Spinner Hauritz left out of Australian Test squad

SYDNEY: Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz was the major omission when the Australian squad was reduced to 13 players on Saturday for next week's opening Ashes Test against England in Brisbane.

Hauritz made way for younger spinners, left-arm wrist-spinner Xavier Doherty and leg-spinner Steven Smith.

Hauritz has played 17 Tests and taken 63 wickets at an average of almost 35. If Doherty, 27, is chosen to play in next Thursday's match it will be his Test debut, while Smith, 21, has played in two Tests.

Selectors last Monday named an initial 17-man squad and said that four players would be cut from the selection this weekend after assessing the form of the contenders in England's tour match against Australia A and three Sheffield Shield games.

"Nathan Hauritz is one of these players omitted and he can consider himself unlucky as his Australian record has been very good over the past 12 months," chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said.

"However the panel believes the left-arm orthodox variety Xavier Doherty provides against a predominantly right-handed English batting middle-order is the better option in this game."

Batsmen Callum Ferguson and Usman Khawaja along with paceman Ryan Harris were the other players left out of the squad.

"Callum and Usman are both wonderful young players who we believe will play a big role for Australian cricket moving forward but on this occasion the experienced middle order has been preferred," Hilditch said.

"We felt Ryan Harris needed further time to recover from his knee injury and also believe the four fast bowlers we have selected are in good form and will be key weapons for us winning the Ashes Series this summer."

Hilditch said he believes his panel has chosen a strong and well balanced squad, selected specifically with the conditions in Brisbane in mind.

"The squad contains a number of experienced Test players and some exciting young talent and we firmly believe it has the ability to win the first Test of the Ashes Series in Brisbane," he said.

England regained the Ashes in last year's series in England, but have not won a series in Australia since Mike Gatting's team of 1986/87.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin, Mike Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shane Watson.

Read more: Spinner Hauritz left out of Australian Test squad - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Spinner-Hauritz-left-out-of-Australian-Test-squad/articleshow/6958290.cms#ixzz15nK0tonB

Wet outfield delays India-New Zealand Nagpur Test

NEW DELHI: The third and final Test of the three-match series between India and New Zealand has been delayed due to wet outfield at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur.

There's been plenty of rain over the past few days in Nagpur because of which the outfield is a bit wet, particularly around the boundary. The only good news is there was no overnight rain.

Umpire Simon Taufel said in his TV interview that the area from fine-leg to third man is quite damp and we will keep on checking the conditions with the groundstaff.

After not being able to break the deadlock in the first two Tests in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad respectively, the Indian team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be looking to go all out for an elusive victory against the New Zealanders at Nagpur.

Even Daniel Vettori-led Black Caps would also be aiming to script a historic away series win against India. This will also be the last chance, before the World Cup, for Sachin Tendulkar to complete his historic 50th Test ton in front of his countrymen.

If Tendulkar fails to reach the three figure mark in Nagpur, he would still have a chance to reach the milestone in South Africa. But completing the half century of Test tons in front of his countrymen would surely be extra special.

Skipper Dhoni will also expect that he gets a strip where it won't take his team "10 days" to extract a result.

With the curator promising a sporting wicket, the bowling combination for India will be the bone of contention during the next five days. With team's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan ruled out due to injury, there will be an additional pressure on senior pro Harbhajan Singh to shoulder the burden of leading the attack.

Harbhajan may have had the most memorable time wielding his willow to good effect, having scored back-to-back centuries with a total of 295 runs in the series but he hasn't been able to bother the New Zealand batsmen with the ball.

Agreed he didn't get much purchase from the previous two strips but one can't deny the fact that his bowling nowadays lacks the bite he used to have earlier on sub-continent pitches.

With Zaheer not there, it will be Ishant Sharma who will be back in the playing XI sharing the new ball with S Sreesanth. Ishant, who has been very erratic of late with persistent problems of overstepping, did bowl a good spell on the fourth day morning against Australia in Mohali before he was ruled out for the next Test in Bangalore.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been one of the better bowlers for India in this series. Not only has he bowled long spells but also kept a tight check on the batsmen at times.

The batting department also has some worrying points. The skipper himself hasn't contributed anything with the bat in recent Test matches and he should be feeling the heat of trying to set an example by leading from the front with a solid performance.

Nor has Suresh Raina, who had an impressive debut in Sri Lanka and scored 80-plus in the first innings against Australia in Mohali, hasn't done much after that. Raina's weakness against short-pitched deliveries are now a well-known and teams are trying to cash in on that.

Among the top-order batsmen, only Virender Sehwag who has already scored 324 runs looks in ominous form. A lot will depend on the kind of start the Nawab of Najafgarh will provide. Another positive aspect has been Gautam Gambhir's half century in the Hyderabad Test.

The Delhi lad who hasn't been in the best of forms this season looked like getting back some of his touch which augurs well for his team.

VVS Laxman who is in sublime touch will also like to keep up the good work.

The New Zealand team, on the other hand, would be expecting to do the basics right, something they have done, showing exemplary discipline. That the Kiwis batsmen have done their homework was evident in the manner in which they have displayed remarkable application.

Brendon McCullum who scored a superb double hundred in Hyderabad Test, would like to do an encore in Nagpur.

The bowling sans skipper Vettori isn't something they would boast of but nevertheless, the two draws would definitely keep them in good stead.

Squad:

India: MS Dhoni(capt and wk), V Sehwag, R Dravid, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, A Mishra, PP Ojha, CA Pujara, SK Raina, I Sharma, S Sreesanth, SR Tendulkar, JD Unadkat, M Vijay

New Zealand: DL Vettori(capt), BJ Arnel, JEC Franklin, MJ Guptill, GJ Hopkins (wk), BB McCullum, TG McIntosh, AJ McKay, CS Martin, JS Patel, JD Ryder, TG Southee, LRPL Taylor, BJ Watling, KS Williamson

Umpires: Nigel Llong and Simon Taufel.

Third Umpire: Sanjay Hazare.

Read more: Wet outfield delays India-New Zealand Nagpur Test - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/new-zealand-in-india/top-stories/Wet-outfield-delays-India-New-Zealand-Nagpur-Test/articleshow/6958507.cms#ixzz15nJSyXCW