'Durban among toughest wickets I've played' - Laxman

3:46 AM Cricket No Comments

VVS Laxman ranks Durban "up there" with the best wins of his career, especially because on the first day the batsmen had to counter "one of the most challenging wickets I have played on in my career".

"If you beat South Africa on definitely the quickest and bounciest wicket in the country, it gives you that much additional joy," Laxman said, a day after India finished the series-levelling 87-run win. "Everyone talks about Durban being the place where South Africa puts the opposition under pressure, even though the results haven't been going their way recently. It gives us a lot of satisfaction to have beaten them in these conditions."

Laxman said the conditions in Durban were the supreme test of India's batsmen's skill and temperament. "You have got a pace-bowling attack that is one of the best in the world at the moment. Then the conditions were ideal for them, where the ball was seaming, and there was bounce that we are not used to because most of the time we play on subcontinent wickets. Even abroad you don't usually get wickets that have such steep bounce. Test match cricket is all about challenging the skill you have got, and the temperament you have got. And this was one of the most challenging wickets I have played on in my career."

Until Ashwell Prince scored 39 in South Africa's second innings, the game's top two scores belonged to Laxman: 96 and 38. It took a stunning catch to stop him at 38 in the first innings. His patience, his skill, his technique stood apart from the 11 other specialist batsmen and two wicketkeeper-batsmen on show. And again, as has increasingly become Laxman's wont, he added runs with the tail.

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Restoration work underway at the Maracana

9:14 PM Football No Comments

Anyone wandering into Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium in its current state could be forgiven for thinking that the iconic venue was a thing of the past. Fortunately that is not the case, with the arena that hosted the final match of the 1950 FIFA World Cup™ undergoing a comprehensive overhaul to ensure it is a significantly more modern and comfortable venue in time to welcome another FIFA World Cup, 64 years later.

Undoubtedly among the best-known stadiums in world football, the Maracana has held over 150,000 spectators on many occasions and was once the biggest stadium in the world. Little by little, however, its capacity has been reduced for the safety and comfort of visiting fans, and is now in the midst of its greatest transformation to date, ahead of Brazil 2014.

The process of knocking down the stadium’s lower tier has been virtually completed by the companies responsible for the renovation work, with work on the upper tier having already begun. The current state of proceedings is the reason why tonnes of concrete and twisted iron are strewn around every corner of the stadium.

In accordance to the schedule unveiled by the Rio de Janeiro government, the work on the Maracana should be completed by early 2013. And the project is progressing in a satisfactory manner, according to a periodic technical analysis carried out by the stadia department of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup.

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We won because I quit captaincy - Pietersen

9:07 PM Cricket No Comments

Kevin Pietersen is adamant that England's Ashes success in Australia stems back to his ultimatum with Peter Moores, the former coach, at the beginning of 2009 which led to both men losing their jobs. Pietersen's captaincy stint ended after just three Tests when the relationship with Moores fell apart following the tour of India as England were plunged into crisis.

From the wreckage of those days, however, the team have hit new heights including success in the 2009 Ashes, winning the World Twenty20 and now the retention of the urn with an innings-and-157-run thrashing of Australia in Melbourne. Pietersen has now insisted those moments of glory wouldn't have been possible without the stand he took.

"You know what - I have never said this before - I lost the captaincy, I got rid of the captaincy for the good of English cricket, and we would not be here today if I had not done what I did then," Pietersen said. "There is no way in this world that we would have succeeded under that regime and would have won the Ashes again in Australia after 24 years. Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower need all the plaudits for an unbelievable 18 months and an unbelievable preparation for this team, and they are the right leadership for this team."

The Strauss-Flower axis has been heaped with praise, both before and during this Ashes series, for bringing unity, calmness and belief to the England set up having assumed their partnership with the team at one of their lowest ebbs.

Strauss was close to the England captaincy for the 2006-07 Ashes tour when Michael Vaughan was injured but Andrew Flintoff was preferred. His career then nosedived and he was omitted in late 2007 but is now forging a legacy that will leave him remembered as one England's finest captains.

"Straussy is a solid bloke and character, a simple person who does things systematically and does things very well for everyone else," Pietersen said. "He looks after himself after he has looked after everyone else which is a great quality of a great captain. What he has achieved has not been achieved for 24 years and I have always had utmost respect for Straussy.

"When he gave me the phone call and said 'the ECB want me to captain are you OK with that?' I said go for it, Straussy, you're a top man. I said I'm a good mate of yours, go for it, do whatever you need to, and I've been proved right. It was a good decision by the ECB."

