Virender Sehwag threatens to quit Delhi Ranji team

Virender Sehwag may quit playing for the Delhi Ranji Trophy team.

Apparently, unhappy in not getting his way, Virender Sehwag alleged that the DDCA officials indulged in favouritism when it comes to selecting the Delhi Ranji Trophy cricket team.

The DDCA officials have dismissed Virender Sehwag’s allegation outright and in turn have accused him for using pressure tactics thus indirectly condemning him of indulging in favouritism of his own.

In what can be termed as fishing in troubled waters, the Haryana Cricket Association (HCA) has declared that they will be happy to include Virender Sehwag in their team.

It is reported that Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra are likely to go the Sehwag way and leave the Delhi Ranji Trophy team.

However, there is every chance that once Virender Sehwag’s meets with DDCA President Arun Jaitely all this may well become a storm in a teacup. The meeting is scheduled to take place on either the 27 th or the 28 of this month.

West Indies names Champions Trophy squad

The West Indies Cricket Board reposed faith in the team that played the Test, One-day and Twenty20 series against Bangladesh in July in the Caribbean.

Former skipper Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor are the notable omissions.

Floyd Reifer (captain)

Darren Sammy (vice-captain)

David Bernard Jr.,

Tino Best

Royston Crandon

Travis Dowlin

Andre Fletcher

Nikita Miller

Daren Powell

Kieran Powell

Dale Richards

Kemar Roach

Devon Smith

Gavin Tonge

Chadwick Walton

England squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2009

England named Andrew Flintoff in its squad for the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa.

• Andrew Strauss
• PD Collingwood
• JM Anderson
• RS Bopara
• TT Bresnan
• SCJ Broad
• JL Denly
• A Flintoff
• EJG Morgan
• MJ Prior
• AU Rashid
• OA Shah
• RJ Sidebottom GP Swann
• LJ Wright

India Team for 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Indian selectors named a strong squad for the Champions Trophy that runs from Sept. 22 to Oct. 5 in South Africa.

They surprised all cricket fans by naming Rahul Dravid, who last played in the Indian ODI team 2 years ago in the 15 member squad. Amit Mishra makes a deserving comeback into the Indian ODI squad.

 

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain)
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Gautam Gambhir
• Suresh Raina
• Rahul Dravid
• Yuvraj Singh
• Yusuf Pathan
• Harbhajan Singh
• Ashish Nehra
• Rudra Pratap Singh
• Ishant Sharma
• Dinesh Karthik
• Praveen Kumar
• Amit Mishra
• Abhishek Nayar.

Vinod Kambli retires - Still eye's IPL?

Vinod Kambli announced his retirement from international cricket but said he will continue playing domestic cricket.

 

His decision to continue playing domestic cricket is surely with an eye on the opportunities in IPL and other Twenty20 games.

 

For the record Vinod Kambli, played 17 Tests and made 1084 runs at an average of 54.20. He also played 104 ODI's and scored 2477 runs at an average of 32.59 runs and a strike rate of 71.94.

 

Curiously, considering his flamboyant batting style, Vinod Kambli shone more as a Test batsman rather than as an ODI batsman.

 

He made his name in International cricket with back-to-back double centuries in his 3^rd and 4^th Tests. However, most Indian's will remember the image of Vinod Kambli crying as he stood bereft of partners and on a crumbling pitch in the World Cup semi-finals against Sri Lanka at Kolkata (a match abandoned due to rioting).

 

India ODI team: Will Rahul Dravid return?

Srikkanth and his selection committee colleagues are all set to select the Indian ODI team for the next month’s tri-series in Sri Lanka and the team for the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Rahul Dravid stands no chance of being selected if the criterion for selection is based on the player’s performance in the last ODI series in the West Indies.

However, going by the intense fitness evaluation the Indian team is undergoing under their coach Gary Kirsten and the fitness fiasco surrounding Sehwag, Rahul Dravid stands a strong chance if one of the players is found unfit.

