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David Saker has hailed James Anderson as “the most skilful bowler in the world” following his performance in the first Test of the series against New Zealand at Lord’s.Anderson claimed the 13th five-wicket haul of his Test career in the first innings to become just the fourth England bowler to take 300 Test wickets. Now Saker, England’s bowling coach, believes that Anderson has every chance of becoming the first to reach 400.While Saker accepted that Anderson lacks the pace of South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn, he believes Anderson’s desire for continual self-improvement has helped him develop into one of the top seam-and-swing bowlers in world cricket, with a rare ability to swing the ball both ways from a well-disguised action.”To me, he is the most skilful fast bowler in the world,” Saker said. “I know Dale Steyn is an outstanding bowler, but when you watch the way Jimmy goes about things, he has more skills in his locker. Steyn might be a little quicker but watch Anderson deliver those skills and it’s just mind-blowing. When he gets it right, there’s no more skilful bowler in the world.”Jimmy keeps getting better. I don’t know whether his figures say that, but he’s the one player I’ve coached that is never satisfied with what he’s got. For him it would be easy to be satisfied because he has so many skills, but he keeps working on things in training. I’ve never met a guy as good as him who keeps wanting to get better.”I remember watching him as a supporter of the Australian team. He could swing the ball but you could always get a four off him. Now it’s really hard to get runs off him. He’s very rarely cut. He has excellent control and he always tests the batsman. He’s a class bowler.”He has a body that can play for a lot longer, too. We hope he can go beyond 400 wickets and become England’s greatest wicket-taker. He has a really nice action, he’s a seasoned campaigner and he knows how to manage his body. We hope he can stay on the park for another five or six years.”Saker was almost equally effusive about Stuart Broad. It was Broad who produced the match-clinching performance in the final innings against New Zealand, taking his Test-best figures of 7 for 44 and, though Saker admitted Broad lacked the consistency to be categorised as a great bowler, he suggested such a scenario was possible in the future.”When he gets everything right, there aren’t many better in the world,” Saker said. “We’ll be talking about that spell for a long time. It’s as good a spell as you’ll ever see anywhere. He has days where he just tears teams apart and he did it again there.”The one thing that stands out from the greats to the very good is the greats are consistent. Stuart still has things to learn about bowling. But in my book he’s still getting better every time and he’s learning a lot from having some down times. He’s come back bigger and better from some down times in India. Those things happen. There are a lot of bowlers who have gone through times which are a bit tough.”James Anderson’s dismissal of Dean Brownlie was a high-class display of inswing and outswing•Getty Images

Saker has made extravagant claims over the strength of England’s bowling before. Almost exactly a year ago, he suggested the England attack was “as good as” the Australian attack of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, et al. but, on this occasion, he admitted there was room for improvement from the England unit. Steven Finn, who is struggling for rhythm, is a particular concern for Saker at present.”He probably isn’t bowling as well as he could, but he’s getting wickets,” Saker said. “He’s got that knack of getting wickets. He’s got the pace. We’re just working on a few little things but I’m sure he’ll be all right and confident by Leeds.”In the first 13 or 14 overs in the first innings we were good, but then we went away from what we knew was going to work. We bowled too short and we got cut quite often. It was the one easy scoring shot to play in the game. There’s no trick in cricket: if you bowl a ball that’s going to hit the stumps, it puts the batter under pressure. We did that really well on the third morning and in the second innings.”Saker expressed admiration for the New Zealand team, too, but suggested that their impressive performance in the series between the countries in New Zealand may have contributed to England producing a much-improved showing at Lord’s. Having bowled them out for just 68 in the second innings, though, Saker feared the tourists may struggle to recover their confidence before the second Test starts in Leeds on Friday.”The one thing we’ve learned in recent months is that New Zealand are a bloody good cricket team,” Saker said. “They’ve competed extremely well against us and we’ve found it really hard to get them out. And their bowlers have been as good as any bowling attack. They’ve been so disciplined. I think we were all surprised how good they were in New Zealand. So we had a real steely look about us as we’re so impressed by the way they’ve played.”But it can definitely hurt you being bowled out for 68. When the ball moves, we have a lot of teams’ measures. We’ve some good skilful bowlers. Some days in England it is very tough to bat and now we have a chance to keep kicking them.”

