All posts by h716a5.icu

Rain produced a stop-start afternoon and evening session that Kent ended up handling better, thanks to a 145-run partnership between Darren Stevens and Ben Harmison

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Chelmsford23-May-2013
ScorecardDarren Stevens added to his four wickets with an unbeaten 91•Getty ImagesRain greeted Chelmsford’s early birds and, while it didn’t affect the start time, it did return to produce a stop-start afternoon and evening session that Kent ended up handling better, thanks to a 145-run partnership between Darren Stevens and Ben Harmison. Coming together at 43 for 4, the pair worked patiently to see off the rain delays – 25 overs’ worth – and give Kent a first-innings lead for the first time this season.The arrival of Stevens injected calmness into proceedings, as he kept his concentration to bat throughout the day while also staying alert to any error in line or length from the bowlers. As the sun shone late into the evening session and batting conditions improved he took the attack to the bowlers – Ravi Bopara in particular feeling the brunt of Stevens’ wrath.The 37-year-old seems to relish his encounters with Essex – averaging over 45 with the bat and under 28 with the ball – and after his four wickets on the first day it seemed almost inevitable that he would excel again. Fitting, too, that he would be the one to score the runs to take Kent past Essex.Harmison, a slightly smaller yet fuller version of his brother Steve, went under the radar somewhat, content to play out maidens without even a glance at the scoring rate. He stirred in the forties, crashing two fours of Ryan ten Doeschate in three balls to take him to his half century, before chasing a wide one off the same bowler to depart for 55.The moisture in the air coupled with overhead conditions helped David Masters and Reece Topley in the morning. Masters beat the outside edge of Sam Northeast’s bat on more than one occasion; unfortunately for Masters, when he did find it, first slip was found wanting. But the bowler at the other end had more to smile about thanks to an excellent five-over spell that earned him two wickets for only seven runs.It’s hard not to be excited by Topley; his approach to the crease is smooth, with an action easy on the body, losing none of his 6ft 7in at the crease and, unlike Steven Finn, he might even be taller than his own run-up. His wicket to get rid of Brendon Nash was a thing of beauty – the ball angling into the left-hander, before arching away slightly and nipping off the pitch to just miss the bat and catch off stump, flush. For his next wicket, Topley squared-up the right-handed Mike Powell, who could only edge to Tom Westley at third slip.When Northeast was strangled down the leg side, you would be forgiven for thinking Kent were on for successive disappointments with the bat, after being skittled by Worcestershire and Alan Richardson for 63 last week.But Stevens and Harmison came together and rebuilt the innings in an impressive 48-over stand. If anything, they were aided by the rain delays as Essex’s bowlers struggled to get into any real rhythm or build on their morning success. Leaving the field four times would not have helped that. Even then, Masters thought he had Stevens caught behind until umpire Alex Wharf said otherwise, and then Michael Gough at the other end was asked to adjudicate on a ball from Graham Napier which did not bounce and hit Harmison on the pad. It looked very close but he too turned down the appeal, much to the bowler’s dismay.

Durham gave Geoff Cook nothing to worry about as they took over from visitors Hampshire at the top of Group B in the YorkshireBank 40 League with a six-wicket victory at Chester-le-Street.

