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Lahiru Thirimanne, Sri Lanka vice-captain, suggested he would continue to bat in the lower middle order until the World Cup, despite having tasted his greatest successes higher up the order.

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Nov-2014Lahiru Thirimanne, Sri Lanka vice-captain, suggested he would continue to bat in the lower middle order until the World Cup, despite having tasted his greatest successes higher up.Lahiru Thirimanne is set for a middle order role•BCCIThirimanne struck two centuries opening the innings in this year’s Asia Cup – for which he received a Player of the Tournament award – but he has been more often seen at No. 5 or lower, as Sri Lanka seek support for Angelo Mathews towards the end of a one-day innings.His stint as opener came to an end in England, where he was repeatedly dismissed by James Anderson, but he has since struck form with the A team and in the series against India. With Sri Lanka having had trouble finding an opening partner for Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thirimanne would seemingly have been a candidate to move back up the order, but it appears likely that he will stay at No. 6, where he has just hit two fifties on the trot.”I think if you take my technique into account, I am most suited for batting in the top four,” Thirimanne said. “But for now, I’ll have to play according to what the team need, and that is in the middle order. Our top order is balanced, so my job is to strengthen the middle order when I come to bat after Angelo. I’m happy to bat wherever I’m given a spot.”Thirimanne said Sri Lanka had not finalised their XI for the first ODI, but they do have options for the opening position. Kusal Perera has been named in the squad, despite having made only four runs in three outings in India. Mahela Jayawardene has expressed a desire to open the batting as well, and may be next in line to open, should Kusal fail to convince. And the selectors have also suggested they would consider Test opener Kaushal Silva for ODIs, though Silva has not been named in the squad for the first three games.”I don’t think Mahela will play as an opener in the first match, but he is always ready to bat wherever the team needs him,” Thirimanne said. “Kusal Perera is there. We haven’t picked the XI yet but it’s likely that we’ll have a left-hand/right-hand combination tomorrow.”Thilina Kandamby’s recall also suggests the selectors are considering tinkering with the top order. Kandamby may be a candidate to step into the No. 4 slot if Jayawardene does eventually open the innings.”If Kandamby plays, he will be in the middle order,” Thirimanne said. “Because on the India tour, we lost a few top order wickets early. Angelo does a great job in the middle, because he’s in form. We have to consider our options before the World Cup. We’ve got about four or five batsmen who can fill that middle-order role. Out of those, we’ll probably try and figure out who our best two are, and they’ll be in that World Cup side. We’ll see how Kandamby goes in this series.”Sri Lanka remain without Lasith Malinga for this series, as he recovers from ankle surgery. Shaminda Eranga, Dhammika Prasad and Lahiru Gamage have been named as specialist quicks, with Suranga Lakmal also expected to be available from the fourth ODI onwards. But none of those bowlers have played 20 ODIs, with Gamage having only debuted this month.”We feel the absence of Lasith Malinga a lot,” Thirimanne said. “I think the death overs is where a bowler’s maturity is most tested. The new bowlers we have are talented, but when it comes to the final few overs, they can have nerves. We’ve been training with that in mind in the past week though, and I’m sure the bowlers will come with a good plan.”

Holders Hampshire survived a spirited Scotland challenge to win by five wickets and secure their second Yorkshire Bank 40 victory in three days.

