Out of form Bopara wants to be England’s main man

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sep 11 (ANI): Ravi Bopara, who has been struggling with his batting form, remains convinced that he will become an international star despite a desperate struggle against Australia.

He has already been dropped from England’s Test team and is now in danger of relinquishing his place in the one-day team.

The Essex batsman was speaking up for England’s under pressure one-day side after three miserable performances in the past week that have handed Australia a 3-0 lead in the NatWest Series.

According to The Sun, Bopara knows he has no alternative other than to fight and discover some form from somewhere, or to lose the series by a humiliating margin, perhaps even a dreaded 7-0 whitewash.

“I don’t doubt my ability. It is just a case of getting my game in order. There is a lot to come from me yet. A big score can turn it round. I’ve made a few 40s and 50s but I want to go out and win games for England,” Bopara said.

“I don’t want to get scores that just do enough to give England a chance, I want to seal the win. I’m desperate to do that but not over-desperate because that’s when things can go wrong.

“I want to be the main man for England. I would love to go out at Lord’s on Saturday and smack the Aussies around. I still think we can pull this series out of the fire – England normally respond well when we are down,” he added.

Since scoring three tons in three Test innings against West Indies earlier this year, Bopara has been struggling with the bat. (ANI)

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Bopara, Shah accused of playing to keep their England places

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sep 11 (ANI): Indian origin England Batsman Ravi Bopara and his teammate Owais Shah have been accused of playing for their places rather than for the team, as the team trails Australia 0-3 in the seven match ODI series.

Gloucestershire coach John Bracewell, who is the game’s most sought-after one-day theorists, questioned the tactics applied by Bopara and Shah.

“I don’t think that either Bopara or Shah are playing to the talent that got them selected,” The Telegraph quoted Bracewell, as saying.

“They’re playing for their places. And I think they’re playing with too much responsibility on batting for too long. They should be getting as many as they can as quickly as they can for as long as they can. It’s as simple as that.

“They look as though they’re trying to build an innings and through that they’re missing opportunities and applying pressure to their own team,” he said.

“When you analyse their individual skills they’re a pretty good team. But I don’t think they play to a selfless pattern. I think they play to a reselection pattern. If I do all right today I’ll get picked tomorrow,” Bracewell added.

Bracewell believes that England’s conservative batting has allowed Australia to seize the initiative in this series.

If it is to be wrested back, he argues, Andrew Strauss and his men need to “take a punt” whether that means using their power play earlier in the innings or rethinking their whole approach to batting. (ANI)

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Indian cricket team leaves for Sri Lanka, Kirsten rues Sehwag’s absence for tri-series

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Chennai, Sep. 9 (ANI): Before boarding a special Air Indian flight for Colombo on Wednesday,Indian cricket team coach Gary Kirsten said the team would draw inspiration from its past success in Sri Lanka and also cope with the “huge” loss of explosive opener Virender Sehwag during the the tri-series involving Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the island nation.

The Indians will play their first match against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Asked who would be opening the innings with Gautam Gambhir, Kirsten said, “We are not sure about the combination. We would decide it on the day of the game. But obviously, missing Sehwag is huge. He is a high quality player and any team would love to have him in the mix. But we have got a lot of depth in the team.”

Kirsten also said that he was quite excited about Rahul Dravid’s return to the team after being out for close to two years.

“It’s great to have him. With the sort of experience he brings, it’s going to help the team. It’s great,” he said.

A clean-sweep in the short series would catapult India to the top of the ICC ODI rankings and Kirsten said being the best in the world is high on the team’s list of targets for the next eight months.

“We have set our goals. One of them is to be the best cricket team in the world. We are headed that way and we are very excited. We know we have to perform well as we continue the quest to be the best,” Kirsten said.

He said that the six week long break for the team was great.

Asked about the team’s chances in the tri-series, Kirsten said, “We won the last two series in Sri Lanka and we are confident. But we think ahead and don’t harp on the results ofthe past. We have got a good batting line-up which is quite flexible in the middle. We would like to mix it up during the series.” (ANI)

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Is Musharraf planning another coup in Pakistan?

