Kanpur: S. Sreesanth was away for quite a while and the paceman was warned for his behaviour by the BCCI — before staging his comeback here.
Sreesanth admitted he never thought he would play for India again.“God has given me a big chance. This is a new beginning for me.â€
Sreesanth, who had a spat with Harbhajan [...]
Posts Tagged ‘test match’
A new and positive Sreesanth
November 27th, 2009 |
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Allan Border defends Ponting’s captaincy
July 22nd, 2009 |
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Former Australian cricket captain Allan Border has defended Ricky Ponting’s captaincy in the face of criticism following Australia’s dismal performances in both the Test matches of the Ashes series.
“When Ricky took over with the likes of Warne and McGrath, the team wasn”t all that different and he kept the ball rolling after Steve Waugh. [...]
Beaten Ponting blames slow start
July 20th, 2009 |
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Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted his side deserved to lose the second Test against England at Lord’s.
"We’ve been outplayed from the first morning," he said after the 115-run defeat. "We’ve been chasing our tails.
"We had our chances with the bat on day two but we came up short. I’m pretty proud how we stuck at it and to get over 400 runs is a good effort.
"There are three Tests to go. One Test match doesn’t make a summer. We’re 1-0 down but there’s time to bounce back."
The Australians had looked set to go into the Lord’s Test with a 1-0 advantage, only for England’s final wicket pair to stave off the threat of defeat in the opening match of the series at Cardiff.
Ponting dismissed suggestions that his team had been affected by their failure to force home victory there, however, and insisted: "It is nothing to do with Cardiff.
"England played pretty well. There is no hangover from Cardiff when we played so well.
"It was only last week we were jumping about how well we played. A week in sport can be a long time.
"We have to look at the positives but quite a few negatives – including our fielding. There are lots of little things to look at and we have to rectify those things."
Fast bowler Brett Lee, who was ruled out of the first two matches with a side injury, could return for the third Test at Edgbaston starting on 30 July.
"There will be some discussions on selections but nothing much to worry about," added Ponting.
606: DEBATE"The Aussies need to let the defeat sink in, and respond the way they did in South Africa"
from_the_stands
As home supporters had hoped, Andrew Flintoff played a significant role for England in his final Test at Lord’s, taking 5-92.
"He bowled well and that’s what you expect from him," said Ponting. "He’ll keep running in as long as the captain wants him to.
"We played him well in Cardiff and today he bowled beautifully. With the game on the line you expect those guys to stand up."
By stumps on day two Ponting saw his side slip to 156-8 in reply to England’s first innings 425.
Although adding defiantly: "Our bowling in the second innings was as good as it’s been through the series." The touring skipper conceded: "The first two days is where the game was decided."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ashes live – England v Australia
July 20th, 2009 |
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Second Test, Lord’s, day five:
LATEST ACTION (all times BST)
By Tom Fordyce
e-mail tms@bbc.co.uk (with ‘For Tom Fordyce’ in the subject), text 81111 (with "CRICKET" as first word) or use606(Not all comments can be used)
AUSTRALIA SECOND INNINGS
BBC Sport’s Oliver Brett on Twitter:"Phone call overheard on 274 bus: ‘If anyone at work asks where I am, just say I’m sick’"From Steve in Manchester, TMS inbox: "When England were playing the Windies at Old Trafford several years ago, I had the pleasure of sitting at a table in an Indian restaurant next to Mike Gatting, Graham Gooch and John Emburey. I can confirm that Gatting does indeed eat dessert. And he also eats about 30 onion bhajis and 42 popadoms."1042: Talk around me turns to England’s tactics. Consensus is settling on an in-out field, with the bowlers preferring all-out attack (four slips, gully, fly slip) and the batsmen blaming bowlers in general for failing to knock over 10 wickets for less than 500.From Russell in Nottingham, TMS inbox: "After a nightmare Sunday, including two people you hoped you’d never have to see again inviting themselve round for dinner and insisting on watching the golf over the cricket (flippin’ cheek) glad to be back at ‘work’ ready for the quick, stress-free end to the Test match."From James in London, TMS inbox: "Getting married on Thursday but the nerves about that are nowhere near how nervous I am about today. No fingernails left to chew already and we haven’t had a single delivery yet…"1034: On the other hand, no-one has ever successfully chased more than 418 to win a Test. Haddin got lucky a few times on Sunday evening, Hauritz is protecting a dodgy digit and Fred roared in like Frank Tyson. Gulp….1031: Let’s do the sums. Over 130 runs were scored in the final session on Sunday. 209 more are needed. On that basis, if Australia are still batting come tea, they’ll have won.1021: They said it couldn’t be done. For as long as anyone could remember, a target like that was considered out of reach. Many great men had tried and failed. On 20 July, it finally happened. Still – enough of the Moon landings – do we think Australia will chase down 522 to snatch this from England’s grasp1015: Gnawing of nails, pulling out of hair, covering face with hands. All these and more may be needed as the nervefest that is Manic Monday begins to unfold. Anxious Does Mike Gatting eat dessert
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Clarke & North make England toil
July 10th, 2009 |
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First Ashes Test, Cardiff (day three, stumps):
England 435 v Australia 479-5
Coverage: Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 Long Wave, Red Button and BBC Sport website, plus live text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles. Live on Sky Sports
Match scorecard
By Oliver Brett
Australia maintained their solid position on day three in Cardiff, leading England by 44 runs with five wickets in hand in the first Test.
