Former England captain Michael Vaughan is set to announce his retirement from cricket on Tuesday.
The Yorkshire batsman's future has been the subject of speculation ever since he was left out of England's Ashes training squad last week.
British newspaper reports said on Sunday his retirement was imminent and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) subsequently announced the 34-year-old Vaughan would hold a press conference at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
England are due to play Warwickshire in an Ashes warm-up match there on Wednesday.
It was at Edgbaston that Vaughan led England to a nailbiting two-run win over Australia four years ago.
It was a victory that helped England to a 2-1 Test series win over their oldest rivals and a first Ashes campaign victory since 1986/87.
That series was the high point of Vaughan's time in charge of England, with a persistent knee injury leaving him on the sidelines for months at a time.
Unsurprisingly, his form as a batsman - which had seen touch the realms of greatness during the 2002/03 tour of Australia - also began to decline.
He resigned the England captaincy in tears in August last year after the home series against South Africa was lost and has not played for England since.
Vaughan, England's most successful Test captain in terms of overall wins, with 26 victories, 11 defeats and 14 draws in his five-year spell in charge, vowed to force his way back into the team through sheer weight of runs.
But never the most prolific of run-getters in county cricket, he has managed just 147 runs in seven County Championship innings this season for Yorkshire.
Meanwhile any hopes Vaughan had of regaining a place in England's side have been blunted by the emergence of Ravi Bopara, who this year has scored hundreds in three successive Tests against the West Indies, at No 3.
There had been speculation that Vaughan might make an announcement about his future following Yorkshire's Twenty20 Cup match against Derbyshire at Headingley on Sunday.
But his position is complicated by the fact that Vaughan is on an ECB central contract.
Amidst all the talk about Vaughan's future, Yorkshire left him out if their side in a bid to avoid any distractions as they looked to secure a place in the top division of the new domestic P20 competition which starts next season.
As a result Vaughan, who met with Yorkshire officials on Sunday, may now have played his final game of cricket at senior level if, as has been reported, his retirement announcement takes immediate effect.
Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan said: "Michael is employed by the ECB so he is unable to comment until after he has spoken to them and formalised the situation.
"As far as the club is concerned today is an important match for us and we can't have any disruption or lack of focus on what needs to be achieved on the field.
"Both Michael and the club felt it was in both of our interests for him not to play.
"The plan was for him to play but given the news we discussed the situation and felt all the hype and speculation going on wouldn't have been in the team's interests."
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Maximum security for the Pakistan cricket team in Sri Lanka
Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket officials have taken measures to provide maximum security for the Pakistani national cricket team who reached the country last night.
The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that the Pakistani team will receive best ever security arrangements in the country.
According to the SLC, a security battalion comprising 100 hired military personnel has already been deployed to safeguard the visiting Pakistani cricket team. Military security has been hired by the SLC to safeguard the visitors also.
A convoy of seven security vehicles would escort the Pakistani team from the hotels to the stadiums during the whole series.
Pakistan team is only playing four matches out side the Colombo, one Test match in Galle and three one-day matches in Dambulla. All other matches will be played in Colombo.
The first three-day warm up match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka X1 team is to begin tomorrow at the Colts grounds in Colombo.
The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that the Pakistani team will receive best ever security arrangements in the country.
According to the SLC, a security battalion comprising 100 hired military personnel has already been deployed to safeguard the visiting Pakistani cricket team. Military security has been hired by the SLC to safeguard the visitors also.
A convoy of seven security vehicles would escort the Pakistani team from the hotels to the stadiums during the whole series.
Pakistan team is only playing four matches out side the Colombo, one Test match in Galle and three one-day matches in Dambulla. All other matches will be played in Colombo.
The first three-day warm up match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka X1 team is to begin tomorrow at the Colts grounds in Colombo.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Glorious Twenty20 World Cup victory delights the nation
Pakistan’s glorious victory in the Twenty20 World Cup has turned the gloom prevailing in the country into a wave of happiness and joy. The people celebrated the victory on Sunday with all the thunder produced by singing, dancing, drum beating and other forms of high tone music all over Pakistan. The cricket enthusiasts thronged the roads in groups of hundreds and thousands chanting slogans in praise of the team. They waved the Pakistan flags, play-cards and posters with players’ photographs. The unprecedented level of illuminations and fire-works spread so much of glitter and shine in the atmosphere that the night almost turned into day.
