Mar
23
WI beat England by 21 runs
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Led by a brilliant ton by Shivnarine Chanderpaul, West Indies beat England by 21 runs to square the series 1-1.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul returned to his Guyanese home and delivered a brilliant century to ensure West Indies made amends for their embarrassing opening defeat in the one-day series.Ever since coach John Dyson called in his batsmen for bad light on Friday evening, wrongly believing his side were ahead on the Duckworth Lewis tables, West Indies cricket has struggled to cope with the humiliation of such a blunder.
But Chanderpaul made the most of a reprieve on 27 to hit a brilliant 112 off 126 balls and restore West Indies’ pride by securing an emphatic 21-run victory which levelled the five-match series at 1-1 with three to play.
Chanderpaul even battled with cramp during the latter stages of his innings, which forced him to bat with a runner and miss the start of England’s reply, but did not prevent him audaciously reverse-sweeping two of his 10 boundaries.
His masterful display allowed West Indies to recover from losing two wickets inside the first six overs to post a competitive 264 for eight and England were dismissed for 242 in reply despite Andrew Strauss’ 105 off 129 balls, his first one-day international hundred in three years.
Just two days earlier Chanderpaul had hit 26 off one over from Steve Harmison, but this was a more measured innings where he was content to allow Ramnaresh Sarwan play the more aggressive role for a large part of their 133-run partnership.
West Indies’ most experienced pair had come together after Jimmy Anderson had removed openers Lendl Simmons and Chris Gayle during a superb opening spell of 6-1-15-2 which left West Indies struggling on 24 for two.
The pair progressed steadily until they reached the turning point of the match on 80 for two when wicketkeeper Matt Prior, standing up to the stumps to prevent Chanderpaul coming down the pitch to the medium pace of Dimitri Mascarenhas, dropped a thin edge at around knee height.
It was the moment which effectively cost England the match with Chanderpaul and Sarwan using all their vast experience to put West Indies into a position where they should have posted an even more challenging total.
Their stand was broken when Sarwan chipped the fourth ball of the batting power play from Anderson to Paul Collingwood at mid-off, but England knew Chanderpaul was the key wicket and frustrations almost boiled over four overs later.
Desperate to end Chanderpaul’s resistance, seamer Stuart Broad must have come close to disciplinary action from match referee Javagal Srinath for constantly questioning umpire Aleem Dar during a 10-ball over including four wides.
Strauss, called over by the umpire, wisely sent Broad out to the boundary to cool down and three late wickets from Collingwood’s medium pace prevented West Indies powering to an even bigger score and limiting them to 57 runs from the final 10 overs.
England’s reply mirrored the start to West Indies’ innings with Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen falling inside the first eight overs, both playing on trying expansive shots during the first 10 overs of fielding restrictions.
Strauss played a valiant knock
Strauss, overlooked for one-day cricket by England’s selectors for two years, patiently attempted to rebuild the innings and added 50 runs with Owais Shah in a similar manner to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
But no-one from England’s top six could keep him company long enough to build any momentum and the rest failed to reach past 22, leaving Strauss and the middle order with too big a retrieval task.
Strauss was also fortunate, dropped by Darren Sammy at slip before he had scored and again when he offered a relatively straightforward return catch on 28.
Unlike Chanderpaul, however, Strauss was unable to make West Indies pay for their fielding fumbles with Mascarenhas, who made a spirited 29 off 36 balls, finishing as England’s second highest scorer.
Mascarenhas wicket turned the game
Any hopes England had of securing another surprise victory were effectively ended when Strauss inadvertently ran out Mascarenhas with 15 overs remaining, leaving the England captain needing to marshal the lower order and also weigh up when best to take the batting power play.
He finally took the power play with six overs remaining and reached his third one-day international century but had his leg-stump removed by Kieron Pollard with England still needing 36 from 20 balls.
Pollard also finished off England’s resistance by bowling last man Anderson with 10 deliveries remaining, but it was local hero Chanderpaul - and the tourists’ failure to take a vital catch - that turned the momentum back in West Indies’ favour.
Jan
10
Strauss named ODI, T20 captain too
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Andrew Strauss has been named as England captain for the ODI series and the one-off Twenty20 match against the West Indies.
