England save a thriller

England survived a final four overs, after losing broad at 139th over in their second innings. England play with South Africa in a third matches of the test series in which already England leads the series 1-0. South Africa was 291 in their first innings and 447/7 declared in their second innings, in which a great knock of 183 by smith was the highlight in that innings. England was 273 in their first innings. South Africa set 466 as the target to win, England started really well with good knocks from strauss and cook, their batting showed no intention of winning the match but to draw safely. With 4 overs left in the final day, England lost their 9^th wicket. With onions and swan on crease, 23 balls to be faced, they survived to save the match. This match was a another cool thriller in the Test match history.

Technology in Sport

 The use of technology in sport leapfrogged in the last decade, either to enhance viewing pleasure, boost performances or erase human error. Though nothing was foolproof, debate was guaranteed. Technology is introduced in Sport to tie loose ends, to find a way out of ambiguity, either in the mind of the viewers or referees. However, even technology has its limitations and thus remains a work of progress.

Apart from innovations on the TV, the hi-tech decade that was also saw sports equipment taking new shapes and sizes. In cricket sport for example, many more edges and nicks are going for boundaries with the bat becoming one big “sweet spot”. Ask the hapless bowler, who wins the mini battles only to concede boundaries! The lighter and quicker footballs have made a mockery of goalkeepers eyesight and reflexes, often swerving past the wall and the custodian in t the net. The luxilon technology in racquet string has ensured never seen before kind of rallies in tennis. More new technology in sport is being launched everyday. Now its common to see a slugfest from the baseline, with shots going over 200kmph, It makes for compelling viewing on TV , but its easy to see that the serve and volley game is dying.

Mahendra singh dhoni - under his captaincy - India never lost a test match

Under his captaincy, India has never lost a test cricket. In which, we either win matches to maximum possible extent or save the test by drawing it. The reason behind his success could be overall players co-ordination in all games. India will retain top spot, if it wins third test match against srilanka in mumbai.Hope it retains its position their.Indian cricket Rockzzzzzz.

Sehwag towards first 500 test runs in history - mumbai test

Sehwag was at his best yesterday, when he smashed muralidaran balls. He is headed towards 500 runs, letting no one reach a huge milestone, which can be broken only by him, may be in next few tests. lets hope he make 500 this morning.

SACHIN'S 20 GLORIOUS CRICKETING CARRIER

On November 20 th 2009 Sachin completes his 20 years of international years. Lets wish him a lot more success and more runs which no one could ever reach in cricketing history. I would wish him to play as long as 2016 world cup and if possible even more. lets pray god for his good health to keep us entertained for many more years as ever before.

Sreesanth back in test series with srilanka (2009)

Sreesanth last played the test cricket before six years.surprising comeback in the announced squad, match with Srilanka starting on November 16th 2009.This could be his final opportunity.

Gayle to learn captaincy fate next week

Chris Gayle's future as West Indies captain will be determined in the next week, with selectors set to recommend to the board their choice of leader for the forthcoming tour of Australia. Daren Ganga, who skippered Trinidad & Tobago to the final of the Champions League Twenty20, is being touted as a potential leadership challenger to Gayle, but Ernest Hilaire, the WICB chief executive, insisted no decision on the West Indian captaincy had yet been made.

Gayle was due to captain against Ganga in a limited-overs President's Cup match in Guyana on Wednesday, but withdrew from the match due to illness. T&T posted a thumping 90-run victory over the Carlton Baugh-captained Jamaicans in a rain-affected match, continuing a triumphant month that began with their charge to the final of the Champions League in India.

Despite previous suggestions he was unwilling to continue as West Indies captain, Gayle confirmed last week he would be happy to lead the touring party to Australia. Hilaire, though, would not confirm whether Gayle would be reinstated to the captaincy following his strike-related absence, leaving the door open for a leadership change.

