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commentsAustralia face difficult task forcing a result
Weather and pitch conditions could conspire against the Australians in their quest for a series-levelling victory at Edgbaston. Rain is forecast for the West Midlands for each of the next four days, with particularly heavy storms predicted for Wednesday, the eve of the third Ashes Test, and Thursday. And even if the players do make it onto the field for extended periods, recent history suggests Ricky Ponting's men could find it difficult to force their way back into the series on a pitch that has played host to 16 draws from its past 20 first-class matches.
Only once this season has a county team achieved victory in Birmingham, and then only on account of a sublime fast-bowling performance from Graham Onions and Steve Harmison. The Durham pacemen, both of whom have been named in England's 13-man squad for the third Ashes Test, claimed a combined 16 wickets to lead Durham to a win over Warwickshire in June, however the six other first-class matches played at the ground this year have resulted in draws.
One of those matches, England's pre-Ashes warm-up match against Warwickshire, was a rare bright point for seamers at Edgbaston. James Anderson took full advantage of the green-tinged pitch to claim five first innings wickets, however his efforts were not enough to force a result in the three-day contest.
Despite his recent success at Edgbaston, Anderson was expecting a benign Test strip. "It's generally quite slow and low and I'm guessing it will be similar to Cardiff, which isn't great from an entertainment point of view or a bowler's point of view," Anderson said. "To be honest, Test pitches around the world are getting pretty similar. As bowlers we're quite used to it and just have to try and work out how to get 20 wickets on these sort of pitches."
Ravi Bopara was another to have excelled during England's warm-up match against Warwickshire, scoring 43 and 104 retired, and he too predicted a gruelling match against the Australians.
"It might be," Bopara said. "But that's where a good spinner comes in to bowl a lot of overs and produce some good spells where he takes a wicket or two to break up partnerships. I think Hauritz has bowled really well. He started off the tour really well. We certainly don't underestimate him. Again, our boys have had recent success as well. Swann's bowled well against the West Indies and Monty Panesar is back on the scene as well. Facing him in the nets, he's been top drawer. It's probably going to be one of those toils ... and go down to the wire."
The Australians, however, are taking nothing for granted regarding the Edgbaston surface, having famously been duped into bowling first at the ground four years ago in a match England won by two runs. Despite recent comments from Steve Rouse, the Edgbaston curator, stating that recent rain had left the pitch "like jelly", Tim Nielsen, the Australia coach, said his side would reserve judgment on the make-up of their bowling attack until they had closely inspected the surface first-hand.
"We'll have a look at the conditions when we get to Edgbaston and work it out," Nielsen said. "We're hearing that the wicket isn't very progressed in its preparation. We'll have a look at what the weather is doing."
Local bookmakers have installed the draw as the most likely result in the match.
Sri Lanka A prevail in high-scorer despite Umar heroics
It was a day of big hundreds as Mahela Udawatte and Chamara Kapugedera lifted Sri Lanka A to a huge total batting first, before another supreme knock from Umar Akmal drew the Pakistanis close. The visitors narrowly missed out in the high-scorer at the Welagedera Stadium, which would have been a big confidence booster ahead of the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka which gets underway on Thursday.
Sri Lanka A were off to a horror start once captain Thilina Kandamby opted to bat. Abdul Razzaq struck with the first two balls of the match to send back Upul Tharanga and Kaushal Silva. Sri Lanka A though, mounted a superb recovery as Udawatte and Kandamby put on 114 for the third wicket. Udawatte was at his imperious best during his 135-ball knock, which included 19 fours and two sixes. Kapugedera joined Udawatte in the 20th over, and from then on it was Sri Lanka A all the way. Kapugedera hit six fours and two sixes during his 91-ball stay, and compounded Pakistan's misery further by putting on a massive 222-run stand for the fourth wicket with Udawatte. Both batsmen were dismissed by Razzaq who finished with 4 for 70.
Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof buoyed by their team's big score, rattled the Pakistani top order during the chase. The visitors had slipped to 29 for 3 before Shahid Afridi (34) and Fawad Alam (85) kept them in with a chance. Following their dismissals, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan failed to kick on and that left the lower order with too much to do.