He has been offered this after being offered the Test captaincy for the tour following Kevin Pietersen’s resignation.
Strauss, who has not played ODI cricket since the 2007 World Cup 20 months ago and was not initially picked in the 15-man limited-overs squad for the West Indies tour, was appointed to lead the team to stabilise the dressing room atmosphere.
Strauss leads on all front
“The selectors feel that it is important to have stability and continuity on the Caribbean tour given the events of the last few days,” said England’s Chief Selector Geoff Miller.
“Andrew and I have also agreed that we will review the One-day captaincy at the end of the tour. Andrew is extremely comfortable with that,” he added.
Strauss was named skipper after Pietersen quit as the captain following his fall out with coach Peter Moores, who has also been sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
England Cricket Managing Director Hugh Morris said: “We have a backroom team with a proven track record. They will all work very closely with Andrew Strauss during this tour with the sole aim of securing success in the Test, ODI and T20 matches.”
Strauss in total charge
The 31-year-old Strauss said he was confident that he would contribute to the team despite being away from the shorter version of the game for a long time. “I am delighted to lead the team in the one-day internationals and Twenty20. I know I haven’t played an ODI since the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007 but I do feel that I have something to offer in that form of the game.
“Now this situation has been resolved we can now all unite and get about the business of winning cricket matches for England and winning them consistently.” The tour was significant for the England team in the run up to the Ashes against Australia later this year.
Jan
4
KP: Dressing room unhappy
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Kevin Pietersen said the dressing room atmosphere is far from healthy and the ECB should put the house in order at the earliest.
The England captain Virtually admitting that his working relationship with coach Peter Moores has broken down,
“Obviously this situation is not healthy, we have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before we fly off to the West Indies,” the England captain told ‘The News of the World’ tabloid.
“Everything has to be hunky dory, everybody has to have the same aims and pull in the same direction for the good of the England team,” added Pietersen, who prepares to return from holiday in South Africa and meet England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Manging Director Hugh Morris who has been entrusted with the job of brokering peace between Pietersen and Moores.
Morris has already met Moores but the England coach is believed to be on his way out after losing the captain’s trust.
“There is no way Pietersen and Moores can work together, they’re just too far apart,” a ‘dressing-room source’ was quoted as saying.
“The ECB are caught in the middle of this and are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. If they back KP, then there’s massive problems among the backroom staff. But if they go with the coach, then the best player becomes disillusioned, they possibly lose a captain and there is a huge fracture.”
Dec
23
Centuries don’t matter, victories do
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Given that there were still 68 overs to be bowled when the teams finally took to the field, you could scarcely blame India for batting on. After a week when seemingly insurmountable targets have been achieved with ludicrous ease, there was no point taking any chances. An hour of batting made a lot of sense, and in that time Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir rattled off 82 in just 13 overs. At lunch, with the lead 367, there was no way England could win. Even Vivian Richards and Collis King would have struggled with such an asking rate. 
So when the Indian batsmen reemerged after lunch, the sense of disbelief was palpable. What was the purpose? To make the game safe, when it was more secure than a hilltop castle surrounded by 12 moats? To rub it in, when the two batsmen had done enough of it in the first hour of play? Or to lapse back to former Indian type and shamelessly pursue individual records?
The 10 overs that followed told you what you needed to know. Only 35 runs were scored. Thankfully, neither batsman scored a century. Yuvraj was run out by a direct hit from short fine leg and Gambhir sliced one uppishly to point. At that point, the declaration was applied. England had 43 overs to get 403 runs. Piece of cake.
There’s no guarantee that India could have bowled out England in 55 overs after lunch. But given the winning culture that’s taken root this season, and the fact that the last six English wickets added just 22 in the first innings, it was certainly worth a go.
At Bangalore last December, Anil Kumble bowled seam-up and Pakistan were seven down within 48 overs when bad light saved their blushes.
It came down to priorities. What mattered more? The chance, however slim, to win a Test match? Or utterly meaningless second-innings centuries for two of your batsmen? Of course, they would have mattered to Gambhir and Yuvraj, who have just seven hundreds between them, but in the context of the game, they would have meant nothing. Only someone obsessed with statistics would consider such a hundred worthy of consideration. Those that know anything about the game would tell you how a match-turning 83 [Sehwag in Chennai] is infinitely more valuable.
