Dhoni, Gambhir win top honours at ICC Awards

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named ODI player of the year while his teammate Gautam Gambhir was adjudged as the Test player of the year at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards at Johannesburg on Thursday night.
Image: Winners all - The ICC Awards winners, including Gautam Gambhir (third from left).
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Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Full Name:Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Date of Birth:April 24, 1973
Place of Birth:Mumbai
Major Teams:India, Mumbai
Batting Style:Right -Hand Batsman
Bowling Style:Right Arm Medium, Leg Break, Right Arm Off Break
ODI Debut :India v Pakistan at Gujranwala, 2nd ODI, 1989/90
Test Debut :India v Pakistan at Karachi, 1st Test, 1989/90
Height :5'5
The first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, making the record in the third game of a five-match series against Australia on the 31st of March 2001. He reached the landmark when he scored 34 runs in his 266th match and 259th innings. Tendulkar, 27, in his amazing 12-year career, has scored a world record 28 hundreds and 50 half-centuries in his 10,000 runs.
A genius without a doubt, this little master made his International debut in ODI’s and Tests at the age of 16 against Pakistan against the fiery pace of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He then went to England as a part of the national side, and has not looked back ever since. The name itself strikes terror in the hearts of bowlers all around the world. Hailed as the next master-blaster following the legacy of the great West Indian Vivian Richards, this man has every shot in the book, and can kill any attack in the world when in full swing. There is nothing this man cannot do.

In batting, he has reached a stage that others can only dream of. He has destroyed practically every bowling attack in the world. Tendulkar's 'specialties' include the straight drive (seemingly nobody plays the shot better than him), the cover drive, the square cut, the pullshot over midwicket/square leg, the delicate leg glance, the late cut, the lofted shots over mid-on and mid-off and not to mention the improvisations he keeps coming up with, time and again. He has tremendous power in his forearms and can hit the ball out of almost every ground in the World. He plays each of his shots amazingly and has even employed the reverse sweep to good effect. Some of his shots are hit with so much power that the ball simply rockets to the fence as if he was trying to dismiss the ball from his presence. On the other hand, some of his shots are neatly timed and placed well. His timing can be quite exquisite and it is this blend of timing and raw power which makes him the world's best/greatest batsman. Mentally very strong, Tendulkar is best when confronted by a challenge.


Some remarkable achievements of his career are:
* 4th highest tally of runs in test cricket (10,134) at an outstanding average of 57.25 (highest among those who have scored over 8,500 test runs) as of March 2005* Most runs (over 13642) and centuries (38) in one-day internationals* Only person to have scored over 11,000 ODI runs and over 25 ODI centuries as of April 28, 2005* Highest ODI batting average among Indian batsmen and among all batsmen who have scored over 7,500 ODI runs (as of April 3, 2005)* Most Number of Man of the Matches in one-day internationals* Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs in ODIs as of April 2005* Most Number of Runs in World Cup Cricket History* First cricketer to cross 10,000-run mark in ODIs* Has equalled Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 test centuries.* Among those who have played over 100 test matches, he is the only one with a batting average above 55.* Only second Indian to cross 10,000 runs in Test matches.* He has the most centuries in ODI cricket against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.* He is the fastest to score 10,000 runs in test cricket history. He holds this record along with Brian Lara. Both of them achieved this feat in 195 innings.* To go with this he has 34 hundreds in Test cricket at an average of 57. An average above 50 distinguishes a batsman as an all time great.* Highest individual score in ODIs among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999)
While his batting ranks him among the best in the world, he is also a part-time bowler and has played a crucial role as a leg spinner or a medium pace bowler who tends to break partnerships. He has more than a hundred wickets in ODIs and 35 in tests, though his bowling averages are above 40. He continues to perform well under the massive weight of expectation of hundreds of millions of cricket followers, in India and around the world, and most recently was named Player Of The Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
Incidentally, Sachin is the first batsman to be declared run out by third umpire in 1992 in South Africa.