05-May-2013Hampshire 194 for 5 (Dawson 51*) beat Scotland 192 for 7 (Mommsen 60*) by five wickets
ScorecardHolders Hampshire survived a spirited Scotland challenge to win by five wickets and secure their second Yorkshire Bank 40 victory in three days.After winning the toss and being put in to bat, Saltires openers Calum MacLeod and Freddie Coleman added 37 runs inside five overs. But the loss of MacLeod for 13, caught at short fine leg by Chris Wood off David Balcombe, sparked a mini collapse which slowed the Scots’ innings to a standstill.Coleman, after 27, was next to fall, Hamza Riazuddin striking in his first over to leave Scotland on 49 for 2. Matt Machan went soon after for 8, caught by Sean Ervine at midwicket to give Balcombe – playing his first list A game for Hampshire since 2009 – his second wicket of the day.Ervine became the second Hampshire bowler to strike in his first over, forcing Majid Haq to top-edge tamely to Liam Dawson at slip for just 5.Richie Berrington and skipper Preston Mommsen combined to briefly stem the loss of wickets, but their partnership ended when Berrington was stumped off the bowling of Danny Briggs for 19 to leave Scotland floundering on 88 for 5 in the 23rd over.Wicketkeeper Matthew Cross, on debut, added 43 with his captain, before holing out to James Vince off the bowling of Wood for 21. And Wood struck again a short while later, Briggs catching Moneeb Iqbal for a breezy 17 from 12 deliveries.A hard-hitting cameo from Gordon Goudie, 15 from five balls, helped Scotland add 33 runs in the last two overs, as the visitors ended on 192 for 7, skipper Mommsen top scoring with 60 not out.The total looked at least 20 runs light on an excellent batting track against an in-form Hampshire batting line-up, but the home side were soon in trouble. Michael Carberry edged Calvin Burnett behind in the third over, before opening partner Vince was caught by Haq off the bowling of Goudie.And when George Bailey was bowled by Gordon Drummond for 24, Hampshire looked in real danger at 61 for 3 in the 15th over. It got worse for Hampshire just two overs later when Ervine hit offspinner Machan straight to mid-on to leave the hosts 78 for 4, and falling behind the required run-rate.Captain Jimmy Adams steadied the ship in partnership with Liam Dawson, but when the former fell for 51, Hampshire hopes lay in the balance at 130 for 5.But the prospect of an embarrassing defeat was averted by Dawson, 54 from 62 balls, and keeper Adam Wheater, 35 from 32 balls, who batted without alarm to secure the win.

It has been a while since an Australian captain has looked as serene during an Ashes Test as Michael Clarke did at the Adelaide Oval. During a period of England domination, uncomprehending exasperation of Ricky Ponting has been followed by the lurking fea

The Report by David Hopps at Adelaide Oval06-Dec-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:00

Polite Enquiries: The end for Flower?

