Ponting’s retirement will leave a big hole: Hilditch

Melbourne: Ricky Ponting`s retirement in the next few years will have a similar “dramatic” impact on the Australian cricket which was witnessed after spin legend Shane Warne`s retreat, feels chief selector Andrew Hilditch.

Hailing Ponting`s “exceptional” leadership qualities, the National Selection Panel Chairman said it will be extremely difficult for anyone to fit into the shoes of Ponting.

“When we lose Ricky Ponting it will be as dramatic an impact as Shane Warne. Ricky`s shoes are massive shoes to fill. He has been a really strong man, really positive around the group,” Hilditch said.

“You can talk tactics all you want but in the end the captain is the person who has got to mould the side and make it a winning team. Ricky has done that exceptionally well,” he was quoted as saying.

Australia have been struggling to find a class spinner ever since Warne hung his boot in 2006. From Stuart McGill to Nathan Haurtiz they have tried a number of tweakers but no one has looked like even a shadow of Warne.

Hilditch said Michael Clarke`s elevation as the skipper of the national Twenty20 team will help them assess his leadership skills.

“The lucky thing is that Michael has got an opportunity in Twenty20 cricket to run a tournament. We have now got a six-month build-up for the next Twenty20 World Cup and he knows he is captain. It is a big moment for him.

“It is really good that he gets that opportunity so we get a good chance to assess whether he is the next person to do it in all forms of the game,” Hilditch said.

Hilditch though made it clear that mere cricketing skills won`t be sufficient to earn the captain`s cap.

“Tactically I think he is an excellent captain. There are other issues that you have got to get on top of if you want to do the job. It`s dealing with the pressure of the media and dealing with the pressure of managing your players who are going through difficult times away from their families.”

“It is about playing in different conditions where everything is going wrong and the training conditions aren`t what you want. It`s about getting up every day and leading by example,” he said.

It’s too much cricket: Siddle

Forced out of the ongoing one-day series against India due to a side soreness, Australian pacer Peter Siddle on Thursday said his injury was a result of playing almost non-stop cricket for the past five months.

On his return to the country this morning, Siddle, one of the five Australian cricketers who have been forced out of the series due to injuries, said he is glad to be back home after being on the road for so long.

“It’s very pleasing to be home, back to see family and friends and sleep in my own bed,” Siddle quipped.

“It has been a long tour, I guess, and the guys have been away for a long time now and we’ve probably played a bit too much cricket but we will see how we go and I am sure the boys will go well in the next three matches and come home with a (series) win,” he was quoted as saying by ‘The Australian Associated Press’ here.

Siddle played in the World Twenty20 Championship, the Ashes, a seven-match one-day series in England, the Champions Trophy, the Champions League Twenty20 for Victoria before being called up for the seven-match series in India.

The pacer said his injury, which he picked up during the fourth one-dayer in Mohali, was not all that serious and he would be fit for the home Test series against West Indies later this month.

“It’s nothing bad. I just pulled up a little bit tight, with a bit of soreness, from the last match and they decided the best thing with the first Test coming up was just to come home and rest up and make sure I am 100 per cent fit and ready to go for that,” Siddle said.

“There’s no worries at all, just a bit of soreness, and the selectors and coaches thought it was the best thing to stay off for the rest of the game and come home and take it easy,” he added.

Apart from Siddle, pace spearhead Brett Lee, all-rounders Moises Henriques and James Hopes and wicketkeeper Tim Paine have returned injured from India.

Vice-captain Michael Clarke, regular wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, paceman Nathan Bracken and batsman Callum Ferguson were not even there in the squad due to their respective injuries.

Sony, WSG get Broadcast Rights for IPL

Sony (Multi Screen Media Ltd.) and World Sports Group (WSG) bagged the broadcasting rights from the IPL. According to the deal signed between Sony, WSG and BCCI, the contract will run till 2017. The new contract amount will be Rs. 8,200 crore – more than double the previous deal signed between these parties. Sony or Multi Screen Media will have the exclusive audio visual rights in India for all 59 matches of the IPL 2009.

