Ricky Ponting welcomes return of star players

Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has welcomed the return of some of his star players following the team''s 3-1 defeat in the one-day series in South Africa."We have sort of been stretched quite a bit in the last eight or 12 months with our bowling in both forms of the game, with Brett Lee not being around, and Stuie Clark not being around, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle being rested from this (one-day) tour. It''s good that we''ve got a couple of the more experienced guys coming back into our group in the next little bit. They''ll add a lot of class and a lot of experience back to our bowling group again," The Herald Sun quoted Ponting, as saying.Ponting conceded the home side had "outplayed us in every facet of the game" and thoroughly deserved the prized top ranking."They have got a very good team. They are at their absolute full strength at the moment. We''ve played this series here with about half of our regular team. There have been glimpses of some good stuff in the last two games that we''ve played. But glimpses of good cricket is not good enough to win against a very good South African side," he said.South Africa''s series victory means Graeme Smith''s side now claim the ODI No. 1 ranking..

Harbhajan promises exciting fare at IPL

NEW DELHI: Harbhajan Singh has always wanted to slam the bowlers. He has long nurtured a dream of scoring a breezy Test century, a sensational stroke-filled show in a limited-over match, or best, swing a match with his bat in Twenty20 cricket.He is a bowler who would “love to be acknowledged as a batsman” worthy of making priceless runs when they matter. Most of his batting aspirations are visible at the ‘nets.’So, when he promises some explosive stuff at the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa, Harbhajan needs to be taken ‘seriously.’He rightly opined on Wednesday that every player assumes a level of “explosive batting” in Twenty20 but added that “I am no less” even as he promised some exciting fare. His aggregate thus far from four T20 international innings is 30 runs.That he has no regard for batsmen is well known. The sight of a batsman stirs him into raising his game and Harbhajan, with 330 Test wickets to his credit, said that he would like to play the role of a match-winner with greater “consistency” now.“I want to win more and more matches and I am all charged up for the IPL,” he said.He had missed the inaugural edition of the IPL following the slapping incident with S. Sreesanth.“I don’t like to be reminded of that incident time and again. It is a closed chapter. There is no animosity between us,” said Harbhajan, who signed a deal for licensing his brand name at a function, here on Wednesday.Licence India would now ‘sell’ Harbhajan as a brand ambassador for setting up restaurants, sportswear and cricket academies.The 29-year-old off-spinner typically dismissed the multiple-captain theory of John Buchanan.True, the noted Australian coach’s theory was yet to be implemented, but it had not stopped reactions from all possible quarters.“I don’t care if they employ 11 captains. I wish them luck,” said Harbhajan, known to mock at anything that emanates from an Australian.On not being able to receive the Padma Shri award at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, Harbhajan pleaded, “I had some important family commitments.”.

IPL chairman Modi receives death threat

Nicholls and Steyn, the South African security agency acting on behalf of the Indian Premier League, has confirmed it took "the necessary precautions" following reports of a death threat to Lalit Modi, the IPL's highly influential chairman and commissioner. The threat is alleged to have come from criminals in the Indian underworld thought to be unhappy at the effect the decision to move the tournament from India to South Africa has had on their illegal betting operations. "We are aware of it and we have taken the necessary precautions," Bob Nicholls, joint head of the agency, told Cricinfo. "I'm not going into any details on that."
Modi was equally tight-lipped, saying only: "I don't want to say anything on this issue." The news threatened to detract from a hectic build-up in Cape Town, where the tournament starts on Saturday and follows concerns about staging a match in the city on the day of the South African general elections – Wednesday 22 April – as well as the high levels of crime in the country. Mumbai police have been aware of the threat since March, and have stepped up surveillance at Modi's home in the Indian capital..

Ireland qualify for Cricket World Cup 2011

Ireland beat the Netherlands by six wickets in Pretoria on Wednesday to clinch a second consecutive appearance at the World Cup.The Dutch were all out for 222 at LC de Villiers Oval and captain William Porterfield made 78 and Eoin Morgan 76 as the Irish reached 226-4 with 5.3 overs to spare.Victory moved the Irish to the top of the 2011 World Cup Qualifier Super 8 table with 10 points and beneath them the other seven contenders still have a mathematical chance of filling the three remaining places.United Arab Emirates pulled off a shock five-wicket win over Canada, minnows Afghanistan defeated Scotland by 42 runs and Namibia hammered Kenya by 201 runs on a day when the bottom three countries triumphed.
Canada remain best placed with eight points, Kenya, Netherlands and UAE have six each and Namibia, Afghanistan and Scotland four apiece entering the final round of matches on Friday.With just two points separating six teams, net run rate could come into play before it is known which three countries accompany Ireland to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the ODI showpiece.Opener Alexei Kervezee was the only Dutch batsman to trouble the Irish attack, scoring 77 off 112 balls during a knock spiced with two sixes and six fours.Alex Cusack took three Dutch wickets for 26 runs in six overs and Boyd Rankin also claimed three while conceding 48 runs in 10 overs. Peter Connell (two), Regan West and Trent Johnston were the other Irish wicket takers.Opener Porterfield scored his runs off 105 balls before being run out by Tom de Grooth and Morgan sped to his total off 62 balls, including four sixes and five fours.With the teams tied on 222, Kevin O'Brien struck the winning four and sealed a return to the World Cup for Ireland, who shocked top-tier nations Bangladesh and Pakistan at the last tournament in 2007..