Ignored by the controversy surrounding India’s decision to call off a Test Match needing 86 runs off 90 balls was the continued improvement of their counterparts. Since a 2-1 series loss against Australia in 1995, the West Indies have fallen spectacularly from their position at the top of the cricketing world. Players such as Clive Lloyd, Malcolm Marshall and Sir Viv Richards (to name a few) retired during a 5 year period which devastated a younger side in the long term.
But are we finally now about to witness a renaissance in one of the most exciting sides, historically, in world cricket?
First, here is a comparison of the West Indies’ performances in Test series before and after the Australia defeat:
1980-1994: Played 29, Won 20, Drawn 9, Lost 0
1995-Now: Played 50, Won 13, Drawn 7, Lost 30
NOTE: a mere glance at these stats highlights just how extraordinary a team the West Indies of the 80s and early 90s were. A potential future article could be a comparison of them and the exploits of the Australian side who snatched the mantle of ‘greatest cricketing side in the world’ from them.
Now, let’s examine the performances of the latter West Indies side further:
1995-2003: Played 25, Won 10, Drawn 2, Lost 13
2004-Now: Played 25, Won 3, Drawn 5, Lost 17
When you consider that these 3 victories came against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and an England side still reeling from the Pietersen-Moores debacle and it compounds the astonishing collapse of a great cricketing nation.
This barren period for the Windies includes whitewashes to South Africa, Australia and England and even the ignominy of a 2-0 defeat at home to Bangladesh in 2009.
However, a shoots of life have suddenly sprouted from a side under the captaincy of Darren Sammy boasting a number of exciting young talents to blend with some of the more experienced campaigners. Of course, we have been down this road before with the West Indies. Who can forget Dwayne Smith and his 93-ball hundred on Test debut against South Africa. One of the most naturally talented batsman in terms of ability to see and strike the ball, Smith averaged a paltry 16.22 in 77 ODIs for West Indies.
NOTE: As a comparison, in 201 ODIs Brett Lee has averaged 16.25 runs to go with his 349 wickets. I know who I’d rather have in my side.
Even now we still get treated to the ocassional exhilirating innings from Kieron Pollard – a man who 4 IPL franchises saw fit to bid the $750,000 for (for cricketing or marketing reasons I wonder?). Yet, Pollard has so far managed just 4 50s in 42 ODIs and has a T20 average of 12.33. Hardly the stuff that keeps fast bowlers awake at night.
But now, the Windies have introduced a core of youngsters who are beginning to perform consistently for them instead of keeping their place in the team on untapped potential. Among them is Darren Bravo, half-brother of team-mate Dwayne, who has drawn comparisons with non other than the great Brian Lara (incidentally, his second cousin). For a left-handed batsman who plays in a similar style to the Trinidadian legend, it is high praise considering his failure thus far to score a century in Tests or ODIs. Furthermore, one need only look at the number of Brazilian and Argentinian footballers labelled the next Pele or Maradona to see the pressure this can instill on a young man. However, an average of 40 and 33 in the respective forms is an encouraging start by the 22 year-old who still has time on his side.
Kemar Roach is another one who was drafted into the team at the tender age of 19 and has impressed the critics. Capable of bowling at speeds of up to 93mph, Roach made his international debut in the T20 match against Australia in 2008 having only played in 4 first-class matches beforehand. Finishing with match-best figures of 2/29 signalled the his vast potential. Thus far, Roach averages below 30 with the ball in all forms of cricket. Even more impressive, he led an inexperienced Windies attack in Australia in 2009, drawing praise from the likes of Ricky Ponting and Ian Chappell as a star of the future. Roach was also the man of the series the following year in Sri Lanka – a country known for providing slow and dusty pitches unhelpful for fast bowlers. A hat-trick against the Netherlands in this year’s World Cup aided him on his way to career-best figures of 6/27.
Devendra Bishoo and Kirk Edwards have both recently become regulars in both formats. Bishoo. a leg-spinner, has impressed many with his attacking style of bowling and has become regarded as one of the Windies’ primary wicket-takers. Even more entertaining is his post-match interviews! Edwards recently scored a dogged 110 against India on his Test debut to help draw the match: displaying a great deal of determination and grit in his innings.
Add to these young players experienced performers such as Shivnarine Chanderpaul (who, at 36, is still going strong judging by his recent century against India), Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan and there is a core group of players to introduce an exciting new beginning for the Carribean.
Despite this, questions still continue to surround the team. The controversy surrounding the long-standing feud between former-captain Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board has long overshadowed their recent achievements (a summary of which can be found here). Indeed, this saga underlines the lack of professionalism still inherent within the Windies’ administration still seething from the pay disputes of 2009.
Furthermore, there are still question marks surrounding the worthiness of captain Darren Sammy’s place in the side. The skipper has failed to justify his selection as an all-rounder keeping Kemar Roach out of the side with a series of poor performances with the bat overshadowing his moderate success with the ball. However, a recent interview with CricInfo highlighted Sammy’s determination to instill a professional ethos, high fitness levels and more exposure to young talent in order to further his team.
Sammy has stated his aim being to reach the top 5 with the West Indies by 2015. After years of simply selecting their best player for the role of captain, maybe the English approach of prioritising leadership skills over talent (Hussain, Atherton, Vaughan and Cook in ODIs) may prove to be the correct one in pointing this proud cricketing nation in the right direction.
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Finally A New Dawn For The West Indies?
ByJoe Lobo
Ignored by the controversy surrounding India’s decision to call off a Test Match needing 86 runs off 90 balls was the continued improvement of their counterparts. Since a 2-1 series loss against Australia in 1995, the West Indies have fallen spectacularly from their position at the top of the cricketing world. Players such as Clive Lloyd, Malcolm Marshall and Sir Viv Richards (to name a few) retired during a 5 year period which devastated a younger side in the long term.