August 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad/Dubai, Aug. 26 (ANI): Sources close to Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf have revealed that he may consider seizing power again, only a year after a marathon 9-year innings at the helm.

“Musharraf is planning a return to power. He is discussing it with his close aides. He is not done yet,” a source close to the former president said.

The web site daily.pk quoted the source, as saying that, Musharraf, who quit in August 2008 under immense national and international pressure, has called a meeting of his aides in Dubai to discuss his return.

“The date for the meeting has not yet been finalised but Mr. Musharraf will be flying to Dubai from London this week and then will summon his close aides there,” the source said.

The source said Musharraf held a meeting with his close political aides and some Nazims (mayors) in London recently and discussed with them his future political ambitions as his two years ban on political activities will expire in November this year.

The source said that the former ruling party Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam)’s secretary-general Humayun Akhtar Khan also held a meeting with Musharraf in London.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said that he will not make efforts to unify Muslim League factions as envisaged by Musharraf. (ANI)

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Collingwood says he knows he has to improve to keep his place

August 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug.26 (ANI): England middle order batsman Paul Collingwood has said that he knows he has to improve as a batsman to keep his place in the England side.

Collingwood, who takes over as England’s captain this week for a one-dayer against Ireland in Belfast on Thursday and two Twenty20 internationals against Australia next week, was quoted by The Independent as saying: “I know I am going to have to tinker a bit with technique and become a better player to be able to stay in the side.”

“But I am willing to do that. I am still at an age when I am enjoying my cricket. He [Trott] came in and had a dream debut and I understand the position I am in. I am going to have to work my absolute nuts off to keep my place. I know I can do it and I still feel I am fit enough and mentally strong enough to do that,” he added.

After his match-saving innings of 75 in Cardiff, Collingwood’s final four innings were worth just 42 runs.

The Australians shut off Collingwood’s leg-side options, and now he is in the familiar position of fighting for his place in the side at the age of 33.

“I’ve had a great year playing Test cricket,” he said. “Look at my stats, they have been good. I would have loved to have played a lot better in last few Tests but the innings in Cardiff went a long way to winning these Ashes,” he says in his favour.

Perhaps it was the knowledge this could be his last crack at the Australians which made Collingwood appear the most nervous England player on Sunday, when he dropped several catches, including one at slip he would normally take with his cap pulled over his eyes.

“People sometimes think we are robots and don’t have emotions and nerves don’t get to us but believe me the closer you get to winning the Ashes the more nervous you become,” he said. (ANI)

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Australian press and commentators react to Ashes defeat

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug.24 (ANI): The Australian press and commentators have reacted along predictable lines to the latest Ashes series defeat to England in England.

“The Australian selectors have faced serious issues right through the series and they have not been solid. The selectors need to be made answerable at the end of this campaign, said former Australian opener Michael Slater.

“Not only did they [the selectors] handcuff Ponting at The Oval with four pacemen on a palpably dry pitch, but they also, once again, resorted to the failed ploy of expecting part-time spinners to do a specialist task,” The Independent quoted Ian Chappell, as saying.

“Forget all that nonsense about criticising Ponting’s captaincy. He remains unequivocally the best player to lead the team,” said the Herald Sun.

“I really don’t think that England deserve to win this year. This is hard for me to acknowledge, since I’m South African, and it’s in my blood to hate anything Australian,” said Frost on www.cricket- blog.com.

“We’ve scored eight tons versus England’s two. He [Ponting] must go as a captain – the only captain to lose the Ashes with the invincibles will become the only captain to lose two Ashes.” virtualGaz on www.cricket-blog.com

“England don’t deserve to win the Ashes. They haven’t scored enough centuries.

Day one of the final Test said it all. England won the toss. They picked the best side while Australia may have got their side wrong. The bowlers performed modestly in the first session. England got the start they wanted. Australia were rattled. The wicket was flat. The ball was swinging a bit but hardly venomously.

