ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab in Chennai

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria27-Apr-2012

Match facts

Saturday April 28, Chennai
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Suresh Raina hasn’t been in form for Chennai Super Kings this season•AFP

Big Picture

The last time Kings XI Punjab were in Chennai, in 2010, the match was tied and Kings XI won in the Super Over. They did not make the trip in 2011 because of the tournament’s format. This year, they desperately need points in Chennai, to keep up with the competition.Kings XI won their last two away games, in Mumbai and Kolkata, and a narrow defeat in their previous game at home should not shadow their improved performance. Chennai Super Kings, however, are a tough team to beat at home, with an 18-7 win-loss record at Chepauk.For Kings XI, their batting performance has improved even though Adam Gilchrist missed the last three games because of torn hamstrings. They managed 168, 164 and 163 in those games, while in the previous two they made only 124 and 134. Mandeep Singh and Nitin Saini have given Kings XI two of their best three opening partnerships this season and that has allowed Shaun Marsh and David Hussey to play freely in the middle order. Kings XI’s bowling has been less impressive, with Praveen Kumar struggling for success. He’s taken only two wickets in eight games, despite a green Mohali pitch.Super Kings have four wins, but their rise o No. 3 has largely gone unnoticed due to the absence of noticeable performances apart from Faf fu Plessis and Albie Morkel. S Badrinath’s move to the opening slot has stabilised the top order, but the impetus hasn’t come from IPL stalwarts such as Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni, who have low strike-rates this season. For Dhoni, R Ashwin’s lack of wickets has been another area of concern. Unlike other seasons, Super Kings have not looked fluent.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings: NRWWLW (NR – no result)
Kings XI Punjab: LWLLW

Players to watch

Parvinder Awana picked up nine wickets in the last three games and leapfrogged Piyush Chawla as the leading wicket-taker for Kings XI. Awana has the ability to surprise batsmen with his pace. He bowls in the mid 130 kph but can ramp it up to the 140s.This season has been an extended struggle for Suresh Raina who has scored only 138 runs in seven innings for Super Kings. However, as IPL’s leading run-getter, Raina has the talent to come good at any moment. He has batted at No. 3, where he has enough time to play himself into form, and he could be one innings away from getting there.

Stats and trivia

• Raina has taken 35 catches in IPL, which is the highest for a non-wicketkeeper. He has scored 680 runs in Chennai, the highest by any player on their home turf in the IPL.
• The Dhoni-Raina partnership has yielded 752 runs in IPL, which is third behind Gambhir-Sehwag and Gibbs-Gilchrist.
  

  Quotes

  “We had a good couple of years initially. The last two years were not very good. I think this year should be better, overall.”

Glamorgan have signed Shaun Marsh, the Australian top order batsman, as their second overseas player for this year’s Friend’s Life T20.

Alex Winter05-May-2012Glamorgan have signed Shaun Marsh, the Australian top order batsman, as their second overseas player for this year’s Friends Life t20. He joins Marcus North who has arrived to play for the rest of the season. Martin van Jaarsveld has also been signed but holds a British passport.Marsh, a powerful left-handed top-order batsman, will attempt to revive Glamorgan’s T20 fortunes. Since losing to Leicestershire in the 2004 semi-final, they have failed to make any impression on the competition, something a major regime change two winters ago was designed to rectify.”Having played in both IPL and the Big Bash in Australia, I’m really looking forward to drawing on my experience and hitting some runs when I join up with Glamorgan,” Marsh said.”I played alongside Marcus at Western Australia before, so it will be great to join up with him again. Hopefully we can have a great t20 tournament and with the final of the competition in Cardiff it should be a great summer ahead.”Marsh, 28, has scored 2,563 domestic T20 runs at 42.01 with a strike rate of 135.82. He scored 117 runs in two innings for Perth, helping them to the semi-final of the Big Bash League in Australia, where he played with North. He is currently playing for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, having scored over 1,300 runs in the competition.Matthew Mott, Glamorgan head of elite development, said: “To bring in a player of Shaun’s calibre, a genuine match winner, to the top of the batting order will make us a more potent attacking force and with Shaun’s experience of the competition across the world, he will also provide our young guns with a great deal of confidence.”

