Brad Hoggs and how it relates to me

Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Original Article)

RICKY Ponting might have tempered his expectations for the Test
team in the wake of recent retirements but he is making no such
concessions for the one-day squad.

Playing their first limited-overs international since the
departures of Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg - and without the
injured Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds for the match - the
new-look Australian side was clinical in its 84-run defeat of the
Windies at Arnos Vale.

With Shaun Marsh (81 off 97 balls) leading with the bat on
debut, and Nathan Bracken (4-31) completing a strong return from
knee surgery, the Australians reclaimed their No.1 limited-overs
ranking from South Africa and encouraged their captain in the
process.

“It’s a pretty formidable squad that we’ve got here, with a lot
of flexibility,” Ponting said. “The flexibility around our group at
the moment is probably as good as I’ve seen it around the
Australian team.”

Marsh claimed man-of-the-match honours in his first outing with
the Australian one-day team and had little problems filling the
opening role once occupied by his father, Geoff.

The 24-year-old defied the difficult pitch and some
unconventional West Indian tactics to help Australia to a
commanding 8-273, the second highest total by a touring team in St
Vincent.

Marsh’s innings was by far the most polished of the day and
promoted his case for a regular berth in the one-day team in the
presence of on-duty selector David Boon. Only Brad Haddin (50) and
Dwayne Bravo (33) could claim to have looked as comfortable at the
crease, but neither was able to match the rookie left-hander for
runs scored or judges impressed.

Marsh seemed unflustered by the activity at the ET Joshua
Airport, the runway of which stands directly behind the bowler’s
arm at the northern end of the ground, and the West Indies’
creative, if not overly effective, attempts to disrupt his
rhythm.

Captain Chris Gayle made no fewer than BankWest Credit Cards 15 bowling changes during
the Australian …continue reading

Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Original Article)

A back injury may have sidelined him for a third consecutive
limited-overs match on Friday, but Andrew Symonds has no intention
of reducing his bowling workload.

Symonds importance to the Australian side was underlined when
his captain, Ricky Ponting, instructed him to improve his finger
spin ahead of the eagerly-anticipated Test tour of India later this
year. Already an integral member of the Australian batting unit,
Symonds has now been called upon to help fill the slow bowling void
created by the retirements of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill from
the Test side, and Brad Hogg from the one-day squad.

At 33, and holding down the high-intensity position as
Australia’s chief all-rounder in three forms of the game, Symonds
concedes he will need to regulate his workload, but not by cutting
out bowling all together.

“If it gets to a point where people watching are saying, ‘Mate,
you’re getting hurt’ or you’re just cooked at the end of a Test and
wrecked for days, I might have to look at changing it,” Symonds
said. “But Punter is really encouraging me to work on my off-spin
before I go to India. That could be an important thing for the
team. For me, bowling medium pace it is very physically demanding.
As fast bowlers know, it wears you out. Everyone has probably only
got so many tokens, and I’m getting to a stage in my career where
I’ve only got so many tokens left, so I have to use them right. But
I’ll bowl medium pace when required, too.”

Symonds was a notable absentee from Australia’s 20- and 50-over
sides over the past week due to a back strain sustained during the
Barbados Test. The all-rounder hurt the disc just two balls into a
spell, then proceeded to bowl another over-plus before reporting
the problem to Ponting.

That attitude to injury, Symonds admits, must change.

“They try and get me to tell them when I’m hurt and I’ve never
been great with that over the years,” he said. “I’ve sort of just St George No Fee Credit Card
dealt with it. But I suppose …continue reading

Source: The Age (Original Article)

Australia are back on top of both the Test and one-day world rankings after regaining their No.1 spot in limited-overs cricket with their victory over the West Indies.
Ricky Ponting’s side will take a 1-0 lead into game two of their five-game series in Grenada on Friday after a comprehensive 84-run victory in the opening match in St Vincent.
The win, which ended a three-game losing streak, also sees Australia leapfrog South Africa back into top spot on the official ICC one-day rankings after a short stay in second place.
It also ensured a winning start to a new era in Australian one-day cricket, with the retirements of Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg, and injuries to Andrew Symonds (back) and Matthew Hayden (Achilles), opening the way for a younger group of players to try and leave their own mark on world cricket.
“It’s a pretty formidable squad that we’ve got here with a lot of flexibility,” Ponting said.
“The flexibility around our group at the moment is probably as good as I’ve seen it around the Australian team.”
While condemning the ugly crowd scenes that marred their win in game one, Ponting was not overly concerned about the incident with none of his players being struck by plastic bottles hurled on to the outfield by supporters.
The team paid tribute to Jane McGrath, the late wife of former Test paceman Glenn McGrath, by wearing pink ribbons and batting with pink grips in St Vincent.
“It has touched us all a fair bit over the last few days,” Ponting said.
“We were just doing whatever we could to show our respects.
“It has been a hard week for us all over here when a few of us probably would have liked to be back home and shown our support that way.
“The thing with Glenn is that I think he would much rather have us being over here playing cricket Airline Miles Credit Cards for Australia, which he loved doing for so many years.”

Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Original Article)

HOME audiences should familiarise themselves with the sight of
Shaun Marsh, Luke Ronchi, David Hussey, Cameron White and James
Hopes in the Australian colours, as they were in Saturday’s tour
match against the UWI Vice Chancellor’s XI. With a gruelling 20
Tests, and up to 47 one-day and 16 Twenty20 internationals
scheduled over a 16-month period, Ricky Ponting will presumably
require all available resources to manage the workload.

The schedule, which runs directly into the 2009-10 domestic
summer and spans six countries, is perhaps the most gruelling
undertaken by an Australian side, particularly with Twenty20
internationals commanding an ever larger presence on cricket’s
already crammed calendar. Australia’s player stocks will receive a
stern test, with the sharp increase in workload coinciding with a
period of transition within the team after a run of recent
retirements.

The Australians are presently experiencing a premonition of what
their immediate future might be. With Andrew Symonds nursing a sore
back, Brad Haddin recuperating from a broken finger, Brett Lee
still winding down from Test duties and Ponting resting ahead of
the five-game limited-overs series against the West Indies, the
Australians fielded a line-up that might appear new-look at the
moment, but could be more familiar with Australian audiences by the
summer.

The injury to Symonds is particularly concerning. The
all-rounder, who turned 33 a fortnight ago, has never before
experienced a back problem, and is recovering steadily from the
injury sustained in the latter stages of the Bridgetown Test. Now
considered Australia’s specialist all-rounder in all three forms of
the game, the demands placed on Symonds’s body are greater than
ever, especially with his spin-bowling being called upon to fill
the void created by the retirements.

Michael Clarke, too, is one whose workload will require careful
management over the coming year. Like Aussie MasterCard Symonds, Clarke is being used
increasingly …continue reading

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Original Article)

More rain fell on Saturday, heaping agony upon misery. Floodwaters claimed their first death in the state, a 68-year-old Town of Summit man who apparently drowned after trying to drive his car through a washed-out road near Upper Nemahbin Lake.

With rivers across the state overflowing and dams busting, the ground can hardly tolerate another drop. But more scattered thunderstorms are expected today and tonight.

President Bush has declared five counties, including Milwaukee County, as disaster areas, and another 25 are expected to be added, said Lee Sensenbrenner, an aide to Gov. Jim Doyle. The other four counties named as disaster areas are Columbia, Crawford, Vernon and Sauk. The declaration will allow homeowners, renters and business owners who sustained losses or damages to apply for relief.

Bright sunshine earlier Saturday gave brief relief from the seemingly relentless deluge of the past nine days, as people headed for their hammocks, sailboats, backyard barbecues and other summertime pursuits. But the skies darkened by late afternoon, bringing strong rain and hail in some spots.

Lightning strikes house in Tosa: Lightning struck a house in the 9000 block of Jackson Park Blvd. in Wauwatosa about 5:40 p.m. and set it afire. Neighbors grabbed garden hoses and battled a small blaze on the roof’s peak until fire crews arrived.

The homeowners - who only recently moved in - were not around when the lightning blew an 8-foot-by-8-foot hole in the roof, causing an estimated $20,000 damage. Firefighters placed a tarp over the gaping hole to prevent any further damage.

Scrambling in central Wisconsin: Around hamlets and towns of central Wisconsin where swollen rivers and lakes threatened to flood more homes, folks scrambled to avert damage any way that they could. Inmates from area prisons were pressed into service to fill sandbags that were used to shore up the Beaver Dam, Fox Lake, ANZ Frequent Flyer Lowell and Hustisford areas.

Two more …continue reading

Source: The Statesman (Original Article)

Panucci says he’s available

Portugal’s easy win

Unfit France to face Romania

Italy ready to prove their brilliance

Rafa’s reign continues

Kubica’s maiden victory

Austria suffer setback

Pakistan win

BCCI to standardise all pitches

Asif’s fate still undecided

‘Fast bowling is about doing compare credit card the donkey work’

briefs

Jeev wins in Austria

Sidebottom seals England victory

Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Original Article)

Spin bowling coach Terry Jenner says Stuart MacGill must abort any plans to continue playing for NSW and just quit cricket altogether for the sake of the Australian team.