"The selectors will meet over the next few days and will make a recommendation to the board," said Hilaire, who added that all players who took strike action against the board would be considered for the tour of Australia. "I am also aware that the players have announced that they are available and, more importantly, want to play if selected. WICB has always expressed the view that players must be both available for selection and available to play. In this regard, I think we have made considerable progress."  The President's Cup represents a important step in the normalisation of relations between the WICB and the player's union (WIPA) after the bitter and protracted industrial dispute. The six-day tournament is doubling as a selection trial for the tour of Australia and, with all players available for their respective teams, the prospect of an understrength team representing the Caribbean in Australia appears to have been averted."Our discussions with WIPA have been excellent and we are looking forward to building on our progress in resolving all outstanding issues by designing a new partnership," Hilaire said. "There have been attempts in the past but we are sincere in developing that partnership based on mutual trust and co-operation. We accept that there will be differences but we must never allow our differences to destroy our relationship."

Rankin's ECB call-up concerns Ireland

The inclusion of fast bowler Boyd Rankin in the ECB's enhanced England Performance Programme has left Warren Deutrom, Ireland's chief executive, worried about a further depletion or resources. Ireland have lost batsmen Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan to England in recent years, and Deutrom has warned that Rankin's following course would be a major loss to their cricket.

Rankin, who switched from Derbyshire to Warwickshire, was named in a pool of 41 players who will train in Florida, Loughborough and Chennai over the next few months. "In terms of Boyd's personal development, it is obviously terrific for him to have access to the sort of programmes that the ECB can provide," Deutrom told the Daily Express. "But for us it is a worrying development that he has obviously figured on the England radar. It is, of course, a source of pride that we continue to produce cricketers that England are interested in but, if we were to lose another player to follow Ed and Eoin, it would be a severe blow to Irish cricket."

Ireland stand to lose Rankin for their Intercontinental Cup match and one-dayers against Afghanistan in early 2010, because he is slated to fly to the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai in January to train under Dennis Lillee for ten days at the same time. "I am still keen to play for Ireland as much as I can but I can't play Test cricket for Ireland and I have to do what I can to get that opening," Rankin told the Belfast Telegraph. "The idea of this camp, I understand, is to build up strength, to be fitter and stronger. I have done a lot of fitness work in the last 12 months and apart from a minor groin strain played the whole season."

David Parsons, the ECB's performance director, said the management was on the look-out for a tall fast bowler capable of hitting the deck hard, such as Rankin, who impressed during the 2007 World Cup for Ireland. "We know from the research and from looking at cricket at the prevalence of injuries that there is quite a steady turnover of fast bowlers in the modern game," he said. "We need to make sure that England has a deep pool of fast bowlers ready to go out and perform at high levels.

"But there is also no mistaking that fast bowlers are match winners. Boyd would be the standout quick in terms of his physical stature and the feedback we've had is that he has got a lot of potential. Bowlers who hit the deck hard at a high end pace are really proven to be match winners. If we can identify people like that we are on the right track."

US cricketers prepare for Asian road trip

The USACA National Championship, scheduled to take place from November 13 to 15, will be contested at both Brian Piccolo Park and Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. According to USACA Vice President of Operations Manaf Mohamed, natural turf wickets at each facility will be utilized to stage the event, with matches taking place simultaneously at the venues on the 13th and 14th. This is encouraging news for the teams participating in the event.


"One of the good things about the tournament really is that of the four teams that are participating, the regional teams, there are I think ten or eleven of the current national players on those teams," said Mohamed. "Also, there are about four or five of the Under-19 players on those teams also. So they'll get some good practice, actually some good game practice and good match practice, while the other guys will be doing some camps and training and stuff like that."

A total of 40 players are on the initial list of probables for selection in the men's team, with 17 of them coming to Florida not belonging to regional teams playing in the event. In addition to the camps mentioned, Mohamed said that USACA is planning to have four intra-squad Twenty20 games played on the 15th, with the intention to hold all of these games at the Broward facility. This will at least give an opportunity to those 17 to play in matches which they can be evaluated on.

