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Bangladesh have been included in a Twenty20 tri-series in Zimbabwe, which will also feature South Africa, in June

Firdose Moonda11-May-2012Bangladesh have been included in a Twenty20 tri-series in Zimbabwe, which will also feature South Africa, in June. Ozias Bvute, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) managing director, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Bangladesh will take part, while the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said they only needed the ratification of their board before regarding the matter as finalised.”We have put forward such a request [to play in Zimbabwe] and as far as we are concerned, we have received positive feedback. We are awaiting an approval from our board,” BCB cricket operations manager, Sabbir Khan said.The assignment will be Stuart Law’s final one in charge of the national team. Law announced his resignation last month but said he would see out his contract, which runs until the end of June. Bangladesh are already in the process of interviewing a replacement, with Richard Pybus considered the frontrunner.The series will come as welcome relief to Bangladesh who have suffered two setbacks in their quest to play more cricket recently and were not due to play any international matches before the World T20 in September. Their August series against Zimbabwe, which was due to consist of two Test matches, was postponed because of maintenance work in Harare and Bulawayo.Bangladesh’s proposal to Cricket South Africa (CSA) for a limited-overs series in May was turned down. South Africa’s busy schedule and the logistical problems in finding a place to host the matches were the chief reasons for CSA declining Bangladesh’s offer. CSA did not have a problem with Bangladesh’s participation in Zimbabwe in June though, provided it did not alter their initial plans.”We said we would not have an issue if Bangladesh joins us as long as it does not disrupt our schedule,” South Africa team manager Mohammed Moosajee said. “We cannot spend longer than a week in Zimbabwe because we leave for England after that.”Gary Kirsten, South Africa head coach, requested five Twenty20s in five days against Zimbabwe as part of his preparations for the World T20. South Africa arrive in Zimbabwe on June 18 and are scheduled to play the five fixtures from June 20 to 24. Although, the dates for their trip will not change, itinerary of matches might change to accommodate Bangladesh. “We might have a rest day in between or something like that but as long as we play the number of matches we wanted to, that’s fine with us,” Moosajee said.Despite the addition of Bangladesh, the series will remain an unofficial one with the matches classed as practice matches only. It is also unlikely to be televised as per ZC’s financial considerations. Bangladesh are likely to head to Europe in July to play five ODIs.

Ireland and Scotland have been handed a financial boost by the ICC after being the first two Associate nations to receive US$500,000 funding bonus

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2012Ireland and Scotland have been handed a financial boost by the ICC after being the first two Associate nations to receive a US$500,000 funding bonus.The two countries will received the cash injection, which has come from the ICC’s targeted assistance and performance programme (TAPP), for the next three years and it is part of the ICC’s aim to develop greater competition below the Full Members.Ireland have been the stand-out Associate in recent years with notable scalps at the last two World Cups by beating Pakistan in 2007 and England in 2011 and have recently stated an ambitious ten-year plan to become a Test nation.Warren Deutrom, the Cricket Ireland chief executive, said: “We are delighted and grateful to ICC for this award which will help Cricket Ireland achieve their stated objectives. We shall be exploring in greater detail the award and terms of the grant with ICC management in order to ascertain how to prioritise the funding towards the proposals that we outlined in our applications.”Scotland intend to use the money to help line up more high-profile matches against the top international sides at both home and abroad.Their chief executive Roddy Smith said: “We are obviously delighted by today’s ICC board decisions. The additional support will enable us to enhance our national team programme over the next three years and support our young developing side in continuing their recent progress.”Since 2009 we have been in the top three associate sides in 50-over and multi-day cricket and this fact along with our ambitious application has enabled us to be one of the first two members to be awarded TAPP funding. The hard work will start now in putting these additional plans into action.”Meanwhile, Scotland have also been successful in lobbying the ICC to give them permission to select players with Scottish parentage and by-pass a problem created by the lack of Scottish passports. The current situation is caused by the ICC’s eligibility criteria being based on nationality as defined by birthplace or passport.As Scotland does not issue its own passports, and the British passport is not accepted as it covers numerous ICC members, players who have Scottish born parents but were themselves born outside of Scotland were not eligible unless they moved to Scotland for a four year qualification period.”The issue has been a prominent one for a number of years and we welcome the decision to allow players with Scottish parentage to be able to apply to the ICC for exceptional circumstances,” Smith said. “As the Scottish passport does not exist, and parentage is not a recognised criterion, it has meant that many potential players who have one or both parents born in Scotland have been ineligible to play if they were born outside the country. Cricket was almost unique in Scottish sport by being unable to select such players.”