But are we finally now about to witness a renaissance in one of the most exciting sides, historically, in world cricket?
First, here is a comparison of the West Indies’ performances in Test series before and after the Australia defeat:
1980-1994: Played 29, Won 20, Drawn 9, Lost 0
1995-Now: Played 50, Won 13, Drawn 7, Lost 30
NOTE: a mere glance at these stats highlights just how extraordinary a team the West Indies of the 80s and early 90s were. A potential future article could be a comparison of them and the exploits of the Australian side who snatched the mantle of ‘greatest cricketing side in the world’ from them.
Now, let’s examine the performances of the latter West Indies side further:
1995-2003: Played 25, Won 10, Drawn 2, Lost 13
2004-Now: Played 25, Won 3, Drawn 5, Lost 17
When you consider that these 3 victories came against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and an England side still reeling from the Pietersen-Moores debacle and it compounds the astonishing collapse of a great cricketing nation.
This barren period for the Windies includes whitewashes to South Africa, Australia and England and even the ignominy of a 2-0 defeat at home to Bangladesh in 2009.
However, a shoots of life have suddenly sprouted from a side under the captaincy of Darren Sammy boasting a number of exciting young talents to blend with some of the more experienced campaigners. Of course, we have been down this road before with the West Indies. Who can forget Dwayne Smith and his 93-ball hundred on Test debut against South Africa. One of the most naturally talented batsman in terms of ability to see and strike the ball, Smith averaged a paltry 16.22 in 77 ODIs for West Indies.
NOTE: As a comparison, in 201 ODIs Brett Lee has averaged 16.25 runs to go with his 349 wickets. I know who I’d rather have in my side.
Even now we still get treated to the ocassional exhilirating innings from Kieron Pollard – a man who 4 IPL franchises saw fit to bid the $750,000 for (for cricketing or marketing reasons I wonder?). Yet, Pollard has so far managed just 4 50s in 42 ODIs and has a T20 average of 12.33. Hardly the stuff that keeps fast bowlers awake at night.
But now, the Windies have introduced a core of youngsters who are beginning to perform consistently for them instead of keeping their place in the team on untapped potential. Among them is Darren Bravo, half-brother of team-mate Dwayne, who has drawn comparisons with non other than the great Brian Lara (incidentally, his second cousin). For a left-handed batsman who plays in a similar style to the Trinidadian legend, it is high praise considering his failure thus far to score a century in Tests or ODIs. Furthermore, one need only look at the number of Brazilian and Argentinian footballers labelled the next Pele or Maradona to see the pressure this can instill on a young man. However, an average of 40 and 33 in the respective forms is an encouraging start by the 22 year-old who still has time on his side.
Kemar Roach is another one who was drafted into the team at the tender age of 19 and has impressed the critics. Capable of bowling at speeds of up to 93mph, Roach made his international debut in the T20 match against Australia in 2008 having only played in 4 first-class matches beforehand. Finishing with match-best figures of 2/29 signalled the his vast potential. Thus far, Roach averages below 30 with the ball in all forms of cricket. Even more impressive, he led an inexperienced Windies attack in Australia in 2009, drawing praise from the likes of Ricky Ponting and Ian Chappell as a star of the future. Roach was also the man of the series the following year in Sri Lanka – a country known for providing slow and dusty pitches unhelpful for fast bowlers. A hat-trick against the Netherlands in this year’s World Cup aided him on his way to career-best figures of 6/27.
Devendra Bishoo and Kirk Edwards have both recently become regulars in both formats. Bishoo. a leg-spinner, has impressed many with his attacking style of bowling and has become regarded as one of the Windies’ primary wicket-takers. Even more entertaining is his post-match interviews! Edwards recently scored a dogged 110 against India on his Test debut to help draw the match: displaying a great deal of determination and grit in his innings.
Add to these young players experienced performers such as Shivnarine Chanderpaul (who, at 36, is still going strong judging by his recent century against India), Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan and there is a core group of players to introduce an exciting new beginning for the Carribean.
Despite this, questions still continue to surround the team. The controversy surrounding the long-standing feud between former-captain Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board has long overshadowed their recent achievements (a summary of which can be found here). Indeed, this saga underlines the lack of professionalism still inherent within the Windies’ administration still seething from the pay disputes of 2009.
Furthermore, there are still question marks surrounding the worthiness of captain Darren Sammy’s place in the side. The skipper has failed to justify his selection as an all-rounder keeping Kemar Roach out of the side with a series of poor performances with the bat overshadowing his moderate success with the ball. However, a recent interview with CricInfo highlighted Sammy’s determination to instill a professional ethos, high fitness levels and more exposure to young talent in order to further his team.
Sammy has stated his aim being to reach the top 5 with the West Indies by 2015. After years of simply selecting their best player for the role of captain, maybe the English approach of prioritising leadership skills over talent (Hussain, Atherton, Vaughan and Cook in ODIs) may prove to be the correct one in pointing this proud cricketing nation in the right direction.
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Lobo, Joe”Finally A New Dawn For The West Indies?.”Finally A New Dawn For The West Indies?.14 Jul. 2011EzineArticles.com.24 Jul. 2011 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Finally-A-New-Dawn-For-The-West-Indies?&id=6424493>.
Lobo, J. (2011, July 14). Finally A New Dawn For The West Indies?. Retrieved July 24, 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Finally-A-New-Dawn-For-The-West-Indies?&id=6424493
Lobo, Joe “Finally A New Dawn For The West Indies?.” Finally A New Dawn For The West Indies?EzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?Finally-A-New-Dawn-For-The-West-Indies?&id=6424493
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The first T-20 match for England under the captaincy of Stuart Broad ended in disappointment for the home fans in an un-seasonally chilly Bristol. This is rather oddly the only T-20 match that is to be played between the two sides this summer, surely a best of three series would have been better for both the players and the fans.
