Warne Questions Australia Selections

Shane Warne has questioned the wisdom of some of Australia’s selections – which, he says, contributed to their early elimination from the World Twenty20. 

Defeats by New Zealand and India led to them being knocked out in the group stage for the second competition in a row.

Although Warne, cricket’s second-highest Test wicket-taker with 708, admits Australia were not good enough, he thinks they created a major problem by ditching the long-standing David Warner-Aaron Finch partnership at the top of the batting order. 

Shane Watson and Usman Khawaja were preferred to open as Warner floated in the middle order while Finch, one of only two Australia batsman to score a T20 international hundred, played only the final two matches.

Warne acknowledges Khawaja, who scored two centuries in four matches in the Big Bash League, should have been a certain starter but not as opener.

He said: “First of all, our selection was wrong. I don’t think we got that right, we messed around with it too much rather than sticking with what’s been a proven formula and we probably didn’t play well enough, which is the brutal truth.

“I know Khawaja was in unbelievable form and had to play but I would have batted him at No3. I don’t think they should have broken up Finch and Warner and I think it upset the balance of the team. Those two guys had been batting together for a long time, they have done well in Twenty20, they’ve done well in one-day cricket, and suddenly they got spilt up.

"And I just would never, ever have left Aaron Finch out. Even if he missed out in a few games, I think that Finch-Warner partnership is an intimidatory factor before a ball is bowled and people would have worried about Finch and Warner. It’s not to say they didn’t worry about Khawaja, but I just think the other two are more destructive.”

Warne also criticised the decision to leave the seamer John Hastings out of the must-win game against India in favour of Josh Hazlewood. He added: “Hazlewood is a beautiful Test bowler, and it’s not that he can’t bowl in these forms of the game, but I just think Hastings is a better option in a Twenty20 game because of his yorkers – we saw him in the Big Bash bowl his yorkers, he’s just about the best we have. We were one-dimensional by not playing Hastings all the time. I just think because we had so much talent in our team and so much skill, they [the selectors] thought: ‘It doesn’t matter what the combinations are we’re still going to do OK.’ But it wasn’t to be.”

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Clarke Cricket Comeback in Suburbs

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has announced he will come out of retirement in February.

Clarke, who quit after last summer's Ashes, will play for Sydney grade team Western Suburbs on February 20-21.

"I've realised the game of cricket is in my blood," said 34-year-old Clarke.

"I'll start with this grade game and see if I miss it as much as I feel like I'm going to. If I do, the option is there to train the entire winter and then we'll see what happens."

Western Suburbs, the club Clarke played for as a youngster, face Randwick Petersham in a two-day first grade match at Pratten Park starting on February 20.

Clarke played 115 Tests and 245 one-day internationals for Australia, but struggled with back injuries throughout his career.

He said his comeback will primarily focus on limited-overs cricket.

"My focus is definitely the shorter format of the game," said Clarke, who added that he would "love to be a part" of Australia's Big Bash League, the Indian Premier League and English county cricket.

"There's possibly even Sheffield Shield cricket for New South Wales," he said.

"All I know is, I'll never say never to anything. I'll start with Western Suburbs and we will see where it takes me."

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Darren Lehmanm In Hospital with DVT

Australia head coach Darren Lehmann has been taken to hospital suffering from deep vein thrombosis.

The 45-year-old reported a swollen left calf to medical staff and had a scan before the one-day international against India in Sydney on Saturday.

His condition is described as "stable" and he will be kept in hospital overnight for observation.

A Cricket Australia statement said he will require "a lay-off before he can return to coaching".

The Australia players were told about Lehman's condition after Saturday's six-wicket defeat in the fifth and final ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Batting coach Michael Di Venuto will take charge of the side for Australia's three-match T20 series against India this month.

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Renegade Gayle Ends Bash with Rant

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Chris Gayle has come out swinging in a long social media rant following the end of a controversial stint in the Big Bash League.

Gayle’s season with the Melbourne Renegades was embroiled in controversy surrounding his sideline interview with television reporter Mel McLaughlin.

The 36-year-old was fined $10,000 by the Renegades for his interview with McLaughlin, which he described as a “simple joke” but Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland deemed “completely out of line”.

During a 4 January match, Gayle asked McLaughlin if she wanted to go out for a drink before adding “don’t blush baby”.

On Tuesday, the powerful Jamaican fired a parting shot in an Instagram post aimed at “the haters” and those who failed to publicly defend him.

