Razzaq stars in Pakistan’s victory over New Zealand

Pakistan had already lost the T20 series but they came back hard at the hosts to get them a taste of defeat. Razzaq starred in this Paki victory with both bat and ball. Pakistan won the fantastic game of cricket in style to bring an end to the T20 series against the black caps.

New Zealand has won the series but the way they lost the third game was terrible with all their top four players being dismissed for a duck. Pakistan batted first and were provided with an electric start by both the openers. While towards the end, Razzaq came to do the rest of the damage by playing a cameo of 33 runs off just 11 deliveries to get to a mammoth total of 183 for the loss of 6 wickets.

It was now New Zealand’s turn to bat, their batting start was a nightmare with top four players gone for 0. It was Styris who tried to get them out of trouble scoring a well made 45 but for a losing cause as no other kiwi player reached a double figure. Paki bowlers did most of the damage with Afridi taking 4 for 14 and Razzaq again doing it with the ball as well and getting 3 for 13.  

The last cricket game might just get the Pakistani team on the right winning track with World Cup 2011 not much far kiwi will be troubled about their batting inconsistency even after winning the T20 series against the strong Pakistani side.

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England brings glory by retaining Ashes

England thrashed the Aussie’s in the fourth test to retain the Ashes for the first time in 24 years in Australia. This was an exciting cricket contest put up by England to win by an innings and 157 runs, it’s also amongst the biggest defeats Australia have witnessed.

The stage was set by the England bowler’s in the first innings by bowling Australia out for just 98 runs and then putting up 513 with the help of Trott and other batmen. Australia was expected to give a better fight but they couldn’t stand in front of the great bowling performance showed by the England bowlers.

Haddin and Siddle prolonged the defeat a bit by putting up a much required 86 run stand. England is now 2-1 ahead in the series with one more game to go to decide the fate of Australia. There will be many questions asked from the Australian side after the end of the Ashes series.

World Cup 2011 is just a couple of weeks ahead and with current form of the Australian team can they still be considered favourites in the international cricket. Is it time for Ponting to end up his Captainship or is he going to comeback like a champion again as he has showed earlier as well. Well, for all that we will have to catch the next cricket game of Ashes till then stay tuned for the latest updates. 

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India levels series with South Africa

India won the Durban test in an exciting game of cricket presented by both the teams. India’s loss at Centurion was a shameful defeat but they equalled the series by winning the Durban test in style leaving the final test as the series decider at Cape Town. South Africa would be now disappointed with their strong batting line up failing to India’s tight and ruthless bowling.

The pitch of Durban was a good wicket for an exciting cricket, India and South Africa lived up to the expectations of the fans in setting up a thrilling encounter, with both the teams well placed in the game on the start of the fourth day. South Africa had a fair chance to win the test with 7 wickets in hand on the fourth day but Indian bowlers were extremely focussed on their task and rarely gave a bad ball.

Sreesanth looked in a great touch and did the damage of the morning by removing Kallis of a bouncer, the period of falling wickets continued and India clinched the game pretty easily in the end. Prince managed to hang around the wicket till the very end but didn’t got support from the other end. India managed a comprehensive win seeing the World Cup approaching, the win will just make India more focussed on international cricket. 

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Laxman rescue’s India once again

The Durban test is still evenly balanced after the end of the third days play. Laxman helped India to get past a lead over just over 300 to get India hold of the game, as chasing a 300 plus score on this pitch will never going to be easy. Laxman rescued India once again but fell short of his well deserved century by just four runs.

When South Africa came into bat, chasing a score over 300 was never going to be easy but the way their skipper Greame Smith started off his inning scoring run a ball it seemed as if the score was not big enough for the Proteas. Soon Sreesanth came to India’s rescue and removed Smith for a blistering knock of 38 runs, then soon Harbhajan removed Petersen and Sreesanth also got rid of the danger man Hashim Amla.

South was in trouble once Smith was removed as their couple of wickets fell in quick time and India could have still been in a better hold of the game if Pujara had not dropped Kallis when he was yet to open his account. At the moment the game is evenly positioned with South Africa still needing 192 win with 6 wickets in hand. They also have Kallis and de Villiers on crease who can pose real threat to Indian bowling line up.

The fourth day of the Durban test will decide the fate of the series with both the teams putting up all their efforts to clinch the game. India can still get the grip on the match by getting a couple of wickets early tomorrow morning. Cricket is worth watching with these two teams putting up such an exciting performance for us. International cricket is going to get even more entertaining with World Cup 2011 being hosted by the subcontinent.

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England on track to win the Boxing Day test

England took Australia by surprise on the first day of the Boxing Day test and restricted them for just 98, with the help of Anderson and Tremlett. Now on the second day they are going strong as expected by the kind a start they got on the first day with both the openers scoring half centuries.

England lost both their openers pretty sooner on the start of the second day but they had completed their job, next it was all on the middle order to perform well to get a huge lead against the Aussie’s. Jonathan Trott along with Kevin Peterson and Matt Prior accomplished what England was looking for. Jonathan Trott is still playing strong after reaching his second century of this cricket series with Prior who is playing on 75 and on his way of scoring his first century against the Aussie’s.

