Sri Lankan Cricket Team Bus Attacked

Gunmen killed at least four people in an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus on Tuesday as it drove to a stadium in the Pakistani city of Lahore, according witnesses and cricket officials.

sri lanka Cricket Team Attacked

Sri Lankan media, quoting the sports minister, said four players received minor injuries in the attack — Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana.

Pakistan television channels said four people were killed.

A witness told Reuters he believed two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden. Shopkeeper Ahmed Ali said the two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.

“It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the time,” said a Reuters witness who had been on his way to cover the test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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West Indies Magnificent

England face a quest for survival after West Indies made 749 for nine declared thanks to a masterful 261 run partnership between double centurion Ramnaresh Sarwan and Denesh Ramdin.

Ramnaresh Sarwan

Sarwan fell just nine runs short of a triple century, after batting from the evening of the second day, while wicketkeeper Ramdin made 166 before being bowled by five-wicket Graeme Swann.

The West Indies score, the ninth highest innings total in a test match, sets up an unexpectedly tricky final day for Andrew Strauss’s side after they made 600 for six declared in their first innings.

No team has ever lost a test match after making such a big first innings total but West Indies will take heart from the first test when they bowled a panicking England out for 51.

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Flintoff to Confront ECB

England all rounder Andrew Flintoff could be heading for a showdown with ECB bosses over playing in the Indian Premier League.

andrew-flintoff

reddie, 31, is struggling with a hip problem that will keep him out of Thursday’s Fourth Test against West Indies and maybe more matches.

ECB chief executive David Collier confirmed that the board has the power to withdraw Flintoff from the IPL on medical grounds.

Flintoff has been signed up by the Chennai Super Kings for a record price of 1.55 million pounds, making him the joint most valuable cricketer in history with Kevin Pietersen.

The ECB have agreed to a three-week IPL window for England’s Test players starting on April 10 so, in reality, he will receive around 540,000 pounds from the Chennai Super Kings.

Collier said: “We’d be concerned if any player was carrying an injury that may affect his participation in the Ashes. There are medical clauses in Andrew’s contract. The IPL are very responsible in that area.”

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Clarke likely to miss first Test

Australian Vice-Captain Michael Clarke is likely to be ruled out of the first Test match against South Africa due to a serious back injury. The first Test match will start on Thursday.

michael clarke

Admitting the spasms and discomfort, Clarke had a couple of net sessions instead of playing a tour match against South Africa Board President’s XI at Senwes Park.

His unavailability for the first Test match would be serious blow for Kangaroos who have lost their number one spot in recent times.

Clarke, who had a lot of inflammation and spasm, said, “I do not know exactly how it happened. I guess it’s a sprain. I had a lot of inflammation and spasm. It is improving slowly every day since we arrived here.”

The Australian Vice-captain was, however, hopeful to play in the first Test match.

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Bucknor Calls Time On Umpiring Career

West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor, who has officiated in a record 126 tests, will retire from international matches in March.

Steve Bucknor

Bucknor, 62, told the Jamaica Gleaner that the third test between South Africa and Australia in Cape steve bucknorTown would be his last international.

“I have notified the ICC that the South Africa v Australia series will be my last test series. The third test, my last test,” said the Jamaican.

Bucknor, who hails from Montego Bay, said he felt physically able to continue but felt it was the right time to stand down.

“The body is feeling quite good and I know I could go on for two or three years. However, something inside me is telling me it is time to go,” he added.

The umpire, who was the first to officiate 100 tests, said he hopes to work with the West Indies Cricket Board on developing new umpiring talent in the Caribbean.

“I still would like to continue making a contribution,” he said. Bucknor has stood in 179 one day internationals, including five consecutive World Cups.

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Sri Lanka Start Solid

Opener Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara scored crisp half centuries to lead Sri Lanka to 120 for two against Pakistan at lunch on the opening day of the first test in Karachi on Saturday.

kumar Sangakkara

Sangakkara was unbeaten on 51 while captain Mahela Jayawardene was on five at lunch after Tharanga Paranavitana fell for a first ball duck on his debut at National Stadium.

Pakistan awarded test caps to opener Khurrum Manzoor and pacer Sohail Khan. Sri Lanka won the toss and batted first on a pitch which offered some movement to the fast bowlers.

