All posts by n8rngtd.top

As Paul Collingwood announces his retirement from Test cricket, ESPNcricinfo picks out five of his best Test innings as he continually proved the doubters wrong

Andrew McGlashan06-Jan-2011Paul Collingwood’s match-saving effort against Australia at Cardiff was one of his finest•PA Photos

134 not out v India, Nagpur, 2005-06
This was Collingwood’s first Test century and the innings that proved he’d be able to hack it at the top level. Earlier that winter he’d made 96 and 80 against Pakistan, in Lahore, but this century marshalled England to a strong total and from there they bossed the Test match. Collingwood’s bottom-handed technique was suited to the subcontinent where he wasn’t troubled by extra bounce and he combated India’s twice spin threat of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh with aplomb. The innings also showed another of Collingwood’s skills, the ability to bat with the tail. When Matthew Hoggard fell England were 267 for 8, but with Steve Harmison (39) and Monty Panesar (9) for company the final two wickets added 127 runs. Collingwood also struck four sixes, showing the swift footwork against spinners that would serve him well throughout his career.206 v Australia, Adelaide, 2006-07Rarely has an Ashes double century come with so many mixed emotions. As history records, England managed to lose an unloseable Test as they succumbed to Shane Warne on the final day, but early in the match it was all about a record-breaking stand between Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen. The Australians respected what Pietersen could achieve, but had been less admiring of Collingwood yet he put their bowling attack to the sword with a 392-ball innings. Again, like in India, a slow pitch suited his game and he reached his double in emphatic style when he came down the pitch to loft Michael Clarke back over his head. This would remain Collingwood’s highest Test score but it proved hard for him to savour it too much after the final outcome.135 v South Africa, Edgbaston, 2008Even during the 2010-11 Ashes slump that brought the end of his career it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Collingwood had pulled out a hundred, because he’d already played the ultimate career-saving innings. He had been dropped for the previous Test against South Africa at Headingley, but following a heavy defeat was recalled. A failure in the first innings left the likelihood of one knock to save his place and he responded with a spine-tingling 135 as he threw caution to wind. The early stage of the innings was horribly scratchy as he, literally, lived on the edge but slowly the form began to return with his trademark leg-side nudges and powerful cuts. He reached three figures in grand style as he launched Paul Harris for six and Collingwood’s future was secure.74 v Australia, Cardiff, 2009Collingwood at his resolute best. England were gone in this match, five down and still a long way behind at lunch on the final day leaving Australia set to take a 1-0 Ashes lead. Collingwood, though, was having none of it as he resisted for nearly six hours with bloody-minded defiance. As the match went deep into the final session Collingwood withstood everything the Australians threw at him. It wasn’t the great attack of the 2006-07 vintage, but Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus had been a handful while Nathan Hauritz out-bowled Graeme Swann. However, there was a final twist when Collingwood fended to gully with England still behind by six and he could barely watch as England’s last pair, James Anderson and Monty Panesar, were left with 11 overs to survive. Would it be another Adelaide for Collingwood? Not this time, as the tailenders pulled off a great escape and it would prove that Collingwood had laid the base for a series victory.40 v South Africa, Cape Town, 2009-10After Cardiff there was Cape Town. And this was an even better rearguard because of the quality in the South Africa attack. England were 153 for 4 when Collingwood entered on the final day, not a chance of chasing down 466, and soon lost their fifth wicket as the hosts scented a kill. Then followed a 57-over stand between Collingwood and Ian Bell which gave England the chance of survival. Collingwood had to survive one of the finest spells of pace bowling in recent times from Dale Steyn, as regular 90mph leg cutters jagged past the outside edge, but each time Collingwood just refocused and faced the next ball. Ultimately, Bell – and Graham Onions, the final-over hero – took the major plaudits for the rescue act but without Collingwood it wouldn’t have been possible.