Australia struggled from the day 1 and now they are already trailing by 346 runs with England having both their set batsmen on crease and 5 wickets in hand. Australia can expect a lead of over 500 with the way England are going at the moment if they don’t do something special to stop them. Australian fans are already disappointed with the Aussie performance on the two day of this game of cricket. It also exposed the Australian teams weak bowling line up not able to bowl to their strengths when under pressure.

Australia will have to improve their performance ahead the World Cup, as they are amongst the top contenders of the Cup. They should try and not let the expectations of their fans go down in vein. England is all set to conquer this game with quite an ease. It’s been an exciting game of cricket to see England comeback strongly after a defeat in their previous game.

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England dominate to bring Ashes closer

England took the Aussie’s by surprise on the opening of the Boxing Day test. England seamer’s had set up the stage for them by dismissing the Aussie’s for just a total of 98. That brings England more closer to the Ashes victory. James Anderson and Chris Tremlett both taking four wickets thrashed Australia to put England in charge of the game straight away.

Australia seemed to have a bit advantage on the cards before the Boxing Day test started, but the confident England side showed them that they are not going to let go of the Ashes that easily. One of the interesting things that happened in this exciting game of cricket was that all the Aussie batsmen got out behind the wicket. It took just two sessions for Tremlett, Anderson and Bresnan to wrap up the Aussie innings.

England not only bowled well but to add to more troubles for Australia, the day ended with England reaching to a score of 157/0 with no wickets down and skipper Strauss and Cook both completing their half centuries and still holding the crease. That means now England is already 59 runs ahead of the Aussie’s in the first innings with all the wickets in hand, so England will be looking to put a huge lead on them and win this game of test cricket, the Ashes.

Australia can only hope for some miracles from their players to save the match from the jaws of defeat now. England are on the top and ready to get back the Ashes. This Ashes victory will not only help them improve their chances to regain Ashes but also help them to get into the World Cup 2011 preparation with whole lot of confidence.

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Furious Steyn leaves India bewildered

India was expected to comeback strongly after losing the first test in Centurion, but their comeback was halted by some reckless bowling performance by Dale Steyn. South Africa won the toss and elected to field, and their bowler did justice to their skipper’s decision by bowling tight on the lush green pitch and testing the Indian batsmen.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who had his place under scrutiny, helped the Proteas in removing Sachin Tendulkar for just 25 and taking a wonderful catch of Laxman. Then Steyn was there to take care of rest and got four wickets in his bag. Pujara was bought in for Raina but couldn’t do much good as he also went to pavilion after scoring just 19 runs to Tsotsobe. The day started with the Indian openers struggling with the bounce and swing of the pitch.

The day ended for India with 183/6, with MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh still on the crease with 20 and 15 runs consecutively. The bad light stopped play to help India from losing any more wickets and get into more danger. Now that Indian Batsmen have failed to do the job they had to do, it now on for the bowlers to keep up and put up a better show to save India from another humiliating loss in test cricket.

The crowd must have expected a better and competitive game of cricket with two of the greatest sides clashing with eachother. India will be let with the task to get back into their winning ways before the World Cup 2011 begins so that they can have a good World Cup campaign. South Africa will try and keep things tight to not let India hang on for long. 

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Biography - Andrew Strauss

The full name of Andrew Strauss is Andrew John Strauss. He was born in Johannesburg of South Africa in 1977. He is an English cricketer. He is a fluent left-handed opening batsman of his team who was famous for scoring off the back foot, playing cut and pull shots. He is well-known for the strength in fielding side at slip or in the covers.
He started his test career in 2004 against New Zealand at Lord’s Stadium of London. In that match, he scored 112 and 83 runs in the first and second innings respectively. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 2003 against Sri Lanka at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. He scored only 3 runs in that match.
Strauss has played a total 80 test and 113 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 177 and 154 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has 19 test centuries and 5 one-day centuries. In test, his total run is 5955. For one-day, it is 3692. His overall batting average is 42.84 in test, and 35.50 in one-day. He also played 28 Tewnty20 matches scoring a total of 519 runs.

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Biography - Paul Collingwood

The full name of Paul Collingwood is Paul David Collingwood. His nick name is Colly. He was born in Shotley Bridge of Co Durham in the year of1976. He is an English cricketer and right-handed batsman. He was the captain of England ODI team from 2007-2008. He is now the captain of England Twenty20 team. Collingwood is regarded as the batting all-rounder of his team and was one of the greatest fielders of his time.
He started his test career in 2003 against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium. In that match, he scored 1 and 36 runs in the first and second innings respectively. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 2001 against Pakistan at the Edgbaston of Birmingham. He scored only 2 runs in that match.
Collingwood has played a total 66 test and 189 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 206 and 120 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has 10 test centuries and 5 one-day centuries. In test, his total run is 4238. For one-day, it is 4978. His overall batting average is 41.14 in test, and 36.07 in one-day. He also played 52 Tewnty20 matches scoring a total of 855 runs.

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Biography - Joe Denly

The full name of Joe Denly is Joseph Liam Denly. His nick name is No Pants. He was born in Canterbury, Kent in the year of 1986. He is a right-handed batsman and a leg-break bowler of England cricket team. He is a very new comer to the England cricket team. He is an exciting player who relishes short pitched bowling. He came to attention first during the England Under-19 tour of India in 2005. In that tour he made three half-centuries in three tests. He previously represented himself in the Under-17 level and in 2003, went to Holland as a member of the Under-18 team.
In his career he yet has not played any test match. He played a total 9 ODI matches up to now. He played his first ODI (One-Day International) match in the year of 2001 against Ireland at the Civil Service Cricket Club of Stormont in Belfast. He scored 67 runs in that match as an opener. His highest score is 67 in the one-day matches. He has only two half-centuries in ODI. He scored a total of 268 runs from nine ODIs in a batting average of 29.77. He also played 60 Tewnty20 matches scoring a total of 1341runs.

