http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mickey-Arthur-c1969 – Cricket News Update
Despite failing to underpin a regular starting position, Australian Coach, Mickey Arthur considers all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harold-William-Stephenson-c61707 Smith as a long term prospect for the national team.
Smith made a comeback to the side for the current series against England after performing exceptionally well in the domestic season. He was also a part of the Indian Premier League’s season five, and performed impeccably with both, bat and in the field,
despite Pune http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warriors-c861 finishing bottom of the pile.
However, with the Aussies currently 2-0 down in the five-match series, questions have been raised over the team’s combination. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Peter-Forrest-c2176, but hardly made an impact.
He bowling, leg-breaks, were not utilized by skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978, while his batting contributions also offered little to the team after he managed 8. Having had the luxury of playing in both warm-up-matches, his no showings in the first match further
forced the management to exclude him from the second ODI at the Oval, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stewart-Jonathan-Walters-c91389 taking a spot.
Earlier, Smith was left out the 17 contracted players for the current season and the ongoing tour was considered a significant, in terms of the 23-year-old’s chances to cement a permanent spot for the team’s upcoming assignment which includes the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World
Cup T20.
While admitting that the youngster has fallen behind, Arthur is still a staunch supporter of the all-rounder and is hopeful that the player will come good in the future.
"He hasn't done a huge amount of bowling on this tour so far but we're looking at Steve as a bit of a long-term proposition," Arthur said. "We go to subcontinent conditions for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758
so he could play a prominent role there so we wanted to expose him, bring him back into the set-up and then have a look.”
“He's bubbling away, we're working hard with him, trying to get his technique up to speed and we'll continue to do that with him," added Arthur.
The Aussies will be hoping for a first win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in the third ODI, which takes place at Birmingham.
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