All posts by csb10.top

Chris Gayle’s typically punishing 83 off 79 balls, followed by Ryan Hinds’ telling all-round performance of 68 and six wickets, led the West Indies `A’ team to victory over Gloucestershire yesterday.The West Indies compiled 279 before they were all out with two balls of their 50 overs remaining and bowled the county team out for 235 in 45 overs to win on the last match of their England tour by 44 runs.Test opener Gayle struck a six and 12 fours to give the West Indians a powerful start after Daren Ganga batted on winning the toss.Ganga, caught at square-leg, and left-hander Devon Smith, taken at point, went cheaply.But Runako Morton (41 from 40 balls with seven fours) and the left-handed Hinds (68 off 86 balls with two sixes and five fours) took their cue from Gayle to revive the innings.After Gayle was dismissed by England international Jeremy Snape, Hinds and Dwayne Bravo (38 off 43 balls with three fours) added 82 and, even though the last six wickets went down for 38, the West Indies posted a challenging total.Gloucestershire started with two openers with West Indian connections: James Pearson, 18, who plays club cricket for Bristol West Indies and Tim Hancock, whose mother is Barbadian.But Pearson was bowled without scoring by the pacy Tino Best who also bowled Chris Taylor. The experienced Hancock fell to Jermaine Lawson for 27 before a fourth-wicket partnership of 111 between Matthew Windows and Snape renewed Gloucestershire’s hopes.As the required scoring rose to over eight an over, Windows and Snape fell within six runs of each other to Hinds, who added four more wickets as Gloucestershire subsided in spite of Alex Gidman’s run-a-ball 36 and bowling that gave up 12 wides and 11 no-balls.The West Indies ended the tour with five wins (over Ireland, British Universities, Sussex, Yorkshire and Gloucestershire) and two losses (to Sri Lanka and Kent) in the one-day matches.They had one win, one loss, one tie and three draws in the first-class matches.They fly to Toronto today for matches against Canada before returning home next week.

Central Districts kept their hopes alive in the Champions Cup tournament by beating Indian side Mumbai by 106 runs in Perth last night.CD will now meet the Australian entrant, the Western Warriors, tonight in Perth (NZ time) and will need to win if it is to be a chance of playing in the final on Wednesday.Mumbai ended the tournament winless, and it was well beaten last night.Mumbai asked CD to bat first, and must have been delighted when having the New Zealand Shell Cup champions 88/5, but a superb 108-run partnership between captain Jacob Oram and Glen Sulzberger got CD out of a hole and set up the winning margin.Oram showed some of the big-hitting form that made him such an important new figure in the New Zealand’s international one-day programme this year. He hit three sixes, each on of them memorable blows which gave the scoring a jolt at just the right stage.Sulzberger also moved the ball around, picking up the odd boundary to do his share in the stand.Oram brought up his 50 off 51 balls and went on to score 74 off 64 balls. The only criticism of his innings could be that he looked set to score three figures but got himself out, caught in the deep when he couldn’t get enough power into a skied shot to avoid a fieldsman at deep mid off.Sulzberger scored his 50 off 56 balls and the pair added the runs between 150 and 200 in 31 balls.Once they had departed, 18-year-old Greg Todd showed great maturity in his batting to keep the attacking momentum going by scoring 29 off 27 balls while Andrew Schwass chimed in with 22 off 16 balls.CD ended their 50 overs with 269/9 with left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni taking 3-38 while Santosh Saxena, who had taken out the top order finished with 3-39.Mumbai, facing a tough battle to keep their hopes alive, were unable to handle the early pressure, found themselves 11/3. But another 18-year-old in the game, Vinayak Mane kept Mumbai in the hunt with a solo hand with 53 runs.He found a suitable ally in Sairaj Bahutule but he was out attempting to hit off spinner Glen Sulzberger only to be caught in the deep for 38, scored off 46 balls.That came down to CD bowling pressure. There was a looseness at times, especially in the bowling of too many wides. But Brent Hefford bowled superbly, while Oram tied the batsmen down and after he was hammered earlier, with 35 runs off his first four overs, Andrew Schwass came back very well and was sitting on a hat trick at one stage.Schwass ended the innings the most successful bowler with three wickets for 43 runs while Sulzberger took two for 28.The CD success has left plenty of interest in the last game of the round robin phase of the tournament.Coach Dipak Patel said the side could not be over-awed by the job in front of them and was sure the young side would be ready for the big game.It was a chance for the side to be positive and for the players to learn where they were at in their game.Skipper Jacob Oram praised Sulzberger’s contribution to their partnership.”I was amazed the way he batted and came out and hit the ball in the middle from the start. He was the impetus we needed,” he said.Oram was delighted with his innings although he said that if there was a fault he should have gone on until the 45th over.He said the side would have to play a lot better to compete with the Wests side. The top order would have to contribute with the bat and the bowlers would have to be a lot more accurate and not concede so many wides. They bowled 19 wides and five no balls.