Alan Richardson, the Worcestershire seamer, has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at New Road until the end of the 2014 season

George Dobell14-Jul-2012Alan Richardson, the Worcestershire seamer, has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at New Road until the end of the 2014 season.Richardson joined Worcestershire from Middlesex in 2009 and had previously been released by both Derbyshire and Warwickshire. But he quickly proved his worth at New Road and, after claiming 73 first-class wickets in 2011 and helping Worcestershire retain their Division One status, he was named as one of Wisden’s five Cricketers of the Year.While Richardson will be 39 by the time the contract expires, his performances show little sign of dipping. He has claimed 30 Championship wickets this season at an average of 14.93 and remains one of the most reliable seamers on the county circuit. His advice and influence is also seen as highly beneficial to the young bowlers at the club.”I’m delighted to have been offered the chance to continue my career at the club,” Richardson said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far and look forward to playing in a side that continues to grow and improve.”Fellow right-arm seam bowler Nick Harrison has also agreed a two-year contract with the club. The 20-year-old has only played one first-class and four List A games, but was part of the side that helped the club progress to second XI T20 finals day at Arundel.”I am delighted to have been offered a new contract and hope to fulfil the potential the club believes I have,” Harrison said. “I am proud to wear the Worcestershire badge and look forward to a successful career at New Road.”Jack Manuel has not been offered a new contract, however. The 21-year-old, who represented England Under-19s, looked a find prospect when he made his List A debut in 2010 but, after being hampered with a shoulder injury, struggled for further opportunities and played only one first-class game.

CSA’s restructuring process has been finalised, with decisions made “close to the Nicholson Committee recommendations”

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2012CSA’s restructuring process, which had been set in motion by the Nicholson Committee report – that looked into bringing about changes in the South African board after the bonus scandal involving now suspended CSA chief executive Gerald Majola – has been finalised, with decisions made “close to the Nicholson Committee recommendations”.As per the recommendations, the board has been cut down to 11 members from 24, following a meeting of the CSA’s board of directors and the steering committee (which was constituted to review the feasibility of following the Nicholson Committee report) on Saturday. This comes four months after the administration agreed to accept all the recommendations in principle.Acting CSA president Willie Basson, who called the restructure a “matter of urgency” and hoped for the restructuring plans to be put in place in the annual board meeting, said after the meeting that they have largely followed the Nicholson Committee recommendations.”I believe we have stayed close to the Nicholson recommendations and, where we have deviated, it is easily defendable.”We will now take the Board decisions to all our relevant stakeholders, and I’m confident that we are on target to implement all our decisions in time for our annual general meeting in October this year.”Meanwhile, the disciplinary hearing of Majola, who had been among the 40 CSA staff who received R4.7million ($ 671,428) as bonuses after successfully hosting the IPL and the Champions Trophy in 2009, is set to be completed by mid-October.”The legal process is also well on track and the disciplinary hearing of Gerald Majola should be completed by mid-October,” Basson said. The bonuses scandal came to light in July 2010 and various bureaucratic delays extended the final hearing, which was initially scheduled to be completed by May 31 this year.

