Cricket Tournaments

India - England

India’s tour to West Indies has already kick-started with a win over them each in ODI’s and the T-20 formats. With youngsters giving a chance to prove their mettle in tests as well since the senior players have been given some rest, people are looking forward to the positives coming out of this series as this will prove how strong is India’s bench strength. However, this series hasn’t been the talking point which surprises me quite a lot as India- West Indies rivalry has been phenomenal as years have passed on, though it has lost its touch in the last decade or so.

With India touring England in the month of July this year, the focus has completely shifted on to them. With India playing overseas after a long time, it has to be a tough one to go past. Ganguly said,” India will win in West Indies, but England will be tough”. This looks quite true with the fact that England has been playing phenomenal cricket around and have been going great guns. Retaining Ashes cup at away and defeating Australia at their home ground is no sort of joke. Though their ranking in ODIs is quite higher when compared to their performances but when it comes to tests they’re just looking for a chance to throttle India from the top spot. And when you have the opportunity to defeat India in their own den with flurrying bouncers and swing that takes away the game from the Indian counterparts.

But what makes England a serious competitor to the #1 ranking which India has earned so deservedly. These players are certainly to be credited.

Alastair Cook

Averaging 48 in his test cricket, he gives England a perfect start what a team actually needs. But what has been exceptional, is the way he has come up and shown what he means to his team. He was the main reason to why England retained the Ashes trophy. A run machine for England, he scored 766 runs in 5 tests he played with an exceptional average of over 120. With 3 centuries, 1 double century and 3 more half-centuries he had a splendid series. And that happened in just about 7 innings in which he played. Even in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, he has already notched 335 runs in just 3 innings. Being in blazing form, he is the torch-bearer for England at the moment and certainly the man to watch out for.

Jonathan Trott

An exceptional player, playing just 19 tests has already notched 6 international hundreds which includes 2 double hundreds already. A prolific batsman, he has been in tremendous form this year, winning the cricketer of the year award for England. In the Ashes series tour he was next only to Alastair Cook and Michael Hussey for the number of runs he has scored. An exceptional double hundred in the 1^st test he played against Sri Lanka in the ongoing test series, was an example of his unbreakable defense. Always on the lookout for runs, he is going to be tough one to breakthrough.

Greame Swann

Been considered to become the best off-spinner, he certainly has got the talent to be one. With a career 135 wickets and a splendid economy rate of 2.9, he has always kept on the batsmen and never let him score runs. He always keeps the batsmen in defense and keeps him thinking all the time. The batsman ultimately succumbs to the batsmen and gives away his wicket. Making a debut in 2000 for an ODI, he was called back in 2007 and ultimately cemented his place in the team. Playing his spin is difficult, and with India touring to England in July, it’s going to be a strong but healthy rivalry between the best off-spinners in the world at the moment, Swann and Harbhajan Singh.

James Anderson

The spearhead of the England pace attack, he has been phenomenal this season. With 24 wickets in the Ashes series, he dismantled the Australian batting line up with sheer pace and his swinging ability. An experienced bowler, he is one of the best pacers in the world today along with Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan and Brett Lee. Though injured at the moment, it’s highly likely that he would recover before India’s tour and would get the perfect rest before such a high-profile series which would decide to who actually deserves the #1 ranking. Pace and swing is all that he’s got, and with the England pitches he wouldn’t need anything more except the experience and intelligence which he’s god-gifted.

Apart from these players, there are many more players who have been in exceptional form. Just the fact, that these players have taken away the limelight from the other players. Andrew Strauss along with Ian Bell and Matt Prior also has notched up some outstanding performances. Ian Bell especially has been consistently performing. Kevin Pieterson, though injured for the moment he has been well impressive for England in a couple of matches himself.  Even in the bowling department, Chris Tremlett has been phenomenal. Picking up 17 wickets in the Ashes tour and demolishing the Sri Lankan side along with Swann to win the test match which was always looking for a draw, he has given England a bowler to support Anderson.

