Captain Ricky Ponting has dismissed talks of Australia being underprepared for the World Twenty20 Championships by missing the Indian Premier League (IPL) and said his side is instead "in the best shape" following the break before the big event. Ponting along with Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey, deliberately skipped IPL preferring rest ahead of a busy summer for them.
Spinner Graeme Swann reckons that the current England team would not be able to make it to the top honours of the upcoming Champions Trophy, and the maximum that they hope to achieve is to reach the semi-finals.
England batsman Alastair Cook will serve as Andrew Strauss's vice-captain in the four-Test series against West Indies which starts next month. Strauss was appointed captain earlier this month after the turmoil surrounding the resignation of Kevin Pietersen and the sacking of England coach Peter Moores.
England stars Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff will give away 10 per cent of their Indian Premier League earnings to their respective counties Hampshire and Lancashire.
England announced on Tuesday their one-day squad for the Stanford Twenty20 competition beginning on October 25 and the tour of India starting on November 14.
British athlete Mo Farah, who is a big Arsenal fan, has joined football player Jack Wilshere in opposing the practice of sportsmen switching nationality to compete under a flag of convenience. Wilshere had provoked a fierce debate by saying the only people who should play for England are English people.
The second season of the Indian Premier League has been as much about ducks as it has been about runs.
English cricket plunged into deep crisis with coach Peter Moores also resigning.
Kings XI Punjab's bid to remain in contention for the play-off berth in the Indian Premier League received a major blow when their premier batsman Shaun Marsh was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. The Australian batsman had picked up a niggle in his back during the six-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on April 19, which reportedly worsened in subsequent matches. Marsh is the third Australian in as many days to be heading home early from the competition, following younger brother Mitchell (side) and captain Steve Smith (wrist).
Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday lavished praise on retired Australian Matthew Hayden and Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan for their efforts in the 92-run win over Bangalore Royal Challengers in Port Elizabeth.
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Barely a day after England's tour of India to play two Test matches got final clearance, the first batch of cricketers landed in Chennai on Monday evening amid tight security.
Professional Cricketers Association chief executive Sean Morris will meet England captain Kevin Pietersen and the rest of the team when they come to Heathrow on Saturday evening with the message that 'cricket is no longer at the top of the agenda'. 'We will sit down with the players and discuss the situation. We can't make any decisions at this stage,' Morris said.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field against England in the fifth One-Day International at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday. India brought in left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan in place of Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma replaced the in-form Gautam Gambhir.
Former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer lashed out at match referee Roshan Mahanama, saying his lack of "common sense" resulted in the third One-Day International between India and England at Kanpur being decided by the Duckworth/Lewis system. 'Kanpur has good (floodlights) lights and they should have been used,' he said.
England struggled to impose themselves on the Australian bowlers during the third day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's on Saturday after opting to bat again rather than enforce the follow-on. At tea England were 130 for two, an overall lead of 340, following a slow post-lunch period during which both Ravi Bopara (19 not out) and Kevin Pietersen (28 not out) were restricted by thoughtful pace bowling.
West Indies cruised to a six wicket victory over England in a one-off Twenty20 international in Trinidad on Sunday. The hosts' excellent bowling and fielding restricted England to a modest 121 in 19.1 overs before Ramnaresh Sarwan's 59 put them in control and set up victory with two overs to spare.
England fought their way into the ascendancy on the opening day of the first Ashes Test on Wednesday before two late wickets put Australia firmly back in the match.
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