Cheteshwar Pujara took a huge step towards Test selection as he added 73 with No. 10 Shami Ahmed to take India A to a thrilling win in the first unofficial Test

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jun-2012
ScorecardNo. 10 Shami Ahmed added 73 with Cheteshwar Pujara to take India A home•WICB

Cheteshwar Pujara took a huge step towards Test selection as he added 73 with No. 10 Shami Ahmed to take India A to a thrilling win in the first unofficial Test, at Kensington Oval. Pujara’s unbeaten 96 was the highest score in all four innings of the match, and more than three times the next best effort by an Indian in the final innings. An equally impressive performer, the 6’7″ tall Jason Holder, playing at his home ground, ended up on the losing side despite registering his third five-for in his 15th first-class match. His effort reduced India A to 115 for 8 in a chase of 186.It might have been an unofficial Test, but the qualities that make Test cricket special were all on display. Two teams full of young men hoping to represent their Test sides went into the final day with all three results possible, and three rain interruptions brought a draw into the picture too. In fact when the players went off the third time, in the last hour of the day, with India A needing 20 runs, it seemed the sides would have to settle for a draw.India A would have been glad they got a chance to come out to finish the game off, but not long before that they would have happily taken that draw when rain interrupted on the first two occasions. When the clouds opened up for the first time, during the lunch break, all three West Indies A quicks had taken a wicket each to add to their overnight effort of 22 for 3. And in a tense morning session, they had conceded just 55 runs.India A had added only two runs on the final day when left-arm quick Delorn Johnson broke through Shikhar Dhawan’s defence with a slower ball. Dhawan failed to add to his overnight 13. Rohit Sharma and Pujara then fought through a testing period. Rohit was dropped on two by substitute Kyle Corbin when India were 28 for 4. Even before he had reached double figures, Rohit had played two edgy shots: a mis-hit that just cleared extra cover, and another that just fell short. In the first hour only 20 runs came by. Johnson and Holder’s figures on the final morning at one point read 6-2-9-1 and 6-2-9-0.Rohit relieved a bit of pressure with a six over long-off and a four over mid-on. However, just when he had begun to show signs of having overcome a shaky start, Rohit followed and edged a wide delivery from Jonathan Carter, who already had a five-for to his name in the first innings. In the minutes before lunch, Holder bowled Manoj Tiwary with an inswinger to make the session West Indies A’s.Showers during the lunch break caused a 45-minute delay in resumption. Pujara, 26 at lunch, now counterattacked. He hit three fours in five deliveries to bring the target down to two figures, but Holder struck soon. It took a sharp low catch from Nkrumah Bonner to send Wriddhiman Saha back. That was the cue for Pujara to attack more, and he did so by hitting Johnson for back-to-back fours to reach his half-century. India A had reached 115 when Holder pegged back Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s off stump, and West Indies were all but there.Holder followed Bhuvneshwar’s scalp up with a bouncer that hit Pujara on the right hand. Even as the physio made his way off the ground, rain made a second appearance, sending players in for an early tea break. Pujara and Ahmed had added only five runs by then, and you would have thought that a further delay might have given them some hope for a draw if they could hang in until the next rain interruption.You had another thing coming: soon after tea Ahmed lofted Holder over long-on for a six. That seemed to be a momentum-shifting shot. The partnership now relied more on Pujara’s risk-free shots. He now took such control of the situation that in the end Ahmed ended with just 27 of the 73-run stand. The drama was hardly over, though.By the final drinks break of the match, the two had seen off the quicks, eased through a brief spell of spin from both ends, and were now bracing up for another burst from Holder and friends. They had added four after the drinks, which took the partnership past 50, when it began to pour down again. This interruption seemed to have a finality to it, but about 15 minutes later we were back on again.Now India A needed 20, West Indies still needed two wickets, and the weather was around too. Serenely Pujara resumed with a four to fine leg. Streakily Ahmed swung at two wide deliveries and took seven. Holder put in one last effort, but an inside edge off Ahmed’s bat evaded the stumps. He did manage another maiden to keep India A waiting, but Pujara at the other end finished it off with another boundary.Pujara has had previous experience of batting well with the Saurashtra tail too, most notably when he saved one in the fog and fading light of Delhi in 2007-08. He’ll be glad he went a step further this time.

