Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne 27-Feb-2012Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman. Clarke won his third Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Monday and it was no surprise after a 12-month period in which he topped Australia’s run tally in both Test and one-day international cricket, and took over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting.In contrast, the previous year was much leaner for Clarke, who averaged 31.30 in Test cricket in the 12 months up until last year’s Allan Border Medal. The highlights of Clarke’s 2011-12 were his triple-century against India at the SCG and his double-hundred in the Adelaide Test two games later, but he made a ton in each of Australia’s four Test series and topped the run tally in three of those.”I think the added responsibility of captaining the team has probably made me stand up and lead from the front,” Clarke said. “People see the rewards when you stand up on the big stage, they don’t see the hard work you do off the field. When you have the chance to go and bat for Australia in the middle of the SCG or the Adelaide Oval, that’s the fun part, that’s the part where you just walk out and enjoy yourself because the hard work has been done.”With some young guys coming in to our team this summer it’s been crucial that the senior players have stood up. It’s a great reflection when you look at that leadership board for the Allan Border Medal you’ve got myself, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson – the senior players are on that board and I think that’s played a big part in the success we’ve had over the last 12 months.”And it has been a prosperous year for Clarke’s team as well as for himself. He is yet to lose a series as captain and started his tenure in the Test role with victory over Sri Lanka and over the past two months helped his side whitewash India 4-0. But in among those triumphs there have been lower points: their 47 all out in Cape Town and the loss to New Zealand in Hobart in particular.”I think it could have gone better, definitely,” Clarke said of his first year as captain. “I think over the past 12 months we’ve played some really good cricket but there’s been some patches that we’d like to forget as well. I think we’re heading in the right direction as a team. When you’re the No.1 one-day team in the world it’s really hard to stay on top of your game all the time; you have to keep finding new things, new ways to improve. You have to keep working hard, you can’t take anything for granted. Getting to the top of the tree is very hard but staying there is even harder.”The job we face as a Test team is we have three other teams in front of us. We know we have a lot of work to do. We see that every single day with the ICC rankings, we see very clearly where we sit. We have very clear goals there. I think we’re a long way from the team we want to be but I do believe we’re heading in the right direction.”Clarke won the Allan Border Medal by quite a distance from the second-placed Hussey and Watson, who came in third. Ponting was fourth, followed by the emerging fast man James Pattinson in fifth position and the batsman David Warner, who came sixth.

Australian domestic cricket’s honorary “Test match”, the Sheffield Shield final, will not be broadcast on television for the first time since 2007

Daniel Brettig12-Mar-2012Australian domestic cricket’s honorary “Test match”, the Sheffield Shield final, will not be broadcast on television for the first time since 2007, due to cramped scheduling and the drain of resources created by the Twenty20 Big Bash League.Due to be fought between Queensland and Tasmania over five days from Friday, the competition decider has been jettisoned from the pay television broadcaster Fox Sports’ schedule as it juggles a vast array of football codes and the start of Australia’s ODI series in the West Indies.The logjam of matches is so intense that there was not even room for the final to be squeezed in via the digital multi-channelling option, which had already been reserved for other clashing sports.While the schedule cram is a primary reason for the final’s absence from television screens, the extra production costs of the BBL, expanded from six states to eight city-based teams this summer, is also understood to be a significant factor in Fox Sports’ decision.”More cricket was broadcast over the summer for the BBL and that chewed up a number of outside broadcasts,” a spokesman for Fox Sports told ESPNcricinfo.Instead of television coverage, the final will be webcast by Fox Sports, with two cameras to provide pictures from the Gabba while Brendon Julian and Mark Waugh anchor the coverage and provide commentary from the studio.”It’s a reasonable compromise, the match won’t be on TV sets but the webcast means it will be open to all viewers, not just Fox subscribers,” the spokesman said.The Shield final has had a chequered history as a television product, broadcast at various times by Channel Nine, the defunct Optus Vision pay television network and Fox Sports since 2008. Its status as the most important domestic match of the summer has been enhanced by the broadcasts, with most players recognising the chance to place their name in lights by performing in a broadcast fixture.In 2008, Phillip Hughes, Beau Casson and Peter Siddle all pushed ahead on the queue for Test places by performing strongly in the New South Wales versus Victoria final at the SCG, and all would earn a Baggy Green cap over the following 12 months. Last year the opening batsman Ed Cowan and teenaged fast bowler Pat Cummins both put in noteworthy final displays and were representing Australia before 2011 was out.Shield matches have been webcast by Cricket Australia and the state associations over the past two summers, though at the Gabba Queensland Cricket had cut a budgetary corner at the start of the season – in order to make more room for the Brisbane Heat BBL team – by removing their internal broadcast cameras for Shield games.

Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman, has died in a road accident on Sunday, police have confirmed. Morton, 33, crashed into a utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Chase Village in central Trinidad

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2012Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman, has died in a road accident on Sunday, police have confirmed. Morton, 33, crashed into a utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Chase Village in central Trinidad.He was on his way home from a cricket match, and was the sole occupant of the vehicle. The accident occurred at around 11pm local time. When news spread about his death, many of his team-mates posted condolence messages on Twitter, like Wavell Hinds: “Gone far too soon brother Runako. I will treasure the great memories for sure. R.I.P. God knows best.” Rayad Emrit, Morton’s Trinidad team-mate, tweeted: “R.I.P. Morton. You’ll always be remembered buddy. Gone but NEVER forgotten. We miss you bro.”Julian Hunte, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, sent his condolences: “Runako’s passing, still in the prime of life, leaves us all in shock,” Hunte said. “He will be remembered as a fierce competitor on the field who gave no quarter whether he was playing for West Indies, Leeward Islands, Nevis or Trinidad and Tobago.”Morton played 15 Tests and 56 ODIs for West Indies, with his last appearance for his country coming against Australia in a Twenty20 international in 2010. He underachieved as a Test batsman, scoring 573 runs at an average of 22.03 with four half-centuries. He had a better record as a one-day player, scoring 1519 runs at an average of 33.75 with two centuries and ten fifties.Morton’s career was blotted by disciplinary breaches. He was expelled from the West Indian Academy in July 2001, and a year later was called up to the injury-plagued West Indies squad as a replacement for Marlon Samuels. He pulled out of the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002, after lying about the death of his grandmother. His career slipped further when he was arrested (though released without charge) in January 2004, following a stabbing incident.
His maiden ODI century (110*) came in a losing cause against New Zealand in 2006. Two months later, he scored another century, but in a washed-out contest against Zimbabwe in Trinidad. However, one of his most significant one-day knocks was his match-winning unbeaten 90 against Australia in the 2006 Champions Trophy.His in-and-out career continued with a recall for the 2007 England trip and he made runs against Zimbabwe later that year but his form never remained consistent. His most recent fifty was the unbeaten 85 against India at Kingston in 2009. His last Test appearance came in 2008 against Australia in Antigua.Morton was one of the few players from the tiny island of Nevis to play Tests for West Indies. He represented Leeward Islands from his debut in 1996-97 till 2009-10, when he shifted base to Trinidad and Tobago. He scored 4104 first-class runs for Leewards at 44.60 with 11 centuries and 25 fifties. He played five first-class matches for Trinidad, scoring 189 runs.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

England will visit four new international venues on their tour of India either side of Christmas. Pune, Ranchi, Rajkot and Dharamsala will all hold ODIs for the first time.

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2012England will visit four new international venues on their tour of India either side of Christmas. Pune, Ranchi, Rajkot and Dharamsala will all hold ODIs for the first time.The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, which has hosted several IPL matches, has already been approved by the ICC as an international venue but the three other stadiums are awaiting approval: the Subrata Roy Stadium in Pune, the Khandheri Cricket Ground in Rajkot and the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi.England play four Tests against India in November and December at Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur before two T20s, one of which will be staged at Pune with Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala staging an ODI each for the five-match series.Before England tour, India begin their home season with a two-Test series against New Zealand in August, followed by two T20s. Each of the four venues chosen for that series are located in southern India, as a result of the monsoon season being at its peak in the rest of the country. The Tests will be held in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the T20 matches in Chennai and Visakhapatnam.The home season concludes with a four-Test series against Australia between February and March 2013.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya05-May-2012

Match facts

Sunday, May 6
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Lasith Malinga has continued to be Mumbai Indians’ MVP•AFP

Big Picture

Wins for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in their previous games helped clear a few lingering doubts for both teams. Mumbai Indians just about held on, but got their opening combination to click. They had tried six combinations in nine games prior to that; with James Franklin and Sachin Tendulkar adding 50, they may have finally settled on one. But the middle-order collapse that ensued and the absence of Kieron Pollard due to injury pose another headache.Super Kings’ win over Deccan Chargers revived their campaign, helping them bounce back after a winless two weeks that involved two losses and a rained-out game. The win also kept them marginally ahead of competitors below them in the points table and with the tournament now well past the half-way stage, Super Kings need to achieve some consistency to retain that advantage.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Chennai Super Kings: WLLWW
Mumbai Indians: WWLWL

Players to watch

It is probably safe to say that Lasith Malinga would be leading the wicket-taking charts this IPL had he played all of his team’s 10 matches. He missed three due to a back injury, but since his return has continued to be his side’s MVP, playing an instrumental role in his side’s two wins in that period.Suresh Raina, after an indifferent start to the season, has finally got going, making 44 and 32 in his previous two games. But he’s been relatively restrained on a slowish Chennai track, and will hope the Mumbai conditions offer him a chance to be play with more freedom.