Hampshire Under-16 prospect David Wheeler played the star role as New Milton pipped Southern Electric Premier League Division 3 neighbours by three wickets at Ashley.Wheeler grabbed 3-42 as Bashley reached 198-7 and then struck a superb 79 to set up New Milton’s penultimate-over victory.Woolston schoolteacher Shane Merkel celebrated his Flamingos debut with an undefeated 134 as last year’s Hampshire League champions began Premier 3 life with a 97-run win over Paultons at The Holt.Merkel, introduced to Flamingos by Hampshire batsman Jason Laney, plays Surburban Turf League cricket in Perth, Western Australia.He struck 20 boundaries in his 134 not out, which dominated Flamingos’ 261-4.Andrew Collins hit 52 in Paultons’ 164 all out – Adie Heath (3-26) and Stuart Shapland (3-40) doing the damage.Hampshire’s Jimmy Adams showed his pace bowling process with a 4-27 return in St Cross Symondians’ nine-wicket triumph over Hursley Park.Only John Harris (36) made an impact as Hursley lurched to 110 all out – a total St Cross polished off with Graham Barrett notching a half-century.Alton bagged a second consecutive win, scoring 181-9 before dismissing much fancied Purbrook for 129.Evergreen Keith Lovelock hit 101 and shared a thumping 165-run partnership with South African Janish Kominsky (80) as Hook & Newnham Basics totalled 218-4 to overhaul United Services’ 213-5.Matt Gover crakced a quick-fire 61 as newly promoted Havant II raced past Leckford’s 170 all out.Army all-rounder Andrew Hole took 3-19 for Havant before hitting an unbeaten 63 in a comfortable seven-wicket win.A half-century by Jimmy Taylor (50) and a four-wicket burst by Raj Naik, which culminated in a hat-trick, eased Winchester KS to an easy 106-run win at struggling Waterlooville, who were bowled out for 58.Peter Tapper starred with figures of 3-17 and a blistering 52 (off 27 balls) as Lymington II scrambled a nervous two-wicket win at Rowledge.

John Inverarity, Australia’s national selector, has admitted the Champions League T20 is hindering preparations for the first Test against South Africa next month.A large group of key players – Shane Watson, David Warner, Mike Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Brad Haddin – are taking part in the CLT20 and it means those players will only have one Sheffield Shield match before the first Test.”It is anything but an ideal preparation,” Inverarity told . “You just have to do your best but having the Champions League where it is now is not in the best interests of good preparation for the first Test.”Although Australia’s top six is fairly stable after the tour of West Indies earlier this year, and is unlikely to change for the start of the South Africa series, the selectors are still trying to decide their best combination of fast bowlers. This is where the Champions League is adding to their problems by restricting the amount of red-ball cricket for Starc, Hilfenhaus and Cummins.Cummins is unlikely to feature before the third Test, at Perth, due to his lack of first-class cricket over the last year and worries about him breaking down. “For some time you will not see him play three Tests in a row,” Inverarity added.At this stage Peter Siddle, who is currently playing Shield cricket for Victoria, is the only nailed on member of the bowling attack although is expected to be joined by Hilfenhaus and Nathan Lyon, despite the offspinner’s tough start to the season for South Australia, which leaves Starc and James Pattinson vying for the third fast bowler’s spot.Pattinson took 6 for 32 in the recent Shield match against Queensland but Starc also has strong form behind him after a productive time with Yorkshire during the English season and an impressive World Twenty20 where he claimed 10 wickets at six matches.Inverarity said: “He’s been terrific. There is an advantage if you pick your best left-armer.”The other spot that needs to be decided on is who takes the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Matthew Wade is the man in possession, after playing against West Indies earlier this year after being called up to replace Haddin who had to return home, and hit a maiden Test hundred in the final match of the series in Dominica.However, Haddin started the season with 114 against Tasmania to put his name back in the frame. “We will be talking together on the wicketkeeping next week and that is one of the things we will be discussing,” Inverarity said.

