Season 7 Press Releases

[Cloete]

TN Bulk Up Already Imrpessive OD Team

Tamil Nadu have secured the services of their Round 2 1st pick Robbie Paradkar. Paradkar has made a good start to his career in the shorter form and TN manager had the following to say, "Robbie's made a sensational start to a career that I believe will be riddled with success. Despite his lack of games Rob and I felt his class was simply too overwhelming to pass up and our search for a good batsman-keeper in the shorter form has ended."

Paradkar, TN's 2nd player picked from the draft, and Wadekar, TN's first draft pick, are both set to feature prominently in their shorter forms of the game. However Paradkar would be about 3rd in line for the keeping spot in 4D and Wadekar also not likely to start, although he appears to be a solid bowler. When questioned on the lack of attention given to the four day team, Cloete had the following to say, "Basically I was really happy with our OD Batting and Bowling. However we lacked two crucial players, a keeper and an all-rounder. Rob and I are both delighted to have gained both Robbie and Vincenzo from the draft and they will certainly fit nicely into what we believe is the best team in WCC. In terms of four day, it's difficult for us to pick a player that is likely to improve our squad. Perhaps we will acquire one or two players through trades to improve on an already exceptional four day line-up, but we certainly aren't concerned with what we have now and we are sure to be a big title threat. TN are certainly the best team in WCC now, boasting perhaps the best One Day and Four Day teams and certainly the best overall squad."

 

[crickhowell]

Guyana sign Donald

Guyana are pleased to announce the signing of their first pick C Donald in the second round of the draft. Donald should become a great adition to the sides First Class batting and will also strengthen the side in the shorter form of the game. While Guyana's head coach Kyle Wright was not available for comment, Second XI manager James Malthus had this to say, "We are very pleased to have gotten our first choice in this round, particularly after the mix up in the first round. Donald should be a fine addition to the side and we are glad to have someone of his talent, hopefully having second pick in next round will help us get another good quality player." After a mixup with dates Guyana signed A Louden in the first round; it is believed they will look towards signing a wicket keeper in the next round after they failed to hang onto AB De Villiers at the end of last season.

 

[chaminda_00]

Colts sign All Rounder

Colts are happy to announce the signing of all rounder Tim Bradshaw. Bradshaw is expected to sign the three seamers role in OD team and open the bowling in FC with Ellepola Exley. Tim all rounder abilties will see him bat at 7 for the Colts and provide the Colts with his batting ave of 40. Bradshaw was also assigned OD squad number 45.

When former Kent manager Tharmi Loganathan signed for the Colts he felt that their were two areas of the OD side that he felt he needed to work to take the Colts' OD game to the next level. The first was the lack 50 plus batsmen and with the recent signing of Ashraf Ali (62), Pradeep Chawla (64), Farhan Abbasi (65) Colts feel they have solved that problem even though these players are inexperienced. The last was to improve the lower middle order which he feels has been achieved by the signing of all rounder Bradshaw and keeper batsmen Chawla. These signing have allowed the Colts to bat down to 9.

There have being some recent comments from other managers about the quality of their teams and their chances to win titles. But even though the Colts feel they have a side capable of winning the OD title. The management team desided to re-frame from talking their team up prior to the start of the season and let their on field performance do the talking for them.

When asked about what type of players the Colts maybe looking to sign in the next round. Colts manager Loganathan kept his reply short and simple, "FC Batsmen"

 

[Dark Hunter]

For the second week running, Karachi has had the luck of gaining the first pick in the draft. "I'ts deffinitely helpful" said 2nd XI manager, Myles Hutchinson. "We've planned our draft lists around what we think the team needs, and to get our first choices both times, is just great." After gaining W Jaffer in the first round, W Phadkar was the next player to join the ranks of an already formidable looking Karachi sqaud.

In relation to W Phadkar, Hutchinson said that he would play an important role in the team. "We were looking for a good allrounder in both forms of the game. We had a couple all round players in either form of the game, but none that would play both" Phadkar has a batting average of 37 in FC and 42 in OD. His medium pacers have a SR of 39 in OD. "He's a strong middle order batsman, and a good supporting bowler. It's exactly what we need."

 

[Goughy]

Inexperienced South Australia 2nd team manager, KJ Goughy, was caught unawares coming out of a hat shop by a reporter and gave unprepared but revealing answers to his questions about the draft.

The general content of the hurried conversation included-

"We have a draft board with the players ranked and prioritized. We may submit a draft list different to the board but that is part of the strategy. The question is always do you draft the best player available or one that fills your needs?"

"What a success the 2nd round was. Top of our draft board was Mooney. We drafted 21st in the round and ended up with who? freakin' Mooney thats who. What a success that round was. We think we got the best overall player for us with the 21st pick. That is why I am treating myself to this new hat"

Goughy continued to ramble for a short while before being ushered away by an unknown female companion.

 

[chaminda_00]

Goughy continued to ramble for a short while before being ushered away by an unknown female companion.