Umar Gul struck for the home side on the fourth ball of the first over when he had Paranavitana caught at second slip by Misbah-ul-Haq.

Warnapura and Sangakkara then teamed up to play some fluent shots, putting on 90 from 105 balls as the tourists made steady progress.

Warnapura hit seven fours in his sixth test fifty before he was also caught at second slip by Misbah off Yasir Arafat who was Pakistan’s best bowler in the session.

Sangakkara also made his 29th test fifty from 84 balls, striking six fours.

Pakistan is playing its first test after 14 months after overseas teams refused to tour the country because of security fears.

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Strauss is Learning it Hard way

England captain Andrew Strauss, in charge of his first tour, is learning the lessons of captaincy the hard way after suffering two hard-to-take results against West Indies in his opening tests.

After an innings and 23 run defeat in the first test in Kingston, when his team collapsed to 51 all out, came a 10-ball abandoned match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, followed by a bitterly disappointing draw in the hastily arranged third test at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

Andrew Strauss

England had the upper hand for all five days of an enthralling test match, Strauss’s 169 helping them to 566 for nine declared in their first innings. They sat in command after setting West Indies a near impossible target of 503 to win.

But in four-and-a-half sessions of bowling, England could only get nine West Indian wickets as the last pair of Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell hung on for 10 agonising overs.

“Clearly when you get so close in a Test and you don’t make it over that final hurdle it is very hard to take,” said Strauss.

“In some ways it does feel like a defeat, but once the emotion subsides and we realise there’s a lot of positives to come out of the Test.

EXCEPTIONAL BOWLING

“The way we batted after Jamaica was the way to respond, the way Graeme Swann bowled was exceptional and Stuart Broad as well bowled very well.

“Hopefully we have shifted the momentum away from West Indies and if we can get better as the tour goes on there’s no reason why we can’t win the series.”

“Test wins don’t come easily, especially on a wicket like this even against numbers 10 and 11 it’s hard to force the issue.

“I can’t fault the bowlers, they did as well as they could in those conditions. It was just one of those things, it wasn’t meant to be,” he added.

Critics might point to Strauss’s decision not to enforce the follow-on or his sending in James Anderson as a night watchman at the end of the third day, which slowed down England on the morning of the next session.

But the England skipper was also restricted by Andrew Flintoff’s hip injury and Steve Harmison’s stomach upset.

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Flintoff’s Fitness in Doubt

Concerns about Andrew Flintoff’s fitness are gaining fresh ground after  his friend and bowling partner Steve Harmison hinted a serious problem with English all-rounder.

Andrew Flintoff

Fears are that he may miss the fourth Test in Barbados starting on 26 of Feb are growing, after he just balled three uncomfortable overs on the fourth day of third Test and left the field.

English management initially denied anything wrong with the talismanic all-rounder, but when he left the field, they admitted that he had an anti-inflammatory injection in a hip, and Harmison said: “I am not going to lie to you and say that everything’s all right. Where he goes from here, nobody knows. We just hope he’ll be fit for the next Test in Barbados.”

Big lad of England cricket is struggling with a series of injuries in recent past. He has been off-field because of troubling knee injury and has also complained of a side strain which forced him to have a scanner in St Kitts, Jamaica just before the series.

The fourth Test is not the only concern, but team is worried that he may miss rest of the tour to make sure he fit for the two Test match series against West Indies at home and the all important Ashes.

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It’s ‘Over’ Mr. Stanford?

For England and West Indies cricket, Allen Stanford was a night watchman supposed to score a century and take 10 wickets in an innings. Well it seems Texan billionaire was offering something similar to his financial clients across the globe. But for English cricketers even after keeping their WAGS buttocks on huge thighs of billionaire, those millions no longer exist.

Sir Allen Stanford With $20 Million

Stanford is a typical Texan (6ft 4in) broad and friendly. Turned his modest family business into a huge financial empire after buying cheap properties in Texas during 1980s downturn. His overall assets are now a staggering $ 50 billion.

Cricket Connection

His financial group sponsors events like golf, tennis, polo, sailing and cricket. In a five year deal with England and West Indies cricket last summer, Stanford introduced his own Twenty20 bash in which winners (West Indies ) took a prize money of $20 million. His flamboyant character which is similar to the new format of the game became evident when his silver color chopper landed on the Nursery Ground at Lord’s and he wheeled out a box of $20 million prize money for the contest and handed it over to ECB.