Scorecard Quinton de Kock led the way for Lions•Getty Images

Lions ended a five-season trophy drought with a tense victory over their northern neighbours to cap off an outstanding season under new coach, Geoff Toyana.They finished second in the first-class competition, were joint winners of the one-day cup and have finally added a second piece silverware to their cabinet since the start of the franchise system nine years ago.For Titans, it was a less-than-ideal farewell to coach Matthew Maynard, who has chosen not to renew his contract with them. Despite having a full galaxy of international stars available to them, Titans were unable to chase down a moderate target as the Lions’ bowlers defended with the tenacity and determination of the animals they are named after.After their batsmen were repeatedly stalled in compiling a total, Lions appeared to have conceded the advantage early on. When Henry Davids and Heino Kuhn began the Titans’ chase with 40 runs in the first four overs, it seemed Lions would once again succumb to their local rivals.But a moment of inspiration in the field changed that. Davids got a thick edge to third man off Hardus Viljoen where Imran Tahir was stationed. Although not known for his fielding, Tahir took a difficult catch and steadied himself as he almost fell over the boundary to take the first wicket.The Lions’ spinners struck three times in the next four overs to claw their way back. Aaron Phangiso had Kuhn and AB de Villiers out lbw while Tahir dealt Farhaan Behardien the same fate.But it was only when Herschelle Gibbs and Roelof van der Merwe were dismissed within three balls of each other, that Lions had a real chance. At 87 for 6, Titans needed to score at 9.8 runs an over for the next seven overs.They still had the one person who could do that, Albie Morkel, up their sleeve. Having left the field after bowling 2.3 overs after turning on his ankle, it was unsure whether Morkel would be able to bat. He appeared uneasy on his ankle and hobbled through his first run but soon found his top gear.He slog swept Tahir for six to announce his intent and formed a dangerous partnership with another big hitter, David Wiese. The latter showed his muscle with a six over mid-wicket but then offered a chance when he skied one to square leg but Sohail Tanvir dropped the chance.Wiese and Morkel posted 35 runs, the second highest-stand of the Titans’ innings, before Wiese was fell on his sword, caught at long-off. With him gone, most of the Titans’ hopes went with him. The last four wickets fell in the space of 11 balls with all of the Lions’ bowlers claiming two apiece. Morkel was the last man out, caught at mid-off against his IPL team-mate Chris Morris’ bowling.It spoke volumes of the improvement Lions have made in their strike bowling department, which for seasons lacked bite but outshone their batting today. Although Titans were without death-bowling specialist Alfonso Thomas, they managed to restrict Lions, especially in the latter parts of the innings. After the hosts scored 67 runs in the first eight overs, they managed just 88 from the last 12.Quinton de Kock’s outstanding form in the competition continued. He finished the competition with 524 runs, the highest-ever scored in this tournament. He opened the batting with his usual carefree aggression.Rassie van der Dussen was happy to play second fiddle while de Kock took on the bowling and eventually got a leading edge back to Roelof van der Merwe to give Titans their first wicket. Lions tinkered with their batting line-up and moved Neil McKenzie up to No. 3.The combination of youth and experience brought just 21 runs before de Kock hit Henry Davids’ first ball of his second over, a full toss, straight down deep midwicket’s throat. The Titans’ captain stalled the Lions’ momentum and it was up to his opposite number, Alviro Petersen, to get it back.Petersen hit Davids into the stands and drove Marchant de Lange through the covers before he tried to do the same to Albie Morkel. Petersen swung, missed and his leg stump was out of the ground.Sohail Tanvir was promoted in an effort to lift the run rate but he could not get going quickly enough. With McKenzie and Jean Symes, he added 41 runs in the last five overs with de Lange proving tough to get away at the end but it proved to be enough.

