Australian ODI Squad for the West Indies Tour

The Australian selectors have named an ODI squad for the WI tour which starts in March. The ODI squad is the same as the squad for the Commonwealth Bank Series finals beginning next week with the addition of three players in Brad Haddin, Nathan Lyon and George Bailey.

Shane Watson and Mike Hussey come back into the T20 squad to provide a great deal of experience and power to the batting line-up. There was simply no room on this occasion for Shaun Marsh, Travis Birt and Aaron Finch. Additionally, Mitchell Starc has not been selected as a member of this squad. However, Mitchell will travel with this group as a further development opportunity and spend valuable time around the Australian squad in the West Indies. Brad Hogg was also not selected but will still be considered for the T20 World cup squad later.

ODI Squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Shane Watson, George Bailey, Daniel Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Nathan Lyon, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner


Twenty20 Squad: George Bailey (captain), Shane Watson, Daniel Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Nathan Lyon, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner

Match schedule:

ODI Series
Friday, 16 March - 1st ODI at Arnos Vale Cricket Ground, St Vincent
Sunday, 18 March - 2nd ODI at Arnos Vale Cricket Ground, St Vincent
Tuesday, 20 March - 3rd ODI at Arnos Vale Cricket Ground, St Vincent
Friday, 23 March - 4th ODI at Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia
Sunday, 25 March - 5th ODI at Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia

T20 Series
Tuesday, 27 March - 1st T20 at Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia
Friday, 30 March - 2nd T20 at Kensington Oval, Barbados

Redknapp Not The Right Man For The Job

Harry Redknapp may be a top club manager, but he does not have what it takes to be a successful coach at international level for England. This is not some knee-jerk reaction based on what happened at the Emirates on Sunday, it is something I have been thinking about since Harry’s name was immediately mentioned as the top man for the vacant England role. Here’s a look at what has made Harry to be a successful manager at club level and a comparison to what is needed to become a successful national team manager.

Man-management skills

Players that have played under Redknapp say he is a brilliant guy to work with and they enjoy playing in his teams. This is what enables him to bring out the best in his players and develop a great team spirit among his squads. The key to achieving this, is that he works with the players everyday, and they therefore spend a lot of time with him. When Luka Modric wanted to leave the club in the summer, Redknapp convinced the player to stay and he did not sulk.

As an England manager he will get 2 or 3 days maximum to work with the players, after that they will go back to their respective clubs. This will not be enough time to build the relationship he normally has with his players except for at tournaments, where he will have an extended period of time with the players.

The “wheeler dealer”

I know Redknapp does not like to be lumbered with this phrase, but it’s true – he is a master at getting the right player at the right price. I do not know how he does it but he seems to always get it right. Last season he was able to get Rafael van der Vaart at a bargain £7 million, which turned out to be a masterstroke as the Dutchman has become a regular match-winner for Spurs. Add to this the cut-price purchase of Scott Parker – who has been one of the outstanding midfielders in the Premier League this season – the Adebayor loan and the recent signing of Louis Saha, and it’s clear he does good business.

As an England manager he will not be able to sign any new players. The talent pool is very limited and he basically has to work with what he has. He will not be able to make a season-long loan signing to boost the team and will have to rely only on development teams like the Under-21s. Absolutely no wheeling and dealing.

Beautiful winning football

I like to watch Spurs play these days, mainly because of the style of football they play. It is fast paced, attacking football that tears teams apart. It would be great to see England play like that, as their performances were generally dull under the stewardship of Fabio Capello.

But sometimes a team needs to win ugly. Get a 1-0 lead and hold on. The weakness in Harry’s team is that they don’t seem to have a Plan B, and lack the ability to be able to adapt to the opposition. When the side comes up against teams that dominate possession they struggle. The team sometimes needs to absorb pressure before launching attacks, and this is particularly the case in international football. A national team manager must be very good tactically and have a strong defence to rely upon.

It would be nice to see Harry Redknapp as the next England manager but I just don’t think he is the man with the right skills to take the role

Weekend Sport Review!

It was another sports filled weekend. I enjoyed every minute of it as it had many surprises.

Cricket
The most talked about cricketer from the weekend was Richard Levi. The opening batsman scored the 1st ever T20 century by a South Africa as he led the team to a series leveling 8-wicket wins against New Zealand. It was a record breaking innings as he hit 13 massive Sixes, reached his 100 off just 51 balls and became joint highest ever T20 score of 117. The decider will be played on Wednesday.