A tough time ahead, India is not going to take this series lightly. M.S.Dhoni, the calmest ever captain the cricketing world would have ever seen, might know it better but it all falls down to square one. Defending the number 1 spot against a team like England is going to be tough. Laxman said,”I never got a 100 in England. Hopefully, it would be very special if I get a 100 at Lord’s and India wins the match,” Preparation has to be tough and I don’t think India will falter at this point atleast. A rivalry to watch out for, India-England has always been exceptional to watch. Right from early days, to taking out shirt incident by Andrew Flintoff and Ganguly mocking the same one, to Yuvraj Singh hitting Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over. There might be many more moments which I wouldn’t have been even aware about.

A tough schedule ahead, India-England is going to be an interesting tie to watch.

The World cup is only half way through but the way the teams have gone thus far tells you a lot about what is to come.

Group A has panned out as expected, the International teams have decimated the Associates. Canada, Zimbabwe and Kenya have only ratified the ICC’s decision of streaming down the number of teams for the next world cup down under. Kenya have been the most impressive of the Associate teams as far as Group A is concerned, improving considerably with every game.

Here is a look at how the top 4 teams have gone (Group A) and what lies ahead:

Australia

- The defending champions came into the tournament on the back of a drubbing that they offered the Poms after an embarrassing defeat in the Ashes. Australia have a lot of things going for them this tournament, decent batting order, potent attack and fabulous fielders.

- However, a few obvious gaping holes do lie in between. Their batting has been suspect this tournament, despite the 320 odd that they scored against the Kenyans. Both the openers have looked sublime but the middle order has not been able to keep the score board ticking. Michael Clarke was an exception today, but, Ricky Ponting and Cameron White have been in woeful touch with the bat. Ponting has still snuck through but White’s form has been real cause for concern.

- On the positive note, Michael Hussey has returned to the Australian side giving the batting much needed potency in the middle order. Hussey always seems to have a calming influence about himself that invariably rubs of on his peers.

- All the talk about the Australian bowling being the best in the tournament, the three pronged pace attack looked ordinary against Kenya and could be exposed against better oppositions in the quarter finals if they fail to hit their lengths. Having said this, I personally do believe that if the bowlers hit their straps soon, the oppositions may be in for some contest. Add to this, their bowling has the best strike rate across all teams this world cup. Australia’s bowling should improve over the next week.

Sri Lanka

- The last time the World cup was staged in the sub continent, it was the Lankan tigers who walked away with the trophy. Arjuna Ranatunga inspired the Rest of the World as he enabled Sri Lanka announce themselves on the World stage.

- 15 years later, the World cup is back in the sub continent and you would not bet against the Lankans, they are wily at home and looked determined like never before. Muttiah Muralidaran is sure to hang his boots up with the closure of this tournament and would look to bring home the cup after 15 elusive years.

- The Lankan top order looks solid, with Tillakaratne Dilshan taking them of to blazing starts on a regular basis. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene provide the perfect foil in the middle order. It is their lower order batting that is a little questionable, Angelo Mathews does not look good enough to provide the impetus at the fag end of the innings on a consistent basis. They rely on other bits and pieces cricketers in Thisara Perera and co to do the job.

- Nevertheless, you cannot discount them. Just a reminder, Sanath Jayasuriya was an unknown commodity too in 1996, so you never know with the Lankans.

- Their bowling seems very steady with Lasith Malinga and Muralidaran leading the pack. Sri Lanka should make the semi finals and stand a very good chance this tournament if they can sort out their late order batting.

Pakistan

- The only consistent thing with Pakistan is inconsistency. On paper they look a very balanced unit, one that opposition teams must really take seriously. But which Pakistan you get on the day, can never be told. It is a well documented fact, Pakistan on their day can beat the chickens out of their opponents.

- They have looked impressive this tournament barring the outing against New Zealand where they threw away their position of strength and ended up being battered like one of the minnows.

- A steady top order lead by Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq is followed by a flamboyant middle order in Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi with Abdul Razzaq providing the finishing touch. Perhaps the most efficient lower middle order across all teams, Pakistan is sure a team to watch out for.

