonderful legacy and we need more breast care nurses around Australia to provide hope and support to women during their experience with breast cancer,” said Sthalekar.

Tickets to the 3 Mobile Test can be bought from Ticketek on 132 849, at Ticketek outlets or at www,ticketek.com.au

Tickets to the Jane McGrath High Tea on January 5 can be purchased on by completing the booking form which is available at www.scgt.nsw.gov.au.

About the McGrath Foundation

The McGrath Foundation was co-founded by Jane and Glenn McGrath. The Foundation provides funding for McGrath Breast Care Nurses nationally, with particular emphasis on rural and regional areas across the country. Each McGrath Breast Care Nurse is funded for a minimum of three years. To date there are 53 McGrath Breast Care Nurses nationally.

3 Mobile’s ‘Pink Zinc’ campaign

3 mobiles ‘Pink Zinc’ campaign features a number of fund raising activities across the 3 mobile Test Series with 3 donating all proceeds to the McGrath Foundation. Show your support by:

1. Purchasing the 3 mobile Men of Cricket calendar priced $29.95 from 3 mobile stores, online via 3’s dedicated website www.three.com.au/menofcricket and at 3 mobile Test Series matches.

2. Purchase Pink Zinc sun cream for a gold coin donation at the 3 mobile Test Series or at your nearest 3 store

3. Or simply text PINK to 19 33 63 to make a $3 donation to the McGrath Foundation (Telstra customers deduct $1.10 service fee. Not available to Optus & Virgin customers.)

Ryde MILO Cup brings out the best

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:49:25 +1000

The Ryde School Zone MILO in2CRICKET Cup got underway in fine style this morning at the beautifully manicured fields of ELS Hall Park, North Ryde.

Seven Primary Schools from the local region participated in a series of Round Robin Super 8’s Cricket Matches to determine the best girls and boys teams in Ryde Zone, with the winner progressing to the Sydney North Regional final to be played later in November.

All students, teachers and supporters respectfully observed one minute silence at 11.00am to acknowledge Remembrance Day. All schools should be congratulated for the manner in which their students respected the occasion.

At the end of the preliminary rounds, Gladesville PS defeated Denistone East PS in an exciting Final for the boys' title while Carlingford West defeated Denistone East in the girls' Final match to become the girls champion team.

Both winning teams now progress to the Sydney North Regional Final.

All participants enjoyed beautiful weather and competitive games during the day, and went home with Cricket NSW merchandise including free passes to watch the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues in action during the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash at ANZ Stadium early next year.

Many thanks to Truscott St, Ermington PS, Ryde East and Eastwood Hts Primary Schools for their attendance today.

Second XI team named to face WA

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:51:56 +1000

Cricket NSW selectors have picked a strong Second XI team to take on Western Australia at the WACA starting next Tuesday (November 17).

RTA SpeedBlitz Blues middle order batsman Ben Rohrer will lead a side that contains a great mix of youth and experience with wicket-keeper Daniel Smith, Dominic Thornely and trail-blazing opener David Warner all selected.

In addition, a host of talented youngsters will make up the rest of the side headed by towering pace bowler Josh Hazlewood and batting sensation Nic Maddinson.

The squad of twelve is :

Ben Rohrer (c)
Tim Armstrong
Daniel Burns
Luke Doran
Simon Keen
Josh Hazlewood
Nic Maddinson
Daniel Smith
Dominic Thornely
Timm van der Gugten
David Warner
Philip Wells

Michael Clarke trains with NSW

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:01:42 +1000

Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke this afternoon trained at the SCG in preparation for the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues match against Tasmania in the Ford Ranger Cup on Sunday.

Brett Lee also bowled in the nets at the session.