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Biography - James Anderson

The full name of James Anderson is James Michael Anderson, and his nick name is Jinny. This English bowler was born in 1982 at Burnley of Lancashire. He is a right arm pace bowler of England Cricket Team. When he played his first One-day International match he had played only 5 matches in senior position.
Anderson made his test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord’s Stadium of London in 2003, where he got the total 5 wickets from both the innings giving 138 runs. He played his first ODI match against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the year of 2002 where he hunted 1 wicket giving 46 runs.
He has played a total 55 test and 133 one-day matches in his career. He took 200 test wickets and 179 ODI wickets. He got ten and five wickets 1 and 10 times respectively in test match. In the ODI match he hunted five wickets only once. His best bowling figure in the test is 7/43 and in the ODI is 5/23.

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Biography - Ravi Bopara

The full name of Ravi Bopara is Ravinder Singh Bopara. His nick name is Ruppy. He was born in Forest Gate of London in the year of1985. He is an English cricketer and a right-handed batsman. He is the second Sikh player in the England cricket team after Monty Panesar. Bopara has enjoyed his team’s success in the Indian Premier League playing for the team named Kings XI Punjab.
He started his test career in 2007 against Sri Lanka at Asgiriya Stadium of Kandy. In that match, he scored 8 and 34 runs in the first and second innings respectively. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 2007 against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He scored only 7 runs in that match taking 1 wicket.

Bopara has played a total 10 test and 54 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 143 and 60 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has 10 test centuries and 4 one-day half-centuries. In test, his total run is 502. For one-day, it is 1140. His overall batting average is 33.46 in test, and 28.50 in one-day. He also played 91 Tewnty20 matches scoring a total of 1807 runs.

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Another Ashes thriller tomorrow

The two cricket giants will again come face to face with eachother for the fourth game of Ashes. Everyone is excited on how the things will go on who will be the winner. Australia all set with their skipper who will be playing just returning with the broken finger and England also looks ready for the final encounter. The test cricket will be at its best.

The Ashes game is the hottest topic around, can both the teams make the game as thrilling and exciting as all of us are expecting. Well, we will have to just wait and watch for it. Australia, who seems to be back into their winning ways by winning the previous test and disappointing a huge number of England supporters.

England though a bit disappointed with their performance in the previous test match but they surely will be in the positive frame of mind as they have won against them earlier in the series and can do it again. Their seamer James Anderson is suffering from side injury and there is doubt about his presence in tomorrow’s game. The absence of James Anderson will be a setback for England as he is one of their strike bowlers. While another aspect of worry for them will be the poor form of their all-rounder Paul Collingwood.

So, we all are waiting eagerly for tomorrow to see two big encounters, one The Ashes and another of India vs South Africa. It will be a day for a cricket fan as the day will keep him occupied with the two very interesting games. While as soon as these games come to an end, we would be left with no time to catch the action of the World Cup 2011 which will also going to be a tournament one can never miss.

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Durban test for India against the steady South Africa

India will again be facing the South African’s tomorrow in Durban this time,it can surely be one of the interesting cricket matches to watch out for. In their previous encounter India had let their fans down by a poor performance with both bat and ball, while South Africa will be on the top clinching the first test in Centurion.

South African pace bowlers Dale Steyn and Morkel will be looking to take full advantage of the bowling conditions and will test the Indian batsmen out. Hashim Amla, the local boy will also be hoping to put some mark at his home ground and score some runs to help the Proteas clinch the series before the last game of the series. South African team looks well set for tomorrows encounter.

India will be looking forward to put up a better performance and not to repeat the mistakes they did at the Centurion. The toss will be a crucial factor for tomorrows match.  A lot will depend on Virender Sehwag, if he can provide them a good start it will boost them a lot and bring the South African bowlers confidence down by hammering them for runs as he usually does. Then it is also to be watched that if Cheteshwar Pujara gets a chance or they are going to give Raina more chance and allow him some time to get back to form.

South Africa are also strong contenders for the World Cup 2011, winning the cricket series against India will only get them more confidence going into the World Cup. It is the high time for cricket, as the fever is spread all around with lots to drama and action happening all around. Keep following us to stay updated with the news of your favourite cricket team.

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Canada announces 30 member squad for World Cup 2011

Canada’s preliminary squad is was not of much of a surprise. Still Batsmen Ian Billcliff, who was expected to be in the squad didn’t make it. While rest of the squad was as expected with Ashish Bagai leading the squad and having the experienced John Davison, who had also been active with coach of spin bowling with Cricket Australia.

Ian Billcliff’s exclusion from the squad was a tough decision for the selectors but they said that they were not able to line up their schedule for the preparation tours, so had to leave him out. Billcliff was one of Canada’s top-rated cricketers.

Canada will be playing in the Caribbean T20 in the West Indies, in January which will be their last assignment before the World Cup 2011 campaign. They will also be playing a couple of ODI games with Somerset and Antigua.