West Indies Cricket: John Dyson sacked

The Executive Committee meeting of the West Indies Cricket Board Inc., which took place on Wednesday (13.8.09), decided to sack John Dyson, the coach of the West Indies cricket team, with immediate effect.

Though the decision follows the West Indies cricket teams humiliating defeat at the hands of the perennial International cricket minnows Bangladesh, observers believe that John Dyson is a scapegoat in the contract dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies cricketers.

The West Indies Cricket Board by failing to assign a reason for the abrupt sacking of John Dyson has given further credence to these rumours.

The WICB also announced that the Assistant Coach David Williams will replace John Dyson on a temporary basis during the upcoming International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy limited-over’s tournament to be played in South Africa in September and October.

The former Vice Captain and off-spinner of the West Indies cricket team, Lance Gibbs has been appointed the Team Manager for this tour.

 

Technorati Tags: Cricket,News,West Indies

Younus Khan: Hero to Zero in 60 days

Younus Khan the hero of Pakistan’s ICC World Twenty20 Cup win has been reduced to zero post-Pakistani cricket team’s dismal performance in Sri Lanka. 

For the record Pakistan lost the three-Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0 and lost 3-2 in the ODI series. 

As usual, the waiting coterie of former Pakistan players has begun baying for Younus Khan’s blood. 

In fact, the former players have demanded the sacking of the Pakistani cricket team coach Intikhab Alam, the manager Yawar Saeed and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials. 

As for our hero, sorry zero Younus Khan, he is standing firm and refusing to consider resigning from the captain’s job. 

John Buchanan: Saurav Ganguly not up to Twenty20 speed

In a free ranging interview to the Courier Mail, John Buchanan the sacked coach of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders reflects on the Saurav Ganguly episode where he came out second best. 

"(Sourav) Ganguly was the icon player and the captain of the outfit (Kolkata Knight Riders) and I (John Buchanan) told him I didn't believe he was up to the pace of the game (IPL Twenty20). We got to the last over in nine games and lost them, getting to the last ball five times and losing," 

Looking at the facts there is merit in his argument. Saurav Ganguly certainly dragged the scoring rate down and explicitly proved that he is unsuitable for the Twenty20 game. 

However, it is unlikely that these facts will sway Dada’s fans.One thing is certain Kolkata will witness the burning of some more John Buchanan effigies. 

Sri Lanka wins ICC coaching syllabus race

Sri Lanka becomes the first country to have its coaching syllabus recognized and endorsed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

More details http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=57721

 

Technorati Tags: ICC,Coaching,Cricket,Sri Lanka

IPL: 3 more teams?

IPL Governing Council is to meet today (August 11, 2009) at Cricket Centre, Mumbai.

Though the decision on the inclusion of former ICL players in the IPL 3^rd edition to be played during March-April 2010 is the main agenda, it is rumoured that a decision on expanding the IPL franchisee to 3 more cities is also on the anvil.

If so IPL will become a 10 team (franchisee) domestic cricket competition.

On the former ICL players, Rajiv Shukla, Vice President of the BCCI, confirmed to Cricketnirvana “that there wouldn’t be any bidding for the ICL players at the IPL auction; instead they would be sold to franchises at fixed prices”.

It means these ICL players will look to BCCI to get them a fair price, in essence the BCCI can still punish them by fixing very low prices. Looks like these ICL players will be beholden to BCCI for life.

 

Article continues after the advertisement

Here is the updated news on IPL.

IPL IV will have 2 more teams and not 3 as speculated earlier. However, the two franchisees will be live from IPL IV. Startling news that may create uproar is that from IPL IV 2011 onwards there will be no ‘icon’ players. This means players like Dhoni, Sehwag, Yuvraj and Tendulkar will become mere mortals. Now the question is will they like it.

Coming to IPL 3, it will kick-off on March 12, 2010 with a game between IPL II winners Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders at Hyderabad.

IPL III will have four additional match staging centres -- Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Dharamsala – and will also stage one extra match, for the third place play-off.

In all 94 games will be played over a period of 45 days. The trading window is set for December 15, 2009 to January 5, 2010.

