Future stars ready to lock horns in New Zealand

The ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2010 will be getting underway on the birthday of a man called Rahul Dravid. While the stars of the future from all over the globe will start their campaign on January 11 the Indian batting great will be lighting 37 candles on his cake to celebrate the day.

The start of the tournament on the birthday of Dravid, one of the greatest-ever batsmen, could be a source of inspiration for the Indian young guns entering the big event as the defending champions.

Defending champions India will open its campaign against qualifier Afghanistan at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, near Christchurch on the opening day of the competition with Pakistan facing the West Indies in Palmerston North and the 2008 runners-up South Africa taking on Ireland in Queenstown.

Besides the 10 full members, there are six Associates and Affiliates teams taking part, having won through their respective regional qualifying tournaments as well as the global qualifier, which was held in Canada in September.

Meanwhile the U-19 Cricket World Cup 2010, to be contested by as many as 16 teams, was officially launched in Dunedin, New Zealand, on November 23.
The ICC Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat, pointed to the competition’s track record as a launching pad for future stars.

“It’s been shown over and over that a number of players come through this event, and very shortly afterwards they are on the international arena in a meaningful way,” the ICC Chief Executive remarked.

Speaking at the launch function at University Oval, Dunedin, he recalled some of the current stars who have come up through the under-19 ranks, including New Zealand’s own Ross Taylor, who captained the national U-19 side at the 2002 event.

He also noted the swift rise of South Africa opener Hashim Amla, who went on to full honours after playing in the 2002 tournament in New Zealand, and fast bowler Wayne Parnell, who played in the 2008 tournament in Malaysia.

“Wayne Parnell had hardly finished playing at the Under-19 level when he was picked in the international side. This reflects the close migration from the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup tournament to the international stage,” Haroon Lorgat observed.

He emphasized the importance of the ICC U-19 CWC and described it as one of the flagship events of the global game.

“It’s an extremely important event for us at the ICC. We have pencilled this in as one of our major events going into the future. The ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup deserves to be put alongside the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women’s World Cup. This ICC U-19 CWC is the most important event that those under-19 players will play at this stage in their careers,” he stated.

He confirmed that the ICC was committed to growing the profile of the tournament, and was in negotiations to boost the level of television coverage for the event that will already see matches carried to a global broadcast audience of millions.

He expressed his total satisfaction with the preparations for the tournament, noting that New Zealand Cricket had an excellent track record of hosting major tournaments, including both the U-19 CWC (in 2002) and the ICC Women’s World Cup (1982 and 2000).

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8:56 AM

Countdown to mega event begins

The World Cup remains the most prestigious of all the cricket tournaments and the International Cricket Council (ICC) regards it as its flagship event.

The first-ever Cricket World Cup was staged in England in 1975. It was described as an instant success and England went on to host the event in 1979 as well as in 1983. The other cricket playing nations then expressed the desire to organize it and the ICC has had to follow a rotation policy since then.

The World Cup came to the sub-continent in 1987-88 and it reached Down Under in 1991-92. It returned to the sub-continent in 1995-96 with England hosting it again in 1999. The action moved towards Africa in 2002-03 and the flame of cricket reached the Caribbean Islands for the first time in 2006-07.

Now the sub-continent will be the hosts once more in 2010-11 with the tournament to be held from February 17 to April 2. The countdown for the mega event has begun and the functionaries of the ICC and the Tournament Organizing Committee are ready to meet the challenge.

A ceremony was held in Mumbai on November 9 in which the fixtures of the 2011 World Cup were allowed well in advance.

Sharad Pawar, Vice President, ICC, and Chairman, Organizing Committee, very rightly pointed out that the match schedule announcement would allow all stakeholders to start planning their tours.

“The announcement of the match schedule for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is an exciting development as not only does it allow all our stakeholders to start planning their tours but it will also remind everyone that we are getting closer to the staging of the biggest event in world cricket, where the leading cricketers from all over the globe will battle it out for the top prize in the game,” he remarked.