Sri Lanka won the toss and put England into bat in favourable bowling conditions. This decision was justified early on with the cheap wickets of Lumb and Kieswetter who fell in the opening overs. This brought to the crease the partnership of Pietersen and Morgan, easily England’s two best players in this format of the game. This was England’s most promising spell by far, and both batsmen eased into their forties with some excellent stroke play. Once Morgan went for 41, Pietersen following soon after, the England innings came to a grinding halt. Patel, Bopara and then Wright all looked very much out of their depth in an England cricket shirt at times in this format of the game, as England limped to a paltry total of 136 in their allocated 20 overs.
The pick of the Sri-Lankan bowlers was Malinga whose slingey action still has one day batsmen all over the world baffled, the Sri-Lankans must wish he still had the desire to play test cricket. He was supported by Jayasuriya, who at the age of 41 and in his last game before retirement, showed he had lost none of his skills with the ball.
The Sri Lankan opening pair of Jayasuriya and Jayawardene put on 40 in the first four overs putting England under immediate pressure. The fall of one of the great one day players of the past in Jayasuriya, only brought to the wicket one of the great one day players of the present, Sangakkara. He proceeded to rip the England bowling attack apart along with Jayawardene. They put the ball to all parts of the ground in a second wicket stand of 97, hitting 83 runs in just under 9 overs. The young England attack of Woakes, Broad and Dernbach had a very hard day of it with only Dernbach having a mark in the wickets column.
The performance for England was nothing like that of the team that won the T-20 World Cup in the Caribbean just over a year ago. Perhaps the oddest thing about the selection of the team was that their most fluent run scorer of recent months, Ian Bell was inexplicably left out for a nervy looking Samit Patel, who did nothing to justify the selectors persisting with him after he was involved in a clumsy run out.
There are certainly a lot of questions to be answered by England and their fledgling captain. Broad is under pressure straight away to get things moving in the right direction. He must be looking towards the impending arrival of the super star ridden Indian team later this summer with both anticipation, and I dare say a little dread.
To find out more about cricket, pay a visit to the cricket shop where you will find some great offers on all cricket equipment and merchandise, and can also pick up the very latest England cricket shirt.
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England Vs Sri Lanka – T-20 Match Review
ByPaul J Stevenson
The first T-20 match for England under the captaincy of Stuart Broad ended in disappointment for the home fans in an un-seasonally chilly Bristol. This is rather oddly the only T-20 match that is to be played between the two sides this summer, surely a best of three series would have been better for both the players and the fans.
Sri Lanka won the toss and put England into bat in favourable bowling conditions. This decision was justified early on with the cheap wickets of Lumb and Kieswetter who fell in the opening overs. This brought to the crease the partnership of Pietersen and Morgan, easily England’s two best players in this format of the game. This was England’s most promising spell by far, and both batsmen eased into their forties with some excellent stroke play. Once Morgan went for 41, Pietersen following soon after, the England innings came to a grinding halt. Patel, Bopara and then Wright all looked very much out of their depth in an England cricket shirt at times in this format of the game, as England limped to a paltry total of 136 in their allocated 20 overs.
The pick of the Sri-Lankan bowlers was Malinga whose slingey action still has one day batsmen all over the world baffled, the Sri-Lankans must wish he still had the desire to play test cricket. He was supported by Jayasuriya, who at the age of 41 and in his last game before retirement, showed he had lost none of his skills with the ball.
The Sri Lankan opening pair of Jayasuriya and Jayawardene put on 40 in the first four overs putting England under immediate pressure. The fall of one of the great one day players of the past in Jayasuriya, only brought to the wicket one of the great one day players of the present, Sangakkara. He proceeded to rip the England bowling attack apart along with Jayawardene. They put the ball to all parts of the ground in a second wicket stand of 97, hitting 83 runs in just under 9 overs. The young England attack of Woakes, Broad and Dernbach had a very hard day of it with only Dernbach having a mark in the wickets column.
The performance for England was nothing like that of the team that won the T-20 World Cup in the Caribbean just over a year ago. Perhaps the oddest thing about the selection of the team was that their most fluent run scorer of recent months, Ian Bell was inexplicably left out for a nervy looking Samit Patel, who did nothing to justify the selectors persisting with him after he was involved in a clumsy run out.
There are certainly a lot of questions to be answered by England and their fledgling captain. Broad is under pressure straight away to get things moving in the right direction. He must be looking towards the impending arrival of the super star ridden Indian team later this summer with both anticipation, and I dare say a little dread.
To find out more about cricket, pay a visit to the cricket shop where you will find some great offers on all cricket equipment and merchandise, and can also pick up the very latest England cricket shirt.
Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_J_Stevenson
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Submitted On June 26, 2011. Viewed 24 times. Word count: 506.
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Stevenson, Paul J.”England Vs Sri Lanka – T-20 Match Review.”England Vs Sri Lanka – T-20 Match Review.26 Jun. 2011EzineArticles.com.10 Jul. 2011 <http://ezinearticles.com/?England-Vs-Sri-Lanka---T-20-Match-Review&id=6381570>.
Stevenson, P. J. (2011, June 26). England Vs Sri Lanka – T-20 Match Review. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/?England-Vs-Sri-Lanka---T-20-Match-Review&id=6381570
Stevenson, Paul J. “England Vs Sri Lanka – T-20 Match Review.” England Vs Sri Lanka – T-20 Match ReviewEzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?England-Vs-Sri-Lanka---T-20-Match-Review&id=6381570
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The first One Day International of the summer between England and Sri Lanka, played at the Oval, was predictably ( for this summer so far, anyway ) a rain affected game. Heavy downpours in London meant that the 50 over game was reduced to 32 overs between the two sides. England had been humbled by Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup earlier this year, so they very much had a score to settle. The new captain of the one day side for England was Alistair Cook, replacing Andrew Strauss, while Dilshan took over the helm for the Sri Lankans.