The morning engulfed the atmosphere in an unprecedented media hype in which the daily newspapers were found studded with glamorous headlines highlighting the team’s splendid performance and attractive action photographs of the players. The pages were full of messages of felicitations starting from the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan down to other prominent figures of the country, the former cricketers and all those who loved the game in their right earnest. Same was for the television channels which entertained the viewers with glimpses of the match with pictures of the players, their interviews, news strips carrying the cricket lovers’ messages of congratulations and other items of interest. One of the TV channels deserved bouquets for hoisting giant size TV screens all over the city of Lahore for the general public to watch the match outdoors. Above all, there was a spate of cash prizes for the players announced by various leaders and institutions starting from the country’s top brass downwards. I think the team fully deserved all this.
Winning the Twenty20 World Cup is the second biggest honour brought to the country by our cricket team after the World Cup 1992 clinched by Imran Khan and his boys. Since the media was not very advanced in those days, we really do not remember the extent of projection given to the event. The peoples’ enthusiasm and its projection that we have witnessed now will, however, remain in the annals of Pakistan cricket for all times to come. The final phase of the show of peoples’ love for the team and their jubilations for the victory was, however, marred by the authorities who became over-cautious about the players’ security. Thousands of cricket fans went to the airport to have a glimpse of their heroes and to give them an exhibition of the nation’s overwhelming feelings of joy and happiness over the historical triumph, but they were highly disappointed to find that the team had been carried away ‘from the back door’.
Coming to the championship itself, the well known ‘unpredictability factor’ attached to the game of cricket started proving its credibility from the very start. Even without Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Glen McGrath and other stalwarts, the Australian team was not so weak to be eliminated in the preliminary round. The feelings of shock, sorrow and grief suffered by the cricket lovers Down Under can be well imagined. The Australian nation would never have expected the long time ‘rulers of world cricket’ to return home so quick. Same was for the defending champions India who had a very balanced side with most of the players performing consistently well and the hosts England who enjoyed fully the traditional advantages of home grounds, pitches and the crowd.
After the Aussies ouster, South Africa enjoyed the top position by remaining undefeated till the semi-finals. Otherwise too they appeared to be a pretty strong outfit, ‘favourites to win’ on all counts. Pitched against them it was a pretty tough challenge for the Pakistan who had not performed brilliantly in the preceding contests, but the lady luck played its part in Pakistan’s victory. Batting first Pakistan scored 149 runs only, giving South Africa an easy target of 150 runs to win. Pakistan’s bowling strength proved its reputation by playing havoc with the ball. They kept the opponents under pressure to such an extent that the ‘media favourites’ were snubbed down to a paltry score of 142 for 5 wickets, conceding Pakistan a victory by 7 runs. Surprisingly, our bowlers maintained such a superb accuracy that even with five wickets in hand the Proteas could not open up to hit the target. With an exciting cum entertaining 51, Shahid Afridi was the hero of the match.
After such a sparkling victory, the world media turned its focus towards Pakistan team declaring it the ‘favourites to win’. By defeating the top team of the tournament, Pakistan mustered tremendous courage and confidence with their morale sky high to face Sri Lanka in the finals. The battery of our speedsters did wonders again by demolishing the Islanders top order by claiming the first 4 wickets for a petty 32 runs. With only Kumar Sangakkara (64*) holding the fort, they managed a total of 138 for the loss of 6 wickets. With a magnificent haul of 3 for 20 Abdul Razzaq (the so called rebel) was the chief wrecker of Sri Lanka’s innings. With the batting having gained its full momentum, Pakistan achieved the target with the loss of only two wickets. With a sparkling 54 not out Shahid Afridi again emerged as the hero of this grand victory.
The very fact that our team lost to India in the finals of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup and have now emerged as winners of the second World Cup clearly proves that Pakistan have the talent and ability to defeat any team of the world in this brand of cricket. It is only the matter of maintaining proper mental balance, keeping their wits about good fielding and utilising their resources to the full extent. Good strategy, proper match planning and leading from the front by the skipper will be the additional assets.
The morning engulfed the atmosphere in an unprecedented media hype in which the daily newspapers were found studded with glamorous headlines highlighting the team’s splendid performance and attractive action photographs of the players. The pages were full of messages of felicitations starting from the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan down to other prominent figures of the country, the former cricketers and all those who loved the game in their right earnest. Same was for the television channels which entertained the viewers with glimpses of the match with pictures of the players, their interviews, news strips carrying the cricket lovers’ messages of congratulations and other items of interest. One of the TV channels deserved bouquets for hoisting giant size TV screens all over the city of Lahore for the general public to watch the match outdoors. Above all, there was a spate of cash prizes for the players announced by various leaders and institutions starting from the country’s top brass downwards. I think the team fully deserved all this.