English cricketing authorities didn’t felt a little awkward for taking the bait which was previously refused by India and South Africa. Now ECB has already suspended its negotiations with Stanford after charges of fraud became prominent against Texan tycoon, damage is already done.

Sir Allen Stanford at Lords

It has been three years since Stanford first started investing in the revival of West Indian cricket, but his relations with West Indian Cricket Board never hit normal.

When his offices in America were raided by federal agents, Dr Julian Hunte, the president of WICB  suspended negotiations with billionaire, who was once see the savior of calypso.

Stanford’s virtual takeover of West Indian Twenty20 cricket was typical to high rises Caribbean Sea is so acquitted with.  Hijacking the entertaining format of the game in West Indies led to legal disputes with current sponsors Digicel and former sponsors Cable and Wireless (two telecom companies often visit court rooms over the rights of sponsorships over the cricket in this part of the world, where calypso is still the preferred sport.)

Though WICB made it clear that they don’t depend on Stanford money they will surely miss, $1 million annually fee tycoon was supposed to pay the board for licensing his Twenty20 tournament in the region. According to Hunte he hasn’t paid the money for previous year as of now.

Whatever may be the outcome of investigations, Stanford’s first innings with cricket has surely come to an end.

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Loss No.5-Where is Australia Heading?

A winning machine. A power house. A disciplined outfit. A bathering ramp. Few synonyms for team Australia in past. But hold on! Past is over, future is here, and Australia, is struggling. On Friday, they registered their fifth consecutive defeat at home.

Skipper M Clarke

At Melbourne Cricket Ground in the second ODI of the five match series against New Zealand, Australian batting was below par. After putting to bat first they managed 5-225 in their allotted 50 overs which Kiwis romped, reaching 4-226 with seven balls to spare.

Brendon McCullum (43 from 75) gave visitors a solid start, which Ross Taylor(47 from 74) and Grant Elliott (61 not out from 75 balls) made the best use of.

Kiwis chase to the target was comfortable won, but it was 37 th over of David Hussey which marked yet another shameful performance by the home side in a summer which is going horribly wrong.

The Kiwis started the over at 3-143, needing 83 off the remaining 14 overs at virtually a run a ball. But a drop catch by Michael Hussey and wild delivery by David Hussey, which neither Taylor nor Haddin could get hands on raced to the boundary – Hussey leaking 10 important runs in the part-time over. Rest as they say is history. Though Mitchell Johnson tried his best to end the misery for the home side, it seems Austrlia still are away from their best.

Earlier stand in Captain Michael Clarke’s brilliant 98(133) and Michael Hussey’s well played 75 (94), in the crucial 133-run partnership for the forth wicket gave Australia some respectability after put to bat first.

With pressure coming from different quarters it was an impressive performance by Clarke in many ways. He entered Melbourne on a four match loosing streak to replace Ponting, who was rested for the game.

He also had to open in absence of injured Shaun Marsh. Adding to these burdens, Clarke had to face music over his reported last month spat with Test team mate Simon Katich.

Clarke took the challenge courageously and opened the innings with David Warner who added another low score to his highly unimpressive sheet.

When wicket keeper batter Brad Haddin came to crease after getting promoted to No.3, he was welcomed with a huge boo for his controversial role in Sunday’s game, where he was accused by Kiwi skipper of fowl play. His stay was brief. Next man to get out was David Hussey who had nobody but himself to blame. Attempting an unlikely single after hitting straight to Daniel Vettori, a direct hit from captain sealed his fate.

This brought another Hussey and Clarke together, and pair carefully started a rebuild. With boundaries hard to come on vast pasture of MCG, first 50 runs of partnership came at a tick under four per over.

The run-rate was still limping but opting for batting powerplay after 34 overs proved impressive.

For change in Australian fortunes the home side made first time the good use of batting powerplay during the summer, taking 33 runs from five overs giving much needed impetus to declining run rate.

Most importantly Australia did not lost any wicket during the fielding restrictions which allowed some momentum to their innings. Hussey fell in the 46th over when he tried to clear mid-wicket with a swipe off paceman Iain O’Brien.

Clarke’s disappointment was on his face when he failed to reach three figure mark as O’ Brien again became reason for Australian pain.

With three matches remaining in the series it will surely take a great Australian resurgence to end the summer on a good note.