Sri Lanka May Lose Chance Of Hosting 2011 Cricket World Cup

The current situation has arisen following the report presented to the ICC by one of its Coordinating Officer James Fitzgerald who visited Sri Lanka recently.

The report presented to the ICC by Fitzgerald states that the three grounds presented by the Sri Lankan officials to host the matches were not prepared for the games and that there were no signs of the grounds being ready in time for the first game.

Fitzgerald has stated in his report that the Hambantota ground where two matches are scheduled to be held and the Pallekele ground where three matches are to be played had several issues related to the completion of construction while the grounds at the R. Premadasa Stadium has been damaged by an event that was recently held at the venue.

It is learnt that the R. Premadasa Stadium and grounds had been damaged due to the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Army in September and the SLFP convention in November held at the venue.

It is also learnt that the Hambantota and Pallekele stadiums were deemed unfit by the ICC as they were constructed without adhering to the accepted quality standards.

Victory of England in Test Cricket Against South Africa

England beats South Africa by an innings and 98 runs in second cricket Test

DURBAN, South Africa — Off-spinner Graeme Swann claimed five wickets for the second time this series as England beat South Africa by an innings and 98 runs in the second cricket Test on Wednesday.
South Africa was dismissed for 133 in its second innings after adding just 57 runs before losing its last four wickets just 70 minutes into the final day's play.
England captain Andrew Strauss was delighted with his side's performance.
"This was not far off the best performance I've seen from this team, certainly away from home," Strauss said, but he urged his team not to get carried away.
"We'll have to keep our feet on the ground in Cape Town," Strauss said. "We had some fantastic performances here with the two century-makers Ian Bell and Alastair Cook, and Graeme Swann has bowled well on wickets on which there has not been a huge amount of turn."
South Africa captain Graeme Smith acknowledged that his team had simply not been good enough.
"England outplayed us the whole middle part of the test and they deserved their victory, but hopefully we can bounce back quickly," said Smith. "We have to look at ourselves in the mirror... we weren't up to standard here. We weren't as precise as we needed to be with the ball."
Swann finished off the game by trapping tailender Dale Steyn lbw for three runs to finish with figures of 5-45 and claim the man of the match award for the second time in the series.
Swann has taken 14 wickets in the first two Tests.
"It's been a bit of a dream the last 12 months. The pitches in South Africa have been slower and turned more... we didn't expect that, but it means I get to do a lot of work," Swann said.
South Africa staggered to 76-6 by stumps on the fourth day needing 156 runs to make England bat a second time.
England's first success of the morning came after just 11 balls when Swann forced Morne Morkel back onto his stumps and trapped him in front for 15 with a quicker ball. Morkel had batted grittily for 51 minutes starting on Tuesday afternoon and hit three fours.
Next to go was the last recognized batsman Mark Boucher, giving seamer Stuart Broad his fourth wicket of the innings.
Boucher gloved the ball down leg to wicketkeeper Matt Prior, but England had to wait for third umpire Steve Davis to call it out after on field umpire Amiesh Saheba originally called it not. Boucher's 29, with three fours, came in 91 minutes.
Paul Harris batted for an hour to make 36, the highest score of the innings. He hit five fours and was the ninth man out when he mistimed a flick to the leg-side off James Anderson and was caught by Broad (4-43) at mid-on.
Eight balls later Swann struck the final blow by getting Steyn.
After the first Test in Pretoria ended in a draw, Wednesday's win puts England 1-0 up in the four-match series, with the third Test starting in Cape Town on Jan. 3.
South Africa will reflect that that they were simply outplayed by England, whose bowlers were more effective. The Proteas top six batsmen, too, will realize that they owe the team a big effort in the third test.
Much speculation has surrounded the composition of the Proteas attack in Durban, where veteran seamer Makhaya Ntini was retained in spite of the encouraging debut of Friedel de Wet in the Pretoria test.
There will no doubt be renewed calls for Ntini, who went wicketless in Durban, to be replaced by De Wet.
Asked if South Africa had the ability to take 20 wickets to win a Test match, Smith said: "We came close (to 20 wickets) in Pretoria. Obviously we have to make the right decisions with selections for Cape Town, and see how we make it work there."