Steve Harmison left out of England squad

Steve Harmison left out of England squad
John Williams - Thursday 08.10.09, 17:31pm
It seems that the England selectors have made the decision of Steve Harmison’s retirement from International cricket for him buy omitting him from the squad chosen to tour South Africa.
Liam Plunkett, Harmison’s team mate at County Cricket level with Durham was included in the squad along with Steve Davies, Adil Rashid, and Luke Wright. But there was no place for either Ravi Bopara, who has been in unimpressive form for England throughout the Ashes and ODIs, or Owais Shah which surprises me a little.
Kevin Pietersen is making good progress and will join the squad following the two Twenty20 internationals when his fitness will be assessed ahead of the one day series.
The Full Test and One day squads are:
Test squad:Andrew Strauss (Middlesex - captain), Alastair Cook (Essex - vice captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Steven Davies (Surrey), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).
One-day squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex - captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Joe Denly (Kent), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).

League will make domestic cricket stronger - Modi

Lalit Modi, chairman of the Champions League Twenty20's governing council, is certain the tournament will result in the "rapid growth" of club cricket around the world. Modi also said there was a strong chance the Champions League would be taken to non-cricket playing countries as a means to expand the game's reach and get other countries to embrace cricket.

"The Champions League has been developed to embrace club cricket all round the world," he said on the day of the tournament launch in Bangalore. "It's a place where we can find young cricketers who then play for their national sides. The IPL is a great example of a domestic club-level tournament, and similarly nations around the world have club tournaments. The objective here is not to make money, it is to build the game, to build club-level cricket, to find and nurture new talent. Money is not the criteria. The objective here is that we have some of the best players around the world and we hope that in years to come the Champions League comes to symbolise what the UEFA [version] is to football.

"From this year itself the tournaments in countries like Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies will become more competitive. You'll see players who were not participating in domestic tournaments who will now take part and do well. Before, once players graduated from their clubs, they became international players and if at all they went back to their clubs they hardly played a few games. But the rules of the Champions League are that you have to play for your club, and your club must win to participate here. You won't get a chance to be here unless you've not played for your club."

Dean Kino, head of business and legal affairs for the Champions League, said one positive fallout of this competition would be to give context to domestic cricket. "It increases the passion of grassroots cricketers to be involved for their states and provinces. If you look at the interest in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash in Australia and the IPL over the last six months, you will see that the result of going to the Champions League has been hugely stimulating. At the domestic level it will drive young cricketers to the game and that will build on domestic cricket and make it stronger."

Modi felt there was no better format than Twenty20 to draw new audiences and one way to do so was to broadcast matches across the world in different languages. While the current focus is to take the Champions League to participating nations, there is a definite plan to expand the competition. "That is a definite possibility. The immediate future is that we have South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as leading candidates and the objective would be to move within the participating countries," he said. "But we must make the competition more broadcast-friendly and show it to countries that have never seen cricket before. Like the IPL did, we have to get more women and children hooked onto this game."

The governing council has definite plans to take the tournament on the road, with Modi confirming that future editions will move from country to country. Kino said the concept was to move the competition around as much as possible. "We will look at newer, cricket-playing countries primarily but beyond the next ten years a decision will be taken as to whether it is appropriate to bring the game to non cricket-playing countries. We want to take the grassroots level of cricket to as many countries as possible."

To make the Champions League more prestigious, one change could be to increase the number of participating teams, something the governing council will decide on after the inaugural tournament. Modi and Kino ruled out a home-and-away format, like in the IPL and other domestic tournaments, because of the obvious difficulties in flying teams across the world on a daily basis. "As a global league it is very important to get crickets playing all around the world and give them the opportunity to play on different surfaces, in front of different fans and cultures," Modi said.

