News Bits

1. Jaysurya's shoulder injury not serious.
2. Formula 1: Hungarian Grand Prix
   Raikonen wins the Hungarian GP. Schumacher finished 2nd. Alonso was 11th.
3. Match 2 of the Indian Oil tri-series. India won by 6 wickets.
4. England retain the same squad for the 2nd Ashes Test.

Live From Dambula

Latest from the Tri-Series
Live
Sri Lanka won by 3 wickets

Pakistan's new sensation.

Pakistan have a batsman for the future. Shahzad Malik hit 403 in 137 balls, while playing for the Langleybury cricket club in Hertfordshire county, England. There were 38 sixe's. He achieved this against the Middlesex Tamils. In 2004-05 season, in first class cricket, he hit 1008 runs at an average of 72. Watch out for Shahzad Malik the new sensation......

Vacancy (two matches)

The Indian think tank has to decide who will open with Sehwag. The second openers slot is free and wide open. There are a few takers, it could be Dhoni, Laxman, Raina or Yuvraj. According to the current form it would be right to send Dhoni with Sehwag to open the innings.

Dhoni's style of batting is similar to Sehwag, but that should not hamper the thinking of the Indian think tank, as he is solid at the top of the order. If Sehwag goes for his shots, Dhoni can just stay at the wicket and continue his work. If Dhoni goes for his shots, Sehwag can provide the anchor. He would be the be ideal partner for Sehwag.

Laxman never seemed to like the openers slot, he is very good in the middle order. Laxman can rotate the strike in the middle overs. Laxman has to watch out, not to try too many things in the middle. Just play calm and take the runs that comes his ways and rotate the strike.

Yuvraj can be useful in the end to increase the run rate, he would be the ideal batsman for the last 15 or 10 overs of an innings. He doesn't need much time to settle down.

Raina is too young to put him in the openers position and put pressure on him. Although he might do well, it is too early to try someone in his first match. He should be given some time to settle down into the team, you should nuture an young man, not put undue pressure on him directly.

When Ganguly returns, the other slot will be shut, as he is to return after the first two matches.

Check out for more...............

Form book

Players struggle after a long break, as we have seen with the Australians in the NatWest Series, where they struggled with their form in the beginning of the series. Indian Players currently in Sri Lanka are feeling the same thing, they are struggling to find some form. Dhoni in the batting department and Pathan with the ball are only two who have hit form, all the others are searching here and there for something.

Dhoni and Kaif played well in the first warm up match and Dhoni and Raina in the second match. Pathan picked up wickets in both the warm up matches.

Indians have to pick themselves up before they play Sri Lanka in the opener of the Indian Oil Cup. India's performance in Sri Lanka has not been good and with the players in poor form, it will be a real struggle, unless they get back into form. India in the second warm up match failed to play the full 50 overs, they were all out in 42.2 overs, although they won the match, it must worry them.

Verdict: India's bowling is heading in the right direction, it is the batting that seems to trouble them.

Watch out for more....

News Bits

England's tour to Pakistan, the official schedule.

Ganguly 6 match ban has been reduced to 4 matches.
He will miss the first 2 matches of the tri-series.

Dambula Situation

India have played two (D/N) matches here, won one with UAE in the Asia Cup and lost the other against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup.

The last time India played Sri Lanka was in the Asia Cup, where India lost by 12 runs. Dravid and Yuvraj did well. Sri Lanka scored 282, this was the highest score in the first innings of a day night game and India chasing scored 270.

A total of 7 (D/N) matches were played here and on five occasions team winning the toss and batted first have won the match. As chasing underlights is more difficult. So win the toss, you bat.

India plays its first match of the tri series on Saturday against Sri Lanka.
watch out for more.

News Bits

In a development of sorts, Ten Sports has rejected Doordarshan’s contention on the issue of simulcast of the upcoming triangular cricket series involving India, Sri Lanka and West Indies.
For More

News Bits

Sri Lanka won the second Test by 240 runs against the West Indies.
Sri Lanka won the series 2-0
The Man of the Match was Sangakara. The Man of the Series was Vaas.

Why England Lost the First Test

Full scorecard
England started of well in the First Ashes Test. Some hostile bowling from Harmison saw three batsmen get hit on the body, the top 3 Australian batsman were hit, Langer on the elbow, Hayden on the helmet and Ponting too on the helmet, who had a scratch on the cheek as the Helmet jammed into the face. He required 8 stitches on his face. Harmison was the key bowler who took 5 wickets in the first innings. 17 wickets fell on day 1. Australia were all out for 190 in their first innings.