South Zone fought hard but a gallant 89 by Indian opening batsman Shiv Sundar Das proved to be the vital contribution as East Zone won their Duleep Trophy match at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala on Saturday by four wickets. The victory, which came in the first over after lunch, took East Zone’s tally to 13 points from three matches. South Zone stayed on eight pointsfrom the same number of games.East Zone, who required only 96 runs with eight wickets in hand, were favoured to win when play resumed this morning. But South Zone came strongly into the picture with some quick blows. First, Venkatesh Prasad had Sanjay Raul leg before for 18 with the total on 76. In the next over Rohan Gavaskar was caught by Vijay Bhardwaj off Srinath for one. And in the very next over, SZ Zuffri was leg before to Prasad for one to leave East Zone in a shaky position at78 for five.Young wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta joined Das and the two put East Zone back on the rails with a sixth wicket partnership of 45 runs off 15.2 overs. Das who dominated the scoring was finally out for 79, caught by VVS Laxman off Sunil Joshi. The East Zone captain batted four hours, faced 183 balls and hit eleven fours in his invaluable knock.South Zone had a chance with Das’ dismissal for East Zone still required 44 runs for victory. But Dasgupta and Sukhbinder Singh made light of the task and steered their side to victory with an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 47 runs off 13.4 overs. For his timely unbeaten 32, Dagupta faced 65 balls and hit four of them to the ropes. Sukbhinder, who had bagged six wickets in the South Zone second innings was unbeaten with 22 off 49 balls with three boundaryhits.

England‘s bowlers led by Reece Topley, restricted Bangladesh to 217 for 7, before their batsmen overcame a middle-order stutter to complete a four-wicket win in the 5th place play-off semi-final at Townsville.Bangladesh’s batting effort was anchored by opener Litton Das, who made a century. Das and captain Anamul Haque (56) put on 113 for the second wicket and at 122 for 1, Bangladesh looked set for a big score. However Topley ran through the middle order as Bangladesh lost five wickets for 25 runs and slumped from 187 for 2 to 212 for 7. England’s chase followed a similar pattern to the Bangladesh innings: at 90 for 1, with Sam Wood (46) and Ben Foakes (47) looking set at the crease, they looked to have the chase well under control. However a quick flurry of wickets meant 90 for 1 soon became 158 for 6 and England’s chase looked in trouble. However, Adam Ball and Aneesh Kapil stayed steady and their unbroken 60-run stand for the seventh wicket carried England home with 10 balls remaining.Pradeep Airee narrowly missed out on becoming Nepal‘s first centurion of the tournament, but he did enough to set up victory over Namibia in their 13th place play-off semi-final at the Peter Burge Oval in Brisbane. Airee finished unbeaten on 98 from 76 deliveries as Nepal put together a total of 219 for 7 having chosen to bat, and the chase did not begin well for Namibia.They were 22 for 2 in the ninth over and although half-centuries to the captain Stephan Baard (56) and Zhivago Groenewald (54) helped steady the ship, once they departed it was all but over for Namibia. Bhuvan Karki, the Nepal left-arm spinner, picked up 5 for 21, the equal second-best figures of the tournament, and Namibia were dismissed for 180, handing Nepal a 39-run victory.It was a proud day for Papua New Guinea at the WEP Harris Oval in Brisbane, where they closed out a 12-run victory over Zimbabwe in the other 13th place play-off semi-final. It was their first win of the tournament and was a major turnaround after Zimbabwe beat them by 104 runs ten days ago. The win was set up by half-centuries to Charles Amini (63) and Lega Siaka (50), as PNG were dismissed for 235 from the last ball of their 50th over.The Zimbabwean chased appeared to be well and truly on track as Kieran Geyle (42) and the captain Luke Masasire (68) put on a 108-run opening stand, but then things began to crumble for Zimbabwe. Kabua Vagi Morea collected three wickets in quick succession and Zimbabwe’s middle order struggled. Still, they remained favourites with 37 needed from six overs with four wickets in hand, but a pair of run-outs and another wicket hurt them, and the tenth wicket fell from the first ball of the 50th over, with 13 runs still required for victory.Javed Ahmadi recorded the highest individual score of this edition of the World Cup, with his 134 helping Afghanistan to a massive win over Scotland in the 9th place play-off semi-final at Allan Border Field. The captain Ahmadi smashed 17 fours and four sixes in his 111-knock before he was dismissed in the 38th over. Some power hitting by Najibullah Zadran (83 off 51) and Afsar Khan took the score to 336, the second-highest total so far. The total was well out of reach for Scotland, who managed only 210, to lose by 126 runs. Only two batsmen passed 30, with the highest score being Mathew Cross’ 37.