It has been a while since an Australian captain has looked as serene during an Ashes Test as Michael Clarke did at the Adelaide Oval.During a period of England domination, the uncomprehending exasperation of Ricky Ponting has been followed by Clarke’s lurking fear that his own Ashes story could be debilitated by injury.Yet here Clarke was, the second day into the second Test, continuing his love affair with this ground with an unflustered century which with every graceful moment stated his intent to become the Australian captain who regained the Ashes. The blissful manner in which he dealt with the England attack, with his vice-captain Brad Haddin offering sterling support, will only quicken the belief in Australia that the balance is shifting irrevocably in their favour.That sensation also resides in the figure of Mitchell Johnson, only more violently. Nothing England contrived came close to his immediate threat. He sand-blasted Alastair Cook aside with his 10th delivery, every ball above 148kph until the kill was applied, the ball searing past Cook’s outside edge to strike off stump.Michael Carberry and Joe Root stabilised England for the rest of the 20 overs they had to survive, but they were distinctly fortunate to survive some high jinks in the final over. Root’s eagerness to see out the day drew him into an inexcusable off-side single which would have run out Carberry had Chris Rogers hit the stumps. Then Australia opted not to review the final ball of the day when replays showed Carberry would have been out lbw. Root had reason to be as relieved as Carberry.Australia had hammered home their authority by the time they declared 10 overs into the final session. Clarke reached 148 in five and three quarter hours when he became the first Test victim for Ben Stokes, seeking to work him through square leg and chipping a gentle catch to short midwicket off a leading edge.Clarke’s stand with Haddin was worth 200 in 51 overs, a new record for the sixth wicket for any team in Adelaide. Haddin fell for 118 to Stuart Broad in the third over after tea, his fourth Test century reaffirming in aggressive fashion that he has turned the back-to-back Ashes series into one of the most productive periods in his Test career. England had designs upon dismissing Australia, 5 for 273 at the close of the first day, for around 350, only to become increasingly bereft as they gave up another 297 runs in 68 overs. England conceded 12 sixes, five to Haddin, a tally assisted by Adelaide’s short square boundaries.Australia’s total was their highest in Ashes cricket since they amassed 674 for 6 declared against England in Cardiff in 2009, a match in which England also combined the spin of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar with little reward. England had fielded two spinners in Australia for the first time for 33 years, but the gamble demanded that they remained in touch in the first innings in the hope of dividends later in the game.By the time England followed up Clarke’s dismissal with more consolatory wickets, a victory to tie the series at 1-1 looked an increasingly unlikely proposition. Mitchell Johnson hoicked Swann’s offspin to mid-on and Stokes, occasionally revealing an ability to leave the right-hander off the pitch, had Peter Siddle caught at the wicket. But Ryan Harris deposited Swann for two successive slog sweeps into the members to keep Australian spirits high and after tea became the eighth Australian to pass 50 in a series that is not quite two Tests old. That statistic, above all, should trouble England.Michael Clarke brought up his sixth Test century at Adelaide at a higher average than even Don Bradman•PA PhotosClarke’s sixth Adelaide hundred in nine Tests, and his 26th of all, was his second in succession, following his century in Brisbane when Australia’s domination was assured. This one was a perfectly-constructed affair with the Test in the balance, made all the more noteworthy because of occasional suggestions that first his back and then his ankle were troubling him more than the England attack. When he was dismissed, his average in Adelaide Tests was 104.75, a standard that even The Don – Adelaide’s most revered figure – could not quite match.Virtually everything that could go wrong for England in the morning did as Clarke and Haddin batted through the morning session with commendable enterprise. Stokes missed out on a first Test wicket because of a no-ball and the list of half chances to elude England grew as they failed to press home their hard-won position of equality from the first day. They were in a rush to take wickets with the new ball 10 overs old at start of play, but their threat softened even before the Kookaburra ball did.England will reflect that the morning might have turned out differently. Clarke’s determination to dominate the left-arm spin of Panesar from the outset almost went awry as he skipped down the pitch to his first ball of the morning and spooned it over extra cover, marking his fifty with relief as the ball evaded Stokes. But by the time Panesar was withdrawn after four overs, the mood was set.England also had a glimmer of a chance to dismiss him when he was 91. Again Clarke’s foot movement was ambitious, this time to the offspin of Swann, and his glance thudded through the hands and into the ankle of Ian Bell at backward short leg. A tough catch missed, Bell, and the wicketkeeper Matt Prior, then failed to gather cleanly to pull off a run out as Clarke dived back into his crease and rose with the sense that fortune was favouring the brave.Haddin was an impressive accomplice, but he, too, had one or two moments which fell his way. James Anderson, with no swing to sustain him, looked listless, but when he produced a good bouncer to Haddin, on 30, the hook shot fell short of Panesar, who reacted cumbersomely at fine leg as the ball sailed out of the unfinished stand. It was barely a catch, although in keeping with the ground works, Panesar also seemed to be wearing concrete boots.Stokes imagined that his first Test wicket had come in his third over of the day when he produced an excellent delivery to have Haddin, on 51, caught at the wicket. He had already fielded congratulations from his team-mates for his first Test wicket when replays showed he had overstepped.Haddin could not resist a jokey congratulation to Stokes at the end of the over about his first Test wicket that wasn’t, and as Stokes’ manner suggested an appetite for continuing the conversation, the umpire Marais Erasmus intervened to calm the situation. As the afternoon wore on, the calm became increasingly hard for England to stomach; on a sunlit evening, as Johnson burned in, calm was something they could only dream of.

Nottinghamshire maintained their 100% Yorkshire Bank 40 record as Alex Hales made 72 from 41 balls in a five-wicket D/L victory over Worcestershire

12-May-2013
ScorecardNottinghamshire maintained their 100% Yorkshire Bank 40 record as Alex Hales made 72 from 41 balls in a five-wicket victory over Worcestershire under the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-shortened match at New Road.A whirlwind innings by allrounder Gareth Andrew, who hit eight fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 62 from 34 balls, gave the home side what seemed to be a workable total of 132 for 5 in 16 overs. Nottinghamshire were then set a reduced target of 127 and despite losing Michael Lumb to a stunning catch by Thilan Samaraweera at short midwicket, they chalked up their third win in the competitionThe scenario was ideal for Hales to dip into his repertoire as a Twenty20 international player and he delivered exactly what Nottinghamshire wanted with eight fours and two sixes before he was caught at point off Moeen Ali.Riki Wessels (28) drove Brett D’Oliveira’s first two deliveries, both full tosses, into the seating at long-on before Jack Shantry claimed his second wicket. There was just a hint of pressure when Daryl Mitchell bowled Samit Patel in a nagging spell of medium-pace but Nottinghamshire had four balls to spare when Steven Mullaney pulled Andrew for the winning boundary.When the game got under way at 4pm, the conditions could not have been more miserable, with a few hundred spectators huddled round the ground as Worcestershire batted first on a cool, murky afternoon.Moeen got them off to a blistering start with 28 in four overs. The left-hander pulled two sixes while taking 22 off five balls from Andy Carter but then made a tame exit when hoisting the seamer’s next delivery to Ed Cowan at wide mid-on. This proved to be a catalyst for collapse as Jake Ball, a nephew of former England wicketkeeper Bruce French, and Patel shared four wickets as Worcestershire added only 13 runs in the next five overs.Patel underlined his value in this form of cricket with 2 for 8 in a three-over spell before rain took a further 75-minute chunk out of the match.On the resumption Worcestershire made the most of the remaining 30 balls, plundering 80 runs in all as Andrew roughed up Patel’s figures with 19 in an over and then took 24 off the last over from Steven Mullaney. Australian newcomer Michael Johnson chipped in 17 towards an unbroken partnership of 80 in 7.1 overs.