Openers did the trick for India

After all the fiasco surrounding the pitch at the Kotla and the subsequent abandonment of the final ODI against Sri Lanka, it was heartening to see Mahendra Singh Dhoni accept the Mace from the ICC, symbolising India’s rise to the No. 1 spot in the Test rankings.
It capped off a very good year for Indian cricket, both in Tests and ODIs, the obvious exceptions being the ICC tournaments.
As far as the ODIs go, we did lose the home series against the Australians, the only blip, but the series could have gone either way. But the team travelled to Sri Lanka twice as also to the West Indies and New Zealand and emerged on top, which has to make 2009 a special year, with the icing being the Test honours.
Most of the good results were set up by the openers — all three. What a year they have had, Sehwag and Gambhir in Tests and Sehwag and Sachin in the ODIs. And with captain Dhoni around to maneuver the middle order with aplomb, it isn’t a wonder really that the year has been such a good one.
The advent and increasing acceptance of T20 cricket has quickened up the ODIs, something 50-over cricket did to Tests. Not all of the change has been for the good though, certainly not for the bowlers. With teams slowly taking to the batting powerplay, even if they have not perfected the art, bowling has become more challenging.
One of the other things to have changed during the year is the way cricketers look at Pakistan. If 26/11 forced the cancellation of India’s tour to Pakistan and the consequent security issues during the general elections in India forced the move of the second edition of the IPL to South Africa, the incident involving the Sri Lankan team, has meant that no team is willing to visit Pakistan.
The IPL has become so popular that it has started to set off a new trend in world cricket. The possibility of more players following the Andrew Flintoff example of becoming a freelancer cannot be ruled out. Already Andrew Symonds seems to have ruled out trying for an Australia place again while Shahid Afridi has made clear his intentions of not playing Test cricket anymore.
I am not very comfortable with this but perhaps that is the way of the future. But one thing that must be kept in mind is that a person has to first establish himself in the international circuit before he can contemplate such moves. Flintoff has got that value behind him and so can afford to take his chances but that need not apply to a newcomer.
The thing is that the trend itself cannot be arrested. Just 3-4 years of international cricket can take a lot out of your body, the travel, time away from family and various pressures. An early move to the IPL may become the norm, which is a loss to international cricket.

Original at hindustantimes.com

Twenty20 Will Finish Pakistan Cricket'

Pakistan captain Mohammed Yousuf says he's worried too much Twenty20 cricket will "finish" cricket in his country.

The reigning Twenty20 world champions have taken a liking to the game's shortest format but Yousuf feels an over-emphasis is undermining players' ability to bat successfully in Test and even one-day cricket.

His comments came after Pakistan's 170-run defeat by Australia in the first Test, where, despite the hosts declaring in both innings, the tourists were dismissed for 258 and 251 on a placid MCG wicket.

In their past 14 Tests Pakistan have only passed 350 runs in an innings twice and the failures, according to Yousuf, relate to Twenty20 cricket.

"It used to happen before but now because of Twenty20 cricket no player knows how to stay at the wicket anymore," Yousuf told cricket website Cricinfo.

"Batsmen are finding it very difficult. I know the format has money, players get it and boards do but if Pakistan hypes up Twenty20 too much, Test and ODI cricket will really go down."

Pakistan hold the best win-loss ratio in international Twenty20 cricket and claimed the world championship in England earlier this year.

The format's popularity in Pakistan means most players are playing that form of the game at club level, and Yousuf says that has left the current crop of players unsuited to the longer forms of the game.

"Both in Tests and ODIs we have problems," Yousuf said.

"We struggle to bat 50 overs. Against New Zealand we couldn't make 212 in 50 overs. Everyone played shots and got out.

"Until players play with discipline and play ball to ball and leave balls they are supposed to we will struggle in ODIs, let alone Tests.

"If you see a ball, hit it because you have to score. But if you are going to slog all the time what is the point? I could have hit jumping out but unless you get a ball to hit what is the point?

"That is the point of Test cricket. It is necessary that Pakistanis, the media, the board, the fans realise that we (need to) play as little Twenty20 as possible.

"One domestic tournament is enough and a World Cup apart from that, but my belief is that you have to reduce Twenty20 heavily.

They shouldn't play it in club cricket - even there you play 20 overs, not 40-over matches.

"I only have two to three years left in my career but I worry Twenty20 will finish Pakistan's cricket."

Younus Khan’s Chances of Playing in Sydney

LAHORE: The chances of Younus Khan appearing for Pakistan in the New Year Test in Sydney have reduced significantly after no further decision was taken on the Pakistan team management’s request to call up the former captain to bolster the batting. The second Test is due to begin on January 3 and given the considerable travel time between the two countries, even if the request is accepted on Thursday (today) and Younus is asked to leave the same day, he might struggle to be ready in time for the Test on Sunday.

In any case, it appears as if the selection committee is not entirely convinced of the need for Younus, at least without him having attempted to find some kind of form first in domestic tournament Pentangular Cup starting on January 2. “It is not like the team is losing just because he isn’t there,” a member of the selection committee was quoted as saying on Wednesday. “The Pentangular is happening and that would be a good way for him to play and get some practice. The Sydney Test is looking very unlikely right now and no decision was taken today. And who will he replace there? Various batsmen have scored some runs here so it might be unfair to drop them,” he added.

