Tag Futebol

Netherlands began their campaign at the World Twenty20 Qualifiers with a six-wicket win over Canada at the Dubai International stadium.

Cricinfo staff09-Feb-2010

ScorecardNetherlands began their campaign at the World Twenty20 Qualifiers with a six-wicket win over Canada at the Dubai International stadium. Netherland’s batting echoed their strong allround bowling performance, as Bas Zuiderent built on a solid 57-run opening partnership to guide his side home in the 20th over with an unbeaten 43.Canada soon had reason to rue their decision to bat first this afternoon, as John Davison drove Edgar Schiferli uppishly and into the hands of a diving Tom de Grooth at cover in the first over. Rizwan Cheema then edged Mudassar Bukhari onto his own helmet attempting a pull and was forced to retire injured.After these early setbacks, Hiral Patel – the 18-year-old batsman whose unbeaten 88 powered Canada’s win over Ireland in the Associates T20 Series prior to this tournament – combined well with Geoff Barnett, adding 60 in quick time to steady the Canadian innings. Barnett, who was particularly strong off the front foot today, opened his innings with three fours off Schiferli and dominated the partnership with some aggressive strokeplay.Barnett was unafraid to loft anything pitched up to him over the off side, but ultimately paid the price for his confidence as he picked out de Grooth on the cover boundary off the left-arm spin of Pieter Seelaar. Patel fell in the very next over to a stunning catch by Daan van Bunge off his own bowling, but Ian Billcliff carried on the momentum with a belligerent 37 on Twenty20 debut. Canada’s innings fizzled out after his dismissal, and they will have been disappointed to have scored only 142 after an enterprising effort from their middle order.Alexei Kervezee and Eric Szwarczynski smashed six boundaries between them in the first 13 balls of Netherlands’ chase, and had raced to 50 in the first five overs before Khurram Chohan clung on to a chance at mid off to get rid of Szwarczynski. Kervezee then failed to pick up John Davison’s doosra and was neatly stumped by Bagai, but with the required run rate under a run-a-ball, Zuiderent and Peter Borren had time to play themselves in.After Borren’s run out, Ryan ten Doeschate gave Zuiderent admirable support with a breezy 17, and though he fell off the final ball of the penultimate over, Zuiderent sealed the win by lofting a full toss from Chohan to the long off boundary. After a day of upsets in which USA and UAE prevailed in their games against more experienced opposition, the result here was the expected one and Netherlands will take some confidence into their fixture tomorrow.

Match facts

January 10, 2010
Start time 1400 (0800 GMT)Tillakaratne Dilshan has recovered from his groin injury and is set to return•AFP

Big picture

You heard it right. India and Sri Lanka are playing an ODI. Again. For the 21st time in less than 19 months. Not even a final. Nor has this been a back-and-forth rivalry that the marketing gurus might be interested in milking. Ever since their Asia Cup final win in 2008, Sri Lanka have been on the receiving end, thumped in three bilateral series, and also the tri-series final in Sri Lanka. The 12-7 scoreline in India’s favour says as much.In fact, any significance this fixture is likely to earn will be down to the next match, and whether Bangladesh can catch India on the hop twice in a row. If Monday’s match between India and Bangladesh goes down the expected route, this one on Sunday will only take familiarity one step closer to contempt. India, though, will not want to leave it till the Bangladesh match, and Sri Lanka will like to keep that winning feeling going, something they have started to feel consistently after a long time.On the other hand, if the captains feel adventurous – and Kumar Sangakkara is more likely to, because he is assured of the final berth – they could choose to bat first and get some practice of bowling with a bar of soap. Yes, the matches are being won and lost at the toss, but the teams will want to try and do all they can to reverse the result if they lose the toss in the final.

Form guide (last 5 completed matches, most recent first)

Sri Lanka WWWLL
India WLWWL

Watch out for

Harbhajan Singh had a horrible day in the field against Bangladesh, dropping two catches and going for 56 runs in nine overs. That a game after he was the standout bowler against Sri Lanka. Which Harbhajan will turn up on Sunday?Upul Tharanga has settled the debate as to who should be Tillakaratne Dilshan’s opening partner in ODIs, displacing Sanath Jayasuriya. Now that he is assured of his place, perhaps for the first time in his career, Tharanga seems a completely different batsman. Thanks to his starts, Sri Lanka so far haven’t even missed Dilshan in this series.