NSW U/19 male team selected

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:01:47 +1000

Cricket NSW has named the following 14 players in the NSW U/19 Male Team: (Club/Region in brackets)

Luke Doran (Captain - Fairfield-Liverpool)
Sean Abbott (Parramatta)
Tim Armstrong (Eastern Suburbs/Western)
Josh Clarke (Penrith)
Steve Colley (Gordon / Central Coast)
Adam Coyte (Campbelltown-Camden)
Andrew Harriott (Tamworth City United / Central North)
Josh Hazlewood (St George / Central North)
Blake Hutchison (University of NSW / Southern)
Nicholas Maddinson (Sutherland / Southern)
Sandy Rogers (Sydney CC / Western)
Jordan Silk (Penrith)
Timm Van Der Gugten (University of NSW)
Adam Zampa (Eastern Suburbs / Southern)

Coach: Trent Woodhill
Manager/Assistant Coach: Gary Crowfoot
Strength and Conditioning Coach/Bowling Coach: Mark Cameron
Physiotherapist: Anthony Smith
Performance Analyst: Troy Baker

Lee and Clarke to play Tasmania

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:52:00 +1000

Selectors have named Michael Clarke, Brett Lee and Josh Hazlewood in the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues team to play Tasmania in a Ford Ranger Cup match at North Sydney Oval this Sunday (November 15, 11:15am).

The players selected are:

Simon Katich (captain)
Michael Clarke
Stuart Clark
Burt Cockley
Phillip Hughes
Josh Hazlewood
Brad Haddin
Brett Lee
Stephen O’Keefe
Phil Jaques
Steven Smith
David Warner

12th man to be named on morning of the match.

Brett Lee, Michael Clarke and Josh Hazlewood are changes from the team that played Western Australia two weeks ago. They replace Mitchell Starc, Ben Rohrer and Dominic Thornely.

Michael Clarke last played for the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues in a Ford Ranger Cup match on 19 November 2006 against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval. Brett Lee’s last Ford Ranger Cup match was on 28 November 2007 against Victoria at the MCG.

In all, selectors have named a total of eight players who have represented Australia: Katich, Clarke, Clark, Hughes, Haddin, Lee, Jaques and Warner. Burt Cockley, Man of the Match against Western Australia, has been named in the 12 after returning from India where he did not take the field.

Play in this fixture starts at 11:15am with gates opening at 10am. Tickets are just $15 for adults, $10 for concessions and $5 for kids under 16, making this one of the best value tickets in town!

NSW lose to Tasmania by six wickets

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:01:35 +1000

The RTA SpeedBlitz Blues fielded a star-studded line up at North Sydney Oval against Tasmania in their second Ford Ranger Cup match of the season.

With Tasmania winning the toss and sending NSW in to bat, the early overs were a real test of temperament with both David Warner and Phillip Hughes struggling against accurate bowling and sharp fielding. Hughes was starting to accelerate when he was adjudged LBW off the bowling of Drew for 30. Clarke (8) and Jaques (18), both perished early and when an unusually subdued Warner was caught from the bowling of Butterworth for 36 from 56 balls, NSW were in trouble at 4 for 106 in the 28th over.

Two runs later Brad Haddin (13) was the victim of a sensational catch at long on, as former RTA SpeedBlitz Blue Ed Cowan dived full length to grasp the ball one-handed.

From here it was the Steven Smith show. Batting sensibly at first with Simon Katich (34) to restore the innings, Smith then took control, taking 21 from a Brendon Drew over as he started hitting boundaries at will. He particularly favoured mid-wicket as he hit Doherty for three towering sixes in that area. When he was finally bowled for 81 from 59 balls trying to lap-sweep Brett Geeves, he had hit seven fours and five sixes. Brett Lee (19 no) and Stuart Clark (14 no) then helped NSW finish strongly to record a respectable 8 for 271 from their 50 overs. An astonishing 163 runs came from the last 20 overs.

In response Tasmania started steadily and it was not until Lockyear (32) was run out by Katich after failing to slide his bat, that a breakthrough appeared. Dighton (40), Cowan (36) and Bailey (81) then put together significant partnerships to put the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues under enormous pressure. Bailey was particularly destructive slamming six fours and four sixes in his 76 ball score of 81.

