The Cricket Chat Thread !!

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Playing alongside Dravid a learning experience: Tait

Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait, who shared the Rajasthan Royals dressing room with Rahul Dravid in the last edition of IPL, stated that the retired India ODI batsman was one of the toughest to bowl at.

The 28—year—old further said his Test career was all but over as he was concentrating more on the Twenty20 format.

Tait, who is here spearheading the South Australia Redbacks attack in the upcoming Champions League Twenty20, said he learnt a lot from the Indian batting star, who bid adieu to ODI cricket in England yesterday.

“It was really good to have him in the Rajasthan Royals squad. We have learnt a lot from him. He may be known as a Test specialist, but he showed that he can play the Twenty20 format as well,” Tait said, lauding Dravid’s mental toughness.

Tait, who played his last Test for Australia against India in Perth more than three years ago, said he was not looking to come out of retirement from Tests.

“I am no longer looking at Test return. Test cricket is too long that takes a toll on the body. I will stick to Twenty20,” Tait, who became world’s second fastest after clocking 161.1 kph at the Lord’s against England, said.

On the upcoming India-Australia series next year, Tait said it would be highly competitive.

"It’s difficult to say who are the favourites as India have done well in Australia. But at the same time, we are doing well in the series against Sri Lanka. It’s going to be highly competitive,” Tait said.

Tait hoped that the Kolkata Knight Riders, who are competing in the qualifying round in Hyderabad, will make it to the main round.

“It will give us a good contest against (Brett) Lee.

Indian wickets are not conducive to pace bowling. You got to be a smart bowler here.”

The Big Bash champions Redbacks will take on Warriors of South Africa in their CLT20 opener at the Eden Gardens on September 25.
Source:The Hindu, 17 Sep

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Razzaq sees his CLT20 participation as a step towards IPL

LAHORE: Seasoned all-rounder Abdul Razzaq on Saturday said his participation in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India is the first step towards Pakistani players eventually taking part in the Indian Premier League.

Talking to reporters at the Lahore airport on Saturday before leaving for New Delhi to represent English county side Leicestershire in the qualifying round of the CLT20 in Hyderabad, Razzaq said he was excited about going to India to play again.

"I am sure after this trip our players will also be able to play in the IPL again. I know if I perform well it is a good thing for Pakistan cricket and players as well. I have always enjoyed playing in India and their crowds are cricket passionate and have supported me a lot," Razzaq said.

"I just want to go there with a message for the Indians that there is a need for both countries to have normal. frequent bilateral cricket ties and in other sports as well.

"It is necessary for both countries to keep on playing against each other because sports helps heal a lot of problems," he said.
Newspaper. The Times of India

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Waqar set to quit as coach, Afridi wants to come back again

KARACHI: Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi on Saturday expressed his desire to return to international cricket as Waqar Younis, with whom he has serious differences during his captaincy, is set to quit as coach.

Afridi told reporters that there was increasing pressure on him from different quarters to make himself available to play for Pakistan. He promised an important announcement in a month's time.

"I want to play for my country again. My main dispute and problem was with Waqar Younis but now that he is going I am hopeful the situation will improve in the team," Afridi said.

Afridi, who announced his retirement from international cricket in May in protest against his removal as ODI captain after West Indies tour, said he had many problems with Waqar.

"There were serious differences between us because he used to interfere in the captain's domain and on selection issues. My main grouse was with him. He is now going and things will change," the flamboyant former all-rounder said.
Newspaper: The Times Of India

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Harbhajan supports Sachin's ODI idea

Chennai: India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday supported senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar's suggestion to ICC on revamping the ODIs by splitting 50 overs into four innings.

"You will have to see as how it goes. Obviously, it is an idea and without experimenting it, you cannot say whether it is a good or bad. You have to experiment the idea to know whether it is good for the game or not," said Harbhajan.
Tendulkar had written a letter to the ICC to change the format of the ODIs from two innings of 50 overs to four of 25 overs each like a Test match but the game's world governing body rejected the idea.

"I support Sachin's every decision. This is obviously a great idea coming from a legend of the game. From my thinking as a player, I cannot say as to how successful it will be but it is necessary to experiment it. This is the way to go forward. So, definitely, I support Sachin's idea," added Harbhajan, who will be leading Mumbai Indians in this year's Champions League Twenty20 in the absence of their regular skipper Tendulkar, who has been ruled out due to an injury.
SourceTI

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Gary Kirsten's style will help South Africa perform: Amla

South African captain Hashim Amla termed it as "unfortunate" that most of their players are busy in the Champions League but expressed confidence that new coach Gary Kirsten's non-imposing style will help the team to perform well against Australia next month. Thirteen South African
players are currently playing in the Champions League in India and they will get very little time to prepare for their series against Australia which starts with a twenty20 international on October 13, just four days after the 10-team event gets over.

"It's unfortunate and it's certainly not ideal. But it doesn't seem that there is any way around the problem," Amla told the daily SportsDay.

"I feel that we are professional enough to know what we need to do. It's a matter of connecting again – with your teammates, with the environment. That's going to be a challenge for us, but we will try our best," he said.

Amla feels Kirsten's working style will help the team to perform against Australia.

"From my experience with Gary so far, his style is not to impose," Amla said.

"It's more to let players grow. That might work well, especially with a lack of preparation.

"We will just have to assemble as quickly as possible, get into line and do the job," he added.