 

Technorati Tags: IPL 3,IPL IV

The Impatient Cricketer

Among the hysterical articles on The Ashes series, Patrick Smith’s article in The Australian ‘Understanding the simple art of cricket’ is a rare gem.

In it he contends, cricket or any game for the matter has remained unchanged from its inception. Only the terminologies and the technologies surrounding it have changed. 

Beyond this, the article makes a valid point on the present day bowlers. 

According to Patrick Smith, a bowler should first build up pressure by bowling in the ‘good areas’ and then only bowl a wicket taking ball. 

Patrick Smith contends that by striving to bowl ‘wicket taking ball’, the bowler’s experiments too much and bowl loose balls. 

This releases the pressure and gives an opportunity for the batsmen to score runs freely. In addition, this will put the pressure back on the bowler. 

There is one other danger from experimenting too much that Patrick Smith omitted to say. 

By experimenting too much bowlers lose their inborn wicket taking ability. A good example is Mitchell Johnson. 

Too much experimentation is the root cause of Mitchell Johnson’s current travails. 

Sadly, Mitchell Johnson’s experiments have meant that he lost the very ability to bowl his wicket taking ball (the ball that angles away from a right handed batsmen) and hence failed to take wickets. 

This writer believes that too much experimentation indicates that modern day cricketers have lost the fine art of playing the waiting game. They are too impatient and feel the pressure if they fail to make an immediate impact. 

To the reader, are we seeing too much ‘impatience’ in the game of cricket?


Image courtesy snapshot19

No neutral venues for 2011 World Cup

PTI reports that the The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected the Pakistan Cricket Board’s demand that Pakistan be allowed to stage their share of 2011 World Cup matches at neutral venues. 

Interestingly, PCB’s Chairman Ejaz Butt for reasons known only to himself, is yet to make the announcement even though the ICC made their decision last month itself.


It is reported that he is still pushing ICC to reconsider its decision on letting Pakistan stage its share of the 2011 World Cup matches at neutral venues. He is also said to grandstanding by threatening to sue the ICC over this matter.

Strauss should maintain status quo

By losing the 4th Ashes Test in 3 days, the England team has effectively surrendered the momentum it gathered post the Lord’s Test win. 

This leaves the English team Captain Andrew Strauss with the unenviable task of maintaining sanity in the ensuing media storm until the start of final ashes test at the Oval. 

Primarily, he will have to exercise sound judgment over the selection of Andrew Flintoff. 

If it is true that the England team waited until the start of the Headingly Test to decide on Andrew Flintoff, then the uncertainty had a hand in the team’s dismal batting in the 1st innings. 

Andrew Strauss faces the same dilemma twice over when deciding on Flintoff. The fact that whole of England believe that Andrew Flintoff is necessary to rejuvenate the battered English team and they will be willing him to be fit for the final ashes test at the Oval will add to his discomfort. 

Adding to the emotional blackmail is the fact that the Oval Test will be Andrew Flintoff’s last. In effect if Andrew Flintoff publically declares, himself fit then Andrew Strauss have to fight a swell of public sympathy to exclude him if he is unfit. 

However, Strauss should do well by the English team and select the best combination that will give England 100% chance to win the Ashes twice in a decade. 

There are other headaches for Andrew Strauss. The misfiring middle-order is sure to give him grief. 

The media have started picking on Ravi Boppara and Ian Bell. Adding to Andrew Strauss's woes is the fact that Paul Collingwood is off color since the Test at Cardiff. However, if they are replaced, it will be a change for change’s sake as their replacement is players who have already been tried and failed. 

Nevertheless there is one change England need to make i.e., drop Steve Harminson permanently. He is an utter waste and appears capable of only bullying county cricket players.

Justin Langer’s Ashes Dossier

The press has made a hullaballoo over Justin Langer’s leaked Ashes dossier. 

Some have labeled him subversive whereas others report that he has belittled the English players. 

However, a careful reading of Justin Langer’s dossier reveals that he has not belittled any English player. 

