A look back at cricket history being made on this day, the international cricketers who were born to those who made centuries. And also, the bowlers who took five-wicket hauls.
Andre Adams, Omari Banks, Debbie Stock, Kim Barnett and many others celebrate their birthday today.
Yasir Hameed, Alan Lamb (twice), Clive Radley and a few others are in the list of batsmen who scored centuries this day.
Charlie Turner (thrice), Jim Laker and Ian Botham took five-wicket hauls on this day...
England’s fast bowler Tim Bresnan has expressed his disappointment over headingly not receiving more international matches.
One reason for this could be the number of international venues have increased over a period of time in England due to which the number of matches played at each venue have reduced.
However, Bresnan feels this has not reduced the passion for the game in the local fans and believes the upcoming One-Day International against Sri Lanka to be a sell-out.
Bresnan was quoted in The Telegraph, “It is definitely a shame this is our only game [at Headingley]. You’ll see a full house in here and we are well supported as an England team when we travel up north, so it is a pity”
The wall of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid averaged a meager 20.00 in the last Test series against South Africa held in December 2010. This is unlike Dravid, who is considered to be the most dependable batsman of the Indian team in alien conditions.
His poor form could be a worrying factor for the Indian skipper MS Dhoni as his team will be playing in the Test series against West Indies without the services of experienced campaigners like Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.
Also Dravid last played his last Test match on 2nd January, 2011. Not having played a single Test match in last six months, Dravid will be under pressure to score runs in the absence of heavyweights like Sachin, Sehwag. This Indian
A look back at cricket history being made on this day, from international cricketers born on this day to those scoring centuries and taking five-wicket hauls.
Steven Davis and Shane Watson were born on this day.
Centurions include Shiv Chanderpaul, Upul Tharanga and Australia's top order batsmen - Michael Slater, Mark Taylor and Sir Don Bradman
Five wicket hauls were taken by James Hopes, Shaun Pollock and legendary Caribbean bowlers - Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall
Darren Bravo hit a career-best 86 as West Indies comfortably defeated India by seven wickets in the fifth and final ODI here. Chasing a target of 252, Bravo's clean hitting helped West Indies reach the target in 48.4 overs to reduce the series score to 3-2.
Interestingly West Indies had lost the first three ODIs against Pakistan in the earlier series before winning the last two.
Cheered by local hero Chris Gayle from the stands, Bravo (86, 99 balls, 3x4, 6x6) who many believe is a 'Brian Lara clone' launched into Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra hitting as many as five out of his six sixes off the two.
The Batting Powerplay proved to be the turning point for Windies as Indian bowlers gave away 57
The on-going One-Day International (ODI) series between India and West Indies has shown many young Indian players making the most of the opportunity given to them. One such player is Rohit Sharma. The cool headed middle order batsman is a highly rated batsman in Indian cricket and many consider him as the new Tendulkar of Indian cricket. After showing a lot of promise after the 2008 T20 world cup in 2007-08, he disappeared from the international circuit due to loss of form.
But now this dashing batsman is back in form now and the stats in the current series suggest that he is here to stay for a long time. Sharma is the first batsman to aggregate 200 runs (avg. 200.00) in the present series. He was out for the first time in
Team India's impressive wins in two practice games is very encouraging for its avid supporters. The World Cup build-up was near-perfect but we should not get carried away. Remember the 2007 World Cup: we posted big wins in two warm-up games before going on to make an early exit. The build-up has been nice and now it's time to concentrate on the opening game against Bangladesh to be played at Mirpur on Saturday.
ICC is not fair to reject CAB officials plea to provide more time. After all, one million people will be watching matches at the Eden Gardens! ICC must give time for CAB to finish up everything.
English media are slightly wrong to comment that the ODI series between Australia and England is still alive, after winning the fourth match. The scoreline is 3-1 and Australia need just one more match to secure a series win, which is very much possible. Also, given England's performance in this series, only a miracle can make them victorious. Aussies have restored some pride though!
Canada would be relieved that their all-time leading run-getter John Davison would be finally playing the 2011 World Cup. Davison, who instantly catapulted to public attention, smacking the fastest World Cup hundred against West Indies in 2003, initially pulled out apparently over the exclusion of fellow batsmen Geoff Barnett and Ian Billcliff demanding satisfactory explanations for their axing. Davision gave up his withdrawal only after he was satisfied with the explanation of Cricket Canada.
Canada need Davison badly and his firepower is something they would look forward in the upcoming World Cup.
Coming 2011 World Cup, nothing can be known as to what might happen. History can repeat itself as far as India is concerned. It can be a repeat of 1983; India might witness M.S. Dhoni lifting up the trophy for Team India which sounds really good to write. But one has to take into consideration the internal threats that could hamper India’s chances. Once they are taken care of, nothing can stop them from winning it. Optimists would say this would be THE ONE moment Indian cricket has been waiting for. I can surely say that I am a part of those optimists. India will win the World Cup with the tremendous form and winning streak we have been going through.
A lot has been talked about the IPL franchisees choosing to ignore players on past reputations like Brian Lara and Sourav Ganguly. One can’t fault the franchisees for not bidding for them. I stumbled upon a recent interesting observation by Brian Lara that the IPL franchises would have been better off seeing the big picture. I completely agree with Lara that guys of his calibre or for that even Ganguly could have been better utilised in capacity of a mentor or coach. Lara is right that nobody can downplay what both he and Ganguly have achieved on the cricketing field just by their IPL non-selection. Hope the IPL franchisees are reading this and take a stand on this.