England had a bad start to their innings, they lost quick wickets, they were 21/5. McGrath the main destroyer. Only Pietersen with 57 runs was the top scorer, who played well. In one over of McGrath he hit a four to long-off , a six over the long-off fence, a cover-drive to bring his 50 in style. He was finally out off the bowling of Warne, Pietersen slog sweeping to the deep midwicket, Martyn runs and takes a great diving catch in the air. England were all out for 155. McGrath took 5 wickets. Australia lead by 35 runs.

Australia in their second innings started cautiously, lost Langer early to a brilliant piece of fielding by Peitersen, who hit the stumps directly to run him out. Australia were 100/3. Clarke joined Martyn, Clarke was dropped by Pietersen, a simple catch at covers, when he was on 21. He and Martyn had a partnership of 155 runs for the 4th wicket. Clarke went on score 91 and Martyn scored 65. Australia were 279/7 at the end of 2nd day. Katich played well to extend the lead of Australia to 419, he in partnership with the tail. Katich was the last man to be out. Australia were all out for 384. England required 420 runs to win with more than 2 days left.

England started off well, with Ponting setting an attacking field. Runs were scored quickly, they lost their first wicket at 80. After that wickets fell regularly. At the end of day 3, England were 156/5 with Pietersen and Geriant Jones at the crease. Day 4 was delayed due to continous drizzle, it was only a matter of time that Australia would win this. Play was only possible later in the day. Austrlia required 10 overs to finish England off. Nobody gave support to Pietersen, who remained not out on 64. McGrath was the main destroyer on day 4, he and Warne picked up 4 wickets each in the second innings. England were all out for 180.

Australia did well in the batting department in the second innings, bowling was very good.
England's catching was too bad, they dropped 6 catches in all in the Test. Pietersen dropping 3 catches, Geriant Jones dropping 2 and Flintoff dropping one. Batting was not good, bowling was ok. Catching was terrible. England main reason for losing the match I felt was their not taking catches, not taking the opportunities that came their way.

News Bits

Australia wins the first Ashes test by 239 runs.

Alonso wins the German grand prix after Raikonen had to retire after a mechanical failure.

News Bits

Check for Live Formula 1.

First Ashes Test
Picture from Lords Day 4

It is unlikely that play will start before tea.
The start is delayed on Day 4 due to steady drizzle.

Day 3 Stumps Sri Lanka vs West Indies update
Sri Lanka 340/7 (lead by 342 runs)

Preview day 4 Ashes first test

Australia's victory is almost certain unless Pietersen has some ideas or some miracle happens.
The match would most likely end before lunch.

Summary day 3 Ashes first Test

Australia were all out for 384 after they resumed today morning at 279/7. England require 420 runs. They lost 5 wkts after tea. They are 156/5. Lee picking 2 wickets, Warne 3 wickets. Pietersen with 42* is at the crease. Good day for Australia again.
Keep checking for all the updates.....

News Bits

Listen Live Ashes First Test
England are 65 for no loss at Tea.
Australia 384 all out. England require 420 to win this, it would be one of the world record chases.
Australia lead by 407 runs. Australia are 372/9 at Lunch on day 3. check cricinfo for more details.
Sri Lanka 150 & 146/2 (41.1 ov)West Indies 148
Sri Lanka lead by 148 runs as day 2 ended as the rains came down and stopped play before stumps.

Preview day 3

Australia are sitting pretty with a lead of 314 runs. They would look to extend their lead to 350. England will look to take the last 3 wickets as quickly as possible, so that they do not have to chase over 350. All in all an interesting play today.

Day 2 summary of the Ashes test

England scored 63 runs this morning to be all out for 155. Pietersen scored his first 50 after a terrific display of batting. In an over of McGrath, he hit the first ball to the long off fence, the second ball he lofted the ball over the long off fence, the third ball he hit a splendid cover drive to bring his fifty in style. Australia in their second innings were 279/7, leading by 314 runs. Hayden and Langer started at a fast pace before Langer got run out by a brilliant piece of fielding from Pietersen. Then Hayden bottom edged one onto his stumps. Ponting then mistimed a drive to be caught at backward-point. Aus were 100/3, then Clarke and Martyn were involved in a partnership of 155 runs. Martyn and Clarke started slowly. Martyn scored 65 and Clarke scored 91. All in all good batting by the Australians and are in a strong position with a lead of 314.

