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Not many cricket lovers question that Ricky Ponting, along with Tendulkar and Lara, is one of the best three batsmen of our generation. The stats certainly back this up as he stands on the verge of surpassing Alan Border as Australia's highest ever run getter. Ponting has hit 38 centuries, second only to Tendulkar who has 42 albeit in 26 more tests, and his average before the start of the Edgbaston test is 56.31. Yet there are regular murmurings and criticisms about his qualities as a captain both here in England and also from his homeland. Jeff Thomson was decidedly uncomplimentary about Ponting's captaincy skills before the series started, and the reaction from both the Australian and English media after the 2nd test at Lords was pretty scathing. Indeed, at Lords, that supposed bastion of civility, we witnessed the Australian captain being booed by the crowd at various times during the match. But is all this criticism fair, or is Ponting being a bit hard done by? I suggest th

Introduction Sachin Tendulkar a legendary and great Indian batsman was born on 24th April 1973 in the suburb of Mumbai city. His father's name is Ramesh Tendulkar. His father was a great Marathi novelist and dramatist. He was inspired by his elder brother Ajit. He is one of the greatest batsmen in the world. He has a very unique style of playing. People compare him with all time great Australian batsmen Sir Donald Bradman. He is known as 'Little Master", "Master blaster" in the cricket world. Sachin learned his first cricket lessons from his guru 'Ramakant Achrekar'. Now even though he is great cricketer he always respects his guru and acknowledges his contribution in their cricket life. Career in Cricket Sachin played his first international knock against Pakistan. He made debut against Pakistan in the year 1989 in tests as well as odi's. He made his first century against England in 1990. On that time he was sixteen years old. He was the youngest bat

Sir Don Bradman is one of the greatest cricketers from Australia. Another one from Australia is Steve Waugh. He is the only captain other than the West Indian Captain Clive Lloyd who lifted the world cup twice! Steve Waugh has been a great captain and has given Australia this edge over the other cricketing nations which Australia is still enjoying. Ricky Ponting is a very intelligent captain, which he has proved once again with his team's winning ICC champion's trophy in 2009. Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev are undoubtedly the best cricketers India has produced. Kapil Dev ranks amongst the world's 4 best all rounders along with Sir Richard Headley, Imran Khan and Ian Botham. Also, Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar are great cricketers from India. Gavaskar was record holder batsman of his time. Clive Llyod is undoubtedly one of the best cricketers ever born. He has been a great Captain. Probably another one of the best cricket players is Viv Richards, who is one o

Cricket - the national sport of the British that has known to become a favorite of many nations with its sensational field action, the high energy vibes and the electrifying audience. It adds much life to this otherwise boring game that was known only to the 'men in white'. What initially was a drag of a game played at idle to enjoy the sunny weather and is played all over the world, around the year, be it sunny, cloudy, cold or sweaty. This game spread over consecutive days was made succinct, by introducing the new strategy of one-days involving fifty overs to score, for both the participating teams. White uniforms gave away to colorful attires matching the national colors of the countries. The banal red ball was switched for an exclusive white one and the speculators now encompass of virtually the entire world. With the advent of the one-days came the world cups; the thrills, the chills, the oomph and battle. With nations trying to slaughter on ground the opponents with their

What a dream run! Indian Premier League (IPL) has taken centre stage in the world of cricket. Who would have believed that a couple of years ago? Indian Club Cricket holding sway in global arena!!! The second installment of IPL drama had cricket aficionados crying for more. The runaway success of the tournament was there for all to see. Global audiences watched scintillating cricket thoroughly mesmerised, while we in India rejoiced that our religion (cricket) has finally got global recognition. Full credit goes to Lalit Modi and his IPL management who made this dream come true. What did one like most about the tournament? The first answer that jumps to mind is "everything". If you fail to agree with me then read on. We will proceed step by step on a journey of critical analysis of this juggernaut called IPL. 1 .Quality of Cricket . There is no denying the fact that quality of cricket being offered on IPL stage is world class. Barring T-20 World Cup there is no other platform