- The bowling complements their batting perfectly, 2 front line seamers backed by a steady Razzaq and useful spinners in Afridi and Rehman to do the job. However, Pakistan’s biggest issue for many years now, has been their fielding. The fielding fails to give teeth to the bowling and they tend to put down a couple of catches, least, every match.

- Contenders this year, if only they can shave of the slack and unprofessionalism, Pakistan may just do what they did in 1992.

New Zealand

- New Zealand, workman like, have been very industrious in the way they have gone about things. Nothing flashy in their cricket, steady and stable.

- One feels for New Zealand, with a population under 50 lacs, it must be hard to find full time professional cricketers.

- It has to be Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor who have got to do the bulk of the job with the bat, if New Zealand stand any chance this world cup. Daniel Vettori, by far is their most proficient and experienced player.

- A lot of things have to go wrong for other teams and a lot right for NZ if they have to proceed any further than the quarters this World cup.

- The lack of a game changers with both bat and ball is a huge problem for the Kiwis. They will have to make do without them or hope young guns in Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson come to the fort.
- A good side in decent form but may find it difficult to proceed ahead of the quarter finals.

Brett lee’s days in whites are over—Australian pace ace Brett lee has finally called it a day and has officially retired from test match cricket. Lee made this official in his statement to the media on the 23rd of February. Lee took 310 wickets in 76 test matches at 30. All of this with 5 ankle operations. A true testament to his character. One of the fastest bowlers in the world, Brett lee will be remembered for a long time to come.

Although he won’t be hurling in right between the members stand with white clothing on, lee still has a lot of cricket left him—lot of T20 and ODI action. Lee is 33 and would be a walk into any club team. The Australian selectors have shown faith in lee by picking him in the top 30 probable’s that would be going to the Caribbean to play the 3rd edition of the T20 world cup. His defining moment still remains when he was unleashed on the Indians in the December of 1999 and picked up a memorable 5 wicket hall on debut including picking up Rahul Dravid twice in the test. Brett lee always played with a smile and was one of those few Australians who won fans all over the world. One of the most defining moments of 2005 saw lee being consoled by Andrew Flintoff in the 3rd ashes test at Edgbaston after England won the contest by 2 runs.

One year on— Over a year now since the tragedy broke out on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore on their way to the gaddaffi stadium. Thilan samarweera who had scores two double centuries in the previous two matches was one of those who was gravely injured. Paravitharana and Mendis were amongst the others who were injured gravely. The memory still seems to haunt all those who were witness to it. Chris broad still speaks about waking up in the middle of the night getting nightmares about that particular day.

The IPL— The IPL is a week away and this time its back in India. The excitement seems to be mounting by the second. With the advertisements and sponsors already started their marketing, this season promises to be nothing short of amazing. As far as the players are concerned the Australian and new Zealand test players won’t be there right until the end or might even consider giving it a miss as their test series would be followed with the world twenty 20 in the Caribbean and the players would want some much needed rest. The first match of the season kicks off on the 12th of march in Mumbai’s DY Patil stadium where the Kolkata Knight riders will face the defending champions of 2009, the Deccan chargers. This season promises to be an enthralling one. So, sit back and enjoy…

Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris—Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris had more than a verbal exchange when the duo clashed in the 46th over of the innings of the 1st ODI at napier. The incident occurred when Johnson was hammered for two consecutive fours. Johnson was seen head butting Scott Styris. The duo were both found guilty, in fact both pleaded guilty in order to skip the entire hearing. Scott Styris was charged 15% of his match fee while Johnson was charged 60%. Perhaps Johnson must go and thank his mate Brad Haddin who saved him from losing some more of his money.

ICC Presidency— Former Australian prime minister, John Howard has been nominated for the ICC presidency post by both Australia and New Zealand. He has been extremely passionate about cricket since his childhood. What remains to be seen is that whether he will be able to win the votes of the sub-continent. Howard said he would be privileged to serve the ICC and would do it well if given an opportunity of doing so.

