Broad wants to perform better

LONDON: Stuart Broad, as befits the son of former England opener Chris, has always looked a cricketer of the highest pedigree.An Ashes series against Australia starting next week will be the perfect opportunity for potential to be translated into consistent achievement with both bat and ball.After 17 Tests, Broad averages 31.35 with the bat which gives a hint of the ability good judges predict will make him into a Test class all-rounder.But his 46 wickets have cost an expensive 37.95 runs each and it is in this area the selectors will expect a marked improvement as England strive to regain the Ashes surrendered so tamely in Australia two years ago.

Windies and India to play 3rd ODI today

GROS ISLET, St. Lucia: The third One-day International between the West Indies and India will be played here today.The four-match series is level 1-1, after India won the high-scoring opening match by 20 runs last Friday at Sabina Park in Jamaica, and West Indies rebounded with a thumping eight-wicket victory two days later at the same venue.However, victory in the third ODI will bring to the winners an unbeaten lead in the series.India are expected to bring Abhishek Nayer in place of Ravindra Jadeja while the West Indies have decided to make no change in their team for the final two matches.The final match of the 4-ODI series will be played on July 5.

Muralitharan out of Pakistan Test

Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will miss what is expected to be an emotional return to test cricket against Pakistan this weekend, officials said Friday.A knee injury has ruled 'Murali' out of Saturday's game at Sri Lanka's Galle International Stadium, the first Test between the two teams since a militant attack in Lahore, Pakistan, left eight people dead.The two teams, however, recently contested the finals of the World Twenty20 in England. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets."Murali has picked up a knee injury and has been asked to rest for a while," team manager Brendon Kuruppu told foreign news agency.His place in the first of the three tests will be taken by either orthodox left-arm spinner Rangana Herath or rookie slow bowler Suraj Randiv Kaluhalmulla, a Sri Lanka Cricket official said.

ICC considering to reduce Test matches to 4 days

By Jano
NEW DELHI: ICC president David Morgan said that it is being considered to reduce Test Matches to four days while the suggestion of day-night Test has been welcomed.Morgan said in an interview to an Indian magazine that to save the popularity and image of Test cricket various experiments, including the suggestion of four-day Test, are being considered.The ICC president said that many changes may be made in Test cricket format during one year.He said that the suggestion of day and night Test is being praised at a large extent. However, it is being tried that special cricket balls would have to be made to facilitate night Tests in white clothing.Morgan said that it is being looked very closely at ball manufacturing design that replicates a red ball, maybe an orange ball to avoid any problem for players in presence of white clothing.

Shoaib needs to get fit for a comeback: Sarfaraz

By Jano
KARACHI: Former Pakistan Test pacer Sarfraz Nawaz says pacer Shoaib Akhtar needs to get fit if he wants to make it to the Pakistan squad in future.Talking to PPI, Sarfraz said that the problem with Shoaib was his fitness and if he gets in good shape he would make it to the Pakistan squad again.Shoaib was overlooked for the World T20 Championship because of skin problem and now he has been ignored for the Sri Lankan series because of his fitness.Critics see Shoaib's future as bleak since other pacers - Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer - managed to deliver during Pakistan's campaign in the recently-concluded World T20 championship and there is hardly any place for Shoaib in the team now.However, Sarfraz said that more bowlers should be made available for the team in order to create competition among them.Sarfraz criticised Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for not deciding the future of pacer Mohammad Asif. "They should take the decision about Mohammad Asif. He has been stranded," concluded Sarfraz.

Sri Lanka tighten security for Pakistan series

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has stepped up security for Pakistan team and slapped new restrictions at match venues, officials said Wednesday.Fireworks, musical bands, glass bottles, tin cans, sharp objects, laser pointers and mirrors have all been banned from the grounds where the matches are to be played."Other than national flags of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, no banners, posters and discriminating slogans will be allowed," Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said.The first of the three Tests begins on July 4, followed by five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game.
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Michael Vaughan tipped to announce retirement

Michael Vaughan, the man who led England to more Test victories than any other captain, is expected to announce his retirement from international cricket next week, according to reports in the English media.His final match could prove to be Yorkshire's Twenty20 Cup fixture against Derbyshire at Headingley on Sunday.Vaughan has struggled with injuries to his right knee which kept him out of cricket for over a year between November 2005 and May 2007. In January, he withdrew from the IPL auction to concentrate on getting back into the Test side in time for the Ashes, but still lost out on a place in the 16-man pre-Ashes squad.Vaughan, 34, captained England in 51 of his 82 Tests, and won a record 26 of these, including most famously the two matches that enabled England to regain the Ashes in 2005. But he hasn't played international cricket since stepping down from the captaincy during the home series against South Africa last year,and this season he has made only 159 runs at 19.88 for Yorkshire. The last time he scored a century in a competitive match was for Yorkshire in a 50-over game against Surrey in Abu Dhabi this March.Aside from the growing acceptance that he will never play international cricket again, not least since Ravi Bopara burst onto the scene at the beginning of the season to nail down the No. 3 slot, Vaughan is believed to be wary of hampering the opportunities of young talent at Yorkshire - among them Jonathan Bairstow, the 19-year-old son of the former England wicketkeeper, David, who made his debut this season."If Vaughan really is packing it in I can understand his decision, though it's a sad day for all of us who played in 2005," Steve Harmison told The Mail on Sunday. "He was a great leader on the field. He knew how to get the best out of me, by telling me I was the best bowler in the world. Maybe he was lying, maybe it was kidology but he knew how to press the buttons and we all wanted to play for him."Vaughan scored three centuries out of a tally of 633 runs in the 2002-03 Ashes that preceded his 2005 triumph, and was one of the few English cricketers whom Australia hold in the highest regard. "I was slightly shocked about Vaughan not getting the inclusion [in the current Ashes squad]," said Brett Lee last week, "more so from what he's done against us in the past, he's got the utmost respect from all our players."If, as expected, he does call it quits this week, the timing of Vaughan's retirement will serve to spare the current Ashes team endless speculation about his chances of a recall, should early results against Australia go against them. One of his finest achievements as captain was to shield the side against panic in 2005, after a heavy defeat in the first Test at Lord's. The same side was retained for each of the first four matches of the series.Vaughan is highly likely to remain close to the action this summer, however, as he is sure to be welcomed straight into the Sky commentary box, alongside his former team-mates and fellow England captains, Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, and his most formidable Ashes foe, Shane Warne..