Dilshan made a good start to his reign by winning the toss and putting England into bat first This seemed to be an excellent decision as the England captain, Cook was removed early on. He was soon followed by Trott as England reached 53-2 in the eighth over. This brought Pietersen to the crease and along with Kieswetter, England made sharp progress to go past 100 in 16 overs. England must hope that Kieswetter’s excellent knock of 61 is the catalyst for the young Somerset wicket keeper to kick on, as the position of Wicket Keeper has been an area of weakness in the England team for some time now.
The middle to late order, and in particular Morgan and Bresnan, added more useful runs to push England to a formidable score of 229. Morgan looking every part the complete one day batsman, with some exquisite stroke play. As seems the case more often than not these days, Malinga was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, and his execution of the Yorker delivery continues to have batsmen all over the world troubled. He finished with figures of 3-40 in 7 overs, with the other notable bowling contributions coming from Lakmal with figures of 2-52 in his seven over spell.
Jimmy Anderson returned to the England attack with a point to prove after being left out of the team when they were beaten by Sri Lanka in the World Cup Quarter Final in Colombo. It did not take him long to make his point in no uncertain terms, removing the high class triumvirate of Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara with the Sri Lankans having less than 20 runs posted on the scoreboard. Not only did Anderson excel with the ball, he also took a stunning catch to remove Mathews from the bowling of Dernbach.
From this point on the match, as a contest, was as good as over, and only a slight wagging of the Sri Lankan tail ( Malinga 26, Randiv 24 ) prevented total humiliation for the visitors. Eventually they were all out for 121, leaving England convincing winners by 110 runs, with Swann and Dernbach backing up Anderson taking 2 and 3 wickets respectively.
Anderson picked up the Man on the Match award afterwards, and sent out a clear message that he is very much still a force in one day cricket. The win meant that Alistair Cooks reign as the England ODI captain got off to the perfect start, and put England 1 up in the best of 5 series. The teams will now move on to Leeds on Friday for the second game, no doubt hoping for better weather and a full day of cricket this time.
To see a great selection of cricket equipment including a wide range of cricket bats visit the Cricket Pavillion Shop today. Open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Anderson Inspires England To Victory
ByPaul J Stevenson
The first One Day International of the summer between England and Sri Lanka, played at the Oval, was predictably ( for this summer so far, anyway ) a rain affected game. Heavy downpours in London meant that the 50 over game was reduced to 32 overs between the two sides. England had been humbled by Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup earlier this year, so they very much had a score to settle. The new captain of the one day side for England was Alistair Cook, replacing Andrew Strauss, while Dilshan took over the helm for the Sri Lankans.
Dilshan made a good start to his reign by winning the toss and putting England into bat first This seemed to be an excellent decision as the England captain, Cook was removed early on. He was soon followed by Trott as England reached 53-2 in the eighth over. This brought Pietersen to the crease and along with Kieswetter, England made sharp progress to go past 100 in 16 overs. England must hope that Kieswetter’s excellent knock of 61 is the catalyst for the young Somerset wicket keeper to kick on, as the position of Wicket Keeper has been an area of weakness in the England team for some time now.
The middle to late order, and in particular Morgan and Bresnan, added more useful runs to push England to a formidable score of 229. Morgan looking every part the complete one day batsman, with some exquisite stroke play. As seems the case more often than not these days, Malinga was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, and his execution of the Yorker delivery continues to have batsmen all over the world troubled. He finished with figures of 3-40 in 7 overs, with the other notable bowling contributions coming from Lakmal with figures of 2-52 in his seven over spell.
Jimmy Anderson returned to the England attack with a point to prove after being left out of the team when they were beaten by Sri Lanka in the World Cup Quarter Final in Colombo. It did not take him long to make his point in no uncertain terms, removing the high class triumvirate of Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara with the Sri Lankans having less than 20 runs posted on the scoreboard. Not only did Anderson excel with the ball, he also took a stunning catch to remove Mathews from the bowling of Dernbach.
From this point on the match, as a contest, was as good as over, and only a slight wagging of the Sri Lankan tail ( Malinga 26, Randiv 24 ) prevented total humiliation for the visitors. Eventually they were all out for 121, leaving England convincing winners by 110 runs, with Swann and Dernbach backing up Anderson taking 2 and 3 wickets respectively.
Anderson picked up the Man on the Match award afterwards, and sent out a clear message that he is very much still a force in one day cricket. The win meant that Alistair Cooks reign as the England ODI captain got off to the perfect start, and put England 1 up in the best of 5 series. The teams will now move on to Leeds on Friday for the second game, no doubt hoping for better weather and a full day of cricket this time.
To see a great selection of cricket equipment including a wide range of cricket bats visit the Cricket Pavillion Shop today. Open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Stevenson, Paul J.”Anderson Inspires England To Victory.”Anderson Inspires England To Victory.28 Jun. 2011EzineArticles.com.9 Jul. 2011 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Anderson-Inspires-England-To-Victory&id=6387316>.
Stevenson, P. J. (2011, June 28). Anderson Inspires England To Victory. Retrieved July 9, 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Anderson-Inspires-England-To-Victory&id=6387316
Stevenson, Paul J. “Anderson Inspires England To Victory.” Anderson Inspires England To VictoryEzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?Anderson-Inspires-England-To-Victory&id=6387316
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Both India and South Africa are in an advantageous position as they are getting a good practice through the Ind V SA Test series and ODI matches now they are playing at South Africa, as England and Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand are also preparing by playing matches amongst themselves. Each country is gearing them up for the coming World Cup. Each team has their own star performers on whom they heavily depend.
India:
Batsmen– Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Shewag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, M S Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli.