It’s a shame that a team that has encouraged such selfless cricket fell into the selfishness trap in Mohali. Dhoni himself cares little for personal milestones. Time after time, when quick runs have been needed, he has come in and sacrificed his wicket in their pursuit. That attitude must permeate right through the team.
Gambhir batted 577 balls in this Test match, almost as many as Rahul Dravid faced in Adelaide [616]. One match is unlikely to be remembered even 12 months from now. The other will never be forgotten as long as India plays cricket. That should tell you something. Centuries don’t matter. Victories do. By denying itself the chance to accomplish what mattered by pursuing what didn’t, Indian cricket let millions of fans down today. It wasn’t how such a great year should have ended.
Dec
23
India take series after dull draw
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As expected, the Mohali Test petered out to a draw with Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh getting some functional but meaningless batting practice on a hollow final day. Neither got to their centuries and India’s declaration left England a hypothetical 403 to win or, more pragmatically, 44 overs to bat. 
Ishant Sharma removed Alastair Cook cheaply, but that was as good as it got for India - Ian Bell and Andrew Strauss denied them further success, batting out the remainder of the Test.
The fourth innings was but a formality. Cook nicked Ishant Sharma to VVS Laxman at second slip, and an out-of-form Bell poked and prodded, shuffled and swayed against pace and spin to accompany Strauss to the close. The match was dissolving into a farce when Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought himself on to bowl slow dibbly-dobblers, after which the umpires called off play.
Resuming on 134 for 4, India added 82 without fuss in a truncated 13-over morning session after thick fog delayed play by two-and-a-half hours. Gambhir and Yuvraj started cautiously before opening up with a range of aggressive strokes, Yuvraj fetching himself three sixes.
By the time lunch was taken, India’s run rate for the morning was well over six and the way Yuvraj, especially, and Gambhir were batting, it appeared a spent England were cruising towards a bruising. Instead the two batsmen came out of the interval quite content to bide their time, but England snapped up three wickets.
If Bell’s demolition of the stumps yesterday snubbed Virender Sehwag before he could ignite, his direct hit cut Yuvraj short of a century. Yuvraj swept the ball towards short fine leg and Bell swooped in to nail down the stumps with an accurate throw after Yuvraj had turned back.
Eight deliveries later, England saw the back of Dhoni, who handed Monty Panesar his easiest wicket on a thoroughly disappointing tour. Bell then stunningly intercepted a loose cut to his left at backward point, leaving Gambhir short of his hundred by three runs and prompting India to declare.
For practical purposes, it should have happened earlier, after Yuvraj and Gambhir batted England out of contention. India had dug themselves into a pattern of nervous watchfulness yesterday afternoon, their strenuous approach numbing a sparse crowd into a coma, but Yuvraj’s sparkling innings before stumps had livened up proceedings.
This morning, as the gloom steadily cleared, Yuvraj carried on in the same vein and succeeded in drawing some aggression from Gambhir too, whose bat had attracted barnacles on day four.
Yuvraj grabbed the initiative with a medley of punchy drives and slogs, including one particularly disdainful six off James Anderson. The last couple of Yuvraj’s sixes came against his old sparring partner Broad and recalled images of that famous over in Durban, when he hit six in a row.
First came an audacious shot, a front-foot, flat-batted bludgeon over mid-on, and then a scoop over backward point. Broad then bowled a clever wide yorker which Yuvraj edged to third man for a single, and Gambhir saw out the over.
India’s decision to come out after lunch will draw plenty of debate. The two set batsmen had already shoved England into a deep corner, and it appeared the only reason to continue batting was to hunt individual records.
In the end, neither Gambhir nor Yuvraj raised landmarks while India scored just 35 runs in the last 10 overs. After the thriller in Chennai, it was the weather, ultimately, that scuppered what could have been a great Test.
Dec
10
Pietersen: No excuses for failure
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Kevin Pietersen has issued strict “no excuses” instructions to England as they attempt to move on from security issues.
Few would blame England if they were badly beaten in the series, which begins at the Chepauk Stadium on Thursday, after their preparation was severely disrupted by a spell at home following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai as the team considered the security implications of their return.
