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New Zealand Cricket has announced the itinerary for the home series against West Indies this summer. West Indies are scheduled to tour from December 2008, playing two Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and five one-dayers.
West Indies begin their tour on December 5 with a three-day warm-up match against Auckland, before the first Test at Dunedin's University Oval, the newest Test venue in the country. The Twenty20 internationals precede the one-dayers, the first of which is scheduled for New Year's Eve in Queenstown. West Indies wrap up their tour with the fifth one-dayer in Napier on January 13, leaving them more than three weeks to prepare for their home series against England.
The Second Test Match will be played on 19th December 2008 at McLean Park, Napier.
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The England cricket team will tour India from 9 November 2008 to 23 December 2008 and will play two Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals.
The BCCI has announced the venues for the forthcoming tour of England to India in November-December. The two tests will be played in Chennai and Mohali. The seven ODIs will be played in Cuttack, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, New Delhi and Rajkot.
The Second Test Match is at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali on December 19, 2008.
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South Africa will have a three-day warm-up in Perth before the opening of the three-Test series at the WACA from December 17, and another practice match is planned for Hobart in the lead-up to Boxing Day. There is no major fixture for Hobart, which hosted the second Australia-Sri Lanka Test in 2007-08.
The Proteas will then face Australia in two Twenty20 fixtures before the start of the five-match one-day series between the world's two top-ranked teams.
The first test will be played on 17th December 2008 at Western Australia Cricket Association, Perth.
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New Zealand Cricket has announced the itinerary for the home series against West Indies this summer. West Indies are scheduled to tour from December 2008, playing two Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and five one-dayers.
West Indies begin their tour on December 5 with a three-day warm-up match against Auckland, before the first Test at Dunedin's University Oval, the newest Test venue in the country. The Twenty20 internationals precede the one-dayers, the first of which is scheduled for New Year's Eve in Queenstown. West Indies wrap up their tour with the fifth one-dayer in Napier on January 13, leaving them more than three weeks to prepare for their home series against England.
The first Test Match will be played on 11th December 2008 at University Oval, Dunedin.
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The England cricket team will tour India from 9 November 2008 to 23 December 2008 and will play two Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals.
The BCCI has announced the venues for the forthcoming tour of England to India in November-December. The two tests will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The seven ODIs will be played in Cuttack, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, New Delhi and Rajkot.
The First Test Match is at Chennai on December 11, 2008.
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"Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni would get enhanced security cover as Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren has asked the police chief to tighten the security of the cricketer.
"The Chief Minister on Friday asked the Director General of Police VD Ram, to review Dhoni's security, and replace security personnel with another team of armed men. If required, provide him with commandos," CM's press secretary Safiq Ansari said on Saturday.
Soren's direction came in the wake of Dhoni's going to the Birsa Munda airport on December 4 without any "armed men" to board a flight to Chennai to participate in the selection committee meeting.
Jharkhand police spokesman SN Pradhan on Thursday said that Dhoni had been given Z category security and he was rather unhappy over too many policemen guarding him.
Dhoni's former coach Chanchhal Bhattacharya, however, claimed the Z category security was provided to Dhoni just "on paper".
The Jharkhand government last year announced the Z security for the dashing wicketkeeper-batsman following media reports that he might face threats from the naxals, who infested 18 of its districts.
26th Nov - The day which changed the Face of Mumbai
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Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne writes in his book that former Indian captain Rahul Dravid could have even been called 'The fortress' instead of 'The Wall'.
"Indian people love to give their cricket heroes a nickname. As these things go, Rahul Dravid being known as 'The Wall' is pretty much spot on. 'The fortress' could also describe Rahul. Because once, Dravid was set, you needed the bowling equivalent of a dozen cannon firing all at once to blast him down," he wrote in 'Shane Warne's Century'.
Warne added that it seemed as if former Pakistani captain Inzamam-ul-Haq batted with toothpick.
"Inzamam was a huge great bear of a man who looked as though he was batting with a toothpick. The stumps always seemed very small when he was at the crease - that's if you could see any of them behind his frame."
Warne's imagination, however, was followed by a lot of praise for Inzamam whom he perceived as a genial personality.
"Anybody underestimating him at first sight soon realised that his appearance was really deceptive. He was one of the most identifiable batsmen in the world, but he was comfortable in his big-boned frame.
"He was really a good slip fielder, probably he didn't fancy patrolling the covers for too long. But when he did, he had a rocket arm. Away from the game, he comes across as being very relaxed and just as easy-going. He even speaks slowly, but he is good fun to be around and is the sort of guy who can make you laugh," Warnie wrote in his book.
With his funny bone active, Warne did not even spare his former captains Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh and was brutally honest in penning his views on them.
"There was nothing fancy about Mark Taylor. He had wonderful leadership skills and excellent communication, but his main weakness was his terrible dress sense - the shirts he used to wear were horrendous, although Steve Waugh's were worse."
Merv Hughes was another Aussie who could not escape Warne's minute observations.
"The image I will take most from the 1993 Ashes is not Mike Gatting's puzzled face at the Old Trafford, but of Hughes sitting in the dressing room at the Oval after the last Test, staring out like a zombie and covered in ice packs to keep down the swelling after his last input in the memorable series...
"He had ice on both knees and on his shoulders, groin and back... If we had been called out to take a couple of more wickets, Hughes would have been the first through the door of the dressing-room. For (captain) Allan Border, he was a dream."