Team news

Nor are Sri Lanka likely to miss Dilshan against India. Because Dilshan is all set to return to action, having recovered from his groin strain. That should push Mahela Jayawardene, who scored a century while opening against Bangladesh, down into the middle order, where he will meet another centurion, Thilan Samaraweera.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt./wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Thilina Kandamby, 7 Thissara Perera, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Thilan Thushara, 11 Malinga BandaraIndia could retain the XI that beat Bangladesh.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt./wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8, Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Sreesanth

Stats and trivia

• Twenty of India’s last 46 ODIs have been against Sri Lanka. Only 12 of those 46 have been outside the subcontinent. Their next most frequent opponent has been Australia, against whom they have played seven games.
• Jayawardene averages 62.5 as an opener. Two of his 12 ODI centuries have come during his four attempts at opening the innings.
  

  Quotes

  “We were disappointed to lose the ODI series [in India] as we played some very good cricket there. Both the teams have played a lot recently and probably both knew each other inside out. I am looking forward to the match on Sunday.”
  “Not a single frontline bowler was up to the mark. Only Yuvraj Singh bowled well. We cannot take Ravindra Jadeja as a frontline bowler, but he bowled well.”

England’s top One-Day International wicket-taker and appearance maker Clare Taylor says she still has lots to offer, even at the age of 37

Matthew Appleby25-Dec-2009England’s top One-Day International wicket-taker and appearance maker Clare Taylor says she still has lots to offer, even at the age of 37.At the top of England’s batting averages, which “possibly puts our tournament into perspective,” tail-ender Taylor, the oldest player at Lincoln, still opens England’s bowling 14 years after her debut.In New Zealand since November, the medium-paced seamer hopes to emigrate after completing a year’s teacher-training course beginning in September. She has an honorary MA from Hull University and a degree in Geography.”I quite like the lifestyle and the people are absolutely brilliant. That’s the long-term plan after cricket.”Not that she plans to retire soon.”At 37 I don’t really think I should still be playing a part in the team, some of the youngsters have really got to take it by the scruff of the neck and say ‘I want your place, I’m good enough, I want your place and I’m going to take it’. It’s great for me, but I feel for the state of the English game that the youngsters need to take it on a bit more and say I want your place rather for me to say I’ll call it a day.”Opening the batting for Otago, Taylor is topping the averages.”It’s just good to be out here in the middle getting bat on ball rather than in the nets in snow-bound Huddersfield.”The “usual suspects” have performed in the tournament, though England’s squad has been together for two years since the World Cup, “its perhaps a little frustrating that we haven’t really gone on.”Taylor, who gave up working for the Royal Mail after 14 years to play for Otago and England in 2002/03, she said she’s not going to be playing cricket for too much longer, but still played a key role in the World Series of Women’s Cricket this January and February at Lincoln, and is set to lead England’s attack in two Tests against Australia later this month.”If we come off the back of this tournament with two good wins under our belts (against India) it will lift the girls, especially the batters and make them feel that they can do it.”I think all we’re looking for is belief. The Kiwis have got it and the Aussies have got it in abundance and I think that’s all we’re lacking – we’re not lacking in talent, it’s turning that talent into runs out on the pitch in the big games, rather than just against lesser teams.”With Australia the pre-eminent team in cricket, Taylor is realistic about the task ahead. She is one of the usual suspects who have performed at Lincoln, along with Australia’s Belinda Clark, Karen Rolton and the pacy 100-wicket woman Cathryn Fitzpatrick.”You can imagine Fitzy coming steaming in and trying allsorts, but we’re going to stand solid and see what happens.”Taylor has some of the Australian self-belief, something many of her England colleagues clearly lack.”If I could bottle it, it would be worth a bloody fortune. Week in week out I’ve been training with them and I don’t know what it is, perhaps a psychologist could help. I don’t know whether it’s the British mentality.”An analogy I made it was like the British are driving along and the car goes below a quarter of a tank they panic.”We don’t want to run out of petrol, we’re very conservative, while the Aussies and the Kiwis will probably drive a car until it runs out of petrol, ‘she’ll be right mate, you know, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’ In fact, I asked most of the girls if they’d ever run out of petrol and they said no.”Erring on the side of caution, it’s the British mentality, whereas the Aussies and Kiwis are more laid-back in their lifestyles and more laid back in their cricket and that’s how they get their results. Perhaps we’re a bit in fear of failure.”I find it a bit strange that in the nets everyone bats really well and goes for their shots and don’t seem to have any inhibitions. It seems when we go out into the middle we perhaps go into our shells a little bit.”She said England’s top 48-player Super Fours tournament is giving the game a boost in quality, “because it’s a big leap from county to international level.”I don’t think we’ve gone backwards, because the guy we’ve got on board now, John Harmer, he’s the top guy, he’s guided the Aussies too, I just love listening to him, hang on his every word, because he makes it all sound so simple.”While Taylor has had to work throughout her career until this season, many of the England players have started to make a living from the game.”The money’s there. The ECB’s been backing us to the hilt and a lot of the girls have got lottery funding as well, so financially there’s no constraints to how much training and practice you can do and with John, you’ve got the guy who’s top of the shop in his field. So you’ve got to look at the individual players and it comes back to self-belief.”Starting playing aged 23, Taylor was inspired by Ian Botham’s mentality. She has starred in Yorkshire’s phenomenal 11 wins out of 12 in the County Championship. Known as Romper, Taylor is now an MBE for services to cricket.She made her ODI debut in the 1988/89 World Cup in Australia and was second top wicket taker in the 2000/01 tournament in New Zealand.Taylor has played 90 ODIs for England at this stage of the World Series and is the first English player to approach 100 wickets.A former soccer player, Taylor, from Huddersfield, became a Sport England sporting ambassador in 1998, promoting healthy lifestyles among the young.”You’ve got to give it your best shot, you can’t go in half-hearted. You’ve got to have the belief you can do it and perhaps if a few more of us have that Botham mentality then we’ll be fine.”

