Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 02:36 PM
Mumbai, October 31 (ANI): Little Master,Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai on Saturday said that it is important to build the winning momentum before the 2011 World Cup and currently he is focusing on the upcoming cricket Test series against New Zealand.Talking to media persons on the sidelines of brand endorsement ceremony,he said that after the recent win against Australia it is now time to focus on the New Zealand series.
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Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 02:06 PM
Perth (Australia), Oct. 31 (ANI): England skipper Andrew Strauss has said that his team won't target Australia's under-pressure players this summer despite labelling the upcoming Ashes series a war.
"I don't know what his (Ponting's) state of mind is but one thing I do know is we're not in the business of targeting opposition players," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Strauss, as saying soon after the Poms landed in Perth.
"My past experience is that if you say too much about opposition teams, it can come back and haunt you. We expect Australia to be very strong. Their record here is very good," he added.
Strauss' comments were in stark contrast to the ones made several days earlier, when he ordered his troops not to be friendly with the Australians and declared both sides would be at war during the five Tests.
Australia also fired a pre-Ashes shot when photos of Ponting and Michael Clarke were projected on London's iconic Big Ben clock, with the accompanying slogan reading "Don't forget to pack the urn".
It seems the clever marketing gimmick had little effect on the English.
"I was only made aware of it in the press conference. I don't kind of stay awake at night looking at Big Ben," Strauss laughed.
Strauss said England were mentally and physical ready for battle. (ANI)
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Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 01:36 PM
Melbourne, Oct. 31 (ANI): With the exception of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, England will feel the statistical heat when it comes to a comparison of Ashes-related performances with Australia, says author David Sygall.
"Only Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood can boast better numbers against Australia in Australia than their overall statistics, proving that when the blowtorch is applied, those two can stand the heat," Sygall says in an article for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Pietersen has amassed 5306 runs at an average of 47.8, including 16 centuries, in his 66 Tests. He has scored only one ton in Australia - 158 at Adelaide on his one tour here in 2006-07 - but his 490 runs at 54 in five Tests warrants respect.
In his five Tests here, Collingwood has scored nearly as many runs as Pietersen, 433 runs, at an average of 48.11, six runs higher than his overall average.
But that's where it all ends for England, as far as reputations go.
With the likes of Ian Botham, Michael Atherton and David Gower talking up England's chances of winning a series here for the first time since 1987, the pressure is on for unheralded and under-performed players to stand up on what most overseas players regard as the hardest of all cricket tours.
Captain Andrew Strauss, who scored one century in two seasons at Sydney club side Mosman, has hit 18 Test centuries, none in Australia, where he averages a little over half his overall average. Alastair Cook has scored one ton here, but, like Strauss, he will have to battle the voices in his head reminding him that he's done little in Australia.
Ian Bell has scored a century every five matches and averages 43 in Test matches. Not in Australia. Here he is century-less and has a humble batting average of 33.
Of the bowlers, James Anderson has taken five wickets in his three Tests in Australia at a cost of 82 runs each and left-arm spinner Monty Panesar has taken 10 wickets, eight of which came in the Perth Test in 2006-07. The rest of the squad has no Test experience in Australia. (ANI)
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Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 01:08 PM
Sydney, Oct. 31 (ANI): Taking an indirect swipe at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for failing to endorse his candidacy for the post of vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), former Australian prime minister Johan Howard today said: "there is a problem with the administration of cricket in some parts of the cricketing world."
"I hasten to say not Australia - I think the cricket administration in Australia is very good. I think there is a problem in parts of the Indian subcontinent and clearly there is a problem in Zimbabwe, which is not entirely unrelated to the circumstances affecting me," he added.
He also records an invaluable lesson he learnt when his older brother Wal wasn't elected captain of the church cricket team.
"This was because he took it for granted, owing to his seniority, that he would be elected," Howard wrote.
"He had not bothered to organise his numbers. I thought the decision of the team was most unfair, and it left me feeling upset and angry for weeks. It taught me a lesson about ballots which I have never forgotten," he adds. (ANI)
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Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 12:56 PM
Mumbai, Oct 31 (ANI): Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday said the upcoming Test series against New Zealand is very important for the team from momentum building perspective before the 2011 World Cup.