However, a high regard was in store for David Boon. "If you were building a perfect model of the bloke you would want to wear our Baggy Green Cap, he would bear pretty strong resemblance to David Boon: tough, uncompromising, defiant and proud."
Warne was tickled to know that burly former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga idolised Allan Border.
"It was funny to see him puffing and panting after a chase. He once said that he based his game and attitude on Allan Border. Border would be horrified to know that," he said.
Former great Wasim Akram on Monday called on India not to break cricketing ties with Pakistan, suggesting both countries should instead play a Test match in terrorist-hit Mumbai to show solidarity.
The former Pakistan cricket captain made his remarks amid reports that the Indian government has denied its cricket team permission to tour Pakistan early next year following last week's attacks on Mumbai which left more than 170 dead.
"Cricket is not on anyone's mind at the moment, but after three to four days both the countries must take a positive step. I suggest Pakistan and India play a Test in Mumbai so to give a clear message that we will not give in," Wasim said.
"India is like a second home for me, so whatever has happened there has hurt everyone in Pakistan including me," said Wasim, who holds the world record of most ODI wickets with 502.
"But if this hits our relations and cricket, it would mean that we have given in to terrorists."
He cited his own experiences when captaining Pakistan on a tour of India in 1999 despite threats from Hindu fundamentalists, playing the first cricket series between the two countries after a decade-long deadlock due to political tension.
"Cricket means everything in the sub-continent. It has built bridges and has averted wars on several occasions. People love and worship cricket, so it would be a great loss if cricket is halted. I hope it isn't," Wasim said.
India had been scheduled to play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 match during a five-week tour from January 4 to February 19.
The tour was first put in doubt last month when the Indian government refused its national junior hockey team permission to visit Pakistan due to security concerns.
If India cancels its tour, it would be the latest in a string of recent blows to cricket in Pakistan caused by terrorism fears.
Australia cancelled a Test tour of Pakistan in March and the International Cricket Council postponed the high-profile Champions Trophy there in September due to security concerns caused by Islamic militant activity.
Wasim said the Mumbai attacks have derailed the peace process between longtime rivals India and Pakistan.
"A week ago our President (Asif Ali Zardari) was suggesting there should be no visas for travelling between the two countries and suddenly we have this tragic incident and the whole thing is derailed," Wasim said.
The organisers of the postponed Champions Twenty20 League will meet on December 8 to see if they can reschedule the tournament early next year, according to the spokesman of the $6 million tournament.
The eight-team tournament was earlier scheduled to be held in India from December 3-10 but had to be postponed after terror struck Mumbai, one of the three venues.
The meeting of the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa - the three founding boards of Champions League - is likely to take place in India and they would "explore any opportunities" to hold the inaugural tournament in 2008-09 season, League spokesman Philip Pope said.
The biggest problem facing tournament organisers will be finding a gap in the busy international schedule in 2008-09 season.
"This window was created in the next week-and-a-half, so in order to establish a new competition elsewhere, (it's) very problematic, with broadcasting, venues, that sort of thing," said Tony Dodemaide, chief executive Cricket Victoria, whose team Victoria Bushrangers will take part in the tournament.
"Many of the venues are booked up now with current competitions going on around the world, so it's very difficult to do and in that light this was the obvious decision," he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.
Victorian coach Greg Shipperd suggested Australia could host the tournament.
But, Graeme Wood, chief executive of WACA, whose team Western Australia Warriors is taking part in the tournament, thinks the League will go ahead early next year either in India, the Gulf countries, England or South Africa.
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The England cricket team will tour India from 9 November 2008 to 23 December 2008 and will play two Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals.
The BCCI has announced the venues for the forthcoming tour of England to India in November-December. The two tests will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The seven ODIs will be played in Cuttack, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, New Delhi and Rajkot.
The Fifth (5th) ODI Cricket Match is at Cuttack on November 26, 2008.
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The England cricket team will tour India from 9 November 2008 to 23 December 2008 and will play two Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals.
The BCCI has announced the venues for the forthcoming tour of England to India in November-December. The two tests will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The seven ODIs will be played in Cuttack, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, New Delhi and Rajkot.
The Fourth (4th) ODI Cricket Match is at Bangalore on November 23, 2008.
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Like every player in the Rajasthan Royals team, Shane Warne had a specific brief for Yusuf Pathan too in the inaugural Indian Premier League(IPL). Just hit straight, over the bowler's head. Capitalise on your reach, power and go for big hits, Pathan was told.
Indeed, a look at Pathan's IPL wagon-wheel will reveal that out of the 435 runs he had scored in 15 innings, 221 came in that area.
Now, if that's the picture of Pathan's batting we had in mind, of a batsman who simply likes to play with a straight bat, his half-century in the second One-dayer at Indore presented a completely different picture. This time, there were sweeps and reverse sweeps, pulls and drives, shots square of the wicket, that were completely different from what Warne had in mind.
He may have followed Warnie's advice with his first few shots but once his confidence was restored, he exploded. The important thing is he fulfilled whatever was asked of him by his two captains: Warne and MS Dhoni. The 50 in Indore came off 29 balls while an average 50 in the IPL had taken about 25 balls, with the quickest coming in 21.
Yusuf might have scored those runs at a crucial time but there is an even more important twist to his first success as an India One-day player. India can now bat all the way down till Number 7 and not to have worry about a fifth bowler. Indeed, the big question is can he, along with Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag's spin, add up as the elusive all-rounder?