Say hi to your mum for me

 

[Jamee999]

LONDON -- Jamee Gray today made a short statement to the board about the second round draft pick, and other matters.

The Surrey Lions brought in medium pace bowler Kashif Raza to the squad. Gray was questioned on how the player was chosen. This was Mr Gray's responce.

"Well, normally I'd like to confer with my Second XI manager, Nitin, but his flight from America was delayed, and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we couldn't get in contact with him. So I made up the list of 24 players on my own, which wasn't the greatest task ever, but I did it, and I'm happy with the Number One pick coming to the Oval."

A rumour coming out of The Oval's WCC Admin centre, is that Gray and Nitin will be looking to round out the drafting of the "big 3" Asian countries in the next round.

 

[Blewy]

Say hi to your mum for me

 

[Slats4ever]

*title says it all, actually...*

if by coolest you mean wearing pink tracksuit pants, animal slippers and tank tops then warwickshire are the coolest....


other news out of western province is that Ian Markus officially hates ROVE...

 

[vic_orthdox]

if by coolest you mean wearing pink tracksuit pants, animal slippers and tank tops then warwickshire are the coolest....


other news out of western province is that Ian Markus officially hates ROVE...

Western Province's 2nd XI manager stood right behind Markus on this issue earlier today, saying that Rove brings nothing to television, and that a WCC update program would rate a lot better in that timeslot than a little man on TV who has had too much caffiene, making bad jokes and then trying to mop the floor afterwards.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Today at a Queensland training session, new Queensland Assistant Coach Daniel Smith was questioned on his clubs new Signing, Kabir Ali. "Oh were very pleased to have in on board here at Queensland. He makes our OD attack look very formidable. Obviously, with International experience to bring to the table, he can not only help the other bowlers, but me as well." Kabir arrived off the plane Yesterday and has been training lightly with the rest of the squad. "Yeah, he's looking good. Very fit and keen to train. He's fitting in well around here." When asked about there being no sign of Head Coach Gaurav Nayak , Daniel had this to say "He's dealing with a few personal things at the moment. I'm sure he wouldn't want me to divulge that information so you'll have to be content with that. I'll be running some light training sessions in the late mornings, and some fitness drills in the early afternoons until Gaurav gets back. It's a new experience, and I'm still learning the ropes, but sometimes it's good to be thrown in the deep end, I've learnt a lot already. Yes, the squad go easy on me haha." Queensland are waiting eagerly on the next round of the draft, but are keeping tight lipped on the possibilities. "We're looking at a few areas to improve, to improve our keeping strength, our FC bowling stocks and some quality middle order players. We'll work on them over time, we've got a good bunch here already and I'm very confident we can be competitive in both forms this season."

 

[Simon]

Comets get much needed quick

ACT Comets manager Simon Fitzsimmons couldnt control his delight today as the side secured the service of Indian born fast bowler Hans Venkat. Venkat who has German and Indian heritage was one of the main targets for ACT coming to this years draft and is said to be delighted to be joining one of the competetions powerhouses. He was reported as saying this, "It's been a dream of mine to play in WCC for many years, ever since the ACT have joined the competition they have been one of the top teams and hae always had a great coach, im pleased to be playing under Fitzsimmons and Goff." He apparently went on to critise Indian cricket officials for not doing their best to retain talented youngsters and then later had a shot at Western Province Ian Markus saying he was "a joke."

The Comets FC team is now looking very strong, although Fitzsimmons has extressed some concern at the quality of Batsmen past Ponting and Maxwell, we've got some proven batters in Dawn and Paynter but im not sure how they'll stand up this season.

 

[vic_orthdox]

2nd XI Manager Stands Behind Markus

Jack McNamara, the young and inexperienced 2nd XI manager of Western Province, had a long session behind the desk at the media conference today, engaging in much banter with the local scribes. Much of this was in response to ACT's latest signing Hans Venkat, who referred to Ian Markus as a "joke".

"Hans just wishes to get himself a bit of notoriety, no doubt. I think everyone in the cricketing fraternity would have been wondering, when they saw his name in the paper, what was going on. There's only one Venkat in cricket - and he's famous for his finger, not his Hans".

"I think the heirachy down at ACT is displaying a real inferiority complex. I don't blame them. They are living in Canberra. If I had've been allocated 2nd XI manager duties there, I would have been doing a Sgt. Klinger - doing anything to get a discharge outta that joint".

When asked about their latest draft pick, McNamara had little to say. "Just adding some OD strength to the side, but also a bit of character. Zach Ardley's well known for him team oriented cricket, and really brings something to the off-field side of things. Very glad to have him on-board".

 

[Burpey]

Kent Reel In A Big'un

Kent CCC has acquired the services of raw pace bowler Charlie Fish from the third round of the pre-season draft. Fish is relatively inexperienced, having only played a total of 20 matches at First-Class and List A level. However, he has shown extreme potential so far in his burgeoning career, averaging under 20 with the ball in both forms. Hunky Kent manager Stephen Burke has already put the pressure on Fish to perform when he talked to the media today.

