Print Wrap: Daily dose of headlines
Every morning Cricketnirvana brings you a roundup of headlines from the leading national dailies across the cricketing nations. Here's what some of the newspapers are talking about…
Jacques Kallis says that Jonathan Trott will not get hot reception
British daily The Times, in its Thursday’s edition, writes South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis feels Jonathan Trott will not be jeered by local fans as he is not seeking to make any political point unlike Kevin Pietersen…
Jonathan Trott will not be exposed to the abuse from fans in South Africa that greeted Kevin Pietersen on his first tour to the land of his birth in 2005. That is the hope of Jacques Kallis, anyway, who said that Trott, the England batsman born in Cape Town, would be welcomed as a guest and an opponent to be respected.
Pietersen was heavily jeered by the South African fans when he toured with England almost five years ago and Andy Flower, the England team director, said last week that Trott, who made a hundred on his Test debut against Australia in August, could also expect a hostile reception.
But Kallis, the veteran South Africa all-rounder, said that the cases were different, with Trott not seeking to make the same political points about South Africa’s policy of racial selection that Pietersen had.
“Trott is very different to Pietersen,” Kallis said. “KP was quite outspoken and that got some people’s backs up. I don’t think Jonathan is that interested in politics.”
With Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior also born in South Africa, albeit brought up in England, a quarter of England’s squad are returning home, so to speak, but Kallis is relaxed that some of his countrymen, including Craig Kieswetter, the Johannesburg-born Somerset wicketkeeper who was named in the England Performance Programme squad this week, are switching sides. “A lot of our guys are going overseas,” he said. “They’ve made a choice, for financial or career reasons, that they don’t want to play for South Africa and we can’t hold it against them. We’ll treat them with the same respect we would any opponent.”
Kallis respects England but is confident that South Africa can defend their No 1 ranking in Test cricket, won from Australia this year, and make strides to overhaul India and Australia and regain their top place in the one-day rankings, which they let slip in September.
“England did very well to beat Australia in the Ashes,” he said. “They are a good, well-balanced side. But they have not had the same results away as they have at home. We have a solid core of players coming on and I’m sure we can be No 1 in both forms of the game again….”
Wright keen to show his subtle side
Another British newspaper The Independent writes England all-rounder Luke Wright believes he’ll be able to showcase other aspects of his batting during the South African tour other than lusty hitting…
Luke Wright believes his display for England against Australia in last month's Champions Trophy showed he is a multi-dimensional batsman who has more to offer than just "crash, bang, wallop".
The Sussex all-rounder is hoping to showcase more of this adaptability on England's tour of South Africa. He trained with the rest of the team during a rain-interrupted session at the University of the Free State yesterday as they prepared for tomorrow's opening tour match against the Diamond Eagles in Bloemfontein. The match will be a 50-over encounter and Wright is keen to build on his last showing for his country, the Champions Trophy semi-final loss to Australia.
After winning the toss and electing to bat in that game, England had slumped to 101 for 6 before Wright (48) and Tim Bresnan (80) shared a 107-run partnership to help their side reach a competitive 257. "I think the nice thing about [that partnership], on a personal note, was that it showed a different side of my game," he said.
"It was not all crash, bang, wallop that I've been renowned for. Obviously a lot of the time I get pushed up the order to go into powerplays, which I'm happy to do, but that was a chance to actually bat and show people another side…."
Blues paceman Cockley called up as Ponting looks to makeshift group effort
Australian daily The Sydney Morning Herald writes the NSW pace bowler Burt Cockley has been called to join the Aussie camp as replacement of injured speedster Peter Siddle…
The string of injuries endured by Australia in their tour of India has meant a sudden call-up for NSW paceman Burt Cockley after his Blues teammate Moises Henriques became the fifth Australian struck down by injury in the past 10 days – the sixth if you count Mitchell Johnson, who has played the past three matches despite an ankle injury.
The hamstring injury Henriques suffered during Monday night's series-levelling win over India will force him to fly back to Australia today, meaning the replacement player will himself need to be replaced. Victorian all-rounder Andrew McDonald will join the squad in his place, with Cockley replacing Peter Siddle.
While McDonald's selection was not a surprise, the same could not be said for Cockley, who will fly out of Sydney today to join the Australian team in Guwahati on Friday. The 23-year-old, while very highly rated, has played only eight Sheffield Shield matches and four Ford Ranger Cup matches for the Blues.
Cockley did, however, claim 4-39 for NSW at the weekend against Western Australia. The call-up will force him to pull out of the Shield match underway between the Blues and the Warriors at the SCG….
I’m back to school: Patil
India’s daily DNA writes former India batsman and coach Sandeep Patil has taken over as director of National Cricket Academy…
Having coached a number of national sides including India, life seems to have come full circle for Sandeep Patil, one of the most flamboyant cricketers the country has produced.
On Monday, Patil took charge of his latest assignment as the director of National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore and just two days later, he said his new job is "like going back to school".
"For the last two days, I have been learning about NCA's functioning and every minute I am getting to know something new," said Patil while speaking to reporters here on Wednesday.
He said his immediate goal was to make NCA a centre capable of providing immediate replacement to the Indian team if any player is injured.
"Look at the current India-Australia series...so many Aussie players have been injured. If the same scenario repeats with us in the future, NCA should be able to give immediate replacement," said Patil.
"Which means that the challenge before me right now is to produce a pool of youngsters who are ready at to take up any kind of assignment any time," he added. Patil also wants to focus on the rehabilitation of cricketers…