England Women levelled the one-day series against India Women after a three-wicket victory in Truro

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2012
ScorecardJenny Gunn’s unbeaten 36 was pivotal to England’s victory•Getty Images

England Women levelled the one-day series against India Women after a three-wicket victory in Truro, setting up a decider in Wormsley on Wednesday. In a match where the scoreline was remarkably similar to the third ODI, England were made to work harder for their victory than on Thursday. Jenny Gunn’s unbeaten 36 dragged them over the line with one over to spare in a tense chase, and kept England’s hopes of a fourth straight series victory alive.As on Thursday, England chose to bowl and India’s No. 3 Mithali Raj came in early as one of the openers made a duck. Unlike the previous match though, Raj had some support from the other specialist batsmen. She made her third half-century in four matches, and with the assistance of Harmanpreet Kaur (55) guided India to 140 for 2. Her wicket, however, sparked a collapse – India losing seven for 28, on their way to finishing on 173.England seemed on course for victory as Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway put on 56 for the third wicket, but both were dismissed by medium-pacer Niranjana Nagarajan to even up the game. Heather Knight then chipped in with 24 before becoming Niranjana’s third victim. England’s nerves were calmed by Gunn, though, who stayed till the end, hitting the winning boundary off the last ball of the penultimate over.

An fifth-wicket stand of 54 between Simon Katich and Sean Ervine saw Hampshire into the final after Somerset struggled to 125

David Hopps in Cardiff25-Aug-2012
ScorecardPeter Trego collides wth the bowler, Sean Ervine, after being given out lbw in a disastrous Somerset top-order collapse•Getty Images

Somerset brought in a sports psychologist to try to end their losing run in one-day finals. John Pits has worked extensively with Marcus Trescothick as he kept his stress-related illness at bay and is highly respected. But as Somerset failed again, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that when it comes to FLt20 Finals Day, life is still the pits.Somerset had enough history stacked against them to daunt an army of psychologists. They had lost five cup finals in the past two seasons – beaten in the last three FLt20 finals as well as a couple of CB40s. “To win the final, you first have to win the semi-final,” Pits had reminded them. This time they did not even manage that, losing by six wickets with an over to spare. Hampshire secured a final against Yorkshire, with both sides qualifying for the Champions League in South Africa in October as a consequence.No side had ever made fewer runs than Somerset on Twenty20 Finals Day. No side had ever successfully defended such a meagre total in a semi-final. Two battle-hardened cricketers, Simon Katich and Sean Ervine, quietly shared an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 54 from 40 balls to guide Hampshire home with no fuss. Somerset needed miracles from Alfonso Thomas, instead he was just back from hamstring trouble and his four overs cost 40.”It is dreadful,” said Trescothick. “There is so much time and effort goes in, so much dedication and practice and blood, sweat and tears that you do behind the scenes. We keep putting ourselves in a position to be shot down. At the moment we are not quite achieving what we know we can. At some point we will get it right, I’m sure.”Craig Kieswetter had politely suggested on the eve of the final, that Somerset had lost so often that it was “no longer an elephant in the room”. They had been to the Champions League last year, reached the semi-final and, by implication, felt good about themselves.But a whole herd of elephants were soon trampling around the Swalec Stadium, half the side gone for 58 by the 13th over and only Kieswetter himself left to trumpet defiantly that history did not matter. He finished with 63 not out from 58 balls and when he slipped while facing the penultimate ball, from Chris Wood, and snookered it through point for four, Somerset were literally and metaphorically on their knees.The craft of Dimitri Mascarenhas gave Hampshire a flying start. Richard Levi, the big-hitting South African, was beguiled by Mascarenhas’ first ball, failing to slog it over the infield. With the third ball of his second over, Mascarenhas added Marcus Trescothick, who had deposited Liam Dawson over the ropes at long-on but who looked more cumbersome as he dragged on a wide one.Danny Briggs, Hampshire’s left-arm spinner is a throwback to another age, performing with grace and finesse even in such a feverish atmosphere. James Hildreth, so often a disappointment when it matters, swept at Briggs and was bowled behind his legs.It took only one fleet-footed six over long-on by Jos Buttler for Hampshire to withdraw Briggs from the attack. Sean Ervine, his replacement, seamed deliveries back to cause Buttler to chop on and then have Peter Trego, another big hitter, lbw dragging to leg; he was so disorientated that he silenced Ervine’s triumphant appeal with a collision as he sought a desperate single.Kieswetter’s first 24 encompassed 32 balls without a single boundary, and Somerset had only 40 balls remaining to swell a meagre 58 for 5 when he summoned a response and deposited Liam Dawson’s into the River Taff. But Lewis Gregory’s run-out attempting a second to Jimmy Adams at long-off summed up that nothing would come easily.Yorkshire’s 171 in the first semi-final had perhaps brought exaggerated expectations, but not that exaggerated; it was a paltry total to defend and Somerset knew it.When Michael Carberry took three boundaries from the first over, from Thomas, the first of them flying between wicketkeeper and slip, it looked smaller than ever. A gripping pitch made it a day for spinners and cutters, but Somerset’s spinning ranks were depleted with the absence of George Dockrell, who has been on Under-19 World Cup duty for Ireland and was playing in an 11th-place play-off against Scotland on Friday. Max Waller’s legspin removed James Vince, bowled by one that hurried through but Hampshire retained control.Carberry’s run out, after making 33 from 27 balls, enlivened Somerset’s spirits, Kieswetter responding alertly to get the ball to the non-striker’s end when Neil McKenzie dabbed on the off side and changed his mind about a single. Briefly, the chants of the Cidermen filled the air but Somerset were defeated, the apple crop is down, and in the West Country there was little reason for song.