MacGill shocked the cricket community with his retirement announcement midway during the second Test against the West Indies last Sunday but has left the door ajar to keep playing for NSW in domestic cricket.

But Jenner says MacGill must walk away completely to give the young crop of tweakers coming through the chance to improve their four-day bowling at a domestic level before taking the giant leap onto the Test stage.

“I hear he is going to play for NSW and I say why? It’s over,” said Jenner on MacGill.

“He would be better now to move on, do some more wine shows and things like that and pass a few bottles of red around to us.

“The ideal thing would be for him now to make way, he’s had his moment and it didn’t quite work I think probably because his wrist never really recovered.

“These guys have got to learn to be four-day bowlers. Dot-ball bowlers aren’t four-day bowlers.”

Jenner was quick to warn that a replacement for Shane Warne, MacGill and Brad Hogg - Australia’s topline spinners who have all retired in the past 18 months, would not appear overnight but is adamant the future is going to be “terrific” for the Test side.

“We need to approach this cautiously and be patient, but for the public to know there are some kids out there, but they may not quite be ready at the moment,” he said.

“It is difficult when you lose Warne who was the best ever, MacGill who is the best understudy ever and of course Brad Hogg who is the best one day spinner that was going around in world cricket.

“We don’t just slot someone back in, but a year or so down the track and I know this is going to be tough for all of us, we will have people I think knocking on the door.

“Before then I think we’re going to have to BankWest Credit Cards do a Warne-type thing and take …continue reading

Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Original Article)

BEAU Casson is uncomfortable with this story. He fears it will
convey him as a victim, a man somehow worthy of sympathy. He wants
to be judged for his spin bowling, not his medical history, to be
viewed as you would any other cricketer.

Casson was born with a rare congenital heart defect, known as
Fallot’s syndrome. The condition limits the amount of oxygen in his
blood and makes it difficult for his heart rate to return to normal
after extended periods of exertion, and has prompted three open
heart operations. He uses a modified training program, and gets
extra time to recover from exercise. He is monitored regularly.

But that’s it. In every other aspect of his life and career,
Casson feels in no way different from his cricketing
contemporaries. And if, as expected, the national selectors bestow
upon him the honour of becoming Australia’s 401st Test cricketer
for the third Test in Barbados, the 25-year-old expects no problem
from his ticker, and no special treatment from his teammates,
opponents or public.

“Beau has accepted his challenges and he’s living his dream at
the moment,” said Casson’s father, Arthur. “We’d rather celebrate
where he is and how he’s handling himself.”

As reluctant as Casson is to discuss the subject, it is
important to acknowledge the condition to appreciate the path he
has taken to the Test squad. From his days as a talented junior, to
his stint at the Centre of Excellence, to his careers with Western
Australia, NSW and more recently Australia, the left-arm chinaman
bowler has dealt with factors foreign to most cricketers, and with
a minimum of fuss. Whereas some athletes seek to portray themselves
as victims - often with little justification - Casson wants to be
viewed equally and dispassionately.

Certainly, he is expecting no favours from the West Indies,
should he be called into the starting XI from next Thursday. And,
if given the opportunity, he will offer none Bank Credit Cards in return.

“We’ve got some of the …continue reading

http://www.guyananewstoday.com/2008/06/02/macgill-anoints-casson-as-replacement/
While most of Australia worries about the state of the next rung of spin bowlers following the retirements of Shane Warne, Brad Hogg and MacGill over the past 18 months, MacGill is not concerned and rates Casson, who moved from Western …

http://theop-inion.blogspot.com/2008/06/all-of-sudden-she-aint-what-she-use-to.html
MacGill’s decision to quit the game comes only three months after the International retirements of Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hogg which were on top of the four retirements of the previous year; Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Justin Langer and …

http://www.thetimes.co.za/Sport/Article.aspx?id=777492
Australian selectors now have to decide who will be the team’s first-choice spinner for Australia’s four-Test tour of India in October following the retirements of MacGill and Brad Hogg. MacGill said he will play out the current Antigua …

http://daily-cricket.blogspot.com/2008/06/lord-stuey-tribute-bagging-goodbye.html

Team mates, the media and fans couldn’t work him out, the fact that Brad Hogg, a man with 1/80th the skills level was more well liked tells a great picture.

He was Lord …

http://cricketwithballs.blogspot.com/2008/06/lord-stuey-tribute-bagging-goodbye.html
Team mates, the media and fans couldn’t work him out, the fact that Brad Hogg, a man with 1/80th the skills level was more well liked tells a great picture. He was Lord Stuey, the No Annual Fee Credit Card man with the golden hands. Part old world spinner, …

Source: AFP (Original Article)

Only last month Warne Airline Miles Credit Cards raised the prospect of playing again for Australia

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