Canadian cricket is expecting a lot out of this team which is a well balance of both young and experienced players. They are hoping for positive results from the approaching World Cup. The team is already in a good shape and this World Cup will also decide the future of the Canadian cricket. The final squad will be reduced to 15 after the Caribbean T20 competition.

Preliminary Squad: Ashish Bagai (capt), Waleed Ahmad, Manny Aulakh, Akshay Bagai, Harvir Baidwan, Trevin Bastiampillai, Umar Bhatti, Grant Broadhurst, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, John Davison, Parth Desai, Jeremy Gordon, Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Amabhir Hansra, Sandeep Jyoti, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Cecil Pervez, Balaji Rao, Manrick Singh, Junaid Siddiqui, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq, Karl Whatham, Zameer Zaheer.

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New Zealand names six uncapped players for WC 2011 probables

New Zealand’s 30 man squad for the World Cup 2011 includes six uncapped players. Jacob Oram, who has been suffering from his injury-ridden career has also been picked in the squad. This might mark his comeback after a long break from cricket.

The six uncapped players that have been named in the preliminary squad are fast bowler Adam Milne, Luke Woodcock, Dean Brownlie who have got their international call up for the T20 matches against Pakistan. Rob Nicol of Canterbury and Doug Bracewell of Central Districts, also nephew of former New Zealand player and Coach John Bracewell are the new guns named in the squad along with the wicketkeeper Reece Young, who will be replacing Gerath Hopkins for the tests against Paksitan.

They are among the top players who have excelled in the domestic cricket to find a spot in the international squad. It would be a tough and exciting job to select the best 15 out of such a talented bunch of cricketers, chief selector Mark Greatbatch said. The squad will be reduced to 15 by 19^th of January.

Preliminary Squad: Brent Arnel, Hamish Bennett, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Ian Butler Grant Elliott, Daniel Flynn, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Andy McKay, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Shanan Stewart, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock, Reece Young

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Tendulkar back in ODIs against the mighty Proteas

India has named a strong squad up for the ODI and T20 series against South Africa. These steps deeply reflect their shameful defeat against the proteas in the first test for the tour. This ODI series against South Africa is going to be their last task before the 2011 World Cup beginning from February.

The series also marks the comeback of the little master Sachin Tendulkar, who had opted out of the limited over’s cricket since his double hundred. His comeback boosts up the already strong Indian batting line-up. This series also marks a comeback of the leggie Piyush Chawla, who has also not played a single international cricket game since 2008. The rest of the team remains much or so the same.

Ravindra Jadega has been left out of the team and headed home, Yusuf Pathan has been picked in place of his in view of his recent performance against the black caps at home. While Ishant Sharma will also be playing in the limited over’s cricket after a long break. That means India will be having a team who will be lacking freshness for the ODIs.

While the other big names who will be featuring in the series will be R Ashwin, who as impressed everyone by his performance in the domestic cricket and Indian Premier League and is also carrying his form in the International cricket. Other names are Rohit Sharma, another man coming from a short break and Saurabh Tiwary, the young man with high spirits.

India will be hoping for a better performance from their young, talented and star studded team. India will need to work out all their plans before going into the ODI series which will be their only task and practice before the World Cup 2011. While South Africa will try and keep their current winning form going to go into the World Cup with their side in a positive frame of mind. This can’t get more exciting, we just need to wait and watch how things go from here.

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West Indies probable list for World Cup 2011 a shocker

West Indies have included five uncapped players in the list of 30 probable’s who are Legspinners Devendra Bishoo and Anthony Martin, pacer Jason Holder and two batsmen named Jonathan Carter and Kirk Edward.

West Indies probable’s list for the coming cricket World Cup doesn’t included fast bowler’s Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards, both of them had been an asset for the team though. The only reason that can been seen for not having them in the team could be that they have not played many matches this year as both have just returned from injury. They might not want to risk their World Cup campaign by naming the players who lack in experience.

The list also includes former skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, both were excluded from the recent tour of Sri Lanka. Brendan Nash is the only player on West Indies Cricket Board(WICB) central retainer contract who has been left out. The final 15 member squad will soon be selected as the cricket reaches the level of excitement for the viewers.

Preliminary Squad : Lionel Baker, Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh Jr, Sulieman Benn, Dave Bernard Jr, Tino Best, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kirk Edwards, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Jason Holder, Anthony Martin, Nikita Miller, Nelon Pascal, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge, Devon Thomas.

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Kenya named eight uncapped players in squad

Kenya seems to be completely renovating the team and setting their spirits high by announcing eight uncapped players in the squad – Irfan Karim, Peter Kituku, Vinit Shikotra, Kennedy Owine, Duncan Allan, Karan Kaul and Runish Gudhka.

The list also includes two of their most experienced player Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoya who first featured in the 1996 cricket World Cup, that was too held in the subcontinent. Kenya had a disappointing year in ODI’s with just winning three and losing eight games. Even though towards the end of the year they got some highs by winning three match series against Afganistan by 2-1 and clean sweeping UAE by 4-0 both at home.

Tikolo had led a strike among other players that shook Kenya cricket early in the year which also led the former skipper walking out of the team, but he still managed to make himself available for the cricket World Cup 2011. It would be interesting to see that how many of these uncapped players make up to the final 15 member squad or are they just meant to sit on the bench. The cricket is just getting more and more exciting.