Muttiah Muralitharan— Veteran Sri Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has decided that he will quit all forms of the game after the end of the 2011 world cup. He has been a tremendous servant to not just Sri Lankan cricket but also world cricket. He is the leading wicket taker in both test and one day internationals. Murali has faced a lot of controversies and has come out of it strongly. Often castigated by a lot of former players murali has fought the odds and come out on top. Whatever said whatever done, he will be the leading wicket taker for some time to come—it’s in the record books!

Following the marvellous victory at Nagpur, India would like to believe that they have gained the upper hand in the series for the moment. Add to it Australia’s injury woes as well as the training debacle at Kotla – they had to skip proper practice due to wet pitches – and India are in with a realistically great chance of going 2-1 up in the series. That said, they need to exercise caution. India have often stumbled in the recent past due to complacency, the signs of which were there during the closing stages in Nagpur. Their lethargic approach meant the last Aussie pair managed to get some good batting practice. However, if the Indians do get their act right for the second time running, Australia could be in for a real tough time.

What the Australians need at the present moment is an uplifting effort from one of their seniors. A century from either among Ponting, Hussey or Watson can turn things around for them. One exceptional performance is often enough to ensure a side’s win in a one-dayer. More than their batting though, it is their bowling to which they need to give some serious thought. Now that Brett Lee is unavailable, Mitchell Johnson has to take over the responsibility of the senior bowling pro. True, he himself is not 100 per cent fit. However, considering the state of his team, he will be expected to rise above the pain and perform.

Ben Hilfenhaus found the going pretty tough at Nagpur, which means the other pacer in the squad Doug Bollinger might get a chance, so also may Moises Henriques, who could replace Adam Voges, in an effort to strengthen the all-round department. Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz have been Australia’s two best bowlers on display so far and their side would want them to continue in the same vein. If anything, Hauritz will be expected to be slightly more attacking.

Probably the only good news the Australian team has received in recent hours is that Tim Paine’s replacement Graham Manou will arrive in time for the Delhi match. That he also has some international experience is an additional plus. But expecting something extraordinary from him would be asking for too much, as he is sure to suffer from some amount of jetlag. Even so, the fact that he will available itself is good enough for Australia considering the crisis situation.

In sharp contrast, India are suddenly looking like a winning combination. With Gambhir, Dhoni and Raina among the runs, India managed to put up a rock-solid batting performance at Nagpur. Add to it, the ominous cameos played by Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag and the fact that Tendulkar has yet to reach double figures in the tournament. The opposition camp would be feeling rather jittery. One has to keep in mind though that it was just one game where everything clicked. The Aussies would undoubtedly come back hard at the Indians despite all their troubles.

The home side thus needs to carry on from where they finished off on Wednesday. The low, slow Kotla pitch will offer a tougher challenge and the batters need to be prepared to adapt to the conditions. Bowling wise as well the Indians must stick to their guns. Now that Ishant Sharma has rediscovered his rhythm, he should also realize what suits him best. Praveen Kumar has to just continue doing what he did so well at Nagpur, get the early breakthroughs as well as dry up the runs. The temporary spearhead of the bowling attack, Ashish Nehra, is going through one of his better patches and India would hope it lasts for a longer duration, since his presence makes the bowling line-up all the more potent. Regarding Harbhajan Singh, it remains to be seen how he is dealt with – both by the team management and the Aussie batsmen, who are getting increasing confident against him.

As mentioned in the very beginning, all the pointers suggest India have the upper hand. But while they do possess the better arsenal, the men in blue still have to go out and perform. How well India exploit this golden opportunity will in all certainty determine the fate of the game.

They may have won the first ODI at Vadodara, but there is not a lot of good news coming out of the Australian camp on the eve of the second match, a day-night affair, at Nagpur. The Aussies will miss the services of speedster Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes. Lee developed a right elbow strain during the opening game and managed to send down only six overs while Hopes pulled a hamstring. There are also doubts over another all-rounder Mitchell Johnson’s participation, but, thankfully for the Aussies, he is still in contention and might end up taking the field at Nagpur.

