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Ponting’s 27th ton helps Australia beat England in fifth ODI

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Nottingham (UK), Sep.16 (ANI): Ricky Ponting scored a brilliant 126 of 109 balls to keep Australia in the hunt for a 7-0 whitewash of their one-day series against England, leading his side to a four-wicket victory in the fifth one-day international at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

Ponting’s 27th ton in ODIs included three sixes and 14 fours, as Australia raced to 302 for six wickets with 10 balls to spare in reply to England’s total of 299 from their 50 overs.

He was well supported by deputy Michael Clarke, who reached 52 off 64.

Irishman Eoin Morgan’s maiden half-century steered England to their best score of the series in a dead rubber after Australia clinched the series 4-0 at Lord’s on Saturday.

Mitchell Johnson brought up the winning runs with a six off Ryan Sidebottom to remain unbeaten on 18, while Cameron White was not out 24.

Poor fielding frustrated England captain Andrew Struass, who demanded improvement from his batsmen after the first four matches.

“Our batters went out and played with a much more bold approach and that paid dividends today. The fielding was poor and that’s something that there should be no excuse for, we do a lot of work on the fielding and we should be better than that,” Fox Sports quoted Strauss, as saying.

The tourists rested Brett Lee, who claimed five wickets in the previous match, replacing him with fellow pacer Peter Siddle.

England brought in Mascarenhas for Luke Wright, who was hit on the toe on Monday while batting against a bowling machine set to mimic Lee’s inswinging yorkers which proved so effective last weekend.(ANI)

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Broad not keen on taking Flintoff’s place in Test team

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 8 (ANI): England’s Ashes hero Stuart Broad doesn’t want to replicate all rounder Andrew Flintoff in his life and is not even that keen on taking Flintoff’s place at No.7 in the Test team.

“No one can replace Fred. It is important that I focus on my qualities and don’t try to be someone I’m not,” Broad said.

Despite scoring five fifties in his 22-Test career, two of them in the Ashes, and having a respectable batting average of 31, Broad plays down that side of his game.

“My aim is to become a good No 8. If the top six build a platform that allows me and Graeme Swann to come and play with freedom as we did at the Oval. I just want to be awkward to bowl at,” The Times quoted Broad, as saying.

Flintoff has said that Broad’s batting is good enough to play as a specialist batsman and Geoff Boycott, praising the straight play of Broad, compared him to a young Garry Sobers, saying that Broad could make the same journey as Sobers from tailender.

“I don’t think I can average 40 in Test cricket. That’s a huge ask, even for recognised batsmen,” Broad said.

The modest Nottinghamshire all-rounder really wants is to spend a night in his own bed and maybe hang a shelf or two.

“I bought a house six months ago and I’ve only spent about 20 nights there. When we have finished with these one-day games and the Champions Trophy, all I’m looking forward to is 2-3 weeks at home and a bit of decorating before we go to South Africa.”

Andrew Flintoff is reportedly having six feet mosaics of the Ashes urn installed in the swimming pools, but Broad’s ambition extends no farther than getting house painted.

Nor does he plan to decorate his body, Flintoff-style. “My mum would never let me in the house again if I had a tattoo,” he said. (ANI)

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Benaud calls for overhaul of Australian selection panel

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Aug 30 (ANI): Former Test selector John Benaud has blamed the Australian selection panel for a series of blunders, including dumping opening batsman Phil Hughes for Shane Watson, opting for wicketkeeper Brad Haddin over Graham Manou and leaving behind a spare batsman.

Benaud has called for an overhaul of the four-man panel, claiming the team of Andrew Hilditch, Jamie Cox, Merv Hughes and David Boon lacks balance and innovation, and is too stubborn to change.

“I have a fear about this selection panel, that they don’t like admitting a blue. They’ve got this blinkered view of things,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Benaud, as saying.

“It’s all right for Jamie Cox to put his hand up and say, ‘I misread the pitch’ but I don’t think it was that so much as it was the way we handled things.

