frontline: cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket on Friday confirmed that India and New Zealand will play a triangular series along with the hosts during the Kiwis's tour in August.
The tri-series was "agreed with the Chairman, Secretary, Board of Cricket Control in India and the Chief Executive, New Zealand Cricket at discussions held with the Chairman and Secretary, SLC during their visit to the UK," a statement from Sri Lanka Cricket said on Friday.
India had been considering playing the series as it would provide them with crucial match practice ahead of the Champions Trophy in South Africa in September.

India are currently in the West Indies playing their last series before a lengthy break from competitive cricket.
With the New Zealand's tour for Test matches not expected to generate much public interest, India's inclusion for the one-dayers was welcomed by SLC, which would create great commercial interest.
"SLC would like to express its appreciation to the officials of BCCI for agreeing on an unscheduled tour, which would add an additional commercial benefit to the stakeholders of SLC, moreover a viewing pleasure to the cricket loving public in Sri Lanka," the release added.
Sri Lanka Cricket would release the schedule at a later date

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Indians were reluctant to play us in T20 World Cup: Afridi

The Indian team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni was reluctant to play against Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup and it showed in their attitude, alleged flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
Even though the arch-rivals did not meet in the main tournament, they featured in a sold-out warm up match and Afridi alleged Dhoni and his men did not look keen to play Pakistan even though they claimed so.
“I was a bit disappointed. It didn’t appear to me by the attitude of the Indian players that they want to play against us,” Afridi told after his arriving home this morning.
“On the face, they said they would like to see cricket between the two countries but I think in their hearts they thought otherwise. Their attitude and behaviour while playing against us showed this,” Afridi said.
Pakistan and India have froze bilateral cricket ties since the Mumbai terror attacks last November with the Indians cancelling a scheduled Test tour earlier this year.
Afridi said he still believed that cricket could heal relations between the two nations and bring people together.
“I always say use sports to foster good relations and remove misunderstandings,” said Afridi who starred in the tournament both with the bat and ball.
He said Pakistan had proved critics wrong by winning the World Cup when everyone had tipped India and South Africa as favourites.
“I think our performance is a lesson for other teams. We are world champions and I hope teams will now come to Pakistan.”

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Shahid Afridi Learns to Respect Bowlers

Revealing the secret of his sizzling form in the Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said giving respect to bowlers helped him to be among the runs in England.
Afridi said he struggled with the bat in the past because he was not according proper respect to bowlers.
"I thought I could take on any bowler and I showed no respect to them. That is why I was struggling to get runs," he said in an interview to a private television channel.

CA plans trial game to test coloured balls for D/N Tests

Cricket Australia is planning a trial game to test the feasibility of using colour balls in day-night Test matches.CA operations manager Michael Brown said it would be "a controlled experiment", where players will face the coloured ball under lights either in the MCG or SCG and Channel Nine would see how they come up on camera.The main aim behind the initiative is to test the visibility of the ball rather than its durability, said Brown, who is hoping it can be organised for the coming summer.Incidentally, the day-night Tests will be a part of the discussion during International Cricket Council`s meetings in London this week.
"Ideally, we would like to get some players along, get the cameras along, turn on the lights and see if we can have a game of cricket for an hour," Brown was quoted as saying in a leading Australian newspaper. "We`re still a fair way away (from a day-night Test) but we`re moving forward," he added.Though yellow, lime green and white are among the contenders, a suitable colour is still to be finalised and once that is done, the next challenge will be to manufacture a ball that can endure the wears and tears of Test cricket.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Pakistan win international cricket title after 17 years

Pakistan won an international cricket tournament after 17 years when they outplayed Sri Lanka by eight wickets to become World Twenty20 champions at the Lord's here Sunday.
It was way back in 1992 when charismatic Imran Khan came back from retirement to lead Pakistan to ODI World Cup victory Down Under. Younis Khan Sunday made sure that his name will be taken in the same breath as Imran, leading the underdogs to title triumph.
There was not even synthetic excitement as Pakistan planned the downfall of Sri Lanka and executed it brilliantly, chasing down 139-run target coolly with eight balls to spare.
The victory will give the strife-torn nation something to cheer and a heart to get back into the mainstream of international cricket in a big way, though they may not be able to host international teams in the near future. The jubilant scenes at the home of cricket, Lord's, clearly exemplified the spirit of the Pakistanis who have not played any worthwhile cricket for over a year with a majority of nations refusing to visit them.
Sri Lankans were up against a gritty Pakistan who did not want to let go winning the second Twenty20 final, having narrowly lost the first two years ago against India in South Africa.
Shahid Afridi was the man of the moment for Pakistan. The maverick all-rounder first produced four tight overs, taking his only wicket off his last delivery, and then paced his knock of 40-ball 54 (two sixes and two fours) to see the side through.
Afridi then struck a match-winning unbroken 79-run partnership with former captain Shoaib Malik (24, 22balls, 2x4) for the third wicket.
Kumar Sangakkara decided to set the target on winning the toss, but their innings was soon in disarray, losing their top four batsmen in the first six overs, Andul Razzaq claiming three of the wickets.
The rot set in the moment in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan was surprised by a well-directed bouncer as his mistimed pull ended in an easy catch behind the square.
It was eventually left to Sangakkara's well compiled unbeaten 64 and his seventh-wicket 68-run partnership with Angelo Mathews gave their team a fighting score.
Kamran Akmal (37) and teenager Shahzaid Hasan (19) gave Pakistan a rollicking start while Afridi's blitzkrieg, and Malik's 24 not out took them home.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Match against Pak was one of the best: Dhoni