In the meantime, New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques has been called up by the Australian team management as a standby. He will stay on with the team till the fourth match of the series after joining them on Thursday in Delhi. Post the fourth game at Mohali, a final decision would be made regarding whether Henriques will continue to be a part of the squad for the entire tournament or be relieved, depending on whether Hopes is fit.

The all-rounder recently featured in the inaugural Champions League T20, which New South Wales won. He was highly impressive in the tournament and garnered a lot of praise. Hence, the call up wasn’t all that surprising. Prior to that, Henriques also took part in the IPL, but that ended up being a rather disastrous venture, with his franchise – The Kolkata Knight Riders – finishing at the bottom of the table.

This is not the first time Henriques finds himself in such a situation. A similar thing happened during the series against minnows Bangladesh last year. He was also impressive during Australia A’s winter series against Pakistan A and has been on the fringes of selection since.

Coming back to Australia and injuries, the list only gets longer for the kangaroos. Lee, Hopes and Johnson have now joined Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin and promising youngster Callum Ferguson, all of whom had to give this tour a skip due to various injury-related problems.

If cricket matches were played only on paper, India would win hands down at Nagpur. Australia will be depleted by the absence of Brett Lee and James Hopes, taken out of the equation by injuries, whereas India would be bolstered with Yuvraj Singh, in all probability, returning to action. However, that’s not how things work out on the cricket field. So even though India would consider themselves lucky to be taking on a depleted Aussie XI, they will still have to go out and perform to level the series at Nagpur. Moreover, the Indians have to pull their socks up in each and every department.

There are likely to be some definite changes in the home team. If Yuvraj comes in, it will be a straightforward decision to be bench one of the young guns – Virat Kohli or Ravindra Jadeja. There is a faint possibility that both might sit out if India decide to go in with the extra spinner in Amit Mishra, with Yuvraj as the part-time option. Apart from that, there shouldn’t be any modifications in the batting department. However, that doesn’t mean all’s well. The top and middle order needs to get its act together. They can be excused for the Vadodara failure considering it was the first game of the series, but cannot afford to repeat their mistakes at Nagpur.

Virender Sehwag looked ominous during his brief stay on Sunday and would be itching for a big score. Among the others, Sachin Tendulkar would be keen to find the middle of the bat after an unusually below-par performance whereas MS Dhoni must be keen to lead from the front. Opener Gautam Gambhir was the only one who lent some solidity to the Indian chase at Vadodara and the rest, including the ‘sometimes flattering, sometimes deceiving’ Suresh Raina, can learn a lesson from his batsmanship. Gambhir, himself, has to continue with his good work.

Bowling wise as well, Dhoni and co have plenty to ponder upon. After the pasting he took at Vadodara, Praveen Kumar’s confidence might well have taken a beating, his fighting knock with the willow notwithstanding. And so, it is a risk the Indians would not like to take in a crucial game. Munaf Patel will most likely be his replacement, but whether he will prove to be a suitable alternative remains to be seen. Ishant Sharma has found some rhythm no doubt, but needs to maintain the consistency over a period of time for him to be blindly trusted by the team management. Finally, the time has come for Harbhajan Singh to sit down with the team think-tank and discuss what role he has to play in the one-day side. Of late, he has been neither been totally attacking nor completely defensive in his tactics, but has been stuck somewhere in between, barring a few games, in which he managed to make an impression. That leaves India with only comeback man Ashish Nehra as the form bowler, a far from ideal situation.

For Australia, expect Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Marsh to get an opportunity in place of Lee and Hopes. That apart, they don’t have too many worries. All their batsmen got runs and bowlers crucial wickets. If anything, some improvement is needed in the death overs bowling as well as in the field. Also, they stumbled during the batting powerplay, but the same applies to India as well.

As it often happens in this part of the world, day-night games are affected heavily by dew. Hence, the team batting first will have to post a huge score if they want to beat the wet conditions in the field. One only hopes that the final result is decided on the basis on which team played better cricket and not external factors.