The legspinner Fawad Ahmed remains in contention for a late Ashes call-up despite being named in the Australia A squad to tour Africa while England and Australia battle for the urn. The national selectors have chosen a 16-man group for the trip to Zimbabwe and South Africa in July and August and they have included both Ahmed and the left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, while batsmen Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch have also been picked despite struggling in the Sheffield Shield last summer.Steven Smith, who is serving as vice-captain to Brad Haddin on the ongoing Australia A tour of England, will lead the side on the month-long trip, which features a three-day game against Zimbabwe in Harare, followed by two four-day matches against South Africa A. There is also a limited-overs section of the tour and Australia A will play at least four 50-over games during a one-day tri-series featuring South Africa A and India A in Pretoria.A number of changes were necessary from the squad in England, given that the selectors chose to use that trip as a chance for several Ashes squad members to adjust to the conditions ahead of the official start of the Test tour. The fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Gurinder Sandhu have been called up from outside the group in England, as has the wicketkeeper Tim Paine and the trio of Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Nathan Coulter-Nile, who played in the Champions Trophy.Ahmed and Agar, both of whom are in the Australia A team in England, were both named but the national selector John Inverarity left the door open for either man to be added to the Ashes squad. Agar, a 19-year-old left-armer who impressed the selectors when he travelled with the Australians in India earlier this year, has taken 4 for 61 and scored a half-century in his two Australia A matches in England so far, while Ahmed took 1 for 65 in his only game.”If we decide to expand the Ashes squad and expand it with a spinner, then Ashton Agar and Fawad Ahmed are the two contenders for that position,” Inverarity said. “They’re both included in this squad and we look forward to them getting more opportunity in this environment.”Finch was named vice-captain of the squad and while there is no question of his claims to a place in the one-day group – he was comfortably the leading Ryobi Cup run scorer last summer with 504 runs at an average of 84 – he will be equally desperate to impress in the first-class games after being overlooked by Victoria for most of the 2012-13 Shield campaign.The disparity between Finch’s short-form and long-form results was one of the great mysteries of the domestic summer, for in four Shield matches at the start of the season he made 0, 34, 1, 8, 9 and 16, and he did not play a Shield game after he was dropped in November. However, Finch did break into the ODI side during the summer and scored heavily as captain of Australia A against the England Lions in a one-day series in February and March.Like Finch, Shaun Marsh had a domestic campaign that featured few runs in the longer format but plenty in coloured clothing. Marsh was the top scorer in the Big Bash League with 412 runs at 58.85 and in the Ryobi Cup he made 215 at 53.75, but his Shield summer was poor and brought only 152 runs at 19 in four appearances. Marsh turns 30 next month and needs a big tour to prove to the selectors that he has more to offer at international level.”Shaun at the moment is very fit and focused,” Inverarity said. “This will be a really good opportunity for him. There’s a lot of cricket there and … it is a really good opportunity for him to kick-start his career a bit.”The inclusions of Marsh and Finch after such disappointing Shield campaigns highlights the lack of batting depth in Australia’s domestic game, although Callum Ferguson and Joe Burns could consider themselves unlucky to have been overlooked. Ferguson had a productive season in the Shield and Ryobi Cup and Burns, after a slow start, finished the summer well, although the selectors might have decided he would gain as much from his ongoing county stint with Leicestershire as an A tour.The Tasmania batsman Jordan Silk was the only non-Ashes squad member to miss out from the Australia A team in England. The fast bowler Pat Cummins will travel with the squad as a development player, much like he has in England, although Inverarity said there could yet be a chance of officially adding him to the squad.”Pat is progressing very well,” Inverarity said. “Currently he is with the Australia A tour in England in a development capacity. He has trained very hard, he’s very fit and very strong. Dennis Lillee worked with him and he has refined his action a little to put less stress on his body and we’re very keen that he ingrains those habits before we put him into a contest in the field, to ensure that he doesn’t revert to old habits under the pressure of the game. It could be that we’re ready to give him a run in a couple of games there.”Australia A squad Steven Smith (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Fawad Ahmed, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Alex Doolan, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Nic Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (wk), Gurinder Sandhu, Chadd Sayers, Pat Cummins (development player).