Rain knocked 22 overs off the day’s play, leaving the Aussies on 479-5 after an historic late-evening session played under floodlights.
Three wickets did fall in the morning, Australia going to lunch on 348-4 from an overnight position of 249-1.
But Michael Clarke (83) and Marcus North (54) then put on 143 in 42 overs.
The left-handed North batted calmly and patiently on his Ashes debut, and will be there again on Saturday morning after facing 131 balls thus far.
Clarke showed his acumen against spin and was generally unperturbed against the seamers too as he played a more positive role.
TOM FORDYCE BLOGTom reports from Cardiff
But late in the day he was surprised by a Stuart Broad bouncer which he gloved behind as he attempted a pull, leaving him just shy of a first Test century in England in his sixth appearance.
While Friday’s rain was largely unexpected, further heavy showers are forecast from around noon on Saturday – so the odds favour a draw despite Australia’s dominant position.
However England, whose chances of going 1-0 up with four to play appear to have completely evaporated, may yet find themselves battling to avoid defeat on the final day.
Friday dawned brightly in south Wales, with Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich resuming their marathon partnership.
Aussie skipper Ponting soon advanced his score with two boundaries, flogging a Monty Panesar long-hop through the covers and driving a Graeme Swann full toss down the ground.
Katich leant into a cover-drive off Panesar for his first boundary of the morning, and followed up with a square-cut off Swann that sped to the ropes. Australia were quickly re-establishing their dominance.
Nine overs into the day the second new ball became available and the scoring remained rapid, although Ponting had a bit of good fortune when steering an Anderson ball just wide of Kevin Pietersen in the gully at catchable height.
Finally, the stand was ended by James Anderson, Katich falling lbw for 122 to a yorker-length ball from Anderson that actually swung, unlike anything sent down by England on day two. Katich and Ponting had been together for 70 overs, adding 239.
Flintoff was bowling extremely quickly and his bouncers were not played with any ease by either Ponting or the new man Michael Hussey. Ponting top-edged one hook just over Panesar at fine-leg for the first six of the series, though it was a no-ball, and both men received painful blows.
But it was Anderson who picked up the second wicket of the morning, persuading Hussey to drive outside off-stump, the left-hander tickling an easy catch to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Skipper Ponting continued to make progress, until Panesar picked up his first Test wicket since the Trinidad Test in March, the slow left-armer’s fifth ball of a new spell providing the biggest prize of the day.
Ponting, on 150, could only get a bottom-edge to crash into his stumps as he attempted a cut shot, and at lunch Australia were still 87 runs behind and perhaps no longer targeting the sort of huge score that had been in their sights at the start of play.
But the session between lunch and tea in this Test has proved a graveyard shift for the bowlers – and so it proved once again with not a wicket to be had. In three days just one man has been dismissed in the middle session – Phillip Hughes on day two.
North got off the mark with a crisp on-drive for four off Broad, who was also cover-driven elegantly by Clarke. Frankly, Broad was not much of a threat but Andrew Strauss persisted with him.
At the other end Panesar had his moments, but Clarke hit him for an effortless straight six, and when Swann came on another fine drive, this time for four, brought Clarke his half-century.
North, patient against the seamers, started to play freely against the spinners and when Clarke pulled Flintoff powerly to the midwicket fence Australia moved into the lead.
At tea the Aussies were sitting very prettily indeed on 458-4, with Clarke on 70 and North on 50, but just three overs and five runs later the rain came down.
It took nearly two hours to get the players back out again, whereupon Clarke punched an exquisite back-foot drive off Flintoff to the extra-cover boundary.
Six overs were played under the Cardiff lights – it was the first time a Test match in Britain had been artificially lit – and while North continued to accumulate tidily, England had the consolation of removing a very dangerous-looking Clarke.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.