Pietersen, though, sets high standards and said: “You could say we can’t lose in this situation, but that’s also a way of looking at things negatively and finding excuses - I don’t want any excuses about what has happened.”
He added: “There is to be no nonsense said about what has happened. I told the boys this morning that it’s a case of coming to this Test match series like it would be in England.
KP calls for courage
“We travelled on Monday, we’ll practise on Tuesday and Wednesday and play on Thursday. What has happened has happened and we can’t control it, but we’re in a very privileged position to be playing Test match cricket in India and we’ve got to deal with it in a professional manner.”
Pietersen and the rest of the squad attempted to halt the endless talk about security on Tuesday by issuing a joint statement following a team meeting when they pledged to donate half their match fees from the opening Test - around £35,000 - to a fund to help the families affected by the Mumbai attacks.
They also underlined their desire to help the Indian people through their healing period, but above all they want to atone for a dismal start to their winter - defeat in the Stanford showdown and in the five one-day internationals against India - by delivering a performance in these two Tests.
The show must go on
“The main focus now is definitely on the Test series,” Pietersen insisted.
“It hasn’t been a great start to the winter, there’s been so much that’s happened in the last six weeks and it’s now a case of getting on and concentrating on the cricket.
“We need to chuck everything away that’s happened in that six weeks to make sure that now our primary goal and focus is to try and win this Test match series.”
Nov
27
England’s tour of India on hold
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England’s tour of India has been put on hold in the wake of Wednesday night’s horrifying terrorist attacks in Mumbai. 
With security issues in India still a major cause for concern, the tourists have definitely decided to cancel the two remaining ODIs, but talks are to be held over the next 24 hours in a frantic bid to ensure that the two Test series scheduled for December goes ahead.
Early reports on Thursday had claimed that England’s entire tour had been cancelled by the ECB, with one official, who requested anonimity pending a formal announcement, saying that the England team had expressed reservations about continuing the tour and had conveyed their concerns to the BCCI.
However it has since been announced that Kevin Pietersen and his side will stay at their base in Bhubaneswar for the time being while talks continue with India’s cricketing authorites.
Regarding the fate of the two-match Test series scheduled to start in Ahmedabad from December 11, the BCCI secretary said, “We hope they will come to play the Test matches.” Morris, on his part said they would be holding discussions with Indian Cricket Board officials on the Test series.
In a statement, ECB Managing Director, England Cricket, Hugh Morris said: “On behalf of the Board and the England team, we would like to express our condolences to the families and friends of those people who were killed or injured in last night’s attacks.
“The safety and security of the England team is of the utmost importance to ECB. We have reviewed all our security arrangements in the light of these attacks and will be taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the team.
“This morning I held initial discussions with the Hon Sec of BCCI, Mr N Srinivasan, as well as representatives from the Indian team management at the team hotel in Bhubaneswar. I have also briefed the England players and management on the situation as well as liaising closely with the ECB Chairman and Chief Executive and the Players’ Representatives.
“The events of last night were deeply distressing and the situation is still unfolding. We are urgently seeking information from expert sources regarding last night’s attacks and will continue to hold further discussions with our colleagues from the BCCI over the next 24 hours.”
England have so far played five one-dayers, losing all the matches to trail the seven-match series 5-0. They were also scheduled to play two Tests in Ahmedabad (Dec 11-15) and Mumbai (Dec 10-23), where at least 100 people were killed in terror attacks on Wednesday.
The tourists were to fly from Cuttack to Guwahati Thursday prior to Saturday’s sixth one-day international as part of the seven week tour of India. The final ODI was scheduled to take place in Delhi on December 2.
The fate of the Champions League Twenty20 will also be discussed later on Thursday as the ramifications of Wednesday’s horrific events become clearer.
Nov
22
Kanpur umpires hit back at critics
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Under fire for the way they conducted the Kanpur ODI, which had to be decided by the Duckworth/Lewis method, the umpires have hit back.
The Kanpur ODI started late and ended early amid fading light with India winning by 16 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method.
Umpires Russell Tiffin and Ameish Sahiba were blamed for the farcical end by a fuming British media, which said the officials’ decision to shorten the match by just one over a side after a 45-minute delay lacked common sense.
Stung by the criticism, the umpires said they were only trying to ensure as many overs as possible in the match, that they deserved applause for that and that they were amazed by the lack of knowledge of their critics.