Tikolo still at the age of 39 remains their key player. Kenya is now lead by an equally able skipper Jimmy Kamande who will be on the task to bring glory to his team. They will be facing West Indies and Netherlands in the lead up to the World Cup.

Preliminary Squad: Ragheb Aga, Duncan Allan, Runish Gudhka, Jimmy Kamande, Irfan Karim, Karan Kaul, Irfan Karim, Peter Kituku, Alfred Luseno, Tanmay Mishra, James Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Nelson Odhiambo, Thomas Odoyo, Lucas Oluoch, Peter Ongondo, Joseph Onyango, Lameck Onyango, Elijah Otieno, Morris Ouma, Kennedy Owino, Rakep Patel, Vinit Shikotra, Steve Tikolo, Hiren Varaiya, Seren Waters, Dominic Wesonga.

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Aussie’s call Khawaja as back up for Ponting

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting is expected to recover from his broken figure to lead the side at the MCG(Melbourne Cricket Ground) on the Boxing Day. Selectors have still called up Khawaja as a cover for him as a precautionary measure. Usman Khawaja is a New South Wales batsmen who has just turned 24 is uncapped and will be joining the team this Wednesday.

Everyone is quite certain and confident that the skipper will definitely be fit for the Ashes decider game. Khawaja is also a cover for vice-captain Micheal Clarke, who suffered with a back in the lead-up to the first test in Brisbane. Khawaja deserved an opportunity as he is highly talented and has been in great form in the domestic season.

This is the season when cricket is at its best, no one would like to miss the opportunity to watch the final of the Ashes, where these two giants will be fighting for the cup. Ricky Ponting too will be equally thrilled to play the final and that spirit will also be making him mentally tough to cope up the injury well. Ponting though sustained the injury in the third test when he dropped Jonathan Trott in the second slip.

There are many exciting games to catch up before the even more thrilling and exciting cricket World Cup 2011 begins in the subcontinent. You wont like to miss out any of those matches so stay tuned on the cricket tv up in the blog to stay updated with the current happenings and don’t miss the action.

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Wright appointed as new coach of New Zealand

Mark Greatbatch was recently replaced by John Wright as the new coach of the New Zealand side soon after the New Zealand’s tour of India. John Wright will resume his job immediately. While Greatbatch will be the convener of a three-man selection panel which also includes Lance Cairns and Glenn Turner.

Daniel Vettori has also lost his tenure as a selector following two consecutive clean sweeps against Bangladesh and India, this isn’t the kind of form they wanted just before the World Cup 2011 approaching in February.  Wright will be left with a tough job to get the team ready before the World Cup which is not distant but he feels that though it’s tough challenge for him looking at the teams form but then he assures that it’s what cricket is all about and is very much excited about his comeback as a coach on international level.

New Zealand cricket also said that both the coach and the captain will continue to contribute actively to the selection process on the tour. New Zealand cricket CEO Justin Vaughan said that all the aspects of the tour were examined so that the Black Caps get the best suitable line-up for the coming World Cup.

New Zealand have had their fourth coach replacement in the past two months with Wright being the fourth one. After the departure of John Bracewell in December 2008, Andy Moles was appointed for a short while and then Greatbatch was the next one to follow.

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Sachin Tendulkar reaches another milestone

Sachin Tendulkar, also known as the god of cricket by his fans and followers added another record to his name today by being the first man on earth to get to his 50^th  test ton. This was a very delightful occasion for all his fans across the globe and all were excited on his century at the centurion.

We all are very much happy for Sachin for achieving another great feat in international cricket and proving his worth to the world every time and forth. While Sachin was did not quite seemed to be happy even after scoring the century as he didn’t showed much emotions. It was all because of India’s situation in the ongoing match against the mighty Proteas who are on the verge of winning the game but Sachin is more focussed on the saving the match from the jaws of defeat rather than celebrating his 50^th century with his team.

This man is a true legend, he cares more for his countries pride rather than for his own. He has done it many times as the history shows and will surely be able to succeed to get India out of trouble in the present game where India is still trailing with 30 runs with just 2 wickets in hand in their second innings. This cricket match has witnessed some memorable moments of all times as earlier Kallis scored his maiden double ton and now Master Blaster scoring his 50^th ton.

India still have one day to go for the match and South Africa have already sensed victory while Sachin is the only wall standing in front of their victory. It would be interesting to see what all happens on the final day. India would have to improve themselves in all departments if they got to keep their position safe in the tests and also got to buck up for the nearing ICC World Cup 2011 which is not far as well.

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The Aussie thrash England on Perth

The cricket giant Australia lost the second game of the Ashes and struggled throughout the series so far but the third test changed the course for both the teams. Australia taking a lead over England managed to score 309 in their second innings as well, with Hussey scoring a magnificent century and Watson adding 95 missing out on his third test century.

The cricket had been at its best for the past couple of weeks with some exciting matches and then Ashes adding more to it all. Australia seem to be answering the critics that they are not the team which will be shattered by a couple of bad games but they have came back strongly and also seem to be more ready for the coming ICC cricket World Cup 2011.

So the third test leaves behind all that was said about the Aussie’s as they have put England in trouble with their performance as they are now struggling to save the game as they are reduced for just 81/5 in the second innings. They need another 310 runs to win with the 5 wickets remaining at the end of the third day. Australia has almost won the third test unless England comes up with some kind of a miraculous performance to save the game.