But that did not worry Umar, who smashed seven fours and three sixes in a mature display. The 19-year-old grew in confidence through his strokeplay and was lent support by Razzaq, who stroked a blitzkrieg 56 off 29 balls, that pushed Sri Lanka A all the way. But lightning struck twice, with Maharoof and Fernando doing the damage towards the end, as Umar was left stranded on an unbeaten century.
West Indies seek top-order revival
The Big Picture
The disappointment of West Indies' defeat in the series opener was not confined to their performance. They didn't get the pitch they wanted. This, despite the curator Richard LeTang's assertion that spinners would have a hard time on the Windsor Park track in response to West Indies coach John Dyson's call for a "hard, pacy and bouncy wicket." Instead, the track was not unlike the ones used in the Tests, where Bangladesh's spinners thrived and ultimately won their team its first series overseas. West Indies' problems against the slow bowlers showed little improvement in the first ODI, the batsmen succumbing to poor footwork and shot selection. The pitch played slow, the spinners got the ball to grip and one can expect little change in the way it will behave tomorrow. Unless the brittle top-order devises a means to combat Bangladesh's strength, West Indies could slide to their first ODI series defeat against the visitors.
Bangladesh are a happy lot. Shakib Al Hasan has backed his shrewd captaincy with individual performance, Mohammad Ashraful has returned to form and Abdur Razzak has made a successful comeback from his suspension. Add to that the favourable conditions, and Bangladesh look good to wrap it up.
Form Guide
(last five matches, most recent first)
West Indies: LNLWL Bangladesh: WWWLL
Watch out for....
Mohammad Ashraful and Mahmudullah: Ashraful's relatively guarded half-century was a sign of his determination to end a woeful run and should give him ample confidence as he tries to rediscover his dominating game. We know of Mahmudullah's ability as an offspinner but he proved his worth with the bat in the first game, smacking 42. His average of 26.46 isn't bad for a lower-order batsman, and given his talent, it can only improve.
Devon Smith and David Bernard: The pair threatened an upset in the first game and dealt with the spinners particularly well. Smith's experience in the international circuit is an asset, while Bernard's all-round skills are much-needed ammunition for a struggling West Indies outfit.
Team news
Wicketkeeper Andre Fletcher continued his poor form with the bat, and West Indies will be tempted to give Devon Thomas a go. Dale Richards is an attacking opener but has struggled against spin. Though his style of play may pay off on his day, Kieran Powell, the left-handed batsman, may just be considered. Fast bowler Nelon Pascal had an indifferent debut, and Gavin Tonge could be given a call-up.
West Indies (possible): 1 Devon Smith, 2 Dale Richards/Kieran Powell, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 David Bernard, 5 Floyd Reifer (capt), 6 Devon Thomas (wk), 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Rawl Lewis, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Nelon Pascal/ Gavin Tonge.
Bangladesh are likely to retain a winning combination and a four-pronged spin attack.
Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Syed Rasel, 11 Rubel Hossain.
Stats and Trivia
If Bangladesh win tomorrow, they will have recorded their ninth bilateral ODI series victory but their first against a current Test-playing nation.
West Indies, with a full-strength squad, have played four ODI series this year and lost each of them.
Quotes
"We are not getting enough partnerships at the top of the innings." Floyd Reifer
"I have been surprised by the nature of the pitches in the Caribbean." Shakib Al Hasan couldn't have asked for anything better
Strauss wary of Australia backlash
Habits of a lifetime are difficult to change for Andrew Strauss, who despite England's strong Ashes position believes it's too dangerous to glance ahead. In past years, series involving these teams hadn't started before the predictions of convincing victories occurred, although those were usually made by players named Warne, McGrath or Waugh. Those Ashes heroes have left and England find themselves 1-0 ahead against Australia's weakest team in more than 20 years.
It is now the hosts with the momentum after their history-breaking win at Lord's, but not the faith to say in public what they privately believe. Australia are vulnerable, particularly with their mis-firing bowling, and despite losing Kevin Pietersen, the hosts will be boosted by the sort of crowd support not received since 2005. These strong feelings and omens have not moved Strauss, who would not allow himself to show the self-belief of England's former conquerors.
