Off Season Aussie News

[brod]

The Kochi franchise is talking to Steve Waugh as a possible candidate for coach during the next IPL. "We have been in discussion with a lot of really good coaches and Steve Waugh is one among them. The discussions are continuing ... It will take some time before we finalise the name," Vivek Venugopal, one of the co-owners of the franchise, told reporters in Kochi.

[brod]

New South Wales will look to the West Indies and New Zealand for an overseas player after Sri Lanka blocked Tillakaratne Dilshan from playing in the 2010-11 Big Bash. Dilshan, the explosive opener, signed with the Blues in March but his country wants him to avoid any unnecessary setbacks before next year's World Cup.

[brod]

Brett Lee's career is on the rocks due to a series of injuries but he has set his sights on continuing till next year's World Cup in the subcontinent. Lee has not turned out for Australia in more than eight months and retired from Tests earlier this year in a bid to prolong his career.

"To me a World Cup in India in 2011, because of my love for India and the stuff I do over there, it would be a great way to finish, I would have thought," AAP quoted Lee as saying.

[The Dark Knight]

Brett Lee's career is on the rocks due to a series of injuries but he has set his sights on continuing till next year's World Cup in the subcontinent. Lee has not turned out for Australia in more than eight months and retired from Tests earlier this year in a bid to prolong his career.

"To me a World Cup in India in 2011, because of my love for India and the stuff I do over there, it would be a great way to finish, I would have thought," AAP quoted Lee as saying.

He won't play in the World cup, he's way to injury prone and he's too old. The selectors won't pick him and have looked past him, I hope

[brod]

Brett Lee's career is on the rocks due to a series of injuries but he has set his sights on continuing till next year's World Cup in the subcontinent. Lee has not turned out for Australia in more than eight months and retired from Tests earlier this year in a bid to prolong his career.

"To me a World Cup in India in 2011, because of my love for India and the stuff I do over there, it would be a great way to finish, I would have thought," AAP quoted Lee as saying.

He won't play in the World cup, he's way to injury prone and he's too old. The selectors won't pick him and have looked past him, I hope

We can only hope

[brod]

Hilditch wants North to be a long-term player and he will be given a chance in India to secure an Ashes role. "He's a very experienced cricketer and we're going to lose some experience in the next six months to two years, so if he was playing really well and gave us some experience, that would be our ideal outcome," Hilditch said. "But Marcus would be aware, as any cricketer is, that he needs to perform well and obviously his consistency is something that we'd be looking for him to improve."

Against Pakistan in England he displayed the flail and fail method, appearing more like a nervy rookie than a senior pro with four hundreds in 17 Tests. "He's proved he can play international cricket," Hilditch said. "We've been preparing for this Ashes since we lost them last time, that's why Marcus has been in the side, he has been part of our longer-term planning for this Ashes series coming up.''

[The Cadet]

What a joke !!

[Media Park]

Jaques, D Huss and Maxy are experienced cricketers- just because they haven't played lots of Test cricket, but hey, neither's North.

[brod]

Shaun Tait has knocked back a request from Ricky Ponting to return to Tests, ruling himself out of the Ashes series. Tait knows his body won't allow him to play the game's longer forms and he will continue to focus on one-dayers and Twenty20s, including next month's Champions League with South Australia.

[brod]

Ryan Harris, the injured fast bowler, is desperate to prove his fitness for the India one-day series in October so he can enhance his Ashes credentials. There were fears for Harris when he left England in July for knee surgery less than a year after a previous operation, but he has already started running and plans to be bowling in the next fortnight.

[brod]

Tim Nielsen, the Australian coach, will be in charge until the end of the 2013 Ashes after his contract was extended on Tuesday. Nielsen, who took over from John Buchanan in 2007, has kept Australia as the No.1 one-day nation but under his watch the Test team has slipped from top of the world to No.4.


Since taking over from Buchanan, Nielsen's outfits have won 20 of 36 Tests, 57 of 88 ODIs and 18 of 33 Twenty20s. "I am excited about the coming phase in Australian cricket," Nielsen said. "We have players who have come into the group over the last year or so who have found their feet at international level and more young players coming through, it is a great time to be renewing my role."

[brod]

A group of Australian limited-overs specialists including Brett Lee could be crossing the ditch to New Zealand to play in its Twenty20 league this summer. Lee no longer appears in whites for Australia or New South Wales so is chasing extra games to keep him in touch for his domestic duties and any international calls

[The Dark Knight]

A group of Australian limited-overs specialists including Brett Lee could be crossing the ditch to New Zealand to play in its Twenty20 league this summer. Lee no longer appears in whites for Australia or New South Wales so is chasing extra games to keep him in touch for his domestic duties and any international calls

It's over Binga, let it be.

[brod]

The allrounder James Hopes has been awarded the Queensland captaincy after Chris Simpson stood down on Monday night following two testing seasons in charge. Hopes will be the state's 49th captain and will mix the job with his limited-overs appointments with the national team

[CoverKing]

The allrounder James Hopes has been awarded the Queensland captaincy after Chris Simpson stood down on Monday night following two testing seasons in charge. Hopes will be the state's 49th captain and will mix the job with his limited-overs appointments with the national team

Interesting! I thought although, his results with bat and ball were not great, his fielding is superb, and more importantly his captaincy is pretty good IMO. Who will captain if Hopes is busy on international duties??

[brod]

The fast bowler Ryan Harris will take the next step in his return from knee surgery next week when he takes the field in the first Futures League match of the season

[brod]

A group of Australian limited-overs specialists including Brett Lee could be crossing the ditch to New Zealand to play in its Twenty20 league this summer. Lee no longer appears in whites for Australia or New South Wales so is chasing extra games to keep him in touch for his domestic duties and any international calls

It's over Binga, let it be.

Brett Lee is close to securing a Twenty20 deal with Wellington as he aims to play as much cricket as possible in the lead-up to the World Cup. Lee's manager Neil Maxwell believes the fast man would be available for six or seven of Wellington's ten Twenty20 games if the agreement is confirmed.

New Zealand's domestic Twenty20 competition is played throughout December, which means Lee would need to juggle his commitments, being required for limited-overs games with New South Wales during that period. Maxwell said all that was left was to get the all-clear from Cricket New South Wales.

[brod]

A barrier of netting will separate spectators from the playing field at the WACA this summer as the ground authorities aim to prevent pitch invaders. Last season during an ODI in Perth, a man ran on to the field and tackled the Pakistan player Khalid Latif to the ground.

The man was convicted of assault and trespass and was fined $9000, as well as being banned for life from the ground. However, the WACA is keen to prevent any similar incidents and the chief executive Graeme Wood said the netting was a way to protect the players without affecting the view for spectators

[brod]

Western Australia faces an early test of their bowling depth after coach Mickey Arthur confirmed that fast bowler Brad Knowles would miss the entire summer with a knee injury.

Speaking at the Warriors' launch on Tuesday morning, Arthurs said Knowles, a revelation last season with 48 wickets across all three formats, needed surgery on his knee cartilage after the 28-year-old broke down on a recent tour of Malaysia.

[brod]

Victorian captain and Australian limited overs batsman Cameron White has revealed that he has been working on his bowling in an attempt to enhance his chances of further national selection.

The 27-year-old has played only four Tests in his career, on the tour of India two years ago but has been a mainstay of the one-day and Twenty20 teams since midway through 2008 at international level.