“They got themselves into a bit of a corner, these blokes, because when they chose the Ashes squad initially they only had the two opening batsmen. They were one batsman short,” he said.

“I feel they should have taken (Brad) Hodge to cover any eventuality. They created their own problem by dropping Hughes, who two Tests before made two centuries in a Test match against one of the best opening bowling attacks in the world (South Africa).

“To drop him, that suggests they were never really keen on Hughes as an opening bat, and that they’d been tyre-levered into picking him because the kid had done so well.

“But then they surprised us all by picking Watson as the opening batting replacement. I just couldn’t follow that,” Benaud said. (ANI)

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Australia faces a long, dusty fight for survival at The Oval: Roebuck

August 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, Aug. 22 (ANI): Australia faces a long struggle to survive at The Oval, believes noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck.

According to Roebuck, an interesting few days awaits as skilful batsmen contend with fast bowlers bent on exploiting uneven bounce and modest spinners try to make the ball bite and turn.

“Far from playing hard and true, the strip was grudging and dusty from the opening hour. Evidently the curator overdid it. This match is likely to grip till the last afternoon,” he writes in his column for The Age.

“At stumps, Australia’s position was precarious. Hereafter it might need to rethink its bowling strategy by choosing horses for courses. Previously it was able to play the same blokes in all conditions. Great bowlers travel well. The current crop have varied skills. A ruthless approach may be required, with bowlers coming and going regardless,” Roebuck says. (ANI)

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Ponting trying to divert attention from Oz failure: Flower

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 15 (ANI): Reacting for the first time after a spellbinding climax in the Cardiff Test, coach Andy Flower has said that Australian skipper Ricky Ponting by accusing the England team of delaying tactics, is trying to deflect attention from Australia’s failure to take the wicket they needed to go ahead in the Ashes series

The England’s team director totally rejected the assertion that his side was guilty of gamesmanship if not cheating.

“I am a little surprised at all the hullabaloo over it, to be honest. From my own perspective, in that last hour of the game, there was no time wasting by us. Have a look at the footage yourself. Never did we consciously try to waste time,” he said.

Flower was upset by the allegations of Ponting, who said in the immediate aftermath that England’s behaviour in twice sending out their 12th man in the closing stages was “pretty ordinary.”

Ponting also suggested that the issue should be taken up with the England hierarchy, The Independent reported.

“He has got his own opinion, and I respect his opinion. He is a very good cricketer and has been a very good ambassador for Australia. But in this instance, I think he has made a meal of it,” Flower said.

Flower added that Ponting was making far too much of it and deflecting attention from what really mattered – England’s great escape and Australia’s failure to take the wicket they needed to go ahead in the series.

Flower seemed perplexed by the attention that has been given to England’s decision to send on the 12th man, Bilal Shafayat, in successive overs, the second time accompanied by the team physiotherapist, Steve McCaig.

“Most teams in those situations, you have batsmen talking in the middle for extended periods, knocking down the pitch, changing gloves, getting drinks, which all waste time. At no stage in the last couple of hours did we do that,” Flower said.

“The second point, was that there was perceived confusion out in the middle about what time the game was going to end. We needed to get messages out to them to make sure they were clear.” (ANI)

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Oz batsmen move up Reliance Mobile ICC player rankings

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Dubai, July 13 (ANI): Australia’s batsmen are on the move in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen with three of them achieving career-best rankings after a nail-biting finish in the first Ashes Test against England at Cardiff.

pener Simon Katich, middle-order batsmen Marcus North and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin all scored centuries to help Australia declare its first innings at 674-6 in reply to England’s first innings score of 435. And for these efforts, all the three batsmen have been rewarded with big jumps in the rankings which are updated after every Test.

Katich, who scored 122, has gone up by four places and now sits in 14th position alongside India great Sachin Tendulkar. Marcus North, who struck an unbeaten 125, has rocketed 23 places to 43rd position while Haddin, who scored 121, has climbed six places to 30th spot.