"I'm never confident enough to predict anything," he said. "It's a dangerous route to go down." When on top, some sides see further opportunities to gain an advantage, others see risk. Strauss's main aim in the lead-up to Thursday's third Test is to ward off complacency.
He said the Lord's Test was one of the best team performances he had been involved in with England. "You gain a huge amount of confidence winning an Ashes Test," he said. "I'm looking forward to this week, there will be a nice feeling in the camp. We can't let that feeling become a sense of complacency, it's something we've got to be very guarded against. We have three Tests to go, if we play three good Tests we've got the potential to win an Ashes series."
It all sounded very pleasant, just what an Australian would expect at an English sponsorship announcement. For the next four years Brit Insurance will appear on the team's shirts, but there is no assurance of further success. Not even from the captain.
"We are expecting an Aussie backlash and we expect this Test to be harder than the other two we've played," Strauss said. "We're excited about that, and we're excited to be ahead in an Ashes series, but we know that that can change quickly. If we're not right on, then there can problems."
He did tell his men not to take the foot off the pedal at Edgbaston and believed they had strong form in that department. "In the past five or six months there have been some good performances and we've been quite clinical when we've got on top," he said. "I was very confident we could get over the line [at Lord's], the key now is to go right back to first principles and how we set up the game."
Problems exist in the absence of Kevin Pietersen with an Achilles injury and the limping caused by Andrew Flintoff's right knee. Flintoff will bowl in the nets on Tuesday, when England will know whether his fitness will be an issue for the back-to-back Tests in Birmingham and Leeds. "At this stage we're very confident," Strauss said.
Ian Bell will take Pietersen's place at No. 4 to limit the disruptions to a team that will consider bringing in Steve Harmison on a pitch threatening to be underprepared. A report has suggested Harmison will join Flintoff in retirement at the end of the series, but he currently has not played a match and his best chance will occur if Flintoff is injured. Strauss had heard nothing about Harmison walking away and is not concerned about the pitch.
He is more worried about Australia's attack, which is wobbling more than a toddler. After years spent facing Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, England's batsmen have their easiest task for two decades. "It's dangerous to make those assumptions after two Tests," Strauss said. "We've played on two very flat pitches and things this week might be completely different. Whenever you play an Australian side they are always strong. They may not have Warne or McGrath, but they look pretty good." Danger lurks everywhere, apparently.
Kasprowicz and Gillespie relive Edgbaston 2005
Michael Kasprowicz
There are three things Michael Kasprowicz is always being asked: what's Shane Warne really like? What do you do in retirement? And what happened at Edgbaston in 2005? It was Kasprowicz's jerky fend off Steve Harmison to the wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, which was quickly followed by Billy Bowden's raised crooked finger, that gave England a two-run victory and turned the Ashes contest from another one-side affair into a world-rattling series.
Kasprowicz, the No. 11, and Brett Lee put on 60 for the final wicket, first taking their side from hopeless to hopeful, and then to the verge of a stunning triumph. With nerves making everyone feel like it was the middle of winter, Harmison ran in. "It was a short ball," Kasprowicz remembered. "Instinct took my hands up. I'd successfully got through previous short balls like that and I guess that's what made it so cruel. I got out, England won the Test. To be part of the game was pretty neat, but winning would have been ideal." Never had three runs, the number needed for victory, seemed so many.
As Kasprowicz floated around the first two Tests of this series, members from his touring group were continually pressing him on whether he hit that ball. At the time he wasn't sure, but replays created the sort of doubt that turned the decision into one of the great what ifs of Australian cricket. Four years on it adds to the tale.
"Generally people ask did you hit it?," Kasprowicz said. "There was an Indian guy who came up to me and said thank you so much, thank you for saving Test cricket. If you had got the runs the series would have been dead and Test cricket would have been dead. You single-handedly changed cricket. I thanked him nicely and said that the single hand was actually off the bat at the time." It's the best joke of a series that most Australians didn't find funny.
