Story Australia in England 2009 [Leicestershire 1/41 off 20 Overs]

[WhiteHand]

The Ashes are only weeks away and in a press conference today the Australian Squad for the tour of England was named.

Australian Squad
Ricky Ponting(c)
Michael Clarke(vc)
Brad Haddin(wk)
Nathan Bracken
Beau Casson
Stuart Clark
Callum Ferguson
Ben Hilfenhaus
James Hopes
David Hussey
Michael Hussey
Phil Jacques
Mitchell Johnson
Simon Katich
Brett Lee
Shaun Marsh
Nathan Hauritz
Marcus North
Shane Watson
Cameron White

A confused murmuring spreads across the media conference room as one word comes to the lips of every reporter of the room - Phil Hughes. After such an impressive tour of South Africa, it was inconcievable as to how he could be omitted from the touring squad.

Reporter: Ricky, we've noticed that Phillip Hughes has not been named in the squad. Why?

Ricky Ponting: Phil Hughes has not been named in this touring party due to a tragic accident which occured last sunday. The car he was travelling in was struck from the side by a speeding car. He'll be alright, but will be out of action for quite some time.

Reporter: So has Beau Casson once again impressed the selectors enough to warrant a place in the Australian Team?

Ricky Ponting: It was never so much as Beau not impressing. We just felt that he was in a bit of a dry spell, and decided to let him concentrate more on his game at New South Wales. Having two spinners in the squad allows us some flexibility, as Nathan Hauritz and Beau both play very different games.

Australia's first tour game against Leicestershire will begin soon. Stay tuned!

 

[Highlander999]

Now that is crappy luck for Hughes, typical Aussie drivers though. Nice start and good luck, but the Ashes are coming home

 

[Roofrom50]

Now that is crappy luck for Hughes, typical Aussie drivers though. Nice start and good luck, but the Ashes are coming home

Keep dreaming buddy Good start mate (to the story that is) not a good start for Hughsey

 

[Jaztheman]

Good start to the story, bit sad about Hughes but he'll make a speedy recovery and soon be playing International cricket. Looking forward to you losing the ashes, aren't we Tom?

 

[WhiteHand]

It's match day here and everyone's excited to see what the Australian team can do here, coming into the tour of England.

Mark Nicholas: Hi Everybody, and welcome to today's one day tour game between Australia and Leicestershire. And I'm out in the middle with the two opposing captains, Ricky Ponting and Darren Robinson for the toss. And Darren tosses it.

Ricky Ponting: Heads.

Mark Nicholas: And it's tails. Darren, what are you going to do?

Darren Robinson: Well, looking at the pitch, I think we'll have to have a bat. Getting runs on the board first will be crucial against the strong Australian side we're up against.

Mark Nicholas: Ricky, unfortunate toss to lose?

Ricky Ponting: Not really. We were going to have a bat first, but looking at the pitch, it doesn't look as though it will deterioate much through the match. It looks as though it will stay fairly stable throughout the day.

Mark Nicholas: And what side will you be taking into today's game?

Ricky Ponting: The team for today will be Brad Haddin, Shaun Marsh, myself, Michael Clarke, the Hussey Brothers, Cameron White, James Hopes, Nathan Bracken, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson. Twelve man for the match will be Nathan Hauritz.

Mark Nicholas: So, taking a full strength side into a warm up match?

Ricky Ponting: Well, some of the players in the team such as Shaun and Brett haven't played alot of international cricket recently due to injuries, but yes, we're taking essentially a full strength side into this match.

Mark Nicholas: Thank you for that one, Ricky. And there you have it. Leicester have elected to bat in this tour match. The Leicester team for this match is as follows:

Leicester
D. Maddy
D. Robinson
V. Kohli
H. Ackerman
P. Harrison
J. Allenby
T. New (wk)
C. Henderson
S. Broad
A. Griffith
D. Masters​

Mark Nicholas: I hope you can join us for the match, which will start shortly.

 

[Jaztheman]

Good preview there, mate. Australia will be looking for some big innings to take into the first Test match and for some form. Broad can hopefully rip through your lineup.

 

[WhiteHand]

The two opening batsmen, Darren Robinson and Darren Maddy hit the field as the match begins. But for all the positive intent the batsmen showed by leaving the dressing room before the fielding team did, the first ten overs of the match showed by the opposite. The pair, while resolute in their defence, made no effort to score, besides a beautiful pull from Robinson which disected the legside field, leaving the score at only 0/14. That being said, the Australian bowling attack lacked penetration, failing to take any wickets in the first ten overs.

Robinson pierces the legside field with a pull​

So at the end of the tenth over, the scorecard stands as:

[B][CENTER]LEICESTERSHIRE[/CENTER][/B]
D. Maddy                                        [B]5[/B]*
D. Robinson                                     [B]8[/B]*

1nb

[B][CENTER]AUSTRALIA[/CENTER][/B]
Bowler                  O      M      R       W
B. Lee                 5.0     2      6       0
N. Bracken             3.0     1      5       0
M. Johnson             2.0     0      3       0

How will Leicestershire fight back from this slow start? Find out when we return!

 

[Slowcoach]

Interesting that you left Symonds out of the squad, though I don't know how much use his batting would have been in seaming English conditions anyway.

 

[Roofrom50]

Wow thats some good bowling from the Aussies. 10 overs gone and only conceeding a couple of runs.

Good stuff mate. this is looking good, kiu

 

[Slowcoach]

The AI in this game is so bad at times that you have to feed the batsman runs just so they get enough runs on the board to go into "play over the top of yorker and get bowled" mode.

 

[WhiteHand]

As the first bowl of the eleventh over was bowled, Darren Robinson wound up and took a massive swing at Lee's full pitched ball on leg stump. His shot connected, and sent the ball sailing over the fence for six. The spectators hoped that this would be the start of Leicestershire's fight back.

Robinson blasts a ball from Brett Lee​

Unfortunately, it proved not to be, as just two overs later, the wicket of Robinson's partner, Darren Maddy, had fallen while attempting to boost the run rate. A hastily played pull shot off the bowling of James Hopes had ended up in the safe hands of Mike Hussey, leaving Leicestershire at 1/28.

Maddy is caught off the bowling of James Hopes​

Again in the eighteenth over, Darren Robinson showed his attacking intent once more, sending an attempting yorker from Hopes back over his head for six, and helping to push the score past 40.

Robinson blasts another one over long off for six​

At the end of the twentieth over, the score stands at 1/41.

[B][CENTER]LEICESTERSHIRE[/CENTER][/B]
D. Maddy                      [B]c[/B]. M Hussey [B]b[/B]. Hopes      [B]7[/B]
D. Robinson                                            [B]23[/B]*
V. Kohli                                                [B]3[/B]*

3wd       3nb

[B][CENTER]AUSTRALIA[/CENTER][/B]
Bowler                  O      M      R       W
B. Lee                 5.0     2      6       0
N. Bracken             3.0     1      5       0
M. Johnson             2.0     0      3       0
J. Hopes               4.0     0     15       1
D. Hussey              2.0     1      2       0

Leicestershire are still in trouble here, and will need to make more steady progress in the coming overs.

 

[Jaztheman]

Leicestershire are batting too slowly and have lost a big wicket. They need to bat a little faster and get that run rate up, otherwise their score won't be defendable.

Good stuff mate, keep it up.