Somerset’s Brian Rose said it was “frustrating” to lose star batsman Nick Compton to England Lions for a key Champions clash

Alex Winter at Taunton07-Aug-2012
ScorecardThe man who wasn’t there: Nick Compton in action for England Lions, rather than Somerset•Getty Images

The County Championship has been marginalised by many things this summer, not least the weather, with the “reserve Ashes” between England Lions and Australia A at Old Trafford the latest event to take the limelight away from the competition just as it moves towards the business end.Two of the best sides in England are at Taunton in a crucial match that could have significant impact on the title. But country before club has long been the emphasis in English cricket and clearly the ECB sees more value in the second-best players in the land playing an unofficial Test than helping their counties try to win the Championship.Somerset are most disadvantaged. Nick Compton has made 1,036 Championship runs at 86.33 this season – outperforming by a distance every other player – and helped Somerset maintain their push for a first title. But with such a historic milestone within reach, England have put their needs above Somerset’s.”We’re where we are in the table mainly because Nick Compton has played so well in adverse conditions,” Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s frustrating to get towards the end of the season and have a clash of fixtures. It’s coming to a crucial time in the Championship, we’re just a win behind the two leaders and if we have a good game here it will set up an exciting time for the club.”But I’m a great supporter of England Lions games because it’s a precursor to Test cricket. Nick deserves to play and all credit to him, he’s played tremendously well. Don’t forget you put so much into development you want players to play for England, that’s part of our job to get players into the England team so there’s no way Somerset or Nottinghamshire are going to be complaining about that.”So perhaps the counties are now more inclined to measure success by their contribution to the England team than to their trophy cabinets? Maybe that can be understood given the level of financial support now offered by the ECB to promote young players in the county game. But an entire west country XI for England could not usurp a first Championship title for Somerset.Victory for them here would see Somerset join Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Sussex on four wins but Rose was philosophical about the impact of losing players to the Lions. “At the end of the day, the sides that are going to win the Championship are going to be good enough to stay at the top,” he said. “The weather has been the biggest factor this year, which has compressed the competition, but I think at the end of the day the best team should still win it.”Weather certainly owned day one. All credit was due to the umpires for refusing to call off play with showers falling in the early afternoon. The weather cleared long enough for Somerset to win the toss and ask Notts to bat at 4.40pm. But eight overs in and the heavens gathered again. One more ball was possible and Peter Trego found the outside edge of Riki Wessels’ bat. It was entirely expected on a very green wicket that offered plenty to Trego and Steve Kirby.So far in this match, it hasn’t particularly mattered who is playing. “Swings and roundabouts” was Rose’s summing up of the situation. Notts are without Samit Patel – 329 runs and 14 wickets in nine matches this season – and would have been without James Taylor too had he not earned a last-minute call-up for the second Test at Headingley. Somerset are also missing wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter. Jos Buttler is behind the stumps in this match.”I’ve mentioned to the ECB that these fixtures don’t clash so players can play at both ends,” Rose said, who was keen on the idea of a window for Lions’ games if space could be found. “The best thing if you’re coming towards the end of the Championship would be to have the fixture list represented in a slightly better fashion. But it all depends on future tours and how the Championship and T20s are composed as well. The authorities are looking at it.”