Ricky Ponting was chewing his nails and looked agitated. And still no English batsman could take control. Sorry but that’s not good enough,” said Robert Craddock in his report for the Herald Sun.

“Andrew Flintoff had to produce something magnificent in his final Test, you just knew, and when he threw down the stumps to dismiss Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to end a defiant innings, the Oval faithful had their moment,” said Jamie Pandaram, The Age. (ANI)

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Aussie batsman North confident of chasing down a record 546

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug 23(ANI): Australian cricketer Marcus North, who took four wickets with his part time off-spinners on the low turning pitch in England’s second innings of the final Ashes Test at The Oval, has said that his team might be able to chase down a record 546.

“History is against us. It’s too early to look that far ahead. There is still a lot of cricket to be played,” The Daily Telegraph quoted North, as saying. What you’ll see are 11 guys, who have got a lot of character to show, who are going to give everything for every contest for every over. Hopefully, that can lay the foundation to give us a chance,” he added.

North said that if past second innings scores are taken into consideration, Australia has a good chance to retain the Ashes. At Lord’s Australia scored 406 before losing and in the rain-ruined match at Edgbaston they had scored 5-375 to save the game.

“Our first objective was to get through tonight unscathed and Simon and Watto did that superbly. To walk off at 0 for 80, it’s the position we need to be in,” North said.

“We batted well at Lord’s, had some big partnerships, and laid some foundations to give us some opportunity to chase that target down. This is a different Test, different conditions. Again, we’ll have to show some character,” he added.

Australia will resume at 0-80 today, they are still 465 behind with two days to play. (ANI)

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More than virus, Dilshan’s batting contributed to Kiwi defeat: Vettori

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Galle (Sri Lanka), Aug 23(ANI): New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has said that more than the energy-sapping virus that stuck his team during the first Test match at the Galle International Stadium, it was Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan’s explosive batting which contributed to New Zealand’s 202-run loss.

Dilshan scored 92 runs in Sri Lanka’s first innings and scored quickfire 123 runs in the second to take Sri Lanka to an imposing target of 413.

“When you look at how well Dilshan played and how poorly we bowled to him, it was probably the defining moment of the game,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Vettori, as saying.

“There were a couple of opportunities there to put pressure on them, but everything we did, he took it away from us. He played exceptionally well, he played very aggressive innings, and when you’ve got a player like that, it makes it very tough to captain,” he added.

Vettori said that he wanted to take the game to the wire, however, failed to do so, as multiple players being ill in the team meant that they were bowled out for a meager 210 runs.

“I really hoped we’d take it down to the wire. I hoped that we could bat for long periods of time, but in some ways a few illnesses counted against us and the application wasn’t quite there,” Vettori said.

He further said that one of the most disappointing things in the Test was to lose as many wickets to the seamers as they did.

“Obviously Murali’s a difficult customer to come up against but the way Thushara bowled was probably where we let ourselves down,” Vettori said. (ANI)

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Forgotten opener Jaques pushing for Test recall

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Sydney, Aug.23 (ANI): Former New South Wales coach and Australian keeper Steve Rixon expects forgotten opener Phil Jaques to return with such vengeance this season that he puts serious pressure on the Test partnership of Simon Katich and Shane Watson.

Rixon, who is the president of Sutherland grade club where Jaques plays, said the 30-year-old left-hander still faces an anxious time in his recovery from back surgery, but if he regains full fitness he could resume his place at the top of the Australia’s batting order.

“Jaquesy will put a lot of pressure on the Test openers this season, I’ve got no doubt. ‘He’ll be opening the batting with Hughesy [Phillip Hughes] this year in the NSW side and he will be planting runs on the board to the point where he will be hard to ignore,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Rixon, as saying.

In his 11 Test matches, Jaques scored 902 runs at an average of 47.47, including three centuries. In his most recent Test knock, in June 2008, he scored a second-innings 108. However, he was soon dropped for the returning Matthew Hayden.