Former England Test player and BBL commentator Andrew Flintoff said Gayle had made himself “look like a bit of a chop” in a tweet following the interview with McLaughlin.

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Former Australian Test opener Chris Rogers said Gayle had set a bad example for the Sydney Thunder’s young players when the pair both played with the franchise, while allrounder Shane Watson said he expected the behaviour.

The West Indian ended his stint with the Renegades on Monday night when he equalled the world record for the fastest Twenty20 half-century, reaching the milestone from just 12 balls against the Adelaide Strikers.

In a video and audio media release issued by the Renegades on Tuesday, Gayle said he wanted to return to play again in the BBL.

“Definitely – I have always got a soft spot for Australia. And the fans here have been very supportive. They have been really, really tremendous,” he said.

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Windies Chris Faces Another Gayle

West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle, who on Tuesday half heartedly apologised and was fined for inappropriate remarks he made to a female TV interviewer, is now facing accusations he exposed himself to another woman.

The big-hitting left-hander received an angry backlash for his comments and was branded “disrespectful and simply inappropriate” after he asked journalist Mel McLaughlin for a drink in a live television interview during a Big Bash League clash in Australia.

He said to her: “I wanted to see your eyes for the first time, hopefully we can win this game and then we can have a drink after as well. Don’t blush, baby.”

Gayle, 36, offered a half-hearted apology to McLaughlin, saying his remarks were meant as a light-hearted joke. However, the BBL took a dim view of his comments and fined him £5,000.

Now it has been alleged that he exposed himself to a female member of staff attached to the West Indies squad during last year’s World Cup in Sydney.

The Sydney Morning Herald claims that the woman went into the West Indies dressing room, believing it was empty, as she looked for a sandwich. She encountered Gayle and another player, and the former West Indies captain reportedly allowed his towel to drop, revealing his genitals, before saying: “Are you looking for this?”

She complained to the West Indies management, who have so far declined to comment.

Gayle’s own management team have also not yet given a comment.

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Cool Hand Luke Stars at MCG

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 Cricket fans turned out en masse at the MCG and Luke Wright stepped up on the big stage with a century as Melbourne Stars scored a seven-wicket win over Melbourne Renegades in front of a record Big Bash League crowd on Saturday.

The 80,883-strong crowd easily eclipsed the previous record of 52,637, set at Adelaide Oval, and created an electric atmosphere, with the superb unbeaten innings of 109 off 63 balls from the English import guiding Stars home with five balls to spare.

As much as Wright dazzled, many of those fans came for the tantalising match-up between big-hitters Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen. But it failed to live up to the hype with Gayle making just four runs and Pietersen out for six. Having won the toss and sent the Renegades in, the Stars restricted their cross-town rivals to 161-7, then overcame the early losses of Marcus Stoinis and Pietersen to notch their second win from four matches in the tournament.

In a pivotal moment late in the Stars run chase, a dropped catch by Tom Beaton rolled to the boundary for four when Wright was on 64. The Englishman then rubbed salt into the wounds with a pair of towering sixes off the next two deliveries from Xavier Doherty.

Former Star Cameron White marked his first match against his old side with a well made 54 from 39 balls – the highlight of Renegades’ innings. Skipper Aaron Finch passed 4,000 career runs in Twenty20 cricket, but he was dismissed after making 36 off 29 balls. Gayle spooned an easy catch to Pietersen at mid-on off the bowling of John Hastings. Amazingly, Pietersen was speaking to Channel 10 commentators on the live telecast as Hastings came in to bowl to Gayle.

“I will be very happy if that bloke who is down there who is currently batting knocks one up in the air here,” Pietersen said. “We’ve all seen him start slowly but he can explode.” Hastings was the pick of the Stars bowlers with figures of 4-29 from his four overs.

Cricket Australia have apologised to fans stranded outside the MCG before the game after new security measures failed to cope with the record Big Bash League crowd. The previous BBL attendance record of 52,637 set at Adelaide Oval, was broken by the time James Faulkner bowled the first ball of Saturday night’s match, with 56,674 fans inside the ground.

But more than 24,000 people remained outside the venue as the new counter-terrorism fence and security checkpoints slowed entry to the facility. Cricket Australia, however, were quick to defend venue management. “The Melbourne Cricket Ground has been highly proactive in their security measures for major cricket events this summer,” a spokesperson said.