Alviro Petersen removed some of the pressure that had been heaped on him from without by focusing on his own game at Headingley

Firdose Moonda07-Aug-2012One name has dominated the post mortems at Headingley: Pietersen. Not Petersen.Although the latter scored more runs than the former, his was not as fierce, in style or in message. Kevin Pietersen may not be playing for England much longer, although that has little to do with the runs he posted at Leeds, but Alviro Petersen took a big step to cementing his place in the South Africa XI and it had everything to do with his innings.Petersen’s 182 came in tough circumstances after South Africa were asked to bat against a four-pronged pace attack and under skies that can become cloudy as quickly as Pietersen changes his mind. After totalling just 42 runs in the four innings on tour before the match, including a duck at The Oval, Petersen was under pressure from outside and owed something to himself.As he had done in Kolkata, Cape Town and Wellington, he delivered again. This time he exceeded those previous occasions and showed why he had never stopped belonging in international cricket, despite what was being said.Ask any one of South Africa’s team management – and the answer they give may sound rehearsed because it is something they feel compelled to say – and they will tell you Petersen was never in danger of losing his place. Allan Donald went as far as to say that Petersen was “not far away from putting it all together” after he made two low scores, of 10 and 11, against Worcestershire.Ask many outside that circle and they will say Petersen was on the edge and had to haul himself back before he fell off.Ask Petersen himself and the answer you get is philosophical but defiant. “I feel under pressure in every game,” he said. Why? “Because I am always one innings away from the media getting on my case.”At times, Petersen has been dealt an unfair hand and this was probably one of those times. Having scored an impressive hundred against New Zealand just two Tests before Headingley, he should not have been under scrutiny. Why he was is a combination of being one of the newer players, being the least known of the top five and having had a lean tour, despite only one bad Test.He must have known that expectation changes and grows in every series a cricketer plays in. He handled it by looking inward before looking out and it paid off. “Even though I hadn’t spent a lot of time in the middle, in the nets I had really worked hard,” he said. “I felt really good about my batting. I didn’t even practice the day before because I felt like I was in a good space. It was all about mental stuff.”For one of the most junior members of the side to be allowed to miss a training session is a sign that Gary Kirsten has placed the responsibility on the players to decide how best to ready themselves for a match. Petersen chose to strategise instead of hit more balls and in so doing, came up with his own set of tactics.Although he played a missed at a large number of deliveries, he did not let that distract him. “It was always a case of getting through that and focusing on the next ball. You are going to play and miss,” he said. “I knew I had a gameplan and I had to stick to that.”Withstanding and counterattacking were the main tenets of Petersen’s innings against an England attack that he felt had also done their homework. “They had different plans for us this time around. I worked that out up front. They were always there and thereabouts. They didn’t give us a lot at all, but when they did we capitalised,” he said.During his almost nine-hour stint at the crease, Petersen strained his hamstring and could not field. He is expected to recover in time for the Lord’s Test and said the injury will not affect his preparations. “I can still bat, it’s just about the running,” he said.A tightly contested drawn second Test has made it difficult to decide who has the mental edge going into the final match. South Africa’s 1-0 lead in the series gives them the overall advantage and Petersen is hopeful they can make it count.”Lord’s is a place you can gear yourself up to play at and we’ve got good memories of Lord’s” he said. South Africa have won three and drawn one of the four matches they have played there since readmission. “I still don’t think there is a lot in it. Most of our batters have scored some runs. Some of them might have wanted to score some more. It will come down to one or two sessions once more.”

