Cricket Buzz

England win cracker, pocket series

2011-07-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

Tim Bresnan and Jonathan Trott helped England do just enough at Old Trafford to add NatWest Series victory to this summer's Test success against Sri Lanka.

Trott (72) shared a stand of 108 with Eoin Morgan (57) to ensure England did not entirely squander Craig Kieswetter and Alastair Cook's brilliant start to what proved a faltering 268 for nine.

Then Bresnan (three for 49) nipped out two of three wickets with the new ball and returned to shift the determined Kumar Sangakkara.

The contest was still far from done, as Angelo Mathews (62) and Jeevan Mendis added to the good work from Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal (54) in a century stand which took Sri Lanka to the brink of an unlikely victory.

But England held their nerve to prevail by 16 runs to take the series 3-2, as Sri Lanka's last four wickets fell in five balls.

As befitted a seesaw tussle throughout the past two weeks, England several times allowed their apparent advantage to be eroded if never overhauled.

First, three wickets fell for just 14 runs in their shambolic early batting powerplay - and then six more for the addition of only 40 wrecked England's charge in the last 10 overs as Suraj Randiv finished with five for 42. Sri Lanka's reply descended to 29 for three.

Bresnan had debutant opener Dimuth Karunaratne edging some width to slip in his first over, and followed up when Tillakaratne Dilshan hooked straight to long-leg.

Jade Dernbach ought to have held a similarly straightforward catch in the same position when Mahela Jayawardene clipped Bresnan aerially off his legs.

But there was relief for him, and England, because Jayawardene soon played another uncharacteristically faulty shot to be caught at mid-off.

Sangakkara and Chandimal responded with a stand of 94.

Lord's centurion Chandimal committed entirely to the shot whenever he went for broke, and chose his moments well until - aiming for a third six, to add to his five fours, he launched himself off his feet at Graeme Swann and missed to be stumped by yards.

Sangakkara also went, two runs short of 50, when Bresnan returned with a hint of unlikely seam movement off a bare surface to have the left-hander edging on to his stumps - and from 131 for five and two new men at the crease, Sri Lanka had much to do at the 30-over mark.

Mathews and Mendis began with just three runs between them but kept England and a sell-out crowd guessing, until the left-hander holed out in the leg-side deep off Samit Patel in the 47th over.

After two more wickets in successive deliveries, Randiv run out without striking, Lasith Malinga hit his first ball from James Anderson for six.

But the penultimate over from Dernbach began with Mathews safely held by Bresnan in the off-side ring off a slower ball - and then Malinga was bowled in a breathless finish. Kieswetter and Cook's opening stand of 85 had come up in under 13 overs, after the home captain had chosen to bat first under initial cloud cover.

It took their gains since they were previously last parted, at Lord's last weekend, to 256 in only 36.4 overs.

The 50 arrived at much better than a run-a-ball, Sri Lanka not helping themselves with some moderate fielding and new-ball bowling.

The hosts' hectic early progress was seamless - until, having taken the powerplay after only 12 overs, they duly lost their first wicket.

England's bold early ploy to keep the field up proved to be cursed.

Cook was out of his ground trying to carve Randiv beyond the off-side ring, but missed the turn and was easily stumped.

Only four balls and two runs later, Kieswetter was undone by low bounce from Dhammika Prasad as he was bowled on the back foot.

Then Kevin Pietersen went cheaply when the same bowler this time got one to bounce more than expected to have his man caught behind.

Trott and Morgan therefore needed to start again to put England back on course.

But they had the comfort zone of the outstanding early run rate already established, and did not need to take undue risk in the middle overs.

They are each expert at rotating the strike and avoiding dot balls, and did so even as Sri Lanka kept the field up in their own powerplay.

Morgan's was slightly the quicker, from 54 balls, of twin half-centuries which contained only three boundaries between them.

Angled and reverse bats were the preferred method, with two straight-driven fours from Trott the only notable exceptions.

Even with Morgan gone - stumped on the charge at Dilshan - and then Ian Bell chipping a catch just within the reach of wide long-on, England had a favourable 40-over foundation of 228 for five and a senior batsman well set.

Trott was to fall unluckily, though, somehow mispulling Randiv on to his body and back down on to his stumps - and the England tail failed to cope as the off-spinner completed his maiden five-wicket haul.

Fortunately, their two substantial partnerships had put them sufficiently ahead of the game to just about narrowly keep Sri Lanka at bay with bat and then ball.

