World Best Sports

His partner has lost control of her current predicament partly by taking dismal advice in his absence. She needs him desperately.

It might have reached such a point that the relationship is on the brink of collapse. In something akin to these circumstances Michael Clarke left the tour of New Zealand to be with fiancee Lara Bingle.

This apparently makes him unfit to captain the Australian cricket team. Should dash his hopes immediately. His priorities are askew. He is in the spell of a notorious temptress.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Brett Lee says that he is disappointed that he will miss the excitement and the challenge of test cricket. The 33-year-old has been hampered by injuries throughout his career and this has prompted him to retire from Test cricket in order to prolong his ODI and Twenty20 career.

"I am satisfied with my Test career and longevity. All those years were really exciting and challenging for me and I will miss those things. It was a tough decision to retire from tests," Lee, who plays for Kings XI Punjab, said.

Lee felt that his body could not take any more Test cricket as it is more demanding and he retired because of his lifestyle. "I just want to prolong my career in ODIs and Twenty20. I want to play some more matches for Australia and that's the reason why I took the decision to continue playing in shorter formats," said Lee.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Mitchell Johnson has avoided a suspension for his head-butt to the helmet of New Zealand batsman Scott Styris and now he needs to focus purely on cricket, Australia's "Mr Cricket" says.

Mike Hussey says while Johnson is a "passionate guy", the fiery pace bowler should be wary of the danger of getting too fired up to the detriment of the side as Australia face a mighty battle to retain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.

The Kiwis claimed a two-wicket win in Wednesday's opening one-day international at McLean Park in Napier with Styris hitting a six from the second ball of the 50th over to finish on 49 not out, guiding the home side to 8-281 chasing Australia's 8-275.

Johnson, who appeared to thrust his head into the helmet of Styris when the pair had a mid-pitch confrontation at the end of the 46th over of the Kiwi innings, pleaded guilty late on Wednesday to a level-two breach of the ICC Code of Conduct.

The Australian was fined 60 per cent of his match fee by Sri Lankan match referee Ranjan Madugalle, although he could have been banned for up to two ODI games.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

India is still celebrating the country's most loved batsman Sachin Tendulkar's date with history. The master blaster scored a mighty 200* at Gwalior on Feb 24 to become the only man in history to scale the height of 200 runs in a International ODI.Lurking underneath this great historical event for India, is a dingy underbelly of the plight of other sports in the country.

The pitch on which Sachin won himself a page in the history was actually a Hockey stadium, set up to honour Captain Roop Singh, an Olympic hockey gold medalist.

However, due to the increasing and rather overpowering popularity of cricket and fueled by the cricket love-lobby nurtured by the scions of Gwalior, the stadium was turned into a Cricket stadium in 1980s.It was on this turf that the lady luck smiled on Sachin Tendulkar and he rode into record books.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, retired from test cricket on Wednesday in a bid to prolong his international limited-overs cricket career. Lee, 33, was one of the games fastest ever bowlers at his peak, with deliveries recorded at speeds up to 161 kph (100 mph).

His career has been hampered by injuries which have restricted him to 76 tests since his debut in the 1999—2000 season, and he has not played a test since January 2009. “I am extremely proud to have played test cricket for Australia. My reason for retiring from this form of the game is so that I can preserve my body and continue to represent my country,” Lee said in a statement.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

The South Australian speedster bowled the Windies captain through the gate for 5 as the tourists were restricted to 8 for 141 in reply to the home side's 8 for 179.

The result extended Australia's unbeaten streak this summer while ensuring the Windies have not won a game in any format since August last year.

David Warner's 49 off 32 balls inspired Australia's total before the bowlers knuckled down to ensure the tourists were never in the hunt, Tait finishing with 3 for 30 and Dirk Nannes 3 for 21.

Tait was on a hat-trick after dismissing Gayle and Narsingh Deonarine (0), but Kieron Pollard saw off the third delivery.

"The first couple of years it was a batsman's game, now it's turned sort of opposite and up the front if you can get a couple of early wickets, it ends up being a bowler's game," Tait said.

"It's worked out well for us." Australian captain Michael Clarke said his team's outstanding fielding also made a big difference. "The standard in the field is very important for us," he said.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Once again, as has become the norm with Pakistan, their latest tour is shrouded in controversy with embittered powerbrokers clambering for a piece of the pie as well as their 15-seconds of fame. It’s hard to find positives in Pakistan’s disastrous tour of Australia that saw them lose all nine matches.The poor showing will undoubtedly claim the scalp of coach Intikhab Alam and thus the revolving door of Pakistan cricket coaches since Bob Woolmer’s death at the 2007 World Cup continues to rotate freely.

Australian Geoff Lawson lasted 16 months and Alam has spent a similar amount of time with the team, the latter was fired for poor results and despite Alam leading his country to the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup title, has done little since.

Pakistan’s tumultuous cricket history is legendary – unfortunately though it has now become more legendary then their on-field success. The halcyon days of Imran Khan and Waqar Younis made way for controversial figures such as the ill-disciplined Inzamam-ul-Haq, rampant and unpredictable Shoaib Akthar and it seemed around every corner the team was faced with accusations of everything from match-fixing to ball tampering.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has again offered former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad the coaching job of the national team. The offer was made during Monday’s hearing of Senate Standing Committee on Sports in Islamabad. The hearing was held to talk on the cricket situation and the ongoing dispute between PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and Miandad, who currently holds the post of PCB director general.

Miandad told senators that Ijaz was not interested in involving him in important matters and jobs that lined with his expertise as a former captain and coach. Ijaz informed the committee that he was confident of Miandad’s abilities as a cricketer and had earlier also offered him the job of coaching the team.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

The West Indies cricket team has lost their series against the boys from down under. The Windies fell 50 runs short of victory in the fourth One-Day International at the Gabba, handing Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

The Aussies were asked to bat first and made a ground record 324-7 off their 50 overs. The Windies replied with 274-8 off their allotment.

The difference between the sides was a masterful 106 off 112 balls from Australia skipper Ricky Ponting – his 29th century in his 339th One-Dayer.

For West Indies, Kieron Pollard topscored with a robust 62 off 55 balls, and Narsingh Deonarine, made 53 from 69 balls – both recorded their career-best scores. Dwayne Smith made 59 not out with three sixes and kept the fight going until the end.

Captain Chris Gayle offered no excuses and promised his players will continue to strive to improve in the remaining matches.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Pakistan cricket team is planning to tour the United States of America (USA) later this year. The decision was made during a meeting of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) officials in Dubai.

A spokesman for the PCB said Thursday the USACA delegation was led by its chief executive officer Donald Lockerbie while PCB chief Ijaz Butt and chief operating officer Wasim Bari represented Pakistan. “The dates and types of matches to be played for the series has not yet been agreed.

But assurances were made by both parties that a long term agreement to play in the USA will begin with a series later in 2010,” added the spokesman. It is pertinent to mention that the USACA has even offered to organise Pakistan-India cricket series to ease out tensions between the two countries and serve the interest of cricket in sub-continent.

Bokmark it

Powered by Bookmarkify™