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke said there was a great feeling around the squad after their 2-1 series win against Pakistan, a victory all the more special because of the conditions in which the matches were played

Brydon Coverdale04-Sep-2012Australia’s captain Michael Clarke said there was a great feeling around the squad after their 2-1 series win against Pakistan, a victory all the more special because of the conditions in which the matches were played. In sapping heat and humidity, the Australians avoided their first series loss to Pakistan in a decade and Clarke was especially pleased with the way the workload was spread throughout his side.In conditions suited to spin, the fast bowler Mitchell Starc was named Player of the Series for his nine wickets at 15.11; the allrounder Glenn Maxwell impressed on his first international tour, securing the final win in Sharjah with a brisk unbeaten half-century; and Clarke and George Bailey both made valuable contributions with the bat during the series.David Hussey, opening the batting for the first time in his 64 ODIs, helped give Australia a solid start to their chase of 245 with his 43 at nearly a run a ball, but especially impressive was the form of his brother. At 37, Michael Hussey was the oldest man in the squad but showed no signs of slowing down in the heat, and his 65 in the third match – his second half-century of the series – set up Australia’s three-wicket victory.”As captain of this team and the Test team it’s important for me to have a mix of youth and experience,” Clarke told reporters in Sharjah after the win. “I think that showed today. You saw Maxwell, who is young and hasn’t played too much cricket, not much fear and go out and play his natural game. But without the experience and knowledge of both the Hussey brothers but especially Michael, we don’t win tonight and we don’t win the series.”I changed the batting order after we fielded. Matthew Wade was a little but tired from fielding but I always had it in my mind that it was going to be an opportunity for a right-left-handed opening combination. I’ve always had confidence in the way David Hussey plays spin bowling, he’s a very good player of spin bowling, but he hadn’t scored too many runs on this tour.”I thought if he opened the batting it will leave him a couple of overs to see the new ball before spin plays a part. I guess that’s why I took that risk opening with him. As he showed, he’s a class player and got a good start. We knew the first ten overs were going to be crictical to set the game up. The ball was hard, only two fielders out. We knew the first ten overs we had to be positive. Then it was left to the individual to play their natural game.”The Australians managed to handle Saeed Ajmal’s spin well enough to win the match, although he again proved Pakistan’s most dangerous bowler with 3 for 37. Throughout the series, Pakistan did not have a fast man who had the impact of Starc, who had played only eight ODIs before the series began, and fought off a minor chest injury suffered during the second match to 4 for 51 in the third game.”He’s had a great series and deserves Man of the Series,” Clarke said. “In these conditions there hasn’t been much for the fast bowlers at all. As a batter you look forward to facing fast bowlers at any opportunity. He deserves a lot of credit. He’s made the most of his opportunity. He’s been fighting hard for a spot in this Australian one-day team for a while now and I think he’s grabbed it with both hands.”Starc will be part of Australia’s T20 squad for the three matches coming up over the next week, and there will be a slight changeover in personnel, with Shane Watson, Cameron White, Ben Hilfenhaus, Pat Cummins and the 41-year-old Brad Hogg joining the squad. Clarke, who does not play T20 internationals, will head home along with several other players, but he believes the group will be parting on a high.”The feeling around the group is a great feeling at the moment, especially after losing 4-0 to England,” he said. “The guys should be really proud of this series. It was a tough victory against a very good one-day team in Pakistan.”We worked really hard before coming on this series. We were up in Darwin as a team and worked hard against spin bowling. We found conditions so different to what we tried to prepare for up in Darwin, especially in the heat. I’ve never played in heat like this, in humidity like this. The most pleasing thing is the whole series was won by the whole team, it wasn’t one individual player.”

Sri Lanka have consistently reached the final stages of world tournaments in recent years but have failed to win one. The expectations this time are huge

