M Vijay celebrates his fifty

M Vijay celebrates his fifty, Chennai v Bangalore, IPL 2011, Final, Chennai, May 28, 2010

©AFP

M Vijay celebrates his fifty, Chennai v Bangalore, IPL 2011, Final, Chennai, May 28, 2010©AFP

MS Dhoni has a drink ahead of the IPL final

MS Dhoni has a drink ahead of the IPL final, Chennai v Bangalore, IPL 2011, Final, Chennai, May 28, 2010

©AFP

MS Dhoni has a drink ahead of the IPL final, Chennai v Bangalore, IPL 2011, Final, Chennai, May 28, 2010©AFP

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M Usman Arshad

England vow to cash in on tired Aussie bowlers

England vow to cash in on tired Aussie bowlers

ADELAIDE - 30th November 2010 (04:00pm) England want to capitalise on the lingering fatigue of Australia’s bowlers in this week’s second Adelaide Ashes Test, coach Andy Flower said on Tuesday. Andy Flower There are only three days of recovery time between the drawn Gabba Test which ended Monday and the renewal of hostilities on Friday at the Adelaide Oval. England go into the Test with the momentum after fighting back from a 221-run innings deficit to grind down the Australian bowling attack over 152 overs and 10-and-a-half hours to draw the Brisbane opener. Flower said the Adelaide Test would provide the chance to follow it through against wearied opponents. “I think in reality, yes, that is the case,” Flower told reporters. “Ideally you want to move on as quickly as possible whether you’ve done well or poorly in the last match, but obviously there is fatigue for some of the bowlers after long spells. Confidence, or lack thereof, is passed from one match to the next. “So yes, there is definitely a connection there.” England’s bowlers will be the relatively fresher after they were required to bowl only 26 overs at Australia in the second innings having rested during Sunday and most of Monday’s play. “I think winning is a habit and fighting out of tough situations is a habit as well, I’m glad our guys are responding in that way to any adversity, and that’s what we expect of them,” Flower said. “I think our batsmen showed they can handle the attack, but that is only one Test we’ve just played, and the real test is over the long term. “I expect them to fight hard and I expect our team to fight hard.” The tourists are expecting off-spinner Graeme Swann to be more influential in the Adelaide Test after he claimed just two wickets for 161 off 50 overs in Brisbane. “Historically, the Adelaide Oval wicket turns and does give the spinners a little bit of help so yes of course (we expect more),” Flower said. “He’s a really experienced campaigner, Graeme Swann, and I think if anything that fires him up, so that’ll give him chances.” “Whatever conditions we’re faced with you’ve got to use them as well as you can. “We played a really good three-day tour game here a little while ago against South Australia and it was really valuable to play on the Test square, and our guys enjoyed playing on that surface.” Flower is back at work after being forced into hurried minor skin cancer surgery in Brisbane last week. Andy Flower

Pak-England 5th ODI today Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pak-England 5th ODI today

Updated at: 0205 PST,  Wednesday, September 22, 2010  SOUTHAMPTON: The 5th ODI of five match series between England and Pakistan is due to be played at Southampton today (Wednesday) with both sides to be battling for the title after Pakistan squared the series by 2-2 having won fourth ODI by 38 runs at Lords on Monday, Geo News reported. Pakistan cricket team has arrived London after winning the last ODI of the series by 38 runs however players did not undergo practice session. Battered with spot-fixing allegations in Test match series, Pakistan was defeated by 24 runs in first match likewise England won the second of the series by 4 wickets but Pakistan’s dramatic comeback in third match, thanked by Umer Gul’s career best bowling under floodlights with 6-42, turned the fate of series. Subsequently, after the dramatic defeat in third match, English media again leveled match-fixing allegations upon Pakistan but Afridi’s eleven showed character in fourth match with Abdul Razzaq knocking 44 runs off 20 balls featuring 7 fours and a huge six and later bowler’s cruel outburst left England in lurch to being lost to Pakistan fourth match. Now the series is very much open with two sides to be battling for being crowned in the last and final ODI of the five-match series.

paksiatn play his 2nd ODI September 12, 2010, Headingley

Dominant England look to extend run

The Preview by Sahil Dutta and Liam Brickhill

September 11, 2010

Match facts

September 12, 2010, Headingley
Start time 10.15am (9.15am GMT)

2:30pm pakistani time

Big picture

While it seems that nothing could rid the backdrop of spot-fixing allegations from this series, the lingering hope is that a keen contest between these two sides might at least provide a moment of relief. The abject nature of Pakistan's pair of defeats in the Twenty20 series, played in front of half-empty stands at Cardiff, left a fear that the one-day series could descend into a more unappetising farce than even the seven-match trudge against Australia at the end of last summer. Thankfully, without really threatening England, Pakistan still demonstrated enough spirit and backbone in the first game to keep their fans hoping.

The much-hyped introduction of enormous paceman Mohammad Irfan may have failed to match the billing but the veteran Shoaib Akthar sweated through an impressive opening spell and provided enough of a test to keep England's batsmen hopping. Saeed Ajmal continued to weave the confusion that has hounded England all summer and most significantly, Pakistan's fielding was smart and at times - such as Umar Akmal's direct-hit from the outfield to dismiss Tim Bresnan - positively sharp.

The batting too was much improved. Kamran Akmal managed his first decent performance of a chastening summer, while his brother Umar flickered with his abundant talent once again and there were spirited contributions throughout the order. It was enough for Andrew Strauss to unleash that most trite of clichés by declaring after the match that "cricket was the winner". Though It speaks volumes for how low Pakistan had sunk that a comfortable England win was seen as progress, another improvement at Edgbaston could put the teams on more equal footing.

England, for their part, are quietly piecing together a team to challenge for the World Cup in February. Their limited-overs cricket has improved beyond recognition since the 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Australia last summer, and the World Twenty20 champions have now won four ODI series in a row and show no signs of stopping.

The demand for continual improvement saw Craig Kieswetter dumped out of the team for Steve Davies as the England management set a clear challenge - perform now and book your place for the World Cup. Davies' response was perfect, striking the ball sweetly to race to 87 from 67 deliveries and both earn the Man-of-the-Match award and high praise from his captain. Alongside him Ravi Bopara's international rehabilitation continued with a breezy unbeaten 37 to finish the innings. Both still have plenty to prove and that context alone gives England supporters something to follow.