steve okeefe

Former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg on Sunday wished good luck to compatriot Steve O'Keefe, who has announced his retirement from first-class cricket.

Australia's Pune Test hero Steve O'Keefe in all likelihood will be dropped from the playing XI at expense of pacer Jackson Bird for the fourth Test match against India, starting Saturday.

India lost their last seven wickets for just 11 runs – their worst collapse in Test match. O’Keefe, playing only his fifth Test and his first in India claimed career-best 6 for 35 to help Australia take a 155-run lead over the hosts.

The four-Test series in India in 2017 began with an Australian win on the back of O'Keefe's bowling heroics in Pune. The New South Wales left-arm spinner finished with 12 wickets as Australia thrashed India by 333 runs. But despite Australia winning the first Test, India went on to clinch the series 2-1.

The just-retired Steve O'Keefe has rued that spinners are not allowed to win matches in Australian cricket, saying the country will struggle to dominate in the sub-continent until the issue is not addressed.

Cricket Australia's association with Sriram started in 2015, when he helped the 'A' team handle the conditions at Chepauk. After that, he has been part of the Australian set-up as a consultant in their sub-continent tours, helping the players deal with the mystery of spin.

Australia lost the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series by an innings and 132 runs on a turning track, which prompted Cummins to go with just one quick and three spinners -- Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and debutant Matthew Kuhnemann -- in the second Test, which began in Delhi on Friday.

Former Australia bowling coach Craig McDermott, who had worked with Sriram during the World T20 in India, reserved special words for the 41-year-old former India and Tamil Nadu cricketer.

Former Australian spinner Steve O'Keefe has backed England's head coach Brendon McCullum to continue despite Ashes struggles. He highlighted McCullum's significant win rate improvement since taking charge, urging patience. However, O'Keefe stressed the need for tactical adaptation and better preparation, criticizing the current training-match imbalance. He believes the team must learn from this tour and adjust their approach.

Australia picked a second off-spinner in their playing eleven in the form of debutant Todd Murphy for the first Test against hosts India, which began in Nagpur on Thursday, and the move was praised by former Australia left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe.

Of the nine Australian wickets to fall on day one of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Pune, the eighth included a moment of brilliance from India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.

Swearing off alcohol and excluding himself from the BBL have proven excellent choices by the left-arm spinner, who ransacked India with 12 wickets in Pune.

Australian spinner Steve O'Keefe believes it would be a daunting task to tame Virat Kohli and his men in the upcoming Test series in India but insisted that they are not infallible and might find the going difficult on turning wickets.

Left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who effected Indian middle and lower-order collapse with a six-wicket haul on Friday, said that the host batsmen were unlucky to have nicked the ball and being caught.

Australia walloped a hapless India to register their first Test win here since 2004 and take 1-0 lead in the four-match series in Pune on Saturday. Chasing 441, India crashed to 107 all out to suffer a 333-run defeat – their first at home in 19 Tests.

At stumps, Steven Smith had completed a lucky half-century to take Australia to 143/4, thereby extending the overall lead to 298 runs on Day 2 of the Pune Test.

Here's a look at the major talking points from the second day's play of the first Test between India and Australia in Pune.

Mohammed Azharuddin was critical of the performance by the Indian spinners and feels that Aussie spinner Steve O'Keefe showed how to bowl on a turner after India lost the first Test by a whopping 333 runs.

Sridharan Sriram is the proverbial insider. If he were dealing in shares, he would have been charged with breaking a few laws, but luckily his forte is exchanging cricketing notes rather than stock information.

It was Sriram, as consultant, who played a pivotal role in guiding an inexperienced Australia A side led by Usman Khawaja to win over India A 1-0

Ahead of Australia's Test and ODI tour of India, former spinner Steve O'Keefe has raised the pitch for separate coaches for different formats, saying that it would help reduce the pressure on one individual.

With their incredible 333-run victory in the first Test, the Australians have made sure of one thing: If the series result is going to be 4-0, it won't be in favour of the Indians. A key narrative of the series-opener here has been how the visiting spinners were able to exploit the turner at the MCA better than the home team.

"They're picking their mates. Smith shouldn't be a selector. (Ashton) Agar's been pushed through and Cartwright's still there. We saw (Nic) Maddinson get selected (he's) a mate, he's one of Steve Smith's mates. You can't pick bloody mates," Rodney Hogg said.

A legendary former leg-spinner, India coach Anil Kumble went to the extent of bowling left-arm spin to help Cheteshwar Pujara overcome the challenges posed by Steve O'Keefe in the ongoing Test series against Australia.

On a pitch that would normally be ideal to bat in the first two days, India, opting to bat first, were bundled out for 189. Lyon claimed a career-best 8 for 50, rivalling his fellow spinner Steve O’Keefe’s first Test heroics.

Australian spinner Steve O'Keefe is aware that taming the Indians would be a "big job" but exuded confidence that his team is capable of doing "some damage" during their four-Test series which begins with the opening match in Pune on February 23.

Here's a look at the major talking points from the third day's play of the first Test between India and Australia in Pune.

Australian captain Steven Smith rubbed salt into India's wounds saying that Virat Kohli and company dug their own grave by preparing a rank turner which backfired badly in the first Test.

Virat Kohli took one long look at where the ball had pitched - disbelieving his own act more than what the ball had done - before walking back to the pavilion. The Indian captain had shouldered arms to a ball that held its line from Australia's left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe and had his off-stump pegged back.

The Australian cricket squad, led by Steve Smith, landed here on Monday ahead of engaging hosts India in a four-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy commencing at Pune on February 23.