'But, of course, in cricket anything can happen. While England start the favourites, there are other teams which are also playing some good cricket'
The 2015 World Cup so far has been treat for batsmen and spectators alike. Big scores have become synonymous with this edition of the mega event. So, while some shots sailed over the boundary line, others were opportunities, disguised as catches for fielders. Fielders had to lunge, go full stretch and focus to pocket those catches. Rediff.com presents you a chance to treat your eyes to those beautiful catches that made for plain, super cricket moments.
England may have been utterly humiliated in their second World Cup pool match against co-hosts New Zealand but Sunday's nine-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka was much more damaging, according to former England captain Mike Atherton.
England skipper Eoin Morgan gave credit where it was due, stating that Chris Gayle's 'skill level was quite up', on the night when the burly West Indian tormented the English bowlers in their opening ICC World T20 fixture on Wednesday.
They dampened the local spirits by knocking out India but a resurrected West Indies cricket team will bring its own brand of joie-de-vivre to the ICC World Twenty20 summit clash when they take on a transformed England in what promises to be a battle of power-hitting at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Ian Bell's controversial "non dismissal" during the second Test between England and India subverted the laws of the game and had nothing to do with the Spirit of Cricket, former England captain Michael Atherton said on Monday.
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen will not be recalled for this year's World Twenty20 in India, captain Eoin Morgan was quoted on Monday as saying. Pietersen, 35, has not played for England in any format since 2014 but has been in good form recently in club Twenty20 tournaments in Australia and Pakistan. "That door is completely shut, Kevin will not be picked. That's from me," Morgan told the Daily Mail. South African-born Pietersen, a former England captain and member of the side that won the World Twenty20 in 2010, was dropped in 2014. England director of cricket Andrew Strauss explained the decision at the time by saying there was a "massive trust issue" with Pietersen. The pair had fallen out over text messages sent by Pietersen to South African players during a 2012 test series when Strauss was captaining the team.
Pakistan recovered from a dreadful start, thanks to a century by Sarfraz Ahmed, to post a respectable total of 251 before Root and captain Eoin Morgan shared a third-wicket stand of 112 to lay the platform for the hosts to go 2-0 up in the series.
England will not force any player to tour Bangladesh, limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan said, in the wake of the July 1 attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people were killed.
Fascinating predictions for the years ahead. A revealing excerpt from Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde's Cricket 2.0: Inside The T20 Revolution.
The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack has broken with tradition and named only four cricketers of the year for its 2011 edition because of the Pakistan spot-fixing scandal, editor Scyld Berry said on Friday.
The visitors lost eight wickets for as many runs to suffer a dramatic slide in the match that saw them lose the series 1-2.
Virat Kohli strengthened his position at the top of ICC ODI rankings for batsmen by touching a career-high 911 points, while Kuldeep Yadav broke into the top-10 of the bowlers' chart at sixth, on Wednesday.
GMR's team will be based in Johannesburg with young Protea paceman Kagiso Rabada as its marquee player while Khan's outfit will be based in Cape Town with left-handed batsman JP Duminy as the marquee player.
Images from the World Cup second semi-final between England and Australia in Birmingham, on Thursday.
England batsman Eoin Morgan is set to undergo shoulder surgery and will miss the upcoming one-day international tour of India, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Friday.
Half centuries from Alistair Cook (96), Eoin Morgan (79) and Matt Prior (73, batting) helped England take control of proceedings on Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's on Friday.
Eoin Morgan led England to victory over his native Ireland in his first match as captain of his adopted country on Thursday, in a rain-affected 50 overs match. Man-of-the-match Morgan scored 59 in England's 201 for eight while Jonathan Trott collected 69. Ireland, who defeated England in their last one-day match at the World Cup this year, replied with 117 for eight, and lost by 11 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method.
Australia rode David Warner's belligerent 127 to chase down a modest target and beat England by three wickets with 10 overs to spare in the first match of the tri-series, also involving India, on Friday. England's new One-Day International captain Eoin Morgan roared back into form with a scintillating 121 but his team was dismissed for 234 inside 48 overs against some impressive bowling by Mitchel Starc (4-42) and James Faulkner (3-47).
Eoin Morgan was named on Sunday in England's squad for the first Test with Sri Lanka, getting a surprise nod ahead of Ravi Bopara to replace the recently retired Paul Collingwood in the middle order.
England batsman Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the cricket World Cup because he requires surgery on a broken finger, coach Andy Flower said on Tuesday. He will be replaced by Ravi Bopara in the squad for the February 19-April 2 tournament in India.
Joe Root, who scored his 10th ODI hundred, was thrilled at England getting their Champions Trophy campaign off to an emphatic start.
England suffered another injury blow ahead of the World Cup after explosive batsman Eoin Morgan joined the growing list of casualties with broken left middle finger.
It ensures participants are equipped with the information required to ensure the game remains clean and their careers do not suffer due to lack of knowledge.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that Ian Bell knew he had "messed up" during his controversial run out in the second Test against India but gave the impression of not really knowing what all the fuss was about to get a reprieve from the visiting side.
England women's cricket captain Heather Knight says, given the Eoin Morgan-led team have lost a few games, I think some people have written them off, so in some ways they would come in under the radar if they do reach the semis.
England captain Eoin Morgan has played down injury concerns for all-rounder Ben Stokes, who left field with a sore knee during Wednesday's comprehensive victory over South Africa.
Eoin Morgan feels that England have enough variation and quality in their bowling attack to trouble the star-studded India batting line-up in the upcoming four-Test series beginning at Lord's next week.
Mahela Jayawardene stroked an elegant 144 to propel Sri Lanka to a 69-run win over England as the tourists levelled the one-day series 1-1 at Headingley on Friday.
England have rested batsman Kevin Pietersen and bowling pair Graeme Swann and James Anderson from their limited-overs squads for the series in Australia starting next month.
Wood, who has 11 one-day international caps but missed the winter tour of India, is joined by fellow paceman Liam Plunkett who is yet to play for Yorkshire this season because of a calf injury.
'Should the ECB Board receive formal confirmation that Ben Stokes has either been charged or that he will face no charges, they would convene within 48 hours to make a decision on his availability for the team at that stage'
The good thing about the format of this World Cup tournament is the best four teams will go through. All the teams will play each other once, there's nine games each before those semi-finals, so I don't think England will be too worried. They'll learn from things that didn't quite go so well, writes England Women's cricket team captain Heather Knight in her column.
England's Ashes touring party will have seven batsmen, with six listed to play in every Test, at least until things go wrong, and Eoin Morgan will start as the seventh choice, unless injuries intervene, claims noted cricket writer and commentator Scyld Berry in a write-up for the Sunday Telegraph.
Sandeep Lamichhane continued his rapid rise in international cricket as he was named in the ICC World XI squad to take on the West Indies in a charity T20 International on May 31.
Images from the Tewnty20 match between India and England, played at Manchester on Wednesday.
England batsman Eoin Morgan was approved as a replacement for Kevin Pietersen at the World Cup by the International Cricket Council on Monday.
Former England Test cricketer Steve Harmison has claimed that sacked batsman Kevin Pietersen 'does not have a cat in hell's chance' of a recall to the national squad.
In what could turn out to be a possible embarrassment for the English Cricket Board (ECB) ahead of their World Cup campaign, Eoin Morgan has revealed that the injury which forced him out of the mega-event was not as serious as first thought.
Rediff.com takes a look at other instances where two players, their teams not facing each other, have scored their maiden Test hundreds on the same day.