The googly is a cricket delivery that turns like an off spin stock delivery but is bowled with a leg spin action. In other words it looks like a leg spin delivery but spins from the off side to the leg side. This is achieved by releasing the cricket ball from the back of the hand as opposed to the front like a normal leg spin delivery. The googly was invented by Bernard Bosanquet, an English cricket player who played during the turn of the previous century. The effectiveness of this delivery is obvious as the ball is turning in the opposite delivery as what the batsman is expecting. The grip is exactly the same as the leg spin stock delivery. The leg spin bowling grip is the little finger and ring finger down and the middle and index finger up. Two fingers up and two fingers down and the seam running between the up fingers. The ball has to sit comfortably but firm in the hand. The ring finger is the spinning finger. The thumb can be on or off the cricket ball, whatever feels the most c

Spin bowlers need understanding captains and coaches to bring the best out of them. Too many spin bowlers are lost due to poor captaincy and coaching decisions. This is especially true at junior level cricket during a player's formative years.These days, in modern cricket, the emphasis is all about scoring runs and big hits. Just look at the massive following of the 20/20 form of the game. To satisfy this insatiable thirst for runs all the pitches are prepared flat and the boundaries are brought in. All for the cheap thrill of a few more sixes. The effect is terrible on young spin bowlers. Shots that would have landed down the throat of deep mid on or deep square leg now ends up as a big six. Top edges go for six and batsmen get away with shots they previously never would have gotten away with.The pitches also do not turn anymore and the young bowler is finding it vary tough indeed to beat batsmen with turn of the pitch. A captain needs to understand that spin bowlers will go for m

There are two main variations to bowl the doosra in cricket. They are the finger doosra and the wrist doosra.The first of these variations, the finger doosra, is the type that was made famous by Saqlain Mustaq from Pakistan. Saqlain was also the first bowler to bowl the doosra on the international scene. Since then bowlers who bowl the finger variation includes Harbajan Singh from India and Johan Botha from South Africa. With the finger doosra the spin is imparted with, as the name suggests, the fingers. The wrist angle must change considerably from the stock ball delivery and the ball's seam is angled at first slip. It is an extraordinary difficult delivery to bowl. There are many tips and techniques a bowler can use though to make it easier to bowl. This variation does not spin as much as the wrist variation but it is easier to disguise during the release.The second doosra variation is the wrist variation. This variation is used by Muttiah Muralitharan from Sri-Lanka and Sajeed A

Millions of US adults play fantasy sports, centered around the NFL, the NBA and the MLB, and an equally large number play fantasy soccer all over the world.Fantasy sports are online games that allow users to select real players for a fictional (fantasy) team, the real-life statistics of those players are then used to determine which fantasy team is doing the best. The most common variant converts statistical performance of players into points , the accumulation of these points over the period of the competition determines which user wins. However this concept has still struggled to captivate cricket audiences. The relatively small pool of international cricketers to choose from, the unequal number of matches played by international cricket teams in a season, all contribute to making fantasy cricket a marketing gimmick more than a passion. Until now.Fantasy Cricket Matches TM was developed to overcome the limitations inherent in international cricket. Using the detailed nature of a cric

The leg spin bowler has five variations available to him. They are the stock ball leg spin delivery, the top spinner, the flipper, the googly and the slider. The stock ball leg spin delivery is the standard delivery for the leg spin bowler. This delivery will spin from the leg side to the off side after pitching (assuming a right handed batsman). The perfect length for this delivery is on a driving length. The top spinner is bowled with the same action and grip as the stock ball leg spin delivery but will continue straight on after pitching. In addition it will bounce more due to the top spin. This is an excellent delivery when the batsman is trying to hit you straight all the time. The ball will come onto him quicker and hit him higher on the bat, hopefully given a catch to a fielder on the boundary. The flipper is bowled with a different grip (there are three main variations) than the other leg spin deliveries. The flipper will skid on of the pitch and keep low. The flipper is a grea