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New Zealand’s change of captaincy has overshadowed a number of changes in their Test squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa, with the wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk, the legspinner Todd Astle and the batsman Rob Nicol all left out after being part of the group that toured Sri Lanka. A 15-man squad has been named, with the other change the absence of Ross Taylor, who has decided to take a break from cricket following the captaincy drama.BJ Watling will take the gloves for the two Tests in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, while the batsmen Dean Brownlie and Peter Fulton have earned recalls. Brownlie, 28, was impressive during his first two series against Zimbabwe and Australia last year but was dropped following the tour of the West Indies in August, while Fulton, 33, has not played for New Zealand in any format for three years.There was also a call-up for the uncapped left-arm spinner Bruce Martin, 32, who is the leading wicket taker among spinners in the Plunket Shield this summer with 15 at 31.80. Martin, who plays for Auckland, was second only to Neil Wagner among all wicket takers last season with 37 at an average of 37, and the selectors believe his style of bowling will be of more value in South Africa than the legspin of Astle.”We don’t require a leg-spin option in South African conditions so have left out Todd Astle but he is very much part of our thinking for the future,” coach Mike Hesson said in a statement. “Bruce Martin is a specialist spinner who can bowl a lot of overs and he deserves an opportunity after showing good recent form. Following on from BJ Watling’s good form in Sri Lanka and again while back in New Zealand, he has been selected as the Test wicketkeeper.”Fulton is also back in the Twenty20 squad, having not played a T20 international for nearly four years, while there were call-ups for a number of uncapped players. The left-arm fast bowler Corey Anderson, allrounder Jimmy Neesham, wicketkeeper Derek de Boorder, batsman Colin Munro and fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan were all included and could make their debuts.Tim Southee and Jacob Oram were not considered for the T20 squad due to the upcoming births of their children, and Andrew Ellis was ruled out with a side strain. The tour begins with a Twenty20 in Durban on December 21, followed by T20s in East London and Port Elizabeth, before the Tests take place in the first half of January. Three ODIs will follow the Tests, but the one-day squad is yet to be named.Test squad Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Peter Fulton, Daniel Flynn, Dean Brownlie, BJ Watling (wk), James Franklin, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Jeetan Patel, Bruce Martin, Chris Martin.Twenty20 squad Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Rob Nicol, Peter Fulton, Colin Munro, Nathan McCullum, Corey Anderson, James Franklin, Jimmy Neesham, Derek de Boorder, Mitchell McClenaghan, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Ronnie Hira, Adam Milne.

Confusion over India’s batting Powerplay in the first ODI has become a laughing matter three days after the event but it reveals a serious loophole in on-field communication

Abhishek Purohit in Hambantota24-Jul-2012

Confusion over India’s batting Powerplay in the first ODI has become a laughing matter three days after the event but it reveals a serious loophole in on-field communication. In the end, though, India got away with what seems like a wrongly interpreted signal by the umpires and the batsmen’s failure to cross-check with them.The problem originated before the 17th over, when Virat Kohli signalled to the dressing room for a cap. The umpires, though, seemed to think it was an indication of the batting Powerplay being taken, and Bruce Oxenford signalled accordingly with the circular motion of the arm and a tapping of hands above the head.The TV commentators on Ten Sports then referred – with some surprise – to the batting Powerplay, which is normally taken by sides after the 30th over. The (mis)information also sparked some debate over India’s radical new strategy. Only Mahela Jayawardene seemed to have got it right and set his field accordingly, and took his bowling Powerplay from the 34th over.India’s batsmen – Kohli and Virender Sehwag – seemed unaware, and did not visibly change their approach during the five-over period, in which India collected 32 for 0. The penny dropped for the Indians only later in the innings, when they sought the batting Powerplay and were told it had already been taken.The matter then ended there, but Sehwag spoke about it on Monday. “When I asked the umpire he said that Virat Kohli gave him the signal to take the Powerplay,” Sehwag said during the press conference at the team hotel on Monday. “When I asked Virat he said I asked [for] my cap rather than asking [for] the Powerplay, so that was a misunderstanding I think.”

Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan have returned to the Indian team for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2012Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan have returned to the Indian team for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka; both were rested for the Asia Cup in March. Sachin Tendulkar, who played in the CB series in 2011-12 and the Asia Cup, will be skipping the tour that includes five ODIs and one T20 game.”It is a long season ahead and I think we will come back to winning ways. Sachin wants to extend his career,” the BCCI’s chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth told reporters. “He is spacing it out very well.”India’s squad for the tour of Sri Lanka

MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, R Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane
Out: Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar
In: Ajinkya Rahane, Pragyan Ojha, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav

Ravindra Jadeja, the allrounder, has been dropped for the tour after poor returns in the CB series in Australia. He had a mixed IPL, averaging 15.91 with the bat in 19 matches and taking 12 wickets at 22.75. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, who wasn’t picked for the Asia Cup has made it to the 15-man squad. Ojha picked up nine wickets in nine IPL games, at 24.44. There was no place for seamer Praveen Kumar either; Praveen collected nine wickets in 16 games at 48.22 in the IPL.Ajinkya Rahane, who last played for India in December 2011, has been named in the squad, following a good IPL in which he finished as the fourth-highest run-getter. He made 560 runs at an average of 40 and also scored a couple of half-centuries in the limited-overs leg of the India A tour of the West Indies last month.Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who was rested for the Asia Cup, returned to the squad. Batsman Manoj Tiwary and legspinner Rahul Sharma were retained but the Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan, who played the Asia Cup were left out.Sehwag missed the Asia Cup due to back spasms and Zaheer, following a full tour of Australia, was also advised rest for that tournament in Bangladesh. Virat Kohli will remain vice-captain for the upcoming tour. “The idea is continuity,” Srikkanth said. “Virat got brilliant hundreds after becoming vice-captain which shows that he likes responsibility.”Among the seamers, Ashok Dinda and Vinay Kumar will support Zaheer and they’ll be part of a bowling line-up that includes three specialist spinners, Rahul, R Ashwin and Ojha. Harbhajan Singh, who recently signed a deal with Essex for the second half of the county season, was not selected.The lack of an allrounder is the major surprise in the 15-man India squad for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka. It has been quite some time since there has been an India squad without at least one of Ravindra Jadeja and the Pathan brothers, all three of whom have been the chief contenders for the allrounder’s position at No. 7. Jadeja’s debut game in February 2009, against Sri Lanka, had also proved to be Irfan’s last for close to three years, before he made a comeback in December 2011 against West Indies. The comeback has lasted eight games spread over three series. A disappointing Jadeja was surprisingly persisted with throughout the CB series in Australia earlier this year, while Irfan was restricted to four games. Jadeja’s run has finally come to a halt now, but so has Irfan’s. Yusuf’s return has lasted all of one Asia Cup game, but his terrible IPL season seems to have gone against him.No allrounder in the squad means it is increasingly unclear as to whether anyone is ahead in the latest round in the fight for the allrounder’s slot. It seems that the fight itself has been called off for the moment, which is startling for a side that has often lacked balance due to the absence of a genuine allrounder. With four specialist fast bowlers picked, it would appear as though there was at least a case for picking Irfan ahead of Vinay Kumar.The emphasis is on specialists for the series, with three spinners chosen. But that seems a luxury, given Dhoni’s usual reliance on his part-time options such as Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma. Unless India play five specialist bowlers, something Dhoni is not a fan of, the bowling resources will be under-utilised.Again, Sachin Tendulkar’s pick-and-choose policy does not help the long-term balance of the squad, but when the chairman of selectors says that “Sachin is spacing it out very well”, there is not much left to be said.
Abhishek Purohit