Winning the Twenty20 World Cup is the second biggest honour brought to the country by our cricket team after the World Cup 1992 clinched by Imran Khan and his boys. Since the media was not very advanced in those days, we really do not remember the extent of projection given to the event. The peoples’ enthusiasm and its projection that we have witnessed now will, however, remain in the annals of Pakistan cricket for all times to come. The final phase of the show of peoples’ love for the team and their jubilations for the victory was, however, marred by the authorities who became over-cautious about the players’ security. Thousands of cricket fans went to the airport to have a glimpse of their heroes and to give them an exhibition of the nation’s overwhelming feelings of joy and happiness over the historical triumph, but they were highly disappointed to find that the team had been carried away ‘from the back door’.
Coming to the championship itself, the well known ‘unpredictability factor’ attached to the game of cricket started proving its credibility from the very start. Even without Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Glen McGrath and other stalwarts, the Australian team was not so weak to be eliminated in the preliminary round. The feelings of shock, sorrow and grief suffered by the cricket lovers Down Under can be well imagined. The Australian nation would never have expected the long time ‘rulers of world cricket’ to return home so quick. Same was for the defending champions India who had a very balanced side with most of the players performing consistently well and the hosts England who enjoyed fully the traditional advantages of home grounds, pitches and the crowd.
After the Aussies ouster, South Africa enjoyed the top position by remaining undefeated till the semi-finals. Otherwise too they appeared to be a pretty strong outfit, ‘favourites to win’ on all counts. Pitched against them it was a pretty tough challenge for the Pakistan who had not performed brilliantly in the preceding contests, but the lady luck played its part in Pakistan’s victory. Batting first Pakistan scored 149 runs only, giving South Africa an easy target of 150 runs to win. Pakistan’s bowling strength proved its reputation by playing havoc with the ball. They kept the opponents under pressure to such an extent that the ‘media favourites’ were snubbed down to a paltry score of 142 for 5 wickets, conceding Pakistan a victory by 7 runs. Surprisingly, our bowlers maintained such a superb accuracy that even with five wickets in hand the Proteas could not open up to hit the target. With an exciting cum entertaining 51, Shahid Afridi was the hero of the match.
After such a sparkling victory, the world media turned its focus towards Pakistan team declaring it the ‘favourites to win’. By defeating the top team of the tournament, Pakistan mustered tremendous courage and confidence with their morale sky high to face Sri Lanka in the finals. The battery of our speedsters did wonders again by demolishing the Islanders top order by claiming the first 4 wickets for a petty 32 runs. With only Kumar Sangakkara (64*) holding the fort, they managed a total of 138 for the loss of 6 wickets. With a magnificent haul of 3 for 20 Abdul Razzaq (the so called rebel) was the chief wrecker of Sri Lanka’s innings. With the batting having gained its full momentum, Pakistan achieved the target with the loss of only two wickets. With a sparkling 54 not out Shahid Afridi again emerged as the hero of this grand victory.
The very fact that our team lost to India in the finals of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup and have now emerged as winners of the second World Cup clearly proves that Pakistan have the talent and ability to defeat any team of the world in this brand of cricket. It is only the matter of maintaining proper mental balance, keeping their wits about good fielding and utilising their resources to the full extent. Good strategy, proper match planning and leading from the front by the skipper will be the additional assets.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Younus Khan retires from T20 after world final win
Pakistan captain Younus Khan announced his retirement from T20 internationals after leading his side to victory in the 2009 Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka at Lord's here on Sunday.
"This is my last Twenty20 game (for Pakistan), so I am retiring from T20 internationals," Younus said after Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets.
"I am now 34, I am old for this kind of cricket. The good thing is we have a couple of good youngsters like Shahzaib (Hasan) and Ahmad Shahzad."
However, gifted batsman Younus - who has appeared in 60 Tests and 186 one-day internationals - is set to continue his international career in the longer formats of the game.
"This is my last Twenty20 game (for Pakistan), so I am retiring from T20 internationals," Younus said after Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets.
"I am now 34, I am old for this kind of cricket. The good thing is we have a couple of good youngsters like Shahzaib (Hasan) and Ahmad Shahzad."
However, gifted batsman Younus - who has appeared in 60 Tests and 186 one-day internationals - is set to continue his international career in the longer formats of the game.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
ICL is low standard cricket, says Razzaq
Back in the national side after snapping ties with the ICL, Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq said he had a torrid time adjusting to mainstream cricket after playing in the "low standard" rebel League.
"It wasn't easy getting back into international cricket after a long absence. This is the highest standards of cricket being played in the world and playing in the ICL and its low standards of cricket, it needs a great deal of mental adjustment," Razzaq told the 'Dawn' newspaper in London.
