Adieu to a cracking journey- WC

There are very events in the world which can topple the human heart and mind as easily as this year’s World cup… “First ball of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011..from Shafiul Islam to Virender Sehwag…smashed past extra cover and it’s a boundary…WHAT A BEGINNING !!… 1..2..3.. the cricket world cup has finally kicked off with a blast !! The most awaited and the first blockbuster event of the decade is finally here…Its most welcome anticipation across the globe, especially, in the fourteen participatin gnations of which four were associate nations. Two groups, group A and group B were to form seven teams each. Group A would have Pakistan, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada battling it out. On the other side, Group B would consist of India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands contesting strongly. Top four teams from each group would qualify for the first stage of knockouts – The Quarter finals.

How to avoid match fixing?

(Saksham works for Go-gulf.com, a web design kuwait company that provides web design solution in Qatar, Sharjah and Middle East)

Match fixing in Cricket is a hot topic these days as it has been increasing as days pass by. Pakistan is the number one country which has been caught many times so far and of course India shares the second spot.

Pakistani Cricket–Match fixing again

The Age old Practice of the Pakistanis come in again– Match fixing. This year has been a disastrous year for the Men in Green. All sorts of problem comes in at a time and most of all, in these problems they don’t have anyone to lead them.

The Man behind this 150,000 Pounds bet is Mazhar Majeed. In one of the biggest Scams in the World, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were instructed to bowl THREE No balls in the game against England. Millions of fans watched the duo Pakis bowling three no balls. During live coverages, the viewers and even the commentators didn’t know that it was a “Faked” No Ball ordered by Mazhar Majeed who looted away 150,000 Euros. Thanks to the News report by News of the World, that the world came to know this.

MAJEED: “There’s no risk, there’s no signal. . . these three are definitely happening. They’ve all been organised, okay? So, the first ball of the third over of the innings, yeah. ”Asif and Amir are going to be bowling. Amir is to bowl the first over (meaning he will also bowl the third), yeah?

“Okay? Then the tenth, the last ball. . . sixth ball of the tenth over.”

REPORTER: “The tenth over. Who’s bowling it?”

MAJEED: “Asif will be bowling it.”

Without Salman Butt’s involvement, this was not possible as he is the Captain of the Pakistani team. So, he too had a play in this Scam. Seven Players have been named for this scam. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Kamaran Akmal have been named till now.

Majeed’s revelations are that he has been involved in Betting of Tests, One Dayers and even T20s.

Majeed said:-

I’ve been doing it with them for bout two-and-a-half years and we’ve made masses of money.

I manage 10 of the players, I do all their affairs like contracts, sponsorship, marketing, everything really. The players would never tell anybody else. They were the ones who actually approached me about this.

This is the beauty of it. I was friends with them for four, five years and then they said this happens. These poor boys need to. They’re paid peanuts.

A lot of the boys want to f*** up Afridi because he’s trying to f*** up things for them.

Let’s say for example Twenty20, I’ll tell you the bowlers, how many minimum runs they’re going to concede. And the batsmen. I’m going to tell you how many, like say it was on the two opening batsmen, Salman and Kamal, for example, you’ve only got twenty overs, they’re going to waste two overs, three overs.

he Twenty20s are easiest. Then the bowlers as well, yeah, they will certainly give a certain amount of runs and they’re going to be batting as well and give their wickets. We’ll finalise a price for each one and we’ll just take it off the balance. We’ll take it off the 150 (grand) balance until we’re square.

Cricket is Sport and not a religion and People like this should be put behind bars immediately. Looks like if its true, its end for Aamer, Asif and Butt.!!

Cricket- a poem



Cricket – The Game Of The Lords

To know the taste of nectar on earth,

We had the gentlemen’s game Cricket’s birth,

Which is filled with enjoyment and mirth.

I start off with the diverse team,

Which make the respective supporters beam.

First comes Team no. one,

India jo hai ek solid tuphaan.