Internet rumours that suggested Chris Cairns had been involved in match-fixing during his time with the Indian Cricket League had made him “barking” angry, according to his advisor Andrew Fitch-Holland, who gave evidence on the third day of Cairns’ libel

Alan Gardner at the Royal Courts of Justice07-Mar-2012Internet rumours that suggested Chris Cairns had been involved in match-fixing during his time with the Indian Cricket League (ICL) had made him “barking” angry, according to his advisor Andrew Fitch-Holland, who gave evidence on the third day of Cairns’ libel action against Lalit Modi.Cairns is suing Modi for defamation over a 2010 tweet that implicated him in corruption. He has vigorously denied claims of fixing. Cairns, the retired New Zealand international, captained Chandigarh Lions in the ICL for three seasons before having his contract cancelled, officially for failing to disclose an injury.Following the meeting with ICL officials in 2008 that led to his dismissal, Cairns became aware of online gossip linking his departure with match-fixing. The rumours had appeared on a “plethora of fan-based websites across the world,” Fitch-Holland said.Although Cairns was concerned about this, Fitch-Holland said he advised that he “did not think it was a good idea to call out the big guns” at that time.”It would have been a disproportionate response to low-level, unspecified tittle-tattle,” he said. However, he contrasted this with the allegations made in Modi’s tweet.”There is a massive difference between that and your client saying it,” Fitch-Holland said, in response to questioning from Ronald Thwaites QC, representing Modi. Fitch-Holland added that he had spoken to major media outlets in the UK during late 2008 to reiterate that Cairns had been sacked by the ICL over an ankle injury.The court also heard from Cairns’ wife, Mel. Describing the moment she asked Cairns if he had been involved in fixing, she said it was “the most horrible question I have ever had to ask”. Cairns had replied “absolutely not”, she said. There were tears in her eyes as she answered Thwaites’ question as to whether she believed him.”When something is said, over and over, accusing the man that you love of something … Of course I want to believe him and I do believe him,” she said.Fitch-Holland was the last witness to appear for Cairns. Later on Wednesday the court will hear evidence from Howard Beer, the former ICL anti-corruption officer, who is appearing on behalf of Modi.

Damien Wright, the New Zealand bowling coach, knows Bellerive Oval intimately. As the leading first-class wicket-taker at the venue, he is well aware of how hard it is for batsmen in the morning. Six wickets fell before lunch on each of the first two days, and seven in the opening session on the third day. New Zealand need a similar start on Monday if they are to win a Test in Australia for the first time since 1985.After they closed the second day in a strong position thanks to outstanding bowling from Chris Martin, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell, New Zealand lost their advantage on Sunday. They set Australia 241 for victory, a challenging but not unreachable target, and then struggled to find the same rhythm with the ball that they had in the first innings, leaving Australia at 0 for 72.”We have to turn up tomorrow and start really well with the ball,” Wright said. “There’s been a little bit of assistance in the wicket throughout the game. We know that’s going to be there in the morning. Bellerive traditionally over the years always offers a little bit in the morning. It’s really important for us to come tomorrow and break this partnership, to start with, and take early wickets. There’s a little bit of variable bounce and we’re hoping that plays a part in the morning.”The guys bowled really, really well [in the first innings]. All four of them did a great job. Unfortunately in this innings we certainly haven’t started the way we would have like to. We’ve been a bit off our lengths and overpitched a little bit. We need to look at the stuff that we did in the first innings and stick to that plan. Hopefully in the morning the guys can come and do that.”In the first innings, New Zealand rarely sent down a bad delivery, building the pressure with accuracy, swing and seam movement. Especially professional was the way Martin bowled to plan against Phillip Hughes, who has struggled with the ball moving across him and has edged to the cordon three times already in the series.On day three, Martin didn’t quite find the right spot to Hughes, often bowling too straight or too full; a few more cuttable balls might have tested Hughes more. But things won’t get any easier for Australia’s openers in the morning after two ball changes late in the day due to the Kookaburras losing their shape: the one that New Zealand ended up with swung more than either of the others.”They had to change a couple up in Brisbane in the first Test as well,” Wright said. “Generally the Kookaburra ball is a good ball. I think conditions out there were just a bit wet and maybe the ball got a bit damp and maybe went out of shape a little bit. There were no complaints about the cricket balls. But this one is swinging, so let’s hope we keep this one.”Only 53.3 overs were bowled on the third day due to rain, but those overs that were completed couldn’t have gone much better for Australia. Kane Williamson fell early in the day and New Zealand lost their final seven wickets for 87 runs, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson finishing with three wickets each, while Nathan Lyon also picked up three when he ran through the tail.”We came feeling that we were in front in the game,” Wright said. “For us it was important to build a substantial lead and make Australia chase anything from 280-plus. We’ve got 240 and that’s not saying we don’t feel confident that we can defend that, but we just haven’t started well enough with the ball.”Australia’s vice-captain Brad Haddin described the efforts of Siddle in the first session as “world-class”. He said Australia had been intent on building pressure on New Zealand early in order to break into the lower order, and by the close of the day Australia found themselves in a strong position to push for victory.”Day three is always a massive day in a Test match,” Haddin said. “I thought the way we presented ourselves in the first session was world-class after being a bit flat going into the last session yesterday. I thought what we did with the ball was top shelf and we spoke about the first 10 to 15 overs out there batting, it is tough work and I think the guys did a fantastic job to get us into the position we did.”