For Pietersen, the Ashes series has marked a return to somewhere near his best form with the highlight being a career-best 227 at Adelaide. It was his first international hundred since March 2009 and just his second in any cricket during that period. Bringing Pietersen back into the fold has been one of key successes for Strauss and Flower and he appears a contented player once again.

"They are very good at keeping us level headed and grounded and solid," he said. "Sure we will celebrate this win for a day or so and then we will talk about Sydney and trying to win this series 3-1. It's the best feeling in my career, nothing beats this. As an Englishman, winning in England in 2005 was amazing after it had not been done for a certain amount of years, but people always talked about the fact that when you go to Australia it is a different kettle of fish and last time we came here we got hammered.

"This time we have come here knowing the preparation has been right, knowing what to expect from the crowds, from the public in the street, people in hotels and taxi drivers to players out in the middle. We were told to beware of this and we knew what to expect. We always thought we would do a lot better than last time, I was confident of that and that has proved right."

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Haddin backs Clarke as captain

8:49 PM Cricket No Comments

Brad Haddin spent his first full day as Australia's vice-captain insisting Michael Clarke, his new master, is the right man for the top job. A new cricket leader is usually a time for celebration in this country, but Clarke's appointment for Monday's fifth Ashes Test at the SCG has been greeted with extreme caution.

Ricky Ponting is missing the match due to a broken finger and Clarke enters the fixture in poor form and with only pockets of public support. None of that matters to Haddin, who says the team is 100% behind the leader.

"He is ready to do this job," Haddin said at the SCG. "He'd be excited about the prospect of captaining Australia and he will do a very, very good job. We're 100% behind him and, being a good mate of mine, I'll support him in any way I can. He deserves to be in this position ... he's the best man for the job."

Haddin, 33, said the public reaction to all the Australian players changed from week to week. However, Clarke's rating among large sections of the community, particularly in his home state of New South Wales, has been more consistent. His lack of runs in the series - 148 in eight innings - hasn't helped endear Clarke to the detractors and the lukewarm response adds to the pressure on the country's 43rd Test captain.

"You are one good innings away, or sometimes one good cover drive away, from the support being with you," Haddin said. "Michael is a very strong character so things will be okay. He has got a very good cricket brain and you saw that through the T20 World Cup [when Australia made the final]. He thinks a lot about the game, he is going to do a very good job."

Haddin, who hopes his elevation is temporary, has played 31 Tests since replacing the retired Adam Gilchrist in the middle of 2008. He has leadership experience with New South Wales and gets a close-up view of the game as wicketkeeper. It will be interesting to watch how he juggles his post as one of the team's verbal enforcers with his new responsibilities.

The first aim for Australia is to show some signs of collective improvement after being thoroughly out-played in three of the four matches. The hosts are upset to have failed in their push to regather the urn - Haddin said the results were "unacceptable" - but they will aim to take comfort in a victory in Sydney.

"It's disappointing we have lost the Ashes and we are disappointed in our own performance, but you have to move on pretty quick in sport," he said. "We have to win this Test match to make this series 2-all."

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Leonardo: There's no greater challenge

5:11 AM Football No Comments

Newly appointed Inter Milan coach Leonardo is looking forward to the challenge of reviving the European champions. The Brazilian, who guided arch-rivals AC Milan last season and spent much of his playing career with I Rossoneri, was unveiled by I Nerazzurri today, following the departure of Rafa Benitez.
"Inter is a powerful, fascinating and unexpected challenge," Leonardo told a press conference. "I arrive here at one of the biggest clubs in the world, in the most important year of its history, the year in which the team won everything (Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the FIFA Club World Cup, in addition to the UEFA Champions League).
"Inter is now a reality, the most important reality. I was looking for a dream, a big motivation, a great challenge. At the moment there is no challenge greater than Inter."
President Massimo Moratti is pleased with his choice. He said: "Leonardo forced me to be here today - to be honest it is the first time someone has asked me to be here. You can see that I'm very pleased with the choice.
"It is a choice that developed from the sense of respect I have always had for him, and the sense of respect everyone who has ever known him has for his ability to learn quickly, and to transmit affection and efficiency. I think he will be able to employ those abilities at our club, which, with the Club World Cup, has shown itself to still be ambitious.
"That doesn't mean we will rush the new coach or put pressure on him; it means we will follow our instincts and the affection we have towards our fans, and that should be useful in working towards some important targets."nter are currently seventh in Serie A, 13 points behind pacesetters Milan, and Moratti has promised new faces in a bid to revive their quest for trophies. He continued: "Now Benitez has gone we will buy five players.
"I am convinced ours is a very strong group, and they have showed that recently. Even if some think they failed to show it some days ago in Abu Dhabi, they comfortably showed it just a few months ago, not thousands of years ago.
"Whether a signing will be actioned or not remains to be seen, but we will certainly be careful, and with the help of [director] Marco Branca we will make sure that those transfers happen, be it players joining or leaving.