Ricky Ponting was a relieved man at the end of a gripping game in Hyderabad, with Australia taking a 3-2 series lead after Sachin Tendulkar threatened to chase 351

Cricinfo staff07-Nov-2009

The injuries in Australia’s squad have been the negative of the tour of India but the big positive has been the way the secondary players have stood up to help deliver a series lead. One such man was Clint McKay, the Victoria fast bowler who debuted in Hyderabad and finished with 3 for 59 from his ten overs.Particularly impressive was the way he held his nerve in the dying stages of India’s chase, when they needed 19 from 18 balls with four wickets in hand. With the first delivery of the 48th over, McKay deceived Sachin Tendulkar with a slower ball to have him caught at short fine leg for 175.He also played his part in a run-out in the same over, taking the throw from his Victoria captain Cameron White to find Ravindra Jadeja short. McKay sent down several well-directed yorkers that kept the over to three runs and he was especially glad Tendulkar wasn’t still around to guide the chase.”I don’t think there is a good place to bowl to Sachin,” McKay told AAP. “The way he played was sensational, but in the end he didn’t quite get them over the line. We did a good job of containing through the middle overs and finally got a few wickets late in the game.”Ricky Ponting was especially pleased with McKay’s efforts towards the end of the match, when India appeared to be well on top. McKay finished with a better economy rate than the two leaders of the pace attack, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger, and was a key in getting Australia back into the match.”He was very good, he was calm under pressure,” Ponting said. “We had to experiment late in the innings, with lots of different slower balls and things to try and take some wickets. Full credit to Clint, he executed things really well, a really good debut on that sort of wickets, I think he ended up with 3 for 50-odd off his ten, and that’s as good as anyone.”It has been a whirlwind week for McKay, who was called in to the squad when Brett Lee flew home and had never before met some of his Australia team-mates. His recent performance in the Champions League Twenty20 gave McKay a good idea of the conditions in India, and he was determined to enjoy himself regardless of how his first ODI unfolded.”From being over here in the Champions League, Shane Harwood and Damien Wright, senior guys for Victoria, said no matter what happens just have smile on your face, walk back to your mark and do it again,” he said. “There’s going to be days when they hit fours and sixes, the batsman is allowed to play a good shot.”As it turned out, McKay had good reason to smile. He could well have jumped a couple of places in Australia’s list of fast bowlers but he knows that it will be tough to force his way into the side during Australia’s home summer.”You hope,” he said. “The guys out from injury will come back in the side, there is always a pecking order, but as soon as you get an opportunity you have to make the most of it so when another one comes you are top of the list again. I am realistic about the way things are.”

