Clarke breaks silence and is ready for Test
Michael Clarke has spoken publicly for the first time since his sudden departure from Australi
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Dominant Bangalore crush Rajasthan
A superlative bowling performance by Royal Challengers Bangalore, including a hat-trick by Praveen Kumar
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Alastair Cook set to stand by four bowlers
Alastair Cook is preparing to stick with the same balance of seven batsmen and four bowlers that carried his side to a comfortable, if somewhat laboured, 181-run victory in the first Test at Chittagong, as he aims to hand the England captaincy back to Andrew Strauss with a 100% record from his first tour in charge.
With two days to go until the second Test at Dhaka, England are still weighing up their options and have not ruled out the introduction of a second spinner in James Tredwell to partner their ten-wicket Man of the Match from Chittagong, Graeme Swann. But in the absence of a genuine allrounder, the likelihood of calling upon a five-man attack seems slim, especially now that England have a 1-0 lead in the series, and therefore no need to gamble with their selection.
“Historically four bowlers tend to do very well,” said Cook. “In an ideal world you’d love to find that fifth bowler who can bat to find the perfect balance, and obviously that’s what great allrounders like Jacques Kallis bring to the side, but they are few and far between. There’s always a chance this pitch might suit a different attack or it might spin more, so you have to go with whatever side you think will win the game.”
England’s preparations suffered a setback on Thursday when their senior fast bowler, Stuart Broad, was forced to miss training with a stomach complaint. His condition will be monitored in the coming 24 hours and though he is not yet being considered a doubt for selection, his illness does follow a somewhat lacklustre performance in the latter stages at Chittagong, in which his failure to look at the umpire while appealing for an lbw decision against Abdur Razzak was his most notable contribution.
With Swann also attracting opprobrium for his four-lettered send-off to Bangladesh’s centurion, Junaid Siddique, England’s behaviour will be under scrutiny at Dhaka, but Cook was unconcerned. “A lot has been made of those two incidents but the umpires haven’t reported it, and the match referee hasn’t reported it,” he said.
“They were probably very close to the mark and Swanny has apologised, but we want to play hard, aggressive cricket and our disciplinary record over the last couple of years has been exceptional,” he added. “You want to play close to the edge but if you do go over, you have to hold your hands up.”
However, a mean streak will doubtless be essential during England’s next overseas Test assignment, which just happens to be the small matter of an Ashes tour in roughly nine months’ time, and Cook admitted that some of the team’s thoughts and plans were already beginning to be projected towards Brisbane, the scene of that eagerly awaited first Test – especially after the manner in which the team capitulated against South Africa at Johannesburg in January.
“This is our last Test match away before we go to Australia and that has been noted,” he said. “We discussed the issue this week about what it means to play for England and wanting to win, and how big it is to win 2-0. We’ve got jobs to do and responsibilities, and it’s all part of our development as a side because in South Africa we didn’t really do ourselves justice in that last Test match.”
From Cook’s own point of view, he is ready to relinquish his stand-in role having become a more rounded and mature player, thanks to his opportunity to take charge of the team in Strauss’s absence. “I’ve got an understanding of what Straussy goes through and what you need from the people around you,” he said. “When I go back into the ranks I’ll a lot more confident in my thoughts and hopefully help Straussy a lot more.
“The balance of his leadership and my role will hopefully improve. You definitely need an air of confidence from that right-hand man. During the field I’ll go and chat to Colly [Paul Collingwood] and his ideas are good, trustworthy ideas. You gain trust as a leader and hopefully I can give more help to Straussy, not just on the pitch but off the pitch as well.”
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Pakistan Women Cricket team has just trumped a 57-run win over Sri Lanka at the Women’s World Cup in Sydney.
Pakistan totalled 161-7 from their 50 overs and then bowled out Sri Lanka for just 104, with medium-pacer Qanita Jalil taking 3-33 from eight overs.
Pakistan Women Cricket Team
Sri Lanka never recovered from losing their first three wickets with only 28 on the board and although captain Shashikala Siriwardene made 58 from 11 balls, she lacked the support necessary to steer them towards their target. She was eventually run out by Javeria Khan and the game ended when Sana Mir, who had contributed an unbeaten 22 earlier in the game, had Sripali Weerakkody caught to finish with figures of 2-18.