Amla said the players were all involved in rigorous conditioning programmes as they enjoyed their longest break in the off-season in several years.
Newspaper: Hindustan Times

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

‘Akhtar remains a problem'

Wasim Akram on Saturday ridiculed Shoaib Akhtar and his controversial autobiography, which has made several tall claims, saying that he was a “problem” when he was an active player and remains just that even in retirement.

Akram pooh-poohed Akhtar's claims of making Sachin Tendulkar uncomfortable with his pace in the Faisalabad Test in 2006 and also rejected some of the other allegations he has made in the book titled Controversially Yours.

“I remember one of Sachin's knocks in the Sialkot Test. It was the fourth Test and the wicket had a lot of grass, I was 22 and Waqar was 19 and we were very fast,” Akram recalled.

“Waqar hit him on his chin and he came back after taking treatment and scored a 50. If a 16-year-old can't be scared, I don't think any batsman can be scared. It hardly matters what Akhtar says,” he said

Newspaper:The Hindu

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Swann to carry on as England Twenty20 captain

Swann to carry on as England Twenty20 captainLondon, Sep 24 Spinner Graeme Swann is likely to stay on as England's Twenty20 skipper since regular captain Stuart Broad has been advised two months' rest to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained during a One-Day International against India at Lord's last month.

Broad thought he might make the grade in time for the Twenty20 match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata slated for October 29, but he learnt Friday that it was unlikely he would play cricket again before 2012.

Broad will not captain England again until the end of February when they play three Twenty20 matches against Pakistan in Dubai. By then Swann will have led England three times in Twenty20 cricket, one more match than Broad has managed since he was appointed full-time in May.

"The shoulder is still quite sore. It's a two-month injury so I'm concentrating on making sure I am in the best possible shape for the games against Pakistan in January. It's not 100 per cent confirmed I'll not play in India, but I'll only play if the rehab goes fantastically well," Broad was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

Broad was apprehensive that he would need a surgery but intensive physiotherapy has helped him to avoid going under the knife.

"It's good news that I don't need surgery," added Broad. "There is always an extra risk with surgery so that would be a worry. It is a two-month recovery time, though, so I need to get that right and make sure it is completely over and I don't have any side-effects with it," he said.

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

West Indies beat England; levels series 1-1

London: West Indies bowled England out for 88 to win the second Twenty20 match by 25 runs at The Oval on Sunday, levelling the two-match series at 1-1.

Chasing a modest target of 114, England collapsed to 60-7 thanks to Garey Mathurin’s 3-9 before the final three wickets fell for just five runs in the space of 12 balls.

Ben Stokes offered England’s only resistance, hitting 31 off 23 balls, with only three other players making double figures.

Marlon Samuels top-scored for West Indies with a run-a-ball knock of 35 not out as the tourists’s young side made 113-5. Samit Patel had England’s best bowling figures of 2-22 off his four overs.

England won the first match by 10 wickets at the same venue on Friday.
Newspaper: The Hindu, Monday, 26 Sep 2011

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

England set standards now, admits Steve Waugh

LONDON: Australia legend Steve Waugh admits old enemies England are setting standards that the rest of the world has to aspire to match in Test cricket.

Waugh captained Australia during his country's dominant run in the Test arena and presided over several triumphs in Ashes showdowns against England.

But he has been forced to admit that England's rise to the top of the ICC Test rankings under skipper Andrew Strauss has been an impressive achievement.

Strauss has led England to a pair of series victories over Australia and they took pole position in the rankings with a 4-0 whitewash of previous leaders India.

Waugh believes the key to England's success has been their ability to show a ruthless streak that had been lacking from their talented but fragile predecessors.

"You could see it coming for about the last 18 months, they are a quality professional side, who want to dismantle the opposition, win as quickly as they can," Waugh told Sky Sports News.

"England have got that winning streak now and have good depth in their side. They know how to win and they know how to get out of tough situations.

"Definitely they are the best Test playing side in the world. South Africa are not too far behind and I think Australia will come back pretty quickly as well."

The hectic international schedule has been blamed in some quarters for India's poor showing in England but Waugh is adamant MS Dhoni's team failed to prepare properly for the tour.

"I think it's a pretty lame excuse from India," he said. "I just think they prepared poorly, they only had one game before the Test matches against Somerset.

"You can't expect to come to England, in different conditions against a quality side, not prepare well and still expect to do well. Their downfall was totally down to poor preparation."
Newspaper: The Times Of India, Wednesday

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Mitchell Marsh in line for T20 debut

Matthew Wade powered Victoria's chase with 41, Victoria v New South Wales, Twenty20 Big Bash, Melbourne, January 2, 2010
Matthew Wade has been named in Australia's Twenty20 squad Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade and Patrick Cummins are all in line to make their international debuts after being named in Australia's squad to tour South Africa next month. Australia's selectors have chosen separate 14-man groups for the Twenty20s and ODIs in South Africa, with Mitchell Johnson axed from the Twenty20 outfit and David Hussey cut from the one-day side.

Cricket Australia are still in the process of choosing their new selectors, so the squads were picked by an interim panel led by the outgoing chairman Andrew Hilditch, along with Greg Chappell, Jamie Cox and the stand-in coach Troy Cooley. The captains were also part of the panel - Michael Clarke for the ODI squad and Cameron White for the T20 group.

A serious shoulder injury that ruled the allrounder John Hastings out of the trip opened the door for Marsh, 19, who is set to follow his older brother Shaun and father Geoff in representing Australia after being picked in the Twenty20 squad. A promising allrounder who played for Australia A on the recent tour of Zimbabwe, Marsh had been earmarked for higher honours since captaining Australia to the Under-19 World Cup title in 2010.
Source:CricInfo