If the wise-men were to visit Baroda once, the Moti Bagh ground in the heart of the city to be specific, they might find an answer. Out there, Yusuf has always been rated as a cricketer with distinct all-round abilities, long before Irfan had arrived.
"What we usually give a miss are his first class wickets. He's got 84 in 32 matches with his off-spin. Ask batsmen who've faced him in the domestic circuit, and you'll know he's very effective,'' says Yusuf's former Baroda captain and friend Mukesh Narula.
For Baroda, Yusuf has opened the innings, batted at number three, four and five and considering that he scored 148 for India 'A' in the match against New Zealand last month, the less said the better about his ability to adapt to the shifts.
"That's because he's one of those cricketers who likes to focus on what is required of him,'' says Narula.
It is no secret that India, in One-dayers especially, have never been supportive of the idea of walking in with five bowlers. Even in Tests, there are instances that can be counted on fingers, the number of times a five-man attack has been in place.
"With Irfan, that was exactly the case when he was at his peak. He would bowl his quota of ten overs and his batting had improved to the point that he was called to open or bat at number three," says Mehdi Sheikh, who coached the brothers during their school days.
To have Yusuf alongside Yuvraj and Virender, sharing the spot for the fifth and sixth bowlers, in an attack led by a three-man pace battery is as satisfying a combination as it gets for Dhoni. To add to it, where the emerging middle-order in India has the likes of Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, bringing stability, Yusuf has the unique advantage of bringing in just raw aggression.
"Yusuf is a no-frills player, but he's very effective. I've seen him walk out on wet grounds with flat wickets, freshly rolled, also ironed (to get rid of the moisture) and bowl superbly economical spells,'' says Narula.
Bearing in mind what Yusuf's longtime coach and colleague have to say, it's a luring thought, and definitely not out of place, to see him emerge as that vital all-round cog in the Indian line-up.
There's a lot of One-day cricket to be played in the coming year, 21 ODIs and almost a double T20 matches if only the ICC's Future Tours Program (FTP) is to be considered. And knowing that selectors will seek a rotation plan, as Srikkanth has already hinted, Dhoni wouldn't mind having someone like Yusuf in his ranks.
The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings first job will be to reach the semi-finals of the Twenty 20 Champions League, said the squad's director cricket operations, VB Chandrasekar.
Announcing the team, which finished runners-up in the inaugural Indian Premier League, Chandrasekar said, "Our first port of call is the semi-final and then the final will be anybody's chance.
"In this scenario unlike in IPL, we have to make sure that we get to the semi-final. I am sure people will have a better idea about our players compared to other teams.
"No team in the Champions League could be taken for granted. In IPL no body gave Rajasthan Royals a chance. In the coming tournament, the element of uncertainty will be there. It will be tough to predict what is going to happen."
Barring Jacob Oram, yet to recover fully from the injury that forced him to return home midway from New Zealand's tour of Bangladesh, the Chennai Super Kings will have the services of seasoned and experienced overseas players like Mathew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan, Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini for the tournament.
Chandrasekar said the thrust in the playing eleven would be fielding and fitness.
"We have the option of rotating our Indian stars even if we play all the five overseas players in a match. We look at it differently," he said.
"Dhoni is the best wicketkeeper-batsman but he will be more useful in the outfield. If Parthiv (Patel) plays as an opener, he will keep the wickets. He did a reasonably good work in the IPL. We have the option of more than one player to keep the wickets with Hussey also being there."
As for Morkel and Hussey, who decided to play for Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League instead of their domestic sides, Chandrasekar said that as per rules the IPL franchise has the first right of opting for the player.
"They had to be playing for us. In the bargain we had to shell out $ 200,000 to Nashua Titans (for Morkel) and Western Australia(for Hussey) -- both teams will take part in the Champions League -- as per rules," he said.
On holding a short one or two-day camp before the tournament, Chandarsekar said "it is highly unlikely. We will meet up in Mumbai at the end of the Ranji Trophy tie (on December 2).
"There is hardly any chance of having a camp. It is not going to be possible in such tight schedule of a tournament of this nature. Hayden and Hussey are going to land here at the end of their Test series like Morkel.
"All of them would have completed six weeks of playing competitive cricket for their respective countries before landing in Mumbai on December 3."
On former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming's appointment as coach of the team, Chandrasekar said, "Kepler Wessels has not extended his contract. We felt that it is going to be much easier for players to gel well with Fleming, who had played at the highest level and could transform his knowledge better as coach of the team. It will be easy for players to brush shoulders with Fleming."
The team is planning to have spinner R Ashwin as stand-by for Muralitharan. They have meanwhile retained Arun Karthik and dropped S Vidyuth to have better right-left balance in the batting department.
They also left out Joginder Sharma, recuperating from a heel injury.
The eight teams in fray play the initial round on league basis with the top two qualifying for the semi-finals.
In the first semi-final to be held in Bangalore on December 8, the winner of Group B meets the runners-up of Group A and in the second semi-final in Chennai the net day, the winner of Group A will clash with the runners-up of Group B. The final is scheduled at Chennai on December 10.
Keeping the above schedule in mind, the Indian cricket board has urged their England counterparts to postpone the start of the first Test match by a day to provide some rest to the Indian cricketers who would be playing the Champions League final on December 10.
The first Test between India and England is scheduled to start on December 11 at Ahmedabad.
The Sri Lanka cricket team will be touring Zimbabwe from 13 November and 30 November 2008. They will play five One Day Internationals against Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe may not be the kind of opposition Sri Lanka would like to have to improve their rankings, but the tour, which comprises five ODIs in addition to two practice matches, gives them the opportunity to give some of their younger players a taste of international cricket.
Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are facing each other in a bilateral contest after four years. The last time they met was in Zimbabwe in 2004, when Sri Lanka whitewashed the hosts 2-0 in Tests and 5-0 in ODIs. Zimbabwe haven't improved much since then and Sri Lanka will be disappointed if they don't repeat that scoreline.
The First (1st) Test Match is at Harare on November 20, 2008.
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The BlackCaps travel to Brisbane to play Australia in the first test match at the Gabba.
The BlackCaps tour of Australia includes 2 test matches against Australia and a first class match against New South Wales.
Part of the 2008/09 Summer of Cricket. The first Test of the summer will be against New Zealand at the Gabba from November 24 before the second match starts in Adelaide the following week to conclude the two-game series. New Zealand then go home and return for five Chappell-Hadlee Series ODIs and a Twenty20 in February.
The First (1st) Test Match is at Brisbane on November 20, 2008.
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Batsmen Raqibul Hasan and Imrul Kayes have earned call-ups to the Bangladesh Test squad after the selectors chose to retain the one-day squad that played South Africa for the two Tests against the same opposition starting November 19 in Bloemfontein. Fast bowler Nazmul Hossain made a return to the squad four years after playing his only Test against India in Chittagong.
While Raqibul has played in seven ODI series since his debut in March 2008, the South African tour is Kayes' first full series; he made his debut against New Zealand in Dhaka last month. Naeem Islam and medium-pacer Mahububul Alam, who did not make the XI in both ODIs, are also participating in their first away series.
Bangladesh lost the three-ODI series 2-0 to South Africa after the final game in East London was washed out.
The First (1st) Test Match is at Bloemfontein on November 19, 2008.
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The England cricket team will tour India from 9 November 2008 to 23 December 2008 and will play two Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals.
The BCCI has announced the venues for the forthcoming tour of England to India in November-December. The two tests will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The seven ODIs will be played in Cuttack, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, New Delhi and Rajkot.
The Third (3rd) ODI Cricket Match is at Kanpur on November 20, 2008.
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The England cricket team will tour India from 9 November 2008 to 23 December 2008 and will play two Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals.
The BCCI has announced the venues for the forthcoming tour of England to India in November-December. The two tests will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The seven ODIs will be played in Cuttack, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, New Delhi and Rajkot.
The Second (2nd) ODI Cricket Match is at Indore on November 17, 2008.
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The ICL's second season (third overall including the inaugural Indian and Edelweiss T20 international competitions) which kicks off here at the Lal Bahadur Stadium on Friday will be heavy on talents from the sub-continent and will showcase a fair amount of experience from cricket nations around the world. The Twenty20 league has gathered momentum ever since it was launched last year ahead of the Indian Premier League and this year Bangladesh come to the party to give it a decent international colour.
The Twenty20 event this year would feature nine city-based teams, including one from Lahore in Pakistan and the other from Dhaka in Bangladesh, competing for top honours. The 41 matches would be played in Hyderabad, Panchkula, Gurgaon and Ahmedabad.
The nine teams in the fray would be led by Damien Martyn (Ahmedabad Rockets), Chris Cairns (Chandigarh Lions), Stuart Law (Chennai Superstars), Marvan Atapattu (Delhi Giants), Habibul Bashar (Dhaka Warriors), Chris Harris (Hyderabad Heroes), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Lahore Badshahs), Nathan Astle (Mumbai Champs) and Craig McMillan (Royal Bengal Tigers).
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The England cricket team will tour India from 9 November 2008 to 23 December 2008 and will play two Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals.
The BCCI has announced the venues for the forthcoming tour of England to India in November-December. The two tests will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The seven ODIs will be played in Cuttack, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, New Delhi and Rajkot.
The First (1st) ODI Cricket Match is at Rajkot on November 14, 2008.
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West Indies coach John Dyson is unhappy with team preparations for the three-match ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
A few of the members of the national team were part of the Stanford Superstars squad and played in the recently concluded Stanford Super Series. Dyson was critical of the long preparatory camp for the Stanford matches, which was from September 18 till the start of tournament on October 25. He said it made it difficult for the West Indies side to train together ahead of the Pakistan clash.
The WICB, however, has managed to arrange a three-week camp in New Zealand for the team as a build-up to to the series. The West Indies play two Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and five ODIs from December 11 to January 13.
West Indies last played an one-dayer back in August, when they won the final of a tri-series involving Canada and Bermuda. The first ODI between West Indies and Pakistan will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on November 12.
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Bangladesh have only beaten South Africa once in their history but their captain, Mohammad Ashraful, was cheerily optimistic about his side's fortunes in the forthcoming series. Bangladesh's first challenge is Wednesday's Twenty20, cricket's most unforgiving format, as Bangladesh's last five consecutive defeats demonstrate. Equally, any team on their day can fell a giant - something Bangladesh have already accomplished when they beat West Indies, at the Wanderers, during the Twenty20 World Championship last year.
After tomorrow's Twenty20, the two teams face eachother for three ODIs and two Tests, the first of which gets underway on November 19 at Bloemfontein.
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Bangladesh have only beaten South Africa once in their history but their captain, Mohammad Ashraful, was cheerily optimistic about his side's fortunes in the forthcoming series. Bangladesh's first challenge is Wednesday's Twenty20, cricket's most unforgiving format, as Bangladesh's last five consecutive defeats demonstrate. Equally, any team on their day can fell a giant - something Bangladesh have already accomplished when they beat West Indies, at the Wanderers, during the Twenty20 World Championship last year.