ESPNcricinfo previews the 2010-11 Standard Bank Pro20, which will determine the South African qualifiers to the Champions League

Firdose Moonda27-Jan-2011The Warriors were the toast of South African cricket last season, winning their first two franchise trophies and dominating the limited-overs forms of the game. Just a few months later, they found themselves in free-fall, sitting at the bottom of the SuperSport Series table and bringing up the rear of their pool in the MTN40. Their chance at redemption comes now, with the Standard Bank Pro20, which starts on Friday.”We said we want to defend one of our two trophies,” Davy Jacobs, the Warriors captain, told ESPNCricinfo. He offered two plausible reasons for the Warriors failing to live up to last season’s glory but was quick to say his explanations were not excuses.”One of the things that happen when you do well is that you lose a lot of players to the national side and we lost a few more than we thought we would,” Jacobs said. Colin Ingram, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Wayne Parnell and Rusty Theron have all spent a substantial amount of time away from their franchise as they were selected in South African squads. “What hurt us more was that we also lost some of our domestic players through injury.” Jacobs was sidelined since the end of the Champions League T20 in October with a hip injury and seamer Garnet Kruger was also out of action because of stress fracture.Jacobs is now fully fit and played his first innings in almost three months during a warm-up match against Sussex on Thursday. He scored 54 off 32 balls and said it “felt so good to be playing again.” He will not be keeping wicket in the tournament because South African stalwart Mark Boucher will be participating after being left out of the World Cup squad. Jacobs also has Ashwell Prince, Theron and Nicky Boje at his disposal, making up a strong Warriors contingent.With no more national call-ups to disrupt the setup, Jacobs hopes his men can defend their title, so that they can play in the Champions League T20 again. The tournament was special for Jacobs because it led to him securing an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians and he hopes his experience will serve as example to other players in his team. “There’s a massive incentive to play in the Champions League. As a domestic player, it’s the biggest thing you can play in and it can be life changing. The only reason I got my IPL deal was because of the Champions League.”Jacobs is not the only one thinking about the lucrative tournament. Ryan McLaren of the Knights, who participated in the Champions League in 2009, also said the competition is a “major incentive.” Daryn Smit of the Dolphins, who qualified for the inaugural tournament in 2008 but never got to play in it because it was cancelled after the Mumbai terror attacks, said his side would like to get back an opportunity they never had. “We still feel a bit sore because we were never able to get to the Champions League and I hope this is our season. The work ethic under Graham Ford is the best I’ve seen in seven years of being here so we are ready.”Alviro Petersen, captain of the Lions, who participated in last season’s Champions League was quick to warn that the competition can make the final of the domestic Pro20 an ordinary affair. “When we got to the final we relaxed a little because we knew we were in the Champions League and didn’t go out wholeheartedly to win it.” This time, they have no intention of doing only half the job and will be bolstered by the addition of Gulam Bodi and Alfonso Thomas for the tournament.Most of the teams are heeding Petersen’s warning and remain focused on winning the local Pro20 before thinking of bigger things. The Titans, who have not won the competition since the 2007-8 season, are hankering after a trophy and captain Jacques Rudolph is targeting Pro20 silverware. “We pride ourselves on a being a stand-out franchise,” he said. The Titans have big-hitting allrounder Albie Morkel as their trump card after he missed out on World Cup selection.They kickstart their campaign against the Cobras, a squad brimming with former national players – Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp are their headline acts with Charl Langeveldt, Justin Ontong and Claude Henderson adding international experience.This will be the last Pro20 sponsored by Standard Bank and Cricket South Africa is reportedly in advanced negotiations with another company to back the tournament from next season.