By that time Jaques’s back problems were getting worse and he came home for an operation. He attempted a comeback before last summer’s tour of South Africa, but soon required another operation.

Hughes went to South Africa instead and became the opener of choice until Watson took over after the second Ashes Test.

Jaques has since been in the background but, despite losing his Cricket Australia contract, has refused to give up on his Test career, saying in May: “All I want to do is get back on the park. When I am fit and healthy I will put scores on the board, I know that.”

Rixon agrees.

“He’s a guy that’s a run machine. All he needs is his fitness back. That’s his priority. We’re very keen to get him back into club cricket at Sutherland as quickly as possible. He’s going to work doubly hard to get his body right. Severe back problems are not something you can get over easily,” he said.

Blues selector Brian Taber will closely monitor Jaques’s progress. He confirmed that Jaques was on track to play at the beginning of the grade season late next month.

“I hope he picks up where he left off. His last Test innings was a hundred,” Taber said. (ANI)

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Broad says England in a great position to win Ashes

August 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug.22 (ANI): Fast bowler Stuart Broad believes that England are in a great position to win the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval after bundling out the Australians for 160 and taking an overall lead of 230 runs on the second day of the game.

Broad who contributed significantly to the Australian collapse by claiming five wickets for 37 runs, said: “We are in a great position. It was a fantastic experience for me, everything we did seemed to work.”

“The first hour in the morning will be crucial. We have some big hitters with the likes of Freddie Flintoff and Matt Prior and if we can get some more runs, we can build a great platform,” he added.

While admitting that England did not want to lose wickets in its second innings, he said: “But to see what the ball is doing off the pitch gives us great encouragement. I’ll take setting them 400 to win.”

“It was great to have my family here. My mum lost her voice and I could see her in the crowd. My sister works for the ECB so I guess she played her part too. My dad has his Ashes story, I hope to have my own by Monday,” The Telegraph quoted him, as saying. (ANI)

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Hameed backs “talented” rookie Akmal to break his fastest 1000-run record

August 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug .12 (ANI): Applauding young batsman Umar Akmal for his brilliant performance in the just concluded Sri Lanka One-Day International series, Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed has said Akmal has the potential to be a world-class batsman and break his record of scoring 1000 one day runs in 24 innings.

In an interview with PakPassion, Hameed described Akmal as a stylish and talented batsman.

“He’s a very talented and stylish batsman.It took me 24 innings to reach 1000 one day runs which is the fastest for Pakistan, but I feel that Umar has the potential to break that record,” Hameed said.

Hameed, who is currently playing league cricket in England, said Akmal could become an important player in the middle order.

Umar has all the attributes to become an important part of the Pakistan middle order and he already has 192 runs in only 4 innings, so he has every chance of beating my record,” he said.

The overall record of scoring 1000 runs in the least number of innings is held by famous West Indian batsman Viv Richards, who took just 21 innings to achieve the feat. (ANI)

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Oz ‘Fanatics’ claim responsibility for fire prank on English team

August 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Leeds (UK), Aug.9 (ANI): Australian cricket fans have claimed responsibility for a hotel fire alarm that roused the England team from their beds the morning of their batting collapse on the first day of the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley.

The Fanatics – Australian supporters who follow the Test team around the world – claim they set off the fire alarm at the Radisson Hotel in Leeds about 4.30 a.m. on Friday.

England’s Test team was evacuated with other guests and staff while two fire engines from West Yorkshire Fire Service searched the premises for the source of the alarm.

Players were left standing in the street in their pyjamas for more than 20 minutes until the all clear was given for them to return to their beds.

Warren Livingston, head of the Fanatics, told The Sunday Mail one of the 100-strong group had managed to set the alarm off with the intention of disrupting the English team’s sleep, saying it was “good old fashioned Aussie high jinks”.

