McDermott is Aus bowling coach
Sydney: Former paceman Craig McDermott was on Thursday appointed bowling coach for Australia’s Test team ahead of the Ashes series against England, barely a year after quitting the role. The 48-year-old shocked Cricket Australia when he resigned in May 2012 after a successful 12 months in the job, which then also included coaching the one-day and Twenty20 bowlers, citing the conflicting demands of touring with family life. But he has been enticed back in a revised role in which he will focus on the Test team, with the incumbent Ali de Winter moving into a new position overseeing the limited overs’ bowlers only. McDermott, who has been prominent in the development of young fast bowlers James Pattinson, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc along with the renaissance of Peter Siddle, said he was looking forward to the challenge. “There is obviously a huge focus on regaining the Ashes this summer and I’ll work as hard as possible to prepare our bowlers for the challenge ahead,” he said.
Pawar all set to be MCA president
Mumbai: Union Minister Sharad Pawar is all set to start his second innings as President of the Mumbai Cricket Association at its polls on Friday after the candidature of his lone rival, BJP leader Gopinath Munde, was rejected and a subsequent appeal against the verdict was turned down on Friday. Munde, whose application to contest the polls was rejected by the election officer on the basis of his residential status last Saturday, had appealed against the verdict but it too was rejected. Pawar is being backed by all three groups contesting the biennial election, which has already seen intense lobbying for all the other posts in the managing committee. The three panels — Bal Mahaddalkar group, Cricket First and Shetty’s group - are headed by outgoing MCA chief Ravi Savant, incumbent vice president Vijay Patil and Cricket Board’s general manager (game development), Prof. Ratnakar Shetty.
Duleep final’s 1st day called off
Kochi: The first day’s proceedings of the Duleep Trophy final between Noth Zone and South Zone was called off without a ball being bowled due to heavy outfield which was not conducive for competitive cricket. Umpires Suresh Shastri and Sanjay Hazare decided to call off day’s play after their post-lunch inspection in which they found that lot of wet areas are there in the outfield. With the sun not shining brightly, there was no chance of the outfield drying up which led to them calling off proceedings on the day. The weather has been inclement in Kochi over past one week which lead to North winning their semi-final against East by virtue of spin of coin with only two full days of play possible.
Teams arrive for third odi
Chandigarh: The Indian and Australian teams reached here on Friday from Jaipur to play the third cricket one-dayer of the seven-match series at Mohali on Saturday. The teams checked-in at a hotel in the afternoon. According to PCA Joint Secretary G S Walia, the Indian team is scheduled to hold their practice session at PCA stadium tomorrow morning. “The Australians will hold pre-match press conference in the morning,” he said.
Ministry hopeful of srt’s support
New Delhi: Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday expressed his desire to organise a felicitation function in honour of Sachin Tendulkar and hoped that the legendary batsman will work with the Ministry in future to promote sports in the country. “I look forward to Sachin Tendulkar working with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to promote sports in this country. But for that modalities need to be discussed,” said Jitendra. “He is an icon for this country, for the youth of this country. I am also a huge fan of him. We are also planning some sort of an award and felicitation programme for him,” he added. Asked if he would be going to Mumbai to watch the veteran play 200th Test, Jitendra said, “I hope so.”