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Tanveer & Nannes ready to join the action 0

Posted on March 02, 2012 by Ken

Pakistan pace bowler Sohail Tanveer has joined the bizhub Highveld Lions squad and, with Dirk Nannes rapidly regaining full fitness as well, Dave Nosworthy’s team can now boast two of the leading bowlers in worldwide T20 cricket.

The Lions were the early frontrunners in the MiWay T20 Challenge, winning their first three matches, before coming unstuck last weekend against the Chevrolet Knights in Bloemfontein. They are currently five points behind the log-leading central franchise, but have two games in hand.

The Knights have the weekend off, while the Lions play the Nashua Titans at SuperSport Park on Friday night and the Sunfoil Dolphins in Durban on Sunday, so Nosworthy and his team are chasing top place on the log again.

“This coming weekend is a big one for the Lions as we come up against a strong Titans team on Friday night, followed by an equally well-performing Dolphins team on Sunday. Having played four matches and managing to get across the line on three occasions has been a good start for us, however, it is never about the way one starts but about how one finishes. Team-wise, the group is very excited for this weekend as we look forward to performing at our best,” head coach Nosworthy said.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/domestic-t20/news/120302/Tanvir_Nannes_ready_to_join_action

And Nosworthy could let loose his two big overseas guns to further boost the attacking edge of the Lions attack.

Tanveer, who has been playing in the Bangladesh T20 league, flew into Johannesburg on Thursday evening and will probably be kept in cotton wool until the Lions arrive in Durban. The 27-year-old left-armer has taken 75 wickets in his 73 T20 games and has an economy rate of 7.14, so he is a fine bowler in this format, as well as a useful batsman in the lower-order. The fact that he has also played for the Rajasthan Royals and South Australia shows that he is in demand.

Nannes, meanwhile, has been in the country for 10 days, and the chances are greater that Nosworthy will be welcoming the Australian into the starting line-up against the Titans on Friday night.

“We didn’t want to risk Dirk earlier because he had a bit of a side strain,” Nosworthy explained to SuperSport.com.

Also a left-armer, Nannes has taken 28 wickets in 17 T20 internationals, and overall has taken 169 wickets in 135 matches at an economy rate of 7.14 in the shortest format of the game, having played for eight different franchises.

The one definite change to the team will come at the top of the order, where captain Alviro Petersen has left to join the national team in New Zealand. Thami Tsolekile will take over the captaincy, while the experienced Gulam Bodi is the most obvious candidate to open the batting instead of Petersen, although the Lions may yet spring a surprise there, the coach hinted.

“Gulam is an option, but so are Temba Bavuma and Neil McKenzie. We don’t want to be one-minded in our plans, we want to play differently as much as possible. The good thing is we can change the batting order and the bowling options around as well,” Nosworthy said.

Lions squad – Thami Tsolekile, Temba Bavuma, Shane Burger, Gulam Bodi, Quinton De Kock, Eddie Leie, Neil McKenzie, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Ethan O’Reilly, Aaron Phangiso, Dwaine Pretorius, Jean Symes, Sohail Tanveer, Jonathan Vandiar.

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Category Cricket, Sport

England failure ‘out of the blue’ – Collingwood 0

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Ken

Former captain Paul Collingwood say’s England’s lack of success against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates had come as a surprise and was probably due to their lack of action over the festive season.
    England were beaten 3-0 by Pakistan in the three-test series and will play the first of four one-day internationals later on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
    “The defeats came out of the blue in many ways and in trying to see, from the outside, what they have done differently, the only thing I can think of is that it was probably the team’s longest ever break heading into the series,” Collingwood told Reuters in Johannesburg on Monday.
    “Normally we’d only get three or four weeks off at the end of our summer and we didn’t spend many Christmases at home. But this time there was a three-month break which meant they went into the series a bit cold. Especially in the first test, which did the damage because they didn’t play spin very well, which meant their confidence levels were down and they never recovered.”
    Collingwood, who is out in South Africa to captain the newly-formed Impi team (a composite side that will play in the domestic T20 competition starting on Wednesday), said he was sure England would put up a better showing in the limited-overs games.
    “The good thing about this England team is that there’s a really good culture in the dressingroom engendered by Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss. They obviously won’t be happy with the performance, but there won’t be any panic stations.
    “They’re still a very good cricket team, they just didn’t adapt quickly enough to the conditions. I expect them to turn things around in the one-dayers,” Collingwood said.
    The 35-year-old stressed that he had not yet given up on his international career, despite retiring from test cricket 13 months ago.
    “Even though I’m 35, I still have ambitions to play for England and if I can produce six-to-eight months of good cricket then I might get back in the team. Playing here in South Africa is a big stage for me.
    “I still have a three-year contract with Durham and my ambitions are still with England. Playing for your country is the ultimate and it’s important that we get that through to the next generation – Test cricket is the big stage, not trotting around on the T20 circuit,” Collingwood said.
    South Africa will be the third country overseas country that Collingwood has visited to play T20 cricket, following his stints for the Delhi Daredevils in India and the Perth Scorchers in Australia.

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Category Cricket, Sport

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    Galatians 5:25 – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep walking in step with the Spirit.”

    There is only one Christ and all things that are preached in his name must conform to his character. We can only know Christ’s character through an intimate and personal relationship with him.

    How would Christ respond in situations in which you find yourself? Would he be underhanded? Would he be unforgiving and cause broken relationships?

    “The value of your faith and the depth of your spiritual experience can only be measured by their practical application in your daily life. You can spend hours at mass crusades; have the ability to pray in public; quote endlessly from the Word; but if you have not had a personal encounter with the living Christ your outward acts count for nothing.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm

     

     



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