Besides the trio, captain Ricky Ponting has also inched towards the top five after scoring an elegant 150 and is now in sixth place after swapping positions with Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena, vice-captain Michael Clarke has replaced South Africa captain Graeme Smith in eighth place and opener Phillip Hughes has lifted himself two places to 33rd position.

Australia’s only disappointment is the fall of Mike Hussey whose first innings contribution of three has resulted in him dropping of the top 20 for the first time since his rapid rise up the table at the start of his international career.

England’s only batsman to make an upward movement is Paul Collingwood who has returned to the top 20 by climbing five places to 19th position after scoring two half-centuries in the match, including a gritty 74 in the second innings that spanned almost six hours of batting.

Three of the top four England batsmen – Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara – have dropped in the latest rankings while Kevin Pietersen has managed to hang on to his 10th place.

England captain Strauss, who scored 30 and 17, has dropped out of the top 20 after falling three places to 22nd place, Cook has slipped three places to 24th position after a match contribution of 26 runs and Bopara has dropped eight places to 59th position after scores of 35 and one.

Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan lead a Pakistan 1-2 in the batting table with India’s Gautam Gambhir in third place.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, the only change in the top 20 is England fast bowler Andrew Flintoff who has slipped two places to 19th position.

The bowling list is headed by Sri Lanka’s iconic spinner Muttiah Muralidaran who is likely to concede his number-one spot to South Africa’s Dale Steyn when the latest rankings are released at the end of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, Flintoff has dropped one place to fifth after figures of 1-128 with the ball and contributions of 37 and 26 with the bat.

Jacques Kallis continues to lead the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with Mitchell Johnson of Australia in second and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori third. (ANI)

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Anderson says Ponting let England off the hook

July 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Cardiff (Wales), July 13 (ANI): Batting hero Jimmy Anderson on Sunday claimed that Australian captain Ricky Ponting took his fingers off England’s throat by bowling part-time spinner Marcus North in the dramatic final overs at Cardiff.

As England held out for a controversial draw, Ponting tossed the ball to North for two of the final four overs.

Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz was bowling at the other end at a time when Australia’s pacers had been far more threatening to the last batting pair of Anderson and Monty Panesar.

“Certainly when they put Marcus North on I thought we had a great chance, them putting a part time spinner on,” The Daily Telegraph quoted Anderson, as saying.

“I thought, we’ve got a good chance here because Monty was playing it very well, we were communicating well together,” he added.

Ponting, however, vigorously defended the use of his spinners, saying time was running out and Australia needed to bowl as many deliveries as possible at England’s last pair.

“Look, we were running a bit short of time. Once they forged that last partnership, we needed to get as many balls into their batsmen as possible. A few other minutes being taken up by other things. Two left-handers being in, two off spinners being on, I thought we could create some chances,” Ponting said.

England skipper Andrew Strauss refused to publicly savage Ponting for the spin ploy, but claimed the tailenders would have found spearhead pacer Mitchell Johnson more difficult to face.

“I could understand what he was doing, but personally I thought Mitchell Johnson would have been harder for these two to face,” Strauss said.

“Each captain sees things differently, I suppose. It’s a difficult situation when you’re trying to rush through overs when you get to the back end of the game there,” he said.

“The reality was that it was a very flat wicket and it was difficult to prise people out, especially if they showed application, which the second half of our order did,” Strauss said. (ANI)

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Pietersen vows to keep on battling the Aussies

July 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Cardiff (Wales), July 12 (ANI): Kevin Pietersen has told his shell-shocked England team-mates they must stand up and be counted today to prove they can handle an intense summer of Aussie pressure.

“We’ve put ourselves under a hell of a lot of pressure and it’s up to us to stand up and be counted now,” News of The World quoted Pietersen, as saying.

“We have to try and avoid being rolled over ourselves and being beaten by an innings. We need to make a big statement that we are going to fight and fight and fight for the rest of the summer.

Otherwise it will be a long one. This isn’t the most important Test match of the summer but we have to try and fight in order to make that statement,” he added.

England need to bat for 90 overs in Cardiff to salvage the opening Npower Test after an insipid display in the field over the past two days allowed Australia’s batsmen to run riot.

