The easiest option: attacking Michael Clarke

Hitting below Michael Clarke’s belt, however loose it might be, is an easy thing. Many Australians have made a specialty of it. He was scolded and cursed by various members of the Australian cricket fraternity for his involvement with the saucy Lara Bingle.In true stoic fashion, Ian Chappell, Australia’s brutish cricket supremo of the 1970s, felt that a dedicated Australian cricket captain did not let his emotions get in the way of diligent captaincy. No women, no distractions. That meant no car...

Indo-Pak games are more than cricket: More

An India versus Pakistan cricket match is not for the weak hearted. It involves a lot of passion and often emotions spill over on the field. The history of Indo-Pak rivalry, especially in the World Cup, is filled with instances when players' emotions boiled over. Indian fans, nor the Pakistani fans for that matter, would not forget the duel between Venkatesh Prasad and Aamer Sohail in the quarter-final of the 1996 edition in Bangalore.The combative opening batsman was leading Pakistan's spirited...

Ind vs Pak: Alam denies Akhtar not fully motivated for India clash

Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam has denied reports that pacer Shoaib Akhtar was not fully motivated for Wednesday's Cricket World Cup semifinal against arch rivals India in Mohali and said the "Rawalpindi Express" has immersed himself in practice."Shoaib has been fully involved in match practice, and is available for selection. He's very much part of the squad and there is no question about his motivation or enthusiasm to play in this important game. Akhtar is ready for the semifinal," the London-based...

Cricket World Cup: Andy Flower upbeat on England

Despite an inconsistent group campaign, which featured losses to Ireland and Bangladesh, South Africa's win over the latter team secured England's passage. And Flower confidently stated: "This side perform well under pressure."Each game now will be a pressure situation and I trust our guys to handle themselves very well."Flower continued: "There's no more pressured situation than an Ashes series and you know how we performed during that [England beat Australia 3-1 this winter]. "And the last world...

Kamran likely to open against Aussies

Pakistan are mulling over the option of playing Kamran Akmal as an opener in their key World Cup clash against Australia here on Saturday. Pakistan’s strategy for the eagerly-awaited game against Australia will be to play attacking cricket and Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, believes that by promoting Kamran up the order he can strengthen Pakistan’s batting order.Afridi told that Kamran is expected to replace Ahmed Shehzad as the opener for the match against Australia. The 19-year-old Ahmed...

Zimbabwe bowling was superb

Zimbabwe would have come to the ICC CWC 2011 with hopes of causing at least one upset but were left bitterly disappointed with an inept batting display throughout the tournament. However, Chigumbura took some positives out of a campaign, which could spell further disaster for Zimbabwean cricket. The Africans were handed a seven wicket (D/L) defeat by Pakistan on Monday but the skipper was happy with his bowlers and the fielding."We bowled and fielded superbly but the batting was poor. The bowlers...

Pakistan’s coach Waqar Younis said on Tuesday that Pakistan team would look forward by putting the defeat aside and play positive cricket in the coming matches.Addressing a post-match press conference, Waqar Younis pointed to dropping of catches by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and some bad bowling,specially in last five overs where New Zealand struck 102 runs with an average of 20 runs. “We will do over best with some changes, obviously in the opening pair, who are not working since the first World...

Cricket-In-form Pakistan hold edge over patchy New Zealand

In-form Pakistan will have to guard against complacency and their tendency to implode when they take on New Zealand in a World Cup Group A match in Kandy on Tuesday. Possibly the most unpredictable outfit in international cricket, Pakistan have notched up successive victories against Kenya, Sri Lanka and Canada with skipper Shahid Afridi starring in all of them.Their batting remains vulnerable but with Afridi on song and the pace duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul chipping in with the early breakthroughs,...

Vettori: Pakistan Bowling Attack Can Defend any Score

New Zealand Cricket captain Daniel Vettori said that we have to give our hundred percent against Pakistan team dangerous bowling attack in the ICC World Cup match, which is to be played on tuesday, March, 08 2011.Vettori said that its really very difficult to handle Pakistan bowling attack, as Pakistan have already defeated New Zealand in ODI Series. He further said that Pakistan Bowlers did great job to win matches against Canada and Sri Lanka.New Zealand captain said that in order to win against...

Ireland beat England by 3 Wickets

Following the target of 328, Irish side lost the wicket of William Porterfield on the very first ball of innings. Opener Ed Joyce and Paul Stirling added 62 runs in the second wicket partnership. Joyce was lucky to get 3 chances, showing poor fielding the English fielders dropped easy catches.The resistance of Ed Joyce finished on 32. Niall O’Brien was taken by Swann on 29. This time Kevin O’Brien came on the crease and started crashing English bowlers, he played powerful strokes all around the...

Sri Lanka Cricket refutes 'baseless' fixing report, condemns channel

Sri Lanka Cricket has rubbished allegations of match-fixing that have cropped up against Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Smaraweera due to a TV report, condemning the channel for carrying a “baseless and...