Bowler-Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh
South Africa:
Batsmen-Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel
Bowlers-Charl Langeveldt, Dale Steyn
Pakistan:
Pakistan is yet to decide their 30 players preliminary squad, as some of their key players are under suspension over corruption charges.
Sri Lanka:
Batsmen– Kumar Sangakkara, Sanat Jayasuriya, Lahiru Thirimanne
Bowlers– Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara.
Australia
Batsmen–M j Clarke, CJ Ferguson, MEK Hussey
Bowlers-DE Bollinger, NW Bracken
England:
Batsmen-Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott.
Bowlers-James Anderson, Ajmal Shahzad
New Zealand
Batsmen- Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor,
Bowlers-Daniel Vettori, Hamish Bennett
All Rounder-Scott Styris
Zimbabwe:
Batsmen-Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor
Bowlers-Graeme Cremer
Bangladesh:
Batsmen-Shakib Al Hasan, Shahriar Nafees
Bowlers-Syed Rasel
West Indies:
Batsmen-Chris Gayle, Runako Morton,
Bowlers-Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach,
Apart from these teams, other participating teams in the world cup are Kenya, Canada, Ireland and Netherlands. These countries are also well prepared for the tournament and have the confidence to win. These teams have some promising players like:
Ireland: William Porterfield, Trent Johnston, Andrew White
Canada: Geoff Barnett, Sandeep Jyoti, John Davison
Kenya: Maurice Ouma, Alex Obanda, Seren Waters, Collins Obuya
Netherlands: Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Eric Szwarczynski
Check out our cricket blog at Ind vs SA. We target articles about cricket between India and South Africa Ind v SA.
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Players to Watch in ICC World Cup 2011
ByEdward Clark Burke
Both India and South Africa are in an advantageous position as they are getting a good practice through the Ind V SA Test series and ODI matches now they are playing at South Africa, as England and Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand are also preparing by playing matches amongst themselves. Each country is gearing them up for the coming World Cup. Each team has their own star performers on whom they heavily depend.
India:
Batsmen– Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Shewag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, M S Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli.
Bowler-Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh
South Africa:
Batsmen-Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel
Bowlers-Charl Langeveldt, Dale Steyn
Pakistan:
Pakistan is yet to decide their 30 players preliminary squad, as some of their key players are under suspension over corruption charges.
Sri Lanka:
Batsmen– Kumar Sangakkara, Sanat Jayasuriya, Lahiru Thirimanne
Bowlers– Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara.
Australia
Batsmen–M j Clarke, CJ Ferguson, MEK Hussey
Bowlers-DE Bollinger, NW Bracken
England:
Batsmen-Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott.
Bowlers-James Anderson, Ajmal Shahzad
New Zealand
Batsmen- Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor,
Bowlers-Daniel Vettori, Hamish Bennett
All Rounder-Scott Styris
Zimbabwe:
Batsmen-Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor
Bowlers-Graeme Cremer
Bangladesh:
Batsmen-Shakib Al Hasan, Shahriar Nafees
Bowlers-Syed Rasel
West Indies:
Batsmen-Chris Gayle, Runako Morton,
Bowlers-Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach,
Apart from these teams, other participating teams in the world cup are Kenya, Canada, Ireland and Netherlands. These countries are also well prepared for the tournament and have the confidence to win. These teams have some promising players like:
Ireland: William Porterfield, Trent Johnston, Andrew White
Canada: Geoff Barnett, Sandeep Jyoti, John Davison
Kenya: Maurice Ouma, Alex Obanda, Seren Waters, Collins Obuya
Netherlands: Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Eric Szwarczynski
Check out our cricket blog at Ind vs SA. We target articles about cricket between India and South Africa Ind v SA.
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Burke, Edward C.”Players to Watch in ICC World Cup 2011.”Players to Watch in ICC World Cup 2011.29 Jan. 2011EzineArticles.com.25 Jun. 2011 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Players-to-Watch-in-ICC-World-Cup-2011&id=5818477>.
Burke, E. C. (2011, January 29). Players to Watch in ICC World Cup 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Players-to-Watch-in-ICC-World-Cup-2011&id=5818477
Burke, Edward C. “Players to Watch in ICC World Cup 2011.” Players to Watch in ICC World Cup 2011EzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?Players-to-Watch-in-ICC-World-Cup-2011&id=5818477
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Cricket is a game that has been played around the world for many years. It originated in England and is still popularly referred to as the Gentleman’s Game.
This game is played between two teams of 11 players each. Few years ago cricket world cup use to be 5-day match that included 80 over’s a day and then the new concept of 50 over game was introduced to the world of cricket which later became the most popular format of cricket. Cricket is the game played at the international level by 12 countries which play for the world cup which is 50 over match and each over has 6 balls to be played.
Till 2003 when the cricket board came up with a much newer concept of cricket which was called 20-20 which is a much faster format of the game. The World Cup is still 50 over game, but they have one more world cup called as 20-20 World Cup which is not as popular as the 50-50 but has attracted too much of attention of the people around the world.
Cricket is the national game on England but is more popular in India. Cricket is so popular in India that India has started a format of this game called as IPL 20-20. In which there are 10 teams as of now from different cities of India owned by different businessmen and celebrities from India. The beauty of IPL 20-20 is, Even after it is known as Indian Premier League all the players around the world are the part of this game as the teams just are not about the Indian players all the teams have different players from different countries playing for their new team.
This format of the game has given a bigger opportunity to the young cricketers from India which gives them a chance of showing their talent and which has given good results till now. India has managed to find amazingly talented players which would have not been possible without this format of the game.
As per the latest survey it has been noticed that few countries which are still not a part of the international cricket are now taking interest in this game.
In past few years there have been at least 4 new teams from four different countries which have taken part in this game but they have not yet been successful with their career, yet time will tell.