22-Jun-2013
ScorecardPhil Mustard made 92 in the chase•Getty ImagesDurham gave Geoff Cook nothing to worry about as they took over from visitors Hampshire at the top of Group B in the YorkshireBank 40 League with a six-wicket victory at Chester-le-Street. With coach Cook still in a critical condition following his heart attack on Thursday, his team romped to their fourth successive win in the competition with 2.4 overs to spare.Despite conceding 93 off the last 10 overs, Durham restricted the holders to224 for 9 and lost acting captain Mark Stoneman in the first over of theirreply.A brief shower with the score on 55 for 1 in the 13th over reduced the targetto 218 in 38 overs and, by the time Phil Mustard and Scott Borthwick had put on164 for the second wicket, victory was a formality.Mustard was dropped on 11 at slip by Sean Ervine off Pakistani left-arm pacemanSohail Tanvir and Borthwick survived a return chance to James Vince on 12. Mustard went on to make 92 off 90 balls and Borthwick registered his maidenone-day fifty into 80 off 82 deliveries before holing out with 17 needed.Borthwick hit sixes off both left-arm spinners, Danny Briggs and Liam Dawson,who had combined figures of 0 for 85 in 11 overs.Tanvir took all four wickets to fall, producing excellent deliveries to cleanbowl Stoneman and Ben Stokes. But only three were needed when he nipped one backoff the pitch to breach Stokes’ defence and Paul Collingwood saw Durham homewith an unbeaten 32.Hampshire were not helped by Dimitri Mascarenhas being unable to bowl followinga back spasm, while Michael Carberry went for an X-ray after damaging a thumb.For Durham, Chris Rushworth bowled with great control to take 5 for 42 afterHampshire were put in and the target looked like being much lower until Dawsonthrashed 69 off 46 balls.The openers put on 23 before Vince drove to mid-off and Carberry was caught atleg gully, deliberately placed for the miscued pull. Jimmy Adams and Neil McKenzie carefully added 34 in 11 overs before the SouthAfrican tried to flip a straight ball from Collingwood to fine leg and was lbwfor 18.There was a second wicket for Collingwood when Adams holed out to Stokes atdeep midwicket after making 32 off 50 balls. That brought in Dawson at 112 for 4 in the 27th over and four overs later hebegan the late onslaught by sweeping a six as Collingwood’s final over cost 12and left him with 2 for 44.The last four overs yielded 46 with Dawson driving two successive balls fromStokes for six. The first took him to 50 off 37 balls. Stokes’ first four overs were tight but he finished with 1 for 56 on what wasnot a good day for either him or Briggs ahead of teaming up with the EnglandTwenty20 squad this week.

Marcus Trescothick ended a run of four ducks with a welcome return to form bit it failed to bring Somerset an anticipated victory against Worcestershire

Ivo Tennant14-Jul-2013
ScorecardMarcus Trescothick returned to form but it failed to bring Somerset victory•PA PhotosA return to form by Marcus Trescothick and some six-hitting by Jos Buttler entirely in keeping with his reputation should have resulted in a reasonably straightforward victory by Somerset. That Worcestershire won by eight runs emphasised how lesser talents, through the eternal values of line and length and competent catching, can still prevail.Needing 169 to win, Somerset needed 70 off 43 balls – virtually ten an over – when Trescothick was dismissed. His 49 from 38 balls had satisfied requirements, but throughout the innings only Buttler managed to pose the same threat.Trescothick was on the back of four ducks, a fact that led him to respond to mild Taunton barracking in the Championship defeat against Sussex by raising his bat in acknowledgment, encouraging fanciful theories that he might be about to enter retirement.He played more confidently here, not least against Gareth Andrew, his former team-mate. One six over long on smacked of timing of old and a chipped four over the head of extra cover off Moeen Ali was calculated through precise knowledge of the field placings.The Somerset captain had been stoutly defended on Twitter in the morning by Andy Nash, the Somerset chairman who, unusually for a cricket administrator, is prepared to vent his feelings on social media. “Don’t you dare write off Tres,” he threatened any critics. “The man is a legend and has my unconditional 100 per cent support. Period.”The danger with such comments is that they raise more questions than answers, particularly when he says he would rather Somerset were relegated from the first division of the Championship with him than stay up without him.But it was a pointless debate. Nobody could seriously have doubted that Trescothick’s form would pick up. He had made struck six fours and that six when he was caught at deep cover off Jack Shantry.Craig Kieswetter had gone in the first over, caught at short third man, and Nick Compton, whose technique, as we know, is not suited to this form of the game, was held at deep mid wicket. The catching and athleticism of Andre Russell, who caught both Trego and Compoton, was inspirational throughout the innings.Two sixes off Andrew by Buttler, one whistling past a balcony window in the Ondaatje Pavilion, brought the asking rate down to 34 off three overs, which was feasible if Buttler stayed in. For once, though, one of his scoops did not come off and James Hildreth went in the same over, to Joe Leach’s medium pace.The centrepiece of Worcestershire’s innings was 53 off 42 balls by Alexei Kervezee, who struck Steve Kirby for six over long on. Wickets fell about him, but Moeen Ali always appeared elegant, even when having to beetle on. Max Waller – surely his leg spin should be utilised more often, especially now the pitches are dry – bowled Daryl Mitchell with what appeared to be a top spinner, and had Russell caught at deep square leg.Somerset, at any rate on paper, have a considerably more powerful batting line-up than Worcestershire, and it did not seem to make sense to have Compton coming in at a stage of the innings when the scoring rate had to be improved. In other words, have him opening or held back to stave off a collapse. Somerset of yesteryear – and there have been many good ones – surely would have won this match.