“We lost just one over inspite of it being a 45-minute delay. That’s big achievement,” one of the umpires was quoted as saying.
“Look we lost 45 minutes, but we made it all up. First we cut the lunch break from 45 to 30 minutes, then got another 15 minutes from the extra time allotted to both sides. We would have lost two overs if we went by this calculation.
“In that case the game would have got over by 4.58 instead of a closure at 5 pm. With our calculations, at least we were ensuring that the game would go on till 5.07 pm. We had to ensure both sides get the same number of overs and we succeeded to some extent,” added the official.
Nov
21
Umpires’ decision steals limelight
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The third ODI between India and England, which ended in India’s favour, was overshadowed by the umpires’ decisions.
The match had initially been delayed by 45 minutes due to the early-morning mist, but despite being aware that light fades quickly in Kanpur, the officials reduce the game to 49 overs and later shortened the lunch break to 30 minutes.
Indian coach Gary Kirsten, whose side needs just one more match to win the series, backed the umpires’ decision.
“I don’t think the umpires could have done anything different,” Kirsten said.
“They couldn’t have set up the game knowing there was going to be bad light; they had to set it up according to the time that was available.
“We just played to the rules of the game. We won a game of cricket and we’re very happy with the circumstances. It’s got nothing to do with us how the rules are made.”
Kirsten did admitted India were happy with England’s decision to bat first after winning the toss because it enabled them to control their run chase to ensure they kept ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis target.
“I think we were going to bat second anyway, it worked in our favour,” he added. “We were obviously aware, having looked at the weather and the light yesterday, that it might come into play and we prepared accordingly for that.”
The England camp echoed a different sentiment from India to the umpires’ decision. Captain Kevin Pietersen was seen protesting to umpires Russell Tiffin and Amit Saheba after India won the game on the Duckworth-Lewis. India reached 198 for five in 40 overs chasing England’s 240.
“I knew it would be difficult to get a game in,” admitted Pietersen. “I mentioned it yesterday at training and I mentioned it the day before when we had a team meeting.
“It’s a very, very bitter pill to swallow but what has happened has happened.
“I knew when the decisions were made that there was no way we were going to get this game finished. We tried to get it turned around but decisions were made and we can’t go against decisions that were made by the hierarchy.
“What we were worried about was the half an hour that it took to start the game after the 9.15am toss. We wanted to start it as early as possible because we knew we needed to do that to get a full game in.”
It was a particularly galling experience for England as Green Park has four newly-installed floodlights, but both sides agreed not to use them as they had not been tested before.
Pietersen also revealed England’s concern about the sixth match in the series in Guwahati on November 29, which has already been brought forward to an 8.30am start.
“In hindsight I definitely would have used the lights,” he said. “I think they are going to go back to the drawing board now and things are going to have to change.
“They are going to have to change for the sixth game in Guwahati, which is further north than here. We’re starting at 8.30am there but it’s still not going to make too much of a difference. At 4.30pm it’s dark here so it’s going to go dark at 3.00 or 3.30pm.”
Coach Peter Moores echoed his captain’s sentiments.
“We knew the light could be an issue so we were trying to make sure we could get a game in this morning,” he added.
“The umpires made their call and we can make recommendations afterwards.
“The key for me is that we try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. A lot of people have come to watch the game and you’ve got television so we have to do everything we possibly can to get the game in.”
However, ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama defended the decisions made.
“Everything was taken into account and the game was played according to the playing conditions,” he said.
“Yesterday the umpires were here at the ground because they knew that light could be an issue and today the fact that it was getting dark and the lights couldn’t be used had already been agreed.”
Nov
20
India win Kanpur ODI by D/L method
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India won the Kanpur ODI by 16 runs according to the D/L method. Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni batted beautifully to help India go 3-0 up.
India win by 16 runs (D/L)
India played smart cricket to ensure they went 3-0 up in the seven match ODI series against England. Sehwag scored a blistering 68 while Yuvraj continued his explosive form to blast 38. Skipper MS Dhoni alongwith Yusuf Pathan made sure India did not suffer any setbacks in the crucial last overs to end at 198 for five in 40 overs,
The action now shifts south to Bangalore where the two teams meet for a day-night encounter.