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Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Just like cricket is considered religion in India, just as cricket is every man’s passion in our country, just like cricket is life in India, it is considered no less in Pakistan. Cricket in Pakistan is equally magnetic and massive in magnitude. The expectations that all of us have from the Indian cricket team and the pleasure we derive in watching the men in blue thrash oppositions is akin to all the Pakistanis watching their home team.
Pakistan, historically speaking, boasts of a much glorious past in cricket than India. They, from the very beginning of the first world cup were a big name in the sport. Barring the first edition of the world cup in 1975, where they were sent home in the first round, they consecutively reached the semi finals of the next three editions and finally won the most coveted prize in the game in 1992 under the inspirational leadership of Imran Khan. However, after exiting from the quarters and being runners up in the next two editions respectively, Pakistan cricket started to fade away. The team performed extremely poorly, much to the dissatisfaction of the Pakistani cricket fanatic in the next two world cups where they were knocked out in the first round on both occasions.
However, it is very sad that Pakistan cricket has taken a major hit in the recent past. It is a pity that the cricket has suffered in Pakistan because of the political disturbance in the country. Because of the huge political unrest and terrorism Pakistan cricket has only moved backwards. Pakistan is in a state of anarchy. Taking into account the last 5years, have been miserable for Pakistan cricket and completely disintegrated the team. Obviously Pakistan lack inspirational leadership qualities after the retirements of sporting legends like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, but this is not the sole reason for their decline. The political anarchy in the country coupled with massive CONTROVERSIES has hit the team’s morale and self belief. To begin with, Pakistan hold the infamous record of the only forfeited Test in cricket history -August 2006 .Pakistan found themselves embroiled in a ball tampering controversy in England. The Inzamam led Pakistan team, was penalized 5 runs after Darrell Hair, upon examination, and said the ball had been tampered with.Pakistan did not come back to continue play after going into the dressing rooms at the end of the session, resulting in the only forfeited match in Test history.Later, the Pakistan team was again cleared of any wrongdoing and Darrell Hair was banned from umpiring again; however Pakistan was banned for 4 further games and the match itself was awarded to England. Then came the incident: when Shoaib Akhtar, and Mohammad Asif were banned for using steroid nandrolone in October 2006 .Just before the Champions Trophy kicked off, the Pakistan team was dealt a severe blow when they had to send back Shoaib Akthar and Mohammad Asif after they tested positive for using nandrolone. Akthar was handed a 2 year ban while Asif was given a 1 year suspension.Next was Pakistan’s World Cup catastrophe and death of coach Bob Woolmer in March 2007. This must rate among the most ugliest controversies any team could’ve been involved in. Following Pakistan’s World Cup fiasco in which they lost to lowly West Indies and then much more surprisingly to Ireland in a make or break match, came one of the most shocking news to rock world cricket when Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer died in a hospital after he was found unconscious in his hotel room. The Jamaican police had found the death to be mysterious and an enquiry ensued. The Pakistan team was questioned to see if there was any involvement and eventually cleared.Moreover, due to the political state of the country almost every team refused to play in Pakistan after the Attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009 .Pakistan’s hopes of showing the world that their nation was safe as a host received an enormous blow, when the touring Sri Lankan team came under a tirade a bullets aimed at them by gunmen outside the stadium in Lahore. The attack resulted in 7 fatalities and injuries to 6 Sri Lankan players and a coach. Pakistan’s right to hold matches in the 2011 WC was then withdrawn because of security concerns and the matches were shifted to the other sub continental countries.That was not the end of it. The team was then a part of a Disaster tour to Australia and bans on players – Feb 2010 .After the calamitous tour to Australia which saw them lose all their matches, the PCB decided to launch an enquiry which resulted in major changes. Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely from playing for Pakistan, while five other players (Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal) were dealt with less severe punishments. The most recent and shocking blemish to taint Pakistan cricket was when they were accused of Spot-fixing allegations in August 2010 .The Test at Lord’s between England and Pakistan would be remembered more for three no-balls rather than the superb performances by Stuart Broad, Jonathan Trott, Mohammad Amir or Graeme Swann..Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Test captain, Salman Butt were in the middle of a spot fixing firestorm that brought back the ghosts of the match fixing controversy in 2000.The three players were provisionally suspended for allegedly accepting money from agent and bookmaker Mazhar Majeed to deliberately bowl no balls during at specific times in the match. After this,Pakistan’s desperateness to find an inspirational leader was now really vital and led to Misbah Ul Haq being named new captain in October 2010 .The roller coaster ride to find the right man to lead Pakistan continued with Misbah-ul-Haq being named Pakistan’s 4th Test captain in 2010. A lot of criticism came pouring in from all quarters, with many questioning Misbah’s appointment as captain when he failed to even hold down a regular spot in the team. This came as a result of Younis Khan (who was incidentally the first choice to lead Pakistan) not having approached the board and promising no further disciplinary issues.
Misbah found support from the likes of Geoff Lawson( The coach that time ).The latest of the controversies to hit Pakistan and perhaps the most extraordinary was the flight of Pakistan keeper Zulqarnain Haider, in the middle of an ongoing series. Pakistan were shaken to find out that their first choice keeper had gone missing hours before their virtual final against South Africa in 2010.Haider had left for the United Kingdom after he was allegedly threatened for life for not helping fix matches. The sudden disappearance made its impact in UAE as Pakistan succumbed to a 57 run defeat and ended up losing what would’ve been a morale boosting series win.
Advice has come in from far and wide, with many ex cricketers of the opinion that corruption must be rooted out. Pakistan have followed the ICC’s advice and taken stern steps in ensuring that their players do not get involved in another troublesome situation. Only time will tell if these measures have the desired effect, and for now the Pakistan and ICC authorities will hope that they done enough to pull out corruption that is affecting Pakistan cricket from the core.