أكدت نصرة عيد عبد الملك، لاعبة الفريق الأول لكرة اليد «سيدات» بالنادي الأهلي، أن الفوز الذي تحقق على الزمالك في بطولة الدوري يمنح اللاعبات دوافع كبيرة في الموسم الجديد.

وأوضحت في تصريحات رسمية لموقع النادي الأهلي، أن فريق سيدات اليد كان لديه إصرار كبير على تقديم كل ما يمكن في الملعب من أجل الفوز، واللاعبات ظهرن بمستوى يؤكد رغبتهن القوية في التتويج بكل البطولات في الموسم الجاري.

وأشارت إلى أن فريق سيدات يد الأهلي مقبل على العديد من التحديات، وتعاهدن قبل بداية الموسم على بذل الجهد والعطاء لحصد كل البطولات.

اقرأ ايضا..خاص | صفقة تبادلية بين الأهلي وسبورتنج في كرة اليد 

وفي ختام حديثها عبرت اللاعبة عن خالص تمنياتها بالشفاء العاجل للكابتن محمد عادل المدير الفني، الذي تعرض لوعكة صحية شديدة عقب نهاية المباراة.

من جانبها، عبرت التونسية سعيدة رجب لاعبة الفريق الأول لكرة اليد سيدات بالنادي الأهلي، عن سعادتها بالفوز الذي تحقق على حساب الزمالك أمس السبت في إطار منافسات بطولة الدوري.

وأشارت إلى أنها كانت واثقة من قدرة سيدات يد الأهلي على الظهور بشكل مميز وتحقيق الفوز الذي تراه خطوة مهمة في بداية مشوارها مع الأحمر.

وأضافت أن فريق سيدات يد الأهلي تفوق على الزمالك من حيث الأداء والنتيجة، وأن الفوز يمنح دوافع كبيرة لتحقيق المزيد من الانتصارات خلال المباريات المقبلة وصولا إلى الفوز بكل البطولات في الموسم الحالي.

وكان فريق سيدات يد الأهلي قد حقق الفوز على الزمالك بنتيجة 34-22، في المباراة التي أقيمت على صالة الأمير عبد الله الفيصل بمقر النادي بالجزيرة.

With Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side heading into today’s Scottish Premiership fixture on a run of seven consecutive games without defeat, the 56-year-old Hoops manager would have undoubtedly been hoping to maintain this record when the Bhoys’ made the trip to Dundee.

And two goals each from Kyogo Furuhashi and Jota would ensure that Celtic saw this unbeaten run stretch to eight fixtures, with the Hoops running out 4-2 victors at the Kilmac Stadium – a result which takes the Bhoys back up to second in the Premiership standings.

However, while the two Celtic goalscorers undoubtedly deserve credit for their respective performances against the Dark Blues, the display of central midfielder David Turnbull should not be overlooked, as the 22-year-old was influential from the middle of the park in the Hoops victory on Sunday.

Eight key passes

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch this afternoon, the £4.5m-rated man stole the show for Celtic, enjoying 100 touches of the ball, completing 67 passes, finding his man with five of his nine attempted crosses and four of his six attempted long balls, as well as making a rather extraordinary eight key passes.

The £14k-per-week midfielder also created two big chances for his teammates, in addition to making one interception, one tackle and winning four duels – with his returns seeing him earn a SofaScore match rating of 8.2, a score which was only bettered by Jota and Kyogo.

Indeed, with Tom Rogic currently being out of the side due to injury, Postecoglou will be delighted that the man who the 56-year-old himself dubbed an “outstanding” talent has stepped up to the creative plate within his side.