While the match peaked with such excitement that it made it impossible for the Australians snuggling under covers back home to sleep, it started with another crucial development. Glenn McGrath stepped on a ball in the final warm-up and as his ankle turned, so did the series. Both times when McGrath didn't play, Australia lost. One of Australia's legion of support staff should be on the lookout for stray balls on Thursday morning.
Shortly after McGrath's mishap, Ricky Ponting won the toss - and bowled! The exclamation mark is still necessary. At the time it was a bewildering choice and reports of a fierce dressing-room argument were denied amid talk that the decision to field was unanimous. "I was a little bit surprised," Jason Gillespie said of the decision four years on. "In preparing, Glenn went down, then all of a sudden we'd won the toss and bowled. It took me by surprise. However, Ricky would have been totally justified had we held our catches. Then England smacked 407 in a day."
After being 99 behind on first innings, Australia dismissed England for 182 and were chasing 282 for a 2-0 lead. It soon felt like 500 and they started the final morning at 175 for 8, but they were not planning a meek surrender. Shane Warne swept comfortably to 43 before brushing his stumps with his foot, leaving the final pair to survive. In the dressing room Gillespie, who lasted two balls the previous afternoon, was counting down the runs with his team-mates.
"It was very tense," he said. "At first we were thinking 'we're no chance', then 'the boys are hanging in there', to 'we could do this!'. England didn't have any answers ... but it just takes one ball. It was unlucky Kasper was given out, but it was a bizarre, great Test match."
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In the middle Kasprowicz and Lee made a vow to relax and have fun. Nobody expected them to get close, so they would see what happened. A lot happened: a flurry of boundaries, scampered singles, the stressing of England fielders, the volume falling in the majority of the crowd.
"They were trying to get us out each ball, with bouncers and yorkers, so the runs were coming," Kasprowicz said. "It wasn't until we got to nine runs to get that they started bowling a good line and length. Then the runs were stopped."
The margin was brought down to single figures following an Andrew Flintoff ball down the legside that hit a footmark and went for four. "From that moment on there was silence through the whole ground, except for a pocket of Australians," Kasprowicz said. "That was unique."
In Australia it felt like the great escape was on, that this wonderful team would do it again. The hosts, led by Michael Vaughan's cajoling, were trying to remain calm. Muscles were tightening like they do in torture chambers.
Bowden's finger allowed the next release of emotion. The crowd re-discovered its collective voice, Flintoff found Lee and hugged a body that was more tenderised than the batsman's instantly bruised heart. During Lee's bravest innings it felt like he had taken more hits than his 43 runs. At the other end Kasprowicz was lonely, stranded on 20, and not sure what exactly had happened. Nobody was offering consolation cuddles.
"I've had people ask me, 'you know that photo where Freddie Flintoff comes up and hugs you, what did he say?' I say: 'Nothing, nothing at all, it was actually Brett Lee.'"
The walls between dressing rooms at Edgbaston are thin and the England songs could be heard next door. The Australians tried to ignore the noise, preferring gloomy reflection. "Because it was so close, everyone retreated into their mind about the shot they played or a no-ball or a mis-field, one of those minor events, about how they could have done it better," Kasprowicz said. There would be a lot more looking back over the rest of the series.
There was no Australian recovery and England showed rare poise under pressure, a trait which had been missing from them in the Ashes contests over the previous 16 years. "What was different about that series was that the close moments, which had gone Australia's way in the past, were going against us," Kasprowicz said. "It was a different feel in the team because all of a sudden those moments weren't working out, like getting a decision go against you or dropping a crucial catch. In the past it wasn't a big deal because you'd get another one and get on with it.
"During that series every single error was amplified so much more. In the dressing room, if you feel you are unlucky then you are, and the word luck was used in the Australian dressing room. In the past luck was never an issue. The only team that talks about luck is generally the loser." At Edgbaston, Kasprowicz and Lee were desperately unlucky.
"I've had people ask me, 'you know that photo where Freddie Flintoff comes up and hugs you, what did he say?' I say: 'Nothing, nothing at all, it was actually Brett Lee.'"