Phil Jaques’ half-century and a feisty eight-wicket partnership held up Sussex in their pursuit of victory but most of the Yorkshire top order failed

Paul Edwards at Headingley12-Apr-2013
ScorecardSteve Magoffin removed Phil Jaques for the second time in the match•PA PhotosDivision One cricket is a hard school and that is precisely as it should be. Such a state of affairs is something which Yorkshiremen of the Close and Trueman generation would applaud. Jason Gillespie and Andrew Gale have also been full of praise for the top tier of English cricket and virtually every Yorkshire player has been keen to say how much they were looking forward to testing themselves against the best in the land once again.All of which will make their signal failure to live with a dynamic Sussex team over much of the first three days of this match all the more galling. Yorkshire’s batting on the first day was mediocre, their bowling on the second mostly anaemic and their batting on Friday, with the honourable exception of Phil Jaques, error-strewn until Gary Ballance and Ryan Sidebottom added 80 runs for the eighth wicket in 29 overs. When the umpires took the players off nine overs before the scheduled close the home side were 228 for 8 and will almost certainly suffer their first four-day defeat in 19 games at some stage on Saturday morning.Sussex’s cricket, by contrast, has been dynamic, purposeful and skilled. Jaques, whose 57 was largely responsible for his team’s showing, before Sidebottom and Ballance came together, admitted that Ed Joyce’s men had “come at Yorkshire hard” and that his team had been second-best for much of the contest.On the third day, that flinty approach was personified by Steve Magoffin, who removed Jaques with a fine delivery and then induced Azeem Rafiq to play on next ball. When the Australian bowled Liam Plunkett after tea – the entire morning session had been lost to rain – a three-day finish beckoned and, indeed, this would have been a two-day affair but for earlier interruptions.Other Sussex bowlers also enjoyed success; Joyce’s attack hunted as a ravenous pack. However, they found some Yorkshire batsmen only too ready to cooperate in their own demise. Adam Lyth was the first to go, essaying an airy waft down the leg side off James Anyon. The same bowler then dismissed the Gale three balls later, the captain’s tentative push being the limpest of efforts in a tough situation for his team.Jonny Bairstow added 39 with Jaques but a straight, good-length ball from Jordan defeated his expansive drive. This pitch may not have been the easiest to bat on over the course of the match and Jaques’ astute point that bowling a side out for 96 inevitably gives the opposition’s batsmen a measure of freedom is very valid, but it still remains true that the Yorkshire top order will need to sell their wickets far more dearly over the next five months if they are to cope with the best county attacks in the land.

Zinedine Zidane has revealed that he is "a big fan" of Real Madrid sensation Jude Bellingham, as he hailed the Englishman's "incredible" performances.

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Zidane revealed himself to be a fan of Bellingham English midfielder shares Zidane's famous No.5 jersey Has scored 20 goals already this season with Los Blancos Getty/GOALWHAT HAPPENED?

When Bellingham moved to the Spanish capital in the summer, he decided to wear the No.5 jersey at Real Madrid, an iconic shirt previously worn by Zidane himself. While many scoffed at the daring of a 20-year-old, his performances on the pitch have silenced his critics and now the former midfield maestro himself has lavished praise on the youngster.