"Undoubtedly Leonardo has had valuable experience, of managing a coach and understanding the club system, the team system, and therefore he has had a idea of the economics at a club, and what is best, objectively, for the club.
"We will do very well from a footballing perspective, but we must try to do very well from the economic perspective as well. I do not want to take away any enthusiasm with this, because enthusiasm is what a club thrives on and what I thrive on too."

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Ryan Corns in USA squad, McGarrell ineligible

4:49 AM Cricket No Comments

Ryan Corns, the player of the tournament at the 2009 Under-19 World Cup Global Qualifier, has been selected in USA's senior squad for the first time, to go to the ICC World Cricket League Division Three (WCL Div. 3). Three other uncapped players - Durale Forrest, Ritesh Kadu and Asif Khan - will also go to the tournament, which will be played in Hong Kong from January 22-29, 2011. Neil McGarrell, the left-arm spinner who has played four Tests for the West Indies, has been ruled ineligible to play for USA in the tournament.

"All four guys bring something special to the team," USA coach Clayton Lambert said on Wednesday. "They're all solid players. In Corns and Khan we have two left-arm spinners. We have another medium pacer in Forrest. Kadu is going to help in the wicketkeeping department and he's a very solid batsman."

Khan has perhaps the strongest pedigree of the four newcomers to the USA squad. A 31-year-old former Pakistan first-class cricketer, Khan has bowled a series of stifling spells with his left-arm orthodox spin over the last two years, playing for the Central East Region in USA Cricket Association (USACA) tournaments.

The USA team was desperate for a left-arm spinner after McGarrell was ruled ineligible. According to several sources, McGarrell was included in the squad that was sent to the ICC, but didn't fulfill the requirements to play for USA. ICC rules stipulate that a player must have been a resident of the country for a minimum of 183 days for each year in the four years preceding a tournament in order to qualify. USACA vice president of operations Manaf Mohamed confirmed on Wednesday that McGarrell failed to meet that requirement as he had only been in the country for enough days in the last three years.

"We're going to miss McGarrell, but hopefully we can have him qualify for the next tournament [WCL Div. 2] and we can go out there and do what we need to do to get to Dubai," Lambert said. If USA finishes in the top two in Hong Kong, they will advance to WCL Div. 2, which will be played in the UAE in April 2011.

Forrest has a strong reputation as a bowling allrounder, playing league cricket in New Jersey while representing the Atlantic Region. Kadu is a consistent performer for the South West Region and finished as the second leading run scorer in the Southern California Cricket Association (SCCA) First Division. He has been picked as a reserve wicketkeeper for Carl Wright.

USA's first match in Hong Kong will be against the host team on January 22. Since the start of the current World Cricket League cycle in 2009, the host team has finished first or second in five of the six tournaments played, with the lone exception being the 2010 Division One played in the Netherlands in July 2010. However, Lambert isn't distracted by the challenge of playing what could be USA's toughest opponent in the event right off the bat.

"If we want to go through to the next tournament, we have got to win at least four games," Lambert said. "We're hoping that we're going to play as well as we can and we think that our skill is good enough for the tournament. We're hoping to win the tournament actually. It might not happen that way, but that's our goal."

USA Squad: Steve Massiah (captain), Sushil Nadkarni (vice-captain), Orlando Baker, Ryan Corns, Lennox Cush, Kevin Darlington, Durale Forrest, Muhammad Ghous, Ritesh Kadu, Asif Khan, Rashard Marshall, Aditya Thyagarajan, Usman Shuja, Carl Wright.

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Clarke replaces Ponting as Test captain

1:50 AM Cricket No Comments

Michael Clarke  is Australia's 43rd Test captain after succeeding the injured Ricky Ponting for Monday's fifth Ashes Test in Sydney. Clarke, who has been the deputy since 2008, takes the coveted job at a time when the team is at its nadir and the 29-year-old is in a severe batting rut.