The IPL, run by the BCCI, has been extremely successful and Kino was hopeful the Champions League would blossom with the inputs of Cricket Australia and other boards. "The Champions League doesn't arise from the IPL," he said. "Representatives of Cricket Australia, the BCCI and Cricket South Africa talked about the possibility of a Champions League even before the concept of the IPL was invented. We've been talking about this for years and it's been a matter of getting the right time and place to launch. Whereas the IPL certainly helped leverage interest in the event, the Champions League stands by itself as an international event. It becomes the apex of all domestic events around the world; its context and relevance is through domestic events."

Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

Harmison and Bopara miss out

Steve Harmison's international career appears over after he was omitted from England's Test squad for the tour of South Africa. His Durham team-mate Liam Plunkett was preferred after an impressive domestic season and is recalled to the international set-up for the first time since 2007. Kevin Pietersen has been included in both the Test and one-day squads although he will miss the two Twenty20 internationals as he continues to recover from his Achilles surgery.

Geoff Miller, the national selector, explained that Harmison, who said he was keen to tour South Africa but not as a bit-part player, hadn't produced enough performances in recent times to justify selection. "Stephen has not been included in the Test squad because we feel his form has not been consistent enough over the past 12 months to justify a regular place in the side and we want to give an opportunity to other players to make a case for selection."

The selectors have made a few surprise calls to fill the vacant positions in both parties with Luke Wright included in the Test squad instead of a frontline batsman, while Alastair Cook and Sajid Mahmood are recalled to the one-day side. Wright averaged 47.90 with the bat in eight Championship matches and took 21 wickets at 33.80 to nudge the selectors, while Cook struck back-to-back Pro40 hundreds for Essex after the Ashes.

As expected Jonathan Trott comes into the limited-overs squad as a replacement for Ravi Bopara, who missed out altogether after a poor Ashes series and disappointing performances in the recent ODIs. Steven Davies has been chosen as the reserve wicketkeeper for the Test leg of the tour following his last-minute call-up for the Champions Trophy and Adil Rashid is back-up to Graeme Swann with Monty Panesar omitted. Joe Denly, who had been tipped for a Test call-up, has to make do with a place in the one-day squad only.

"We are delighted to welcome Steven Davies and Luke Wright into the Test squad for the first time," Miller said. "Steven is a player of great potential who has been a consistent performer for his county and he will act as understudy to Matt Prior in South Africa.


Luke Wright has been rewarded with a surprise place in the Tests squad © Associated Press
"The retirement of Andrew Flintoff has created a vacancy for an all-rounder in the squad and while we do not see Luke Wright as a like for like replacement for Andrew, we are excited by the way in which his all-round game continues to develop and believe he can make an impact at Test level.

"Jonathan Trott who has made an immediate impact in our Test side and has also shown through his performances at domestic level that he has the talent and temperament to succeed in the shorter forms of the game."

"Liam Plunkett has worked hard to improve all aspects of his game since he last played for England and his selection is reward for consistently putting in strong performances for Durham both with bat and ball. He will provide strong competition for a place in our pace attack this winter."

Plunkett took 60 wickets at 23.35 and scored 400 runs at 44.44 as Durham retained their Championship title and now has the chance to add to his nine Test caps, the last of which came against West Indies, at Old Trafford, in 2007. Like Plunkett, Mahmood was first selected by Duncan Fletcher but faded from the scene after the 2007 World Cup. Miller, though, feels he is ready for a return as the selectors try to find an additional cutting edge to the one-day attack.

"Mahmood is another player who has had a taste of international cricket before and will be equally keen to make an impression in the one-day arena after continuing to show good form with Lancashire," he said. "Alastair Cook has shown great determination to improve his one-day game this summer, made runs at domestic level in both 50-over and Twenty20 cricket and the selectors believe now is the right time to re-introduce him to our one-day side."

Owais Shah has been dropped despite his 89-ball 98 against South Africa at the Champions Trophy, while Bopara's omission was expected after he was left out for the final Ashes Test and also lost his one-day slot before Matt Prior's illness in South Africa last week.

"Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah will, of course, be disappointed not to be included in either squad but they are both high class players and will remain in the selectors' thoughts as we go forward," Miller said.