News Bits

7000 Test runs for Ponting, 7th Australian to get that figure.
For more details check Cricinfo.
Australia are 47/1 at Lunch and lead by 82 runs. They are looking good for a big lead.
Graham Thorpe retires from International cricket.
England are all out for 155. Australia lead by 35 runs.
Sri Lanka was all out for 150 and West Indies are 92/5 at stumps on day 1, still trailing by 58 runs.

Day 2 preview Ashes first test

Australia will try to consolidate their position in the first test by removing the last 3 wickets. England will try as much as possible to reach Australia's score of 190. If Pietersen gets the support from the tail, they should be able to get close. The pitch is keeping a bit low, we saw how Flintoff got bowled by a ball that kept low. It may be another tough day for the batsmen as the fast bowlers are doing well.

Check for updates........

News Bits

Latest from Kandy
Sri Lanka are struggling at 98/5 at Lunch. Sameraweera is the not out batsman at the crease.

News Bits

Latest News from Kandy
West Indies have won the toss and put Sri Lanka into bat. The weather looks ok.

News Bits

Latest News
Sri Lanka take on West Indies in the second test at Kandy in less than an hour's time. Vaas and Muralitharan have recovered from the flu virus. There is some doubt about the weather. Please check for more updates.

Summary day 1 Ashes first test

Australia 190, England 92/7. A total of 17 wickets fell on day1. Australia won the toss and batted. Hostile bowling from Harmison, who hit the body of the top 3 Australian batsman with short pitched stuff. Harmison took 5-43 as Australia were all out for 190.
In reply England had a bad start as they were reduced to 21/5 and at the end of day1 they were 92/7 with McGrath taking 5-21. McGrath picked up his 500th wicket when he had Trescothick caught in the slips.
Australia holdsthe upper hand at the end of day1.

500 wicket club

McGrath picks up his 500th wicket, the wicket of Trescothick.
The 500 wicket club
SK Warne - 583
M Muralitharan - 539
CA Walsh - 519
GD McGrath - 501
Most wickets list

Ashes Report Day 1 First Session

Australia have won the toss and batting. Gillespie is in and Kasprowicz is out.

Australia team:
JL Langer, ML Hayden, *RT Ponting, DR Martyn, MJ Clarke,
SM Katich, +AC Gilchrist, SK Warne, B Lee, JN Gillespie,
GD McGrath.
England team:
ME Trescothick, AJ Strauss, *MP Vaughan, IR Bell, KP Pietersen,
A Flintoff, +GO Jones, AF Giles, MJ Hoggard, SJ Harmison,
SP Jones.

Already the action has begun. the second ball Harmison bowls a short ball and Langer takes his eye of the ball, hits Langer on the elbow an bruised arm, Langer is in pain, Physio runs in and attends him, everything is ok now, Langer is ok now.
Over number 5, Harmsion bowls a short ball a bouncer, Hayden goes for a pull, misses it and gets hit on the helmet.
Over number 8, Langer pushes to the short cover and runs for a quick single, a run out missed by Pietersen.In the same over, wicket of Hayden.Hayden goes for a drive and gets bowled of Hoggard.
ML Hayden b Hoggard 12 25
Over number 10, Peitersen drops Ponting who was on 0 of the bowling of Hoggard.
Over number 11, Harmison bouncer, Ponting tries to pull, too late for the shot, hits him on the helmet, a cut on his face is the result.All the three batsmen have been hit by Harmison.
Australian 50 comes in the 11th over.
Over number 13, wicket of Ponting, a back of length ball and moving away, a bit of bounce, ball takes the edge to Strauss at third slip.
*RT Ponting c Strauss b Harmison 9 18
Langer crosses 1000 test runs against england.
Over number 15 Flintoff replaces Harmison and picks up the wicket of Langer in the 4th ball. Langer goes for a pull and mistimes the shot to Harmison at square leg.
JL Langer c Harmison b Flintoff 40 44
Over number 16 Simon Jones replaces Hoggard and he too picks up a wicket, the wicket of Martyn as he pushes at the ball, it was a short of length ball, takes the edge to Jones behind the wicket.
DR Martyn c GO Jones b SP Jones 2 4
Over number 17, Flintoff bowls a bouncer at 92 miles per hour.

Australia struggling at 78/4. England bowling well. A thriller already.