Pietersen, not out overnight alongside captain Andrew Strauss, stands between Ricky Ponting’s team and a humiliating sixth Ashes defeat on the spin for England.

With Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook already back in the hutch, the home side still need 220 more runs just to make the tourists bat again.

KP knows the Aussies will not let up if they spot any sign of weakness. He knows if the Three Lions do not toughen up soon they can expect more of the same over the next 10 weeks.

“It’s going to be very, very hard because they have some fantastic bowlers and if the wicket is turning then life won’t be easy. But I believe we have it in us. I’m not going to say we will do it or we won’t but one thing is for sure: The pressure is going to be here for the rest of the summer,” he said. (ANI)

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We want to start the series on a winning note : Younis Khan

July 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Galle (Sri Lanka), July 4 (ANI): As Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first in the first Test of the three match series here on Saturday, captain Younis Khan expressed the hope that he would like to start the series on a winning note.

Khan said his batsmen would have no problem countering ‘mystery’ bowler Ajantha Mendis.

“We have a lot of off spinners, left-arm spinners and leg spinners. The wickets are similar to Pakistan. Both teams know each other’s weaknesses. Because of our nature we compete with each other very well,” Khan said ahead of the first Test.

He said Pakistan is going into the Test with a positive frame of mind and would play three fast bowlers.

With Muttiah Muralitharan ruled out due to a leg injury, Khan said he would be missing Murali on the field.

“The last series I played against Murali, I pulled my hamstring stretching all the way trying to play him for two days. He is a fantastic bowler. Whenever Murali is under pressure, he talks to you,” The News quoted Khan, as saying. (ANI)

Meanwhile, rookie pacer Mohammed Aamer provided Pakistan a flying start here as he grabbed two wickets to provide his team with an early advantage.

Aamer removed both openers, Warnapura and Kumara Sangakkara with his fast swinging deliveries.

Sri Lanka were 72 for 2 when reports last came in. (ANI)

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KP ‘psyches’ Oz batters with reverse swing terrors ahead of Ashes

June 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 30 (ANI): England batsman Kevin Pietersen has said that there is a good chance that Australia’s batters will come up against reverse swing during the Ashes series.

The English seamers turned Australian batsmen’s heads to mush and legs to lead in their shock 2-1 series win in 2005.

“I know the Australians are probably hoping that the weather does not stay like this because (of James) Anderson, (Stuart) Broad, (Andrew) Flintoff bowling reverse swing the way they do,” the Courier Mail quoted KP, as saying.

“If the weather stays like this, the ball will certainly reverse swing and we are going to be really tough to play against,” he added.

One thing working in Australia’s favour this time around must be their fast bowling coach Troy Cooley, who was largely credited as the brains behind England’s use of reverse swing four years ago.

Under his guidance, the already lethal Mitchell Johnson showed in South Africa that he is working out how to swing the ball both ways.

South African-born Pietersen said he gained fresh information about the Australians from former countrymen Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher following South Africa’s six Tests against Ricky Ponting’s men during the last southern summer.

“I have had a lot of communication with Kallis and Boucher,” he said with a cheeky smile.

“A lot of it was very, very useful,” he added.

England and Australia will start their final warm-up matches tomorrow, with England playing a three-day match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston and Australia a four-day game against an England second XI at Worcester. (ANI)

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Panesar ‘back to basics’ before Ashes to save his career

June 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 30 (ANI): In an attempt to save his career, England spinner Monty Panesar, has turned to basics and is returning to what he does best, bowling the same ball six times an over.

The England management’s attempt to turn Panesar into a match winning combination of Bishen Singh Bedi and Shane Warne has been temporarily abandoned ahead of the Ashes series.
Over the last six months, England spin-bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed has been working to add variation to Panesar’s one-note repertoire.

An arm-ball has been introduced, along with subtle changes in flight and trajectory. But the end result seems to have left Panesar more confused, when it was supposed to make him more confident, The Telegraph reports.