His partnership with Travis Burt was worth 97 and took Tasmania to the brink of victory. The NSW bowlers toiled all day with Stuart Clark (10-0-64-2) the most successful. Josh Hazlewood tried hard on debut after receiving his cap from former New South Welshman Steve Small before play, and returned figures of 1 for 61 from his ten overs.

Tasmania won by six wickets.

NSW 8 for 271

TASMANIA 4 for 272

Mail delivers before tea

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:01:40 +1000

RTA SpeedBlitz Blues squad member, Greg Mail, scored a sensation double century for Sydney University on day one of their Round Six match against Randwick Petersham, while fellow State squad player, Beau Casson, hit 181 to get Gordon out of trouble (November 14).

Mail made 214 not out opening the batting in Sydney University’s 6 dec 389. He hit 28 fours in his 257 ball innings and dominated a 145 run opening stand with Will Hay (52). Mail’s first 100 came off just 133 balls, with the marker reached one hour into the second session of play.

Mail became the first player to reach 500 First Grade runs for 2009/10. He is now on top of the leading run scorers list with 521 at an amazing average of 104.20. This is his second big hundred for the summer after hitting 166 against Manly Warringah in Round Four.

The second leading run scorer in First Grade is Beau Casson (367 runs at 64.50) who rescued Gordon from 4-12 in their match against Fairfield-Liverpool. Casson came to the wicket with the score at 2-10. When he departed much later in the day for 181, Gordon was well in control at 8-370.

Iain Beverley was the other main contributor to Gordon’s cause, hitting 84 and sharing in a 168 run seventh wicket stand with Casson. After some excellent form with the bat in recent weeks, RTA SpeedBlitz Blues’ all-rounder Grant Lambert took 5-56 for Fairfield-Liverpool.

Batsmen didn’t have it all their own way this round with Bansktown’s Clinton Price taking 7-21 to skittle Manly-Warringah for just 53.

Bankstown’s batsmen found the going only slightly easier as they were then bowled out for 171, thanks to 65 from Simon Keen. It was, however, enough for them to be in the box seat for outright points heading into Day Two next Saturday (November 21).

In the battle for the west, Parramatta and Penrith will have a close finish for first innings points when their match resumes on Saturday morning. Chasing 138 for the points, Parramatta are 8-97 thanks to 5-39 by RTA SpeedBlitz Blues rookie, Josh Lalor.

For full scorecards, draws and statistics from the Sydney Grade competition, please visit www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au.

Progress Scores – First Grade, Round Six, Day One

Bankstown 171 (S Keen 65 C Boss 4-42 S Cleary 3-41) v Manly-Warringah 53 (C Price 7-21) and 1-60 (T Cruickshank 32no)

Blacktown 1-12 v North Sydney 281 (A Domingo 69 S Rodgie 53 R Aitken 33 S Reid 33 J Kentwell 30 K Nadesan 3-35)

Campbelltown-Camden 295 (J Phathanak 119 C Nupier 65 J Mckell 43 J Tuccia 3-63) v Sutherland 0-62 (N Maddinson 45no)

Gordon 8-402 (B Casson 181 I Beverley 84 B Garratt 33 G Lambert 5-56) v Fairfield-Liverpool

Mosman v Northern District 8-284 (R Hokin 71no K Daley 49no J Whealing 42 D Friedrich 38 T Yazdani 4-48 S Roberts 3-56)

Parramatta 8-97 (M Wood 35no A Turrell 31 J Lalor 5-39) v Penrith 137 (L Morrissey 54no J Blake 47 D Jackson 5-33 A Marr 4-38)

Randwick Petersham 0-9 v Sydney University 6(dec)-389 (G Mail 214no W Hay 52 N Larkin 35 D Miller 34 J Byrne 4-93)

St George 9-324 (S Mccabe 61 M Stoneman 55 S Cazzulino 48 P Wells 36 N Ball 4-85 D Ettridge 3-67) v Sydney

UNSW 225 (D Dawson 76 B Hutchison 35 M Creed 32 B Dean 31 N Berry 3-30) v Eastern Suburbs 4-70

Western Suburbs 233 (P Cantlon 112 J Mennie 47 S Mott 4-61 S Heaney 3-37) v Hawkesbury 1-17

MILO in2CRICKET hits North Sydney Oval!