Sony had earlier moved the Bombay High Court to seek a stay on BCCI’s move to come up with a new broadcast deal. The plea was later rejected by the High Court.

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has expressed his happiness over the new broadcast deal, saying it will take the IPL a step further and help in promoting the tournament worldwide.

Taylor, Ryder hit Centuries; New Zealand on Top at Napier

Napier:Just when India thought of ripping through the New Zealand batting order, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor set a record partnership for the 4th wicket to put New Zealand on top against India in the second test match at Napier. Both Ryder and Taylor hit centuries and led a great recovery from 23/3 to 292/3 when reports last came in.

Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. Team India took the field without their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who pulled out because of injury. Virender Sehwag is leading India in this test. Wicketkeeper Dinesh Kartik replaced Dhoni in the playing XI.

Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma provided early breakthrough to India, by claiming three wickets in quick succession. New Zealand were 23/3 at one stage. But that was the last time when Indians had smiled. Ryder and Taylor showed strong resolve and determination to take the Kiwis forward.

Taylor and Ryder has added an unbeaten 269 runs for the 4th wicket so far. Taylor was batting on 150, while Ryder was on 107. This the highest-ever 4th wicket partnership for New Zealand. New Zealand is now heading for a big score and put pressure on the Indian team.

Taste of spin for the batsmen

Auckland: After a thinly attended optional session on Monday, India got down to the serious business of giving final touches to their masterplan of toppling New Zealand from their home perch on Tuesday.
   

But thanks to the ongoing renovation work at the Eden Park, they had to do it in two batches. Led by the ubiquitous coaching and support staff, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his chosen ones arrived at 10am. He had Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman for company, which means it was a significant batting stint.
  

However, it was more of a spin-test as only the back-up pacers were part of this group. Harbhajan Singh made sure that they all got a good taste of his floaters and doosras, and his jokes too. Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay added to the lightweight factor.
  

 By the time they were packing up, the power-group arrived: Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar,Y uvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel and Amit Mishra. Both groups, as is the norm now, warmed up with a round of football.
  

 For conspiracy theorists, however, there was no logic behind the split. It’s just that some of the players wanted to sky-walk and hitch a ride on a helicopter too. They opted to arrive first. End of story.

LESSONS FROM HAMILTONThe Indian players might be on a high after the first Test win; they might be superconfident of outwitting New Zealand in the second and third as well. But they are clearly not leaving anything to chance.
   

 Two elementary mistakes had stood out in the Hamilton Test: Sehwag’s run out and Yuvraj’s bad leave. Coach Gary Kirsten spent considerable time with the two players to work on these gaffes.
   

When everybody had finished batting, Kirsten took Sehwag away from the batch, to another set of nets in the far corner. Fully padded up, and armed like a true batsman, Sehwag was then made to run between the wickets.
  

His opening partner, Gambhir, gave the calls and Sehwag had to run for his life. There was no hesitation, no slowing down: just pure pace. It may be recalled Sehwag had eased up after the first run and ended up losing to a direct throw.
   

Yuvraj, on the other hand, shouldered arms to a delivery that was meant to be watched even more closely. As luck would have it, it came right into him and shattered his stumps. Well, with a right-arm pacer bowling around the wicket and delivering from wide of the crease, what else could one expect?
  

Kirsten shot quick ones at him, fired in bouncers too and Yuvraj had to figure out where his off-stump was. It looked like he did. But then, just as he was settling down nicely, it looked like he didn’t know where his leg-stump was. Tendulkar bowled a googly, literally, and bowled him from around his legs.

 

All eyes on Indian queen Saina

Hyderabad: The reigning king of world badminton, Lee Chong Wei, is here and so is the emperor of yesteryears, Taufik Hidayat, but all eyes will be on the Indian queen Saina Nehwal when the second edition of the $1,20,000 Yonex Sunrise India Open Grand Prix Gold gets off at the Gachibowli Stadium here on Wednesday.