Urooj Mumtaz the captains of Pakistan Womens Cricket team.jpg
Urooj Mumtaz the captains of Pakistan Womens Cricket team – blog post after the victor in the Girls Aloud Blog .Can I begin by thanking everybody for their comments and messages on my last blog. I read all of your words of encouragement and it was very much appreciated following the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat to India.Pakistan women cricket team wins against Sri LankaI promised to the people of Pakistan ahead of today’s game against Sri Lanka that we would bounce back and I don’t think anybody could have expected a better performance than the one we put in today. I said at the weekend, after our loss against India, that we didn’t play up to our potential and that we would be fine if we got things right in all three key departments – batting, bowling and fielding – and that is what we did today.
We have been waiting for years to beat Sri Lanka and it was the perfect day to win – the first time a Pakistan side had won in 19 matches against them and the first time Pakistan has won a match at the ICC Women’s World Cup. To be part of this moment of history and to captain the side makes me extremely proud. We know we have taken a vital step towards making it to the Super Six stage now, as Sri Lanka faces a difficult last match against India, so it is extremely exciting that we may get a chance to face the likes of Australia and New Zealand next week.
After registering a decent total against Sri Lanka, which could have been higher if any of the girls who got good starts had gone onto make a big score, we knew that we had to take early wickets. I got an excellent response from all of my bowlers, having made a conscious decision to hold back Ismavia (Iqbal) from the opening overs, and once we got some early breakthroughs I was always confident of victory.
There were a few tears coming out of my eyes at the end and it was a special moment to get this win in front of my parents. My father has really helped me with my game, while my mother is always very supportive of what I do.
To celebrate the victory tonight, some of the team are going to come out for dinner with my parents, while other players will be with their families, before we gather all together at the hotel for a celebration later on. We won’t go too crazy though as we know we have another important group match on Thursday.
We are all really looking forward to playing against England in our next match and I am excited that the game will be broadcast live on television. I hope that people at home will tune in to watch the match so that we can prove to people in Pakistan that women can play cricket.
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Situation is very dramatic at ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in South Africa, though Pakistan have already secured four points after winning both of their matches in the four-team Group A, while Australia have three points and India one after two games.
The West Indies have lost both of their games.Indians got thread after their game against Australia was abandoned due to heavy rain at Centurion on September 28th 2009 in Australia v India, ICC Champions Trophy, Group A Match. Only 42.3 overs have been made in this match when a violent thunderstorm struck towards the end of the innings, flooding large parts of the outfield and forcing umpires Billy Bowden and Ian Gould to declare the match a no-result.It means that both teams were awarded a point each with Australia moving to three in the group, one behind leaders Pakistan, while India (one) and West Indies (0) on table. It leaves India with a tall order to progress to the last four with one game remaining.
India will first need to defeat West Indies on Wednesday while hoping that Australia will lose to Pakistan, who have already qualified as a result of Monday night’s match results.
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4
The number of double-century partnerships for Pakistan in ODIs against India. The 206 between Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik is the second-highest among them, and the highest for the fourth wicket. It’s also the highest – and the only double-century stand – in an ODI in Centurion.
51.06
The average stand between Yousuf and Malik in ODIs. In 51 innings, they have put together six century stands and ten half-century ones. The average is higher than Yousuf’s average with Inzamam-ul-Haq (44.36) and Younis Khan (46.28).
52.24
Shoaib Malik’s ODI average against India, at a strike rate of 89.91. Four of his seven centuries have come off the Indians. His last five innings against them read 89, 53, 11*, 123* and 128.
35
The number of fours scored by Pakistan in their innings. India managed only 19.
11
The number of fours conceded by India’s two main spinners, Harbhajan and Yusuf Pathan. Pakistan’s two leading spinners, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, conceded only three fours.
71.10
Harbhajan Singh’s bowling average in ODIs against Pakistan. In 15 matches he has taken only ten wickets at an economy rate of 4.86 runs per wicket.Source: Cricinfo
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ICC Champions Trophy – 6th match, India v Pakistan
Pakistan won by 54 runs
Played at SuperSport Park, Centurion (neutral venue) SA -
ICC Champions Trophy – 3rd ODI South Africa Won by 5 Wickets against New Zealand at SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa
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Pakistan 134 for 5 beat West Indies 133 by five wickets in 2nd ODI of ICC Champions Trophy at Johannesburg, South Africa
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Sri Lanka 319 for 8 beat South Africa 206 for 7 (by 55 runs) in 1st Match of ICC Champions Trophy at Johannesburg, South Africa
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