AdvertisementWHAT ZIDANE SAID

During a chat with , Zidane said: "He’s an unbelievable player who does incredible things. You could have imagined what he was going to do, but he’s surpassed all the statistics with what he’s doing.

"Don’t forget that he’s only 20 years old. He arrived at Real Madrid with a lot of desire, a lot of goals and he is setting the bar very high. He’s just showing everyone what he is and it’s great to see him like that. I’m a big fan of his and now we want him to win trophies with Real Madrid. It’s everything he wanted for himself.”

Getty/GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Bellingham has become the poster boy of Adidas and has featured in several commercials promoting the new line of Adidas predator boots, which was once worn by Zidane. He first wore those boots against Napoli in the Champions League and also scored the second goal for his team in a 4-2 win over the reigning Serie A champions.

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WHAT NEXT?

Bellingham has 20 goals and eight assists to his name in his maiden campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu. He leads the goal-scoring charts in La Liga and has already surpassed Zidane's tally of most strikes in a season for the club with a brace against Barcelona earlier in October.

ESPNcricinfo previews the only T20 international between Sri Lanka and India in Pallekele

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya06-Aug-2012Match factsTuesday, August 7
Start time 1900 (1330 GMT)After three losses in a row this trip, Sri Lanka have one final shot at consolation•AFPBig PictureThis solitary Twenty20 fixture at Pallekele, along with India’s two T20s against New Zealand later this month and the Sri Lanka Premier League, offers welcome preparations for teams and players ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September. This will be India’s last T20 before the final squad for the World T20 is announced (the deadline is August 18); some of Sri Lanka’s players will have the benefit of playing the SLPL before their squad is named.India have played just one Twenty20 international in Sri Lanka, in 2009, which they won. The teams have played T20s against each other on four occasions; their last game was more than two years ago. After three losses in a row this trip, Sri Lanka have one final shot at consolation. After a rainless ODI series, there was a steady shower on the eve of this game.The structure of the series has, however, raised question marks. According to the Future Tours Programme, this tour was meant to include three Tests and no ODIs. The teams then decided to play five ODIs and just one T20; the SLC said the teams wanted to focus on limited-overs cricket. Which begs the question: Why not play more T20 internationals instead of five ODIs, a month ahead of the World T20?Form guideIndia: LWLLL (completed games, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: LWLWWWatch out for…Manoj Tiwary: He seems to have done enough to have the clear edge over Rohit Sharma in India’s limited-overs plans, having made 21 and 65 in the two ODIs he’s played on this tour. He ran well between wickets, was especially strong through the leg side and scored at a healthy pace. He was below par in the IPL, averaging 26 and finishing as the fourth-highest run-getter for the Kolkata Knight Riders, but he hit the winning runs that sealed the title in a tight chase.Dinesh Chandimal: He had a disappointing ODI series with the bat, managing just 55 runs in five games when much was expected from him in the middle order. He was part of the World T20 squad in 2010; will he make the cut again?Team news Virender Sehwag missed the final ODI due to a glute problem and has returned to India. Zaheer Khan has also headed back, to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.India (possible): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Umesh Yadav.In place of the injured Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka have included seamer Shaminda Eranga in the T20 squad.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Sachitra Senanayake, 10 Shaminda Eranga/ Nuwan Pradeep, 11 Lasith Malinga.Stats and trivia Mahela Jayawardene is 45 short of reaching 1000 runs in T20 internationals.
Among Test teams other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, India have played the least T20 internationals – 34. Pakistan have played 55, leading the list. Sri Lanka have played 40. Quotes”Basically whenever I think about all these things like, not playing, not getting an opportunity despite scoring a hundred I just analyze myself [and] as the days pass by you tend to improve mentally.”
“It is significant to identify some of the roles for some of the players. We did that against Pakistan as well. We had to try out different combinations in the two T20s. We will try and do the same here.”