Pakistan have for long proved that their brand of cricket is entertaining, unpredictable and is always played with a never-say-die attitude. And many would be hoping that the controversies that seem to be following them do not affect them much on the field or else we would be deprived of watching one of the most exciting cricket teams in full flow.Pakistan themselves will be hoping that all that they’ve been through these past few years is like the darkest hour, just before dawn. I hope so, too.Pakistan, now are looking like a much better team. There was a huge boost to the team when they won the T20 championship in 2009 and were runners up in 2010. Finally there was something to cheer about for the cricket followers in Pakistan.It is a pity that the cricketers and cricket have suffered in Pakistan due to political problems and also till a certain extent the problems in the team itself. But then every team has its problems. It’s not a big thing. The major reason for their decline was the political state in the country. It will be wrong to solely blame the internal team problems for their decline. Its not right for the sport to suffer due to politics and terrorism. The players and fans are not at fault but have to bear the consequences.Cricket having suffered because of reasons not in the hands of the cricketers and fans is shameful and very saddening for the common die hard Pakistani cricket fan.
On a brighter note, Pakistan has been performing brilliantly in this world cup and looks like having found a charismatic leader in Shahid Afridi. With no one giving Pakistan much of a chance in the world cup 2011 and labeling them as dark horses, the question is can Pakistan cricket come out of the blocks finally all guns blazing. With the team thrashing every team till now in the world cup barring one loss to New Zealand they have reached the semi finals where they will face either India or Australia. As an Indian cricket fan I hope India wins but also truly and sincerely hope for Pakistan cricket fans to get something to rejoice about. Hopefully they can put the past behind and pick themselves up with determination This is a true test of the strength of their character and of their mental toughness, if Pakistan can win this world cup, it will not only shock the world in awe of their amazing feat, but will also spread massive happiness back home.
If Cricket needs to come back to its best in Pakistan, they need this world cup to resurrect Pakistan Cricket at the right place. Enough of talking has been done and now it is time for Pakistan to talk on the field. Come On! Make the People of Pakistan Smile at least by Cricket if not by anything else! With this team already in the semi finals nothing looks impossible and hopefully they can conquer the world cup. With the present form and captaincy, anything is possible. They have been amazing everyone till now in the tournament with their stellar performances. Hopefully dawn has finally come for Pakistan cricket and hopefully this team can finally rise and meet the expectations of the million Pakistanis to provide them with something joyous after so many years of struggle struggle and struggle. Pakistan is the like wounded tiger, or in the great Imran Khan’s words ‘The cornered tiger’ , the term which Khan used to inspire the team during the 1992 world cup when Pakistan seemed out of the race having won only one out of their 4 games.
Akash Sharma –
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The 5th One Day International cricket match, or the 438 match, between South Africa and Australia, played on March 12, 2006 at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, has been voted as the greatest One Day International match ever played in the official poll conducted by ICC. The match broke many cricket records, including both the first and the second team innings score of over 400 runs. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 434 for 4 off their 50 overs, smashing the previous record of 398-5 by Sri Lanka against Kenya in 1996. In reply, South Africa scored 438-9, winning by one wicket with one ball to spare.
Five years later, to the day, South Africa has pulled off what is sure to a great world cup match to be talked about for years to come.
Central to South Africa’s success was Dale Steyn. After seven overs, Dale Steyn had conceded 46 without taking a single wicket. But he finished his 10 overs with 5 wickets for 50 runs. His wicket-taking spell was almost unimaginable at – 16 balls, four runs, five wickets , which contributed to India’s dramatic collapse. After the second wicket fell with the score on 267, India lost their last eight wickets for 29 runs collapsing to 296 all out.
Before Steyn’s fireworks, it was all India. Until then, a score in excess of 350 was on the cards. Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag produced a stunning passage of play full of adrenalin and oozed. They could do no wrong, not a single shot looked risky, and it appeared that South Africa’s fate had been sealed. But, it was not to be.
South Africa was almost pedestrian for the first 30 overs or so, until AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis added some urgency to the proceedings. In the end Peterson held his nerve when it mattered most to blast 18 runs of 4 deliveries when the Proteas needed 13 from the final six balls from Ashish Nehra,
So, have South Africans put the ‘chokers’ tag to bed…probably not as the next time they lose a tense final it will resurface. But, for the time being they will have quieted the naysayers just as they did 5 years ago.
South Africa and India are also on Group B of the CWC, which is by far the livelier of the 2 groups. With Bangladesh’s stunning win over England on Friday they who moved to four points after four matches. If they defeat the Netherlands on Monday and the West Indies beat England on Thursday then Bangladesh can book a place in the quarter-finals.
So with the fate of Group A pretty much decided, my top picks of up-coming matches:
Match32, Group B – Bangladesh v Netherlands; this is now an important match as it could help decide if England make it to the quarter-finals.
Match 36, Group B ” England v West Indies; with Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad being ruled out of the remainder of the world cup in the last 2 days don’t expect England to walk away with a win…they will have to earn it.
Match 39, Group B – Bangladesh v South Africa; Should England win in match 36 then Bangladesh would need to win this one and have won match 32 (both by heft margins) to qualify for the quarter-finals.
So there you have it, a round-up of the Cricket World Cup 2011 after 31 of 49 matches!
Naushad Moolla –
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I created my website to share what I know about cricket and hear from others about their love for the game. I started mainly because I wanted to keep a record of what I was learning about the game. But also I wish to help bring cricket to the American public.
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Rahul Dravid is a right handed batsman was considered as the Great Wall of Indian Cricket team, who comes as first down and sometimes acted as a Wicket Keeper and helped Indian cricket team to provide one extra batsman. He is known as a WALL due to his ability to bat for longer duration. Rahul Dravid has appeared more than 300 ODI matches and scored more than 1000o international ODI runs with 12 centuries and 82 half centuries, coming to the test Cricket he has played almost 150 matches and scored 31 test Hundreds and 59 test half centuries and helped and save India to achieve the glorious success in the Cricket history.Basically Rahul Dravid is from Bangalore. He started playing cricket at the age of 12 and represented the state at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. Dravid’s talents was first noticed by Keki, the former cricketer who was a coach at summer cricket camp held on Chinnaswamy stadium at that time. Rahul Dravid has a record of most number of catches caught in test cricket.Rahul Dravid was always a good solid batsman but he failed to have a charisma of a leader. There was a always critics about his batting style and said he is only fit for the Test Cricket, but later he proved himself with his determination that is well fit for ODI format as well and he proved everyone wrong.