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India’s list of 30 probable’s for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Today morning, Indian Selectors declared the list of the 30 member squad out of which 15 who make out to the top to represent India in the ICC World Cup 2011. The list of the players announced by the selectors was not sort of amusing as it was much predicted and expected for this time as the cricket World Cup will be hosted in the sub-continent.

Ajinkya Rahane, Mumbai’s middle order batsmen was the only uncapped player among the list. Chetashwar Pujara, who made a promising half century against the mighty Aussie’s on his debut has also been picked with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, allrounder Yusuf Pathan after his smashing 123 off just 96 deliveries against New Zealand after India was left clueless on 188/5 chasing a mighty total of 316. Legspinner Piyush Chawla has also been included.

India will be going in with four wicketkeepers-MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, W Saha and Parthiv Patel. W Saha and Parthiv Patel both impressed the selectors on the recent cricket series against New Zealand where both of them scored some fascinating half centuries to get themselves place in the 30 member’s list. While Irfan Pathan, missed out on the list showing how far he has dropped in the eyes of the selection committee, he also missed out the Ranji season due to his injury.

Kris Srikanth, chairman of the selection committee said that the final 15 member squad will be decided on the coming January 19^th, till then we will have to wait and watch if any more surprises awaiting or not. He said as the World Cup will be happening in the subcontinent, he is pretty confident of this team performing well.

Preliminary Squad: MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, M Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Saurabh Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar

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Can Aussie's hold of the Ashes Cup?

We are in the middle of the third game of the well known cricket series between two great cricketing sides Australia and England, where Australian’s have already lost a game and are behind England in the series so far by 1-0.

England have been looking in their top form in the series so far but can they hold on the mighty Aussie’s from winning this third test as they are certainly in a comfortable position by restricting the England side for just 187 in their first innings, while Australia had already put up 268 in their first innings and took a handsome lead of 81 runs.

Though England looked to struggle in this third game of the series but they have been pretty consistent against the Australian team, once known as the dominators of all form of cricket. Thus, it seems England had done their homework before the start of the Ashes and it looks they had done their preparations keeping in mind the Cricket World Cup 2011 which is not far from here.

Coming back to the game, Australians are now commencing their second innings and finished the second day for a comfortable 119/3. Watson is still unbeaten with a score of 61 with Hussey on the crease with him on 24. Australia have a pretty good chance of grabbing this game to level the series which will make the series more exciting with only one game to go.

Aussie’s have many positives from this game as Johnson put up a good performance with both bat and ball, taking 6 wickets and making a half century both in the first innings. England on the other side had been much on track before this game but still they have three more days to go in the game so not much can be predicted. Till then let’s hope for an exciting cricket game and enjoy these two teams fighting for glory.

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African tour a biggest challenge for team India

Once the home series with New Zealand gets concluded, Indian cricket team will tour South Africa. India will play three tests, five ODIs and a T-20 in a 40-day venture. In many ways, this will be a very important series for team India keeping in mind the upcoming 2011 World Cup to be played in the sub-continent.

What makes this series very special is the fact that both the teams India and South Africa are at the top in the ICC test ranking holding number one and two positions, respectively. The Africa series will test team India’s sustainability in the long run as far as ICC ranking is concerned.

But there are some apprehensions among the Indian cricket fans regarding the schedule of the series and there are some valid reasons which support the fear. The foremost thing the BCCI should have thought of the forthcoming World Cup series. The mega event will be played in the subcontinent so it would have been better if the board would have decided to host a series in India.

If we take a look at the Indian squad for the South Africa series, there are lots of youngsters feature in the team and most importantly they will be up against some quality fast bowling with some of the juicy and bouncy wickets in the world. As the past record indicates, Indian team hasn't had a good experience in South Africa as far as a bilateral series is concerned. So if the history repeats itself, how crucial will the series be for the morale of the younger players who dream to play World Cup tournament. How will the young brigade recover from the setbacks if any takes place?

On the other hand, had the board gone for a series in India it would have given chance to players to get accustomed on the flat turf, typical sub-continental pitch, and the move could have given an edge to team India over other teams. If we remember, when Cricket Australia scheduled series away in India, several Australian players including Ricky Ponting had shown displeasure about the timing of the series as they were seriously thinking about the Ashes series that time and nobody could disagree with their concerns.

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Biography - Tony Dodemaide

Anthony Ian Christopher Dodemaide or Tony Dodemaide was a former Australian cricket player. He was born in 1963 at Williamstown of Melbourne. He was the Chief Executive of Western Australian Cricket Association in Perth for three years. After that, he joined as the Chief Executive for Cricket Victoria.

Dodemaide started his first test match against New Zealand in 1987 played at Melbourne Cricket Ground of Australia. In that match, he scored 50 runs in the first innings and hunted 6 wickets in the second innings. He began his ODI career in 1988 in a match against Sri Lanka at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground of Perth. In that match, he got 5 wickets bowling total 7.2 overs giving only 21 runs.

Dodemaide has played a total 10 test and 24 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 50 and 30 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has obtained five wickets 1 time in the test career and 1 time in the ODI career. Again he got four wickets 3 and 1 times in the test and ODI career respectively. He hunted total 34 test wickets and 36 one day wickets.