“Over the past couple of weeks I’ve changed myself and gone back to just trying to bowl my stock ball all the time,” Panesar said.

“I know that coming into this game against Warwickshire I’m looking to bowl my natural way. I’m not going to do any experimentation because I don’t think it’s the right time to do that.”

Panesar must also know that he faces strong competition from Adil Rashid, the young Yorkshire leg-spinner, who will be playing for the England Lions against Australia at Worcester.

If he keeps thinking about the bowler he might be in six months’ time, rather than the one who takes the field on Wednesday, he could come badly unstuck

“My strength is that I have a natural ability to bowl a certain pace, bowl lots of overs, and get a lot of maidens,” Panesar said.

“When I haven’t been a strike bowler I’ve been able to hold pressure on the batsmen, which gives respite to the seamers. Then, later on, I recognise that when the pitch deteriorates I’m able to come in and be a strike bowler,” he added. (ANI)

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Siddle predicts on-field verbal spats with Pietersen

June 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 29(ANI): Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle has predicted plenty of on-field verbal spats between the Australians and England’s star batsman Kevin Pietersen during the upcoming Ashes series, which is scheduled to begin from July 8.

“I am pretty sure there is going to be a little bit said out in the field here and there. Pietersen is a pretty confident lad and he likes to say a little bit around out there on the field. So I am sure there is going to be a few little run-ins between us and him, no doubt,” Fox Sports quoted Siddle, as saying.

Siddle, who has regularly been involved in on-field niggles, has also admitted to enjoying the verbal sparring between teams.

Earlier, during a tour to South Africa early this year, crowds following regular spats had heckled him.

“It is always a good challenge and always a good little war between you and that one or two batsmen out there. But as long as you can back it up and be the successful one out of the little war,” Siddle said.

The Australian team’s aggressive nature and Pietersen’s attitude could result in some fiery moments in the Ashes series. (ANI)

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“Our slow bowlers can beat the Aussies”, says Swann

June 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 28(ANI): England’s right-arm offbreak bowler Graeme Swann has expressed confidence on England’s spinners abilities to tangle Australians in a web to regain the historic Ashes series, which begins on Thursday.

Swann highlighted the magic web that spin genius Shane Warne used to create around English batsmen, however, this time he is hopeful that the likes of left-armer Monty Panesar and Adil Rashid would turn the table on Australians.

“I’d love it if we go into each game with two spinners .I realise it’s fairly alien for England to have two spinners, and obviously we’ll have to wait to see what the pitches are like, but I’d relish the prospect of bowling in tandem with Monty,” News of the World quoted Swann, as saying.

“In Trinidad at the end of the winter tour of the West Indies we bowled together and it went pretty well – hopefully it was a sign of things to come. If we bowl together well in the right conditions we can turn the game,” he added.

The right-arm offie signified the partnership of spinners John Emburey and Phil Edmonds in the 1986-87 Ashes series, when both of them helped England win a test match.

According to Swann, the pair of Emburey and Edmonds had inspired him to become a spinner. I grew up watching Emburey and Edmonds. They got me into spin, but of course all of us have been in awe of Shane Warne over the last 15 years or so,” said Swann.

With the series scheduled to begin in Cardiff on Thursday, Swann has the chance to prove that English spinners can take centre stage.

“It can be one spell of bowling that changes things. It might be just five or six overs from Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad or hopefully me to pick up the two key wickets you are after,” Swann said.

“I’d love it if I can be that man. I’d love it even more if it was me and Monty,” he added. (ANI)

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Oz pacers will hold key to Ashes result: Benaud

June 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 28 (ANI): Australia’s fast bowlers hold the key to which way this year’s Ashes will go, feels former Australian cricketer, captain and noted commentator Richie Benaud.

In an article for The News of The World, Benaud believes England would be indulging in wishful thinking if it thought their spinners could make Australian batters dance to their wiles.

“Nothing makes my heart beat faster than the thought of spin bowling dominating an Ashes series.

Wishful thinking, however, has provided many problems for over-the-wrist spinners and orthodox finger-spinners over the 56 years I have been playing and watching England and Australia do battle,” Benaud said and claimed.