Razzaq made a successful comeback to the Pakistan side taking two wickets after he rushed to England as a replacement for injured pacer Yasir Arafat.
However, the all-rounder is not satisfied with his performance and said he had set high standards for himself and blamed the ICL for making things difficult.
Razzaq said he had breathed a sigh of relief after quitting the ICL last month.
Razzaq, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir have all quit the ICL and the PCB has already got clearance from the ICC to draft back the first three into the national team.
Yousuf and Naved are expected to join Razzaq in the national team for the coming tour of Sri Lanka from June 27. "I think I still need two to three weeks to get up to the standards of international cricket," Razzaq said.
His comments about the ICL would come as a surprise since he was the first Pakistani player to join the rebel league in 2007 after he was dropped from the Pakistan team for the first T20 World Cup in South Africa.
"It wasn't easy getting back into international cricket after a long absence. This is the highest standards of cricket being played in the world and playing in the ICL and its low standards of cricket, it needs a great deal of mental adjustment," Razzaq told the 'Dawn' newspaper in London.
Razzaq made a successful comeback to the Pakistan side taking two wickets after he rushed to England as a replacement for injured pacer Yasir Arafat.
However, the all-rounder is not satisfied with his performance and said he had set high standards for himself and blamed the ICL for making things difficult.
Razzaq said he had breathed a sigh of relief after quitting the ICL last month.
Razzaq, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir have all quit the ICL and the PCB has already got clearance from the ICC to draft back the first three into the national team.
Yousuf and Naved are expected to join Razzaq in the national team for the coming tour of Sri Lanka from June 27. "I think I still need two to three weeks to get up to the standards of international cricket," Razzaq said.
His comments about the ICL would come as a surprise since he was the first Pakistani player to join the rebel league in 2007 after he was dropped from the Pakistan team for the first T20 World Cup in South Africa.
PAK Vs SA
Just this very minute in the T20 World Cup being played in Nottingham, the Pakistan (149-4) team has beaten South Africa (142-5) by 7 runs to reach the Finals of the Twenty-20 World Cup. Congratulations Pakistan.I believe everyone who comes to this blog has already got the match details so I don’t need to delve on what happened when, except to say that Pakistan played superbly and they are now in the finals. Shahid Afridi has been declared as man of the match for his all round performance.
Pakistan will face either Sri Lanka or West Indies in the finals on Sunday.
Pakistan will face either Sri Lanka or West Indies in the finals on Sunday.
Monday, June 15, 2009
T20 exit: Dhoni apologises to Indian fans, promises to fire again
Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni apologised to the nation for his champion team's early ouster from the T20 World Cup and admitted sending Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj Singh in their Super 8 match against England was a mistake. "We are more disappointed (than you) and we respect the emotions of our fans and the country. We gave our best and we say that with an open heart, we have nothing to hide. But the next Twenty20 world cup is coming again in nine months and we would have an opportunity of proving ourselves," said a dejected Dhoni after India's heart-breaking three-run loss at Lord's last night. Dhoni sent Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj and himself but the young all-rounder consumed 35 balls for his 25 in the middle overs to put pressure on his batting partners which ultimately led to India losing the match by three runs to crash out of the tournament. "Sometimes you don't know what would happen. We thought Jadeja could stabilise the innings as well as go after the bowling. He did try but somehow he always found the fielders. It was unfortunate it didn't work for us. We needed somebody to play percentage cricket at that stage." Dhoni, however, defended his decision to include Jadeja in the playing eleven in place of Pragyan Ojha, as well as his opting to field after winning the toss. "We were looking at a combination in which our batting could be lengthened. We need lower order bats to contribute. Ojha may be a better bowler but Jadeja is an excellent fielder and both bat and bowl well. It also encourages us to include an extra fast bowler," he said. "As for fielding first, we realised that under lights the wicket became better for batting."
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Pakistan cricket chief selector Qadir resigns
Abdul Qadir has resigned as Pakistan's chief selector following the defeat by England in the Twenty20 World Cup.
"He just handed in his resignation to the chairman who accepted it," Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Salim Altaf told Reuters. "We don't know the reasons behind his decision."
Qadir, a former leg spinner who played 67 tests and 104 one-day internationals, was brought in as chief selector last November. Pakistan lost by 48 runs to England on Sunday.
"He just handed in his resignation to the chairman who accepted it," Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Salim Altaf told Reuters. "We don't know the reasons behind his decision."
Qadir, a former leg spinner who played 67 tests and 104 one-day internationals, was brought in as chief selector last November. Pakistan lost by 48 runs to England on Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