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Biography - Shane Warne

Shane Keith Warne, nicknamed Warney, was a former Australian cricket player. He was born in 1969 at Ferntree Gully of Victoria. He is regarded as one of the outstanding bowlers of the cricket world. He became selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century by a cricket-expert panel in 2000.
Warne started his first test match against India in 1992 played at Sydney Cricket Ground. In that match, he hunted only 1 wicket from both the innings. He began his ODI career in 1993 in a match against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve Ground of Wellington. In that match, he obtained 2 wickets giving 40 runs from 10 overs.
Warne has played a total 145 test and 194 one-day matches in his career. He hunted ten wickets 10 times in the test match. He obtained five wickets 37 times in the test career and 1 time in the ODI career. Again he got four wickets 48 and 12 times in the test and ODI career respectively. He hunted total 708 test wickets and 293 one day wickets.

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Biography - Paul Ronald Reiffel

Paul Ronald Reiffel, nicknamed Pistol, was a former Australian cricket player. He was born in 1966 at Box Hill of Victoria. He was a Right-hand batsman and a Right-arm fast-medium bowler of Australia. He was a part of the 1999 World Cup team of Australia.
Reiffel started his first test match against India in 1992 played at Western Australia Cricket Association Ground of Perth. In that match, he hunted total 2 wickets from both the innings. He began his ODI career in 1992 in a match against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In that match, he obtained 2 wickets giving 27 runs from 10 overs.
Reiffel has played a total 35 test and 92 one-day matches in his career. He obtained five wickets 5 times in the test career. Again he got four wickets 3 and 5 times in the test and ODI career respectively. He hunted total 104 test wickets and 106 one day wickets. As a batsman, his highest score in the test and ODI are 79 and 58 respectively.

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Biography - Glenn McGrath

Glenn Donald McGrath, nicknamed Pigeon, was a former Australian cricket player. He was born in 1970 at Dubbo of New South Wales. He was one of the highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in the history of cricket. He currently holds the world record for getting the highest number of wickets in the test as a fast bowler.

McGrath started his first test match against New Zealand in 1993 played at Western Australia Cricket Association Ground of Perth. In that match, he hunted 2 wickets in the first innings and 1 wicket in the second innings. He began his ODI career in 1993 in a match against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In that match, he bowled 8.4 overs giving 28 runs, but achieved no wicket.

McGrath has played a total 124 test and 250 one-day matches in his career. He hunted ten wickets 3 times in the test match. He obtained five wickets 29 times in the test career and 7 times in the ODI career. Again he got four wickets 28 and 9 times in the test and ODI career respectively. He hunted total 563 test wickets and 381 one day wickets.

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Biography - Brett Lee

Brett Lee, nicknamed Bing, was a former Australian cricket player. He was born in 1976 at Wollongong of New South Wales. He was an athletic fielder and a lower-order right-handed batsman of his team. His batting average exceeded 20 in the test cricket. Since 2005-2006, his 7th wicket partnership with Mike Hussey has become the world record of most runs in 7th wicket in the ODI.
Lee started his first test match against India in 1999 played at Melbourne Cricket Ground of Australia. In that match, he hunted 5 wickets in the first innings and 2 wickets in the second innings. He began his ODI career in 2000 in a match against Pakistan at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. In that match, he bowled 10 overs giving 39 runs, but achieved no wicket.
Lee has played a total 76 test and 186 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 64 and 57 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He obtained five wickets 10 times in the test career and 9 times in the ODI career. Again he got four wickets 17 and 11 times in the test and ODI career respectively. He hunted total 310 test wickets and 324 one day wickets.

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Sieze the Day, England!

They finally did it.

For the first time in over 24 years, England won by an innings in Australia.

It seems as though the pre-match hype has been founded. England bowled excellently and with discipline, with Broad, Anderson, Finn and Swann giving away little and taking a lot. More surprisingly, the bowling of KP was on display, taking the wicket of Michael Clarke with the last ball of the day on day four - setting the tone for a comprehensive victory.

Has anyone ever seen Australia in such disarray?

I know I haven't, coming on board as I did after the Ashes win of 2005. I watched the Aussies power through the dark and dismal Cup final of 2007 against Sri Lanka. That same year I heard Harmison start of the Ashes with a terrible wide that went straight to second slip; I listened with horror as Warne and McGrath ground England to dust 5-nil.

With memories like that, is it any wonder England has performed so ruthlessly when given a chance?

Not likely.

A key to being the greatest is not only winning when it counts, but winning when you should. No one will argue that Australia have a weak attack - the performance of Xavier Doherty certainly underscores that. But when faced with not-so-stiff competition, a side may be tempted to relax and stumble into a draw or a shock loss.

Not this side. Not this Ashes.

From Alastair Cook's hours at the crease to KP's double century, to Swann's five-fer in the second innings, everyone who should have performed, did perform. Every opportunity in the field was converted. England are in Australia with purpose, talent and determination.

It might just end 4-0.

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Biography - David Boon

David Clarence Boon, nicknamed Boony, is a former Australian cricket player. He was born in 1960 at Launceston of Tasmania. He is a right-handed batsman and an occasional off-spin bowler of the Australian Cricket Team. He played the first-class cricket for his home state named Tasmania and also for English county team Durham.
Boon started his test career in 1984 against West Indies at the Brisbane Cricket Ground of Brisbane. In that match, he scored 11 runs in the first innings and 51 runs in the second. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 1984 against West Indies at Nahar Singh Stadium of Faridabad. He scored 39 runs in that match.