And, with Bayer Leverkusen up next for the Bhoys, the Greek-Australian manager will certainly be hoping the 22-year-old can continue this form after the international break, or else Celtic’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League could well be all but over.

In other news: Lost 100% duels: £15k-p/w Celtic beast who’s “not aggressive enough” failed Ange today

MatériaMais Notícias

Fazia tempo que o torcedor do São Paulo não via um gol como o de Cueva no triunfo por 2 a 1 sobre o Vitória no último domingo em Salvador. E não é só pelo jejum do camisa 10, que não atravessava boa fase, e não marcava desde 29 de julho, na vitória por 4 a 3 sobre o Botafogo. É que olímpico como foi, o Tricolor não anotava há 21 anos.

O registro é feito pelo Arquivo Histórico do São Paulo, sob a responsabilidade do historiador Michael Serra e foi divulgado no site oficial do clube. De acordo com as contas, o tento de Cueva foi apenas o sétimo da história do Tricolor partindo direto do escanteio.

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A última vez que os são-paulinos presenciaram um gol olímpico a favor do time foi no dia 27 de janeiro de 1996, na última partida sob comando do técnico Telê Santana, morto em 2006. Na ocasião, o São Paulo empatou com o Rio Branco, em Americana, por 1 a 1 em jogo do Paulistão. O gol foi do lateral-esquerdo Guilherme.

O primeiro registro de um gol realizado diretamente de uma cobrança de escanteio, de acordo com o historiador do São Paulo, é de 6 de julho de 1941, quando o jogador Mendes abriu o marcador para o Tricolor contra o Espanha, no Pacaembu, na vitória por 4 a 2 pelo Campeonato Paulista.

O gol de Cueva foi no segundo tempo e decretou a vitória são-paulina. Ele cobrou escanteio da esquerda. Antes, bateu da direita para Militão abrir o placar. O peruano entrou no intervalo.

Veja a relação de todos os gols olímpicos conhecidos na história são-paulina:

DATACOMPETIÇÃOLOCAL ADVERSÁRIOGOLAUTOR
06.07.41PaulistaPacaembu4X2Espanha-SP1-0 / Mendes
17.01.43AmistosoPacaembu3X3Juventus-SP2-3 / Pardal
02.12.51PaulistaPacaembu1X2Santos-SP1-2 / Teixeirinha
23.01.63AmistosoNacional L.3X1Municipal-PER1-1 / Nondas
19.06.87LibertadoresMunicipal2X2Colo-Colo-CHL2-1 / Neto
27.01.96PaulistaRiobrancão1X1Rio Branco-SP1-0 / Guilherme
17.09.17BrasileiroBarradão2X1Vitória-BA2-0 / Cueva

Despite Liverpool having a total of five centre-backs in their current senior squad, the fact that Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip have both hit the age of 30 shows that the Reds will need to be thinking about replacing the duo in the next few years.

One player who could well go on to become a regular in the senior Liverpool side at centre-back is 18-year-old Billy Koumetio.

Since joining Liverpool’s under-18 side back in January 2019 from Orleans’ U19s on a free transfer, the defender – who is currently valued at £450,000 by Transfermarkt – has made 21 appearances for the Reds’ under-18 side and 19 for the club’s under-23s.

Koumetio has also made one competitive appearance for Jurgen Klopp’s senior side, which came back in December 2020 during a 1-1 draw against FC Midtjylland.

So far this season, the teenager – who has been described as being a “big talent” by Klopp – has played 90 minutes in all but two Liverpool under-23 games across all competitions, showing just how much of a pivotal figure he is for the underage team.

As James Pearce discussed in an article for The Athletic prior to the 2020/21 campaign, Koumetio “really impressed Klopp” in pre-season and had senior Liverpool players “raving about how good he is”, which is no mean feat considering that the Reds’ first team had ran away with the Premier League with a mammoth 99-point tally just a few weeks earlier.

Looking ahead to the future, we feel that if he can continue playing for the U23s and potentially even have a loan spell out somewhere where he can play regular senior football, he could then go on to become an important figure for Liverpool.