“The sub-continent offers some great facilities for the cricketers, spectators, sponsors and media, and with some brand new stadia to be built and others to be upgraded, the match schedule will allow the venues to focus on the task at hand to plan and implement their preparations and ensure they are ready to welcome the world to this beautiful, historic and cricket-loving region in 2011,” Pawar noted.

The ICC Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat, believed that the announcement of dates was an important indicator of the excellent progress they were making towards staging their flagship event.

“The match schedule will allow the teams, commercial partners, spectators and media to commence with planning their tours. Preparation of venues and safety and security planning continues and I am confident that the host countries will showcase our great sport with its great spirit in the best possible light,” he observed.

“The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be the ICC’s next 50-over tournament after the highly successful ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in South Africa. And with plenty of high-quality matches played since that event concluded last month, I’m convinced that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in the sub-continent will further cement the status of ODIs and once again illustrate one of cricket’s greatest strengths – that with Tests and Twenty20 Internationals alongside ODIs, we have three viable, vibrant and successful formats of the game at international level,” the ICC chief added.

“The sub-continent has hosted high-quality events in the past, including two ICC Cricket World Cups in 1987 and 1996, and we are committed to stage another world-class event in 2011, one which will be memorable and enjoyable for all,” Tournament Director, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, said.

“However, the announcement of the match schedule will mean that the venues hosting the matches will have to meet their timelines to ensure everything is ready for what we believe will be a superb spectacle and a great advertisement for the sport which has a huge following in the sub-continent,” he pointed out.

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9:29 PM

AUSTRALIA won by 3 runs in 5th ODI leading 3-2

Amazing finish to an amazing match! Australia held their nerves towards the end in a tight situation and they hence win by just 3 runs. They now lead the 7-match series 3-2 with couple of games to play. India were chasing a mammoth 351 in their 50 overs but they still got closer with Tendulkar smashing a scintillating 175 off just 141 balls.

The home side were off to flying start with Sehwag (38) again playing a cameo upfront. The middle order failed miserably but Raina (59) got together with the Little Master and build on a stunning stand that almost took their side through. Jadeja (23) played a crucial role as well but again poor running between cost him his wicket. Once again, towards the end, the last wicket was almost there before a risky second got Kumar run out which sealed the victory for Australia.

The wicket was absolutely great as there were 697 runs scored on it. But still, debutant McKay and Watson bowled beautifully picking up three wickets each which counted a lot in the end. Hang on for the presentation news..

Sachin Tendulkar is awarded the Man of the Match for his outstanding innings of 175 that took India and the match that closer. He seemed pretty disappointed that he couldn't win the match even after scoring that many runs.

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10:02 AM

Batsman should fire in 5th ODI

With the seven-match series tantalisingly poised 2-2, India will have to overcome its batting shortcomings when they go into the crucial fifth cricket one-dayer against a spirited but depleted Australia here on Thursday.

The Indians, seeking to dethrone Australia from the number one spot in world rankings, will be strengthened by the expected rerun of Gautam Gambhir, who had to skip last match due to a neck injury.

Although the left-hander Gambhir`s presence will lend solidity to the top order, the worrying factor for the hosts has been the lack of good starts in the series so far.


Clearly the onus is on the Indian batsmen to deliver the goods on a track which according to the curator has plenty of runs to offer but will also aid the bowlers.

Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar have put on stands of 25, 21, 37 and 40, and the home team would be hoping this can be extended to something closer to the hundred mark which would be the ideal platform for Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni and Raina to launch a blitz later on.

Tendulkar is on the verge of reaching another milestone in his glittering career as he his just seven runs short of touching the 17,000 run-mark and the champion batsman would take inspiration from the moment to score big.

"We failed as a batting unit. We should have batted the full 50 overs but that was not possible because we kept losing wickets at regular intervals," India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said after the defeat in the previous match.

While the Indians have their task cut out for the flood-lit encounter the Aussies have been grappling with a spate of injury problems ever since the series began.

