Posts Tagged ‘Melbourne’
Written by admin on 30 November 2009
Melbourne, Nov 30 – West Indies’ great Brian Lara said Adrian Barath’s courageous century on debut should serve as a lesson to the rest of the team that there is nothing to fear about the Australian team.
‘The likes of Adrian Barath scoring runs, a debutant should tell the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan if he is back and Dwayne Bravo that there is not much to be feared in the Australia cricket team,’ Lara was quoted as saying in Fox Sports Monday.
Lara said it will be difficult for West Indies to bounce back after their embarrassing defeat in the first Test at Brisbane.
‘I think it will be difficult. Obviously a defeat within three days, it’s going to be hard.’
‘But, there are some positives, like Barath’s century.’
The 18-year-old Barath is the youngest West Indies player to score a debut Test century.
Tags: Melbourne
Posted in Australia, Cricket | No Comments »
Written by admin on 30 November 2009
Melbourne, Nov 30 – West Indies captain Chris Gayle has slammed the newly introuduced vedio referral system, saying that the new technology is still not fool-proof.
The Umpires’ Decision Review System (UDRS) has come into effect in the ongoing Test series between Australia and West Indies and New Zealand and Pakistan.
The new referral system has been upgraded after captains pointed out loopholes in technology when it was first introduced last year.
‘It is a huge shame that the video referral system is being used for the remainder of the Test series because I’m just not a fan of it,’ Gayle wrote in his Column in the Courier Mail Monday.
‘The new technology they have put in place still makes mistakes. I also don’t agree with the decision-making process. If there is a line-ball decision on the video review, they send it back to the standing umpire to make a decision,’ he wrote.
‘But the umpire is automatically going to stick by his original decision because he doesn’t want to make a goose of himself on the field. That just doesn’t make sense to me.’
Gayle said he was not being selfish when he challenged his lbw decisions.
‘I’ve heard that some people have said I was selfish for video challenging my lbw decisions in Brisbane. I’ve now watched the replays and there is no doubt – I was certainly out both times.’
‘But I’m a key wicket for the side, so at the time I thought why not give it a try? That’s the thing, you never know what the technology will show up.’
Tags: Melbourne
Posted in Australia | No Comments »
Written by admin on 30 November 2009
Melbourne, Nov 30 – A defiant Chris Gayle says he is not stepping down from the West Indies captaincy after the side’s embarrassing loss to Australia in the first Test, and feels he is the right person to lead the team out of the crisis.
Gayle said calls for his head have been growing after West Indies’ humiliating innings and 65-run drubbing by Australia at Gabba.
‘When you have a bad loss like this, it’s to be expected that a lot of people are going to speculate over my captaincy. Some say I am not the right person for the job.
‘I have got a message for those people — I am not going anywhere,’ Gayle wrote in his column in the Courier Mail Monday.
‘Make no bones about it – our loss in Brisbane was not only disappointing but it was also downright embarrassing.’
‘Times are tough, but I am determined to be the strong captain the team needs right now.’
Gayle was reappointed captan for the Australia series after the settlement of a contractual row between the top players and the West Indies cricket board.
Gayle though said that the team is determined to make a strong comeback in the remainder of the series.
‘I have been chosen as captain and it’s a job I will continue to do to the best of my ability. My heart is in it and I feel really strongly that I am the right man to lead the West Indies through this challenging period.’
‘A lot has been happening over the past eight months, but I am not into negativity. Negative energy is the last thing we need right now because we are just starting to try to regroup as a team.’
Gayle said he enjoys the support of the team.
‘With my captaincy coming under fire, the really heartening thing for me is to see how I have respect from each and every one of the players in our squad.’
‘It makes my job easier to know that each individual supports me and it helps me get the best out of the players,’ he said.
Gayle called on his teammates to take inspiration from Adrian Barath’s century on debut.
‘We all know where we went wrong and after thinking about it for a while and coming up with some answers we have to try to get it out of our system as quickly as possible. We can’t afford to be too hard on ourselves, the Test series is still up for grabs and we have to be strong and positive if we have a chance of beating Australia,’ the skipper said.