70 Records held by Sachin Tendulkar

2011-07-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI
2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 41
3. Most number of nineties in the ODI
4. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's
5. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's
6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's
7. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
8. First Cricketer to pass 16000 run in the ODI
9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20

March 2007)
10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world

11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an

average of 87.16
12. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest

by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
14. Most number of Fifties in ODI's 91*

15. Appeared in Most Number of ODI's 425*
16. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
17. Most number of 100's in test's 42.
18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian

to do so
19. He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest

sporting honor
20. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI

player

21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald

Bradman.
22. He was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with

friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,
23. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep

Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent

Yorkshire
25. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri

by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
26. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times
27. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman
28. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world
29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a

match. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.
30. Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia

31. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the

country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee

News.
32. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
33. In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year
34. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the

Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.
35. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international

cricket
36. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international

cricket:79 centuries
37. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he

had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.
38. Is second on the most number of runs in test cricket just after Brian Lara
39. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number

of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128

matches
40. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly are a world record

41. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in

ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999
42. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a

record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
43. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
44. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of

18th Nov, 2007)
45. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
46. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at

Hyderabad in 1999).
47. The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches
48. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
49. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest

batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
50. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds

51. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
52. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
53. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to

score a century
54. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world

record
55. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the

highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
56. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third

batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
57. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs),

1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the

only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
58. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
59. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world

record of runs scored in Tests away from home
60. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history.

Both of them achieved this in 195 innings

61. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
62. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third

International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
63. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168

Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in

more games than Tendulkar
64. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(158*) for India (Kapil Dev

is second with 131 Test appearances).
65. First to 25,000 international runs
66. Tendulkar's 29,386* runs in international cricket include 16,684* runs in OD I's,

12,702* Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
67. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against

Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the

man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
68. Tendulkar is the only player who has 154 wkts and more than 16000* runs in ODI
69. Tendulkar is the only player who has 42 wkts and more than 12000* runs in Tests
70. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket

India, Pakistan yet to decide who'll host 2012 bilateral cricket series

2011-07-08T08:41:00.001-07:00

"In fact, we have to play four series against India in the Future Tours Programme (FTP), which spreads from 2012 to 2020, but there is a question mark on the 2012 series as to who will host it," the Dawn quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed, as saying.

According to the International Cricket Council's FTP, India would host the 2012 cricket series comprising five one-day internationals (ODIs) and three test matches.

Subhan said PCB officials had "discussed the future of 2012 series with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials during the ICC meetings in Hong Kong last month and they assured us that they would give us a reply after getting clearance from their government".
"As soon as they get clearance we will resume the talk to decide the number of matches and the venues," he added.

But when reminded that during Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan at Mohali on March 30, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced that the Indian team would tour Pakistan, Subhan said that the BCCI might need a written consent in this regard.
Subhan also said that Pakistan could host for India at any neutral venue if they declined to tour the country due to security concerns.

"We are already playing our home series at neutral venues due to security concerns of other teams. And we feel no problem in hosting India too at any neutral venue," he added.

Source: ANI

Sri Lanka Premier League postponed to next year

2011-07-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Colombo: The inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League ( SLPL), after facing a series of problems including the withdrawal of Indian players from the tournament, has been postponed to August 2012.

Sri Lanka will have the domestic Twenty20 league in its place featuring five teams, but that will not involve any foreign players.

It is likely that the decision to postpone the league, which was scheduled to start on July 19, was taken today at a meeting between the Cricket Sri Lanka's new committee and the league's organisers, Somerset Entertainment Ventures.

A four-week window in August next year has been identified as the best time to host the event.

The BCCI had refused No Objection Certificates to 12 Indian players - Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Manish Pandey and Paul Valthaty - after it was rumoured that the tournament was organised by a private party, which is close to suspended IPL chief Lalit Modi, and based in Singapore.

Another major blow the league suffered was that the SLC committee that created the tournament was dissolved last week by Sri Lanka's sports ministry.

Source: PTI

ICC committee recommends new rules in ODIs

2011-06-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

The International Cricket Council's chief executive committee (CEC) has recommended use of two new balls from each end and the abolishing of runners in One-day Internationals (ODIs).

It has also recommended restricting the elective powerplays to between the 16th and 40th overs of each innings.

"CEC agreed with the ICC cricket committee's recommendations for the further enhancement of international 50-over cricket with the restriction of the elective powerplays to between the 16th and 40th overs of each innings and also to the use of two new balls per innings - one from each end. This will come into effect from 1 October," ICC said in a statement.

CEC agreed with the cricket committee's recommendation to abolish runners in international cricket.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "Even though the success of 50-over cricket during the World Cup was universally acknowledged, the CEC rightly supported the enhancements recommended by the Cricket Committee to strengthen the format further, including encouraging members to trial some specific innovations in their domestic cricket."