What comes out instead is his incisiveness and remarkable observation powers. Surely, one cannot fault him for being honest and frank. 

Advertisement 

Buy Justin Langer’s Seeing the Sunrise It goes far beyond the boundary rope. Many of the book's stories come from the sporting field—and its leading characters are high-profile champions, such as Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and Matthew Hayden—but the lessons learned can be shared by anyone.

Was it an Aussie Prank or smoldering undies?

Unbelievable as it may sound, an Aussie prankster may have triggered England’s dismal performance in the 4th Test at Leeds.

The Sunday Telegraph published from New South Wales, claims that one of the member of the Australian team fans The Fanatics, set off a fire alarm deliberately to disturb the English cricketers sleep.

Remember the England Test team players were left standing in the street in their pajamas for more than 20 minutes until the all clear was given for them to return to their beds.

Hours later, they won the toss and collapsed spectacularly to 102 all out.

If this was the Australian media version, the English media blame a woman for inadvertently setting off the fire alarm by leaving rinsed underwear close to a light bulb to dry. The heat from the light bulb made the undies
smolder and that set off the fire alarm.

One finds both versions fantastic and unbelievable. All said and done this should give England an excuse for their batting failure and the English wicket keeper Matt Prior has taken the cue and blamed the disturbance for England’s poor show.

Younis plays Seniors Vs Juniors card

One would have laughed it off if it had been any other team. Since it is the Pakistani cricket team, one finds this rather sad.

Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes the success of youngsters like Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal will pressure the senior batsmen to perform well.

Not very long ago Younis Khan was accused of performing only when his place in the team was at stake. He was also suspected off pulling rank as a senior member of the team.

Hence, one finds it funny that he is the one complaining about uncooperative seniors in the team.

The sad part is Pakistan is now laden with a captain who is unable to unite and motivate the senior members of the team. It is a pity that he is using the juniors to fight his war.

Surely, the Pakistan cricket team is a divided house.

Ashes 2009- England tottering – Australia assured

The 4th fourth Ashes Test at Headingly appears heading for a 3rd day finish.

Attempting to overhaul a 343 runs lead, England lost their way yet again and is tottering at 82/5. This effectively means that England has surrendered the advantage of the win at Lord’s.

Photo courtesy of tdub303

Mitchell Johnson was instrumental in the dramatic reversal of England’s fortunes. The 3 wickets he took in a remarkable 8 over spell he shared with Ben Hilfenhaus (who took 2 wickets), knocked the stuffing out of the English batting line up. 

England has to score another 261 runs merely to make Australia bat again. With another 3 days in the Test left, an Australian win appears a mere formality.

Should Lee follow Flintoff’s example?

Typical of Peter Roebuck to preempt others.

In his latest column in the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck has asked Brett Lee to follow Andrew Flintoff’s example and quit Test cricket.

Photo courtesy of cosmonoturrisi

Roebuck believes that injuries have reduced Brett Lee to a mere passenger in the Australian Test squad and hence it is time for him to quit the Test scene with dignity.

Interestingly, though Roebuck has not mentioned it openly, it appears that he is asking Lee to concentrate on the shorter formats of the game, presumably Twenty20.

To the reader, do you think that Brett Lee should retire from Tests and concentrate on Twenty20?

Can Mishra make an ODI comeback?

Photo credit Walaz

Like every other cricketer, Amit Mishra wants to be successful in the shorter format of cricket.

As a first step, he is hopeful that his selection as one of the 30 probable’s for the ICC Champion Trophy will help establish his reputation in all formats of the game.

Undoubtedly, his performance in the recently concluded Emerging Players Trophy in Australia, where he was the 2^nd highest wicket taker stands him in good steed.

However, is his ODI Comeback 2.0 expectation realistic?

 

Technorati Tags: Amit Mishra

Dodgy rumours about Flintoff’s knee

Prior to Flintoff’s exclusion from the 4^th Test in the npower ashes series, his dodgy knee was linked to rumours of cortisone injections.