Ponting's broken left pinky not only means he may never add to his 152 Tests, but it accelerates the transition to Clarke during a summer in which his performances have indicated he is not ready for the role. He now has no choice after his appointment - and the elevation of Brad Haddin to vice-captain - was approved in a unanimous decision by Cricket Australia's board on Thursday afternoon.

"Obviously I'm honoured, it's for this Test match and hopefully we can get Punter right as soon as possible and get him back into whichever team," Clarke said at the SCG. "The sooner we can get him back into the one dayers, the better for us."

Clarke is in charge of a 12-man squad as it attempts to draw the series with England, who retained the Ashes with their innings victory in Melbourne on Wednesday. Usman Khawaja has been included to make his debut at No. 3 while Doug Bollinger was recalled to replace Ryan Harris, who suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle at the MCG.

But the major focus is on how Clarke will deal with his switch from energetic lieutenant to the man who has to juggle his own game with all the extra commitments required to run a team. He has led Australia in 18 ODIs and another 18 Twenty20s and has usually enjoyed giving the captaincy back to Ponting.

In his dream Clarke would have taken the job in peak form, but he has experienced a poor campaign against England with 148 runs at 21.14 and only one half-century. Even that came with criticism after he tweeted an apology for not walking when he was dismissed late on the penultimate day in Adelaide.

"I make no bones about it, my form has not been good enough throughout this series," he said. "I've had a couple of innings where I've felt really good but I need to get out here and make sure I get some runs on the board, and that's my focus right now. I've had the chance to captain Australia in the Twenty20 form and a handful of one-dayers as well, and I don't think it's hurt my performance. Hopefully that's the same this week."

Clarke is a modern cricketer and his metrosexual tendencies and A-list activities have created lingering questions over his suitability for the leadership. His on-field moves will now be analysed intently as he hopes for a way out of such a dire period for Australia.

Ponting's fractured finger deteriorated during the fourth Test that finished with him failing to win the Ashes for a record third time. If the urn was still up for grabs he would have pushed to play but gave into medical advice.

"I'm devastated to tell you the truth, it was the news I was dreading," Ponting said after landing in Sydney. "During the game I didn't think I'd done too much more to it." When asked if he was considering retirement he said: "I'm not thinking about it at all."

Ponting, who scored only 113 runs in the first four games, could face surgery on his finger, but is expected to be fit to guide Australia in their push to win a fourth consecutive World Cup. He had an x-ray on the final day of the Melbourne defeat and it showed the fracture had moved during the match.

"What I need right at the moment is just as much time as I possibly can to let it heal and make sure that I'm 100% right for the start of the World Cup," he said. "That's really how the decision was made, so I've just got to do everything in my power over the next little bit to look after it as well as I can."

He will see a specialist again over the next day to decide on the best way forward. "Hopefully he will commence training in the later part of the Australian summer," Alex Kountouris, the team's physiotherapist, said. "He is expected to be fully fit for the World Cup."

Ponting's Test future is less clear as Australia's next five-day engagement is currently scheduled for Sri Lanka in August, although there is a talk of a series against Bangladesh after the World Cup. He is already 36 and Australia have realised during their poor Ashes performance that they have to start rebuilding through young players.

Australia squad Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Michael Beer

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All-round Razzaq flattens New Zealand

1:43 AM Cricket No Comments

Pakistan set New Zealand a challenging total for victory in the third Twenty20 in Christchurch after an explosive opening partnership and some late Abdul Razzaq fireworks propelled them to 183, despite a mini collapse in the middle overs. Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez capitalised on errant lengths from the New Zealand pacemen to get the innings underway, and an 11-ball Razzaq special launched Pakistan to a total that seemed far out of reach, mid-way through the 19th over.

Pakistan were away with a boundary off the first ball for the third match running, but this time the openers ensured the start wasn't wasted with an 81-run partnership. Shehzad smashed Adam Milne for three consecutive boundaries in his second over, before repeating the dose for Tim Southee soon after. The mid-wicket fence was pinged repeatedly as Shehzad got under anything on a length, but he was good enough to cash in on the fuller deliveries as well, sending them rocketing through cover.

Hafeez didn't take too long to get going either, unfurling his own repertoire of aggressive strokes, including an over-the-shoulder scoop off Mills and a wristy leg-side swat which sailed into the stands. The pair brought up the fifty in 4.5 overs and pummeled 14 boundaries during the fielding restrictions to set Pakistan racing towards an impressive total, but the New Zealand slow bowlers were on hand to haul back the run-rate once the field spread.