These innovations include a review of the maximum number of overs that a bowler can bowl; an increase in the number of short balls permitted per over from one to two; no compulsory requirement for close catchers; and a maximum of four fielders outside the 30-yard circle during non-powerplay overs.

The CEC, like the ICC Cricket Committee, was concerned at the slow over-rates in Test match cricket and agreed on stricter sanctions against captains for over-rate breaches.

"A captain will now be suspended for two over-rate breaches in a 12-month period in any one format of the game rather than the current position which is three breaches prior to suspension."

Other cricket committee recommendations including the continued research into the use of different coloured balls to facilitate day and night Test matches and the directive that batsmen can be given out for obstructing the field if they change their direction when running between the wicket to block a run-out chance, were also approved.

Back-to-back Ashes series in 2013

2011-06-27T06:28:00.001-07:00

With the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup causing a scheduling headache for Australia, they are set to play back-to-back Ashes series against England in 2013.

According to a report in 'The Daily Telegraph, "Australia will play 10 back-to-back Ashes Tests in 2013 as a result of hosting the World Cup in 2015 when the return Ashes was meant to be played."

The arrangement is being worked out in the new Future Tours Program which is currently being discussed by the ICC's Executive Board in its five-day meeting in Hong Kong which started yesterday.

"Windows have been made for Twenty20 competitions and 10 consecutive Ashes Tests in the future tours program set to be ratified by the ICC this week.

"Australia would play more long-form cricket than ever before, including back-to-back Ashes series, under the new arrangements, forced by a scheduling problem," the report stated.

Australia also wants to host either England, South Africa or India tour every summer to ensure spectator interest.

"Our focus on the future tours program strategy has been around promoting and protecting the Australian summer," general manager of public affairs Peter Young said.

"We want to make sure we have a major drawcard every summer and we believe that Test cricket is critically important to us and the public."

IPL-5 to start from April 4 next year

2011-06-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

The fifth edition of the highly popular Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin on April 4 next year and conclude on May 27, the BCCI announced on Monday.

The tournament will feature 74 matches, over a period of 54 days.

"We are happy to confirm the opening and closing dates of IPL 2012, ten months in advance. The match-schedule will be announced soon. We have no doubt that the fifth season of IPL will be as, if not more, eventful and exciting than the previous ones," IPL Chairman Chirayu Amin said in a statement.

Chennai Super Kings had won the fourth edition after beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.

Roger Federer met sachin Tendulkar at wimbledon

2011-06-25T19:55:00.001-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar speaks to Roger Federer at Wimbledon

India Vs England 2011 - Fixtures and Schedule

2011-06-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Indian team will travel to England after the series against the West Indies. The full team members are expected to comeback after they were rested for the West Indies series. Surely, youngsters will also get place in the side if they can show their potential in the West Indies series. England Vs India will start from July 21, the series will feature 4 Test, 1 T2OI and 5 ODIs. The series will end on 16th of September.

Date	Match Details	Time		Venue
Date	Match Details	GMT & IST
Jul 21 Thu - Jul 25 Mon	England v India, 1st Test	10:00	15:30	Lord's
Jul 29 Fri - Aug 02 Tue	England v India, 2nd Test	10:00	15:30	Trent Bridge
Aug 10 Wed - Aug 14 Sun	England v India, 3rd Test	10:00	15:30	Edgbaston
Aug 18 Thu - Aug 22 Mon	England v India, 4th Test	10:00	15:30	The Brit Oval
Aug 31 - Wed	England v India, Only T20I	17:00	22:30	Old Trafford
Sep 03 - Sat	England v India, 1st ODI	09:15	14:45	Riverside Ground
Sep 06 - Tue	England v India, 2nd ODI	13:00	18:30	The Rose Bowl
Sep 09 - Fri	England v India, 3rd ODI	13:00	18:30	The Brit Oval
Sep 11 - Sun	England v India, 4th ODI	09:15	14:45	Lord's
Sep 16 - Fri	England v India, 5th ODI	13:00	18:30	Sophia Gardens

Indians will also feature in some of the warm-up matches in the tour. Here are the schedule of warm-up matches in India Vs England 2011:

Jul 15 - 17
Indians Vs Somerset - 3 day match
County Ground, Taunton
Starts 10:00 GMT

Aug 5 -6
Indians Vs Northamptonshire - 2 Day match
County Ground, Northampton
Starts 10:00 GMT

Aug 25
Indians Vs Sussex
County Ground, Hove
9.15 GMT

Aug 26
Indians Vs Kent
St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
13:30 GMT

Aug 29
Indians Vs Leicestershire
Grace Road, Leicester
13:30 GMT

Butt resigns but Zardari says carry on

2011-06-25T05:24:00.000-07:00

PCB CB chairman Ijaz Butt resigned from his post after the World Cup but was told by the Board Patron, President Asif Zardari to carry on until further orders, sources say.