Over number 22, a wicket for Jones, who gets the ball to come in, Clarke plays and misses, gets hit on the pad, a loud appeal and given out by Umpire Koertzen.Looked a bit high and going down the leg side, but hawkeye shows the ball is clipping the bails.
MJ Clarke lbw b SP Jones 11 22
Australia are 97 for 5 at lunch and struggling. England holds the upperhand, they have to convert this opportunity to get the remaining wickets quickly to apply all the pressure on Australia.

The Ashes has begun....................... For more news and details log on to Cricinfo

Ashes 2005 First Test Preview

The stage is all set, the action begins in over 4 hours time. England have already conformed their eleven. Harmison, Hoggard, Jones and Giles complete the bowling attack. Australia have to make one decision before they declare their eleven. It is going to be between Gillespie or Kasprowicz. It is likely that Gillespie will be in the eleven, inspite of his poor run in the ODI's. The Aussies look a formidable attack. McGrath needs one more wicket to reach 500. With all the Australian batsman in good touch, it should not worry them in that department. England have been aggressive in the ODI's, they should continue being aggressive and have to take all the opportunities that come their way. Pietersen the new man, Flintoff and Bell are the men to watch. All in all everything is in place. So let the ball roll and let the Ashes begin ........
Watch out for updates.

England team for the 1st Test

England team announced Wednesday for the first Ashes Test against Australia at Lord's starting Thursday:
Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan (capt), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wkt), Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Stephen Harmison.

Cricket World Cup-2007 Schedule

The World Cup will be starting on March 13 and the first match will be played between the host West Indies and Pakistan at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The final will be played on April 28th at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

India will play their first match on the 17th of March against Bangladesh, March 19th against Bermuda and against Sri Lanka on the 23rd of March. Indian team will play their matches at Trinidad and Tobago. Check the Complete Schedule.

A total of 51 matches will be played from March 13th to April 28th. There is a reserve day alloted for all the matches. The Second stage i.e., Super 8 series starts from March 27.

The Mascot for the World Cup - 2007 is called "Mello".
Check the potrait and mascot for the 2007 world cup.

Complete Ashes story Here

All about the Ashes
Check out the photos of the Ashes Legends Photo gallery .
All you wanted to know the history of the Ashes.
Classic Ashes Matches .
Ashes TimeLine.
Ashes Coverage on BBC.
Check out the Ashes head to head.

Pools for the ICC World Cup 2007

Pool 1 (St Kitts & Nevis)
Australia (1), South Africa (5), Scotland, Netherlands.
Pool 2 (Trinidad & Tobago)
Sri Lanka (2), India (8), Bangladesh, Bermuda.
pool 3 (St Lucia)
New Zealand (3), England (7), Kenya (10), Canada.
pool 4 (Jamaica)
Pakistan(4) , West Indies (6), Zimbabwe (9), Ireland.

Schedules will be coming sooooooooon.

Indian team for the Tri Series

The Indian team for the Tri Series announced.

The captian is Dravid and the vice captain is Sehwag.
Two new faces in the squad are Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao.
Ganguly has been included as the 16th man in the squad.

The Team includes
Dravid,
Sehwag,
Laxman,
Yuviraj,
Kaif ,
Suresh Raina,
Venugopal Rao,
Dhoni,
Harbhajan,
Kumble,
Zaheer Khan,
Irfan Pathan,
Balaji,
Ashish Nehra,
JP Yadav

"The Ashes"

The first test match was played in 1877. The first Ashes was played in 1882. How did the Ashes all start? Well it began with a shock Australian victory and a bail being burnt in horror.

It is the Ashes that generate biggest crowds. The Ashes is about tradition. For two decades, the Ashes has been one-sided. The last time England won the Ashes was in 1986-87.

This time around the Ashes could be a closely fought affair, as Australia are the leading test side with England at number 2. England look a better team now compared to the last 8 Ashes.

Australian approach to this summer Ashes is 'Mental disintegration'. It is all about trying to keep England under pressure from ball one of the series until the series ends. It is a version of pressure. England's approach should be positive and have an attacking attitude.

This is binoy signing off for now until next time. Bye

Latest News

Latest News
1. England to tour India in march 2006.
2. Australian's have good batting practise, scoring over 400 runs in a day against Leicestershire.

Latest News

Latest News
1. Sri Lanka won the first test by 6 wickets.
2. It is between Gillespie and Kasprowicz for the third seamer in the Australian side. Lee would surely head the attack with McGrath for the first Ashes test.

