Cricket

[Super Falcon]

i hope NSK will be home of cricket in future and bcci sucks

 

[Moin91]

Aussies still have firepower for Ashes



Thursday, January 08, 2009
LONDON: Problems abound for the Australia cricket team after their worst year since the dark days of 1985.

The question at the start of an Ashes year is whether the current malaise is a temporary and reversible decline or if it heralds the fall of one of the great sporting dynasties.

During 2008 Australia lost five tests and succumbed in consecutive series away to India and at home to South Africa. The South Africa defeat was their first series loss at home for 16 years.

South Africa now host a return series after which Australia take part in the Twenty20 World Cup before defending the Ashes in England.

A 103-run victory in the third Test in Sydney over South Africa, albeit in a dead rubber, demonstrated how dangerous Australia remain. Their supporters will also cite a lengthy injury list and point out that only a year ago the side completed 16 test wins in a row for the second time.

Still the aura of invincibility built up steadily since Allan Border’s side trounced an initially over-confident and ultimately demoralised England side 20 years ago has dimmed. The task for captain Ricky Ponting and his team mates is to restore the fortunes of the finest international sporting side during the opening decade of the 21st century.

Border, one of Australia’s most courageous and prolific batsmen, had not wanted the job of captain and came close to resigning after his team lost series home and away to New Zealand.

He stayed on, fought through the tough times, and surrounded himself with men of talent and character including Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh who were to succeed him as national skipper.

Taylor finally achieved the series win over West Indies which had eluded Border, and Waugh inherited a team of supreme skills who went on to bring one-day scoring rates to Test cricket.

Unlike some other countries, Australia do not over-complicate the job of selecting their leader.

Border was the team’s best batsman. So too was Waugh and Ponting at his peak is better than either. As his country’s leader, though, his reputation has suffered since he was out-thought by Michael Vaughan in the wonderful 2005 Ashes series.

Two crucial passages decided the first two Tests against South Africa in the visitors’ favour. In Perth, South Africa scored 414 for four to win the match, the second highest winning total in a Test. In Melbourne, Jean-Paul Duminy and Dale Steyn added 180 for the ninth wicket in South Africa’s first innings.

Both times Ponting and his team looked increasingly clueless and suddenly it was South Africa, who had never previously won a series in Australia, who were setting the pace.

In Ponting’s defence, captaincy was an altogether different job before Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist retired in quick succession.

Pace bowler McGrath was both enforcer and container, Warne is acknowledged as the most accomplished leg-spinner test match cricket has ever seen and wicketkeeper Gilchrist was a uniquely destructive batsman.

Two other integral members of the team have lost form and fitness respectively. The runs have dried up for opener Matthew Hayden and fast bowler Brett Lee is now injured after struggling to make an impact against either India or Australia.

Six months is a long time in the frenzied world of international cricket and Australia can still assemble a team easily good enough to start as Ashes favourites.

Simon Katich has re-established himself at the top of the order, Ponting is still a wonderful batsman and Michael Clarke has added consistency to his talent in the middle order.

Andrew Symonds, troubled by disciplinary and fitness problems, is crucial to the balance of the side with his batting, fielding and bowling in two styles. The expected return of Stuart Clark after injury will bring a master of line and length back to the pace attack.

Throw in the rapidly improving fast left-armer Mitchell Johnson, who has the potential to become a genuine all-rounder, and the blossoming batting skills of wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and Australia’s plight does not look so desperate after all.

“The thing we can take out of the last few weeks is that when we’ve played our best cricket it’s been very good,” Ponting told reporters before the Sydney Test against South Africa. “But our worst cricket side has been awful so we’ve got to find a gap in the middle there.”

 

[Moin91]

Strauss vows to keep Pietersen on his side



Saturday, January 10, 2009
LONDON: Andrew Strauss was adamant he would have no problems working with ousted predecessor Kevin Pietersen after being confirmed as England’s new Test captain.

Strauss found himself thrust into the leadership when English cricket chiefs finally decided on Wednesday the “irretrievable breakdown” between Pietersen and team coach Peter Moores meant both men had to lose their posts - even though this was just weeks before the start of the West Indies tour.

Star batsman Pietersen, however, remains in the England fold and Strauss is confident the South Africa-born shotmaker, who averages over 50 in Tests, would continue to provide the weight of runs the team will need if they are to regain the Ashes this year.

“I have spoken to Kevin a couple of times already,” said the 31-year-old opener.