Jim Troughton has admitted that the pain of missing out on the Championship title in 2011 played a large part in pushing his side to go the extra step in 2012

George Dobell at New Road07-Sep-2012Jim Troughton has admitted that the pain of missing out on the Championship title in 2011 played a large part in pushing his side to go the extra step in 2012.Warwickshire went into the final day of last season requiring only seven wickets against already relegated Hampshire to win the title. However, on a slow, flat West End pitch that had been moved into the middle of the square on the request of Sky so the game could be televised, Hampshire’s batsmen denied them, leaving Warwickshire bitterly disappointed.”That was tough to take,” Troughton said following his side’s crushing innings and 202-run win over Worcestershire that sealed the 2012 title. “To have worked so hard and gone so close last year was really painful. Everyone was hurting.”But, even the next day, we were talking about what we had to do to improve. I remember, as we sat in the dressing room right after the game, we said: right, be proud of what you’ve achieved, but let this be the catalyst to win the title with a game in hand next year.”Troughton, a product of Warwickshire’s youth system and captain for the last two years, was part of the team that won the 2004 County Championship. Yet he felt that this success was even more significant for him and the club.”I was a young lad when we won it in 2004,” Troughton said. “Maybe I took it for granted a bit. And we won it off the field.”This is the pinnacle of my career. It’s a career that does contain some regrets – I regret not being able to make it at the highest level – but I have been here since I was 11 and this club is so close to my heart. Leading them to the most prized possession in county cricket is the pinnacle of my career. It’s made my career.”I’ve been watching the Olympics like everyone else lately and you think ‘that’ll never be me’. But this is the equivalent of that for me. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up as we – and that’s the guys behind the scenes as much as the team – have achieved our dream. We’ve done what we set out to do 12 months ago.”Troughton was particularly keen to credit the input of Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles. Giles took over in 2007 after the team had been relegated in both forms of the game and went on to assemble and nurture a unit that has been able to shrug off the absences of key players to international call-ups or injuries. He also stuck with Troughton despite the captain’s horrible form with the bat in the early part of the season. Until June, Troughton averaged just 6.25 in the Championship, with a top-score of 15 not out.”This is just as much Ashley Giles’ victory as any one of the players,” Troughton said. “And he has got to realise what a fantastic job he has done. We’re both Warwickshire through and through and we both wanted this so much.”When we took over at the end of 2007 we knew we needed a strong hand. We had lost some big players – guys like Nick Knight, Dougie Brown and Mark Wagh – and there were times when he needed to be autocratic. He pushed us hard; very hard at times.”But he also backed me when I wasn’t producing runs. I was at the point where I needed that. It’s a big family at Warwickshire.”Most captains might be happy to savour their success for a while before looking to the future but Troughton insists this is just the start for a squad that appears to have the depth, the youth and the ambition to challenge for several years. In little more than a week, they have a chance of picking up their second trophy of the season when they meet Hampshire in the final of the CB40 at Lord’s.”This isn’t the top of the mountain for this team,” Troughton said. “It’s a young bowling line-up with plenty of years left in them and there are areas we can all improve. It’s all about creating a legacy. Us players, we pass through the gates of Edgbaston and we move on. But every one of this squad will be remembered now. This isn’t the end of the line.”I love playing for Warwickshire. I love being part of the culture of the club and representing the team that achieved such success in the 1990s. But it’s time for this team to create our own legacy.”

Sussex have confirmed their captaincy roles for next season, with Ed Joyce appointed as club captain, alongside Chris Nash as his vice-captain.

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2012Sussex have confirmed their captaincy roles for next season, with Ed Joyce appointed as club captain, alongside Chris Nash as his vice-captain.Joyce, 34, took over the captaincy midway through the 2012 season as Michael Yardy stood down from the position in LV=County Championship and CB40 cricket. He led the side in four Championship matches and five CB40 games, guiding Sussex to a semi-final in the CB40 competition and a fourth-placed finish in the Championship.Joyce said: “I hugely enjoyed doing the job for the last few months of the 2012 season and, having gone close this year, I feel very strongly we can bring some silverware back to Hove next year.”With Murray Goodwin moving on and Rory Hamilton-Brown re-signing, the team will be slightly in transition next year. But it should also be a very exciting time for the club with perhaps some more opportunities for the younger members of the squad to show what they can do. I’m really looking forward to helping these guys develop.”