‘An important thing for us will be to use Adrian Barath’s wonderful century as a motivating force. That is a huge positive for the team – a 19-year-old getting a Test century against Australia on his debut. It should drive the rest of our batsmen to produce some big scores.’
Tags: Melbourne
Posted in Australia, Cricket | No Comments »
Written by admin on 30 November 2009
Melbourne, Nov 30 – Fast bowler Jerome Taylor has been ruled out of the ongoing cricket series against Australia due to an injury, it was announced by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) here Monday.
Team manager Joel Garner said that the 25-year-old injured his left hip and back while bowling on the opening day of the first Test Match against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Taylor bowled nine overs but was able to bat in either innings. He will return to Jamaica Tuesday to continue his rehabilitation. No replacement player has been named at the moment.
Meanwhile, middle-order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has been responding well to treatment for a back injury that forced him to miss the first Test.
Tags: Melbourne
Posted in Cricket, Europe | No Comments »
Written by admin on 30 November 2009
Melbourne, Nov 30 – Fast bowler Clint Mckay replaced an injured Ben Hilfenhaus in the 12-member Australian team for the second cricket Test against the West Indies that starts Friday at the Adelaide Oval.
National selection panel chairman Andrew Hilditch, while announcing the squad Monday, said that the injury to Hilfenhaus is very disappointing following his outstanding Ashes series and his Man-of-the-match performance in the first Test in Brisbane. Australia won the first Test by an innings and 65 runs.
‘Hopefully with treatment he will be fit to be considered for selection for the third Test in Perth. It does provide an opportunity for Clint McKay to join the Australia squad for the second Test. Clint impressed all with his performances in India with the one-day squad and with his bowling for Victoria in the Weet-Bix Sheffield Shield this year,’ Hilditch said.
‘We also feel his (Clint) style of bowling will be well-suited to the conditions in Adelaide should he be selected in the starting 11,’ he added.
Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said Hilfenhaus has had a widely-reported knee tendon injury that was sore during the recent ODI series in India and the firstTest at the Gabba.
‘The demands of Test cricket and the subsequent increased workload have made it harder to manage Ben’s injury, so it’s been decided that the best course of action is for him to miss the Adelaide Test. He will undergo an intense period of rehabilitation over the next two weeks with a view to him being available for selection for the third Test,’ he said.
The squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Shane Watson, Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Clint McKay, Marcus North, Peter Siddle
Tags: Melbourne
Posted in Cricket, Europe | No Comments »
Written by admin on 30 November 2009
Melbourne, Nov 30 – India and China would continue to drive the Australian economy for decades to come, Warren McKibbin, a member of Reserve Bank of Australia, has reiterated while addressing an economics conference in Sydney Monday.
Australia is the only developed economy which has defied the ongoing global downturn, thanks mainly to the two most populous countries of the world, he said. While China is the largest trading partner of Australia, India now occupies the fourth spot on the ladder.
Australia’s central bank had earlier attributed the country’s resilience to global recession to the resources boom driven primarily by the major Asian economies.
‘Asia is at the forefront of the global recovery,’ a RBA growth forecast released in November read.
‘Growth in China and India has been particularly strong,’ the RBA document added while lifting its growth forecast for 2009 from 0.5 percent to 1.75 percent and raised estimates for growth in the 12 months to fourth-quarter 2010 from 2.25 percent to 3.25 percent.
There has been a spurt in the investment in the resources sector in Australia with the LNG (liquefied natural gas) sector expanding more exponentially than the others. The insatiable demand for resources in Asia has not only cushioned Australia against the global economic downturn but has also prompted the bank to lift interest rates.
Warren McKibbin reiterated once again on Monday that ‘…monetary policy in Australia would have to continue to play a major role in restraining domestic demand’.
(Paritosh Parasher can be contacted at paritoshparasher@yahoo.com)
Tags: Melbourne
Posted in Europe | No Comments »