“I know him well, he is a good mate of mine, he has said he will support me, I truly believe he will do. Clearly, it is a tough situation for him and I’m sure he has his own side of the story. I don’t think he should be villified.

“I believe very strongly he did what he felt was in the best interests of the England team as captain and I have no problems with him as a player. It is fantastic we have such a world-class player in our side.”

South Africa-born Pietersen’s five-month reign, which only encompassed three Tests, ended in dramatic fashion after his fall out with Moores became public — and he effectively presented his employers with a ‘him or me’ scenario.

As it turned out the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) opted to do without the 28-year-old Pietersen as captain and Moores as coach.

Strauss, who led England to a 2006 series win over Pakistan when standing-in for the injured Michael Vaughan, accepted Pietersen’s personality could rub people up the wrong way.

“KP is a very strong-willed person and that was one of his great strengths as England captain,” he said.

“He had a vision where he felt England cricket needed to go and he backed himself and wasn’t worried about upsetting a few people on the way.

“In a way that’s a very positive trait to have as a person and in another it’s going to create confrontations.

“You need those sort of people in your team who aren’t going to take a backward step and who are going to say ‘the chips are down I back myself and I’m going to deliver.’”I’m just looking forward to him going out and scoring runs for England which I know he will.”

England’s two star players in Pietersen and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff are known not to get on.

Strauss, asked how he could unite the dressing room in such circumstances, replied: “The reality is that it is going to take some effort on everyone’s behalf. You’re not just going to walk in and everything’s going to be hunky-dory.

“But this England team has to go out and perform well, and we’ve got a duty to do that,” added Strauss of a side which achieved just one Test win against a team ranked above it during Moores’s time in charge, against South Africa, when the Proteas had already won last year’ series.

“I don’t think the rifts are as bad as they’ve been made out to be.”

England remain without a coach for the West Indies and they’ve still to decide who will captain their one-day team, although they hope both issues will be resolved within 36 hours.

Strauss, who last played a one-day international at the 2007 World Cup, said: “To be honest the one-day side is in flux in the moment and I’ve got a meeting with the selectors about that tomorrow (Friday).”

Last month, Strauss became the first England batsman to score hundreds in both innings of a Test in India.

Asked if captaincy would affect his form, Strauss said: “No, not really. The times I have done it recently with Middlesex and England if anything it has helped my batting.”

 

[Super Falcon]

now bcci will punish asif what the hell out the pcb is doing if bcci have to ban asif it can ban him for not playing in ipl i dont think so bcci have legal authority to ban asif for not playing for pakistan pcb is the governing body and asif is not foud guilty fo any pcb matches

 

[Pk_Thunder]

Opener Hayden confirms retirement


Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden has announced his retirement from international cricket after a 17-year first-class career.

The 37-year-old announced his decision in a news conference at his home ground, the Gabba, in Brisbane.

He later took a lap of honour during Tuesday evening's Twenty20 match between Australia and South Africa.

"I have loved so much playing cricket, and I count it as such an honour to have represented my country," he said.

The powerful left-hander scored 8,625 runs at an average of 50.73 during his Test career but averaged less than 20 in Australia's recent 2-1 Test series loss to South Africa, their first home series defeat in 16 years.

TOM FORDYCE'S BLOG
Hayden seemed to leave everyone but Australians cold

He was dropped for the current Twenty20 games and one-dayers against the Proteas but selectors said they would still consider the country's most successful opening batsman for upcoming Test tours to South Africa and the Ashes series in England.

An emotional Hayden, who is sixth on the all-time list of Test century-makers with 30 hundreds, added: "I know that now is the time to move on.

"I've lived the dream of every kid who has ever picked up a bat and ball and wanted to wear the baggy green (Australian Test cap).

"I am retiring from cricket, not from life, there is still so much that I want to achieve and contribute to the community."

Twice a World Cup winner with Australia, Hayden belted 10 centuries and 36 half-centuries in 161 one-day internationals.

606: DEBATE
How will you remember Hayden's international career?

He averaged 43.8 in the format, with a top score of 181 not out, and also played in two World Cup-winning squads.

He was the International Cricket Council's one-day international player of the year in 2007 and the Australian ODI player of the year in 2008.

Hayden began his international career in South Africa in 1994 but it was not until the formation of his opening partnership with Justin Langer six years later that his career really took off.

In 2001, he made 549 runs at an average of 109 in a three-Test series in India and two years later set a new world record for the highest Test score when he made 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth, an innings that featured 11 sixes and 38 fours.

He only held the record for six months, however, as former West Indies skipper Brian Lara reclaimed it with an innings of 400 not out against England.