The 73-year-old Butt, who had sent in his resignation to Zardari after the World Cup, has asked the President to relieve him of his duties before his three-year tenure ends in October.

"Basically, Butt wanted to go on health leave after the West Indies tour but the Shahid Afridi issue has put off that plan," one source said.

The source, however, said that President Zardari is yet to make a decision on Butt's resignation.

"At the moment Butt wants to step down but the chief patron is still to decide on his successor and they are likely to meet in August to decide the future course of Pakistan cricket," the source said.

Another source said Butt's future would now be decided when he returned home in July end after a month's leave.

"Butt will go on a leave after attending the ICC meetings in Hong Kong. In his place, Chief Operating Officer, Subhan Ahmad, will be the acting chairman. This was decided at the meeting of the governing board the other day," the source said.

Butt has earned a reputation of being a stubborn chairman and he is perhaps the most criticised PCB chairman.

In the recent fiasco, involving former ODI captain Shahid Afridi, Butt refused to succumb to political or media pressure and forced the all-rounder to appear before the disciplinary committee, which fined him 4.5 million rupees for breaching PCB code of conduct.

"It is also a tricky situation for the Board's chief patron who has lot of faith in Butt. Butt, after the World Cup, had indicated that he now wants to concentrate on his business and family," the source said.

Upul Tharanga found guilty of breaching ICC Anti-Doping Code

2011-06-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka opening batsman Upul Tharanga has been found guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation under Article 2.1 of the ICC Anti-Doping Code (the "ICC Code") and has been suspended from all cricket and cricket-related activities for a period of three months.

Tharanga, 26, provided a urine sample as part of the ICC's random in-competition testing programme after the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, held in Colombo on 29 March 2011.

His sample was subsequently tested by a World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory and was found to contain metabolites of two glucocorticosteroids - Prednisone and Prednisolone. These are classified as 'Specified Substances' under WADA's Prohibited List and are prohibited in-competition 'when administered by oral, intravenous intramuscular or rectal routes'.

An independent anti-doping tribunal, comprising Mr Tim Kerr, QC, (acting as chairman), Dr Anik Sax and Prof. Peter Sever heard the case via videoconference today and made its determination after considering detailed written and oral legal submissions as well as live witness evidence, including from Tharanga himself.

The tribunal accepted that Tharanga had ingested the 'Specified Substances' when drinking a herbal remedy given to him to ease discomfort caused by a long-standing shoulder injury. It also found that Tharanga had no intention to enhance his sporting performance or to mask the use of another performance enhancing substance, but that he had failed to satisfy the high levels of personal responsibility implicit upon him as an international cricketer subject to anti-doping rules.

Tharanga pleaded guilty to the offence at an early stage in the proceedings and, as mandated under the ICC Code, the tribunal disqualified the rankings points he earned from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The tribunal also exercised its discretion under the ICC Code to impose upon him a period of ineligibility of three months, which was back-dated, in accordance with the discretion afforded to the tribunal under the ICC Code, to commence on 9 May 2011 and expiring at midnight on 8 August 2011, therefore leaving him eligible to return to cricket and cricket related activities on 9 August 2011.

In light of the circumstances of this case, the ICC re-iterates its zero-tolerance approach to doping and warns all international players that they remain personally responsible for ensuring that anything they eat, drink or put into their bodies (including any medical treatment they receive) does not give rise to an anti-doping rule violation under the Code.

Reacting after the tribunal announced its decision, Tharanga said: "I apologise to the fans and followers of Sri Lanka cricket for inadvertently committing an offence. I hope my fellow sportsmen will learn from my experience and be more vigilant when taking medical treatment, so that their careers do not suffer in the way that mine has."

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive, said: "We recognise that Upul has not been found guilty of deliberately cheating, but the ICC maintains its zero-tolerance approach towards doping for the benefit of all its stakeholders. Cases like this serve as a reminder to all players that they must take great care and personal responsibility at all times for the substances that they consume.

"I am satisfied with the tribunal's decision and pleased at the way the ICC has handled this case with both sensitivity and efficiency."

All parties with a right of appeal (including Tharanga and the ICC) will be entitled to appeal the decision within 21 days of their receipt of the written decision.