The game of cricket always had two official versions, the five day test match and the one day 50 overs match. Since last 2-3 years, the hottest form of cricket is T20 or Twenty twenty or 20-20 cricket. This is a 20-over game per side. It takes around 3-3.5 hours to complete a single game. This shortening of the time period has helped to increase the popularity of the game. Now, people don't have to watch the game for an entire day or more. It is more like a game of football/soccer where the game starts in the evening and ends in 3 hours. T20 cricket has also brought in a new generation of cricketers, namely T20 experts. Cricketers proficient in power hitting from ball one have become extremely important. The inaugural world t20 cup held in South Africa in 2007 was a very successful sporting event. Since then, the popularity of this version has skyrocketed. The highly successful Indian premier league was started by the BCCI in 2008. This is an annual event. The 2008 version brought

The Cricket World Cup is the most important cup in the ODI. The first one was organized in England in 1975; The Woman's World Cup was held in 1973 and is still held every 4 years. The Finals of this cup are played together with all ten tests and ODI contestants along with other nations which qualify for the Cup. Out of all the teams Australia has been the most successful, winning 4 titles. First world cup was played in 1975, and West Indies won this one. The second one was no different with West Indies winning it in 1979. After the first two occasions, asians took the lead. 1983 cup belongs to India. Australia won their maiden cup in 1987. Pakistan was brilliant under the captaincy of Imran Khan, one of the best cricket captains the world has ever seen, and won the 1992 cup. In 1996, the cup still remained in Asia, and Srilanka emerged as winners. Australia has been ruling the cricket world for the past decade, and has bagged the cup in 1999, 2003 and 2007. In 2007 the format of cr

Cricket balls come in different sizes and materials. For practise or indoor games you use a plastic ball, and for official games you use a cork ball. It actually comprises of a core of cork, which is wrapped tightly with string, and covered by a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam. Red balls are used in official day games, but you will probably use a white ball in day / night matches. This is because red balls are much harder to pick up under lights. In men's cricket the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163 grams) and measure between 8 13/16 and 9 inches (22.4 and 22.9 cm) in circumference. Youth & women's cricket use slightly smaller & lighter balls. For what you get, cricket balls are expensive. You have to spend about £6 on a ball (based on 2009 prices) if you want buy a decent one. Even then you won't get the best quality; you can easily spend £12 or more if you want this. This is because they are not particularly easy to make and

Chennai Super Kings are some say the complete team with good clean strikers of the ball, an imaginative captain and a great crop of Indian players, a magical spinner and one of the best all rounders in the world in Andrew Flintoff. Coached by former South African cricketer Kepler Wessels, the team makes up for the absence of an Icon Player by having stalwarts like Stephen Fleming, Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Makhaya Ntini, Michael Hussey, and Muttiah Muralidharan lending their participation to the Super Kings. The team's name was chosen as a tribute to the rulers of the golden era of Tamil culture. The 2009 competition which was held on foreign soil in South Africa was a mixed bag affair for the Chennai Super Kings. Some saw them as potential Champions in making their stats are they played 14 won 8 lost 5 N/R 1 and they gained 17 points. The opening match was against Mumbai Indians a game they felt they could easily win however they soon found themselves on the back foot and ended

There are many very good players in cricket no matter what position they play, but here are 3 of the best. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is probably considered the best in he league there is, He holds the record for the most cumulative runs in an ODI and the most number of centuries scored in both ODI and Test Cricket. He made his International debut at the age of 16 against Pakistan, which allowed him to become the youngest player. Probably one of the highest achievements he has accomplished was receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1997-1998, this is considered India's highest sporting honor. Viv Richards is considered another one of the greatest batsman there is in cricket. In December of 2002 Richards was said to have played the best ODI, and was chosen as the greatest batsman of 2002, as well as the third greatest batsman of al time. In his test career Richards scored 8,540 runs in 121 test matches with an average of 50.23 including 24 centuries. In 1976 perhaps considered Rich