While it was initially unclear whether or not the Under-19 team would get a chance to have a traning camp alongside the senior players before leaving for the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, Mohamed said that 17 players, including those playing in the national championship, will be coming to Florida to participate in camps.

It's a sign that selectors are keeping faith in the 14-man group that finished a respectable fifth in the U-19 World Cup Qualifier last month in Canada. The tournament champions, Ireland, suffered their only defeat at the hands of the US team, led by captain Shiva Vashishat and ICC Player of the Tournament Ryan Corns. However, there will be at least one change in the squad as a final group of 15 will be sent to New Zealand.

"The intent is that by the end of that tournament, we would at least have gotten done the U-19 [selection] which should be a no-brainer. We should pretty much have that under control," said Mohamed. "Then we probably will also have short listed down to 18 or 20 for the seniors. The trick now is going to be able to get the seniors some matches, actual matches to play."

Mohamed added USACA is hopeful it will be able to arrange some matches for them in January before the team leave at the start of February for Dubai to play in the World Twenty20 Qualifier which starts on February 9.

USA will have group games against Ireland, Scotland and Afghanistan. They will then continue on from Dubai to Nepal for the ICC World Cricket League Division Five taking place from February 20 to 27. In addition to the host team, USA will be there with Fiji, Jersey, Singapore and Bahrain.

Several sources affiliated with the U-19 team said that they are scheduled to play warm-up games against India and Papua New Guinea in Christchurch prior to the start of the Under-19 World Cup. A report that appeared three weeks ago on the Hong Kong Cricket Association web site, but has since been removed, stated that USA's group matches will be played in Queenstown against Australia, South Africa and Ireland. However, no official announcement has been made yet by the ICC.

Mohamed said that USACA is hoping to fly the team to New Zealand on January 1 so they can get acclimatised to conditions, in addition to giving the team one more chance to train together before the event starts on the 16th.

"So the U-19s will be away for pretty much the entire January and the senior team will be away for the entire February and if a couple of the U-19s make the senior team, then they'll be away for two months, which is gonna be real tough because as you know, the U-19 kids, a lot of them are going to college," said Mohamed. "It's gonna be a tough decision for them to make, some of them to make for two months."

ICC announces U-19 World Cup schedule

The ICC has announced the schedule for the 16-team Under-19 World Cup which will be held in New Zealand between January 15 and 30 next year.

Defending champions India will start against qualifiers Afghanistan at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, near Christchurch, with Pakistan facing the West Indies in Palmerston North, while 2008 runners-up South Africa take on Ireland in Queenstown.

The teams are split into four groups with Groups A and C being based in and around Christchurch, Group B teams playing their matches in Queenstown and Group D games taking place in Napier and Palmerston North. In addition to the 10 Full Members, there are six Associate and Affiliate teams taking part, having won through their respective regional qualifying tournaments as well as the global qualifier, which was held in Canada in September.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals with the remainder of the teams taking part in the plate competition.

The groups are as follows:

Group A India, England, Afghanistan, Hong Kong
Group B South Africa, Australia, Ireland, USA
Group C New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada
Group D Pakistan, Bangladesh, West Indies, Papua New Guinea

Ashes win only the starting point - Andrew Strauss

England have arrived in South Africa for their two-and-a-half month tour with captain Andrew Strauss determined to build on his team's 2-1 victory in the Ashes during the summer. Strauss is especially keen for his team to stake its claim to the No. 1 Test ranking, an honour that currently belongs to South Africa.

"We've talked a lot about how winning the Ashes is not the end of the road, it's almost the starting point for us to improve," Strauss said. "We'd be lying if we didn't want to be the number one side in the world. But if you look at how the ranking system works it will take a number of years of solid progression from where we are at the moment and consistency is crucial. Ultimately it's about not taking our foot off the gas."