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O Atlético-MG se reapresentou com novos nomes nesta segunda-feira, na Cidade do Galo. David Terans, Chará e Denilson, contratados no período da pausa do calendário, fizeram exames médicos, mas não foram a campo. Além deles, Róger Guedes, cogitado para deixar os mineiros, também esteve presente na reapresentação.

O atacante, que recebeu negociações para deixar o Galo, esteve presente em campo para as atividades com os companheiros. O trabalho foi leve no primeiro dia.

Na primeira atividade de Thiago Larghi, que foi efetivado como técnico, observou o treinamento do lado de fora do campo, sem interferir na atividade, que foi liderada pelo preparador físico Luis Otávio Kalil.

Leonardo Silva, em recuperação de pequena lesão no músculo posterior da coxa direita, se juntou ao goleiro Victor para trabalhos nas dependências internas do CT. Adilson, que deixou o jogo contra o Ceará ainda durante o primeiro tempo em função de dores, treinou normalmente.

RelacionadasAtlético MineiroApós meses de experiência, Atlético efetiva Thiago Larghi como técnicoAtlético Mineiro25/06/2018

Australia’s selectors have jettisoned the young allrounder Steven Smith for next month’s Test series in Sri Lanka, after previously giving every indication they were intent on persevering with him

Daniel Brettig26-Jul-2011

Australia’s selectors have jettisoned the young allrounder Steven Smith for next month’s Test series in Sri Lanka, after previously giving every indication they were intent on persevering with him.Having played five Test matches with varying degrees of success since his debut against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2010, Smith is now the latest victim of a cycle that has churned through 12 spin bowlers since Shane Warne retired in 2007.Smith’s place has been effectively taken by two players. One is Nathan Lyon, the gifted South Australian slow bowler who has played only four Sheffield Shield matches and is currently in the midst of his first ever pre-season with the Redbacks after being the break-out success of Australia A’s tour of Zimbabwe.The other is Shaun Marsh, the talented but not yet prolific West Australian who will compete with another left-hander, Usman Khawaja, for the spot in the Australian top seven that has been vacated by Smith.Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors who is widely expected to be removed from his post after the Argus Review tables its findings about the performance of the national team, argued that Smith had not made a spot his own.”It’s a very harsh call on Steven. He was very disappointed when I spoke to him, which I would expect,” Hilditch said. “We really made an assessment, and as I spoke to Steve about, that we didn’t think he’d cemented a spot in the top six batters and we didn’t think he’d cemented a spot as a spinner.”We really think the best thing for him, and Australian cricket, is that he [first] cements his position in the short forms of the game and plays some more Shield cricket, and gets better at both those skills. I think it’s important that people realise that we’re hardly moving away from him.”Hilditch went on to say the selection was specific to Sri Lankan conditions, which seemed highly odd given that Smith’s skills and SCG upbringing seem to make him better suited to the subcontinent than anywhere else.A batting technique best described as homespun is more likely to confound slow bowlers than fast ones, while Smith’s bowling would have offered the squad greater flexibility. Now the vice-captain Shane Watson can expect to bowl long spells as the third seamer or the captain Michael Clarke to deliver more overs than he would like as the second spinner.Lyon’s selection is rightly touted as a happy tale, and one that harks back to less regimented times. But his preparation for