Ireland will hope to gain greater global recognition when they take on England and Scotland in September for a handful of one-dayers

Andrew McGlashan30-Aug-2013Ireland’s push for greater global recognition reaches another important landmark next week when they host England in front of what will be a record crowd at the new stadium at Malahide. The ODI is on course to be a 10,000 sell-out and, while the available seating at the new venue is one reason for the record figure, there is also a feeling that cricket in Ireland has hit a new peak this year.The national side came very close to beating Pakistan in a two-match ODI series, while they continue to qualify for all the global tournaments put in front of them. The Inter Provincial three-day tournament has also been launched and Cricket Ireland’s aim is to earn first-class status for that competition by 2015 in their pursuit of being a Test nation by 2020.However, opportunities against Full Member teams remain rare and have to be fought for around the politicking tables of world cricket, but Cricket Ireland are determined to make the game so successful in the country that it becomes “embarrassing” for other nations not to play them more often.”The perception of Ireland cricket continues to be one that is fairly low within the Full Member world due to the opportunities spurned by others to play us,” Warren Deutrom, the Cricket Ireland CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. “But that doesn’t stop us doing what we can; investing in our senior squads, investing in our facilities, getting public and private funding, and growing the sport where we can attract these big matches.”Basically, it’s about building the argument until it’s one that is too embarrassing to ignore regarding how good we are becoming. We have few and far opportunities against Full Members, but look at what we do when they come along. People may still say we don’t expect Ireland to win these games, we expect them to be competitive. Well, I’d say we are extremely competitive when we get the chance.”Phil Simmons, Ireland’s coach, said that there is now a very different mindset within the team compared to a few years ago. “The way that we played against Pakistan showed we are learning every time we go out. We should have won the second match. We are learning how to win games. Since the 2011 World Cup, we’ve had that mentality. We go in to win the game and not just compete.”Deutrom was keen to stress that the England fixture on September 3 was not the “be-all and end-all” for Irish cricket. He is well aware that pinning all ambitions on one fixture every two years does not do Ireland any favours, and also the weather does not have a record of being especially fair to this fixture, but acknowledges that it does carry extra weight given England’s recent Ashes success and the fact it will be covered by Sky TV.”Above everything else it’s about the perception of Irish cricket,” he said. “Having 10,000 in an Irish cricket ground against England, in front of TV cameras, with the President of Ireland and chief executive of ICC, says everything that we in Cricket Ireland have been trying to drive home.”Neither is Deutrom going to be drawn into a debate over the strength of the England side that is coming over. A number of key figures – Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Kevin Pietersen – will not be making the trip to Dublin. So, as in 2011, it will be an experimental England side that is captained by Eoin Morgan, who was also the captain for the 2011 one-off encounter. This time there is also the presence of Boyd Rankin, the former Ireland quick who played against England in the 2011 fixture, to stir the emotions of the locals.”The under-strength team still won last time,” Deutrom said, referring to England’s narrow 11-run success in a rain-curtailed match. “It’s not as though we are hammering whoever they send over. It’s a full England team that is being sent. It is at the ECB’s risk that the team does not win, then they have to face the potential fall-out of that.”If I was the ECB, I’d say whichever team we have sent over since 2006 has won. Ironically, the game we did beat them in, at the World Cup, was when they played most of their big names. We need to beat whatever they send over to justify.”

Former Services pace bowler, who until recently served as chief administrative officer of the National Cricket Academy, has died of a heart attack while playing golf in Bangalore on Wednesday evening

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2013Former Services pace bowler AK Jha, who until recently served as chief administrative officer of the National Cricket Academy, has died of a heart attack while playing golf in Bangalore on Wednesday evening.Jha, 57, was a fast bowler for the Services and played 52 first-class matches, taking 159 wickets at an average of 30.18, in a career that extended between 1974 and 1987. In nine first-class matches between 1981 and 1985, Jha took 10 wickets at an average of 25.50.The retired wing commander of the Indian Air Force was removed from his post at the NCA following allegations of his involvement in a Rs 50 crore NCA land deal that went wrong. The NCA, it is understood, had sought to acquire close to 50 acres of land near Nandi Hills through the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) for the academy. The BCCI had also paid close to Rs 50 crore, in two installments, for the acquisition. However, following a number of PILs, a Karnataka High Court ruling in June this year declared the deal illegal.