England were criticised for seemingly taking their foot off the gas after they won the Ashes in 2005. They had followed up that victory with a 2-0 drubbing in Pakistan.

"The perception of the post-2005 period is that we took our eye off the ball quite badly. I'm not comfortable with that myself," Strauss said. "I remember that Pakistan tour and how hard we worked at it. We had a number of very crucial injuries which didn't help.

"If you look at our performances over the last 12 months we're far from the genuine article and where we want to be. No one in the squad truly believes we've made it, we've got a long way to go. I want to see our players hungry and committed."

England are scheduled to play two Twenty20 internationals, five ODIs, and four Tests in South Africa and this will be their first Test series since Andrew Flintoff's retirement from the format. Flintoff, who is currently undergoing rehabilitation from surgery in Dubai, won't be available for the limited-overs formats either.

In Flintoff's absence, Stuart Broad, who was Man of the Match in the deciding Ashes Test at The Oval, is expected to perform the allrounder's role in the side but Strauss sought to play down the attention on the 24-year old. "It's not a realistic expectation for Broad to fill Flintoff's shoes in both disciplines in the short term. It would be wrong to heap that expectation on his shoulders," Strauss said.

"Over the years we've had to do without Flintoff quite often and what we've found is that we've done quite well by everyone taking responsibility and playing a bit better. Stuart Broad is not a like for like replacement for Flintoff anyway but he has his own set of skills, some of which are world class and some of which need work. We don't want him to be the saviour we turn to, we need all 11 to do that.

"Stuart has his head screwed on. There has been a lot of media attention on him but he realises that there's much room for him to improve. We're excited about him but the last thing I want to do is put a huge amount of expectation on his shoulders. You must give people room to improve and hopefully he'll continue that development this winter.

England begin their tour with a warm-up match against the Eagles on November 6 in Bloemfontein and have two more practice games ahead of the first Twenty20 international against South Africa in Johannesburg on November 13.
source---cricinfo.com

India out to hurt depleted Australia

 

Australia's lead-up to their second clash against India in Nagpur will be more structured than the approach to the first, when their pre-match plans were affected by the late arrival of the New South Wales players participating in the Champions League final and their game-time strategy hit by the loss of Brett Lee and James Hopes during India's chase. This time their bad news has come in advance - Lee and Hopes are out with elbow and hamstring problems, and there are doubts over Mitchell Johnson, who hurt his ankle, as well, although coach Tim Nielsen was hopeful about his participation - yet they will be challenged to repeat the win they recorded at Vadodara.

Watch first IND vs AUS ODI Match Highlights

highlights

Hopes out for Nagpur, doubts over Lee and Johnson

Australia have been hit with injury worries to their bowlers just one game into the seven-match series against India, with James Hopes ruled out of the second match and a question mark over the availability of strike bowlers Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson. Allrounder Hopes suffered a hamstring strain during the first match in Vadodara on Sunday. Mitchell Johnson left the field briefly with a left ankle problem while Lee complained of a sore elbow. Lee managed only six overs during the chase, left the field after his second spell and later returned. Australia lost key players Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Nathan Bracken to injuries before the tour began. The captain Ricky Ponting didn't hide his displeasure over the scheduling of the ODI series, which began just three days after the Champions League Twenty20, where the New South Wales players arrived in Vadodara to join the rest of their Australia team-mates less than 12 hours before the match.