According to Benaud, England off-spinner Jim Laker (1956) and Australian leg spinner Shane Warne (1993-2007) have been the benchmarks for both forms of spin.

“But I believe this time swing will dominate. As was the case in 2005, the skill of the swing bowlers will provide the main difficulty for the batsmen. I’m confident the Australian pace bowlers will carry on from that splendid series in South Africa and, led by Mitchell Johnson and with Brett Lee shaping well, they hold the key to victory,” Benaud said.(ANI)

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India beat West Indies in first ODI by 20 runs

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kingston (Jamaica, West Indies), June 27 (ANI): Spearheaded by Yuvraj Singh’s scintillating 131 of 102 balls, India beat the West Indies by 20 runs in the thrilling first cricket one-day international here to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series on Friday.

The Indian batsmen scored an intimidating 339 for six after opting to bat at Sabina Park. The hosts responded with 319 in 48.1 overs.

For the West Indians, Shivnarain Chanderpaul top scored with 63, while wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin played a sparkling 29-run knock.

Earlier, Yuvraj treated the West Indian bowlers with utter disdain, clobbering them for seven huge sixes and 10 boundaries apart from sharing a crucial 135-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (67).

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41), Yusuf Pathan (40 unbeaten) and Harbhajan Singh (21 not out) also chipped in with useful contributions.

With the wicket of Chanderpaul in the 36th over it looked all over for the hosts but their lower order batted with steely resolve and made it an edge-of-the-seat contest.

West Indies required 21 off the last two overs with one wicket in hand but Ashish Nehra removed Ramdin in the first ball of the 49th over to bring a huge relief for his side.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and Runako Morton (42) did well and got the starts for the West Indies but could not convert those into big knocks.

Jerome Taylor (21) and David Bernard (19), batting at number seven and nine respectively did their best but their effort went in vain in the end.

For India, Nehra (3/49) and Yusuf Pathan (3/56) took three wickets each. It was raining sixes as 23 of them were hit in the match. (ANI)

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South African batting set to thrive in England

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Cape Town, May 26 (ANI): South Africa, batsmen are surely going to thrive at the ICC World Twenty20 event in England, which going to start in June, if the Indian Premier League is a reasonable yardstick for judging their form.

This will be particularly true in the batting department, where several Proteas stars boasted imperious statistics from the just-finished IPL: There were four of them among the top 11 run-scorers at the IPL.

AB de Villiers of Delhi Daredevils was third on the overall list with 465 runs, JP Duminy of Mumbai Indians sixth with 372 runs, Herschelle Gibbs of the triumphant Deccan Chargers seventh with 371 runs and Jacques Kallis (Bangalore Royal Challengers) 11th with 361 runs.

The World Twenty20, which starts on June 5, will provide a better chance to the Proteas as they will take some of the best “form” batsmen in the T20 format into the event, Sports 24 reports.

A lone concern batting-wise is for the Proteas is poor form of captain Graeme Smith, but in a perverse way his reduced workload, as a result, may serve as a “freshening” factor for him at the orld Twenty20. (ANI)

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Fresh after break, Ponting ready for Ashes tour with new-look team

May 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 23 (ANI): Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is excited about his new look team for the Ashes series, and is also prepared to face the challenge of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Ponting, who is fresh after a break, got back into training a couple of weeks ago and feels good too.

The break well and truly ended this week, as you can probably see from the papers, FOX Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.

“We’re off to Coolum this weekend for the players’ camp and we’ve got our first game on June 5, which is not that far away. And then we’re straight into the Ashes and the cricket doesn’t stop after that until the end of the Australian summer.

“It was good to see Mitchell Johnson and Michael Hussey get some time off and the guys who have come back recently will have also used the time well, which means they’ll go to England physically and mentally refreshed,” he said.

“With so many quicks and limited bowling places in the team it is going to be no fun at all in the nets for the batsmen, but that will be good for them too.