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:49:28 +1000

MILO in2CRICKET kids from across Sydney took part in the Ford Ranger Cup lunch break entertainment on North Sydney Oval on November 15.

They certainly had a fantastic time, taking part in Super 8’s games and Diamond Cricket matches. Some budding superstars could even match it with the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues, hitting a couple of sixes out of the ground!

With eight Australian representatives is the side, all 120 kids had the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of NSW’s most exciting players.

Amanda Holland, MILO in2CRICKET Coordinator and parent, couldn’t contain her excitement when Michael Clarke signed autographs for everyone!

“What a true gentlemen and champion Michael is! He stood for over an hour signing and having photos taken,” she said.

The following MILO in2CRICKET centres were involved in the day:

Cromer in2CRICKET
Harbord Devils in2CRICKET
Holy Cross Crusaders in2CRICKET
North Sydney in2CRICKET
Hills Lions in2CRICKET

The opportunity for MILO in2CRICKET kids to be involved in On-Ground Entertainment is apart of a wider initiative that Cricket NSW offers to clubs who run the MILO in2CRICKET program.

There are several more opportunities for in2CRICKET centres to participate in On-Ground entertainment. These are:

- Lunch Break of the 3 Mobile Sydney Test Match
- KFC Twenty20 Big Bash match
- Australian men’s cricket team training session

To have the chance to be involved, MILO in2CRICKET Coordinators are required to RSVP to Cricket NSW by Tuesday 1st December, 2009.

Shield team named to play Tasmania

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:52:03 +1000

Cricket NSW selectors have named a strong squad of twelve to face Tasmania in the Weet-Bix Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground starting at 11am tomorrow.

The RTA SpeedBlitz Blues have named seven Australian representatives in a well balanced squad.

Pace bowler Josh Hazlewood comes into the twelve and will be in line to make his Weet-Bix Sheffield Shield debut. He made his domestic one-day debut in yesterday's loss to Tasmania at North Sydney Oval, and has played a First-class match for NSW against New Zealand.

The full squad of twelve is:

Simon Katich (c)
Doug Bollinger
Burt Cockley
Michael Clarke
Stuart Clark
Phillip Hughes
Brad Haddin
Phil Jaques
Usman Khawaja
Josh Hazlewood
Steven Smith
Stephen O'Keefe

12th man to be named on the morning of the match.

Brett Lee was not considered for the match after suffering a reaction to his elbow injury.

U19 Women's City vs Country Results

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:01:47 +1000

The U19 City vs Country Series was played last Friday and Saturday (November 13-14) at Blacktown Olympic Park.

City won both games convincingly to take out the Series 2-0. Please click on the links below to view the scorecards.

Brett Lee talks to the media

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:01:48 +1000

Brett Lee today spoke to the media at the SCG and pledged to fight back from injury and keep hopes alive of a return to International cricket.

He will be seeking advice from a specialist regarding a prognosis for his elbow injury.

Cricket NSW names U/17 Male team

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:57:02 +1000

Cricket NSW today announced the 13 players who will defend NSW’s title at the U/17 Male National Championships in Adelaide early next year (January 3-14, 2010).

