The Northern Territory news Thu 20 Feb 2020
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2020-02-20
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
News Corp Australia
Darwin
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News Corp Australia
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/756697
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/788847
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20 2020 SPORT 35 V1 - NTNE01Z01MA ALYSSA Healy insists her aggressive approach can pay off at the Twenty20 World Cup and she is still hitting the ball as well as ever despite her run of outs. Healy has scored just 24 runs in her past six innings, with her slump coming at the worst possible time heading MATTHEW Hayden believes South Africa will relentlessly provoke David Warner in his return series, but warned it will only serve to poke the bear. Australia is bracing to reenter the Bull-Ring in Johannesburg tomorrow, with sandpaper villains Warner and Steve Smith expecting to cop it from the notoriously savage South African crowds. Hayden is a veteran of the hostile environment players confront in South Africa, one Bull ready for onslaught Hayden tips Warner will thrive on South African jeersBEN HORNE AND ROBERT CRADDOCK that famously tipped Merv Hughes over the edge, and more recently sparked Englands Ben Stokes into threatening a fan with physical violence. Two years ago, Warner and Smith were mentally fried coming off an Ashes series, but this time they fly to South Africa for three Twenty20s and three one-dayers relatively fresh. Hayden is adamant Warner will be waiting for the abuse and will thrive on it when it comes. The South Africans will bait and bait and bait and God love them for doing it because I think it will bring the best out of both those individuals, in particular, the Bull (Warner), said Hayden. Hes a really solid competitor. He was so impressive through his ban. He did not do a lot of talking, but he trained hard and you could see his energy. He was frothing at the bit. I can imagine hell be that same individual, with more en ergy than he had last time against them, and against England. I am backing him to do well and be a leader again of the batting group because that is the status he has now as leader of that batting team. It will be really challenging for them (Warner and Smith). I will imagine both those individuals will have learnt a lot from the past 18 months, both from an individual and team perspective. Hayden was part of one of the great one-day opening partnerships his blockbusting union with Adam Gilchrist at the top of the order. But the hulking Queenslander believes the current form of Warner and captain Aaron Finch are destined to set the bar even higher. I think Warner and Finch will definitely beat Hayden and Gilchrist in that partnership, said Hayden. The way they go about their innings epitomises the modern game. They both have huge strike rates. Australia has recalled Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh and DArcy Short as finishers in their white ball teams, but Hayden says as it stands selectors are still searching for a genuine middle-order game-breaker. The problem is they are missing that x-factor of the era we played in like an Andrew Symonds who can come in and nail a team in the back end of a game, he said. HES TALLER THAN ME AND A KICKBOXER, THEY LIKE TO GET A BIT OF ROOM WHEREAS ILL LOOK TO BOX HIM IN CLOSE. I LIKE TO FIGHT ON THE ROPES AND FIGHT THE ROUNDS OUT USING MY FITNESS TO WIN ROUNDS Australias Alyssa Healy Taylor fit and fired up for Masters challenge NATHANIEL CHAMBERS TERRITORIAN and champion boxer Brett Taylor will take to the ring once more to defend his WBF World Masters boxing title in Caloundra, Queensland, on March 21. Last year Taylor took out the Australia Masters title, which won him an invitation to the main event on the Sunshine Coast. The 56-year-old boxer had to lose 7kg for the world title, Taylor regarding the bout itself as the toughest fight of my life. Now hes geared up again and has been training hard since October with coaches Seann Shepard of Fitness Works and Richard Garling to build his fitness ahead of the title defence. I took a break after winning the title but have been back training solid since October, Taylor told the NT News. We were mainly working on cardio up to Christmas. We have also been working on hand speed and more strength this time and I have had to put on a bit more weight. The 165cm boxer will face off against Victorian Paul Nankivell, who stands at a towering 195cm and has experience in kickboxing, an attribute Taylor will look to exploit. Hes taller than me and a kickboxer, they like to get a bit of room whereas Ill look to box him in close, Taylor said. I like to fight on the ropes and fight the rounds out using my fitness to win rounds. You have to keep fit to work them in close as it uses a lot of energy. Taylor started boxing at the age of 12, inspired by his uncle who competed in the Melbourne Olympics, going on to win an Australian Junior title at 17. After that he went on to other stuff, rediscovering the itch when masters boxing emerged in Australia. He also uses boxing as part of his programs in his work as a youth worker, finding it a great exercise to help young people.Darwin boxer Brett Taylor will try to defend his WBF World Masters boxing title in Caloundra on March 21 Picture: KATRINA BRIDGEFORD Healy not sweating lack of runs as she vows to stick with aggressive style into tomorrows tournament opener against India. Australias hero of the 2018 Twenty20 World Cup success, Healy has been the ICCs T20 player of the year for the past two years. She also began the summer with two centuries against Sri Lanka, with her performances at the top set to be crucial in Australias title defence. But Healy insisted she need not change anything, adamant runs would come and she was not out of form. I have been hitting the ball fine and just havent been out there long enough to lose any form, Healy said. Its the fickle nature of cricket and the Twenty20 format. I like to take the game on and, unfortunately, sometimes you get low scores. Hopefully, come Friday, I get a little bit of luck come my way and I can put a score on the board. Healy hit 225 runs at 55.25 in the 2018 World Cup, while her 950 runs in 2018 and 2019 came at a strike rate of above 155. And she said coaches had been clear they did not want her to change or for the lack of runs to cloud her confidence. My mindset hasnt changed, she said. The messaging I am getting from (captain) Meg (Lanning) and the coaching staff and the selectors is to not change and to just go out there and enjoy my cricket. It is going to come off at some point and it might not other times. The last two years has been an incredible ride and, hopefully, I can continue that. SCOTT BAILEY ,,