The dominant side of which Hayden was a key part began to break up after the 5-0 whitewash over England in 2006-07, with Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Damien Martyn, Langer and, more recently, Adam Gilchrist deciding to quit international cricket.

McGrath hailed Hayden as a "legend of the game" who had "nothing left to prove".

And Australia captain Ricky Ponting said Hayden, who also played county cricket in England for Hampshire and Northamptonshire, would be remembered as one of the national team's all-time greats.

MATTHEW HAYDEN FACTFILE
First-class debut: Sheffield match for Queensland, Nov 1991
Test debut: 1994 against South Africa in Johannesburg
Test centuries: 30
World record Test score: 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth, Oct 2003

"Taking his 30 Test hundreds out of it, and his average of 50 and all that, he's a massive loss for our dressing room, there's no doubt about that," commented Ponting.

Australia's selectors hoped that Hayden would continue until this summer's Ashes series in England.

But after overcoming an Achilles tendon injury that resulted in him missing the 2008 tour to the West Indies, he has been short of runs in recent Tests, scoring only 149 runs at 16.55 from five matches against New Zealand and South Africa in the current Australian season.

"I'm paid to get runs and when you are short of runs then you have to start asking questions," he said last week.

Hayden's recent struggles prompted the Australia selectors to turn their attention to New South Wales batsman David Warner, who made an explosive debut in last weekend's Twenty20 international against South Africa with 89 off 43 balls.

But Phil Jaques, who has played 11 Tests but is recovering from a back injury, and 20-year-old rookie Phillip Hughes are potential replacements for Hayden in the Test side for next month's return tour of South Africa.

Hayden, meanwhile, is set to play in the second Indian Premier League competition, as he is contracted to the Chennai Super Kings franchise.

 

[Silverfalcon]

Hayden was a phenomenal opening batsman, i am very sad to see him leave.

will never forget his bold style of approaching the bowler, 1 foot out of the crease , walking towards the bowler and then playing the shot.

 

[Moin91]

He was good player....greatest opener ever....

 

[Moin91]

Pakistani Senators want life ban on dope-tainted Asif
13 Jan 2009, IANS

KARACHI: Pakistan's embattled fast bowler Mohammad Asif suffered yet another blow on Tuesday when the Senate's Sports Committee asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to impose a life ban on the dope-tainted player.

Senators probing the national cricket affairs told the PCB chairman at a meeting in Islamabad that Asif has set a bad example because of repeated breaches of discipline involving the use and possession of banned substances and should be punished appropriately.

Senator Enver Baig, a committee member, said that Asif has tarnished the image of the nation after being convicted on charges of possession of opium in Dubai.

Asif, 26, tested positive for nandroline during the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) season last May. He is also under scrutiny for a 19-day detention in Dubai over possession of opium in June last year.

The pacer was detained at Dubai Airport on June 1 last year after being detected with 0.24 gram of opium on his way back to Pakistan after playing in the IPL.

"Youngsters will be encouraged to take drugs if Asif is not banned," Baig said at the meeting.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said he had no knowledge of a report from the Dubai public prosecutor which was published in the media on Sunday.

"We didn't have the copy of it because former chief operating officer of the PCB, Shafqat Naghmi, took it away with him when he left the PCB Oct 18 last year," the PCB chief told the committee.

Senator Tahir Mashadi said Asif's admission that he took opium would leave a bad impression on the Pakistani youngsters, who follow cricket like a religion.

"We have great expectations from our sportsmen, they are role models," he said. "The PCB needs to take some strict action against Asif so that a clear-cut message be given to youngsters."

The Senators also grilled the PCB chief over "serious financial discrepancies in the board accounts".

 

[Moin91]

Intikhab says team will carry on with winning habit



Friday, January 16, 2009
By Khalid Hussain

KARACHI: Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam hopes his charges will carry on from where they left in last November’s offshore series against the West Indies, by shining in the three-match assignment against Sri Lanka next week.

Intikhab told ‘The News’ on Thursday that the three-match series against Sri Lanka is a big challenge for his team, adding that he expects them to gel like a well-oiled unit against Mahela Jayawardene’s men. Sri Lanka are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on January 18 to play three One-day Internationals from January 20-24 in Karachi and Lahore.

“The best thing for us is that (international) cricket is about to resume in Pakistan with is series,” he said referring to the fact that the country last hosted an international game last July when it staged the Asia Cup.

All non-Asian top teams stayed away from Pakistan last year because of security apprehensions.