"We felt we needed to further bolster our pace bowling ranks and we are glad we got our first pick for the third straight round," said Burke. "We hope that he develops to the level his potential suggests he should."

It is rumoured that Fish had been ACT's first pick for the third round also, and that Simon Fitzsimmons had confronted Burke about this matter in the carpark following the announcement of the third round allocations.

"It is indeed true that Simon had a word or two to say to me," Burke said. "I understand his frustration at missing out on Charlie. It's a cut throat world in WCC and I know that Simon is hungry to build the best squad he can. I bear no grudge towards him at all. 'It's the way the cookie crumbles' as I told him."

Fitzsimmons was not available for comment.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Camps pleased with Auckland progress

"Superb!" WCC Auckland manager, Liam Camps was in high spirits when interviewed by the press about his team's offseason moves. "I'm very pleased with our new signings and I'm thankful to the Auckland board for increasing the fundings to allow such a pleasant influx."

Camps then hinted to the press as to his potential first XI line-ups.

4D

Gervais Huckerby (Bat: 51.00)
Zaheer Roberts (Bat: 54.00)
Kevin Godwin (Bat: 43.40, Bowl [Fast]: 28.40)
Jack Smith (Bat: 56.90)
James Godwin (Bat: 53.50)
Khurram Khan (Bat: 47.00, Bowl [Spin]: 24.72)
Thilan Samaraweera (Bat: 41.30, Bowl [Spin]: 23.27)
Ryan Campbell (Bat: 34.60) (wk)
Dwayne Leverock (Bat: 15.40, Bowl [Fast]: 14.50)
Rennie Plummer (Bat: 13.40, Bowl [Fast]: 22.74)
Rohim Doshi (Bat: 8.2, Bowl [Fast]: 23.55)

OD

Gervais Huckerby (Bat: 43.40, Bowl [Spin]: 45.73)
Zaheer Roberts (Bat: 65.00)
Jack Smith (Bat: 46.50)
Raja Ali (Bat: 49.20)
James Godwin (Bat: 48.10)
Amit Zakir (Bat: 46.21)
Rennie Plummer (Bat: 43.20, Bowl [Fast]: 32.66)
Junior Senior (Bat: 38.00) (wk)
Rangana Herath (Bat: 22.00, Bowl [Spin]: 22.71)
Bruce Hefford (Bat: 4.90, Bowl [Spin]: 20.66)
Rohim Doshi (Bat: 1.90, Bowl [Fast]: 23.91)

"Of course, there's a lot more drafting and man management to be done before those are made final," Camps hastily added.

 

[Simon]

ACT hold no Grudges

ACT today confirmed that Charlie Fish was indeed the Comets preference for the draft, however the accusations being made by Kent manager Stephen Burke are a little off the mark, Fitzsimmons did admit that words were exchanged after it was revealed that the Comets would miss out on their pick, but the matter was laid to rest there and then.

 

[Slats4ever]

One Day takes Shape in South Africa

Talented One Day all rounder Zach Ardley joined Province's ranks this afternoon following round 3 of the draft. Zach averages 45 with the bat and also is very handy with the ball, bowling a lot of overs and having the ability to take lots of wickets. Manager Ian Markus is relishing the prospect of having a real wicket taker at the club adding that most of the current bowlers are just misely "run dryer upperers".

When questioned about the chances of the ACT comets in the upcoming season Zach refused to make any comment saying that "cricket's all I'm thinking about at the moment".

 

[andyc]

Mashonaland sign second spinner

With today's signing of Y Cole, Mashonaland not only secured themselves a more than competent second spinner, but also bolstered their one day batting attack. While some observers thought the move to be somewhat strange, considering the fact that they still lack a third keeper, Mashonaland manager Andyc supported his decision when he was surprised by the press as he was coming out from his daily massage at the house of one Mrs Burke.
"We were looking primarily for a one day batsman, but Cole's FC bowling also got him in the team. His arrival gives us a lot more depth in our FC bowling in the case of injury, while he will most likely be in the starting eleven for one dayer's."

 

[cricketboy29]

With the third round of the draft appearing, Queensland manager Gaurav Nayak was accosted by the media, while finishing off the remains of what looked like a subway sandwich. Topics ranged from his absence at the second round, the infighting between ACT and Western Province and his draft pick this round.
Excerpts-

"I must say, this infighting between these two distinguished teams, ACT and Western Province is quite frankly appalling. Two of our well-known managers. One would expect more decorum, from managers and players alike."

"I'm actually quite pleased with Van Wyk, He'll be taking up a central role in both our OD and FC teams. However, we still are very much wanting to beef our FC stocks up a bit more. But I do believe that our OD team is definitely equal or better than the teams in our division, and we'll definitely be gunning for the OD title this season."

He also praised his assistant manager's handling of the media, as well as his discretion.

 

[new_age_ar]

But I do believe that our OD team is definitely equal or better than the teams in our division, and we'll definitely be gunning for the OD title this season."

What divison are you guys in?