Latest News

Latest news

1. Day 3, play has been abandoned for the day in the first test between West Indies and Sri Lanka. West Indies leading by 117 runs with 4 wickets remaining.

West Indies 285 & 59/6 (35.5 ov)Sri Lanka 227 scorecard
2. Bangladesh will tour Srilanka in September for 2 tests and 3 odi's.

Itinerary:
Aug 31: First one-dayer, Dambulla
Sept 2: Second one-dayer, Dambulla
Sept 4: Third one-dayer, Dambulla
Sept 12-16: First Test, Kandy
Sept 20-24: Second Test, Colombo
3. Steve Waugh predicts close Ashes series.

West Indies vs Sri Lanka, First Test

West Indies vs Sri Lanka 1st Test report - day 3
West Indies are struggling to get a decent lead. They lead by a mere 117 runs with 4 wickets remaing. They should at least have a lead of 200, so they could put some pressure on Sri Lanka. Cricket is a funny game, any team can win the match. Bad light has currently stopped play.
Will keep you all updated.

Scorecard

England Ashes squad First Test

England's squad for the Ashes First Test has been announced.
The news is that Thorpe is not in the squad, this only means that England selectors want young blood in the squad. Pietersen comes in place of Thorpe in the squad. Tremlett is another new face in the Test squad. Thorpe is only dropped from the first Test, He is in the reckoning for the remaining Tests.

I feel Pietersen is a better option than Thorpe. Firstly Pietersen has much match practice against the Aussies currently than Thorpe, who was not in the ODI Squad. Secondly Pietersen's a very good fielder. Thirdly he is an attacking batsman. Fourthly he is very young and energetic. His body language is very positive. He will do well in Test's.

The full squad includes: Trescothick, Strauss, Vaughan, Bell, Pietersen, Flintoff, Geriant Jones, Giles, Simon Jones, Hoggard, Harmison, Tremlett.

The First Test starts on July 21 at Lords.
For more news on the First Test Squad

Send in your comments, all comments are welcome.

Muralitharan's Comeback

West Indies in Sri Lanka, 2005, 1st Test

Murali has come back after 11 months. He came on in the 13th over of the WI innings. The first ball was on the length, that is what u expect from Murali. In the second over he drifted down the leg and was swept to the fine leg fence for a boundary. This is Sri Lanka's 150th test match. The third over was on the good length, except for one ball which was a touch short which was cut to the backward-point region but not for runs. Warne is 51 wickets ahead of Murali. Fourth over saw a boundary hit straight down the ground to the long-on region, after Murali tossed the ball right upto the batsman, driven by Joseph. Murali was replaced by Herath after his 4 overs spell. His first spell looked like this ( 4-1-11-0).

Murali got his first wicket in the second spell from the other end. He got the wicket of Morton. Murali tossed the ball up, Mortan goes for a drive on the on side, misses it completely and gets bowled.

First with New ICC regulations

The first match with the New ICC regulations was played between England and Australia(Match 1 of the NatWest Challenge) on the 7th of July.

Vikram Solanki was the Supersub for England, Brad Hogg was the Supersub for Australia.

Vikram Solanki became the first man to be become the Supersub replacing Simon Jones in the squad. Solanki did not get a chance to bat. Brad Hogg was the second man as the Supersub, He became the first Supersub to take a wicket and he was the only wicket-taker for Australia.

Both teams used the Powerplays in the first 20 overs.

Umpires signals

1. If the Umpire signals a T, it means the Supersub is introduced into playing eleven.
2. If the Umpire signals a big O, it means the Powerplay is on.
   
   We have to wait for some more time before we give any comments on these new regulations.

Powerplays and Supersubs

The new ICC Regulations for the fielding restrictions in the ODI's

1. The Fielding restrictions has been increased from (1-15) overs to (1-20) overs, divided into 3 Powerplays.
2. The First Powerplay is from (1-10) overs. Two fielders should be outside the circle and there should be two close in catchers.
3. The second and third Powerplays are for 5 overs each. In this two fielders should be outside the circle, but there needn't be two close in catchers, it is for the fielding captain to decide.
4. For the next 30 overs, the same rules apply as the earlier rules.

Will keep you all updated in the future.

Supersubs

1. A Supersub for a team should be announced by the captain at the time of the toss.
2. A Supersub can replace a batsman who is batting, the batsman should be not out.
3. A Supersub can replace a bowler during his spell, he can only bowl the reamaining overs. This Supersub can bat, but the replaced player cannot take part in the remainder of the match.

Super new rules?