The Hyderabad girl is fully charged up and ready not just to make amends for her early exit in the first edition, but to cause some damage to reputations. Saina, who turned 19 last Tuesday, has gained loads of experience on the circuit in the last couple of years, consistently mowing down top opponents and rising through the ranks. Her new status will stand her in good stead as she launches her campaign against an inexperienced Chew Yen Daphne Ng of Malaysia in the first round. Thanks to the easy draw, the Indian ace will not have much difficulty reaching the semifinals where she is likely to face Maria Kristin Yulianti, the Indonesian who stopped Saina in the quarterfinals at Beijing.

“It’ll not be that easy as it appears. There are several top players and I need to be focused all the while. But I want to do well in front of the home crowd,” Saina said, adding that she is not under any sort of pressure to win the title at home. “I am always comfortable playing at home. I never feel the pressure. Once I step on to the court I remain focused. However crowd support will always be helpful,” Saina said.

The fact that Yulianti is coming after a two-month injury layoff and top seed Pi Hongyan is on the other half of the draw will add to Saina’s advantage. The men’s event, on the other hand, looks quite clear with Chong Wei expected to take his appointed place in the title round, waiting for Taufik Hidayat. Fresh from the amazing victory against World champion Lin Dan at the Swiss Open, World No.1 Chong Wei of Malaysia made no secret of his plans when he said that he is using this tournament as a prelude to the World Championship to be held at the same venue in August. “I want to get acquainted to the conditions here,” said Wei, who is a clear favourite to bag the title.

Badminton poster boy Taufik Hidayat, who is in the bottom half of the draw, should reach the final. But Hidayat is unpredictable and has a history of losing to low ranked players. World No.12 and runner-up at the last edition, Chetan Anand may not advance beyond the third round, where he is likely to meet former All England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim. The Malaysian enjoys a 2-0 record against the Indian. Similar will be the fate of other Indians, including Olympian Anup Sridhar as they may have to cause major upsets to reach the last eight stage.

Ferrari the most cost-efficient team in 2008

Milan: Ferrari was the most cost-efficient Formula One team last season, a report showed on Tuesday.

Although F1 teams increased their overall budgets by an average of about 10 percent to 2.4 million euros ($3.27 million) in 2008 compared to the previous season, Ferrari won more by spending less, Italy’s sports consultancy firm StageUp said.

Sachin, Yuvi disheartened with IPL shift

Auckland: Sachin Tendulkar on Monday said Indian Premier League (IPL) on foreign shores would not have the same feel as it had last year.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at an emergency meeting Sunday decided to hold the Twenty20 tournament outside the country after the state governments expressed their inability to provide security to the tournament as it clashes with the general elections

Ganguly to be dumped as Knight Riders’ captain?

“IPL had a good concept of playing home and away matches. This is something that the teams will miss this time around. Wherever we play, we hope to have the same fervour that we had had last season,” he said.

Yuvraj Singh, the Kings XI Punjab captain, too, said the second edition would be different.

“It is sad that the IPL won’t be held in India. But it is the decision of the board and we will have to follow it,” Yuvraj said.

“We were looking forward to play at home, now we have to play away so we feel sad for a lot of Indians who were looking forward to watch it. Anyway if we were playing in India, a lot of home games were shifted to other centres. So it was not actually a home game or away game.”

IPL 2009 may be held in South Africa

New Delhi : According to latest reports, England may not be a possible venue to hold the IPL 2009 and South Africa is all set to receive the final nod from the BCCI and IPL organisers. IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, who is on a visit to South Africa and England, may take a final decision on the venue of IPL 2009 within a day or two. The IPL is scheduled to begin on April 10 and will continue till May 24.

