da esoccer bet： NAIROBI – Queenslander Jimmy Maher will be given the nod to fill thebatting spot vacated by the injured Darren Lehmann when Australia namesits team to take on Pakistan in their one-day international at Nairobion Friday.
Michael Donaldson28-Aug-2002NAIROBI – Queenslander Jimmy Maher will be given the nod to fill thebatting spot vacated by the injured Darren Lehmann when Australia namesits team to take on Pakistan in their one-day international at Nairobion Friday.Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said the team had not been decided butsuggested Maher would be included to play his ninth one-dayinternational in a late-blossoming career.”We haven’t really spoken about the make up of the side but it’s safe tosay Jimmy Maher will come in,” Ponting said at a press conference today.Andrew Symonds and Nathan Hauritz are likely to be rested along with oneof the four quick bowlers.Ponting wanted the Australians to avoid the pitfall of being a slowstarter but expected the side to get better the longer it playedtogether.”Historically, after a break, it seems to take the Australian team sometime to get back to playing their best in one-day games,” Ponting said.”I don’t think we should expect too much from the first couple of games- we want to work our way into it and play our best when the big gamescome around.”By that Ponting meant the final of this series, which – barringcatastrophic mishaps against the third side Kenya – will featureAustralian and Pakistan.But he would also have one eye on the opening match of the ChampionsTrophy match in Sri Lanka, where Australia would like to beat NewZealand first-up to secure a place in the semifinals.Pakistan captain Waqar Younis admitted the Yousuf Youhana affair hadbeen detrimental to the team. Youhana, one of the best one-day batsmenin the world, was sent home from the tournament for disciplinaryreasons.”Yousuf Youhana is a good batsman and a key member of our side butunfortunately he’s not here so we have to cope with what we’ve got,”Younis said.What Pakistan have got is a fit-again Shoaib Akhtar, who has recoveredfrom a hamstring niggle and is ready to bowl fast in the thin air ofNairobi, which is 1,800 metres above sea level.Meanwhile, Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo, said his side would playpositive cricket as it tries to pull another mighty upset to matchvictories over West Indies and India.Australian squad: Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, DamienMartyn, Michael Bevan, Jimmy Maher, Shane Watson, Shane Warne, AndyBichel, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds,Nathan Hauritz.