“But it is also important for us to win the series after having done well against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi,” he added.

Pakistan whitewashed the West Indies 3-0 in Abu Dhabi in a one-day series held in Abu Dhabi last November.

They were supposed to host India in a Test and ODI series in January-February but the much-awaited home assignment was scrapped after the Indians refused to tour Pakistan because of strained relations between the two governments over last November’s terror attacks in Mumbai.

Intikhab, 67, said that the team officials together with skipper Shoaib Malik have prepared a strategy for Sri Lanka but refrained from revealing it.

“We’ve worked extensively to come out with an effective strategy to counter Sri Lanka,” he said.

Pakistan are likely to find Sri Lanka tougher opponents than the West Indies, especially because of the potent spin threat to be posed by touring slow bowlers — Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.

Murali is currently the world’s best spinner while Mendis proved his worth the last time he was here — for the Asia Cup which he finished as the event’s best bowler and helped Sri Lanka to win the title in Karachi last July.

But Intikhab, who played 47 Tests for Pakistan from 1959-77, is confident that his batsmen will successfully tackle the Sri Lankan spin twins.

“We know what their (Sri Lanka’s) strong points are and know how to tackle them,” he said.

Intikhab, a former Pakistan captain, will be at the helm of a brief training camp getting underway here at the National Stadium from Saturday (tomorrow). The 15 players selected for the opening game will assemble here on Friday (today) to warm up for the short series that precedes the two Tests against Sri Lanka to be played in next month’s second leg.

Intikhab Alam said that the idea of having a camp was to get the players practice together for a few days before the start of the series.

“The boys are already in shape and have benefited by playing in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy,” he said. “But we wanted them to spend some time together in the nets before the series,” the coach added.
TheNews

 

[Al-zakir]

Shakib word's best ODI all-rounder
Thu, Jan 22nd, 2009 6:37 pm BdST

Dhaka, Jan 22 (bdnews24.com) – All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has emerged as the first Bangladeshi ever to lead an ICC ranking when he became the world's top one-day all-rounder, according to an announcement of the game's governing body on Thursday.

With 380 rating points, the 21-year old, who was number three last week, went ahead of New Zealand's Jacob Oram (368 points) and England's Andrew Flintoff (366 points), according to the latest ICC ODI championship rankings.

"It feels great to be ranked number one. My one and only goal is to keep performing and win matches for the Bangladesh team and I feel more inspired and motivated to give my all in the field," said Shakib, who is close to getting into the ODI bowler's top 10 also. He is currently ranked number 12.

"I also know that retaining the number one spot will be even tougher and it will require lots of sacrifices, consistency, hard work and dedication," said Shakib in his immediate reaction.

Shakib is only the second Bangladeshi to break into the top 10.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak had shot to number eight in the ODI bowling rankings in November 2007.

In Test cricket Shakib has also made his mark and is ranked 10 in the all-rounder's list. This also makes him the first Bangladeshi Test cricketer ever in the top 10.

ICC ODI Championship All-Rounder Ranking


RANKING: 1. Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), 380 points, 2. Jacob Oram (New Zealand)
368, 3. Andrew Flintoff (England) 366, 4. Shoaib Malik (Pakistan), 342, 5. Jacques Kallis (South Africa), 342, 6. Chris Gayle (West Indies), 336, 7. Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), 323, 8. Yuvraj Singh (India)
310, 9. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), 293, 10. Paul Collingwood (England), 280

bdnews24.com/ar/1921h.

Shakib word's best ODI all-rounder :: Sport :: bdnews24.com ::

 

[leonblack08]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Alhamdulilah!!

Really good news brother!!Thanx.

 

[Al-zakir]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Alhamdulilah!!

Really good news brother!!Thanx.

No problem. I will try to post some good news time to time.....Mubarak to our brother shakib........

 

[Silverfalcon]

Shakib Al Hasan is amazing.

there have been a few Bangladeshi players that have got my eye.

and those include Shakib Al Hasan, Rajin Saleh , Muhammad Ashraful , Mashrafe Mortaza

 

[Al-zakir]

Bangladesh win ODI series against Zimbabwe

Updated at: 0312 PST, Saturday, January 24, 2009

Bangladesh win ODI series against Zimbabwe DHAKA: Bangladesh comfortably beat Zimbabwe by six wickets Friday to clinch their three-game limited-over cricket series 2-1. In a match reduced to 37 overs per side after morning fog, Zimbabwe was sent in and recorded 119-9, with Bangladesh reaching 121-4 with more than four overs to spare.
Bangladesh were steered to victory by all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (33 not out) and Mushfiqur Rahim (20 not out).
Hasan was named player of the series while Mashrafe bin Mortaza declared man of the match after destroying Zimbabwe's top order and helping Bangladesh reduce the visitors to 69-5.