Mountaineers registered a convincing 55-run win over Mid West Rhinos in the Logan Cup match at Kwekwe Sports Club

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMountaineers registered a convincing 55-run win over Mid West Rhinos in the Logan Cup match at Kwekwe Sports Club.Although Mountaineers dominated the first innings of the match, taking a 69-run first-innings lead, Rhinos did have a chance to make a comeback. A five-wicket haul by Graeme Cremer in the second innings helped Rhinos restrict Mountaineers to 216 – that meant a target of 285, with nearly two days of play left in the game.Rhinos, however, lost their way after a 48-run opening partnership between Vusi Sibanda and Jaik Mickleburgh was broken by fast bowler Shingi Masakadza – he had Sibanda bowled. By the time Mickleburgh was dismissed for 43, Mountaineers’ bowlers had made significant inroads, reducing the Rhinos to 101 for 5.A sixth-wicket partnership of 57 runs between Cremer and Mluleki Nkala gave Rhinos some hope, but once Cremer was dismissed for 29, Nkala ran out of partners and Rhinos folded for 230.

Cheteshwar Pujara got out for 73 when he was looking good for a lot more, but he isn’t too disappointed that he missed out on a hundred

Sidharth Monga in Adelaide11-Dec-20141:52

‘My dismissal was unlucky’ – Pujara

Between the end of the South Africa tour last year and this Adelaide Test, Cheteshwar Pujara had scored just one Test half-century in 14 innings. At a crucial time, at the start of the tour, he got off to a good start, but failed to live to his exceptional conversion rate, falling for 73. However, he is not letting it affect him too much.”At times I feel disappointed that I couldn’t capitalise and score a big one,” Pujara said. “But it’s a game of cricket. You can’t score double-centuries all the time. Obviously I want to score as many runs as possible, but you also have to respect the opposition. When I get out I try and analyse what went wrong, and try to come back strongly.”Not only Pujara, but M Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane also failed to convert starts into hundreds, but their captain Virat Kohli didn’t miss out. It was a gutsy innings. The first ball he faced hit him flush in the helmet, but Kohli waved away all the concern and help from his opposition and team-mates, and went on to score his seventh hundred. Pujara was at the non-striker’s end when Kohli was hit.”The first reaction, everyone went to Virat and asked him whether he was all right or not,” Pujara said of the incident. “Even when I went in, I asked if everything was fine. First he checked the helmet to see if there was any damage. There wasn’t. The helmet was fine. Even he was fine. Later on we discussed how the ball came, what could be done to such a ball and how he got hit. Overall, he batted really well, forgetting about that particular ball. It was fun to watch his innings.”Pujara said that their batting line-up is good, and they can pose Australia a threat. “What we discussed yesterday was to fight back,” Pujara said. “The score that they made, we discussed that we can definitely achieve this with the kind of batting line-up we have. That was the target, to score as many runs as them. We have a very good batting line-up, and it was about proving to ourselves that we can achieve this. We’re in a good position to do so.”Most of our batsmen have scored runs. We got a good start. We always had partnerships. That is a big positive for us. Overall, all the batsmen spent time at the crease and were looking very good. If you have a good start you can take many positives out of it. It’s about self-belief and the kind of self-belief we have now, after scoring these runs, we can take it into the next innings and next match.”

Paul Nixon, the former Leicestershire batsman, is to join the club’s commercial team and become a club ambassador. Nixon retired at the end of the 2011 season after helping Leicestershire win their third T20 title.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2012Paul Nixon’s chirps, once so familiar to opposition batsmen, are about to become a feature of the Leicestershire back office. The former wicketkeeper, a self-confessed hyperactive type whose talkative tendencies are reflected in his nickname of “Badger”, is to join the county’s commercial team and become a club ambassador.Nixon retired at the end of the 2011 season after helping Leicestershire win their third T20 title. He initially turned down the opportunity to become the club’s batting coach to persue opportunities with Pune Warriors in the IPL. A role did not materialise and Nixon will now return to the club where he played for 20 years.He made his Leicestershire debut in 1989, scored over 12,000 first-class runs and was part of the championship-winning sides of 1996 and 1998. He had a brief spell with Kent before returning to Grace Road, where he won three T20 Cups, in 2004, 2006 and 2011 – last year’s final against Somerset at Edgbaston his swansong.Nixon will hope to furthur contribute to Leicestershire’s financial turnaround. After recording a loss of more than £400,000 in 2011, the county declared a profit of just under £300,000 for the year ended September 2011.”I am delighted to be offered the opportunity to join the commercial team,” Nixon said. “I will do my utmost to take Leicestershire forward.”Mike Siddall, Leicestershire’s chief executive, said: “Paul will work in a part-time capacity to fit in with his other commitments and I am delighted to welcome him into this very important and innovative role for the club. I am really pleased that Paul is continuing his long association with the club.”