Rajasthan Royals stayed unbeaten at home in 2013 after beating the IPL champions by seven wickets

The Report by Sidharth Monga21-Sep-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Vikramjeet Malik took three big wickets•BCCIWe have moved on from the IPL to the Champions League T20 qualifiers, and from there to Champions League proper, but some things haven’t changed. Rajasthan Royals stay unbeaten at home in 2013. Poor shots keep making games interesting. And ordinary umpiring keeps playing a significant role.After an early shower delayed the start by 15 minutes, Royals asked the IPL champions to bat first on a pitch with fresh grass, and kept them down to 142 thanks to Vikramjeet Malik, who possibly wouldn’t have been playing had Siddharth Trivedi not been suspended for one year for not reporting an approach by bookies. Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Coulter-Nile, the latter playing in the absence of Lasith Malinga, put Royals batsmen through a stern test, but were frustrated by Sanju Samson having escaped a plumb lbw when on one.Samson went on to become the youngest player to score a fifty in the CLT20. More importantly, it helped Royals home. The knock wasn’t as convincing as the scorebook will show: even his fifty came up with a massive outside edge on the heave, he was beaten next ball, and then – clearly out of place against fast, short bowling – gloved one over the keeper. Then again, it was hardly a night where things were what they seemed to be.Mumbai’s team sheet slated the comeback man Sachin Tendulkar at No. 4, Rahul Dravid said his side needed no spinner, and the grass on the pitch promised high and consistent bounce. Tendulkar came out to open, part-time spinner Ashok Menaria bowled the first over, and Malik bowled a nasty grubber in the second over to trap Dwayne Smith lbw.Mumbai hardly looked comfortable against the movement, losing wickets regularly until Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard added 52 for the fifth wicket. Rohit, though, edged the returning Watson a ball after hitting him for a six, leaving Pollard with a lot to do. Pollard threatened to do the lot, but in the last over of the innings – when a 20 from him looked possible – he edged a wide half-volley through to the keeper.Coulter-Nile hit a six and a four to give Mumbai some momentum going into the second innings, and got lucky with the ball too when Rahul Dravid cut a wide ball straight to point. Johnson wasn’t as lucky when he had Samson dead in front to a 150kmph swinger. Bruce Oxenford was the only man who didn’t agree. Samson and Ajinkya Rahane weathered that testing spell, and then targeted the two Mumbai spinners.Pragyan Ojha was welcomed with a six over extra cover, and Harbhajan Singh was punished every time he bowled short and flat. Just when it looked like the two could finish the game off, Rahane ended the 74-run partnership with an ugly swipe. Samson continued his merry ride – he should consider taking it all the way to a casino – until a Pollard short ball got too big for him but wasn’t fast enough to take the top edge behind the stumps over the infield.Royals needed 36 off 27 then, and Shane Watson and Stuart Binny finally made sure there was a departure from the IPL: there was no twist in the end. Well, there might have been one when Watson played put two dots in the last over with two required, but Pollard let him off with a misfield.

Duleep Trophy, the forgotten tournament that is often played in the background, has got a shot in the arm with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir joining the North Zone team for the final to be played in Kochi from Thursday onwards.