Andrew Fernando in Colombo03-Oct-2012Something about major tournaments stokes Sri Lanka’s fire. They have now reached their fifth semi-final in six competitions, second only to Pakistan who have a cleansweep since the 2007 World Cup. In between the major events, they are often underwhelming. Before defeating Pakistan in the home ODIs in June, Sri Lanka had failed to collect silverware in six limited-overs series over 10 months.Yet they have emerged frontrunners once more. The batting that so often seems fragile against quality bowling has grown a steely backbone. The middle order, abounding in youth, has bared its teeth as well. When England muscled past the top three on Monday, they stumbled into an ambush. The youngsters may not yet have acquired the heavy weaponry their seniors deal in, but they have enough switchblades and brass knuckles between them, and the audacity to dare anyone to a fight. Pakistan’s wounds from their last scrap at the Premadasa may not yet have healed.Sri Lanka’s bowling has been their strength, but occasionally it has been made to look brittle by opponents who have cracked its unorthodoxy. With three allrounders now among their ranks, Sri Lanka have stockpiled resources capable of stepping in for ailing front-liners. Thisara Perera has had a career-defining 12 months with the ball, but he has been held in reserve during this tournament in that regard. Others like Akila Dananjaya have emerged to add mettle to an attack that has reclaimed some of the fearsomeness it surrendered since the 2011 World Cup.Sri Lanka also understand they must win the title to appease a fan base that has been spoilt by the team’s consistency in major tournaments. Having come so close so many times, nothing but a victory in the final will do for most. But first Sri Lanka must overcome Pakistan, whose zest for the grand stage may be even keener than their own.”We are still two games away from the title, but we’re extremely proud to be a part of a group that has been consistent throughout these tournaments,” Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene said on the eve of the semi-final. “When you look back, even though we haven’t won, for us to be in those situations and have pushed hard is great. Yes, we haven’t won any of those [tournaments] and it’s a bit of a disappointment, but we have to be in those situations and if we keep getting there we will win.”Sri Lanka arrive at the semi finals as the only team of the remaining four not to have played a match at the Premadasa. They have a poor Twenty20 record in Colombo, having failed to win any of the four matches played here, though each of those results came before the square was re-laid in 2010.Sri Lanka began their campaign on the fastest track of the tournament in Hambantota, and adjusted quickly to a slightly less bouncy track in Pallekele. As the only team that will play at all three venues, they need to adapt once again in Colombo. However, Sri Lanka’s strength in and against spin should assist them at the venue that has produced the driest surfaces of the competition.Given some of the best players of spin in the world are in Sri Lanka’s top six, Pakistan are unlikely to send down 18 overs of slow bowling, as they did against Australia on Wednesday. “They’ve got some quality spinners, but our guys play spin quite well,” Jayawardene said. “We need to look at what kind of wicket we get tomorrow. It looks a fresh wicket, one where the first-round games were played. Depending on how the wicket behaves we need to take a few tactical changes. If we make any plans we have to play accordingly.”Throughout the campaign, Sri Lanka and their captain have worn the desperation of men striving to taste World Cup success. The nation’s cricket identity is inextricably linked to a single World Cup, as any builder, beggar, businessman or priest reminiscing about 1996 will attest. Perhaps for the first time in the last decade, Sri Lanka have no weak links; every facet of their game has roared to life in the Super Eights and those flames will only burn hotter in the belly of a heaving Premadasa.

New South Wales scrambled to victory over Queensland on the final morning of the Sheffield Shield match in Canberra, guided most of the way by Brad Haddin

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2012
Scorecard
New South Wales scrambled to victory over Queensland on the final morning of the Sheffield Shield match in Canberra, guided most of the way by Brad Haddin.Resuming at 4 for 48, the Blues lost another three wickets in the pursuit of 98 to win, those of Steve O’Keefe and Haddin falling with 10 runs still required. But Sean Abbott struck a pair of clean blows to ensure the Blues took all six points, Haddin claiming the match award after his first innings of 73 and four catches in the match.

