Birch defends risky shots
golf course, India’s players dispersed to be with their families for Diwali, and their board has made several sweeping decisions at their annual meeting.
Among them was to threaten the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) with moving the fourth Test to Pune if they didn’t fulfil certain requirements, including providing outstanding balance sheets, which has now been done.
This should free up enough funding from the national board for the DDCA to settle a debt of the equivalent of R51.66-million in back taxes.
DDCA and Delhi government have spent their Diwali locked in negotiations to find a way forward.
“We have heard good things from the chief minister’s office,” a DDCA official said. “We are very positive and expecting a Diwali gift.”
Probably not a cracker up the youknow-what, then, but a Test in Delhi next month as planned. WARRIORS star Andrew Birch says the team’s batsmen will continue to play inventive shots for as long as they are comfortable with them.
The Warriors’ senior batsmen came in for some criticism from SuperSport commentators during their Ram Slam T20 Challenge fixture against the Dolphins in Durban on Sunday for playing too many reverse sweeps or laps.
But Birch flat-batted the critics saying the audacious strokes are all part of the game and that players work around the clock in pursuit of perfecting them.
“The guys have got their shots and what they are comfortable with. I know Ackers (Colin Ackermann) got out to a reverse sweep but he is comfortable playing that shot,” Birch said yesterday, ahead of the team’s next T20 match against the Lions at St George’s Park tomorrow night.
“It’s a risky shot but if you get it away it’s happy days and everybody is clapping and saying good shot. But if you get out, the question is asked whether it is a good shot or not.
“Those shots are options that are there and you have to use your options. AB de Villiers plays them and nobody questions him so why should we question the guys who are playing them at the Warriors?”
Birch says the Warriors are looking to remain in the hunt for the playoffs by winning both their games this weekend. After the match against the Lions, the squad travel to Centurion where they face the Titans, who they beat in a 50-over match at the start of the season last month.
“The next two games are vitally important or we are going to be left behind in the competition,” added the 30-year-old seamer. “We want to win here at home. We want to get the crowd in. Winning cricket gets people to the ground. We’ve started off well this season so hopefully we can just kick on and get back into winning ways in the T20.”