Boon has played a total 107 test and 181 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 200 and 122 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has 21 test centuries and 5 one-day centuries. In test, his total run is 7422. For one-day, it is 5964. His overall batting average is 43.65 in test, and 37.04 in one-day.

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Biography - Brendon Julian

Brendon Paul Julian or Brendon Julian is a former Australian cricket player. His height was 6' 5", and he was born in 1970 at Hamilton of New Zealand. He was an extremely dangerous left-arm fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting right-handed late-middle order batsman of Australia. He played for Australia from 1993 to 1999.
Julian started his test career in 1993 against England at the Old Trafford Ground of Manchester. In that match, he got the total 3 wickets from both the innings giving 97 runs. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 1993 against England at Lord’s of London. He hunted total 3 wickets from the 55 over match giving only 50 runs bowling 11 overs.

Julian has played a total 7 test and 25 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 56 and 35 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has only 1 half-century in the test. As a bowler, he obtained four wickets one time in the test. He hunted total 15 test wickets and 22 one day wickets. His best bowling figure in the test is 4/36 and in ODI is 3/40.

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Biography-Adam Gilchrist

Adam Craig Gilchrist, nicknamed Gilly or Church, is a former Australian cricket player. He is an aggressive left-handed opening batsman and a record-breaking wicket-keeper of the Australian team. He has declared as the best wicket-keeper-batsman of the history. He has gained the world record as a wicket-keeper. He made the most dismissals among all wicket-keepers of the World in the ODI match and the most dismissals among the Australians in the test match. The strike rate of Gilchrist is the highest in both ODI and test cricket. He holds the record of the second fastest century of the test at present. He is the unique player who had scored 100 sixes in test cricket. He has also the record of having at least 50 runs in the three successive world cup finals in 1999, 2003 and 2007.

Gilchrist started his test career in 1999 against Pakistan at the Brisbane Cricket Ground of Brisbane. In that match, he scored 81 runs in the first innings. He did not need to do batting in the second innings. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 1996 against South Africa at Nahar Singh Stadium of Faridabad. He scored only 18 runs in that match.

A. Gilchrist has played a total 96 test and 287 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 204 and 172 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has 17 test centuries and 16 one-day centuries. In test, his total run is 5570. For one-day, it is 9619. His overall batting average is 47.60 in test, and 35.89 in one-day. He also played 68 Tewnty20 matches where his highest score is unbeaten 109 runs

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Biography - Stephen Waugh

Stephen Rodger Waugh is a former Australian cricket player. He was born at Canterbury of Sydney in 1965. He became the captain of Australian Cricket Team from the year 1999 to the year 2004. He is publicly known as “Iceman” due to his calm and cool behavior in the high-pressure situations in all time. He became “Australian of the year” in 2004.
Steve Waugh started his test career in 1985 against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In that match, he scored total 18 runs and got 2 wickets giving 36 runs in both the innings. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 1986 against New Zealand at Melbourne Cricket Ground. In that match, he got 1 wicket giving 13 runs, but no result was made due to rain.

Steve Waugh has played a total 168 test and 325 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 200 and 120 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has made 32 centuries in the test and 3 centuries in the ODI. In test, his total run is 10927. For one-day, it is 7569. His overall batting average is 51.06 in test, and 32.90 in one-day. As a bowler, he took 92 test wickets and 195 ODI wickets. He got five wickets 3 times in the test match.

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Biography-Michael Bevan

Michael Gwyl Bevan, nicknamed Bevo, is a former Australian cricket player. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm china-man bowler. He was a part of Australia team in 1999 and 2003 that won the world cup. He made the world record scoring the highest ODI average (53.58) among all the retired players.
Bevan started his test career in 1994 against Pakistan at the National Stadium of Karachi. In that match, he scored 82 runs in the first innings. But in the second innings, his run was zero. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 1994 against Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. He did not need to do batting in that match.

Bevan has played a total 18 test and 232 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 91 and 108 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has 6 centuries and 46 half-centuries in ODI. In test, he has 6 half-centuries, but no century. In test, his total run is 785. For one-day, it is 6912. His overall batting average is 29.07 in test, and 53.58 in one-day. As a bowler, he took 29 test wickets and 36 ODI wickets. He got five and ten wickets 1 time in the test match.

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Biography-Mark Waugh

Mark Edward Waugh is a former Australian cricket player. He was born at Canterbury of Sydney in 1965. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium bowler of the team. He is regarded as one of the most stylish and talented stroke makers of the world. His nick name was “Junior”, because of his born after a few minutes than his twin Steve Waugh, another great cricketer of the history.
Waugh started his test career in 1991 against England at the Adelaide of Oval. In that match, he scored total 138 runs in the first innings and 23 runs in the second innings. But he got no wicket in that match. His ODI (One-Day International) career began in 1988 against Pakistan at the Adelaide of Oval. In that match, he did not need to bat or bowl.

Mark Waugh has played a total 128 test and 244 one-day matches in his career. His highest scores are 153 and 173 in the test and one-day matches respectively. He has made 20 centuries in the test and 18 centuries in the ODI. In test, his total run is 8029. For one-day, it is 8500. His overall batting average is 41.81 in test, and 39.35 in one-day. As a bowler, he took 59 test wickets and 85 ODI wickets. He got five wickets one time in the test match and one time in the ODI match.

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