ScorecardNorthants skipper Alex Wakely made his maiden one-day ton•Getty Images

A superb maiden one-day century by Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely spearheaded a 29-run win against Kent at Tunbridge Wells. The win takes Northants into third place in Group A of the Yorkshire Bank 40.There was also a fine 88 from Northamptonshire opener Rob Newton, who added 144 in 18 overs with Wakely before he was forced to retire hurt with an ankle injury.Northamptonshire, asked to bat first, totalled 263 for 4 and then bowled with great discipline to restrict Kent to 234 all out in reply on a fast-scoring ground. Trent Copeland finished with four for 46 while Lee Daggett particularly outstanding as he took 2 for 28 from his eight-over allocation.Kent were 132 for 1 in the 24th over before a mid-innings collapse to 149 for 5 left them with too much to do in the last 10 overs.Alex Blake did his best to revive the innings by hitting 43 from just 24 balls, including a six and seven fours, but when he sliced a catch to cover off Copeland in the third of the four batting powerplay overs there were only a few more defiant blows from Matt Coles before Northamptonshire’s victory was confirmed.This was Kent’s third defeat in seven games in the competition and, even though they remain in second place in the group table, they will now struggle to qualify as leaders Nottinghamshire already have five wins from five games and are odds-on favourites to finish top later in the season.Wakely’s 102 came from just 77 balls, with four sixes and seven fours, and he provided the major impetus with a stream of fine strokes, including three extra cover boundaries in a single over from offspinner Adam Riley.Newton was never as fluent, as his 88 took 103 balls, but he struck two sixes and eight fours in all and was just beginning to put real pressure on Kent’s bowlers when, in the 35th over, he suffered the injury to his right ankle in freakish fashion. Going down on one knee, Newton badly twisted his ankle as he flipped a ball over his left shoulder to the fine leg boundary for his eighth four.After contorting himself to pull off the stroke against left-arm seamer Adam Ball, Newton crumpled in pain in the crease and could only continue after receiving treatment as he lay on the pitch. Given a runner, he straight drove Ball’s next delivery over long off for six, but flinched with pain again as he played the shot and had to hobble from the field.Wakely completed his brilliant hundred at the start of the last over, lofting Calum Haggett over mid off for four, but then skied a catch from the next ball after Northamptonshire had also lost David Willey to a mishit to deep square cover off Coles.For Kent, Haggett and Coles bowled excellently with the new ball and Darren Stevens was his usual metronomic self with his medium-paced swing and cut.Riley, apart from one expensive over, was tidy but Ball did not look comfortable in the batting powerplay overs and Kent clearly missed their captain James Tredwell, away with England’s one-day team, and the injured seamer Mark Davies.Northamptonshire bowled and fielded better than Kent as a unit, with Stevens run out for 10 by an excellent pick up and throw from Mohammad Azharullah coming in from long leg, and – as in their previous defeat at Sussex – Kent seemed to get themselves in a tangle with their choice of batting order after a good start.Sam Northeast, with 41 from 51 balls, added 64 for the first wicket with Sam Billings, who went on to 57 from 67 balls as he put on a further 68 for the second wicket with Brendan Nash.But when Nash skied a catch on 32 and Billings was bowled swinging at Daggett, the innings lost momentum at a crucial stage as Northamptonshire seized their chance.