Then comes team Pakistan,

T20 cricket mein hai woh sabse mahaan.

When the Sri Lankans step on,

With the wind the opposition is gone.

Then comes Champion Team Australia,

World cup mein inhone saare teams ko haraa diya.

After them, come the royal English,

Opposite them, the teams always perish.

Then come the Proteas to the pitch,

They send the minnows mercilessly into the ditch.

Team New Zealand plays to fire,

And fulfill their nation’s desire.

You’ll never cease to make shor….

Kyunki yeh dil hamesha maange more….

Ganguly to lead MCC against Pak

Former Indian Captain, Sourav Ganguly will lead the Marylebone Cricket Club team against the Pakistan team in a Twenty twenty game in Lord’s Stadium on 27th June.

The Pakistanis will be led by Captain Shahid Afridi which is their first game there after the ICC World T20 2009.

Sourav Ganguly’s led MCC side will have Big names like Brian Lara who will play for MCC for the first time along with Lankan Old Fox Chaminda Vaas and Australian Ian Harvey.

“We are delighted to welcome to Lord’s a Pakistani side who have a proven track record in Twenty20 cricket. Shahid Afridi’s men will face an exciting MCC team comprising world-class performers and up-and-coming talent”, said the MCC head.

“Brian Lara is one of the finest batsmen to have ever played the game, and Sourav Ganguly is a world-leading Twenty20 cricketer. The match will provide spectators with a fantastic opportunity to see wonderful cricket and great cricketers.”

This game will form a sponsorship agreement between the MCC and the Pakistan Cricket Board. Pakistan will play Australia in the MCC Spirit of Cricket Test and Twenty20 Series in England throughout July.

Asia Cup to be held next month

Asian Cricket Council announced the schedule of the Micromax Asia Cup 2010 which is to be held in Sri Lanka involving the four Asian teams- Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Seven ODIs will be played between June 15th and June 24th in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is the defending champions of the Asia Cup as they defeated India in 2008 at Karachi. This year will have three reserve days.

SCHEDULE

Asia Cup Schedule and Fixtures 2010:

S.NO.	DAY DATE	TIME	TEAMS	VENUE
1	Tuesday June 15, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Sri Lanka vs Pakistan	Dambulla
2	Wednesday June 16, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Bangladesh vs India	Dambulla
3	Thursday June 17, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Reserve Day
4	Friday June 18, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh	Dambulla
5	Saturday June 19, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	India vs Pakistan	Dambulla
6	Sunday June 20, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Reserve Day	Dambulla
7	Monday June 21, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Bangladesh vs Pakistan	Dambulla
8	Tuesday June 22, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Sri Lanka vs India	Dambulla
9	Wednesday June 23, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Reserve Day	Dambulla
10	Thursday June 24, 2010	2:30 PM (IST) 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT	Final	Dambulla

Aussies name their UK tour squads

Cricket Australia has named the T20 and One Day squad for the Australia tour of England and Australia A squad for a series against Sri Lanka A. Even though Micheal Clarke had a poor run in the T20 World Cup, CA has retained him as the T20 Captain.

Shaun Marsh makes an comeback to the One Day team after being ruled out of the New Zealand tour with injury. His younger brother, Mitchell Marsh too has been given a chance to play in the Australia A team.

But, Australian test squad has not yet been announced.

Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris commented:

“Peter Siddle is recovering well from a lower back stress fracture sustained during the Australian summer. However it was felt that there was too big a risk for his to return for the tour of England and Ireland, particularly with the important 12 months coming up. Peter remains on target to return to the playing field at the start of the Australian domestic summer. Brett Lee is recovering from the elbow muscle injury that he picked before the ICC World Twenty20 and is yet to commence bowling.”

“Brett Lee is recovering from the elbow muscle injury that he picked before the ICC World Twenty20 and is yet to commence bowling.”

SQUADS

ODI squad Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, Brad Haddin, Steven Smith, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, Doug Bollinger.

Twenty20 squad Shane Watson, David Warner, Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Daniel Christian, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait.