Ian Bell has conceded that he was as baffled as anyone when he benefited from a controversial decision review in England’s tie with India on Sunday

Brydon Coverdale in Bangalore28-Feb-2011Ian Bell has conceded that he was as baffled as anyone when he benefited from a controversial decision review in England’s tie with India on Sunday. Bell was given not out by umpire Billy Bowden but the bowler Yuvraj Singh was certain he had trapped the batsman lbw, and convinced the captain MS Dhoni to ask for a review.The process was played out on the big screen at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and when the fans saw the ball had struck Bell in line and was going on to hit the stumps, a roar went around and Bell began to walk off. However, Bell was turned back by the fourth umpire Aleem Dar, who was sitting on the sidelines and knew that Bowden was sticking to his decision.Bell was more than 2.5 metres down the pitch when he was struck, and from that distance the Hawkeye tracking technology is considered to be less reliable, so the on-field umpire can decide to trust the computer or stick to his own eye. The spectators had no idea why the decision was upheld, and began chanting “cheating”, while Dhoni said after the game it was an adulteration of human decision-making and technology.”When a decision gets reviewed, you can see everything as it unfolds on the big screen,” Bell said the next morning. “When I saw it pitch in line and hit the stumps, I thought that was it. I wasn’t aware of the rule of how far you had to be down the wicket. I got waved back on by the fourth official and I moved on from there. I wasn’t aware that the distance down the wicket was a factor.”I didn’t even know that rule existed. As soon as I saw it pitch in line and hit, I thought that was enough. It’s strange, to be honest with you, if you see Hawkeye saying it’s going to hit the stumps. It’s a little bit strange. But that’s the rule, I guess, and we’re not going to be able to change that for this World Cup.”Although the rule was news to Bell, it had been seen during England’s recent ODI series against Australia. In the seventh and final match at the WACA, the Australian batsman Tim Paine was adjudged not out to Liam Plunkett, and England reviewed the umpire Paul Reiffel’s on-field decision.The replays showed Paine was hit more than 2.5 metres from the stumps, but Hawkeye suggested the ball would have crashed into the stumps halfway up, and on that occasion Reiffel decided not to argue with the technology, even though he would have been within his rights to stay with his not-out call.Bowden didn’t feel the same way on Sunday, and the decision contributed to an epic tie that came down to the final ball of the 50th over, as England nearly pulled off a mammoth chase. Despite not taking full points from the game, Bell said England could take plenty of confidence from their efforts against a strong Indian side.”I think we can take a hell of a lot from it,” Bell said. “Going in halfway chasing 338, I don’t think too many England teams in the past over here would have done that. I’ve certainly played in a fair share myself where we wouldn’t have got 250 runs chasing that.”To do that and to be involved in this one-day side showed me the strides forward we’ve made as a team. If we can keep doing that, we’ve got the quality in bowling that when we get our bowling and fielding 100% right we’re going to be a good team in this competition.”

Johan Botha, the South Africa offspinner, has said he is relishing the role of drying up runs in a line-up of attacking bowlers

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2011Johan Botha, the South Africa offspinner, has said he is relishing the role of drying up runs in a line-up of attacking bowlers, who have bowled out every opposition in the World Cup so far.Botha slipped to third choice slow-bowler in the South Africa side and lost his spot for a couple of matches to legspinner Imran Tahir and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, who are the team’s leading wicket-takers in the tournament, ahead of the fast-bowling pair of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. Botha returned to the XI for South Africa’s final three league matches after Tahir fractured his thumb.”I am probably doing more of a holding job and controlling the bowling from one side and they have all been taking wickets from the other,” Botha said ahead of Friday’s quarter-final. “We three spinners are a lot different from each other. They attack and I keep the runs in check. We also have world-class seamers which gives us a really good bowling attack.”South Africa cruised to the quarter-finals, topping the tough Group B with five wins in six matches and come up against New Zealand, who finished fourth in the easier Group A. Botha said there was no complacency in the South African camp ahead of Friday’s quarter-final in Mirpur.”We know we are up against a quality team and if we are not going to be on top of our game, it’s going to be a really tough match,” he said. “Ross Taylor is definitely a key player and so is Brendon McCullum.”New Zealand are likely to be boosted by return of their captain, Daniel Vettori, who is the world’s No. 1 one-day bowler, but Botha was confident the powerful South African batting could cope with the challenge posed by Vettori. “Daniel Vettori is obviously a world-class bowler. We respect him a lot. But our guys have played spin really well in the tournament and look forward to playing against him again.”