Apparently, those rumours were woefully inaccurate.

According to the ECB medical team, “ in order to give Flintoff a chance of playing in the second and third Test matches, he received a series of artificial synovial fluid injections into the knee joint and cortisone injections into some of the bursa on the outside of the knee joint to help settle the inflammation.

Now that we know what went into Andrew Flintoff , we await the ECB team’s report on his exclusion.

Technorati Tags: Andrew,Flintoff

Sachin Tendulkar to retire when hell freezes over

Sachin Tendulkar has magnanimously indicated that he will retire on scoring 15,000 runs.

When you recollect that it has taken Sachin Tendulkar 20 years to score 12,733 runs since his debut and considering the fact that nowadays Test matches are a rarity, it means it will take Sachin Tendulkar another 20 years to achieve his goal.

In this Sachin Tendulkar has the support of Sunil Gavaskar, who along with Boycott pioneered the art of playing for records. Reportedly, Sunil Gavaskar urged Sachin Tendulkar to stretch his lead over Ricky Ponting and as India’s pride is at stake Sachin Tendulkar is sure to be supported by BCCI and his legion of fans.

Stretching his lead over Ricky Ponting will take some doing as Ricky Ponting is younger and in rude health.Also Cricket Australia will need Ricky Ponting to nurse their young team. So Ricky Ponting is unlikely to quit in the near future and those of us who yearn to see Sachin Tendulkar retire are now faced with the prospect of watching Sachin Tendulkar play in his dotage or until Hell Freezes Over.

Photo by Anoop Cherian

The emotion around Flintoff

It is apparent that Flintoff is unfit and playing purely on the strength of his will and the emotional high of his last Ashes Test match series.

Similarly, the English team have thrown good sense out and selected him on the basis of the euphoria of his performance on the final day of the last day at Lord's series.

During the last Ashes Test match at Edgbaston it was patently obvious that Strauss was saving him for the final fling and avoided using him as he knew the pitch was unhelpful  as the Australian batsmen Clark and North saved the Ashes for their team.

It is clear that he is unfit and on the verge of  breakdown any moment and yet the English selectors are willing to risk playing with 10 players purely for emotional reasons.

So it is all the more funny to hear Strauss say "We're going to have to [take the emotion out]". "It's the fourth Test of an Ashes series, we're close to the finish line and although we're all desperate for him to play, we need to be realistic enough to realise that if he's not fit then he shouldn't play."

Either Strauss is trying to seduce himself that he is taking a reasoned decision or he believes that he cannot win a Test against Australians without Flintoff.

In a way selecting Flintoff is playing right into the Australian hands. The way in which they have batted in the second innings in the last two Test matches gives the feeling that if luck in the form of the toss favours the Australians  they will surely wrap the English team around their little fingers.

England will be better served if they have a full squad or they risk losing savouring the Ashes legacy.

Advertisement

The U.S. Navy SEAL Guide to Fitness and Nutrition covers all the basics of physical well being as well as advice for the specific challenges encountered in extreme conditions and mission-related activities. Topics covered include calculating energy expenditure; definitions, functions, and daily allowances of carbohydrates, fats, and protein; nutritional considerations for endurance and strength training activities; active recovery from injury; cardio-respiratory conditioning; appropriate gear for running and swimming for fitness; exercising in extreme and adverse weather; and more.

Australia at the cusp of history

Ricky Ponting and his team are at the cusp of history.

First, let us take Ricky Ponting’s case. If he loses the current Ashes series, he makes history by becoming the second Australian to captain an Ashes losing side twice.

Now coming to his team, they are all set to make history. If they lose this series, they fall to 4^th place in the ICC Test rankings, which is a first for Australian cricket team.

Similarly, if they manage to draw the series they drop down to the 2^nd place. Which means if Australia loses the Ashes series, they fall off the 1^st ranking they have made their own since 2003.