After tomorrow's Twenty20, the two teams face eachother for three ODIs and two Tests, the first of which gets underway on November 19 at Bloemfontein.
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Ricky Ponting has raised the possibility of Australia playing two spinners in the fourth Test in Nagpur as they search for a way to collect 20 wickets for the first time in the series. Ponting was also concerned about the lack of penetration from Stuart Clark, who could be the unlucky man to miss out if an extra slow bowler is added to the starting line-up.
Australia must win the Nagpur match to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and they will consider handing a debut to the offspinner Jason Krejza if the pitch looks spin-friendly. Although Krejza could directly replace the legspinner Cameron White, there is also the possibility of cutting a fast bowler with Shane Watson capable of providing a third seam option.
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was on Sunday anointed as India Test team captain following the retirement of Anil Kumble, continued to top the One- Day International batsmen chart in the ICC players ranking issued on Monday.
Dhoni with 793 points is way ahead of his nearest rival Australian Mike Hussey (776) with South African skipper Greame Smith (757) occupying the third spot.
Apart from Dhoni, no other Indian features in the top-10 batsmen ranking with Yuvraj Singh languishing at the 17th spot.
Also, Indian bowlers cut a sorry figure in the bowling ranking as none could make it to the top 20, which is being headed by left-arm Australian pacer Nathan Bracken. New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori and Australian Mitchell Johnson are in the second and third spot respectively.
Kiwi Jacob Oram leads the all-rounder pack, followed by Andrew Flintoff of England and Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik.
Meanwhile, India, with 113 points, find themselves in the fifth position in the ICC ODI championship table. Australia is at the top with 131 points, followed by South Africa (118) and England (116).
The first day of the Delhi-Punjab Ranji Trophy Super League match started on an exciting note but ended with a yawn at the Roshanara Club here on Monday.
The players of both sides must have walked away with a feeling that this might just be a 'first innings pitch' - the team that scores more number of runs in their first innings is most likely to walk away with the spoils (in this case three points). Scoring an outright victory on this pitch could be an uphill task.
After being put into bat by Delhi, Punjab finished Day 1 at 237 for the loss of five wickets with a desire of "adding atleast 150 more on Day 2", as their new coach Arun Kumar put it. Both teams went home equally happy but if one goes compares the sessions, then Delhi won the first, second was even-steven while Punjab took the honours in the third session, with Sunny Sohal hitting his maiden ton.
The comeback man Ashish Nehra, who was in and out of the team due to his lack of fitness the last two seasons, was the pick of the Delhi bowlers. However, it was his pace partner Pradeep Sangwan who lured Yuvraj Singh with a bait outside the off-stump to send him back for a blob at the stroke of lunch. The score read 92/3.
It was just one of those days for Nehra when you could not discount his contribution and effort. Like when he was outguessing the opposition captain Pankaj Dharmani (16) and the highest scorer Sunny Sohal (110) over after over, continously from around the wicket, making the ball swing away accurately. Nehra failed to get the reward for his ahard work but it helped leggie Chaitnya Nanda (2-36) in scalping Dharmani with an average ball.
"For a bowler, who bowled really well, I thought Nehra was unlucky and should have returned with much more wickets. He caught the edge of the opposition batsmen a number of times but unfortunately it all fell short of either the slips or the wicketkeeper," said Vijay Dahiya, who is in his second season as a coach of Delhi.
Delhi elected to field expecting the pitch to offer movement. It did. But the juice, it seemed, dried up after the first two hours of the match. Asked whether they overestimated the pace of the pitch, a bit, Dahiya said: "It's not a ground we play on regularly. There was just a match against Saurashtra last season. Hence we are a little unfamiliar with the circumstances. We had played a couple of warm-up games at the Jamia ground and we didn't like the wicket there. Therefore, the best bet was the Roshnara Club. Ideally, we would have liked to pick up more wickets with the help of our quality pacers but the wicket started playing easy," stated Dahiya.
Chasing a modest target of 138, Dhaka Warriors opener Shahriar Nafees played a brilliant 73 run knock to guide his team to an easy eight wicket win over Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) match at the Tau devi Lal Stadium on Friday night.
The left handed 22-year-old batted with perfection and hit ten boundaries and a six in his match-winning knock that came of just 60 balls.
Nafees and his right-handed opening partner Nazimuddin were involved in a 53 run partnership for the Warriors before a brilliant catch in the deep by Amit Uniyal of the bowling of left arm slow Bipul Sharma brought Nazimmudin's (23)innings to an end.
Bipul had the Warriors in a spot of bother for a while as he struck again removing Aftab Ahmed (5). However, Nafees and Alok Kapali (32) batted with patience and achieved the target in the 18th over.
Earlier, put into bat first, the Lions playing before a thin home crowd started on a confident note, but soon started losing the plot. After Mohammed Sharif took the first Lions wicket sending TP Singh back to pavilion (1-25), they lost three more of their top order batsman in quick succession and were in deep trouble at one stage on 4-45 in the seventh over.
With the pitch favouring slow bowlers, Warriors slow left arm bowlers Mohammed Rafique (4-0-28-3) and Moshraff Hossain (4-0-17-2) were the pick of their side.