Tendulkar said after the recent win against Australia, it is now time to focus on the New Zealand series.
"I would like to think about the next three test matches that we play, and when we go to South Africa or just before that. Once we are through with New Zealand, then we can think about South Africa and that is the case with the World Cup as well," said Tendulkar, while addressing media persons on the sidelines of endorsing Real Estate Company Amit Enterprises here.
"But before we start playing the World Cup tournament, there is a lot of cricket left and that is what we would want to focus on, because I believe in momentum, and that momentum to keep with us, is really important. So, right now it is time to focus on New Zealand," he added.
Tendulkar also revealed the logic behind choosing a particular brand for endorsement.
"Whenever we think of associating with any brand, then obviously we check the reputation and the value, and whether I want to endorse that brand or not. And similarly, they want to take me or not is very important," he said.
Tendulkar also described the win against Australia as 'unbelievable' and praised the match-winning knock of V.V.S. Laxman in the Mohali Test as 'terrific' sportsmanship.
New Zealand is scheduled to play three Tests followed by five One-Day Internationals (ODI) matches against India beginning on November 4. (ANI)
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Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 12:52 PM
Dubai, Oct 31 (ANI): The International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct Commission is expected to announce a decision on the appeals of tainted Pakistani players Salman Butt and Mohammad Aamer against their provisional suspensions on Sunday (today).
Officials from the governing body of cricket said that the hearing would now conclude on Sunday, the Daily Times reported.
Earlier, the two cricketers arrived at the ICC headquarters with their lawyers- Salman with Khalid Ranjha, a former law minister, and Aftab Gul, a former Pakistan player- and Aamer with his lawyer Shahid Karim. The third tainted player- Mohammad Asif- had already withdrawn his appeal, saying that he needed more time for his lawyers to prepare for the case.
Michael Beloff, who is presiding over the hearing and heads the commission, said, "We have made progress in the case," but declined to elaborate on the matter.
"The hearings went on all day," Salman's lawyer Khalid Ranjha told reporters after the eight-hour session. "It will continue tomorrow. I can't say anything more about the discussions today."
The commission is expected to announce a decision on the players' appeals on Sunday in a ruling that cannot be further challenged.
The proceedings in Dubai are, however, concerned only with the duo's suspensions and whether the ICC followed the correct procedures in imposing them. The innocence or guilt of the players, who have denied any wrongdoing so far, will be judged at an independent tribunal, the date of which is not yet finalised.
Well-informed sources revealed that the legal team of the ICC had indeed submitted a detailed list of charges against the two players at the hearing in a bid to justify the suspensions imposed on them on September 2.
The ICC legal experts, representing the anti-corruption and security unit, had tried to convince the tribunal head at the hearing that the two players had indeed clearly violated several clauses of the anti-corruption code, which led to the ICC imposing the suspensions on them, the sources added.
On September 2, the ICC had suspended opening batsman Salman and pace bowlers Aamer and Asif over allegations of spot fixing during the Lord's Test against England in August. (ANI)
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Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 12:38 PM
Perth, Oct 31(ANI): England captain Andrew Strauss has vowed that his side would grind the Ricky Ponting-lead Australia team down during the upcoming Ashes series.
The England team arrived in Australia on Saturday aiming to be the first team since Mike Gatting' 1986-87 team to win the urn Down Under.
"Ultimately you have got to grind Australia down, there is no doubt about that. We have all learnt lessons about the style of cricket you have to play and the mindset you have to have if you want to be successful (against Australia)," News.com.au quoted Strauss, as saying.
"There are crucial periods of play in Test matches where one side grabs the initiative from the other and doesn't let go."
"The challenge for us is to make sure we are that side. All 11 guys in our side have been putting their hands up in those crucial periods in Tests to make sure we get through them and win tight games," he added.
The 33-year-old further said that working along with coach Andy Flower, his team has assessed Australia's strengths and weakness.
"We are going to have to be prepared enough to take advantage of those weaknesses. The Australian side doesn't have those legendary experienced players they once had," Strauss added.
The first of the five Ashes Tests will be held at the Gabba in Brisbane from November 25 to 29.
It will be followed by Tests in Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
The tour also has two Twenty20 internationals and a seven-match ODI series. (ANI)
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