“The match tonight experienced an unprecedented record crowd for domestic cricket. We thank fans for their patience and apologise for the delays experienced entering the ground tonight. The safety and security of our fans, players and officials is always our number one priority and rest assured we’ll continue to work with the MCG to ensure everyone has a fantastic experience at any cricket event this summer.”

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Windies Lloyd Accepts T20 Stars

West Indies chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd bears no ill will towards players opting to take part in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 tournament rather than playing Test cricket.

Windies stars Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo and Samuel Badree have put in a series of eye-catching performances in the Big Bash League this season, while the West Indies have struggled to compete with Australia in their three-Test series.

West Indies great Lloyd said on Friday he understood the motivation of those choosing to play the shorter format of the game to the longest. “You can’t fault them,” he said. “We’re from the islands and the point is, with the money that is being paid in these shorter games its obvious that players are looking towards their future and unfortunately we’re missing out. All those guys who we groomed have now left so were left with a vacuum and we now have to fill that.”

Lloyd said he believed the core of the side that trails Australia 2-0 ahead of the third and final Test starting at the SCG on Sunday had the potential to be competitive in the years to come. But the absence of those stars was hurting them badly. “That’s the situation we have, we have guys like Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Bravo and these fellas, they’ve retired from the longer form of the game,” he said. “Somebody like Russell surely we would have had a chat with him, but he has a problem with his knee and he’s just playing one day cricket.

“Lendl Simmons too would have been a nice guy to have in the middle there because he’s an opener he plays spin very well, he would have fitted in fine with our batting. But he’s not involved so we’ve got to look somewhere else. It’s a bit of a sad situation but I’m sure that our cricket will get better.”

Lloyd left the door open for Gayle, 36, to return from his effective retirement from Test cricket. “That’s up to him, you have to play in our four-day competition before you’re selected for the longer game,” Lloyd said. “So it’s entirely up to him to do so, if he chooses to play one-dayers then that’s his choice and we’ll have to choose accordingly.”

“But to play in the one-day game you have to play in the one-day competition and to play in the Test matches you have to play in the longer form of cricket at home.”

Windies Suffer Burns and Khawaja

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Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns rewarded the Australian selectors’ faith with a pair of sparkling centuries as the hosts dominated a limp West Indies attack on the opening day of the second test on Saturday.

Having recovered from a hamstring strain, Khawaja celebrated his recall with a glittering 144, with Queensland team mate Burns making 128 in front of a festive Melbourne Cricket Ground crowd to drive Australia to 345-3 at stumps. The pair’s 258-run stand remained unbroken until well into the final session, with captain Steve Smith (32 not out) and Adam Voges (10) untested in negotiating the final overs.

Australia won the opener emphatically in Hobart and took a big stride toward sealing the three-match series with a game in hand after being sent in to bat by West Indies captain Jason Holder. Holder’s decision was a poor one in hindsight, with the MCG pitch flattening out in bright sunshine after rain held up play for an hour.

His players again failed to rally around their skipper, however, with the bowling tepid at best and fielding at times abysmal. Khawaja was dropped on 23 shortly after lunch after nicking a half-chance to the gully and spooned the simplest of chances to Marlon Samuels at cover to again be reprieved on 142.

He and Burns came together early in the morning session after opener David Warner was dismissed for a quickfire 23 and they erased any lingering confidence in the Caribbeans who were thrashed by an innings and 212 runs in Hobart. Unbeaten at tea, Burns and Khawaja ramped up their attack straight in the final session and raced to reach their centuries.

Burns made his ton and second test century first with a punch for three through point. Khawaja followed two balls later, scrambling for a single presented by a misfield. The pair ploughed on steadily to guide Australia past 250, with the West Indies bowlers’ hopes seemingly fixed on the batsmen suffering a lapse in concentration rather than succumbing to any sustained pressure.

As it happened, Burns duly delivered after the drinks break, getting stumped after charging down the wicket at part-time spinner Kraigg Brathwaite. Khawaja appeared to succumbed to fatigue rather than the bowler’s guile as he tickled Taylor down the leg-side to be caught behind.

After a run of modest scores, Burns was widely tipped to make way for the returning Khawaja but it was middle order batter Shaun Marsh making way for the stylish left-hander. “It was just a nice feeling to make a 100 for Australia on Boxing Day,” Burns told reporters. “Certainly something to savour ... Hopefully we can go on and win the Test match and win the series.”

West Indian Kraigg Brathwaite said it was a “decent day” for the tourists. “Obviously (they have to) try to be build some pressure to not let them score so freely,” said the spinner.

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