Texas billionaire Allen Stanford has decided to end his five-year contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board for an annual one-day series after he lost $ 40 million in the first year itself, sending ECB into a financial tailspin, media reports said in London on Wednesday.
After the terror attacks in Mumbai, it is the Chennai weather that is now threatening to impact the first India-England Test starting on Thursday. Intermittent heavy rain since early morning has left the outfield at the Chidambaram Stadium slushy, delaying Indian team's morning practice.
England stands no chance in next year's Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies if their players are not allowed to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next season, believes former captain Michael Vaughan.
England's cricketers were guilty of employing double-standards for quitting their tour of India because of security fears, former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson said on Monday.
England batsman Ravi Bopara, who leaves to do the national duty after starring for Kings XI Punjab, has described his experience of playing in the Indian Premier League "as one of the best things" he has done in life.
India continued their rampaging run as they thrashed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to register their third win on the trot, at the ICC Under-19 World Cup, in Mount Maunganui, on Friday.
Former captain Michael Vaughan expects he will have to regain his place in the England team by next month if he is to make the Ashes squad.
England batsman Kevin Pietersen is fit to play in the final Test against Australia following a scan on his injured knee, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Wednesday.
A final decision on the fate of the two-match Test series between England and India, under a cloud of uncertainty following the terror attacks in Mumbai, is expected to come out on Sunday when the ECB's security expert gives his report on the security scenario.
Mohali has emerged as a front-runner to host one of the two cricket Tests instead of Ahmedabad as top BCCI and England and Wales Cricket Board officials were engaged in discussions to take a final decision on England's return to play the series.
The England cricket team which arrived in Bangalore on a transit halt left for home Saturday morning but promised to return for two cricket tests next month.
The two hotels have been turned into virtual fortresses with policemen and other security personnel outside and inside.
England's bowlers will have a clear target to aim at when they seek more bad behaviour from the pitch on day three of the third Test against West Indies.
Andy Flower says England can rely on its fast bowling department to do the job in the remaining Ashes Tests if star performer Andrew Flintoff goes on to miss the series due to injury.
David Beckham made his AC Milan debut with a steady first-half run-out against Hamburg SV in a friendly on Tuesday won 4-3 on penalties by the Italians after the match finished 1-1. Beckham, 33, has joined the Serie A club on a short loan spell from Los Angeles Galaxy to keep up his fitness and stay in contention for the England team during the US close season.
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday blamed the Indian team's much-vaunted batting line-up's failure to complement the bowlers for their Test series defeat in England.
Former captain Michael Vaughan backed England to bounce back from the bitter loss in Chennai, saying that Kevin Pietersen and his men have the "bulldog spirit" to square the Test series against India in Mohali. Vaughan admitted that the six-wicket loss in Chennai was a bitter pill to swallow, considering the way England dominated most part of the match.
With no match practice at all and the the fact that none in the England squad has played first-class cricket in last four months, former England batsman Mark Butcher warned Kevin Pietersen's team to be prepared for tricky readjustments to a Test mind-set. The England team, who were not released to play for their counties at the end of the summer, have played only limited-overs matches since the final Test against South Africa, four months ago.
Kevin Pietersen inks the centuries he scored on his back.
Fearing that a number of senior players may opt out of the Test series in case England actually embarks on the tour of India, ECB has decided to keep three rookie bowlers on stand-by. According to a report in the Daily Mail, the untried Middlesex trio of Tim Murtagh, Alan Richardson and Steven Finn would be part of the England team which is scheduled to fly to Abu Dhabi on Thursday to join the camp before the two-Test series against India.
As fanciful a scenario as it may seem but Kevin Pietersen says he could yet be open to the idea of coming out of retirement to play for England again if ECB boss Giles Clarke exits the scene.
Steve Harmison and Stuart Broad have been recalled to the England team for the final Test against South Africa starting on Thursday at The Oval.
England captain Eoin Morgan is hoping to use the confidence and experience they have gained by drubbing Australia as they gear up to clash with India, which is likely to be a more challenging team for the hosts.
Young Karun Nair on Monday announced his arrival at the world stage with an unforgettable triple ton (303 not out) as India broke a deluge of records en route their highest ever Test total of 759 for 7 against England on the penultimate day of the fifth and final match in Chennai. - Scorecard It was a day that solely belongs to the 25-year-old Karun, who become the second Indian batsman after the legendary Virender Sehwag (twice) to hit a triple hundred in Test match cricket.
He might have beaten Sachin Tendulkar's record of being the youngest to 10,000 runs but England captain Alastair Cook says he is well aware that he is nothing like the 'incredibly talented genius'.
Captain Steve Smith frustrated England with a fighting half-century and pushed Australia to 165 for four at the close of a see-sawing day two, rescuing the hosts after a top order collapse in the series-opening Ashes Test in Brisbane on Friday.
Kevin Pietersen scored 90 not out and then claimed two wickets to inspire his England team to a 20-run victory over South Africa in their opening one-day international at Headingley on Friday. The tourists, replying to England's 275 for four, could only manage 255 to give Pietersen another win after he was appointed captain this month.
Former Pakistan Test cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq has called on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to appoint a full-time spin bowling coach before expressing his desire to fill in the position. The Pakistan off-spinner is currently assisting the England team on a brief consultancy basis, having joined the squad after the two Tests in Bangladesh.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting says England's only hope of winning a Test in the upcoming Ashes series is the day/night match in Adelaide and has predicted a 4-0 victory for the hosts.
On 15th December 1933, Douglas Jardine led England at the Bombay Gymkhana ground against India led by the legendary Col. C K Nayudu.
England fast bowler Steve Harmison has aggravated a hernia problem and is rated extremely doubtful for the first test against India starting on Thursday.
Sir Ian Botham was a worrying influence on Andrew Flintoff during England's Ashes tour of Australia last winter, says former England coach Duncan Fletcher in the latest extract of his autobiography.
It was the final time that India's most successful skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was seen leading the national side although it is an 'A' team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India wants the first Test against England at Ahmedabad put off by a day to allow Mahendra Singh Dhoni play in the Champions T20 League final two days prior to it in case his team, Chennai Super Kings, makes it to the title-contest. The Test opener is to be held from December 11 at Ahmedabad's Motera stadium a day after the Champions League final at Chennai.
Cricket returns to Lord's on Thursday only days after the ground was enveloped in snow to open a season that will show if England can mount a credible challenge to Australia next year. With rain predicted for the rest of the week, the four-day match between MCC and county champions Sussex may be largely spent dodging April showers. No member of the England team that defeated New Zealand 2-1 in March is playing.
The Kiwis return to England this month for a three-Test series, starting at Lord's on May 15, followed by the altogether sterner challenge of a South Africa side who have just completed a crushing innings victory over India.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The England wicketkeeper-batsman stroked an unbeaten 94 for the Royals to add to his last four scores of 67, 51, 82 and 95 not out, matching retired Indian great Virender Sehwag's record of five successive IPL half-centuries set in 2012
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has joined the chorus of players who believe tainted Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir should be banned for life for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. Amir will return at Lord's six years after he deliberately bowled no balls at the same venue during a Test in 2010. Pietersen was among the England team that played against Pakistan at that Lord's Test in August 2010 and the 36-year old believes anyone caught spot or match fixing should not be allowed to play the game again.
Arsenal resume battle with Manchester United at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
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