the rigours of Test match bowling have been rudimentary, and he struggled with the physical demands of consecutive Shield matches late last summer.”In an ideal world it would be nice if he’d played more Shield cricket, there’s no doubt about that,” said Hilditch. “But from our perspective we’re very confident that he’s ready. He’s a very talented spin-bowler, he’s had a meteoric rise. It was one of the great parts of my job to call him this morning and tell him he’s got the opportunity to play for Australia.”We’ve followed him closely coming through from limited-overs cricket. He then played very well in the Shield games but it was of course a very big learning curve for him as well. We took him to Zimbabwe and he was player of the series, albeit in the one-day series there. Really, the feedback we got from everyone there — the selector on that tour and the coaching staff — was that he really impressed as being ready to play international cricket.””The reason he wasn’t in the longer form of the game in Zimbabwe was simply that we thought Jason [Krejza] and Michael Beer deserved the first opportunity to impress ahead of Sri Lanka.”Krejza’s omission maintains his topsy turvy run at the fringes of the national team. An apparent inability to drop into a consistent rhythm over long spells has counted significantly against him, but it remained surprising to hear that Krejza had managed to bowl himself from the top of Australia’s Test slow bowling ranks to the bottom in the space of one brief tour to Zimbabwe.Beer was victor in that duel, but Hilditch now painted a demanding picture of what would be required of him in Sri Lanka. Having never taken more than three wickets in a first-class innings, Beer will fly to the island nation as Australia’s lead Test spin bowler, and if he does not thrive against skilful Sri Lankan batsmen on pitches of their choosing he will likely be thrown aside just as Smith and plenty of others have been.”It’ll be a very important tour for Michael Beer in particular,” said Hilditch. “We thought he bowled well [in the fifth Ashes Test] without much luck, so you’d expect him to play in Sri Lanka in fairly good conditions but against high quality batters, so it’ll be a big test for him but we think he’s up to it.”In the end all players are assessed on performance, everybody has to perform to play cricket for Australia. Obviously the hope is that they play really well and move on from there.”Among the batsmen, Marsh and Khawaja will now be counting down to Australia’s lone warm-up match before the first Test, for it will be their one chance to dictate which of the two will seal a spot in Australia’s batting order, most probably at No. 6. Marsh has the job ahead of him to prove that his talent can be allied to Test match concentration, so attractive starts become substantial innings. It is a quality Khawaja possesses, but in Zimbabwe his form deserted him and he is not known as a particularly adept player of spin.”Shaun Marsh is someone we’ve identified for several years as someone we think can have an impact in international cricket,” Hilditch said. “I think if you look carefully last year, he really did turn the corner as far as consistency of performance at Shield level. He got some really big scores and was really hampered by injuries at the most critical times, just before Ashes selection and just before World Cup selection.”So we think he was ready last year and playing very well and scoring big runs for WA. I agree that’s a stage that a lot of young batters need to make, where they go from being talented to actually nailing Shield cricket, and we thought Shaun had made real progress last year. If not for injury I think it would’ve been very different. He’s worked very hard on those issues, you won’t find anybody assessing him say anything other than he’s a very talented player.”