Advertisement

England's Ashes tour to Australia in the winter of 2006 was certainly a disaster on the field, but what was the trip like for the fans who followed the team throughout the series? In  Ashes to Dust: The Nightmare Before Christmas,Graham Cookson seeks to provide a colourful diary of exactly what it was like during the tour with celebrity spottings, verbal jousting with the Australian fans and, of course, humiliation in the middle all discussed in detail.

In praise of the ‘unpainted’ cricket fan

I was proud to call myself a fan of the Tamil film actor Rajnikanth during my teens.

I had and still have his factoid at fingertips and could hold my own amidst fans of Kamalhaasan

However, my ardour to watch his films in cinema halls faltered with the antics of his more ‘active’ fans. Earlier, watching his films were pleasurable, now these lumpen elements by their constant shouting, whistling and uncouth behaviour has made viewing a bore.

So much so, not only have I stopped going to cinema halls but I have also stopped acknowledging my earlier allegiance to Rajni.

I can almost see the same thing happening in cricket. Earlier, fans went to watch cricket, soak in the atmosphere and maybe comment on how Sachin appeared diminutive in real life. I remember the time, when the most outlandish thing I did was screaming at the top of my voice when India beat Pakistan at Chepauk. (BTW, I was target of disapproving looks).

However, my interest in watching cricket waned after the advent of ‘attention seekers’. Nowadays, the majority who turn up at Chepauk are those who want to be seen. The present lot appears interested in dressing up in outlandish gear and in drawing the attention of the TV Camera operator.

Worse, there are now organized groups, unofficial cheerleaders no less, intent on supporting ‘their team’ instead of good cricket. Needless to add I have avoided the pilgrimage to Chepauk ever since.

I do not know whether it is advancing age, or stick in the muddiness but I prefer those days when a cricket fan was an admirer of cricket. I prefer the time when there was no ‘painted faces’ in the crowd. I prefer the time when the ‘Mexican wave’ was unknown.

(This reverie was set off on reading: Dominic Lawson: Boorish and chauvinist: the new breed of England cricket fan).

Advertisement

Ashes 2009,3rd Test: A Draw?

At the end of the fourth day at Edgbaston, Australia are 25 runs behind England’s first innings total.

Having removed Katich and Ponting, England appears favourably placed to fashion a win. With rains forecast for the rest of the week, the Australian’s will be hunkering down for a draw.

However, it is not as cut, dried, simple and straightforward as that. One cannot discount the propensity of the Australian batsmen to play for a win.

It has often been noted that there is inherent bone headedness in the Australian batting mindset that refuses to acknowledge the possibility of defeat.

One does not know whether it a macho thing, Australian batsmen have in the past few years exhibited this trait and have often lost matches, they should have saved.

Though a draw looks the most likely result, 50 over's of uninterrupted or even interrupted play could see Australian batsmen self-destruct.

Advertisement

 

 

Technorati Tags: Ashes 2009,Edgbaston

ICC ODI Championship Table - India advances

Following the annual update India has moved up to second place on the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table.

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table reflects recent form and every year the rankings are updated taking into consideration the team outstanding record in the year.

Thus, India’s superlative performances in the last year enabled it to jump over Australia to rest in the 2 place behind South Africa.

Advertisement

 

 

Technorati Tags: ICC,ODI,Championship,Table,India,rank 2,Reliance

Symonds for Auckland Aces?

Australia’s Andrew Symonds is likely to follow Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan and play for Auckland Aces in the revamped New Zealand domestic Twenty20 tournament.

Observing the success of IPL, New Zealand Cricket is revamping its domestic Twenty20 season and scheduling it during late December and early January so as to capitalize on the holiday season. The franchisees sensing the opportunity are splurging on signing up International cricketers from overseas.

Though the news is unconfirmed, Symonds is likely to play for Auckland Aces. New Zealand Internationals Martin Guptill, wicket-keeper Gareth Hopkins, Kyle Mills and the recently retired Scott Styris are a part of the Auckland Aces.

Earlier Northern Districts signed up Tillakaratne Dilshan immediately after his superlative performance in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

Related Link: Auckland Cricket

Advertisement

Buy

 

New Zealand (Country Guide)