Ever since its inception T20 has captured the attention of all cricket lovers world over. Explosive batting, outstanding fielding, well crafted bowling. It's a format of the game which gives immense amount of entertainment to the spectators. The just concluded IPL 2 has proved to the world that this format of the game has tones of pleasure to be presented to the audience. No wonder cricket fans are eagerly waiting for the T20 World Cup. This game has many parallels to our life as given below: Game is very short and interesting Life is very short and interesting like this game. Few years go in infancy, few for studies. These years can be compared to the restricted fielding called the power play. By the time you are employed and learn to be responsible almost half of the life is gone. Restricted or not restricted if one can stick to the discipline of the game runs can be scored at random. Life can be successful if discipline is maintained. Life span of man has reduced considerably li

The Twenty Twenty Cricket World Cup 2009, currently in progress in England, ended in a debacle for India. It was the defending champion, since it won the first edition of the Twenty Twenty Cricket World Championship held in South Africa in the year 2007. Before the beginning of the tournament, tipped as the joint favourite with South Africa to win the World Twenty Twenty Championship, 2009, India failed miserably losing all its matches that it played at the Super Eight League stage with the West Indies, England and lastly with South Africa. Australia, the champion of both the shorter and longer version of the game also made its early exit by losing in the qualifying rounds. The early Australian exit did not shock anybody because the team having lost many of its cricket legends like Shane Warne and others was only a shadow of its former strong cricket outfit. Considering their present form and performance, the South African and the Sri Lankan teams having won most of the matches that th

The World Cup is without question the final word in cricket worldwide. And like the Olympics, there are teams from all around the world. But there is more than just watching the matches. And just because one team wins or looses, individual players can have a better or worse day than their teammates. Below are the numbers for the top five wicket-keepers in tests. And some are pretty amazing. With amazing results, five wicket-keepers in test who are among the best in the field are listed below: 1. Mark Boucher with 475 dismissals, an average of 0.95, 4,693 runs and an average run of 29.89. Boucher is known for his swiftness with the gloves and is also a very good batsman. As a result he has always been a very good all round support for South Africa. 2. Adam Gilchrist with 416 dismissals, an average of 0.86, 5,570 runs and a runs average of 47.61. A lot of Australian cricket victories are due to untiring efforts of Gilchrist. 3. Another brilliant wicket keeper, batsman on the list is, Ale

A decisive cricket defeat in India is like a dengue virus that infects one to all of cricket crazy fans. There was a near riot situation throughout the country when India crashed out of World Cup 2007 owing largely to its ignominious loss to the minnows Bangladesh. The situation was on expected lines when India made an early exit from the ICC World Twenty20 Cricket Championship played at England during June 05-21, 2009 and skipper Mahnendra Singh Dhoni had to apologize to the nation. India's campaign for the World T20 Championship did not start on a positive note. Leading from India's dashing opener Virender Sehwag's suspected fitness problems the media shot off stories of possible conflict between Dhoni and Sehwag. Dhoni did not help matters by responding to it in a negative way and even parading his entire team in a press conference to prove unity. Finally Sehwag was sent home and India suffered a setback without playing a match yet. At the league stage India was in the w

Though England is the birthplace of cricket but the game has gained immense popularity across the globe for the sheer excitement and engaging spectacle incorporated in it. As a matter of fact in many countries like India, Australia etc. cricket is synonymous to the religion. People from all age groups strive most to acquire the Latest Cricket News related to the popular cricket stars and also the matches and tournaments. The excitement level reaches the summit when the mega tournament called cricket world cup takes place. It is held once in every four years and almost all eminent cricket teams from different countries contest for the World cup. The Latest Cricket News says that to meet the growing expectations of the audiences many small world class tournaments have also been initiated. These include the Tea twenty world cup and Twenty-twenty world cup tournaments. County cricket is another spectacular event that many cricket lovers long for through out the year. The Latest Cricket New