Mortaza (3-26) struck early, trapping Visu Sibanda (0) lbw with the fifth ball of the match.

He then dismissed Hamilton Masakadza (10) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (10) to put Bangladesh firmly in control. Masakadza tried to play a short ball but failed to adjust and the ball took the shoulder of the bat, presenting a catch to Mehrab Hossain at second slip. Matsikenyeri was clean bowled.

Hasan (3-15), who has been ranked as the top one-day all-rounder by the International Cricket Council, bowled Elton Chigumbura (7) then removed Ray Price (7) and had Ed Rainsford (1) stumped by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim.

Sean Williams was the best of Zimbabwe's batsmen with 38.

In reply, Bangladesh lost Mehrab Hossain and captain Mohammad Ashraful cheaply, but a 34 from Tamim Iqbal provided the basis of the run chase. The hosts slipped to 89-4 but Zimbabwe could not get further breakthroughs to expose Bangladeh's tail, as Hasan and Rahim guided the home team to victory.

Bangladesh win ODI series against Zimbabwe - GEO.tv

 

[Lockheed F-16]

OMG! WHAT AN INSULT


LAHORE, Pakistan - Sri Lanka inflicted Pakistan's heaviest defeat in a limited-overs international on Saturday, winning the final game by 234 runs to clinch the series 2-1.

Tillakaratne Dilshan's unbeaten 137 off 139 balls took Sri Lanka to 309-5 before Nuwan Kulasekera claimed 3-17 and Thilan Thushara 3-33 to bowl out Pakistan in just 22.5 overs for its fourth-lowest total of 75.

Pakistan's previous biggest defeat - in terms of runs - was a 224-run loss to Australia in 2002 at Nairobi, Kenya.

"I'm very happy the way we handled the situation," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said. "Once you put 300 on the board we always knew they would be under pressure and we never let them settle."

Kumar Sangakkara hit 50 and Sanath Jayasuriya collected 45 to also be in the runs for Sri Lanka at Gaddafi Stadium, with Umar Gul taking 3-45 and Sohail Khan 1-52 for Pakistan.


Pakistan slumped to 18-6 in the ninth over before Gul hit 27 to save the team from recording its lowest total.

Sri Lanka offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the only second bowler after former Pakistan quick Wasim Akram (502) to take 500 ODI wickets, finishing with 2-2.

Pakistan won the first match in Karachi by eight wickets before Sri Lanka tied the series by winning the second by 129 runs.

"They really bowled and batted well and full marks to them," Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik said. "We always were going to struggle once we lost those early wickets and couldn't recover."

Pakistan's decision to change its batting lineup flopped badly with opening bowlers Thushara and Kulasekera combining to effectively finish the match as a contest by the ninth over.

Thushara had Kamran Akmal on 9 and Younis Khan on 4 out leg before wicket, while Misbah-ul-Haq edged a ball of his to be caught behind for 0. In between these wickets, Kulasekera removed Salman Butt for 0 and Khurram Manzoor, who was brilliantly caught for 3 by a diving Farveez Maharoof at square leg.

The hard-hitting Shahid Afridi lasted only three deliveries before leaving a delivery from Kulasekera that bowled him for 0.

Earlier, Dilshan had only one blemish in an otherwise superb century when Butt dropped a hard chance at point early in the innings after Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bat first.

Pakistan, who dropped out-of-form fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir, struggled under overcast conditions as Jayasuriya yet again provided a quick start.

Jayasuriya also had a life on 16 when a diving Younis Khan could not grab a one-handed chance at gully. The hard-hitting left-hander then hammered three fours and a straight six in one over from Rao Iftikhar to give the innings momentum.

Iftikhar was taken out of the attack after conceding 53 runs in five overs.

Gul ended the 76-run opening stand when Jayasuriya mistimed a pull shot and holed out at mid-off.

Sangakkara added a valuable run-a-ball 104 with Dilshan as both batsmen consistently rotated the strike against some sloppy Pakistan ground fielding.

Dilshan drove offspinner Saeed Ajmal - one of two inclusions in Pakistan's team - for a single in the 43rd over to raise his second century in a one-day game.

Gul struck twice late in the innings when he had Jayawardene (18) and Chamara Kapugedera (0) caught behind.