Hossain had Lions skipper Andrew Hall (29) bowled when the latter was looking well set, but Bipul Sharma (30) made useful contribution holding the forte till the end before being the ninth batsman to fall getting stump out of Rafique's bowling.
The Warriors have three wins from six matches they played while the Lions have won three from their five outings, with both still keeping themselves in the reckoning for a semi-final berth.
England play their "winner-takes-all" Twenty20 fixture against a Caribbean all-star side for a record prize pot of $20m on Saturday at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua. Antigua-based billionaire Allen Stanford has put up $100m for five annual clashes between England and the Stanford Super Stars.
The 11 active players on the winning side will walk away with $1m each with a further two million going to squad players and coaching and management staff.
The timing of Saturday's match in Antigua hasn't helped Stanford's bid to boost cricket's global status. Amid a looming recession, fans struggling financially could watch the 11 England players each pocket a million.
"To have these huge rewards for one match is, to my mind, just stupid," said Lord McLaurin, former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board. "My view as a traditionalist is that Twenty20 has a place, but this sort of pantomime cricket doesn't. This sort of thing is just obscene, especially with the financial state the country is in." Stanford batted away the criticism before insisting "it's a spectacle, it's not a farce."
Perhaps there were warning signs in June at Lord's when the Texan billionaire, who has lived in the Caribbean for 26 years, outlined his five-year plan for Twenty20 cricket to take over the sport in front of a crateload of bills amounting to $20m.
Amidst the controversies, Sean Morris, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, said that the event can be compared to a garden party. "The England players feel sensitive that they might be exposed; very concerned about how they will be perceived."
England allrounder Andrew Flintoff sought to take the sting out of the row by highlighting the positive impact of the event. West Indies cricket will receive $3.5m annually over the five-year deal. "When you look at the money that is up for it then, yeah, it is all about the money," Flintoff said. "One of the good things to come from it is West Indies cricket and seeing people come and watch.
Indian top order batsmen, who are in fine form in the ongoing Test series against Australia, remained static in their earlier positions with Virender Sehwag clinging on to the 10th position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings issued on Thursday.
In the list headed by West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul with 890 rating points, Sehwag is at tenth with 770 points while VVS Laxman (679), Rahul Dravid (670) and Sachin Tendulkar (661) are at 16th, 18th and 19th respectively.
There is no change in the top 30 Test batsmen rankings. Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (886) is second and Mike Hussey (881) of Australia is third in the list.
Among bowlers, Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian in the top 10 at ninth while Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan are at 13th and 19th respectively.
The bowlers' list is headed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan with Australia's Stuart Clark in second spot and Dale Steyn of South Africa in third position.
Meanwhile, India is in the third place in the Test Championship table with 109 points. Australia (138) and South Africa (116) are in first and second positions.
Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire behind the ongoing Twenty20 Super Series at his own ground in Antigua, apologised personally for having the wife of an England player sit on his lap.
During England's win over Middlesex last weekend Stanford was pictured sitting among the wives and girlfriends of the England team with wicket-keeper Matt Prior's wife, Emily, sitting on his lap.
Pictures of the incident were shown live on big screens at the ground and televised around the world.
For critics, the image was symbolic of everything wrong with a series, whose main focus centres around Saturday's climactic match between England and Stanford's Caribbean Superstars, where members of the winning XI will receive a million dollars each, while the losers get nothing.
This means a player could, for example, drop a catch which costs him and his colleagues a life-changing sum of money - a point repeatedly stressed in adverts for television coverage of the game.
Stanford told BBC on Thursday: "When I saw these young ladies sitting there, the cameraman said it would be a great shot if I got in the middle of them.
"I had no idea who they were," the businessman explained. "If I knew they were related in any way, shape or form to the English cricket team I would have said a polite hello and left.
"The cameraman said we had 30 seconds, so I said, 'Where am I going to sit?'. This young girl got up and said, 'Here take my seat'. So I sat in the middle," he added.
"The girl who was stood up plopped down on my knee. I didn't put her on my knee or sit here on my knee, she just plopped down.
"It was strictly an innocent thing. I apologised to Matt and to Kevin (Pietersen, the England captain)," said Stanford, who also funds the domestic Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.
Former England captain Michael Atherton, writing in The Times on Wednesday, criticised Stanford's habit of walking into changing-rooms, saying no-one should be admitted to the England dressing room because of the "size of their bank account".
Stanford said he would not go into the England dressing room again but stressed he would continue to walk among the crowds.
"There may be some things I am used to doing here in my tournament like walking in the locker room after the game and congratulating both teams, which I have done since day one, to being visible on the field.
"This is my ground, this is the Caribbean and our cricket here is different than it is in England."
Although the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have said these matches will be reviewed just like any series involving England, it is understood some officials are concerned by Stanford's conduct.
Stanford flew into Lord's in his own private helicopter to launch the series earlier this year before proudly unveiling a box full of dollar bills.
But while there was no doubting the financier's commercial motives, Atherton said the ECB should have taken a broader view, accusing the board of having "pawned the national team off for little more than a rich man's ego trip".
Although the ECB made supportive noises about assisting West Indies cricket, there is little doubt a wish to prevent England players defecting to the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL) when required for full internationals was a key consideration in their joining forces with Stanford.
The quality of the lights, which has led to a succession of dropped catches, and the pace of the pitch at Stanford's ground have also come under fire, although there were signs of improvement all-round as the Super Stars piled up 173 for four in their final warm-up match, against Middlesex, on Thursday.