Everything seems to be getting shorter and shorter, the advent of 20/20 cricket is designed to appeal to fans who cricket wouldn't normally attract by the longer versions of the game. (It seems absurd to be calling one day internationals a longer form of the game!). However are we running the risk of changing the game as we know it? Already we can see that many cricketers simply don't have the skill set or mind set to play test cricket, Bangladesh being a great example. They have talent, but they don't like batting or bowling for very long before they either throw their wicket away or try something absurd!. Night cricket remains a possibility to attract viewers that may not have time during the day. Adam Gilchrist warns we are not ready for it yet, and I agree. There are "ball issues" but for me the problem is the limited venues where night cricket will be an option. It requires areas where the dew and conditions don't change the conditions so much that the na

With the 2009 Ashes Test Series about to start there is a growing expectation among England cricket fans that it will be just as dramatic as the 2005 Ashes won by the home side 2-1 which was their first victory over the Australian cricket team since 1987. The victory by the Australians some eighteen months later is a painful memory best forgotten by England cricket fans! With the Lions Rugby tour being over the Ashes will take over the sporting centre stage. The composition of both sides is far different to the sides that took to the field to do battle for the Ashes in 2005. Although Andrew Strauss returns this time as captain hoping to regain the sacred urn, many of his team are young and up and coming with no experience against the Australians. There are however a few old heads in the shape of Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff with the relevant experience to steady the England cricket team. The Australian cricket team have lost a number of players considered to be

Twenty20 format of cricket has made a boom in India. After the success in inaugural Twenty20 World Cup Cricket Tournament in South Africa, T20 format is promoted in India by ICL and IPL even more. These two leagues have some similarities and differences and the hottest topic of discussion for everyone is IPL Vs ICL. Indian cricket league (ICL) has been launched by Kapil Dev to promote this newest and fastest version of cricket. ICL did not get approval from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and it was condemned as a 'revolutionary' affair. The other cricket boards were not in a position to annoy BCCI and it seemed like the players participating in the league would have to compromise on their international careers. Then the promoters of the ICL tried to convince the ICC to recognize their tournament but the governing body found itself in a difficult situation. But only a few months later BCCI came out with its own tournament namely the Indian Premier League (IPL) on t

The Indian Premier League(IPL) in Season 2 is ruling the roost in South Africa, but some of the rules applicable to the T20 cricket games being played are not quite game. Just what is achieved by having the 'strategic time out' breaks in every innings of every game? What is so strategic about this? Maybe this is needed for generating more commercial revenue and more hype. Because this is not needed for any cricketing reasons. The strategic time out is taken after every ten overs in an innings of twenty overs. The players cannot be tired in just ten overs. Normal drinks breaks are taken after every one hour in Tests and after every 15-17 overs in one-day internationals (ODI). But those breaks are only for 2-3 minutes. There have been complaints from players and others against this rule and the IPL authorities had agreed to look into this after the season. But then, why it was introduced in the first place? Duckworth and Lewis rule is applied in rain interrupted ODIs that uses ve

Cricket fans coming to South Africa for the IPL tournament from 18 April - 24 May and rugby fans for the British Lions matches 30 May - 4 July, should understand that they have a good chance of being confused and lost if they attempt to navigate their way around SA. This is due to the abundance of new names for certain provinces, town & cities.Firstly, the former four provinces that make up South Africa are now divided into nine. Some of the changes include: Transvaal / Gauteng, Northern Transvaal / Limpopo, Eastern Transvaal / Mpumalanga.South Africa's northern neighbours, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana are all across the mighty Limpopo river, which gives its name to the northern province in South Africa. In this area lies the Mapangubwe World heritage Site which yielded gold figures some thousands of years old. The rain queen, Modjadji, also is to be found in these interesting region. She is thought to have the power to be able to bring rain to her people.To add to visito