Stats and trivia

• Seamers have taken 310 wickets thus far in the IPL, out of 464, almost 67%. Spinners, though, have been marginally more economical, going at 7.26 an over as opposed to 7.82 *
• Fifteen matches thus far in the IPL have gone into the last over.
  

  Quotes

  “Franklin gives us stability (in the top order), but we are still looking for a middle-order batsman who can fill Franklin’s spot. We have Dwayne Smith (he has joined the squad as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Johnson) and hopefully he can fill that slot.”
  “We have the best fielding unit in the tournament but still there are areas we need to improve like with our direct throws. For a team, there is always some scope of improvement.”

  * Stats do not include numbers from Saturday’s matches

Preview of the Twenty20 series between New Zealand and West Indies in Florida

The Preview by Sidharth Monga29-Jun-2012

Match Facts

Saturday, June 30, Start time 1500 (1900 GMT)
Sunday, July 1, Start time 1400 (1800 GMT)
Will the slow -and-low pitches handcuff Chris Gayle?•PA Photos

The Big Picture

Americans have previously claimed PG Wodehouse is American. Over the next two days, the claim they’ll lay to a sport Wodehouse wrote extensively and endearingly on will be of a slightly different nature. It will mostly come from those who have moved to America from cricketing nations, and the Caribbean people have a big presence in Florida. Which is why it makes more sense to have New Zealand – a team committed to development of cricket in US – play West Indies, unlike the last time when Sri Lanka and New Zealand failed to draw big crowds in 2010.Also, unlike the last time, the organisers will hope for more encouragement from the conditions. New Zealand Cricket did send one of their best groundsmen to inject some life into the slow and low pitches that made for dull cricket the first time around. Jacob Oram, though, is of the view the pitch hasn’t changed much. It will obviously take them time to get pitch preparation right in Florida, but it is arguable how much dull contests – with stroke-making difficult and little help for bowlers – will help spread the game there.New Zealand won’t complain about the slow and low conditions, though, because they should level the playing field a little. West Indies are the clear favourites on paper, with Chris Gayle and the many allrounders in their squad. New Zealand, on the other hand, are without Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder and James Franklin. A slow and low pitch can help neuter the big hitters to an extent, and those saved and scampered singles will become more important if the T20s there from two years ago are any indication.This will also be one of the final chances for the two sides to identify their combinations for the World Twenty20 to be held in Sri Lanka.

Form guide (most recent first)

West Indies LWLLW
New Zealand LLWWW

Watch out for…

Sunil Narine didn’t have the best of Test debuts when English conditions and the absence of pressure to score eight-nine runs off his each over got the better of him. Batsmen also kept watching for the thumb sticking out as he entered the delivery stride, which was a clear sign he would bowl an offbreak. Twenty20 on slow and low pitches might be a different story yet again.Nathan McCullum is another man who’ll cherish these conditions. He has been adept at opening the bowling in both forms of limited-overs cricket. In his last Twenty20 in Lauderhill, McCullum bowled four overs for 15 runs and Kumar Sangakkara’s wicket. He is now the 10th-highest wicket-taker in all T20Is.

Team news

Given the conditions, legspinner Samuel Badree should make his international debut to give West Indies an extra spinning option. If he does get the nod, Fidel Edwards is the likelier man to miss outWest Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Lendl Simmons, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt.), 9 Ravi Rampual, 10 Sunil Narine, and 11 Samuel BadreeNew Zealand will have to rely on atypical T20 batsmen like Kane Williamson and Dean Brownlie. Nor will these games feature sides that will start out in the World Twenty20 because McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Franklin will walk into that team. Tom Latham won the wicketkeeper race, and was ready to debut.New Zealand (possible): 1 Rob Nicol, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt.), 5 Dean Brownlie/Daniel Flynn, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Tom Latham (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Tim Southee, and 11 Ronnie Hira.