Andre Fletcher made a dashing 90 not out off 66 balls with seven sixes while Kieron Pollard's unbeaten 27 featured four sixes.
Stanford, speaking before that inning ended, was adamant the series as a whole would be regarded as a success. "I think after Saturday people will have a different opinion of what we are doing here."
Ricy Ponting insists that this series is being played in the best possible spirit, but whether he still thinks so, after another day of verbal exchanges and even physical contact, is anybody's guess. Chris Broad, the match referee, might well have to step in during the course of the match.
In the course of Gautam Gambhir's six-and-a-half hour innings, he exchanged words with Shane Watson and Simon Katich more than once. The first flash point came just before tea, in the 51st over when Gambhir worked the ball through mid-wicket and set off for a couple. Watson, gesturing just as Gambhir was about to pass him, distracted the batsman and when he turned around for a second run, Gambhir's elbow made contact with Watson's midriff.
"I think it wasn't deliberate. It just happened; I don't think I need to get into this argument about Watson. I feel that he had no options of getting me out," said Gambhir at the end of the day's play. "There was no chance he could have got me out. There wasn't a need for me to stick my elbow out. It was an accident."
Gambhir added he was aware that the Australians were trying to force a mistake, but he kept his cool. "It's part of the game. They were really desperate to get me out because of the way I was batting. They were trying to break my concentration," said Gambhir. "The important thing was to just be there, be there in their eyes and not back out."
When asked about the contact between Gambhir and Watson, Michael Clarke, the Australian vice-captain said, "I did see that on the replay and I am sure the match referee or whoever needs to have a look at it will have a look at it. For me, it's important for all players to get on with the game."
The second incident came after Katich, who had repeatedly tried to engage Gambhir in a conversation, stood his ground wide of the stumps when Gambhir was trying to pinch a single. This time, Gambhir aborted the attempted run and returned to his crease, visibly unhappy and again words were exchanged as umpire Billy Bowden stepped in to calm the situation.
Gambhir should consider himself lucky to get away without as much as a reprimand for he has a history of "inappropriate contact". In November last year, Gambhir was fined 65% of his match fee by referee Roshan Mahanama following the Kanpur one-dayer against Pakistan. On that occasion, Gambhir and Shahid Afridi collided mid-pitch after exchanging angry words. Although both parties claimed the collision was accidental, Mahanama observed, "Even if the collision between them was viewed as an accident I still felt it was inappropriate." Afridi, whose record was not as clean as Gambhir's lost 95% of his match fees.
Clause 2.4 of the ICC's Code of Conduct deals with "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play".
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The England and Wales Cricket Board are reportedly set to review the $20million Stanford Super Series following a week of negative publicity.
American Sir Allen Stanford, who has bankrolled the five-year agreement of matches in the Caribbean, found it necessary to apologise for his behaviour during England's opening victory over Middlesex on Sunday after he was pictured in the stands with Emily Prior, wife of Matt Prior, on his lap and his arms around other wives and girlfriends.
The 58-year-old has access to all areas at his Coolidge ground and England's players have felt uneasy about him strolling into the dressing rooms on match days.
The Twenty20 tournament has also attracted criticism from England and Middlesex players for its poor floodlights and sluggish pitches.
ECB policy is to review all tours and events but there is arguably more urgency in this case because of the event's image, with English cricket's hierarchy concerned.
As things stand, Stanford is lined up to be an increasing influence in English cricket.
He was invited to field a team in the English Premier League when initial drafts were drawn up in June and will fund an annual 20-over quadrangular at Lord's from next summer.
When the ECB agreed their multi-million-pound tie-ups with Stanford, they saw it as a benefit to various areas of domestic and international cricket.
The $3.5million given to the West Indies board each year is a sum significant enough to strengthen them at elite level and grass roots cricket in the region benefits from a new Chance to Shine programme, a replica of the successful British model.
From an English perspective, top players will now move onto a whole new pay scale if successful and the money pulled in by the ECB will filter down to counties to help improve drainage and erect floodlights.
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Indian captain Anil Kumble has been declared fit and will lead the team against Australia in the third Test at Feroz Shah Kotla.
Kumble will replace Amit Mishra in the playing XI. A shoulder injury kept Kumble out of the second Test in Mohali, where Dhoni attacking captaincy earned him the man of the match award in the 320-run victory and Mishra took seven wickets. Leg spinner Kumble, the third most successful bowler in Test history with 616 victims, has taken 55 wickets in six games at the Ferozshah Kotla ground, long regarded as India's favourite venue.
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He might be standing on a heap of runs today but at the start of his career, a nervous Sachin Tendulkar had doubts on whether he actually belonged to the game of cricket. The batting maestro, who is the only batsman in the world to have more than 12,000 Test runs under his belt, the brief period of uncertainty was followed by a moment in 1992 when he got the feeling that he had it in him to conquer the cricket world.
The champion batsman also admitted that he has felt the burden of expectations every time he has stepped on the field.
On being asked about his Test debut against Pakistan in 1989, Tendulkar said he has 'vague' memories of the tour as excitement got the better of him then.
"Probably just for the first Test match, I felt I was out of place, I was unsure whether I belonged here or not, I was just hoping for another opportunity. In the second Test match I had decided that come what may I am going to spend minimum 45 minutes here and then see what happens because the players around me told me that, the first fifteen minutes are always tough and once you have stayed there for longer than 25 or 30 minutes then things start changing gradually."
Tendulkar, who has earned respect from all quarters, said coping with pressure sometimes become difficult.