The 2009 Ashes series between England and Australia will start this morning as cricket looks to once again capture the imagination of the British public. Four years ago the two teams met to give us the greatest Ashes series of all time in a sporting contest that personified just why these two sides have such a long and respectable sporting history.

England come off the back of some impressive performances against a West Indies team and the Aussies start off in England having beaten South Africa in their own country. Despite the gap in quality between these two victories this could turn out to be a repeat of the 2005 series with every single match going right down to the wire.

The teams are very evenly matched and it appears that the side that bowls the better will win the series and the Ashes urn. Australia obviously do not have Glen McGrath and Shane Warne in their side any more, who between them bowled out in England five times by themselves in the last series to be held in England.

This is not easy to over come and is being put down as the main reason by many experts on the game as the factor that actually gives England a chance. England’s own bowling attack has the virtue of having now played together for a long period of time. There is no question that England have the better bowling options as they carry two world class spinners as well as players that can reverse swing the ball at great pace.

The batting line-ups of each side are very even and a lot will rest on the more experienced players in each side. Both England and Australia have four big names in their top six that can all go on and make big hundreds. If they do then every match should go down to the last day and will place all of the pressure on the bowlers to get everything right and earn their money.

A lot has been made of the fact that the first test match is being played in Cardiff and not at Lords as this is traditionally the case. There are two advantages already for England in this respect. Firstly, the Cardiff pitch should turn, this will allow England the freedom to name Monty Panesar and Graham Swann in their side whereas the Australians will probably only play Nathan Hauritz, a defensively minded off spinner.

Secondly, it has to be considered that whenever an Ashes series does start at Lords, England do tend to lose. It is important to get off to a good start in such a long series because it can give you vital momentum that you can carry forwards into the next match. Cardiff could work in England’s favour and it could give them a boost they need to believe that they can push on and win the series.

England should have thumped the West Indies when they played in the Caribbean but on too many occasions, seemingly certain wins were turned in to frustrating draws. If England can get their noses on front then it could be a long two months in this country for the Australians.

Team news is good for England who look set to name their strongest possible eleven. It has not been kept a secret that the pitch will turn and therefore Graham Onions could make way for Swann with Andrew Flintoff stepping back into the middle of the side. This will give England a nice balance and allow them to strengthen in more than one area. It also adds the important dimension of even more aggression that will be needed as there are no doubts over the fact that the Aussies are going to chirp away at all the English batsman that get to the crease.

For the Aussies they will be missing fast bowler Brett Lee. England will be more than happy about this. Lee has the ability to swing the ball at over 90mph and can cause all sorts of problems. Ask any Englishman in the side if they would rather he wasn’t playing and they’d all say yes.

Otherwise the Australian selection is hard to guess. Ricky Ponting has been keeping the cards close to his chest before the first game and it is expected that they will go in with three or four quicks and a spinner. However, you can never second guess the Aussies and it could well be the case that they have the next Shane Warne up their sleeve ready to bring out, a player who nobody would have heard of.

This would be a huge gamble though and it will probably be the case that the Aussies go in with only four bowlers and play an extra batsman. This would not be a stupid thing to do but it would automatically give a slight advantage to England who would fancy their chances of not being bowled out by a relatively one dimensional attack without Lee.

The toss is also crucial to England’s chances of winning the first game. As the pitch is expected to turn, it can also be expected that it will rapidly deteriorate, meaning that whoever wins the toss will bat first. You do not want to be batting on the last day in the last innings on a pitch that has unpredictable bounce and is turning square. From England’s point of view if they can get a good score on the board first up and then set the Aussies a massive target, it will allow Swann and Panesar to go mad and try to wreak some havoc in the later stages of the game.

It’s nice just to have the series back and it’s good that there is so much positive thinking surrounding the first test. A lot of people have already forgotten about the 5-0 thumping that was given to England in the last Ashes series and if the build up is any thing like the actual matches then we could all be on our way to buy box sets of the 2009 series as well.