Kent breeze past Durham into Twenty20 finals day
The largest crowd at Canterbury since 1993 witnessed a skilful and deeply impressive bowling performance from the home side as Kent brushed Durham aside in a manner befitting a team who have reached Twenty20 finals day for the third year in a row.
What made their performance today all the more impressive, however, was that they themselves struggled with the bat, throwing away another fine start by Joe Denly and Robert Key to reach an underwhelming 149 for 7. Yet they fought back superbly with the ball, firstly through Wayne Parnell, cutting a sizeable hole in Durham's top-order, and then James Tredwell. Durham didn't have an answer.
Parnell cuts a wonderfully aggressive figure as an opening bowler, resembling a youthful Jason Gillespie in beard and brawn, and is no less skillful. His excellence with the new ball continued, removing Phil Mustard with the first ball of Durham's chase when the wicketkeeper slapped ungainly to mid-off. A mouth-watering battle promised: Parnell versus David Warner, the young and outrageously uninhibited Australian, but Parnell won that battle comfortably, luring him into a loose drive outside off. Parnell had 2 for 8 off his first two overs.
Simon Cook replaced him and immediately bowled a full length - too full for Geraint Jones, who let through four byes - but England's former wicketkeeper reminded everyone of his sporadic brilliance with the gloves to produce a sublime stumping a few balls later, whipping off the bails to remove Kyle Coetzer for 12. With the wickets came panic. What should have been an easy single on the leg-side turned into a horrible, jittery run that left Ian Blackwell short of his ground, as Cook at short fine-leg threw down the stumps. Durham were in disarray.
All eyes on their captain, Will Smith, to assert some semblance of calm on proceedings, but his desperate slice was cleanly taken by Denly, running backwards from point, while Gareth Breese holed out to Tredwell in the spinner's first over. Durham weren't simply facing defeat, but an outright rout at 39 for 6.
Like a wizened sage, Dale Benkenstein offered the visitors the vaguest of chances with several meaty blows, including a savage pull into the burger van at midwicket, but these were the last smouldering embers of an innings which never truly caught fire. Tredwell's full length and quick change of pace castled Harmison, and Benkenstein was left stranded, a little bemused at his team-mates' ineptitude, and ultimately gutted.
Durham were on the money with the ball earlier, however. But where the two innings differed lay in the Kentish openers' initial glitzy success, and the ugly lower-order heavies of Justin Kemp and Ryan McLaren. Denly and Key have done it so often for Kent and have that inherent, unspoken understanding that successful opening partnerships rely upon, and that was again obvious today with frequent stolen singles in addition to classy boundaries down the ground.
Key dispatched Liam Plunkett's fourth delivery into the burger and chips fraternity at midwicket for the day's cleanest maximum, as he and Denly scorched 50 in six overs of clean-hitting. Durham fought back gainly through Mitchell Claydon - not his bowling, but his catching. Square of jaw, and squarer of build, he doesn't resemble one of Australia's most natural athletes, but pulled off three highly impressive snaffles, two of which were taken diving forward and to his right at long-on to dismiss both openers.
Ben Harmison impressed in the absence of his brother, Steve, picking up 3 for 24 in a controlled spell, but Kemp used his long levers to muscle vital lower-order runs while McLaren slice-smashed Neil Killeen for four, in between scampering singles like a frightened whippet. With 21 from 13, he heaved Kent to what was an underwhelming total for a team of such talents, but ultimately it was enough for one with such a potent bowling attack.
For the third year in a row, Kent have reached Twenty20 finals day. It's nothing less than they deserve.
Pietersen describes Ashes torture
LONDON: England batsman Kevin Pietersen described on Sunday his "mental torture" at missing the final three Ashes Tests.
The South Africa-born star has been sidelined from the series after undergoing surgery on his right Achilles this week.
It has been a difficult year for Pietersen who was also forced to stand down from the captaincy following a row with former coach Peter Moores.
"I'll be damn glad to see the back of 2009!" he wrote in his News of the World column.
"On Friday I was in so much agony I had to call the England medical team and ask them to come and give me something to combat it.