He became Captain of Indian cricket team in October 2005 but,due to his failure in the captaincy during his tenure, he himself requested BCCI to move out of his captaincy in September 2007. And later his request is considered and passed on his responsibilities to a new comer Wicket Keeper MS Dhoni.Later after the ODI team, then he was considered only for the Test team and he plays a superb anchor role for the test team. Apart from ODI and Test team, He played consecutively for 3 years for Bangalore Royal challengers Team, which is one of the IPL team owned by Vijay Malaya, in which he proved his worth. In the 7th world cup cricket held in 1999, Rahul Dravid scored 461 and he was the top scorer. In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In one word, he is the proud of our Country.
shanu157 –
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Rahul Dravid is a right handed batsman was considered as the Great Wall of Indian Cricket team, who comes as first down and sometimes acted as a Wicket Keeper and helped Indian cricket team to provide one extra batsman.
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Highlights of the Srilanka and Australia world cup matches
Match was played between the 2 strong favorites of the world cup on march 5th, 2011.
Toss was playing very crucial between and winning captain will definitely elect to bat first, so in this case, Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat first, initially Srilanka lost both the openers and Mahela and Sanga provided a solid partnership and they recovered the early loss for Srilanka. Due to rain, the match was called off. This match was played in Solombo Cricket stadium
Following are the important stats that we get out of this Cricket match
1) This Kind of NO RESULT (NR) game became the seventh occasion as a NO RESULT game in the world cup history. The other six games are “
a. India vs Sri Lanka at Mackay on 28.Feb.1992
b. England vs Pakistan at Adelaide on 01.Mar.1992
c. Kenya vs Zimbabwe at Patna on 26.Feb.1996
d. New Zealand vs Zimbabwe at Leeds on 06.June.1999
e. Bangladesh vs West Indies at Benoni on 18.Feb.2003
f. Zimbabwe vs Pakistan at Bulawayo on 04.Mar.2003
2) Cricket Australia consecutive winning streak of 24 world cup games under Ricky Ponting has ended with this NO RESULT (NR) game.
3) Kumar Sangakkara’s 73 not out in this game provide the 120th occasion of a captain scoring a fifty in the world cup. Sangakkara knock represents the 16th occasion of a Sri Lankan captain scoring a half century in the world cup.
4) Kumar Sangakkkara knock of 73 not out in this game represent the second occasion of a captain-cum-wicket keeper scoring fifty in the world cup. The first occasion is credited to KC Sangakkara himself ” his 92 against Canada at Hambantota on 20.feb.2011
5) Kumar Sangakkara’s 73 not out in this game provide the 62nd occasion of a wicket keeper batsman scoring a fifty in the world cup. This knock represents Sangakkara 6th half century in the world cup. Adam Gilchrist with nine fifties is ahead of KC Sangakkara. Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara are the only two wicket keeper batsmen to score five or more fifties in the world cup
Once Australia completes the world cup they are immediately touring the Bangladesh for 3 ODI Cricket series
Catch all the live cricket scores and IPL 2011 action with CRICandCRIC.com
Nancy –
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Nancy is a great follower of the cricket and love to work on the Cricket stats, check her work at www.cricandcric.com
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Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
There has been an ongoing debate amongst the experts as to who is the best batsman to have graced the game of cricket and they have all been divided over their opinions.
Sachin Tendulkar has it seems every record that there is on offer for a batsman. He is the highest all time scorer in both forms of the game and has close to a hundred international centuries which only summarizes the greatness that this player echoes. One thing that eludes Tendulkar is the fact that he has not been able to win the World Cup which obviously is every players dream otherwise he is the best batsman to be playing the game today.
Javed Miandad was known to be a finisher and saved Pakistan in a lot of dismal situations on the cricket field. He enjoyed his stay at the wicket and more often than not he made sure that the bowling team paid if they weren’t able to secure his priced scalp. Having represented Pakistan for almost 2 decades Miandad is one of Pakistan’s best batsmen. In the early 1970′s, the West Indies bowling attack terrorized the batting line ups globally and a tour of Caribbean islands was a night mare for any touring side. It was Sunil Gavaskar that stood up to the fierce pace bowling of the mighty Windies and scored hard fought hundreds for his Indian side. Gavaskar was not famous for his fast paced innings or hard hitting but he certainly had a smart head on his shoulders which helped him apply his cricketing talent to the fullest. One of the highest test century scorers, he is truly one of the best batsmen that the game has seen.
Sir Vivian Richards, a true batting legend, played an important role in West Indies bid to win the first two editions of the cricket World Cup. His brutal treatment of the cricket ball in all corners of park was a breath taking site. Vivian Richards is considered to be one of the best players of fast bowling and made the majority of them look mediocre when he was at the crease. For his exceptional contribution to the world of cricket he was knighted after his retirement. Another brilliant batsman that started making a name for himself in the world of cricket in the beginning of early 1990′s was Brian Lara. His unusual batting style and high back lift gave him a charm that spelled everyone who saw him batting. Brian Lara is to date the only batsman to have scored 400 runs in a test innings and 500 runs in a first class match. Without a shadow of a doubt he is the greatest left handed batsman that the world has witnessed thus far.
For more information on best batsmen and their records, visit:
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Are you a cricket fan looking for interesting posts about cricket? http://cricketfreaks.contentcreatorz.com is the right place for you!
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