Time may yet tell that Lancashire lack sufficient depth to be competitive all season but so far they have done nothing but bolster their confidence

Jon Culley in Liverpool20-Apr-2011Stumps
Scorecard
Time may yet tell that Lancashire lack sufficient depth to be competitive all season but so far they have done nothing but bolster their confidence. Victory by an innings over Sussex launched their season on the right note and they fought back well to clip Somerset’s wings here before Paul Horton and Stephen Moore laid the foundations for a challenging reply by negotiating 20 overs without loss, Moore reaching stumps unbeaten on 52.Somerset had gone to lunch at 129 for 2, which provides a measure of how Lancashire recovered. A good day will feel better still, moreover, for the fact that a psychological setback suffered before the start was overcome.That came when Glen Chapple, the captain, pulled out after feeling a twinge behind a knee. The veteran pace bowler, in his 20th Lancashire season at 37, delivers wickets so consistently that it is inevitable that there is a certain dependence on him and a sense of foreboding when he cries off injured. And his nine wickets in the Sussex match merely underlined his importance to Lancashire’s cause.In the morning session, though Saj Mahmood, elevated to senior bowler, produced an excellent spell, at times it did look as if Chapple was missed. Yet the response later, in particular from Tom Smith, Oliver Newby and an unlucky Farveez Maharoof, the Sri Lankan pace bowler making his debut, was positive and earned its just reward, with a little help from another reliable veteran, the left-arm spinner, Gary Keedy. Days such as this, therefore, can only enhance Lancashire’s self-belief.Liverpool is a good ground for cricket, in terms of a balanced contest between bat and ball. Marcus Trescothick’s decision to bat first looked sound enough and while he and opening partner Arul Suppiah were early casualties as the ball swung, Nick Compton and James Hildreth seemed to be well settled after putting on 98 in 21 overs, going to lunch with half-centuries under their belts and every indication that they would build on them substantially in the afternoon.But, four balls after lunch, Hildreth appeared to loose his balance after letting a ball from Keedy pass him on the leg side, allowing Gareth Cross something of a gift stumping. The Lancashire wicketkeeper, involved in the dismissals of both openers, went on to rack up six successes behind the stumps, including two stumpings.Somerset’s confidence may have been on the fragile side, after their calamitous opening defeat against Warwickshire, but Lancashire’s bowlers were no less deserving of credit for that.The pick was undoubtedly Mahmood, whose inconsistent career has brought frustration for his admirers but who can test any batsmen when everything clicks. The bounce in this pitch was perfect for his length and was a factor in seeing off both openers, Trescothick having cut the opening ball of the match for four before edging the second through to Cross, who then snaffled Suppiah down the leg side. Suppiah was clearly furious at the manner of his dismissal and swished his bat angrily as umpire Jeff Evans raised the finger.Keedy inflicted another vital blow when Craig Kieswetter, on 53, squandered an opportunity with an injudicious charge that allowed Cross his second stumping. Smith bowled with control, having Jos Buttler caught behind with one that found some extra lift and then seeing off Peter Trego via a top-edged pull, and Newby, who had struggled in the morning, returned to have Compton caught at backward point.The Sri Lankan Maharoof, Lancashire’s newest overseas player, who made his debut in place of Chapple, asked questions in most of his 11 overs but was wicketless, although he did take a fine catch, running backwards, to give Newby his second wicket.Somerset did not bowl as well, although conditions were better for batting by the time Lancashire were at the crease. Moore had a life of sorts on 13 when he edged hard against Charl Willoughby and a startled second slip took evasive action, but otherwise there were no alarms and a good first session on day two should give Lancashire the foundation for a lead.”It is a good cricket wicket where if you bowl in the right areas the swing and bounce will get you rewards,” Mahmood said afterwards. “We bowled well as a unit and proved we can do it, even without Chappie.”He is a top-class bowler who does it for us every year and it was a big blow for us when he was ruled out but the lads got their heads around the situation and responded really well.”