"Yet whatever the physical pain, it's nothing compared to the mental torture of the past week. To be out of an Ashes series is terrible, so bad I can hardly put it into words."
Pietersen, who revealed he had an epidural injection in his spine in order to get through the first Test in Cardiff, also rubbished claims that he aggravated the problem by jogging on the beach while on Indian Premier League duty for Bangalore Royal Challengers in Durban.
"I played the next day in Durban and there was no problem at all. I certainly wasn't under any instruction not to jog," he said.
While Pietersen misses out, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff looks set to battle on through his final three Test matches before quitting the long form of the game following a succession of injury problems in recent years.
The hero of the 2005 Ashes series victory took five second-innings wickets in the second Test triumph at Lord's earlier this week and his fitness is being monitored ahead of the third Test which starts at Edgbaston on Thursday.
"When you are charging in to bowl with 25,000 fans driving you on and you're living on adrenaline and excitement, it's easy to forget injuries," he said.
"But when everyone has gone home and you wake up the next morning, that's when you have to deal with it." In spite that, Flintoff is hopeful of making it through the last three Tests.
Hamilton-Brown spins Sussex to finals day
Rory Hamilton-Brown took 4 for 15 to spin Sussex into Twenty20 Cup finals day with an impressive 38-run win over Warwickshire under the lights at Hove. Beaten by Hampshire in the Friends Provident Trophy final on Saturday, Sussex bounced back with a terrier-like performance in the field, successfully defending 152.
Much as Kent's batsmen flattered to deceive in the day's other quarter-final against Durham at Canterbury, so did Sussex's, before their bowlers and fielders made life impossible for Warwickshire's batsmen, with only Jonathan Trott - the first-ever batsman to pass 500 runs in a Twenty20 Cup season - threatening the hosts with a 47-ball 56.
James Kirtley made the early breakthrough when Neil Carter chipped back an easy return catch, but Trott was quick to pounce on anything too full, ensuring Warwickshire's scoring rate was brisk from the outset. He received little support, initially at least, with Jim Troughton falling to Yasir Arafat and Tim Ambrose - unluckily, as it hit him on the glove - being adjudged leg-before to the impressively calm young legspinner, Will Beer.
In came Ian Westwood, and out came the shots - or rather, one shot in particular: the mow over midwicket. Beer was repeatedly wellied through the same region and Westwood was twice dropped, first by the usually brilliant Dwayne Smith close to the wicket, and in the next over by Luke Wright, diving forward and shelling a relatively straightforward chance. Westwood, however, struck a frenzied figure at the crease and offered Wright a near-identical chance at deep midwicket which was accepted comfortably. Warwickshire were 70 for 4 and the game was receding from them as quickly as the evening tide along the coast.
Hamilton-Brown was introduced and turned the game emphatically Sussex's way with two wickets in his first over, bowling Tony Frost before trapping Trott in front for 56. Warwickshire needed 61 from 32, a task too great for most tails, but particularly this one. Bowling close to 70mph, and very straight, it was no surprise that three of Hamilton-Brown's four victims were bowled, and he wrapped things up with the final wicket of Steffan Piolet with the last ball of the 19th over.
Sussex were less convincing with the bat, however. Luke Wright top scored with 38 from 31, but Sussex wasted a promising start with four run-outs in the middle-order, careering from 101 for 3 to 152 for 9. Boyd Rankin again swelled Irish pride with another highly impressive and accurate spell, also effecting the run-out of Yasir Arafat, as Warwickshire fought back gallantly.
The key innings, however, came from Chris Nash, who at No. 7 used his experience and calm opener's demeanour to crash 29 from 14 balls, the type of knock Warwickshire's lower-order desperately needed, and couldn't muster. Sussex's pain of losing to Hampshire last Saturday already seems a distant memory.
Players could quit Tests for IPL pay
NEW DELHI: Gary Kirsten, India"s coach, has joined the debate on IPL"s threat to Test cricket and said if players are paid substantially more for playing in the T20 league then there will be others like Andrew Flintoff who will quit Tests.
"It"s a natural progression that the guys are then going to say "I"m not interested in bowling 25 overs in a day when I can bowl four overs in a six-week period and earn three times as much"," Kirtsen said.