Sachin's new formula to save ODI

Sachin Tendulkar has reached out with a typical controversial new formula, as his suggesting, so as reviving ODI cricket.. He suggested the best reviving Formula of 25 over Split Innings per each side, playing consecutively as 4 innings. Ever – green Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has reached up with a interesting new proposal to save the ODI format from the T20 blossom which threatens its existence from extinction. He suggested that One day matches may be splitted into four innings of 25 overs per side. I hope, He thinks we may have twenty overs a side. He exclaimed about this idea during the 2002 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, In which the finals had ended up playing for over 100 overs against the less competiting opponent Sri Lanka. At First they played 50 overs, then we played ten overs before interruption of rain. The very next day, Sri Lanka started again playing 50 overs, then we played 10 overs, with which in the end we were declared as joint winners, which does not make any sense. This provides the reason for his suggestion. Its is much closer to T20 over format cricket, but simplicity is its theme. I think it will work

MATCH SCHEDULE(IND VS AUS 2009/10)

Schedule & Match Venue

1.)Sunday Oct 25 D/N

     14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 05:00 EDT India vs Australia - First ODI Reliance Stadium, Vadodara

2.)Wednesday Oct 28 D/N

    14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 05:00 EDT India vs Australia - Second ODI Vidarbha Cricket Association

    Stadium, Nagpur

3.)Saturday Oct 31 D/N

    14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 05:00 EDT India vs Australia - Third ODI Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

4.)Monday Nov 2 D/N

    14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 04:00 EST India vs Australia - Fourth ODI Punjab Cricket Association Stadium,      Mohali, Chandigarh

5.)Thursday Nov 5 D/N

    14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 04:00 EST India vs Australia - Fifth ODI Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium,          Uppal, Hyderabad

6.)Sunday Nov 8

    09:00 local | 03:30 GMT | 22:30 EST India vs Australia - Sixth ODI Nehru Stadium, Guwahati

7.)Wednesday Nov 11 D/N

    14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 04:00 EST India vs Australia - Seventh ODI Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

India v Australia 2009/10

Australian cricket team captain Ricky has said it would be wrong to pick favorites before their 7match ODI series gets underway in India from October 25. Though Australia has the momentum in their favor, following their commendable Champions Trophy victory in South Africa, Ponting expects the home side to give them a fight. He said India is a very good and a very strong one-day team in the recent history and they are not underestimating them. He also added that they are the number one and two teams in the world and it all points to an entertaining good contest over the few weeks, he said all these a day after the team landed in Mumbai. He exclaimed that they have always enjoyed playing in India and with India. Their rivalry over the last few years has been growing, its very good for the world game. Both teams arrived in South Africa with series wins under their belt but left the country with very much contrasting results. Australia had drubbed England 6-1 after losing the Ashes and then they went on to retain the Champions Trophy title by beating England in the semis. They were without the services of two key batsmen due to injury, but now both have returned for the ODIs to let bolster the side.

New Zealand Cricket--backs Moles to stay on as coach

New Zealand Cricket moved back to back their coach Andy Moles after a report suggested on Dominion Post said that senior players expects Moles to have been sacked which was published recently. Moles took over from John Bracewell 11 months ago. Without naming any of the individuals doing this, the post reported that the players were to believe in Moles was not up to their expected standards as their teams’ international coach. However, there is a reviews taking place following the frustrating tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy. Despite guiding them to the Champions Trophy final. Justin Vaughan, the Newzealand Cricket chief executive has recently issued a statement to approve that Moles remained the coach who was preparing newzealand side for their tour upcoming to the United Arab Emirates. Vaughan said that this looks at all aspects of individual and collective performance with a view to improvement.  The Post in Dominion has reported that the senior players had a list of severe concerns which encloses that Moles had not provided them enough tactical or technical support and that Vettori had efficiently coaching their side for the past six months. He has a contract until next World Cup. New Zealand has continued to be a one of the best ODI side during his reign, winning nine of the 19 ODIs played.