Middlesex reached 145 for 2 by the close to leave their County Championship Division Two clash with Derbyshire nicely poised going into the final day

22-Apr-2011Stumps
Scorecard
Middlesex reached 145 for 2 by the close to leave their County Championship Division Two clash with Derbyshire nicely poised going into the final day. Tony Palladino struck a big blow when he removed the dangerous Chris Rogers for 49. But Dan Housego and Dawid Malan remained together in a stand of 37 by the close, leaving their team needing 183 more runs on the final day with eight wickets remaining.Palladino had earlier shone with the bat as Derbyshire’s last four wickets added what could prove to be 90 match-winning runs to take the home side’s second innings to 403. Derbyshire started the third day 117 in front and Middlesex would have looked to Steven Finn to make early inroads, but the England seamer failed to find a consistent line and Derbyshire’s first casualty was self-inflicted.Chesney Hughes had looked particularly good off the back foot but he was guilty off a poor shot when he flashed at a wide ball from Finn and was caught behind for 36. It had taken Middlesex 40 minutes to break through and it was another 15 overs before they took another wicket as Dan Redfern and Greg Smith added 70.Redfern unleashed some flowing drives and was one short of a half-century when he went for a big cut at Ollie Rayner and edged into John Simpson’s gloves. Smith did reach his fifty before he was bowled trying to drive Corey Collymore just before lunch.But Derbyshire were still well placed at the interval with a lead of 245 and despite having a new ball, Middlesex could not mop up the tail which wagged impressively. Although Luke Sutton was bowled off his pads by Finn in the second over of the afternoon, Jon Clare, batting with a runner because of a hamstring injury, and Ross Whiteley added another 41 runs for the eighth wicket.It was a further indication of how the wicket had flattened out and there was more frustration for Middlesex as Palladino, dropped before he had scored, and Tim Groenewald put on 37 for the last wicket. Palladino looked far better than a No. 11 and was unbeaten on 29 from 32 balls when Finn finally wrapped up the innings to finish with 3 for 55, although he was a long way short of his best.Rogers had been off the field with a finger injury but he opened with Scott Newman and the pair gave Middlesex just the start they needed against a Derbyshire attack that was a bowler down in Clare. They scored at five an over and the stand was worth 79 when Newman pulled Smith into the hands of Redfern at deep square leg.But the key wicket was Rogers, who had looked in ominous touch in advancing to 49 from 64 balls and for the second time in the match, Palladino delivered. The former Derbyshire captain was lbw as he tried to work Palladino through midwicket but Housego and Malan batted through 16 overs to set up a fascinating fourth day.

Australia Women eased to a six-wicket win against New Zealand Women with 18.3 overs to spare in the second encounter of the reconvened Rose Bowl series in Brisbane

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2011
ScorecardShelley Nitschke was solid with bat and ball, winning the Player-of-the-Match award•Getty Images

Australia Women eased to a six-wicket win over New Zealand Women with 18.3 overs to spare in the second encounter of the reconvened Rose Bowl series in Brisbane. The eight-match limited-overs series, which was called off mid-way following the Christchurch earthquake in February, now stands at 3-2 in favour of Australia. With just one game left to play New Zealand can, at most, draw the series, meaning Australia – who currently hold the trophy – have retained the Rose Bowl title.Choosing to field, Australia rocked the visitors early, with Clea Smith claiming Lucy Doolan and Suzie Bates for ducks. Debutant opener Frances Mackay was patient to the point of being overcautious in her knock of 36 from 77 balls, but turned out to be New Zealand’s top-scorer, as Australia knocked wickets over at regular wickets. Smith snagged two more, to finish with 4 for 32, while offspinner Lisa Sthalekar troubled the lower-middle order with figures of 3 for 37.Chasing 182, Australia lost Meg Lanning cheaply. A 106-run stand between Player-of-the-Match Shelley Nitschke (she had earlier claimed two wickets at a miserly economy rate of 2.40 in her ten) and Leah Poulton followed, almost sealing the match. The hosts suffered a hiccup, losing three wickets on 122, but Jess Cameron counterattacked with 37 off 29, to see Australia home comfortably.Australia captain Jodie Fields her team showed positive intent from the outset. “We wanted to play some smart, positive cricket,” she said. “The plan was to get out on the field early and to get rid of some of those nerves and cobwebs, and I think we showed our intent right from the start.”The wicket was slightly slow but the outfield was probably quicker than we thought it was going to be.”New Zealand coach Gary Stead was brutal in the assessment of his team’s performance. “We just didn’t put in a performance in any of the three facets of the game,” Stead said. “We were certainly outplayed in all areas so lots to work on for the next game.”It’s pretty frustrating when you see the batsmen looking so good and then just doing some really silly things at times. We weren’t positive enough with the bat to take the game to the bowlers a little bit more.”The final game is on June 16 at the same venue.

