As Zimbabwe withdrew from the Twenty20 World Cup next year, Frank Gregan had a think about the implications of this and how it affects their standing in world cricket.

The world of cricket breathed a huge sigh of relief last week when Zimbabwe withdrew from the Twenty20 World Cup which can now take place in England next year. It looked at one stage that the sporting war between Zimbabwe and the rest of the world was about to start and that cricket would be the battlefield. Zimbabwe Cricket chose a tactical withdrawal rather than a full scale retreat and seems to have been rewarded for their bartering skills with continued full membership of the ICC. Zimbabwe may be a relatively minor cricketing nation but it is being backed by some real heavyweights in the game.  read more »

For decades, Indian cricket teams have been underachievers. This, of course, is an understatement. They have been downright pathetic. If not for the hapless Bangladesh and Zimbabwe squads, Indian cricket teams would have held records for the bottom-feeders of cricket. India had some semblance of superiority while playing at home, but they were often blown away while playing abroad. Indian cricket writing too, celebrated individual gallantry in terrible losses, rather than focus on the real outcomes.

Often, India's bowling was pointed out as the chief culprit, while India's batting was lauded. In reality, it wasn't until the advent of Gavaskar as a batsmen and Kapil Dev as a bowler that India had genuine spine, competence and class. We have read enough about the two different approaches to captaincy of these two stalwarts of Indian cricket. One defensive in the extreme, the other often foolishly aggressive with pop-gun attacks.  read more »

IPL chief tells Sri Lanka delegation By Channaka de Silva Indian cricket officials infuriated by haughty statements allegedly made by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) interim committee chairman Arjuna Ranatunga have declared that they would sever all cricketing ties with Sri Lanka as long as Ranatunga is in office. Lalit Modi, the chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and BCCI Secretary N. Sirinivasan had declared the BCCI stance in no uncertain terms when they and other IPL officials met a high-powered Sri Lankan delegation in Bangkok last week to discuss a deal between the IPL and SLC. The chief of the Sri Lankan delegation and the acting SLC Interim Committee chairman S.  read more »

Hosts Pakistan and the 3 minnows - Bangladesh, UAE, and Hong Kong kick off their Asia Cup campaigns from tomorrow, while India and Sri Lanka play their first games on the following day. Here we take a look at the form these teams are bringing into the tournament. Bangladesh Wins: Since beating India and South Africa in last year's ODI World Cup, Bangladesh have only beaten Ireland 3-0 in an ODI series they played at home. Losses: They have lost 21 ODIs in this 14 month period losing series' to all the big teams - India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, and Pakistan. Asia Cup '04: Bangladesh were pitted with Pakistan and Hong Kong in Round 1 and managed to qualify for Round 2, where they lost all their matches to the Asian Big 3.  read more »

TheBangalore franchise has named its team as the Royal Challengers and Rahul “The Wall” Dravid is the captain.  read more »

The Betfair Contrarian is at it again - this time trying to convince us that warm-favourites South Africa won't be going home with a Test Series win under their belts.

England's five-month flirtation with New Zealand is over and finally there is someone new to hang around with in the shape of South Africa. While it feels as though England have never fully recovered from the trauma of their 2006-07 Ashes whitewash in Australia, South Africa have been on a bit of a roll (P16, W11, D2 L3 since January 2007). Don't be fooled, though, they won't win this series, and if you act fast enough you can still lay them at evens.

England are on a bit of a roll themselves...

Don't take too much notice of the uninspiring 3-1 loss to New Zealand in the ODI series. England started 2008 in great test form, with series wins both home and away against New Zealand. England lost their first test of the year in Hamilton, but rallied to win four and draw one of the five since. That means they start this series on a five-test unbeaten sequence.  read more »

On the post below, Khansahab has asked a few important questions regarding the current state of Pakistan Cricket.

I try and answer them here - with my opinion based on some facts.

1) Will Afridi be dropped in the near future?

The emergence of Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed as an opening pair has meant that Malik has had to move down the order. The only way Malik could come back into the team for the match against Bangladesh was in place of Afridi.  read more »

In recent years, a review of West Indies cricket over the past 12 months usually involves some lows and then some greater lows. Every year, West Indies fans would ask how much further can their team sink?

This year, for the first time in a long time, West Indies cricket finished on a high. For the first time since May 2005, the West Indies won a Test match against a team ranked above them when they beat the South Africans at Port Elizabeth literally in the last days of the year. The last win against a major team before that was in the middle of 2005, and it was in Barbados against Pakistan, and only Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards and Darren Powell are the survivors from that team. So, winning was a very new feeling for this Gayle-led Windies side!  read more »

There’s no point dwelling on it, because he’s never going to play for England again, but there’s a fair chance that Marcus Trescothick is still England’s best batsman. Kevin Pietersen’s record may look a little better, but he doesn’t have to face the new ball.
Marcus Trescothick was so good we invented a word for him. [...]

I tried to let Brett Lee and former Mrs Lee have their privacy. I really did. But they dont want it to be private. They want it to be in the media. Well I refuse. I dont want to talk about Ms Kemps love affair with thick necked men. I dont care who her friends are. No one needs to know. They broke up. He released an underwear line then pulled out of a tour and enough said really. So for anyone tying any of this into google: brett lee cheat brett lee cricket brett lee marriage break up reason brett lee marriage end brett lee marriage rumours brett lee marriage rumours rugby brett lee wife rugby player rumoured brett lee wife rumours brett lee, rumours Or if you are one of the 60 odd others who typed Brett Lee into google. There are more important things to talk about, like mints.  read more »