Australia A four-day squad Ed Cowan, Usman Khawaja, Michael Klinger, George Bailey (capt), Peter Forrest, Andrew McDonald, Tim Paine, Mitchell Marsh, Steve O’Keefe, Ben Hilfenhaus, Josh Hazlewood, Peter George, Mitchell Starc.

Australia A one-day squad Tim Paine, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges, George Bailey (capt), Travis Birt, Aaron Finch, Andrew McDonald, Mitchell Marsh, Xavier Doherty, Brendan Drew, James Pattinson, Jake Haberfield, Josh Hazlewood.

SCHEDULE

VB Tour of The British Isles
17 June Australia v Ireland, Clontarf, Dublin (One-Day International)
19 June Australia v Middlesex, Lord’s (One-Day Tour Match)
22 June Australia v England, Rose Bowl (One-Day International)
24 June Australia v England, Cardiff (One-Day International)
27 June Australia v England, Old Trafford (One-Day International)
30 June Australia v England, The Oval (One-Day International)
3 July Australia v England, Lord’s (One-Day International)

VB Pakistan Series
5 July Australia v Pakistan, Edgbaston (Twenty20 International)
6 July Australia Pakistan, Edgbaston (Twenty20 International)
*8-9 July Australia v Derbyshire, Derby (Two-Day Tour Match)
*13-17 July Australia v Pakistan, Lord’s (1st Test)
*21-25 July Australia v Pakistan, Headingley (2nd Test)

Australia A Series
18-21 June Australia A v Sri Lanka A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane (Four-Day Match)
25-28 June Australia A v Sri Lanka A, Townsville (Four-Day Match)
2 July Australia A v Sri Lanka A, Townsville (Twenty20 Match)
4 July Australia A v Sri Lanka A, Townsville (One-Day Match)
7 July Australia A v Sri Lanka A, Townsville (One-Day Match)
10 July Australia A v Sri Lanka A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane (One-Day Match)

Bangladesh name their T20 squad

The Bangladesh Cricket Board have recalled the Former Captain Mohammad Ashraful to the T20 World Cup squad which will take place in the Caribbean after the IPL this year.

Ashraful has been in poor form and he skipped England series to improve form in Domestic level.

Pacer Syed Rasel has been included in the squad while left-arm spinner Mohammad Sohrawordi and batsman Jahirul Islam retained their places in the Twenty20 squad..

The Bangladeshis will have a tough time along with Australians and Defending Champions Pakistanis in group A.

Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Jahirul Islam, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza , Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mohammad Sohrawordi.

ICC World Cup 2011

With less than a year to go for the World Cup, India prepares to host the World Cup in a superb fashion. There are renovations seen in many stadiums. Here are the schedules:-