Also, with Matip’s current contract set to expire in 2024, we feel that Koumetio could definitely be in and around the senior squad alongside the likes of Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate by then if he develops his career even further by the time the Cameroonian ends up leaving the club.

Additionally, with the 18-year-old managing to rack up 2.5 clearances per game throughout his appearances in the Football League Trophy this season, mirroring Matip’s 2.5 clearances per game in the Premier League, it shows just how similar the pair are in this regard.

Koumetio still has a way to go in his career until he gets to be a regular figure for the Reds’ first team, but if he keeps working hard, focuses on his game and lives up to the high billing of the more established players at Anfield, there’s every opportunity that he could go on to have a massive future at the Merseyside club.

In other news: 100% ground duels lost: Klopp surely worried about “exceptional” Liverpool gem on loan

Andy Flower celebrates his 41st birthday today, and as he blows out his candles, he will be making a few wishes for the summer ahead. Top of that list will be a successful Ashes campaign, but before that England must overcome West Indies and regain the Wisden Trophy. It’s a challenge they can ill-afford to take lightly.On Wednesday the selectors will announce the squad for the first Test at Lord’s, and it will be Flower’s first real chance to put his imprint on selection. Had he harboured any doubts as to the difficulties of the England coaching post, he was rudely awakened with Andrew Flintoff’s latest injury, which will create further questions at No. 6 to go with the already vexing problem of the No. 3 position and the third fast bowler.The comparison with the England team of four years ago could not be more stark. In 2005, Michael Vaughan’s men were fit, settled (apart from the late inclusion of Kevin Pietersen after Graham Thorpe had faced Bangladesh) and in form. England’s Test squad works in a four-year cycle around the Ashes, but just two months out from the next contest with Australia, it is impossible to predict how many changes will occur between now and July 8.There are the usual two options for replacing Flintoff: either play six frontline batsmen, or an extra bowler. In their most recent Test, against West Indies in Trinidad, England went with the latter option as they sought to level the series. With the recent history of Lord’s being dominated by draws that could be an option again, but six batsmen remains the likelier option in May.That opens the door for Ravi Bopara’s recall in the middle order following his brief appearance in the Caribbean, where he made a maiden century in Barbados. He has been the one English success story at the IPL, and is desperate for another shot in the Test side.”I knew someone was going to miss out in that last Test in Trinidad and I had a feeling it was going to be me, even though I’d just scored a hundred,” Bopara told the . “It was disappointing but you’ve just got to get on with it”I always knew that I could get runs at Test level I just needed that opportunity again. And I was desperate for it. But I knew I had to create it myself. It wasn’t just going to happen. I’m really happy with the way it went and now that Fred’s injured, I’m definitely eyeing up that No6 spot.”Bopara is viewed as the long-term solution at No. 3, but for now the race appears to be between three more senior batsmen – Owais Shah, Ian Bell and Michael Vaughan. Shah, the man in possession, has the most tenuous claims to the position after failing to make the most of his opportunity in West Indies, where he made 133 runs at 22.16 and twice ran himself out. He has also spent the last two weeks on the benches of the IPL while others have been pressing their claims in county cricket.Bell has certainly hit the ground running at the start of the season, responding to the selectors’ call for him to go away and score plenty of runs. After missing out for MCC against Durham, he opened his Championship account with 172 against Somerset (albeit on another road at Taunton) followed by 108 in the Friends Provident Trophy.”It’s fantastic that Belly has come back and hit the ground running, he had a very frustrating tour [in West Indies] to be fair,” Andrew Strauss said. “The one thing we said we wanted from him was hundreds and he’s demonstrated his ability to do that and hopefully it will continue.”As Bell scores runs to nudge the selectors he is trying to fight off the claims of Vaughan. The former England captain had been far less convincing early in the season with scores of 24 for 20 against Durham in the Championship, but managed a timely 82 against Sussex in the Friends Provident Trophy. He has said he wants to be judged on the runs he scores, not his experience, but he holds a central contract and the temptation to bring back the man who masterminded the 2005 success will be great.The selection issue don’t stop there. Down at the other end of the order there is a desperate search for another wicket-taking bowler. If Steve Harmison makes it, the selection will be by default rather than weight of success. Given the way he performed late last summer after an extended spell with Durham, it could be worth leaving him in county cricket for another six weeks and bring him back when the Australians arrive. Ricky Ponting still bares the scar of their Lord’s encounter in 2005.Either way, there is room for at least one more quick in the squad. Harmsion’s team-mate Graham Onions is gaining support after a decent start to the season, while Sajid Mahmood possesses that extra bit of pace and Tim Bresnan, the Yorkshire allrounder, is an outside bet. None, though, are exactly screaming out to be selected. How Flower must wish it was different, but no one said he was going to be easy.Possible squad Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steve Harmison, Sajid Mahmood