Ashes selection is going to be exceptionally hard but that’s a good thing when you are trying to fit so many worthy players into one side,” he said.

The selectors have shown a lot of faith in the team that won in South Africa and those guys have earned their places by putting performances on the board, Ponting added.

He said that everybody is talking Ashes, but “we’ve got the World Twenty20 to play first, and hopefully win. We were terribly disappointed to lose last time.” (ANI)

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Oz pacer Johnson believes he has Strauss’s number

May 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Perth (Australia), May 21 (ANI): The current leader of the Australian pace attack, Mitchell Johnson, believes that he has England cricket captain Andrew Strauss’s number.ohnson, who understands the intricate principles of swings and roundabouts, reckons the Poms will experience difficulties in handling the Australian pace attack.

As far England predicting the demise of Australia’s left-handed batsmen at the hands of their swing bowlers, Johnson says they will have a similar problem.

The Australia quick, who has emerged as one of the most damaging fast bowlers in world cricket in the past 12 months, knows that what dips in to a right-hander dips away from a leftie and he thinks that could be equally troubling for Strauss.

“In South Africa I started to swing the ball, and him (Strauss) being a left-handed batsmen it will go away from him – and I like bowling to lefties,” Fox Sports quoted him, as saying.

“He has been scoring a few runs, but hopefully putting a bit of pressure on him then some other players will follow,” Johnson added.

Veteran Australia bowlers Stuart Clark and Brett Lee will join Johnson in the Ashes squad and will be battling to squeeze in past the incumbents Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus.

Clark said he thought only one pace man had an automatic right to a place in the Test line-up.

“The way I read it are the guys who bowled in South Africa are in the front position,” he said.

“Obviously Mitchell is going to play and the rest of us are competing for two or three spots.”

It will be difficult to remove Siddle from his position and Hilfenhaus will be a handful with his movement in English conditions. Johnson said he did not feel threatened having the veterans Clark and Lee back.

“I spent the last Ashes series in Australia around the guys, and now to be part of the squad and hopefully get a few games is a big deal and a big deal for Australian cricket,” Johnson said.

Johnson conceded the England bowlers were showing some good recent form – and the batting looked strong, too. (ANI)

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Steyn frustrated over not playing in IPL

May 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Johannesburg (S. Africa), May 14 (ANI): South African fast bowler Dale Steyn’s frustration is building and he wishes he could vent it on a few batsmen.

Crowned last year as the International Cricket Council’s Test Player of the Year and also Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) Player of the Year, Steyn has only played in three of the Bangalore Royal Challengers’ games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) because of a left thumb fracture.

“It’s bad to have to sit out like this and watch the other guys play,” Sports 24 quoted Steyn, as saying.

Steyn saw a hand specialist this week and has been advised to rest another 10 days. (ANI)

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Qadir warns non-performers, showers praise on Shoaib Akhtar

May 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, May 10 (ANI): Disappointed by 3-2 series loss against Australia in the Dubai one-day international tournament, Pakistan cricket chief selector Abdul Qadir has said that non-performers would not be tolerated in the team.

“I just want to say that those players who don’t perform up to the expectations of the nation will not be tolerated for long in the team,” Qadir said.

Qadir criticised the whole team, specially the batsmen, for their dismal show against the Kangaroos during the Dubai series.

“Our players batted very irresponsibly and threw away their wickets. Their performances were unacceptable and disappointing,” The Nation quoted Qadir, as saying.

However, Qadir showered praise on Shoaib Akhtar, saying he was very impressed with the way he bowled in difficult circumstances.

“I think he was very impressive in very hot and humid conditions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He didn’t miss any match nor did he go off the field. He tried hard and bowled well,” he said.

Qadir might have been ‘impressed’ by Akhtar’s performance, but the fiery fast bowler had a pretty ordinary series as his bowling analysis suggests.

Akhtar didn’t even completed his quota of ten overs and bowled only six over giving away 35 runs without a wicket in the first game of the Dubai series which Pakistan won by four wickets.

In the second match too, he went wicket less in seven overs giving away 32 runs.(ANI)

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