Paul Collingwood has been confirmed as the Twenty20 captain for the two matches that begin the tour in November. They will be followed by five ODIs before the four-Test series starts at Centurion Park on December 16.

Test squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood, Steven Davies, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright

One-day squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Joe Denly, Sajid Mahmood, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright

Champions League Twenty20 2009

At this venue in 2008, Brendon McCullum slammed the most famous Twenty20 century to knock the stuffing out of Royal Challengers Bangalore. On another starry South Indian night, against the hosts again, JP Duminy struck the most awesome 99 you will see in this format to take the Cape Cobras to a thrilling last-over victory.

And so a new chapter in the rapidly growing Twenty20 format has begun. After a gala opening ceremony reminiscent of the opening night of the first IPL, the two teams treated a capacity Chinnaswamy Stadium to a superb exhibition of Twenty20 overs. Anil Kumble had no hesitation in batting first on a good batting track and 20 action-packed overs later the Cobras had their task cut out, after Robin Uthappa and Ross Taylor starred in a powerful batting display. But Duminy thumped five sixes and eight fours in as clinical and perfect a display of shotmaking as you could hope to see, and his partnership of 61 with Ryan Canning transformed the game after Bangalore had grabbed three early wickets in defence of 180.

The Cobras were in real strife early on with the bat, as Herschelle Gibbs edged Praveen Kumar behind in the first over, and captain Andrew Puttick followed suit with a leading edge to point. Henry Davids played a couple of handsome strokes but when Virat Kohli took an easy catch at point off R Vinay Kumar, the scoreboard showed 62 for 3.

As he has done at the international stage, Duminy didn't waste time in finding his range. Kumble continued to vary his pace and fed Duminy a steady diet of googlies; Duminy was beaten on occasions but replied with deft boundaries, the pick being a cut behind short third man for four. There was a moment of drama, too: Taylor dropped a dolly at long-off when Duminy was 23, after which a dead ball was called because the ball hit the cable of the fly camera.

Once he found his range, Duminy was unstoppable. Vinay was scooped for four and Roelof van der Merwe was driven over mid-on for six. After getting to 50 in 30 balls, Duminy stepped up a notch and Canning played his part with 20 from 18 balls.

The game was wide open when the Cobras needed 54 off five overs. That was eased significantly as Kohli's part-time medium-pace went for 13 in the 16th over, Kumble and van der Merwe were struck for big sixes and Vinay was mowed for boundaries either side of the pitch. Duminy's final six took him to 99 yet, cruelly, there was to be no century as Rory Kleinveldt finished the deal with two balls remaining.

This seemed a distant possibility after 20 overs in the field, when the Cobras seemed distinctly overawed by the moment and a packed house breathing down their necks, misfielding with alarming regularity and serving up a dozen too many full tosses. Uthappa paved the way with a belligerent but plucky half-century, being dropped on 18 and miscuing more than a few between catchers, and an astonishing assault from Taylor rounded flattened the attack.

Depleted by the injury blow to Charl Langeveldt in the sixth over, the Cobras were sloppy in the field, putting down three catches and missing a run-out. Uthappa was the beneficiary of one sitter and a couple miscues that dropped safely, and flourished in Rahul Dravid's company after Langeveldt took out Jacques Kallis early. Using his feet regularly to try and get on top of the bowlers, Uthappa pulled off some stinging shots down the ground and over midwicket, each of which the partisan home crowd cheered with gusto.

Dravid, dropped on 16, played some crisp and orthodox shots before he was run out for 28, after which Kohli was stumped for 17. But Bangalore took 61 off their final four overs, 40 of them in boundaries off just eight balls by Taylor, who picked up a 24-ball half-century off the final delivery of the innings, courtesy a top-edged four. Taylor has a penchant for clearing his front leg and heaving across the line, but this evening he was aided by an array of stray slower balls on the pads and rank full tosses.

A target of 181 ultimately proved a saunter with Duminy at his dazzling best. Tonight a new chapter began, one that could dictate the future of club cricket.

Cricket