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2013Duleep Trophy, the forgotten tournament that is often played in the background of the Indian domestic season, has got a shot in the arm with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir joining the North Zone team for the final to be played in Kochi from Thursday onwards. Just the turnaround the tournament needed a week after its semi-final was decided by the toss of a coin. The Delhi batsmen join Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and South Zone captain Abhinav Mukund as Test players in the final of the zonal competition.Gambhir’s last Duleep Trophy match came in 2006-07. Sehwag last played in the inter-zonal first-class competition in 2004-05, opening the innings with Gambhir. This time, though, Sehwag is likely to bat in the middle order, a decision he made earlier in the season as he tries to make his way back into the Indian team.Sehwag’s returns since moving down the order haven’t been encouraging. He began with a quick 59 in a Challenger Trophy match, but it has been followed by scores of 8 and 5 in one-dayers, and 7 and 38 in the first-class games against West Indies A. Gambhir has had a better time in his fight to stage a comeback. In India A’s win in Hubli, he scored only his third first-class century in three years, but the good news from his point of view is that all three have come in this year. Moreover, the incumbent India Test opener, M Vijay, is not playing the final. South Zone, though, will be bolstered by Dinesh Karthik and Stuart Binny, who had been away on Champions League T20 duty.In the spin department, though, both the discarded veteran and the incumbent will be present. Both are IPL team-mates. Harbhajan, who won the all-important toss to take his team into the final, will captain North Zone; Pragyan Ojha will lead the South Zone spin attack.The players and subplots are all there, but the Kochi weather remains the big factor after persistent rain and wet outfield allowed only 208 overs in the semi-final. Scattered thunderstorms are predicted between October 17 and 21, with chances of precipitation hovering at around 60%. If the first-innings lead is not resolved inside the five scheduled days, a sixth day can be added to the final. If there isn’t a leader identified on first innings even after six days, the teams will share the trophy.

Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled Western Australia to an innings win over Victoria at the WACA, their first outright victory of the Sheffield Shield summer, as the Bushrangers fell 38 runs short of making the Warriors bat a second time

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2013
ScorecardNathan Coulter-Nile finished the match with eight wickets•Getty ImagesNathan Coulter-Nile bowled Western Australia to an innings win over Victoria at the WACA, their first outright victory of the Sheffield Shield summer, as the Bushrangers fell 38 runs short of making the Warriors bat a second time.Although former Victoria captain Cameron White scored his first hundred of the Shield summer, his 131 was not enough after the twin tons from Marcus North and Shaun Marsh in Western Australia’s hefty first innings. Victoria started the final day on 5 for 272 and their already slim prospects of salvaging a draw slipped further when White was bowled trying to lap sweep North, having added 21 to his overnight score.It was Coulter-Nile who then caused problems when he had Daniel Christian (40) and Clint McKay (0) caught behind with the space of three deliveries, and in his next over he added the wicket of Jake Haberfield. Coulter-Nile picked up 4 for 53 for the innings and finished the match with eight victims, but it was first-innings centurion North who completed the victory when he had John Hastings lbw for 19.After the match, Cricket Australia announced that Western Australia’s Ashton Agar was fined 25% of his match fee for breaching the CA Code of Behaviour. Agar was reported by the umpires for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision while he was bowling in Victoria’s second innings. Agar accepted the fine, meaning a hearing was not required.

England’s head coach Andy Flower accepted that questions would be asked about his own role and that of many of England’s senior players after the 3-0 Ashes defeat

George Dobell18-Dec-2013There were no excuses, no complaints and no empty promises as Andy Flower reflected on England’s Ashes humiliation.England’s head coach accepted that questions would be asked about his own role and that of many of England’s senior players and he accepted that it was quite right that they should be.Flower was particularly critical of England’s misfiring batting unit and admitted that, with the Ashes already lost, the final two Tests of the series might be utilised to provide opportunities to younger players.”It is very obvious we underperformed badly with the bat,” he said. “Our first innings batting has been ordinary and we are not going to win many Test matches or many Test series if we don’t score heavily in the first innings.”We’ve been behind in the game very early on in all three games and that makes it very tough to fight back from. Our bowlers in every second innings have not had enough time off to recuperate and then put the opposition under pressure. The opposition are never under any pressure in their second innings because they have a huge lead.”Three Tests is ample time for players to come to the fore. The shot selection very obviously hasn’t been good enough because the results tell us that: we have made one Test century and they have made seven. And ours came from a 22-year-old all-rounder in his second Test match.Flower’s judgment

On Australia’s attack: “One of the things we should be honest about is that the Australian attack has performed outstandingly. The addition of Johnson and the use of him as a genuinely quick bowler: they have done extremely well. The back-up of Siddle and Harris and Watson has been very skilful and disciplined. Those three-and-a-half seamers have been outstanding. They have kept us under pressure and bowled outstanding spells and they haven’t let up. We haven’t been good enough to repel them.”
On Ben Stokes: “That was a brilliant Test hundred. To play on one of the bounciest tracks in the world on a track that was cracking as well and in a situation that we were in I thought that was an outstanding effort. It is interesting that our only Test century has come from a 22-year-old all rounder. That is certainly a snapshot of our batting under-performance.”
On Matt Prior: “Matt has been an outstanding cricketer for England during a second phase of his English career. But we constantly review what our best side will be and we also have to have an eye to the future as well.”