“Yes it was one of our guys who did it as a bit of a prank. I got a text message after it happened. At first, I thought, ‘good onya’, we’re just doing our bit for Australia,” news.com.au quoted Livingston, as saying.

“But I can’t condone this sort of thing. I don’t want any trouble. We’ve all had a big laugh and it might have made a difference to the way they batted,” he added.

If the claim is found to be true, English cricket fans and authorities will not view the situation with any humor.

Earlier, British media reports said the alarm may have been set off by a guest who had rinsed her underwear in a bathroom sink and then left it close to a light bulb to dry.

When the underwear started to smoulder, the woman was reported to have thrown it back in the sink, but not before the room had filled with smoke and the fire alarm went off.

England’s wicket-keeper Matt Prior blamed the incident for his team’s batting collapse in the first innings of the Test. (ANI)

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Pietersen vows to keep on battling the Aussies

July 12, 2009 By 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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Ponting admits to giving Lee the occasional kick in the backside to rev him up

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Cardiff (Wales), July 9 (ANI): Ricky Ponting has said that he has had to give Brett Lee an occasional kick up the backside to get the best out of his fast bowler.

The Age said that he delivered one such “rocket” during the tour game at Worcester, during which Lee injured a side muscle.

Recalling the incident, Ponting said that he was struggling to get Lee’s attention, who was mucking around with the crowd at fine leg during the first innings against the England Lions.

“I’d waved to him and told him to warm up to bowl the next over, because I knew the ball was going to reverse. But he hadn’t warmed up, so I explained that if he hadn’t been talking to the crowd, maybe he would have heard what I was talking about,” Ponting said in an interview with former England captain Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail.

Ponting and Lee clashed during the fast bowler’s difficult tour of India last year when Lee queried why he had not been brought into the attack, and the Australian captain told Hussain that his star pacer was someone who needed the occasional kick in the pants.

“Sometimes he is, and one of a captain’s biggest roles is to understand his players’ personalities and get the best out of them,” Ponting said.

“The incident with Brett that’s been most highlighted was in India where it was just a bit of a miscommunication about why he wasn’t bowling at a certain time of day. We got that sorted out but I think a rocket for a player every now and then is not the worst thing. If they’re the right sort of character, they’ll bounce back.”

Lee took seven wickets for the match but stiffened up during the bus ride from Worcester to Cardiff, later explaining that he had been desperate to prove he could still bowl with express pace in an effort to reclaim his place in the team. (ANI)

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Dhoni’s cricket fans celebrate his birthday in Ranchi

July 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ranchi, July 7 (ANI): Fans of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrated his 28th birthday on Tuesday at Mecon Stadium near his residence in Jharkhand capital, Ranchi town.

Dhoni was born in 1981 and grew up in Ranchi. Dhoni was not present in Ranchi, but his fans marked the day by cutting a huge cake and distributing sweets to each other.

Members of the Dhoni Fans Club put up big banners and posters across Ranchi. His well-wishers prayed for his happiness and success.

“First of all, I want to wish him (M S Dhoni) a very Happy Birthday and I wish him all the happiness,” said Anuradha, a female fan of Dhoni.

Jitender Singh, President of Dhoni Fans Club, said that the club would set up a Cricket Academy to felicitate young talents from the slum areas.

“On this occasion we are opening a cricket academy on the way to the airport. We have contacted all the good players of Ranchi and Jharkhand and they have promised to train the young budding players,” Singh said.

“We also have made some special arrangements for the children from slums, who wants to play but due to lack of opportunity fail to do so. We would open a hostel with funds collected by the Dhoni Fans Club wherein all those facilities would be provided to the players,” he added.

Recently, fans had burnt Dhoni’s effigy in Ranchi, blaming him for defending champions India’s humiliating exit from the Twenty20World Cup.

Indian fans singled out Dhoni, hailed as a natural leader since captaining the team to victory in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, as the villain.

Dhoni was blamed for shuffling the order and failing to shake off his own subdued batting form when a captain’s innings was badly needed. (ANI)

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