The latest to join the casualty list is Peter Siddle, who has returned home because of a side-strain. They have already lost the services of pace spearhead Brett lee, stumper Tim Paine, and all-rounder James Hopes.

Dhoni`s men did a remarkable turnaround after narrowly losing the first ODI at Vadodara but a shoddy batting display in the fourth match saw the hosts handing back the advantage to Ricky Ponting`s outfit.

Another batting failure could spell disaster in tomorrow`s match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium at Uppal as the team that wins the clash is sure to hold a huge advantage in the final outcome of the rubber, with the last two ties scheduled at Guwahati (day) and Mumbai (day/night).


Henriques picks up injury, not to play in Hyderabad
Moises injury a new headache for Oz: Nielsen
Ponting creates confusion over Siddle`s injury
Henriques returns, Australia induct McDonald and Cockley
Oz struggling to field eleven players at Hyderabad

Gambhir`s presence in the line-up has become a crucial one as he brings in the virtue of patiently working the ball into the gaps and rotating the strike to the other stroke-makers in the team.

The Delhi left-hander can change gear as per the needs of the situation and has been the calming influence in the top- order while skipper Dhoni has taken over this job in the latter part of the innings.

What the Indians would be hoping for is explosive opener Sehwag`s longer stay at the crease as he has rocketed off with a flurry of boundaries but continues to lose way in the 30s and 40s.

If he and Tendulkar, can give a better start than what they had done thus far, the others can cash in on the inexperienced and injury-hit Australian bowling attack.

India`s bowling has been a mixed bag with Ishant Sharma, in particular, blowing hot and cold.

The pick has been left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra whose display in the beginning as well as the end of the Australian innings has been outstanding.

Praveen Kumar has been steady while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also shown improved form after an indifferent start to the series.

The visiting team`s pace attack has lost a bit of bite after losing very impressive Siddle and they would hope Mitchell Johnson, who has been inconsistent, to put up an improved show.

Doug Bollinger has impressed in the absence of his seniors colleagues and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz has also done well though he lacks support in the middle overs.

In batting too, the Australians have depended on skipper Ponting and his deputy Michael Hussey to a large extent while Shane Watson`s all round display at Mohali must have gladdened them.

Left-handed Hussey, in particular, has become the thorn in the India`s flesh as he has smashed three half-centuries in four matches to frustrate the hosts.

The Teams (From):

Australia: Ricky Ponting (C), Michael Hussey (VC), Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Jon Holland, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Clint McKay and Moses Henriques.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

Hours of play: 14:30 to 1800 IST and 18:40 to close of play.

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9:49 AM

Opening the door for American Cricket

Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor today suggested that cricket series between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan could be organised in a neutral venue like the USA.

Pointing out that the USA has many cricket enthusiasts, Tharoor, who had his education in that country, today hoped that an Indo-Pak cricket series would well be appreciated by the public there.

"We have a large patriotic population of both Indians and Pakistani in the USA and a handful of cricket enthusiasts as well. That`s a very, very good way to organise cricket in third countries when terror strikes have stopped cricket between the two countries," Tharoor said.

"It will be terrific to see a baseball stadium in the USA crowded for a cricket match, though the stadium will be small by cricket standards," he added.

"There is a lot at stake in Indo-Pak rivalry as there is some historical baggage (of Partition). There is a greater degree of detachment among spectators which makes Indo-Pak cricket so exciting," said Tharoor, who has co-authored a book `Shadows Across the Playing Field` with former Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shaharyar Khan.


Recalling the resumption of Indo-Pak cricket in 2004 that was termed as a friendship tour, Tharoor said, "For the first time so many cricket visas were given. The atmosphere was so good among fans."

"In earlier days, a total of about 200 used to be quite competitive. Now the standard has gone up. Test cricket is considered as the highest degree," Tharoor said.

"If there is any record in this ongoing seven-match India-Australia series, it will not linger much in your memory, but an achievement in Test cricket has an embedding quality which would be remembered for 40-50 years," Tharoor said.

Tharoor was speaking at the launching ceremony of his book in the city.

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12:02 AM