Stats and trivia

• Statistical evidence points to a close match. Two of these sides’ three encounters have been ties and one won by New Zealand. The tiebreakers were split. This is the first time these times are playing a T20I against each other outside New Zealand.
• Martin Guptill is now the 10th-highest run-getter in T20Is, with 788 at an average of 35.81. Only six players have hit more sixes than his 67.
• Ross Taylor, with 29 catches, is the most prolific in T20Is.
  

  Quotes

  “I don’t think it’s going out there and trying to play any differently or showcase it just because it’s an American audience. First and foremost we’ve got to win. But I’d hope to say that we play a good brand of cricket anyway and we don’t need to worry about that. “
  
  
  “It’s been a big change. It was a very cold and damp summer in England. We barely had four or five nice hot days in two months so to come here is a big change but for most of the West Indians I think they’re at home in this.”

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and its players have agreed in principle to the central contracts for the next year

Tariq Engineer17-Jul-2012Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and its players have agreed in principle to the terms of the central contracts for the next year, bringing to an end almost five months of negotiations and avoiding a potential stand-off over Sri Lanka’s top players participating in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).The new contracts, which will run from March 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013, will bear the existing retainer and match fees, ESPNcricinfo understands.On Monday, Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, had said the country’s cricketers might decide against taking part in the SLPL if the Sri Lankan board didn’t “settle” the players’ central contracts. The agreement between the two sides means the players no longer have any objections to taking part in the Twenty20 tournament.”Player contracts will be signed tomorrow or the day after,” Nishanta Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, told ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday. “It has been agreed upon by the players and the board.” Sri Lanka host India for five ODIs and one Twenty20 game from July 21, and Ranatunga was confident the contracts would be in place for the series.There was a discussion about requiring the players to seek prior permission from SLC before speaking to the media, but that clause did not make it in to the final version of the contract. However, if a player does make comments considered detrimental to SLC, he could face a disciplinary committee hearing.The contract issue follows a year in which SLC ran into financial problems after running up debts of close to $70 million to finance the building of two international stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele, and to renovate the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, for the 2011 World Cup. As a result the players were not initially paid their salaries for eight months. In December 2011, 42.36% of the fees due to the players from the World Cup to September 30, 2011 were paid. The payment of US$2 million was made directly into the players’ bank accounts, instead of routing it through Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), on December 16.SLC claimed to have paid the remaining dues in March 2012 after the state-owned Bank of Ceylon agreed to release 600 million rupees (approx US$5.07 million) to the board, following discussions with sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage. However, the players have not been paid since the previous contracts expired, as the new contracts are yet to be signed.The SLPL starts on August 11, with the final to be played on August 31. SLC had released a list of 112 local players and 56 overseas players who will take part in the event. The tournament, which features seven franchises this year, will have two more the next year, covering all nine provinces.Jayawardene, who is the icon player for the Wayamba franchise, said the focus of the tournament should be on developing the game in Sri Lanka. “While we say all good things about the tournament, let me caution everyone … While we are making financial gains, the commitment of the people involved should be to harness the talent, develop the game in the outstations, get every possible youngster involved and let them realise their dream of playing for Sri Lanka one day.”

The BCCI is likely to tread lightly on the Rahul Sharma drugs case, given the ambiguity in its rules and confusion over the specifics of what he is alleged to have consumed, and in what quantity