Sources believe that it may not be possible to hold the IPL 2009 in England because of their domestic season. In addition, the climate in England may affect the IPL schedule, which has been made to suit the Indian viewers.

South Africa could emerge as the most favourite venue for the IPL, because the timing zone difference between India and South Africa are only 3 hours. In addition, holding the tournament in South Africa, could be a cheaper option, as compared to England.

South Africa had successfully hosted the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup and that will help the country to get the IPL nod. According to sources, five venues in South Africa have been put on alert to hold the IPL matches once the announcement is made.

Aussies crash despite Johnson ton

South Africa completed an innings victory over Australia on day four of the third Test in Cape Town, despite a fine century from Mitchell Johnson.

Johnson finished on 123 not out from just 103 balls as Australia made 422 in their second innings, just 20 runs short of making South Africa bat again.

Paul Harris took a career-best 6-127 in the innings and 9-161 in the match, while Dale Steyn finished with 3-96.

The result means the three-Test series finished 2-1 to Australia.

“Obviously, any time you lose it really hurts, but this has been really poor,” said captain Ricky Ponting, after Australia were condemned to their first innings defeat since India beat them in Calcutta in 1998.

“The first two Tests were as good as we have played, while the first two days here were as bad as we have ever played. It shows if you’re not quite there in terms of your best then results are not going to go your way.

We can take the momentum from this match into our series with England

Stand-in South Africa captain Jacques Kallis.

South African stand-in captain Jacques Kallis said the triumph had provided the team with a major boost before their next Test series against England next winter.

“Obviously we’re elated, it was huge to turn around our fortunes after the last two Tests. We’ve gained in confidence from this game and we can take the momentum from this match into our series with England,” Kallis said.

Harris, the slow left-armer, was named man of the match at Newlands, but the day belonged to Johnson in notching his maiden first-class ton from just 86 balls.

He was given superb support from Andrew McDonald, who made 68 to share a 163-run partnership for the seventh wicket.

Ricky Ponting’s men, resuming their second innings on 102-2, scored just 40 runs in the morning session and had to wait until the sixth over of the day for their first run.

Simon Katich moved to his half-century by flicking Albie Morkel down to the fine leg boundary for four, but he was out for 54, hitting Harris straight to JP Duminy at mid-off to end a 159-ball stay.

Michael Clarke was given out caught behind in the over before lunch, but the batsman referred the decision and replays showed he had not edged Jacques Kallis’ delivery.

However, Hussey’s determined innings of 39 came to an end just after lunch when he was surprised by a Steyn ball that reared up and fended to Duminy at gully.

Brad Haddin was put down by close fielder AB de Villiers off the bowling of Harris, but the Australian wicketkeeper chipped to mid-on in the next over, where Duminy took a fine diving catch to dismiss him for 18.

Steyn then removed the last of the recognised batsmen, Clarke playing a full-length ball onto his stumps, as the visitors reached tea at 231-6.

However, McDonald and Johnson dashed any hopes the hosts might have had of an early finish, scoring 116 runs in the first hour after tea and raising the 50 partnership in just over nine overs.

McDonald brought up his first half-century off 56 balls, which was followed by Johnson bludgeoning Morkel for four to raise his fourth Test fifty and third against South Africa.

The hundred partnership came from 91 balls, before Harris finally managed to put the brakes on when he claimed two wickets in two balls.

The first was that of McDonald, who was caught by close fielder De Villiers, with TV umpire Billy Bowden confirming his fate.

And the very next ball, Peter Siddle edged Harris to the same man at silly point.

But Johnson, who made 96 not out in the first Test at the Wanderers, kept them waiting and brought up his hundred by pulling Steyn for a massive six over mid-wicket.

In the next over, however, he ran out new man Bryce McGain for a duck while attempting to retain the strike.

And with the light quickly fading, Ben Hilfenhaus was last man out when he edged Harris to Ashwell Prince at first slip for 12.

The game was West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor’s last Test match.