Initially, the selection committee appeared to be waiting for the result of the first Test in Melbourne, which Pakistan ultimately lost by 170 runs, before taking a decision. Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s captain, reiterated after the match that the side needed Younus and that a request had been made some time ago. But there appears to be a gap in communication: one selector claims that no official request has come in writing to them from Australia and another said that PCB chief Ijaz Butt had received the request and was going to consider it after discussing it with the selectors.

Amid the confusion, it is increasing likely that Pakistan will have to do without Younus as they attempt to level the series in Sydney. Pakistan’s batting struggled in both innings of the first Test, bowled out for 258 and 251 on what was widely acknowledged to be an unusually placid MCG surface.

Afridi Makes Big Bash Splash

Shahid Afridi has made big impressions all over the world playing for Pakistan and he continued that trend with South Australia on Tuesday night in the Twenty20 Big Bash when he made an immediate impact by taking 4-19 against Western Australia at the WACA Ground.

But now he wants to get cracking with the bat.

Afridi burst onto the world stage as a 16-year-old in 1996 with a blistering century off a record 37 balls in his first-ever one-day international innings, and ever since has been one of the great enigmas with the bat.
He is capable of being one of the most devastating batsmen in the abbreviated forms of the game, but the bowling of the now 29-year-old has continued to improve and it was his leg-spinners that earned him man-of-the-match honours as the Redbacks beat the Warriors.

Afridi enjoyed the bounce and turn he got from the WACA wicket to claim the wickets of Luke Ronchi, Ashley Noffke, Aaron Heal and Nathan Coulter-Nile, and he's always liked plying his trade on the pitches in Australia.

"That was a good track for bowlers, especially when I was getting good turn and bounce from it. I always enjoy bowling in Australia and in this situation my team needed me as a bowler. I always enjoy cricket, especially in Australia and India," Afridi said.

"You can learn a lot of things from here if you play with cricketers and on good tracks. If you perform here it matters a lot so always I'm very keen to perform. Over the past two and-a-half or three years I've totally focused on my bowling and I always enjoy my bowling here in Australia. Certainly I am looking forward to performing with my bat here as well."

Afridi's South Australian debut didn't get off to the ideal start, though, when he was caught first ball trying to hit spinner Heal out of the ground.

Now he is looking forward to finding form with the bat as he uses the Big Bash as preparation for Pakistan's upcoming one-day series with Australia.

"It was the first game and every new member had their own pressure, and when I hit the ball in the air I thought it was going to be a home run, but I didn't get one," he said.

"Compared to IPL (Indian Premier League) and all the other tournaments, this tournament is right up there. It's good cricket, good pitches and this is good preparation for me before playing in the one-dayers against Australia. Hopefully if I perform well I will go with good morale into that so it's very important for me."

Afridi doesn't want to be playing Test cricket at the moment due to the amount of games being played in all formats, but has taken a keen interest in the battle at the MCG and sees the first hour as crucial if Pakistan has any chance of a highly-improbably run chase.

"I want to give time to my family as well and until the 2011 World Cup I just want to focus on playing one-day and Twenty20 cricket," Afridi said.

"The first one hour is very important for both teams. This is the crucial wicket of (Mohammad) Yousuf and Umar Akmal."

"Umar is obviously playing positive and attacking cricket, which I like in him, and the first hour is crucial and important."

Pakistan Players Show Interest in IPL Auction

At least twelve Pakistan cricketers have applied to the IPL to be included in the next player auction which takes place next month ahead of IPL 3.0.

After missing out on Visa's earlier this month the players were told by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi that the only way they could play in the next IPL would be to take part in the next auction, even if they were already had IPL contracts.

"There is an auction coming up on January 19. If there are spots open at the auction point. They can then apply through the auction" said Modi.

"As far as reversing these contracts is concerned, it's a very difficult system because we have a system in place. And we can't abuse the system. And everybody was given a fair chance to be able to go out there and prove their case and also present their NOC's and letters"

"As they have missed the deadline, the teams have replaced these players and signed new contracts. So there are contractual obligations that come into place," he said."

Although no further details have been announced Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Misbah-ul-Ha have all expressed interested in taking part in the auction.

Gayle in the clear

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has been cleared of serious injury after undergoing scans following Western Australia's Big Bash loss to South Australia Redbacks.

Gayle injured a muscle on his left side in just the second over of what proved a disappointing Warriors run chase as they lost by 29 runs in the twenty20 contest.

Despite playing in obvious distress, Gayle continued to produce some trademark big hits before being forced to retire hurt on 40.

Having iced the injury, the star import came out to the crease once more, but only faced a further four balls before losing his wicket to Shaun Tait for 44 off 24 balls.

The 30-year-old was reportedly in significant distress after the match, however, and Warriors fans and officials feared he may have torn a muscle, forcing him out of the entire competition.

But the Western Australian Cricket Association announced that scans have indicated Gayle has merely suffered a muscle strain, meaning he should be available to play against New South Wales next Tuesday after missing the New Year's Day clash with Tasmania.