Lancashire have won their Court of Appeal battle over the redevelopment of Old Trafford and can finally press ahead with the rebuilding work to secure their Test match future

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2011Lancashire have won their Court of Appeal battle over the redevelopment of Old Trafford and can finally press ahead with the rebuilding work to secure their Test match future after what had been termed a ‘day of destiny’.The county have been involved in long-running legal battles with Derwent Holdings, a rival development company, over their plans for Old Trafford which involve working with the Tesco supermarket chain to build a superstore close to the ground.Derwent, who owned the White City retail park near Old Trafford, felt they had a suitable claim to build their own superstore but the case was repeatedly thrown out by various courts until it was taken to the Court of Appeal. The three judges hearing the case took evidence from both sides on Monday before quickly deciding in Lancashire’s favour, and Derwent haven’t been granted leave to appeal again.”This is one of the biggest days in the club’s history,” Lancashire chief Jim Cumbes said. “If we don’t redevelop then 150-odd years of history would have been in danger of disappearing.”With redevelopment, I am confident that Old Trafford can continue as an international cricket ground. Today’s decision means that the work can start and we can get the spades out.”The delays caused by the ongoing court cases meant that crucial funding couldn’t be released to pay for the development. However, the club had already started on significant building work in recent months because they couldn’t afford to wait any longer to hit deadlines set by the ECB if they were to be able to bid for a 2013 Ashes Test.Tesco are backing Lancashire’s plans and building a store in nearby White City while contributing £21million to the cost. Their joint planning application was approved in March last year, and at the same planning meeting Derwent had a scheme to build a Sainsbury’s at the site refused. Derwent argued that Trafford Council applied double standards in refusing its plans.The first part of the redevelopment was completed last year with the opening of The Point, a large red complex to the side of the pavilion, and continued over the winter with the turning of the square 90 degrees to prevent problems caused by the setting sun in autumn while new floodlights have also been installed.

Surrey strengthened their bid for a place in the last four of the Clydesdale
Bank 40 with a nail-biting three-wicket win over Warwickshire at Guildford