Shane Watson’s gradual slide down the order is set to continue with Ricky Ponting’s replacement expected to take over the No.3 position

Brydon Coverdale04-Dec-2012Shane Watson’s gradual slide down the order is set to continue with Ricky Ponting’s replacement expected to take over the No.3 position. Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur said that while the full selection panel had not yet discussed who would take Ponting’s place for the Hobart Test against Sri Lanka starting in ten days, he and the captain Michael Clarke had a potential replacement in mind who would be best suited to first drop.That would mean Clarke could stay at No.5 and Michael Hussey at No.6, but Watson would need to drift down to No.4 to accommodate the new man. Watson is Australia’s vice-captain and a key man in their plans to regain the Ashes next year, but his role in the side is evolving and having spent two and a half years as an opener, he moved to No.3 after his season-ending injury last summer allowed Ed Cowan and David Warner to become the Test openers.”We haven’t even discussed it yet [as a full selection panel], so I’m obviously putting a personal opinion. Without wanting to name names, it will probably be a guy who will come in and bat three and possibly a move for Watto at four,” Arthur said of Ponting’s replacement. “It just looks right and gives us a bit of stability.”Michael and I, once we see who that guy is – and we’ve got in our minds who we think the guy is, but we still need to discuss that as a selection panel – and then sit down in Hobart next Monday when we arrive there and we’ll make a decision on what our preferred batting order is going to be.”Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja are the leading candidates for a recall to the Test side, although it is not out of the question that Rob Quiney could be given another opportunity after failing in the first two Tests against South Africa. Whoever is included, they will need to provide Australia with a stability that the recent No.3s have not. The only century scored at first drop by an Australian since Ponting moved down the order was Shaun Marsh’s debut ton in Sri Lanka last year.Since the end of the 2009-10 summer, Australia have used five men at No.3 – Ponting, Watson, Marsh, Khawaja and Quiney – for a combined average of 26.38. Since Cowan and Warner came together as an opening pair on the Boxing Day last year, the Nos. 4 to 6 have provided Australia with nearly twice as many runs as the top three – a tally of 2861 from the middle order compared to 1483 from the top order.”Cowan and Warner showed us glimpses this series,” Arthur said. “I thought they were good in patches, but we need a lot more consistency, especially from our top four because we know at five and six we’ve got the best batsman in the world going into this Test match [Clarke] and Mr Cricket in Huss. We know that we’re really well covered at five and six. We just need one, two, three and four to be giving us a really good platform and that’s something we’ll have a look at.”When you’re looking at Cowan, you’re looking at Warner, you’re looking at whoever comes in again and then Watto, there’s no massive amount of Test caps there when you take Watto aside. You’ve got to give those guys time to grow and be a little bit more consistent. They’ve shown us they’ve got the goods, we’ve just got to be patient with them.”Australia must swiftly move on to their next challenge, a three-Test series against Sri Lanka, and then they face a tour of India ahead of back-to-back Ashes campaigns. Despite the top-order struggles and injuries to key fast bowlers, Arthur is happy with Australia’s progress as they approach what will be one of the most important years of Test cricket in the side’s recent history.”If I look over the past year and I go back to the Test match we had in Hobart where we lost to New Zealand, that was a time for real reflection and a time for change and I think as a Test unit we can take a lot of pride from what we’ve done over the last year and I certainly think we were in a far better place now than we were this time last year,” Arthur said. “We’ve just got to keep building. We’ve got a big series now against Sri Lanka and we’ve got to keep building through that.”We’ve got a real tough series in India and that is followed by obviously what is the ultimate and that’s the Ashes. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got a settled unit, very clear on what their roles are come those big Tests that lie ahead of us. But I’m still really happy we’re going in the right direction.”

David Warner is increasingly coming to terms with the greater responsibility he’s had to shoulder in the Australian side