Sharda Ugra21-Jul-2012The BCCI is likely to tread lightly on the Rahul Sharma drugs case, given the ambiguity in its rules and confusion over the specifics of what he is alleged to have consumed, and in what quantity. Rahul is currently with the India squad in Sri Lanka and, though he didn’t play the first ODI on Saturday, he was seen practising with the team before the game.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the Indian board has contacted the police to ask for the specific test reports on the two cricketers – the other being South Africa’s Wayne Parnell – but was unsure of how quickly it would receive them. Rahul, an official said, would be eligible to play for India and not be recalled from the five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka until the board had more detailed information.Rahul and Parnell, both part of the Pune Warriors IPL franchise, are alleged to have tested positive or banned substances following a raid by the Mumbai police at a rave party on May 20. They were tested for cannabis and methylenedioxy/methylamphetamine (MDMA) or Ecstasy, but the police have not specified which of the drugs they tested positive for.Legal experts say they can be charged under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985. The penalty for the consumption of cannabis or MDMA is six months in jail or a Rs10,000 fine or both. However, this would be under the Indian legal system – a formal charging, indictment and conviction – and hence subject to delays and the possibility, if convicted, of an appeal.The two drugs are on the list of prohibited substances in the BCCI’s anti-doping code; cannabis is under a category called Cannabinoids and MDMA, under stimulants. However, they fall under the category of ‘in-competition prohibited substances’ and on the day of the raid Rahul and Parnell were both out of competition, their team having already ended its IPL campaign. Parnell was due to leave India the following day and Rahul due to return home to Chandigarh soon after.The BCCI official said the board was waiting for details of the quantity and precise nature of the drugs the players tested positive for, to see if the positive tests could have come from “passive smoking” in an environment where cannabis was being smoked. “That is why the quantity of the consumption is important in this case,” the official explained.A Pune Warriors team-mate said he was “very surprised” to hear of the positive test reports as both Rahul and Parnell were not seen drinking or smoking during the seven weeks of the IPL. “Ecstasy is consumed in a pill form and it is easy to spike drinks with them,” he said.Rahul’s Punjab coach Vikram Rathour told : “It is hard for me to believe knowing Rahul, who doesn’t even drink beer … it is surprising.”The Pune Warriors management said both players had been “released” from the team and would contemplate any action following the positive tests based on the direction of the BCCI.Mumbai deputy police commissioner Pratap Dighaokar told on Friday that the two cricketers had belonged to a group of 44 people who tested positive out of the 92 detained following the raid.There have been mixed reactions to the news that Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell tested positive for recreational drugs while at a rave party in Mumbai on May 20. As with almost anything dealing with Indian cricket, the reactions occupy extreme positions on either side. As of now, the only facts that are known are that the two players have – according to the police – returned positive results when tested for cannabis and MDMA or ecstasy, both recreational drugs; the alleged offence came at a time when they were not in competition (their IPL involvement was over) and the charges are yet to be formally pressed and will then run the full gamut of Indian law. Including, if convicted, the right of appeal. Those are the facts of the case at this point but there are several missing elements, which could reduce or remove culpability even in the face of a positive sample. For example, the quantity of the substance found is not yet known; a small quantity can be explained by passive smoking (in the case of cannabis). Nor is it clear whether they have tested positive for MDMA, which can be mixed in drinks.In this context, the reactions of the BCCI and of Pune Warriors – the IPL franchise that employs both players – have been temperate and rational. In essence, their stand is this: let the law take its course, let us get the facts and then act. How they will act is also flexible: though both drugs fall under the BCCI’s list of prohibited substances, they relate only to in-competition offences. For reference, it can look at England’s Football Association, which hands out a minimum of a warning and a maximum of six months’ suspension for a first offence of this nature. At the moment, the Mumbai incident is a potential violation of the law of the land and so the case must rest with the police. Both players have maintained their innocence from the day the story broke, and in any case are innocent till proven otherwise. The BCCI’s next step will be important, and will be watched by the rest of the cricket world: never the most dexterous of organisations, it must balance its stealth with full application of the law if the charges are proved. Till then, the waiting game is the best option.

Jayaditya Gupta

Middlesex’s Neil Dexter will hope to complete his maiden half-century of the Championship season at Uxbridge on Saturday

03-Aug-2012
ScorecardMiddlesex’s club captain Neil Dexter took two wickets before reaching 45 not out in the second innings•Middlesex CCC

Middlesex’s Neil Dexter will hope to complete his maiden half-century of the Championship season at Uxbridge on Saturday where the hosts go into the final day of a turgid game on 104 for 3, with Dexter five short of his landmark.Division One leaders Warwickshire showed little or no enterprise in the opening two sessions of day three, scoring only 12 boundaries in the final 61.5 overs of their second innings as they reached 324 all out for a first innings deficit of 78. In stark comparison, Middlesex bashed nine fours in as many overs at the start of their reply before the loss of three quick wickets forced them to throttle back in the final hour.On a slow pitch of variable bounce, batsmen on both sides struggled at times for fluency, especially so against the new ball. Having made 95 first time around, Middlesex opener Joe Denly aimed to drive a full, swinging ball from Darren Maddy only to edge to the wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose and go for 16.Chris Rogers reached only 13 when he was snared leg-before by Chris Wright then, fresh from a century in the first innings, Dawid Malan succumbed to the spin of Jeetan Patel to leave the hosts wobbling somewhat on 93 for 3. Eoin Morgan, in possibly his last appearance of the season for Middlesex, and Dexter, the club captain, then dug in to see their side through to stumps with an overall lead of 182.With their noses barely ahead of Nottinghamshire in the race for the Championship title, Warwickshire supporters might have expected their side to force the pace as they resumed on their overnight score of 178 for 2.With Ian Westwood and Jim Troughton well ensconced in a third-wicket stand that had already added a hundred, the visitors were seemingly well placed to push on. However, once Troughton fell without addition to his overnight 60 and Westwood soon after completing his 317-minute century, the game simply dissolved into a war of attrition.Tim Murtagh, the pick of the bowlers on display, finished with 4 for 77 and Dexter, who bowled a full length and allowed the ball to swing, also chipped in with 2 for 16. Warwickshire finally succumbed just before tea, but by then many supporters had already turned to the pavilion television and the Olympics for some much-needed entertainment.

