Perth Scorchers coach Justin Langer has told his youthful squad to embrace the spirit of Eric Hollies ahead of its final Karbonn Smart Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) match tonight.
Perth Scorchers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hollies, an English leg-spinner who passed away aged 68 in 1981, snared the wicket of Sir Donald Bradman for a duck in the iconic Australian’s final Test match innings. Sir Donald needed just four runs to achieve a Test average of 100.
Tonight, Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar will likely play his final T20 when the Perth Scorchers take on the Mumbai Indians in Delhi and Langer said it was an opportunity for one of his young crop to be tied to history.
“It’s that exciting for them, to play Sachin, I hope there’s an Eric Hollies in the group,” Langer said. “Imagine that, that’d be awesome wouldn’t it, if one of our kids could get Sachin.
“I hope he doesn’t make too many runs tomorrow, but I love watching Sachin bat”, he added. “At 42 years of age, I watched Sachin bat for two hours in the nets the other day. I could have watched him all day.
English: Sachin Tendulkar at Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“He’s a master, he’s an icon and it’s going to be really exciting for our kids to play Sachin, and play (Kieron) Pollard and play Harbhajan (Singh)”, Langer stated. “The crowd will hopefully go mad for Sachin and for the game, so these kids will know they’re alive.”
The Scorchers came to India minus six of their best players, with Shaun and Mitch Marsh and Pat Cummins all injured, Alfonso Thomas not released by Somerset and Mike Hussey and Nathan Coulter-Nile selected by their IPL sides.
It left Perth fielding an energetic and buoyant group of young players, many of whom were making their debut and who entered the tournament with high hopes, but had their colours lowered through two heavy defeats to Otago Volts and Rajasthan Royals.
The challenge this week became even more difficult for the Perth team after batsmen and senior players Liam Davis (fractured finger) and Adam Voges (ongoing lower-back complaint) returned to Perth with injuries.
It offers an opportunity to yet another of the Scorchers’ bright prospects, with wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Whiteman likely to step into the lineup for his debut for the side.
“It’s going to be exciting, I haven’t played in front of a crowd or anything, just what I’ve experienced at this tournament,” Whiteman said. “Everything’s going to be different, the pressures are going to be different, but it’s going to be really fun.
“Hopefully, I can just soak it all up and enjoy it”, he added. “I’ve always grown up watching (Tendulkar) on TV and to play against him is a dream come true. Hopefully, he doesn’t stay in the middle too long, but it’s going to be good.”
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- Exlusive: Sachin Tendulkar and the burden of expectation (cricketbadger.com)
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
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James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
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