24-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Surrey strengthened their bid for a place in the last four of the Clydesdale
Bank 40 with a nail-biting three-wicket win over Warwickshire at Guildford.The result was sealed with just seven deliveries to spare when Zander de Bruyn,
who made an unbeaten 84 off 92 balls, cut Neil Carter through extra cover for
four.Yasir Arafat, who took five for 45, also starred for the Lions, who were made
to work hard for their victory after Rikki Clarke hit a dazzling 76 off 61 balls
for the visitors.Having won the toss, Warwickshire posted 225 for 8, which looked barely
adequate given the compact surroundings. Arafat struck twice in the sixth over, with Carter caught at deep square leg and Varun Chopra snapped up at backward point – both by Matthew Spriegel.Will Porterfield was caught at the wicket four overs later off Tim Linley, but
then Tim Ambrose (39) shared in stands of 53 and 55 with Jim Troughton and
Clarke respectively.The visitors only sparked into life when former Surrey man Clarke came to the
crease in the 23rd over, following the loss of Troughton to Zafar Ansari’s
left-arm spin for 27, though the Bears’ skipper had previously swept Chris
Schofield for six.Clarke lifted Ansari over extra cover for a maximum on his way to a 51-ball
half-century, which the former Surrey man brought up with a cover drive for four
off Jade Dernbach.Arafat’s return to the attack produced the wicket of Ambrose, who, backing
away, had his bails trimmed by the Pakistan all-rounder. Clarke and Chris Woakes added 55 in five overs, during which Clarke clipped Arafat over wide long-on for six. But then Arafat had Woakes caught at extra cover and Clarke at deep mid-wicket to register his best figures in one-day cricket for three years.Surrey’s reply got off to the worst possible start when Rory Hamilton-Brown was
bowled for a duck by Jeetan Patel and Jason Roy (seven) danced down the pitch to
Woakes and cut the ball on to his stumps.Steven Davies (23) was caught at short extra cover off a leading edge, but Tom
Maynard and De Bruyn then set about laying the foundations for a successful
assault.Surrey were up against it when Maynard (39), Matthew Spriegel (20) and Arafat
all fell to catches in the deep but Ansari’s 22 in 16 deliveries, which included
two pulled sixes, finally provided the impetus his side needed. And De Bruyn completed the job in tandem with Schofield (13 not out).

Australian concerns about the workload of Shane Watson may yet allow Peter Siddle and Trent Copeland to jump the queue for selection

Daniel Brettig in Colombo24-Aug-2011Australian concerns about the workload of Shane Watson over an unprecedented three back-to-back Tests may yet allow the pace toilers Peter Siddle and Trent Copeland to jump the queue for selection in Sri Lanka.As the tourists considered the risks of fielding two fledgling spin bowlers against the Sri Lankans on what is expected to be a turning pitch in Galle next week, the captain Michael Clarke said his deputy Watson would not be overbowled as a third seamer if two slow bowlers were chosen. The tour schedule is so cramped that Australia play three back-to-back Test matches for the first time in history.Such a selection would be counterbalanced, Clarke said, by the selection of pace bowlers capable of long spells, placing Siddle and Copeland firmly in the frame. Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, arguably Australia’s two most incisive fast bowlers, can be better suited to shorter bursts. Harris is also returning to the Test team after a broken ankle, and has not played first-class cricket since he suffered the injury in last year’s Melbourne Ashes Test.”No doubt it’s a concern,” Clarke said. “It is a positive we have Watto and we know he can bowl, he’s got some good bowling in the one-dayers, but no doubt he’s a huge player for us, opening the batting is a big role as well.”I don’t want to blow him out in the first Test, knowing we’ve got three very important Test matches so there’s some concern if we decided to go with two spinners about how heavy his workload would be. But then it also depends on the two other quicks you pick as well.”If you go with two spinners, the two fast bowlers’ role becomes very important, because you have to have someone there who can bowl you some overs. It really is determined by conditions and picking the best bowling unit. When we’re picking this team, it’s about who we think are going to take 20 wickets, and what is the best combination to do that, not necessarily who are the best four individual bowlers to bowl.”There is little consideration being given as yet to Watson’s shift down the batting order, particularly after Simon Katich was so harshly sacrificed by the selectors. This was apparently done to establish Watson and Phil Hughes as a settled opening partnership ahead of the next Ashes series.”He’s been so good at the top of the order, so I don’t think it would be smart to move him right now, who knows what may happen in the future,” Clarke said. “On one side he’s probably going to find it a bit harder opening the batting if he’s bowling a lot more, but the other side of it is if he comes off the field after bowling, it generally takes a bit of time for your body to stiffen up, so it might be better for him to get out there and keep playing.”It’s important me and Watto continue to communicate and we’ll see how he’s travelling and what his thoughts are. Right now he’s loving opening the batting and he’s a big player for us, he’s our vice-captain, and I want him scoring runs, so if he’s happy with that right now, then we’ll keep him there.”