Cricket-Skipper Dhoni claws India to modest total

By Jano
A patient 95 from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni rescued India as they recovered from 82-8 to make a total of 188 against West Indies in the second one-day international on Sunday.West Indies seamer Ravi Rampaul responded perfectly to his recall by delivering a spell of 4-37 as India's top order crumbled.But Dhoni, playing a true captain's innings, put on a 101 partnership with tailender Rudra Pratap Singh (23 from 75 balls) to give his side something to bowl at.Wicketkeeper Denish Ramdin claimed five catches and Dwayne Bravo ended with figures of 3-26 from nine overs.Rampaul and Jerome Taylor (3-35) produced a devastating opening spell to have India reeling at seven for three.Yuvraj Singh, a century-maker in Friday's first ODI won by India, struck a sprightly 35 from 33 balls but his departure when caught behind by Ramdin off Taylor prompted a second slump.The shiny surface which had clearly been watered, offered more to the bowlers than on Friday when 658 runs were scored.Taylor found swing, Rampaul movement and Bravo lift as West Indies produced an excellent bowling performance
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The Celebiration After The Great Victory Of Pakistan

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Pakistan The Champion of Twenty20 World Cup

As comebacks go, Pakistan's turnaround from World Twenty20 whipping-boys to champions was as utterly unexpected as it was stirring to the soul. Phoenixes might want to consult copyright lawyers, soap opera scriptwriters think about upping their game.Battered by England by 48 runs at The Oval a fortnight earlier, comprehensively outplayed by Sri Lanka at this same venue nine days ago, Pakistan looked goners - disorganised in the field, toothless in attack and radars uncalibrated at the crease.That they could be raising the sport's newest trophy at the home of cricket, with thousands of their green-shirted supporters cavorting in the late afternoon sunshine, seemed scarcely believable.Oh we of little faith. We've been here before, of course. Pakistan's previous global triumph, the 1992 World Cup win, was pulled off in similar circumstances.Back then it was Imran Khan's famous talk of "cornered tigers" that inspired them to victory after just one win in their first four matches. This time skipper Younus Khan spoke of WWE wrestling. Enjoy yourself, was the message. Have some fun.And boy did they have some fun, no one more so than Shahid Afridi. Boom-Boom blew away South Africa in the semi-finals and did another demolition job in the final - 1-20 off his four overs, 54 not out off 40 balls to steer his side home with eight balls to spare.Pakistan celebrate their World Twenty20 winWhat made it special was the serious stuff that provided a backdrop to it all. Pakistani cricket has endured a dreadful few years, from the ball-tampering row which dominated their last trip to English shores to the untimely death of coach Bob Woolmer at the last World Cup. Just 110 days ago the attack by gunmen on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore threatened to make them outcasts of the international game.That they are now at the celebrating centre of it all is something that should give even neutral cricket fans a sense of pleasure.Two years ago in Johannesburg, Pakistan seemed to have the World Twenty20 trophy in their grasp, only for India to snatch it away at the death. Not this time. From the moment Mohammad Aamir dismissed the tournament's top scorer, Tillakaratne Dilshan, for a five-ball duck, Sri Lanka were wobbling. Abdul Razzaq's three wickets in 13 balls wiped out the middle order, and while Kumar Sangakkara's captain's knock of 62 not out gave the pre-match favourites hope, 138 always looked gettable on a pitch devoid of demons.It was fitting that Afridi was the man to dash the winning run. Here is a man capable of matching Imran's one-day deeds, of inspiring the same sort of fanatical devotion among his cricket-loving countrymen.For once, Sri Lanka's M&Ms melted away in the Lord's heat. Mendis, the most economical bowler in the tournament, went for 34 from his four overs; Muralitharan and Malinga could do nothing to halt the flow of runs.Umar Gul, the Waqar Younis of his generation, didn't need to have his greatest game. His 13 overall wickets were enough to top the bowling tables, an exact repeat of his deeds two years before. Just behind him was Saeed Ajmal, a spinner so inventive he bowls doosras as a stock ball.As both spectacle and commercial proposition, this World T20 was a success from almost-start to finish.PAKISTAN ZINDABAD :).