Peter Kirsten, the former South Africa batsman, thinks Richard Levi has developed a small technical fault which has contributed to his recent lean run

Firdose Moonda13-Sep-2012South Africa’s opening batting combination could be their biggest conundrum ahead of next week’s World Twenty20. They used two different pairs in their three matches against England but did not manage a stand of more than nine runs, with Richard Levi emerging as the biggest concern.Scores of 8, 0 and 1 meant that Levi was the first man out on all three occasions and the No.3 batsman had to perform a repair job, instead of being able to build on a start. “I really feel for Richard Levi actually, he seems to have a small technical fault,” Peter Kirsten, former South Africa batsman, told ESPNcricinfo. “He tends to play across the line early on and of course everyone expects him to hit boundaries every second ball.”Levi’s reputation was created when he played a belligerent innings against New Zealand in Hamilton in February. His unbeaten 117 is the joint highest T20 score of all time and in reaching it, he surpassed Chris Gayle’s record of the most sixes in a T20 innings.It was a display that earned him an IPL contract and got him noticed by other T20 leagues. While it was not a display that anyone expects him to repeat, it is also one he has not come close to replicating. Since then, Levi has scored just two half-centuries in domestic twenty-over matches.
In his last 10 innings, he has not managed a score higher than 39 in his last 10 innings, which included an A series against Zimbabwe and Ireland, matches for Somerset in the Friends Life t20 and South Africa’s three T20Is against England. All told, his international run has been lean.Levi’s reliance on leg-side play has been noted and he is now offered deliveries that are primarily wide of offstump, where he cannot hit to his favoured area of the field. Kirsten said “bowlers have worked him out now,” and Levi will have to learn to play more conventional cricket instead of his stand-and-deliver slogging. “Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis have shown that if you play good cricket strokes, you can still score quickly,” Kirsten said.Either of those batsmen could, and did, partner Levi at the top of the order. When the squad was announced convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson had said Kallis would open the batting in light of his performances at the IPL. It would result in Amla being pushed to No. 3.Kirsten would rather see Amla open and Kallis at No. 3. “That for me would be the right way to go,” he said. The alternative is that Levi is dropped altogether and South Africa opt for a more old-school pairing in Amla and Kallis. They will then to settle on a No. 3 batsman, what Kirsten called, “the key position.” AB de Villiers would be the obvious choice but Faf du Plessis, who was also in contention for a place in the top two, is another candidate.Du Plessis came to the selectors’ attention for a place in the T20 squad with his showings for the Chennai Super Kings at the IPL. He admitted that he would like to open the batting but conceded that, as a rookie in the shortest format, he would have to do as told. Now, he is not even assured of his place in the starting XI, after a torrid tour of England. Du Plessis compiled just 39 runs in six innings in the limited-overs portion of the tour and looked out of sorts.Kirsten said while Du Plessis has to make adjustments to his game quickly, there is no urgent need for concern over him just yet. “As AB de Villiers said, he knows what Faf du Plessis can do,” he said. “We’ve seen him clean up games, finish off games in domestic cricket. If he just plays a little bit straighter, gets those hands going through mid-off a little more, then he can fill that No. 3 spot as well.”With South Africa continuing to use the yo-yo middle-order method in shorter forms of the game – a strategy that worked for them against both Sri Lanka and New Zealand – the importance of having a fixed duo at the top is more pressing.”Flexibility,” is what Kirsten called one of South Africa’s biggest strengths and it has been their way of responding to criticism about being predictable, but he also acknowledged some degree of “certainty” will be useful as they challenge for major silverware. “After all the chopping and changing, I’m sure Gary Kirsten, Andrew Hudson and AB de Villiers will know exactly who they want to pick for the first game.”South Africa’s campaign begins against Zimbabwe next Thursday, before they play Sri Lanka on Saturday.