Queensland have signed another member of the McDermott family with teenage batsman Ben McDermott joining the state on a rookie deal for next summer. The brother of Queensland-contracted fast bowler Alister and son of former Test bowler Craig, the 18-year-old McDermott recently toured New Zealand with the Australia Under-19s and played as both a wicketkeeper and as a specialist batsman.Opening batsmen Greg Moller and Alex Kemp were also added to the contract list, while Andrew Robinson, Wade Townsend and rookie batsman Corey Barsby were left out. Queensland had a successful 2012-13, winning the Ryobi Cup and finishing as runners-up in the Sheffield Shield, while the Brisbane Heat took out the BBL title. But coach Darren Lehmann said there remained plenty to work on.”We had a pretty good summer but in our post-season reviews, the players all identified areas where we needed to be better,” Lehmann said. “It’s going to be a big year for Australian cricket and we believe there are big opportunities to be had for our group if we can improve our skills and consistency across the board.”We had a lot of fun last season but now we know it is time to start again, put in the hard work, and look forward to enjoying our cricket when the season comes around.”Queensland squad Cameron Boyce, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Luke Feldman, Jason Floros, Peter Forrest, Matthew Gale, Cameron Gannon, Ryan Harris (Cricket Australia contract), Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, Alex Kemp, Usman Khawaja, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Greg Moller, Michael Neser, Luke Pomersbach, Nathan Reardon. Rookies Nicholas Buchanan, Ben McDermott, Ronan McDonald, James Peirson, Nicholas Stevens.

Shane Watson has insisted the decision to step down from the national vice-captaincy was his alone and was not prompted by Cricket Australia or the team management. Watson announced on Saturday that he would no longer be Michael Clarke’s deputy because he wanted to focus on his own performance and the timing, in the lead-up to the Ashes squad announcement, led to speculation that he might have been dropped from the role had he not quit.But Watson said there had been no pressure from within Australian cricket and his decision was in part to allow him to work on his own game and also to make it easier for Australia to start building a succession plan. Clarke and Watson are both 31 and given Clarke’s ongoing back problems his longevity as an international cricketer is uncertain and allowing a new vice-captain to learn under him might make the transition easier when it occurs.”Michael and myself are the exact same age and I suppose it’s been in the back of my mind as well to have a succession plan moving forward over the next few years as to who the next Australian captain will be,” Watson told the . “That definitely played a part in my decision as well, knowing that there really does need to be a succession plan in place, I suppose, in place along the lines of Michael and Ricky [Ponting]. I just think the time is right now for me to stand down and allow that process to move forward.”I haven’t felt pressure from the Cricket Australia hierarchy or anything like that at all. It’s mainly just come down to me, knowing that there has to be a succession plan. I’m very realistic with the team, myself and the structure. That is very important. What CA are looking out for at the moment is a few future leaders of the Australian cricket team.”Watson captained Australia in their most recent Test in Delhi, where India wrapped up a 4-0 series win last month, but personally he had a very disappointing tour with the bat, averaging 16.50. He had chosen not to bowl in an effort to prevent injury and allow him to gain some momentum as a batsman but the plan backfired and he intends to be bowling again by the time the Ashes begins.Since Watson was named vice-captain two years ago he has failed to hit the necessary heights as a Test batsman and averaged 24.11 with the bat during that time. Watson said he knew he could not expect to keep being selected if he was not contributing on the field but he hoped that by stepping down from an official leadership position he would give himself more chance of on-field success.”It will definitely free me up a bit,” he said. “My workload is nowhere near what Michael’s is, that’s for sure. But being an allrounder as well, coming back and bowling, that little bit of extra time that I would have been spending in the leadership meetings I’ll be able to spend on doing everything I can to get the best out of myself. I’ll also be able to get as much life balance as I can with my young family.”Throughout the Indian series it certainly made me realise what my make-up is. That certainly is an allrounder. It increases my chances of selection as well and I do want to be a part of the Ashes campaign.”