Date and Time	Match	Weather
2011
Sat Feb 19	1st match – India v Bangladesh Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
2011
Sun Feb 20	3rd match – Sri Lanka v Canada Hambantota International Cricket Stadium	N/A
Sun Feb 20	2nd match – Kenya v New Zealand MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Mon Feb 21	4th match – Australia v Zimbabwe Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad	N/A
Tue Feb 22	5th match – England v Netherlands Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur	N/A
Wed Feb 23	6th match – Kenya v Pakistan Hambantota International Cricket Stadium	N/A
Thu Feb 24	7th match – South Africa v West Indies Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Fri Feb 25	9th match – Bangladesh v Ireland Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Fri Feb 25	8th match – Australia v New Zealand Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur	N/A
Sat Feb 26	10th match – Pakistan v Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	N/A
Sun Feb 27	11th match – India v England Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Mon Feb 28	12th match – Netherlands v West Indies Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Mon Feb 28	13th match – Canada v Zimbabwe Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur	N/A
Tue Mar 1	14th match – Kenya v Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	N/A
Wed Mar 2	15th match – England v Ireland M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Thu Mar 3	17th match – Canada v Pakistan R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	N/A
Thu Mar 3	16th match – Netherlands v South Africa Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	N/A
Fri Mar 4	19th match – Bangladesh v West Indies Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Fri Mar 4	18th match – New Zealand v Zimbabwe Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad	N/A
Sat Mar 5	20th match – Australia v Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	N/A
Sun Mar 6	21st match – India v Ireland M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Sun Mar 6	22nd match – England v South Africa MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Mon Mar 7	23rd match – Canada v Kenya Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Tue Mar 8	24th match – New Zealand v Pakistan Pallekele International Cricket Stadium	N/A
Wed Mar 9	25th match – India v Netherlands Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Thu Mar 10	26th match – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe Pallekele International Cricket Stadium	N/A
Fri Mar 11	28th match – Bangladesh v England Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong	N/A
Fri Mar 11	27th match – Ireland v West Indies Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	N/A
Sat Mar 12	29th match – India v South Africa Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur	N/A
Sun Mar 13	30th match – Canada v New Zealand Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai	N/A
Sun Mar 13	31st match – Australia v Kenya M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Mon Mar 14	33rd match – Bangladesh v Netherlands Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong	N/A
Mon Mar 14	32nd match – Pakistan v Zimbabwe Pallekele International Cricket Stadium	N/A
Tue Mar 15	34th match – Ireland v South Africa Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Wed Mar 16	35th match – Australia v Canada M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Thu Mar 17	36th match – England v West Indies MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Fri Mar 18	37th match – New Zealand v Sri Lanka Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai	N/A
Fri Mar 18	38th match – Ireland v Netherlands Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Sat Mar 19	40th match – Bangladesh v South Africa Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Sat Mar 19	39th match – Australia v Pakistan R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	N/A
Sun Mar 20	41st match – Kenya v Zimbabwe Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Sun Mar 20	42nd match – India v West Indies MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Wed Mar 23	Quarter Final – TBC v TBC Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Thu Mar 24	Quarter Final – TBC v TBC R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	N/A
Fri Mar 25	Quarter Final – TBC v TBC Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Sat Mar 26	Quarter Final – TBC v TBC Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad	N/A
Tue Mar 29	Semi Final – TBC v TBC R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	N/A
Wed Mar 30	Semi Final – TBC v TBC Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	N/A
Sat Apr 2	Final – TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai	N/A

Yousuf, Younis face a lifetime ban

The Pakistan Cricket board has cleared all the problems to the team by banning some of the major players of the Pakistani team.

PCB has banned the most experienced duos of the team- Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. Both of them will end their International Cricket career as PCB has imposed them a life time ban.

Shoaib Malik and Pacer Rana Naved ul Hasan have been slammed a one year ban and will not take part in the T20 World Cup for sure. With the ban, former Captain Malik and Rana have been fined a sum of Rs. 20 Lakhs each.

While, the Akmal brothers, Umar Akmal and Kamaran Akmal have been fined for not abiding by the rules of the PCB. Umar will have to pay Rs.20 Lakhs  while his elder brother Kamaran Akmal should pay Rs.30 Lakhs.

But, luckily the star player, Shahid Afridi too escaped from the ban with a fine. He too will pay a sum of Rs.30 Lakhs for the ball tampering incident in Australia.

The PCB told:-

Yousuf and Younis were involved in fighting during the Aussie tour which had brought down the whole team. Their attitude has a trickle down effect which is a bad influence for the whole team

The penalties given now are the largest in the last decade even though Pakistan Cricket is known for banning players.

Ramiz Raja on listening to this said:-

Our main problem was discipline, but barring players, I am not sure, it doesn’t look nice to just end the international careers of such talented players

“I think the PCB should have fined both Yousuf and Younis like they did to the others and set an example for other players, but banning them is a bit harsh to me.

Former Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said:-

Banning Yousuf and Younis is totally wrong decision. The committee comprised employees of the PCB and there was no neutral person in it

“You cannot ban someone from playing international cricket on just disciplinary grounds

Rana Naved and Shoaib Malik who were part of the T20 World Cup squad won’t participate this time.