Champions League Twenty20 2009---Clinical New South Wales thrash Victoria

There was no nerve-jangling, last-ball finish today, like there was when New South Wales pipped Victoria twice to win last season's Big Bash. Instead, the Australian champions delivered a clinical performance on a difficult Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, one that ensured the first semi-final of the Champions League was one of the most one-sided matches of the tournament.On the same pitch where fewer than 200 runs were scored in the match between Delhi Daredevils and Cape Cobras a day ago, the NSW openers David Warner and Phillip Hughes provided a powerful start, which allowed them to post 169, far more than the 110 Victoria captain Cameron White had hoped to limit them to. A tough chase became virtually impossible when offspinner Nathan Hauritz, who was given the second over, struck twice in three deliveries, getting rid of Victoria's openers.The build-up to the highly anticipated contest between the Australian sides centered around how difficult the track would be for power-hitting and, when Hughes was struck on the arm by a bouncer from Peter Siddle in the second over, it seemed the batsmen would have toil for their runs.

Teams set sights on bigger bash

New South Wales versus Victoria in Delhi is a strange proposition if you're an Australian cricket fan. Back in Australia, the Champions League Twenty20 has been shown on a digital TV channel that not everyone has access to, so it's hard to judge the level of interest from the public. But there's enough in this clash to suggest an intense contest even if the turnout is likely to be far less than a packed SCG would throw up.NSW, the champions of Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash, were the first team from Group B to secure their passage to the next phase, with points carried forward, to the second round of the competition. They were joined by Victoria, arguably Australia's best Twenty20 side, having won the Big Bash for three consecutive years until this year's final. The prospect of an all-Australian final was shot when Delhi Daredevils beat Cobras in a low-scorer in Delhi, which means Wednesday's contestants will play on a slow-and-low track instead of the batsman-friendly Hyderabad surface. The pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla hasn't been encouraging for batsmen - nine were bowled in the last league match - and NSW captain Simon Katich had earlier spoken of how keen the team was to leave Delhi. In that regard, NSW's pace attack will be harder to handle.

Brett Lee, Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark and Nathan Hauritz share the ball in that order when NSW take the field and, as Eagles, Sussex and Somerset found out, they can be a handful. Victoria have been the form team every year in Australia, but it is NSW who have the edge here by virtue of their top order and international-class bowling attack. Even without Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke and Nathan Bracken, NSW can still field almost an entire XI that has played for Australia.

Both are long-time rivals, being the two most-populated Australian states, and there has always been a "healthy' Melbourne-Sydney rivalry in Australia. In the past, Victorian fans have always been a bit envious of how many NSW players get selected for Australia; in fact, there was an old joke that when you made your debut for NSW, they also handed you a Baggy Green in a brown paper bag. That attitude isn't quite as pronounced - as the presence of Cameron White, now Australia's Twenty20 vice-captain, and Peter Siddle, the ICC's Emerging Player of the Year, will testify to. It all adds to an intriguing all-Australian clash. David Warner and Phillip Hughes v Victoria's attack: Hughes is the tournament's leading run-scorer and Warner smashed 63 from 41 balls and 40 from 16 in consecutive innings. Clint McKay, Shane Harwood and Andrew McDonald have been central to Victoria's success here and how they bowl to a superb opening act provides an appetising entrée to this match.

NSW's attack v Victoria's top order: Victoria's top order has failed to fire collectively; three of their four games resulted in scores of 55 for 2, 68 for 4 and 59 for 4. So up against a red-hot pace attack, Victoria's start must be strong. Rob Quiney has scored just 29 in three innings since his 40 against Delhi but he could take this stage to exact revenge on NSW. The last time he played them, in the Big Bash final, Quiney scored 91 from 56 balls in a losing cause.

Cameron White and David Hussey: Victoria were without this pair, away on Australian duty, for the Big Bash final and they could make the difference between winning and losing this time around. Both have gained much more exposure from playing for Australia this past season and will undoubtedly be keen to avoid an NSW repeat. Hussey, the second-fastest century-maker in Australia's domestic one-day history, is due some runs.

Andrew McDonald: He has been Victoria's bowler of the tournament so far - and the third leading wicket-taker - with eight wickets at 11.00 and an economy rate of 5.86. In conditions that are likely to help pace bowlers, he could be a handful yet again. McDonald has also yet to be dismissed in two innings.