The Australians’ low-key arrival into Birmingham on Thursday belied the enormity of the summer that lies in wait

Alex Brown28-May-2009The Australians’ low-key arrival into Birmingham on Thursday belied the enormity of the summer that lies in wait. It also contrasted sharply with the team’s entry four years ago, when an expectant England and a ravenous media created an intimidatory atmosphere that started the moment the players cleared customs and lasted until they boarded their return flight – urn-less – several months later.A turgid series against West Indies and a spate of dispiriting controversies involving the national team has spoiled England’s cricketing appetite of late, although the intensity of the nation will inevitably lift when the World Twenty20 and, more notably, the Ashes approach. But for the veterans of Australia’s last Ashes campaign in England, the subdued nature of Thursday’s team arrival was both surprising and bemusing. And for Justin Langer, currently based in Taunton with Somerset, the lack of fanfare that accompanied Ricky Ponting’s men this time around was particularly jarring.”I suppose my recollection of last time is especially vivid, because I arrived on the day of the London bombings,” Langer told Cricinfo. “I got into Heathrow at 7am, and within a few hours the bombs had gone off. It was an eerie feeling. The entire city felt like a ghost town. But well before that, the guys who arrived for the one-dayers (which preceded the Tests), said it was fever pitch from the moment they stepped off the plane. I’m not quite sure what the reasons are, but this time it seems much more low-key.”Australia’s few survivors from the 2005 Ashes series might have expected hordes of baying England supporters on Thursday, but were instead greeted at Birmingham airport by a modest gathering of journalists and well-wishers. With Manchester United’s Champions League final defeat still commanding blanket coverage in these parts, a Twenty20 squad arrival – even that of Australia – was unlikely to bounce Ronaldo off Fleet Street’s back pages.Still, before decamping to their team hotel, Michael Hussey spoke on behalf of the tourists and provided an intriguing insight into a new-look and evolving side; one that appears to possess little of the hubris and headline-grabbing aggression that defined the Shane Warne-inspired team of four years ago. Shots across bows were replaced by gracious compliments of England’s recent rebuilding efforts under the stewardship of the Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss. Hardly the phony wars of yore.”England have added a lot of depth to their squad over the last couple of years and have got guys playing confident cricket,” Hussey told reporters. “I think it will be a very close series and very challenging for both teams.”There have been a lot of new players coming into the England set-up who have been doing quite well and showing they are good enough to play at international level. That bodes well for England. We have been very impressed. We know they have got a good team, particularly in English conditions. A lot of their guys have improved so I think we are in for a huge challenge this summer.”Hussey looms as a pivotal figure in the forthcoming Ashes series. A veteran of the county circuit, Hussey’s experience in English conditions is immense, and though he is yet to play an Ashes Test away from home, he will be relied upon heavily to play the middle-order anchor role for which he has long been groomed. Potentially compromising those plans, however, has been Hussey’s extended form trough; one selectors have attributed partly to burn-out and sought to remedy by resting him from the recent one-day series against Pakistan in the UAE.Hussey was hopeful the break, plus Australia’s recent infusion of youth, would serve them well over the coming months. “(Australia has) a lot of confidence out of winning the Test series in South Africa,” he said. “We have a mixture of young fresh faces like Phil Hughes, who is so exciting, with a lot of talent, and has done well in his initial time as this level.”We have some good experienced players as well. Hopefully that blend will help us but I think what really matters isn’t whether you are young or old but doing the business out in the middle. That’s all that counts.”