Ricky Ponting has been dropped from the Australian ODI side after a series of low scores in the ongoing tri-series with India and Sri Lanka. This was surprising because he has been the stand-in skipper in place of the injured Michael Clarke and the team won against India yesterday by 110 runs. The Aussie selectors are ruthless when it comes to dropping players. They do not wait for the end of the series. Shane Watson has been selected in his place. This could be the end of the line for Punter.

FA Cup
The nightmare season for Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal side continued this past weekend. Not only were they knocked out of the FA Cup by Sunderland but more injuries took place. This follows the 4-0 loss they suffered mid-week at the San siro against AC Milan in the Champions League. This was really the only piece of silverware the team had a chance of still winning this season. Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal

PSL & CAF Champions League
Kaizer Chiefs shocked everyone including their fans when they beat Swallows 3-0 at FNB Stadium. This was an unexpected result after their performance against Jomo Cosmos. When we look at how well Swallows had played coming into this fixture.

Sundowns dropped 2 valuable points when they were held to a goalless draw against Cosmos. Ajax Cape town are right back into the fight for league honours as they won their 2nd consecutive game since the league resumed. They are placed well in 4th place.

Orlando Pirates lost 3-1 in the preliminary round for the CAF Champions League against a team from Angola. This means they need to win away from home 3-0 inorder to advance. Highly unlikely.

CAF Champions League Glory!

Orlando Pirates are trying to win back the CAF Champions League this year. This is what they will have to deal with by playing in this competition.




Travelling & Accommodation

Africa is a very big continent. Teams have to travel long distances to play each other. This means having to spend lots of time in airports waiting for connecting flights. By the time the team gets onto the field they are already tired.



The other issue is the team hotel that you are given as the away team. Very few countries will offer you 5 star hotels. You will find hotels that have cockroaches and even prostitutes being used as accommodation. There will be a huge party happening very close to the hotel just to make sure the players cannot get a full night’s sleep.

Match Schedule

The CAF Champions league usually starts around January and finishes in November, this clashes with some domestic leagues which run from August to May. This means a team will play during their domestic off-season. There is also an issue of player transfer window which happens in January & around July/August. A team could lose its star players to big European teams during a crucial stage in the Champions League. You cannot just register new players into the tournament at any time. Example is Pirates’ new players are not eligible to play until at least the group stages when Pirates will be able to register more players.



The matches are played over the weekend. Most domestic leagues schedule their matches also during weekends. This results in shifting the team’s individual fixtures to a different day. A team will end up playing a match every 3 days just to fulfill all its fixtures. A big squad is needed and a coach must know how to rotate the squad to allow his best players to rest.



Hostile Crowd & Match officials

The recent tragedy in Egypt is just one extreme example of how hostile the crowds can be in Africa. You need players that are mentally strong and who are experienced at playing in front of those crowds. The match officiating tends to be very biased towards the home crowd and also if you are a referee from that region you are in trouble. Example would be a team from Southern Africa playing Al-Ahly in Cairo and the match officials are from Tunisia.



These factors mean if you want to be crowned champions you must win ALL your home games and by good margins so that whatever happens away from home does not affect you much.

AFCON 2012: So far so good

Before the tournament started I picked Ivory Coast’s my favourites to win it and Zambia’s the surprise package of the tournament. Both teams have made it to the semi-finals.


Perfect record!

Ivory Coast has won all 3 of their group games. Scoring 5 goals and have kept a clean sheet in all 3 matches. It has not been spectacular. They just do enough to win their games. The defense is looking rock solid. It will take something special to score against them. Ivory Coast coach Francois Zahoui rested 9 players for the crucial match against Angola and still the team was too strong and easily won 2-0. They were very convincing in their 3-0 win over the hosts. Still no team has beaten them. I do not see Mali stopping them either in the semi-finals.

Flying the flag for Southern Africa!


Zambia has impressed me. Botswana and Angola have failed to progress towards 2nd round. But Zambia has won 2 games and played a draw in a water soaked pitch. I am even embarrassed that even I picked them as surprise package. That’s how well they have played. I have elevated them to tournament favourites behind Ivory Coast. The way they beat Senegal (tournament favourites for some people) in the opening match made everyone take notice of them. So they are no longer a surprise team. Their captain and striker Chris “Crisis” Katongo has played a leading role in the 1st round for them. He creates, scores and leads the team well. Emmanuel Mayuka has been very dangerous upfront and scored 2 goals so far. He is strong in the air as Senegal found out and has pace.

Zambians celebrating

The only worry I have with Zambia is when they have to defend. Their goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene can be erratic at times. Libya was able to find the back of the net against them easily. It is something they need to guard against for sure in the knockout stages as one mistake could mean catching the next flight home. Ghana have scored two goals from corner kicks already this tournament. In the semi-final Zambia must watch out.