The players selected in the squad are (clubs/regions in brackets):

Kurtis Patterson (captain – St George)
Arjun Bagga (North Sydney)
Nick Bertus (Parramatta)
Nathan Brown (Western Suburbs)
Patrick Cummins (Penrith CC)
Tom Decent (Hawkesbury)
Matthew Foster (Blacktown)
Harrison Kelly (Central North)
Joseph McDevitt (Illawarra)
Taylor Scott (Central North)
Ben Smith (Bankstown)
Matthew Taylor (Mosman)
Kerrod White (Southern)

Head Coach: Michael Maclennan; Manager/Assistant Coach: Ben Sawyer; Physiotherapist: Anthony Smith; Performance Analyst: Troy Baker

This will be the first appearance in a NSW cap for the majority of the squad. Only Ben Smith was part of the team which won last summer’s National Championships in Perth.

Arjun Bagga is only Sydney First Grade player in the squad while captain, Kurtis Patterson, recently scored a century in Second Grade for St George. Left arm spinner, Harrison Kelly, is by far the youngest member of the squad at just 14-years-old.

Nathan Brown is the multi-talented member of the squad – he has also played in the Harold Matthews Cup for Rugby League team, Cronulla!

The U/17 Male National Championships consist of two Twenty20, two fifty over and three two-day matches. In what will be a particular highlight for the players, their second Twenty20 match on January 3 will be played on the Adelaide Oval as a curtain raiser for a KFC Twenty20 Big Bash match!

The NSW team will depart for Adelaide on 2 January 2010 and return on January 15.

NSW in strong position at stumps against Tasmania

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:01:52 +1000

After winning the toss and deciding to bat in overcast conditions at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues overcame the early loss of Phillip Hughes to go to tea in a strong position.

Hughes (12) played on to Luke Butterworth after a difficult start in which he and Phil Jaques were forced to defend some accurate bowling. MacDonald bowled his first ten overs for a miserly ten runs and the early introduction of Jasn Krejza saw some good turn and bounce despite Phil Jaques punishing several short deliveries from the off-spinner.

It was a surprise when on 66 with the score at 120, Jaques went to slog-sweep Butterworth, only to see Wells take a diving catch at the third attempt at deep square-leg.

Clarke and Katich then overcame an early run out scare where Katich should have gone, to re-build the innings. It was a surprise when in the last over before tea Katich was caught behind from the bowling of Krejza to leave NSW at 3 for 168 with Clarke undefeated on 23.

After tea it was the Clarke and Khawaja show. Each accelerated the score well as the bowlers tired. Khawaja cut well, while Clarke was prepared to hit over the top against the spinners. Each reached well-judged fifties.

At stumps Clarke had reached 92 not out while Khawaja was 51 not out.

NSW will look to move on quickly tomorrow to set up the game.

NSW 3 for 290

U/19 Female squad announced

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:56:28 +1000

The 2009/10 NSW U/19 Female team has been named by Cricket NSW.

The 13 players selected in the squad are (clubs/regions in brackets):

Hannah Trollip (captain - Gordon)
Trudy Burke (St George-Sutherland/South Coast)
Nicola Carey (St George-Sutherland)
Mathilda Carmichael (Gordon)
Melissa Harrison (Campbelltown-Camden/South Coast)
Sammy-Jo Johnson (Northern District/North Coast)
Rachel Kent (Sydney CC/Central North)
Katie Mack (Bankstown Sports)
Brodie Neems (Bankstown Sports/Central Coast)
Alicia Newton (Sydney CC)
Jessica Toomey (Sydney CC)
Morgan Wilczynski (Eastern Suburbs/Newcastle)
Wui-Kwan Wong (Northern District)

Coach: Kerry Marshall; Manager: Michelle Goszko

There is no National Championship for U/19 Females this summer due to a lack of entrants from other States.

Instead, the NSW U/19 team benefit from some tough practice matches against State Second XI teams in Sydney as part of the women’s Cricket Australia Cup (November 25-December 1).

Out of the players selected, only Alicia Newton and Jessica Toomey represented NSW at the U/19 level last year. Wui-Kwan Wong and Trudy Burke are the only players who have never represented NSW before.