"It's not that easy to switch off from all these things, our sub-conscious mind grasps all these things and somewhere it is stored. Even if you don't want to focus on all these things, the room-service guy will remind you of it, so somewhere it's stored and that's the last thing you want, you want to go out there with a blank mind. You just have to go out and bat, watch the ball as closely as possible and bat," he said.
His idol -- legendary Gavaskar, first Indian to enter 10,000 runs club, said what makes Tendulkar successful than any other batsman in the world is his 'balance' on the field as well as off-field.
"Balance, which is the most important thing, he has got balance on the field and that is helped by a great extent by balance off the field. Without balance, so many potentially great cricketers have been lost, it's the balance off the field which is so important and to have that balance off the field you need people around you who will make sure that you have your feet on the ground, the family becomes such an important aspect in keeping that balance," Gavaskar said.
In his illustrious career, Tendulkar has got almost every record by his name but Gavaskar wants him to win for one more time the coveted World Cup for India.
"I think I did that (advising Tendulkar) four years ago so I am not going to do that but what I will do is, not advise him, but I will make a plea - please regain the World Cup for us in 2011," Gavaskar said when asked what advise he would give to the master batsman at this stage of his career.
Responding to this, Tendulkar too admitted that he misses that trophy in his dazzling cupboard.
"It has always been a dream because that is the ultimate thing you can get for your country. We came so close to it in 2003. It is definitely by far the best World Cup that I have played, and we came so close to it but I thought just in the finals, we tried a little too hard to get the Cup back home," he said.
Cricket South Africa has extended national coach Mickey Arthur's contract for another two years besides appointing Mike Procter as the convener of selectors.
CSA said Procter has been appointed until the conclusion of the 2011 ICC World Cup, to be played in the Asian sub-continent.
CSA also announced the appointment of two new selectors in former Proteas vice-captain Craig Matthews and Winky Ximiya.
"I realise that it is one of the most important jobs in South African cricket and look forward to meeting some of the players who I haven't met, and it is obviously exciting taking over with a side that has been so successful in Test cricket," a delighted Procter said after his appointment.
CSA CEO Gerald Majola said the extension of Arthur's contract had been made after he impressed the board with the plans for forthcoming seasons and World Cup 2011.
"Mickey presented an in-depth report on the past few seasons as well as a strategic plan to overcome the challenges of the next few seasons leading up to and including the ICC World Cup on the Sub-continent in 2011," Majola said.
He added the panel was impressed with his performance as the coach of Proteas and completed their most successful season since unity.
Reacting to his re-appointment, Arthur said, "It's a great honour. I thank the board for showing their faith in me and buying into the plan leading up to the 2011 World Cup and we hope we can deliver as we have in the last couple of seasons."
Newly-appointed PCB chief Ijaz Butt has dropped hints at calling back fit and in-form Pakistan players who are busy playing in the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
According to sources, Butt has openly admitted discussing the ICL players' case in a recently held ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai.
"There are bright chances of ICL players returning back to international cricket following the revelations that the ICC is on a weak footing against any lawsuit that the ICL management may initiate," an insider said.
Pakistani players, who are engaged playing for the ICL and are performing well, may be seen playing for the national side again, said a source and added that the ICC has been further put under pressure following the revelation by the PCB chairman that the game's body was also considering a possible merger of the two leagues.
"It is also no less than a big news that the ICC are contemplating the option of a possible merger of IPL and ICL. This must have given a big heart to the ICL management.
Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag gave India a perfect start adding 70 for the first wicket. India lost Gambhir, Dravid and Laxman quickly and were in strife at 163-4. But Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly saved the day with a counter-attacking 142-run stand. Sachin Tendulkar (88 runs) dished out a vintage batting performance, driving on the rise and punching the bowlers back straight and through mid-wicket. He went past Brian Lara's tally for most Test runs and also became the first batsman to surpass 12,000 Test runs. Although he got out to the second new ball, late in the day, his innings had done enough to take India to a position of relative safety.
Barely a month after Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Rajasthan Royals decided to go public, owners of the struggling Deccan Charges team - Deccan Chronicle Holdings and M Group - have decided to put the franchisee on sale.
A top source close to the owners revealed to TOI of the development saying, "Deccan Chargers is up for sale. The DC Holdings board of directors over the past one week has met, deliberated and decided to disinvest either fully or partly the stake in the franchisee.
"Four to five interested parties have been identified," added the source.
The enterprise value of Deccan Charges is $200m which includes the franchisee fee of $107m to the IPL. "They are looking at some premium and the negotiations are on. Despite their poor show in the inaugural IPL year, Deccan Chargers looks like a good bet given its impressive lineup of players," said the source.
IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said the IPL governing council had not heard of the move as yet but confirmed any franchisee had the liberty to do so. "They all (the franchisees) are planning to go public or get investors. They can bring in a minority owner or owners, we (the IPL governing council) have no issues with that," he said.
Deccan Chargers have had issues with their team combination and the support staff and had unceremoniously replaced VVS Laxman with Adam Gilchrist as captain recently.
According to the IPL report tabled at BCCI's annual general meeting, the IPL franchise owners have recovered, from central television and sponsorship revenues, close to 80% of the money they paid to the BCCI in the first year of the Twenty20 league.
BCCI raked in Rs 289 crore from the first annual installment of the money the owners bid to buy the rights to own an IPL team. But as part of the revenue-sharing formula they have earned back Rs 224 crore from the central earnings, which was held from April 18 to June 1.