“In every big Test series we need the senior players to perform and so far that hasn’t happened. It is time for those guys to stand up. In fact it’s past time, because the series is lost.”We are going through a tough period as a side now and as number of those individuals are going through tough periods in their careers. It doesn’t mean their careers are over. But it does mean they need to call on that experience to help them get out of a tough time quicker than other people.Flower accepted that there would be a value in providing opportunities to new players in the final two Tests. “This series is now lost and I will be chatting to the selectors and talking to Alastair Cook and coaches about our strategy going into the Melbourne Test,” he said.The most likely changes could see Jonny Bairstow brought in to replace Matt Prior, Gary Ballance brought in to replace Kevin Pietersen and Boyd Rankin given a Test debut in place of one of the seamers. England remain unsure whether Stuart Broad will be fit for the fourth Test and still seem reluctant to pick the out-of-sorts Steven Finn.It seems unlikely that either Flower or Cook will be sacked by the ECB. Both men remain highly thought of and with the organisation already going through a period of transition – Hugh Morris is being replaced as managing director by Paul Downton and Geoff Miller has been replaced by James Whitaker as head selector – there is no appetite for further change.But Flower will reflect on his position after the series and make a decision over whether he is the man to rebuild the team for the challenges ahead. He insists that, as of right now, he has not looked beyond the end of the series.”I’ve always said I don’t look too far ahead personally,” Flower said. “There is time for reflection after the series. Ultimately I am responsible for the result of this series. I’ve got that judgement to make. The English cricket board will have that judgement to make as well.”Obviously my role means I have to plan ahead for the team’s sake but personally I don’t like looking too far ahead and quite frankly there are still two Test matches to play in this series and I want all my focus to be on those. I think that’s the right thing to do for the England cricket side.”

Victory in the Ashes has allowed Cricket Australia to make a concession to the start of the Big Bash League, releasing David Warner, Steve Smith and George Bailey to take part in the opening round

Daniel Brettig18-Dec-2013Victory in the Ashes has allowed Cricket Australia to make a concession to the start of the Big Bash League, releasing David Warner, Steven Smith and George Bailey to take part in the opening round of the Twenty20 competition this week.Warner, Smith and Bailey were all key contributors to Australia’s series-clinching win at the WACA Ground, the two New South Welshmen each making centuries while the Tasmanian put the capstone on the hosts’ second innings by ransacking 28 runs from a single over bowled by James Anderson.Australian cricket’s priorities have been hotly debated over the past few seasons, with the commercial demands of the BBL and the Champions League often running headlong into the best laid plans for the national team. CA’s team performance manager Pat Howard has engaged in plenty of debate with BBL teams over the issue of player availability for round one, but the swift and comprehensive nature of Australia’s Ashes defeat of England has offered some room to manoeuvre between the end of the Perth Test and the Boxing Day match in Melbourne.”We have worked closely with the BBL clubs for several months about Test player availability given the early stages of the tournament are played while the Ashes series is still in progress,” Howard said. “Our Test squad has a very specific training and recovery program throughout the Ashes and we are keen to maintain that where possible.”That being said, yesterday’s series victory has given us the opportunity to be more flexible in our approach to BBL availability. After careful consideration of player fitness and workload issues, we have agreed to release George Bailey, Steve Smith and David Warner for BBL duties on 21 and 22 December.”On this occasion, the bowlers from the first three Tests were not considered for release given their recent workload and the need to prepare for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests. We will continue to work closely with all BBL clubs on player availability and preparation.”Apart from Warner going back to the Sydney Thunder, Bailey playing for the Hobart Hurricanes and Smith the Sydney Sixers, the reserve fast bowlers Doug Bollinger and Nathan Coulter-Nile have also been allowed to play in round one.Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Lyon have all been granted time to rest following their exertions over the first three Tests.