Australia must make new ball pay, says Mickey Arthur

November 10, 2012

arthur_siddle_training


Australia's bowlers must make the most of second new ball if they want to get anything out of the rain-disrupted first test against South Africa after disappointing on the opening day, coach Mickey Arthur said on Saturday. The second day of the contest was washed out by the Brisbane rain but, if the wet weather relents on Sunday, Australia will still need to dislodge seven South African batsmen before they get a chance to bat.

The tourists had reached 255 for two on Friday with Hashim Amla (90) and Jacques Kallis (84) at the crease in an unbeaten third wicket partnership of 136. Australia's pacemen James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus were about to get hold of the second new ball when bad light brought an early close to play on Friday. "(Our bowling) probably wasn't good enough, I thought we got our lengths wrong, I think we needed to be a bit fuller," Arthur conceded at a rain-soaked Gabba.

"We weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but we weren't as clinical as we had been and as we had hoped to be. We weren't able to put South Africa under pressure for long enough."So, on our report card, probably disappointing. We discussed it, and I was confident the guys would have come back today and executed better. "We still have the second new ball up our sleeve, that's the one trump we have and we have to make that work for us."

Arthur said that the "massive hype" before the series, in which South Africa's number one test ranking is on the line, had perhaps made some of his seamers nervous. "When I say disappointed, I say that lightly because first and foremost I thought South Africa batted very well," he said. "Maybe nerves played a part, but that is something we have to overcome because we have to be on the money from the first ball." Arthur gave South African batsmen JP Duminy his test debut when he was coach of the Proteas on their last tour of Australia.

Duminy was ruled out of the rest of this tour after rupturing his Achille tendon while training on the Gabba pitch after Friday's play. That left South Africa with just 10 healthy batsmen for the match at the Gabba but Arthur's first thoughts were with the player. "To see a guy get injured and be out for six months is a tragedy," Arthur said. "My thoughts go out to him and I'm sure he will be back fighting fit in six months."

Arthur also expressed his surprise that South Africa had gone with four pace bowlers and dropped specialist spinner Imran Tahir - a decision that looks something of a gamble now they have been deprived of Duminy's spin. As to how the match would pan out after South Africa dominated the first day and the second day was lost to rain, Arthur said it was still too early to tell. "There's been a huge chunk of the game taken away, we've still got to play very, very well to give ourselves an opportunity to win it, or if we can't win it, make sure we don't lose it," he said.




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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday extended wishes to the "most prolific batsman of all time" Sachin Tendulkar on his 47th birthday.

ICC took to Twitter and wrote: "Happy birthday to Sachin Tendulkar, the most prolific batsman of all time! To celebrate, we will give you the opportunity to vote for his top ODI innings in a bracket challenge! Stay tuned to join the celebrations."

The Maharashtra-born player had an illustrious career in the game, creating several records.
Tendulkar made his debut in Test cricket on November 15, 1989. In the same year on December 18, he played his first ODI match.

The legendary cricketer has the most number of runs in the longest format of the game, amassing 15,921 runs. Along the way, Tendulkar scored 51 Test centuries, most by any player.

Things are no different in ODI cricket as Tendulkar atop the list of most runs in this format as well. He has accumulated 18,426 runs in ODI which includes 49 tons.

Tendulkar represented the country in six World Cups during his career that lasted for 24 years. He was the part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

This year, Master Blaster decided not to celebrate his birthday due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Mumbai, Jan 26: Boxing great Mary Kom has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award. Olympic silver medallist and reigning badminton World Champion PV Sindhu has been named for Padma Bhushan as the names of Padma awardees were disclosed on Saturday on the eve of the 71st Republic Day.

Rated as one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and has won gold at the boxing World Championships for a record six times. She has won a total of eight medals at the World Championships, the most recent of which came in October 2019 in Ulan Ude, Russia. The 36-year-old is now looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu became the only Indian woman to win an Olympic silver when she reached the final of the women's singles event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. In August last year, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win gold at the badminton World Championships.

She has also won two silver and two bronze medals at the World's in the past, thus making her only the second woman after Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning to win five medals in the competition.

Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, who has been the face of women's hockey in the country and played a pivotal role in the team qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is among those who have been nominated for the Padma Shri award.

Women's football stalwart Oinam Bembem Devi, former cricketer Zaheer Khan, shooter Jitu Rai, former hockey captain and coach M.P. Ganesh and archer Tarundeep Rai are the other sportspersons to be selected for the Padma Shri award.

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