Irfan Pathan has injured his knee in a Ranji game, and will be out for at least the next match

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2012Irfan Pathan, the India limited-overs allrounder, may have rescued Baroda from 88 for 4 in the first innings with a century that got them three first-innings point, but he has injured his knee in the process, and will be out for at least one Ranji Trophy game. He is expected to visit Bangalore’s National Cricket Academy (NCA) for rehabilitation. Baroda’s other India quick, Munaf Patel, is already out with an injured knee. They play Vidarbha, who posted an outright win over Haryana, next, at home from November 9 onwards.Irfan scored 121 and 38 against Karnataka in the season opener, bowled 25 overs for two wickets in the first innings, but didn’t take the field during the second innings, which was academic anyway given the lack of time to force a result. “Irfan was suffering from swollen knee from second day of the match,” Baroda coach Sanath Kumar told . “His injury has aggravated and hence he will have to undergo treatment.”According to the newspaper, Irfan looked in pain almost throughout the game. “I cannot say how much time Irfan would take to get fit. It all depends on his rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy,” Kumar said. “He suffered from the swollen knee probably due to playing continuously over the last few weeks.” Irfan had only recently made a successful comeback to the national side as an allrounder in ODIs and T20Is.This brings into sharper focus the unforgiving Ranji Trophy schedule. Add to it the India A game against England A, and Irfan played seven straight days of first-class cricket. There is no time to relax between Ranji matches either. Some of them are being played three days apart, and some provide a gap of four days. With the large number of domestic tournaments played in a limited window of Indian winter, the Ranji Trophy is played over a little less than three months. The champion side will have played about 47 days of first-class cricket over that period.

Peter Siddle has chewed up and spat out the suggestion that the absence of meat from his diet was the reason he was unable to recover from his Adelaide exertions

Daniel Brettig in Hobart12-Dec-2012Australia’s vegetarian fast bowler Peter Siddle has chewed up and spat out the suggestion that the absence of meat from his diet was the reason he was unable to recover from his Adelaide exertions in time to play in the pivotal Perth Test against South Africa.As he prepared to resume as the leader of the hosts’ attack in the Test series against Sri Lanka, starting in Hobart on Friday, Siddle flatly rejected the view – proffered by Dennis Lillee, among others – that meat was essential to the diet of a fast bowler. Siddle backed up his rebuttal with the correct observation that his ability to maintain high pace and accuracy for long periods has in fact been helped by the lifestyle change, which he made earlier this year.”I struggled to bowl over 50 overs [before becoming vegetarian] so, to bowl 64, I think that’s an improvement,” Siddle said at Bellerive Oval. “So I’m probably in a better place than I ever was. For people to say that’s the problem and that’s the reason why [I withdrew], they’re the ones kidding themselves. They’re not the ones out there having to do it and having to go through it. To still be bowling 140 kmph in my 64th over at the end of the fifth day in a Test match, that probably shows the improvements.”Siddle’s pre-season admission that he had foresworn meat has been the cause of some mirth among those who harbour cliched views about the dietry habits of fast bowlers, even though he made the change with plenty of support from Cricket Australia’s dieticians and support staff. The team performance manager Pat Howard has previously pointed to the decorated examples of the triathlete Dave Scott, the AFL footballer Brett Kirk and Martina Navratilova’s tennis mastery as examples of vegetarian success in elite sport.But Lillee’s comments to ABC radio during the Perth Test fuelled Siddle’s irritation that nearly halfway through the summer he is having to justify his choice of diet. “In India [at MRF Pace Foundation], our guys have got to eat protein even if they are considered vegetarian – they have got to eat fish and chicken,” Lillee had said. “I think you have to rebuild muscle after you have had a 50-over Test. I know there is more to it than clouds and grass but I have not seen too many (vegetarian fast bowlers) survive. [Colin] Croft tried it for 18 months and couldn’t do it. Sidds is trying it and good luck to him.”Irrespective of the vegetarian debate, Siddle is satisfied that he is ready to push himself again in Hobart, after making the call in Perth that a tight hamstring and general fatigue meant he would not have been up to the task. “At the time we made the right decision. It’s one I didn’t want to have to make,” he said. “It was just going to be the safest option. We didn’t want another circumstance like Adelaide that put us more out of the game.”Part of Siddle’s own planning for this summer and the tours of India and England that lie beyond it was his decision not to take part in the hustle and bustle of the Twenty20 BBL. “At the moment I didn’t want to play in the BBL,” Siddle said. “It was part of wanting to concentrate on Tests, the same thing I spoke about earlier in the year leading into the Test matches, I wanted to miss the one-day games and concentrate on the red ball. Just with the 12 months we’ve got coming up from now, it is such a big time for us as a Test team. The best thing for me was to focus on that, try and bowl as many overs as I can throughout trainings, in games and get the body ready and raring to go for Test cricket. That was my plan and that’s the one I want to stick with.”The call to avoid the shortest format may ultimately prove far more significant to Siddle’s success over the next 12 months than whether or not he has any chicken with his stir-fry.