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has described India`s warm up clash against Pakistan ahead of T20 World Cup as one of the best matches they have played but reckons that doing an encore in future would be difficult."It was one of the best games but difficult to replicate it in future," said Dhoni after his side thrashed Pakistan by nine-wickets in front of a sold-out crowd at the Oval on Wednesday night.Openers Rohit Sharma (80) and Gautam Gambhir (52) nearly knocked off the required 159 runs between them alone, a performance which would send shudders down the spine of other teams.
Dhoni was unwilling to confirm if Sharma has booked his place in the squad even if Sehwag recovers from his shoulder injury in coming days."It`s difficult to say, injuries being injuries...I don`t want to speculate about it now."There was no ambiguity about Zaheer Khan though as Dhoni said the left-arm paceman is definitely out of the opening game against Bangladesh on Friday and could also be out of the final league game against Ireland on June 10."Zaheer has started bowling and signs are encouraging but we don`t want to take any risks," he explained. Outlining his reasons for promoting the Mumbai batsman to opener`s slot, Dhoni said Sharma was an automatic choice."I discussed with him in a practice session and he responded with enthusiasm. With Viru injured, he was the best option available. In the first game (against New Zealand), I thought I would open. But then Yuvi was unfit so I thought I would bat at number three and down the order.”"Rohit seemed an appropriate talent who could really open the innings. He has the time when he plays the quickest of bowlers. That really helped me take the decision. Now he has made a big impact. Hopefully, he would get those runs throughout the tournament," he said.Gangly pacer Ishant Sharma also did his bit by bowling a miserly spell and Dhoni is keen to use him in the middle overs. "I still feel Ishant should bowl in the middle overs. May be an over to start or end with but he is best served in the middle overs.”"It is a stage when batsmen are not looking to go after the bowlers and Ishant isn`t perforced to bowl his yorkers. In these conditions, he gets a bit of bounce. He hits the deck hard and middle overs are ideal for him," he said.On a brilliant day for them, Dhoni still found fault with his team`s performance in the field."I don`t think we bowled well in the final two overs. We were not experimenting, we were trying to bowl yorkers and that`s not good," he said.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

World Cup builds on success of IPL

An unprecedented auction in Mumbai [Images] last year transformed the face of cricket between the first two Twenty20 [Images] World Cups.
After eight city-based franchises had bid against each other for the world's elite one-day cricketers, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] emerged richer by $1.5 million (904,200 pounds) before a ball had been bowled in the new Indian Premier League [Images] Twenty20 tournament.
With players chosen by bids, not selectors and the competition neither organised nor controlled by the world governing body, the three-hour version of a game stretching to five days in traditional test matches was aimed primarily at India's vast television audiences.
The IPL was a direct result of India's success with a team of tyros in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa [Images] two years ago. India beat Pakistan in the final and the entire sub-continent fervidly embraced the new game.
Dhoni will lead India in the second World Cup starting with England [Images] versus the Netherlands at Lord's on Friday (5:30 p.m.) and all the signs point to a highly successful and popular tournament packed into 16 days.
PLAYERS ENTHUSED
Crowds have flocked to the preliminary matches this week, blessed by glorious weather, and Wednesday's warmup game between India and Pakistan at the Oval sold out.

The players, too, seem enthused by a game which is essentially cricket as it is still played by schoolchildren and club enthusiasts.
Early predictions that 20 overs a side would not allow for any subtlety or variations have been refuted.
"Test cricket is about the mental side," England Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood [Images] told The Wisden Cricketer magazine.
"As a batsman you apply yourself to make a barrier in front of the wicket. I seriously think 20 overs is more skill-based. It's a fantastic game with immense pressure. You couldn't keep up that intensity for a whole day."
UNPREDICTABLE TOURNAMENT
One consistent theme emerging from the captains' news conference at Lord's last Sunday was the impossibility of predicting a winner in a tournament featuring the nine Test-playing sides plus Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands.
"In a tournament like this you can't relax, whether you are playing the strongest side or the weakest side," said Dhoni. "It's a cruel game, the moment you relax, that's the biggest mistake.
"Every side is almost equal, you just need one guy to get a good score and the rest to contribute and you have 150 plus on the board which your bowlers can defend."
West Indies [Images] coach John Dyson said statistics showed teams' form was inconsistent in one-day cricket.
"In Twenty20 cricket, it's only one over here or there for either side and the game can swing completely," he told Reuters.
"One performer or two performers in the match can turn the game upside down either in your favour or against you."
West Indies are in the toughest of the four groups, sharing Group C with Australia [Images] and Sri Lanka [Images].
Four teams will be eliminated in the group stages and the remaining eight will play off for a semi-final spot.
The final is at Lord's on June 21.