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne24-Dec-2012If Australia’s rotation policy was extended to batsmen, David Warner would be the first man rested. Warner made his Test debut on December 1 last year, and hasn’t missed an international match since. Not a Test. Not a one-day international. Not a Twenty20. During that time, Australia have played 51 games across all formats, and Warner has been part of all 51. Matthew Wade is second on the list with 45. Mitchell Starc, who will endure a forced rest during the Boxing Day Test, has played less than half. If Warner was a fast bowler, his “fatigue index” would be off the charts.As it was, Warner struggled towards the end of last summer when the workload of three formats began to take its toll. The intensity and constancy of international cricket caught Warner somewhat by surprise. After a hectic home summer of six Tests and a one-day tri-series, Warner has toured the West Indies, England and Ireland, the UAE and Sri Lanka, as well as fulfilling IPL commitments in India and Champions League duties in South Africa. Players of the past were lucky to visit that many countries in their entire careers.It wasn’t just the on-field activities that left Warner fatigued. He learned quickly that his life away from the game would have to change with his greater cricket responsibilities.”It’s so busy,” Warner said of his first year as a Test, ODI and T20 player. “It’s about keeping a clear mind and trying to be as fresh as I can. I’ve had to watch little things like picking the right time to go out and enjoy yourself with your mates or have a beer with the guys. It’s important, that stuff, and I probably didn’t realise how much actual cricket I was playing and the intensity.”I was a bit worn down last year. In the 12 one-dayers that we played I didn’t score any runs in the first six or seven games. I had to walk away a little bit and just say to myself that I had to clear my mind. I had put a little bit of pressure on myself thinking that you can come out and score runs every game but you can’t.”I came out and scored a hundred in Queensland and a hundred in Adelaide. Here I am almost a year later I have not missed a game. Touch wood I can keep going and keep scoring runs for Australia. I’m feeling better than I was last year. It does become mentally exhausting not being able to see your mates and enjoy yourself at home in the periods like this. But we choose this sport, we love this sport and I love doing it.”Warner’s omnipresence in the national side over the past year has made him a leader in the squad, regardless of his relative inexperience. Last summer, he was handed the temporary vice-captaincy of the one-day team and although the leadership was given to Ricky Ponting instead of Warner when Michael Clarke was injured, the coach Mickey Arthur spoke of Warner as the kind of person who could lead Australia in any format in future.When Ponting retired from all international cricket after the Perth Test against South Africa, Arthur spoke to some of the Test players about needing to step into leadership roles in the absence of Australia’s most experienced player. Warner was one of those men.”I’m playing all three forms so I should be considering myself as a leader,” Warner said. “They’ve had a word to me about trying to be the senior person now and trying to set standards of our Australian way. Whether we’re doing a fielding drill or we’re batting out the back, just keep in mind that we’re training our backsides off and make sure everyone’s doing the right thing.”For Warner, that is as much the case when he is at the crease as anything. The opening partnership between Warner and Ed Cowan has developed to the point where they have scored the most runs of any opening pair in Test cricket during the past year. Warner remains the kind of player who can demolish an attack, a trait that the Australian camp does not wish to alter, but he also knows that there are times for patience. Cowan helps him identify those moments.”Ed’s the type of guy, he takes the brains out there in the middle with us,” Warner said. “He’s the one who keeps me cool. He can identify periods where if I’m going and it’s close to lunch, he’ll just say to me ‘still play your shots but just be mindful that lunch is around the corner’. You need the brains there. He’s a guy who’s very smart. I reckon he’s too smart for cricket.”He keeps a cool head out there all the time. When he’s under pressure he finds a way to block out everything that’s around him and just bat. Ed has just shown himself with his character and the strong mind that he has, that he can just block the littlest things out. It’s an amazing thing to have him at the other end to help guide you through.”Warner and Cowan first came together on Boxing Day last year, when Cowan debuted as the replacement for the axed Phillip Hughes. In the corresponding match this summer, Hughes will slot in behind them at No.3. As a unit, the trio hopes to settle into a rhythm that can take Australia through next year’s tours of India and England and the home Ashes that follows, and Warner said the top-order men would be setting themselves exacting standards.”The most important thing for us [is] getting through that tough [new-ball] period,” he said. “If we can get through to lunch without losing more than one wicket, we think that our job’s been done. It’s about consolidating and going on with it and trying to get big hundreds. If we’re facing 200 balls we should be a hundred. If we can keep meeting our own standards we should be fine.”