Nathan McCullum's first over cost four runs and the wickets began to tumble in the middle as the run-rate dived. Hafeez couldn't quite clear Ross Taylor at extra cover, and another tight over from McCullum had Shehzad attempting to resume the frenetic pace against James Franklin. He was caught plumb in front though, immediately after he had reached his fifty. Younis Khan was run out having set out for a suicidal single and Asad Shafiq perished shortly after, trying to hit out after using up 15 deliveries to score eight runs.

Shahid Afridi came and went, making a quickfire 14 in the process, and Umar Akmal picked the gaps intelligently to increase the scoring rate once the fast men had been reintroduced, but it was Razzaq who propelled Pakistan beyond 180. Having been dropped on two in the penultimate over, Razzaq never looked back, launching boundary after incredible boundary, in a stunning display of power hitting. Thirty-one runs came off the last nine balls, and an awestruck Milne watched on as he was swatted to the fence and over it, despite his best efforts to vary the pace and hit the blockhole.

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Ponting fights for his captaincy

4:49 AM Cricket No Comments

England have retained the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years, after inflicting one of Australia's heaviest losses, with a margin of an innings and 157 runs on the fourth morning at the MCG. It took less than 90 minutes for England to collect the three wickets they needed for victory, and when Tim Bresnan picked up his fourth wicket, an edge behind from Ben Hilfenhaus, the celebrations began.

Bresnan finished with 4 for 50 and was mobbed by his team-mates when the final wicket fell, and the big collection of England fans at the MCG burst into full voice. It was a wonderful moment for England, who will now aim to turn their 2-1 lead into a series victory at the SCG next week, but as the holders of the Ashes before the tour they have done enough to retain the urn.

For the first time in history, Australia have lost two Tests in a home series by an innings, and the margin was their worst defeat in Australia in 98 years, and their eighth-worst of all time. There was some fight from Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle, who put together an 86-run partnership after the early loss of Mitchell Johnson, but it was only ever a matter of time for England.

During the Haddin-Siddle stand, both men cleared the boundary off Graeme Swann, providing something to cheer for the Australian fans who had turned up despite the certain result. Haddin's half-century came in 86 balls and Siddle posted his highest Test score, before the end came in a rush with Siddle and Hilfenhaus falling in quick succession, and the injured Ryan Harris unable to bat.

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Prince resists India's push for victory

3:47 AM Cricket 1 Comment

A defiant Ashwell Prince stood in the way of India's charge for their second Test win in South Africa. In front of a disappointingly thin crowd at Kingsmead, the venue where India suffered one of their worst-ever Test defeats in 1996, their bowlers rarely bowled a bad delivery on the fourth morning, to put their side in sight of victory. A Sreesanth snorter to Jacques Kallis started South Africa's slide, before two lbws - one a marginal decision and the other a howler - that are sure to refuel the UDRS debate, hurt them further. India are firmly in charge at lunch, but teams have fought back from seemingly hopeless situations before in this Test.

If the match has to-and-fro-ed over the week, so has Sreesanth's bowling form. The wayward, antic-loving Sreesanth was missing on the fourth morning, as he sent down an accurate spell of sustained hostility. The highlight was in the seventh over of the day - an utterly unplayable bouncer which reared up sharply and jagged in to Kallis, who had no way to avoid it, arched his back in an attempt to get out of the way, but could only glove it to gully. It was the snorter that was needed to remove the kingpin of South Africa's batting.

That wicket put India slightly ahead, and there was no doubt who were front-runners after AB de Villiers decided to not offer a shot to a Harbhajan Singh delivery from round the wicket. He was struck in front of middle and looked lbw and the umpire agreed, though Hawk-Eye suggested the ball would have bounced over the stumps.

Over a decade in international cricket, Mark Boucher has built his reputation as a scrapper, and with Prince also around, it wasn't yet lights out for South Africa. Boucher, though, made only one before he was given lbw to a delivery that was angling across him and going to comfortably miss off stump.

South Africa had lost three wickets, and there was still no boundary in the morning, a testament to the scarcity of bad deliveries. When the first four did come, from Dale Steyn, it was an edge to third man. Steyn had pinged Zaheer Khan on the helmet with a quick bouncer on Tuesday, and the Indian responded with a string of short balls to the South African spearhead. After three of those, Zaheer slipped in a fuller delivery, which Steyn duly nicked to slip.

At 155 for 7, with lunch still 45 minutes away, the game looked set for a quick finish. Prince and Paul Harris, however, resisted with some dour batting, in addition to a couple of confident boundaries from Prince. They batted out the 10 overs to the break, to leave South Africa 121 adrift of an improbable win.

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