"The worrying side that I"m seeing is that a guy like Andrew Flintoff, a high profile cricketer, has now made the decision to leave Test cricket, because he feels that he can get more out of his body and earn much more money by moving away from Test cricket and playing ODIs and T20 cricket. He"s perfectly right in his decision. Why not?"
Kirsten said if countries wanted Test cricket to remain as the No. 1 format then priorities had to be sorted. "India plays six Tests this year. Is that sufficient or are there other priorities? I don"t know."
Kirsten also said the number of T20s per tour should be increased in place of ODIs. "It"s quite interesting that we"ve got a T20 World Cup in April next year in the West Indies and Team India don"t play one T20 game until that tournament starts. What should be happening is that we should be going on tour and playing six T20 games and one or two 50-over games. I think that"s going to happen. It"s just a matter of time."
New Zealand players have decided to forgo next year"s IPL for a Test series against Australia at home. Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, said while the national side had to be the players" priority, it was difficult for them to continue to turn down the money.
Shoaib"s career almost over, says Wasim
NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram believes fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar"s international career is virtually over. Akram said the warning bells had been sounded with Shoaib"s omission from Pakistan"s list of probables for the forthcoming Champions Trophy, to be held in South Africa.
"I don"t think he has got a chance, unless and until some miracles happen. Even though it depends on the captain and selectors, I think Shoaib has fallen out with the selectors and the board itself. The board still supported him and he went to Abu Dhabi and played two of the five games before getting injured again. We all saw that."
Akram also said the emergence of young fast bowlers like Mohammad Aamer had made Shoaib"s comeback tougher. "I think Pakistan"s bowling unit is doing well and they have to look ahead and think about the future," he said. "They have to back the youngsters who will do the job for them, even if you look at the 2011 World Cup. Also in this year"s Champions Trophy and the next Twenty20 World Cup."
Akram predicted a difficult future for Mohammad Asif as well. The 26-year-old fast bowler, however, made the cut for the probables for the Champions Trophy.
"My advice to Asif would be learn from your mistakes. I sincerely hope he learns from the 300 mistakes that he has made in the last two years," said Akram. "He"s young, talented and one of the best Pakistani bowlers but it will take him some time to return because Aamer is now bowling really well."
He pointed out that international returns were not easy and cited the cases of Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir.
WIPA hits back at Lloyd and Holding
The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has strongly defended itself against criticism from former cricketers Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding. Speaking to Cricinfo last week, Lloyd had said WIPA was "not trying to achieve anything but strengthen their bank balance" while Holding had wondered if some WIPA officials were "trying to settle personal grouses with the board". In a statement on its website, WIPA called Lloyd's charges "most unfortunate, wrong and misleading" and said Holding had "produced no evidence to substantiate his charges" and was "expressing his personal belief".
The players' body also hit back at Lloyd for terming the players who went on strike "greedy". WIPA said many of its members had rejected lucrative contracts with the unsanctioned ICL and pointed out that Lloyd and other leading players of his generation had signed up with the Kerry Packer's rebel World Series Cricket (WSC), which had forced the West Indies board to field second-string sides for several series.
"The reports of that time of upheaval in West Indies cricket indicate that Clive Lloyd, as West Indies captain, played a pivotal role in influencing other West Indian players like Michael Holding, Deryck Murray and Joel Garner to join him in the WSC. Unlike the IPL in which Chris Gayle and others are involved and which is recognised by the ICC, WSC was not sanctioned by this body. Lloyd and his team blazed the path for better remuneration for players by participating in the WSC.
"WIPA does not think that Mr Lloyd and others did so for greed."
The dispute between WIPA and the board intensified when 13 leading West Indian players boycotted the Test series against Bangladesh earlier this month. The players ended their strike and made themselves available for international selection last week after the appointment of an arbitrator to resolve the impasse through mediation.
West Indies Vs Bangladesh
West Indies Vs Bangladesh From GMT Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica West Indies won the toss & elected to field. This was The great decision by Banladesh Caption they make 247 and defend thier total and won by 54 Runs.
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